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Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Road to Tender Hearts’ by Annie Hartnett91%
By Emily Bright0%
12/20/2025, 5:00:00 AM
Topics: Ask A Bookseller
BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Anchoring Bias, Framing Effect, and Halo Effect, with Representativeness Heuristic as the most egregious example at 35.4% saturation with 79 hits. Analysis detected 541 faulty-reasoning hits from 223 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 84.9% and a BS Rank of 91% (2,029 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 90.70% of the article peer group.
On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.
Becky Schlosser of Cherry Street Books in Alexandria recommends the novel "The Road to Tender Hearts" by Annie Hartnett.
Schlosser calls it “darkly funny and heartwarming” — a “perfect” story about imperfect people.
This story involves a road trip like no other.
63-year-old PJ Halliday — survivor of three heart attacks, million-dollar lottery winner who’s nearly spent through his money — reads in the obituaries that the husband of his high school flame has passed away.
She was the one that got away, in his mind, and now that she’s single.
PJ decides to road-trip from Massachusetts to her retirement community in Arizona to win her back.
Along for the ride are two tween orphans, Luna and Ollie, for whom PJ has recently become guardian; his disgruntled adult daughter; and a seemingly clairvoyant orange cat.
Also, he technically doesn’t have a license, given some past DUIs, and he’s had to borrow his ex-wife's car.
What could go wrong?
Schlosser says this novel, with its sharp wit, is quirky and lovable, but it deals with some pretty heavy, tender topics.
She recommends this story of found family and second chances to readers who like Fredrik Backman’s novels.
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Analysis
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