Baseball, family, and recovery flourishes in debut novel

     In this debut novel which came out on April 16th, readers will see a woman who is thrown back into her old hometown and tries to rebuild her life in a new way. Filled with baseball, family, NYC/NJ-humor, and Jewish references, Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Priess is a great novel about recovery and how to pick yourself back up when life keeps knocking you down. 
     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.
     I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this women’s fiction/romcom novel! I really appreciated how Caroline navigated this new chapter in her life after essentially being forced to move back home because of heartbreak, unemployment, and her father’s injury. But what I thought would be a book about a girl falling in love and being a feminist icon in the world of men’s softball turned into a book about accepting the curveballs life throws at you (pun intended) and learning to sometimes focus on yourself and the present moment rather than compare yourself to others and always be rushing ahead to the next best thing.
     Coming from a baseball-loving family, I really love how the sport was incorporated into the story (although I would have loved it even more if all of the Yankees references were Mets references 😉). It just made this book that much more exciting and gave it more of a summertime feel!  
     I loved the many characters in this novel and despite Caroline making some questionable choices in the story, I did enjoy her as a character and almost wanted some more slowed down moments during this fast-paced book. Also, having this book be set in the NYC/NJ area was a lot of fun to read about and learning about all these little Jewish saying and beliefs was really interesting.
     If you’re looking for a fun, but also kind of deep, read to get you in the mood for summer, then this is the book for you!

*I received an ARC from Putnam Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

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