Home Field by Hannah Gersen

Happy Monday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Hannah Gersen's Home Field.

Dean is a football coach. It's a sport he loves, one he knows better than anything. Certainly better than parenting. But after his wife commits suicide, Dean finds himself alone caring for their three children.   Finding the balance between work and family, all the while dealing with grief, is a lot for anyone to handle. For Dean it will mean rediscovering what's most important in his life. 

When this one came across my radar, first as a tour title and then as part of the Harper Collins live event on Facebook where the various marketing and publicity folks talked about their favorite reads of the summer (and I can't find the darn link). Of course the one thing that stood out for me was the comparison to Friday Night Lights - the show. It's a comparison that could go oh, so many ways, but one that led me to hope that Gersen's debut would be more focused on the characters and their stories than just football. And it was. Very much so.

Dean and his family are still grieving the loss of Nicole. Each of the kids is dealing with it - and normal kid stuff - in their own varying ways. And of course Dean isn't there as much as they'd like him to be. We know, too, that it's been this way for some time.

Home Field certainly covers territory we've seen before, meaning there aren't any big surprises. It's the characters themselves that will draw you in as a reader. Gersen has done a great job fleshing them out, creating tension between them, and giving them voice, making it easy to see them as fully rounded real people rather than constructs on the page. They earn your sympathy and your affection, making you care about their story.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Hanah Gersen you can visit her website here.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble