East Cobb author Evan S. Porter, whose debut novel Dad Camp (Dutton 2024) is being adapted into a Netflix film, returns with another heartwarming, hilarious, and undeniably human romp through the trials and travails of parenthood.
In A LAST TIME FOR EVERYTHING (Dutton TR; on-sale July 21,2026) a surprise pregnancy sets off a whirlwind adventure for a young Baltimore couple still trying to make sense of who they are as adults, much less parents.
Porter fondly calls the book a “lovers to lovers” romance, and readers will be rooting for his characters through every hilarious escapade as they tumble their way closer together and somehow find a way to prepare themselves for the next big stage of their lives.
The only thing Arthur and Wren are sure about is each other. After ten years together, they’re living in the same Craigslist-furnished one-bedroom apartment that they moved into after graduation. Wren has quit yet another job, and Arthur is still struggling to make a difference as a teacher. The last thing they feel ready for is a baby…until they find out they’re expecting. Realizing how many years have gone by in a blur, the couple turns to their old Bucket List, determined to live life to the fullest and pursue their youthful—and sometimes outlandish—dreams before parenthood becomes an all-consuming priority.What follows is a whirlwind adventure full of laugh-out-loud humor and all-too-relatable reckonings with adulthood.Arthur and Wren’s mission to check off each Bucket List item takes them from risking mascot-induced injury to get on the Baltimore Ravens jumbotron to spending a ridiculously inflated amount on Wren’s childhood dream birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.
Mix in skydiving attempts, suburban house-hunting, and a baseball-bat-wielding grandma, and the result is a story whose sharp humor is matched only by its erceptive exploration of human relationships.
After Dad Camp, Porter wanted to examine another overlooked aspect of parenthood: the uncertainty during pregnancy and the anxiety that comes from not knowing if you’re enough.
Porter says, “I think the heart of the book is really about how hard it has become to just be a person and how that only gets amplified when you become a parent.”
With a little edge and a lot of heart, Porter’s sophomore novel is sure to delight fans of Clare Pooley and Steven Rowley. It’s a unique look at the importance of finding oneself and the joys not just of falling love, but staying in love through all the ups and downs of life. Big feels, lots of laughs, and two unforgettable protagonists situate A LAST TIME FOR EVERYTHING as a comedy classic in making.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Evan S. Porter is a novelist and writer, and he has contributed to Parents Magazine, The Onion News Network, Ask Men, The Good Men Project, Up worthy, and more. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, two girls, two dogs,and not much in the way of elbow room. His debut, Dad Camp, published in 2024,and this is his second novel.
