Aug 19, 2026 · 29 min · 8 segments
Welcome to *The Reading Lounge*! In this episode, Sarah and Cynthia dive into *The Road to Tender Hearts* by Annie Hartnett, a novel that weaves family drama, grief, and healing together with warmth…
But before we start talking about this book, and this is going to be hard to talk about without spoilers, but we're going to do our best.
Yes.
Yeah, very true.
We have a beautiful cocktail
by our
resident mythologist,
Sarah.
Thank
you.
I appreciate
that.
And it looks gorgeous.
It smells gorgeous.
It smells
so delicious.
And I just had to think of a drink honoring Pancakes the Cat, which we'll talk more about in a little bit.
But this is called the Tender Hearts Tonic.
So it's a bittersweet, sparkling orange cocktail inspired by a road-weary traveler and the strange orange cat who helps him find his way home.
It's an enchanting blend of vodka, orange juice, rosemary honey, and sparkling wine.
It's bright, bittersweet, and just a little mysterious, much like the orange cat who seems to know when life's journey is about to change directions.
So in this drink, we have one and a half ounces of vodka.
You could also use gin.
We used vodka.
One ounce of orange juice.
It actually called for blood orange juice, which I could not find anywhere.
But before we start talking about this book, and this is going to be hard to talk about without spoilers, but we're going to do our best.
Yes.
Yeah, very true.
We have a beautiful cocktail
by our
resident mythologist,
Sarah.
Thank
you.
I appreciate
that.
And it looks gorgeous.
It smells gorgeous.
It smells
so delicious.
And I just had to think of a drink honoring Pancakes the Cat, which we'll talk more about in a little bit.
But this is called the Tender Hearts Tonic.
So it's a bittersweet, sparkling orange cocktail inspired by a road-weary traveler and the strange orange cat who helps him find his way home.
It's an enchanting blend of vodka, orange juice, rosemary honey, and sparkling wine.
It's bright, bittersweet, and just a little mysterious, much like the orange cat who seems to know when life's journey is about to change directions.
So in this drink, we have one and a half ounces of vodka.
You could also use gin.
We used vodka.
One ounce of orange juice.
It actually called for blood orange juice, which I could not find anywhere.
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