The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

I am going to be quite insistent* that you drop everything and read The Road to Tender Hearts.

You are going to want to get to this darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death

It’s “a moving, unforgettable story about the power we have to change our lives.”

I am always here for a wild and weird book, and The Road to Tender Hearts delivers on both. But what made this one so special is that it’s also “a beautiful reminder that the world is full of tragedy, but life-changing joy and connection might be just around the corner.”

I read it in hardcover, but I bet it would make for one fabulous audiobook.

This book is for you if:

• You are a fan of Kevin Wilson, Rufi Thorpe or Catherine Newman (I am a big f*cking YES all of the above.)

• “Little Miss Sunshine” was your kind of movie.

• You are ready for a new favorite fictional animal character. Meet Pancakes the cat who can predict death. (Sorry, but your reign is over, Six-Thirty from Lessons in Chemistry.)

*My 4 darling children know all too well what this insistence like, and they urge you to simply give in now.