Publication Date: April 16, 2024
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,cWelcome Home, Caroline Kline is a touching tribute to the many unconventional paths that victory, and recovery, can take.
Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Preiss had several laugh-out-loud moments as well as some heartbreaking ones. Caroline’s life implodes when her boyfriend dumps her after planning to move cross-country together. She had already given up her job and apartment when he decided to tell her, and her life was no longer her own. Things can only go up from there, right?
Getting a call that she needed to come home to New Jersey due to a fall her dad had taken was not in her plans. She goes and never expects that her dad wants her to sub for him on his men’s softball team. Things do not bode well for her or the team after missteps, but she perseveres and finds her niche. However, she’s sometimes her own worst enemy. She meets up with people she knew growing up in their small town, and things don’t always work out well. She also steps up and helps her dad with his recovery since her stepmother is still working.
The story has a good flow, with multiple stories being told. There are unexpected twists and turns along with friends, family dynamics, memories and reminiscing, rivalries, lots of baseball games and strategies, bad news, illnesses and injuries, and even some romance with a past crush. There’s a lot of drinking, some drugs, and how to get your life back on track. There’s a second chance for Caroline to get things right in many areas when she clears her head, focuses on what she needs to, and doesn’t just feel sorry for herself. The epilogue gave closure and had an unexpected ending that felt right.
Welcome Home, Caroline Kline has a small town feel with lots of baseball terminology, strategies and games sprinkled throughout. Grab something cold to drink and draw up a chair to immerse yourself in a hot New Jersey summer.
Courtney Preiss was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey off the same Highway 9 Bruce Springsteen sings about on “Born to Run.” She graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing. She lives in Asbury Park, NJ with her husband and their rescue dog, Barry. Welcome Home, Caroline Kline is her first novel.
