WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE by Courtney Preiss is an emotional story about friends, family, and love. Family dynamics and tested friendships are themes in this lovely story. Caroline Kline is a single, 30-year-old woman living and working in New York City. She is living her dream life and falls in love with a pretty boy and agrees to move to California with him. They were together for three years, she quit her job and gave up her apartment when her boyfriend said he was moving to California, only he was going alone!
Caroline returns to the home in Glen Book, New Jersey she left years ago as her father had fallen and was hurt. He needs her help with many things but mostly to take his place on his men's softball team! What?? Get ready to meet a few toxic men who don't want her playing on their team! WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE shows just what a hot mess Caroline is when she returns home. The family drama in this crazy story is well done and I giggled quite a bit with the Jewish references. It is hard to remember that WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE is a debut novel from Courtney Preiss. That's how much I enjoyed it.
Overall, WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE is an emotional book about past mistakes and growing and changing. I liked that the family members were working hard to become a family once again. I enjoyed watching Caroline rebuild her life. Some of the choices Caroline makes made me want to shake her and tell her to use her brain. At the same time, her bad decisions will lead her to better things. I grew up in New Jersey and spent many summers down at the Jersey shore so this story really gave me many of the feels I crave in a book!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Fresh Fiction. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
A debut novel sparkling with wit and insight about a young woman whose reluctant return to her Jersey Shore hometown gives her the second chance she didn’t know she needed.Caroline Kline isn't ready to strike out.In New York City, newly single Caroline is stumbling her way through the recent implosion of her life. After a surprise breakup leaves her with no job, no apartment, and no backup plan, she’s unsure of what to do next. That is, until Caroline’s father, Leo, injures himself in a bad fall and asks her to move home to the Jersey Shore suburb she’d always been desperate to escape. But Leo doesn’t want his daughter to be his caretaker; he needs her to replace him as third baseman in his local men’s softball league. This isn’t just any season, Leo claims. This is the year they have a real shot at the World Series, the pride and joy of Glen Brook, New Jersey.Caroline agrees to move home, concerned that Leo is hiding a more serious health condition than he’s willing to admit. As the first female player in a league full of old-school men, she’s up against more than a few challenges. And when a night gone wrong lands her in the path of her hometown crush—and first love—Caroline struggles to reconcile the life she thought she’d have with the life she might actually want.Sharply observed and full of humor and heart, Welcome Home, Caroline Kline is a touching tribute to the many unconventional paths that victory, and recovery, can take.
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