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Book 73 - The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

This was a quirky read. I liked how unexpected things had a voice, like a baseball hat and especially the cat, Pancake, even if Pancake is a harbinger of death. 

PJ Halliday is lucky enough to win the lottery, but unlucky enough to suffer the worst kind of loss - the death of his teenage daughter. She drowned in a cranberry bog, and PJ’s family fell apart soon after. He drinks to cope, and relies on his (living) daughter, ex-wife, and her steady boyfriend to keep him from completely crumbling. When his estranged brother’s children need a guardian, it’s like a second chance for PJ. He also learns that his high school sweetheart’s husband just died, so he decides to take the kids on a road trip to the Tender Hearts Retirement Center, where she lives, to try to win her heart. His daughter, Sophie, and Pancake join them too. The two kids, Ollie and Luna, are grieving the loss of their parents and getting used to PJ and Sophie as guardians. Luna has her own motive for the road trip - wanting to meet who she suspects is her real father, a soap actor who lives in CA. 

Everywhere they go death follows as Pancake is a bit of a feline grim reaper. It was dark at times. I guess it was supposed to be a dark comedy, but while I was entertained, nothing really made me laugh. I liked the voice and creativity, and the end was touching and a bit surprising. I would read another book from this author. (8)

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