Book Review: Here, Home, Hope By Kaira Rouda

I recently received a copy of the new novel Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda to review.


Here, Home, Hope is Kelly Mills Johnson's story. (fiction, of course) She knew something about her life had to change one day when she was sitting in the dentist's chair, waiting after grinding through a mouth guard and chipping a tooth. At almost 40, she leads a picture perfect life - a husband, two sons, and a dog named Oreo, living in the suburbs. (the fictional suburbia is Grandville, Ohio - having attended OSU - which coincidentally is also mentioned in the book, I was pleased. I know, I know, I am easily amused. Anyways...)

Everything around Kelly has started to fall apart. Her boys are off at Summer camp, which already makes her emotionally vulnerable - she gains six pounds every summer thanks to this, and her wardrobe grows as she shops to pass the time - and it starts with the neighbors' divorce, followed by her good friend Kathryn appearing in her driveway later that day upset that her 15 year old daughter had been kicked off the volleyball team for being too weak to practice. Throughout the craziness, Kelly begins to take charge of her own life, and it's time for that change to begin with her "Things To Change" list (or T2C). Since she envies her two best friends, Charlotte and Kathryn, she decides to be more like them. After years away from the workforce, maybe she could get a job. Except... break out the unexpected. (You'll have to read the book to find out!) At the end of the book, you'll find out her final T2C list. (which has changed over the course of the book) Maybe you'll even find a few ones you'd like to have on your own personal T2C list!

OK, I'm a housewife, but suburbia is more of my own personal nightmare. Maybe I'd spend a million dollars on spacious land, but certainly not on a house on a small lot (faint!). I have absolutely no interest in keeping up with the Joneses - and I constantly make fun of the suburbanites wearing pink skulls the last few years (after all, they said it to me back in school!) I don't read a ton of chick lit either, but I really enjoyed Here, Home, Hope. She reminded me a little too much of someone I knew back home - all the way from the shopping and leaving clothes hanging with the tags still on them so maybe, just maybe she could still return them (lol) to the kids away all Summer at camp... Kelly as a character had just the right amount of spunk with a little but of sarcasm that I could laugh at. I didn't think I would zip through the book as fast as I did, but I really didn't want to put it down! It's the perfect book to pack into your suitcase and read by the pool or on the plane.

Included at the end of the book is also a question and discussion section about the book, perfect for book clubs to use.

If you're interested in learning more about the author or this book, you can visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda is a paperback contemporary women's fiction book published by GreenLeaf Book Group Press. It is 213 pages long. The suggested cover price is $15.00, but Amazon has it available for $10.20 as of this posting. It is also available as an e-book for the Kindle and other e-readers. (Just $2.95 as of this posting! Such a great deal!)

Thanks to One2One Network, I received a copy of this book in exchange for sharing my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own, and not that of the author(s) or publisher.