Hi, I'm Zivie Owens, and I am the host of this podcast. Moms don't have time to read books.

I am also a newly minted USA Today bestselling author of the novel, Blank.

I've created a whole community of book lovers around this podcast, a publishing company, reading retreats, a bookstore, and more.

Learn more at zivimedia.com or follow me on social at Zivie Owens or join the community at

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Courtney Priest is the author of Welcome Home Caroline Klein.

Courtney 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, New Jersey with her husband

and the rescue dog Barry. Welcome Home Caroline Klein is her first novel. Welcome, Courtney. Thank you so much for coming on moms. Don't have time to read books to discuss. Welcome home, Caroline Klein. Thank you so much for having me. I listen to this podcast all the time, and this is like a big writer dream come true to be chatting with you. So thank you so much for having me, really. Oh, my gosh. I love hearing that. And your book made me laugh so much. Even in the beginning when you're like, who was Ross? Oh, my gosh. Like, I laugh out loud reading your writing. Like, so funny. Anyway, I just really appreciate your sense of humor. That's the highest compliment to me. So thank you. No, it's true. It's like, it's just so funny. Okay, why don't you tell listeners what your book is about, please. Okay. So welcome,

Caroline Klein is about a woman whose life in New York City is just falling apart in every way. She loses her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend in quick succession. She gets a call

from her ailing father that he wants her to return to her Jersey Shore hometown. He doesn't

want her as a caretaker, though. He wants her to replace him on the men's softball team,

where he's been a local star for decades,

and they're on the verge of a championship.

Coming home obviously feels mortifying for her,

but she really feels like she's out of options,

so she moves back.

She has to deal with her father's illness

and this hostile team of all men

and running into old friends turned rivals, a night gone wrong puts her

in the path of her first love. It forces her to decide if she is willing to let go of what she

...