# The Road to Tender Hearts

By Annie Hartnett

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-road-to-tender-hearts-0a7270b4/

Lottery winner PJ Halliday sets off for Arizona to find his newly single high school crush. At sixty-three, he is grieving family losses and poorly prepared for the trip. His traveling companions include daughter Sophie, two orphaned children and Pancakes, a cat with a talent for predicting death.

## What makes it funny?

In the opening, Dr. Gust likes the idea of a death-predicting cat until Pancakes settles on his keyboard. He keeps announcing that he is fifty-seven, then tries directing the cat toward older residents instead.

### The comedy at work

The doctor’s panic exposes the limits of his regard for his patients. When the animal’s talent seems to threaten him, he looks for someone else to take the risk, even while assuring himself of his goodness. Hartnett gives the fear of death a selfish, embarrassing outlet.

### Try this if…

Family reconciliation and grief give this road trip its emotional stakes. Readers comfortable with death jokes alongside tenderness may enjoy the company of its struggling adults, children and uncanny cat.

### Good to know

Bereavement, alcoholism and violent parental deaths are part of the family setup. The opening also includes a resident’s fatal jump and explicit language.

## What to expect

- Genre: Adventure · Contemporary & literary
- On the shelf: Family comedy · Quest
- Kind of humor: Dark comedy
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted · Whimsical
- Format: Novel
- Length: 384 pages
- Audiobook: 11 hr 48 min
- Published: 2025

## A few distinguishing details

- A romantic road trip with children and a death-predicting cat
- A doctor trying to steer an ominous cat toward older patients

## Sources & further reading

- Book information: [Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-road-to-tender-hearts-a-novel-unabridged/id1772004049)
- Publisher: [Publisher & opening excerpt](https://www.penguinrandomhouseretail.com/book?isbn=9780593873441)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/annie-hartnett/the-road-to-tender-hearts)