Joanie Caldwell is more than happy to leave the stuffy girls boarding school her all-but-absent father shipped her off to and return home. It's been more than two years since she has been home with her mother and brother and she couldn't be happier, even though it means having to re-learn her surroundings. But at least she's happy, comfortable and feeling loved, because that's what truly matters.

Return to Love is a heartwarming take of what happens when we return home. Joanie is a kind and admirable girl searching for her place in the world she loves. The fears of every girl when starting a new school are so well described that the world of high school bursts through the page. The real gem of the book, though, are the supporting characters. A reader cannot help but fall in love with the friends and family surrounding Joanie in her homecoming, and it is these characters that truly show why Joanie loves her home and why it is the best place for her.

The only drawback to Return to Love, however, is that despite the majority of the story revolving around car trips, the plot never seems to go anywhere. While Joanie faces several challenges, none is truly large or threatening enough to make her return home seem overly dramatic or troublesome. Maybe that's the point, though, because not every homecoming needs to be troublesome, especially when there's so much love bouncing around.