"Flying Solo" by Linda Holmes

"Flying Solo" by Linda Holmes is a followup to her debut novel "Evvie Drake Starts Over," which I read earlier this summer. 

Laurie Sassalyn is turning 40, single (again, after recently calling off her wedding), and back in her hometown to clear out the home of her beloved, recently deceased (also single and childless) Great-Aunt Dot. (The book is set in Calcasset, Maine, the same setting as "Evvie Drake," and includes a shoutout to Evvie and Dean from that book). 

Tucked away in a cedar chest, Laurie finds a mysterious wooden duck that piques her interest. A local antique dealer tells her the duck is worthless and gives her $50 for it. Laurie soon realizes she was conned, and enlists some of her old friends -- including her old boyfriend Nick, now the town librarian and divorced -- to help her get the precious duck back. (There's more to the story, but that's the barebones of the plot.)  

I picked up this book expecting another light romance like "Evvie Drake." It is -- but it isn't (it's a little more complicated that most romcoms, and it doesn't end quite like you might expect). I certainly did not expect it to turn into both a mystery and a caper/heist story, lol.  And needless to say, as someone who, like Laurie (and her Aunt Dot), didn't have kids (albeit for different reasons), is coming to terms with aging and recently spent time clearing decades and generations of accumulated stuff from her parents' house, there was much here I could relate to. ;)  

I rated "Evvie Drake" 3 stars all round. In some ways, I liked it better than this one;  in some ways I liked this one better. They're both good reads in their own ways. I finished it in two days flat. 

3.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads.  

Additional ALI/CNBC notes: One of Laurie's brothers and his wife are infertile and going through  IVF.  There's a long conversation in which he, Laurie, Nick, and Laurie's best friend June talk about having children (or not).  

This was Book #22 read to date in 2026 (and Book #4 finished in August), bringing me to 55% of  my 2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 40 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :(  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2026 tagged as "2026 books."