Bass’ characters are lovable, complicated and flawed…which is to say, deeply human. Snappy prose and cleverly crafted plot lines elevate the rom-com tropes, striking the perfect balance between the laugh-out-loud funny and the heart-wrenchingly sad. ... In this heartfelt tribute to love and loss, Bass vividly captures aging, fresh starts, and the sort of ride-or-die friendships everyone wishes they had. Readers looking for a good laugh or cry (or both) in this fizzy page-turner won’t be disappointed. Sizzling, sharp, and hilarious.
— Kirkus Reviews
Effervescent, poignant and full of hard-won humor, Elissa Bass’s HAPPY HOUR is everything you want from a summer (or fall, winter, spring) read. You’ll finish the last page with the warm glow of a "happy hour" well spent, but not soon forgotten.
— Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of DARE ME and THE TURNOUT —
HAPPY HOUR is a sparkling novel with one of the bravest, most fascinating heroines you’ll ever meet. KK Rhinehart faces heartbreak head-on, with humor to combat the self-doubt, with the help of amazing friends, and with a most unexpected and wildly exciting chance at new love. Elissa Bass has created indelible characters, psychologically rich and true. She writes with wit and irony, with an open heart, and with the ability to make this poignant story in a seductive seaside setting read like a thriller. I couldn’t stop turning the pages, and I’ll admit that I was beaming through tears more than once. HAPPY HOUR has just become one of my favorite novels!
— Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author of 37 novels, including LAST NIGHT —
KK Rhinehart finds an unfamiliar iPhone in her husband’s car, and what she discovers on it ends her 25-year marriage. At the age of 55, and already feeling wrecked physically and mentally by menopause, she’s ready to give up. Desperate to hide, she retreats to her family’s Cape Cod summer beach house in the off-season.
But KK’s two siblings and her two closest friends refuse to let her waste away on the couch. Their over-the-top support ranges from makeovers to hot yoga. Then, she meets bartender Jay. With beautiful eyes and big hands, KK calls the much younger man "Surfer Guy" and can barely string a sentence together around him, but what she thinks is a one-sided, silly crush turns into intense interest from Jay.
KK might be able to find her joy again, but before that happens, she must navigate viral TikTok videos, a national debate on reverse age-gap dating, heartbreaking loss, and a whole lot of kitchen dancing. In this hilarious, inspirational take on love with a younger man, mid-life changes have never been this much fun.