HERE, HOME, HOPE: REVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDED
HERE, HOME, HOPE

BY KAIRA ROUDA

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:

Desperate Housewives meets Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place in HERE, HOME, HOPE

Kelly Mills Johnson is a 39-year-old mother and wife stuck in the rut of her middle-American suburban life.  A routine relationship with her lawyer husband, two uber-successful businesswomen for best friends to envy and an all-around predictable existence motivate Kelly to reinvent herself.

In an often-times humorous manner, Kelly begins diving into new projects (armed with Post-it notes and a Things to Change list), revisiting old memories and rediscovering passions.  Whether she is taking care of the anorexic teenager dumped on her doorstep, making up with an old high school friend or avoiding the boozy advances of her divorced neighbor, Kelly’s insistence on moving her life in a new direction and finding the perfect blend of home and career is inspiring and entertaining.

Rouda’s ability to capture the realities of a mid-life crisis will have readers laughing, crying and planning their own reinvention. The book comes complete with a Things to Change (TTC) list in the back so readers can get started on their own life makeover or new career endeavor.

PRAISE FOR HERE, HOME, HOPE:

"Reading Kaira Rouda is like getting together with one of your best friends - fun, fast, and full of great advice! Here, Home, Hope sparkles with humor and heart." 

-- Claire Cook, bestselling author of Must Love Dogs and the upcoming Best Staged Plans

“I loved Kaira Rouda's book. I love its irony and its courage and humor. . . It’s the real thing.” 

-- Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of Still Summer and Deep End of the Ocean

“Endearingly honest, consistently upbeat, Here, Home, Hope is an inspiring read that left me feeling genuinely hopeful.” 

–- Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers, and one of Oprah's Thirty Favorite Women Writers

“Relatable and inspiring. A perfect read for anyone experiencing one of life's "what's next?" moments.”
--Robyn Harding, Author, Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis
 

"A warm, witty, and engaging debut that had me laughing out loud. Rouda has created a lovable and perceptive heroine who navigates her struggles with honesty and awe-inspiring determination to succeed. A fun and totally satisfying read." 

-- Amy Hatvany, author of Best Kept Secrets

“Things to Change (T2C):  Make more time to read – starting with Kaira Rouda’s Here, Home, Hope, a story about how women can have it all if we own it all.”

—Kelly Meyer, mom, philanthropist and one of O Magazine’s Power List

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Due to the career ladder of her professor father, Kaira was born in Chicago (Northwestern), moved to L.A. (USC), then to Austin (University of Texas), Boston (Harvard University) and finally Columbus (The Ohio State University) where Kaira, her mom and her siblings put their collective feet down and grew roots. Kaira spent the remainder her childhood in Columbus, and following graduation from Vanderbilt University, returned to spend another 20-plus years in Central Ohio in the marketing and publishing fields. She believes she has written just about everything: for public relations and advertising clients, including copy for electronics manuals (yawn), press releases for dog ice cream and hamburgers, carpet cleaning television and radio spots, to real estate websites and more; for business newspapers, regional and national magazines and blogs; for countless charities near and dear to her heart; a business book for women entrepreneurs; and now, finally, she is writing what she dreamed of writing since fourth grade: novels of her own. Here, Home, Hope is the first of several novels, all set in the fictional suburb of Grandville, that will be published. Kaira is ecstatic her dreams are coming true.

Kaira is a philanthropist who started Central Ohio’s first homeless shelter for families in the early 1990s, served two terms on the board of the MidOhio Food Bank, the YWCA, The Wexner Center for the Arts and numerous other charities, with a particular interest in empowering women and girls. The creator of the Real Living Real Estate brand — one of the fastest growing in the country — Kaira has earned numerous awards in business. For more on her career, please visit RealYouIncorporated.com.

Two years ago — of course not following her oldest child who had picked a college there — Kaira and her husband and four kids moved to Southern California where she is busy writing, volunteering, and growing new roots.

Bio info on Kaira Rouda from her website at: www.kairarouda.com 

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW: 
HERE, HOME, HOPE welcomes readers to Grandville where Kelly Mills Johnson, a stay-at-home mom, lives with her husband and two adorable sons. The Johnsons live in a gorgeous home in these suburbs where Kelly’s husband is a successful attorney and loyal, supportive spouse. Their two boys are appropriately active, well-adjusted and right now are off at summer camp. Grandville is not a real place but with author Kaira Rouda’s rousing plot, readers might all want to live there by the time they finish reading the book, but will have to settle by knowing that HERE, HOME, HOPE is the first in a series that will center around Grandville.

Life is good for Kelly but as she nears her fortieth birthday, she becomes restless as she begins to feel her talents are being wasted and yearns for a more passionate and productive existence. Kelly knows how fortunate she is to be able to work out of her home if she wants, and with the children growing up and not needing her as much, she wants something to do to validate herself and feel personally more worthwhile. Not one to sit and do nothing, Kelly sets out on a plan to recreate a new and improved Kelly by starting a business based on her love of decorating.

Kathryn and Charlotte, Kelly’s two best friends, are not only gorgeous but also successful businesswomen. They have it all, Kelly thinks, with their prosperous husbands and fascinating, validating careers and Kelly aims to be more like them as she knows she can. Kelly pledges to make changes both in her professional and personal life, and so begins to put Post-It Notes all over her home as reminders.  A note maker myself, I was really interested in this part. As with much of HERE, HOME, HOPE, many of these notes added to the humor in the story but also some were a little sad at times showing Rouda’s commitment to creating realistic characters. Kelly creates a “Things to Change List” as well and I must admit that much of it was pretty good advice. Rouda has the list printed out in full at the end of the book for readers‘ convenience.

One other major part of the story is that before Kelly can really get into this life changing period, Kelly’s friend Kathryn asks if her anorexic daughter can stay with Kelly for a while. Kelly agrees never realizing all that this entails as she now must deal with an emotional teen who tries Kelly’s patience but who also shows the difficult issue of the disease and the pain Melanie is going through. This part of the story will give the reader much to think about and is part of the more sobering aspect of this real life tale that Kaira Rouda has written.

Kelly’s “rebirth” includes not only the problems of Melanie‘s anorexia, but also issues such as divorce, betrayal, forgiveness and more, Rouda adds just enough seriousness to the story to bring it the authenticity of real life.

As Kelly realizes who she is and all that she has, she is able to deal with many emotional issues as well as hilarious situations,  all of which lead her to being the new woman she becomes. Kaira Rouda writes with a comforting confidence and her characters are so real that they come to life, imperfections and all. With a few good twists and turns, and a lot of laughter (like the laugh out loud kind!), HERE, HOME, HOPE is an honest and captivating novel that held my attention and entertained until the end.  

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO JESSICA AT BOOKSPARKS,
I HAVE ONE COPY OF HERE, HOME, HOPE
TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY WINNER 
IF YOU MISSED MY INTERVIEW WITH 
THE AUTHOR ON SATURDAY, GO HERE
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TO WIN THE COPY OF THE BOOK 

 
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