The Road to Tender Hearts is rich with dark humor as the residents of Pondville, Massachusetts are no strangers to heartache and loss. Author Annie Hartnett’s third novel features the spontaneous road trip newly-sober PJ takes across America to reconnect with a high school flame. Complicating factors include two newly orphaned children (his great niece and great nephew), a cat that is the harbinger of death, his dwindling lottery winnings, and one estranged daughter. The Road to Tender Hearts examines whether people can forgive themselves and truly change and this story, filled with idiosyncratic big-heartedness, will make you a believer by the end.