The Road to Tender Hearts

A darkly funny and life-affirming road-trip novel about second chances, found family, and a cat who can predict when someone is going to die.

US National Indie and USA Today Bestseller • New England Book Award Winner || May Indie Next Pick • Featured on Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon • People Magazine Top Books of 2025 • New York Times Best American Road Trip Novels • An NPR and Lit Hub Best Book of the Year

At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday should be the happiest man in town – but everything in Pondville is another reminder of the child he lost, and the way his marriage fell apart.

So, when PJ hears that his high-school sweetheart, Michelle, is unexpectedly back on the market, there’s nothing stopping him driving straight to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win her back.

But before he can hit the road, a spanner in the works: a tragic incident has suddenly left PJ as the only guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren.

Anyone else might be deterred, but it seems like the newly orphaned kids might enjoy the trip out of town. And PJ’s adult daughter, Sophie, has been roped in to help babysit.

There’s one final surprise passenger – Pancakes, a former therapy cat with a knack for predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home...