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Excess Baggage: A love story.
One train ride, one unexpected connection, one life-changing choice.Tess has spent twenty years believing she already found her forever. With her wedding to Josh only months away, a cross-country train trip with her sister is meant to be a carefree bachelorette getaway—wine country, laughter, and one last adventure before the aisle. But when Tess meets Sam, a charming, thoughtful traveler headed west on his own journey, everything she thought she knew about love begins to shift.
What starts as friendly conversation quickly deepens into an undeniable connection—one Tess can’t ignore, no matter how hard she tries. As miles blur and emotions intensify, she finds herself torn between the life she planned…and the love she never expected. But Tess isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Their pasts have crossed before in ways neither of them realizes, and the truth could shatter everything they are building together.
Set against the sweeping backdrop of a romantic train ride across America, Excess Baggage is a heart-stealing story of second chances, soul-deep chemistry, and the courage to choose the life you truly want.
What starts as friendly conversation quickly deepens into an undeniable connection—one Tess can’t ignore, no matter how hard she tries. As miles blur and emotions intensify, she finds herself torn between the life she planned…and the love she never expected. But Tess isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Their pasts have crossed before in ways neither of them realizes, and the truth could shatter everything they are building together.
Set against the sweeping backdrop of a romantic train ride across America, Excess Baggage is a heart-stealing story of second chances, soul-deep chemistry, and the courage to choose the life you truly want.
274 pages, Paperback
Published August 17, 2024
About the author
Jodi Culliney
4 books12 followersJodi Culliney, former bookstore clerk and lifelong lover of books, grew up in South Dakota, where she lived a peaceful existence until she met the love of her life and made the move to Brooklyn, NY. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Black Hills State University and is working on her next novel.
Jodi's series, Love, South Dakota Style is a heartfelt, interconnected contemporary romance series about second chances, unexpected connections, and the healing power of love. Each book follows characters whose lives are tangled by past choices, unspoken truths, and the paths that bring them home—both literally and emotionally. From a cross-country train romance that derails a long-planned wedding, to two shattered hearts learning to trust again, to a one-night encounter that blossoms into something deeper, these stories blend emotional depth with small-town warmth. With settings that range from a tight-knit South Dakota small town to big cities and cross-country travels, this series explores how love can find you when you’re lost, remake you when you’re broken, and anchor you when the world shifts beneath your feet.
Jodi's series, Love, South Dakota Style is a heartfelt, interconnected contemporary romance series about second chances, unexpected connections, and the healing power of love. Each book follows characters whose lives are tangled by past choices, unspoken truths, and the paths that bring them home—both literally and emotionally. From a cross-country train romance that derails a long-planned wedding, to two shattered hearts learning to trust again, to a one-night encounter that blossoms into something deeper, these stories blend emotional depth with small-town warmth. With settings that range from a tight-knit South Dakota small town to big cities and cross-country travels, this series explores how love can find you when you’re lost, remake you when you’re broken, and anchor you when the world shifts beneath your feet.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 3, 2026
Jodi Culliney’s Excess Baggage is a warm and emotionally tangled romance about Tess Lefferts, a Brooklyn baker on a cross-country train trip with her gloriously blunt pregnant sister Ruth, and Sam Charles, a writer trying to finish the third book in his series while avoiding airplanes and his own loneliness. Tess is engaged to Josh, her childhood sweetheart, but the farther the train carries her, the more her old life starts to feel like a dress that no longer fits. What begins with lost glasses, monster cookies, a missing engagement ring, and a too-charming waiter named Todd slowly becomes a story about desire, timing, family, and the hard, frightening work of admitting when the safe choice has become the wrong one.
I was surprised by how much I liked the book’s messy emotional honesty. Tess could have easily become a simple “woman torn between two men” heroine, but she feels more bruised and specific than that. Her panic isn’t just about Sam. It’s about being unseen by Josh, being edited down by the life she thought she wanted, and still feeling obligated to honor the girl who once loved him. The train setting gives the romance a lovely sense of suspension, like Tess and Sam are living inside a pocket of borrowed time. Their conversations over tea, wine, Van Morrison, and Sam’s writing have that dreamy almost-unreal quality travel can create, but the book is smart enough to let reality rush back in. I especially liked the ache of Sam’s lost letter, because it turns a romantic misunderstanding into something sharper than a gimmick. Both of them are waiting, wounded, and misreading silence as rejection.
The writing is at its strongest when it leans into intimacy and familial texture. Ruth is a scene-stealer, profane and tender and meddlesome in ways that made me laugh even when I wanted to shake her. Her hiding of the ring and later the invitation is not exactly defensible, but it feels rooted in fierce sisterly terror rather than plot machinery, and that gives the story some bite. I also appreciated how food, music, and books keep threading through the emotional life of the novel. Tess’s baking, especially the monster cookies tied to her grandmother and childhood kitchen, gives her softness and history. Sam’s writer’s block breaking open after meeting Tess is a little grand, but it works because the book is so sincerely interested in how love can reawaken a person’s voice. At times, the prose can run hot, with repeated intensities and a few moments where the longing circles the same feeling, but I didn’t mind much. The excess is part of the book’s unique feel.
The novel isn’t really arguing for impulsive romance so much as it’s arguing for self-recognition, for the courage to stop performing gratitude for a life that’s quietly draining you. I closed the book with affection for its big feelings, its sisterly chaos, and its belief that sometimes the person who helps you lose your baggage is also the one who sees you most clearly. I’d recommend Excess Baggage to readers who enjoy emotional, character-driven contemporary romance with family drama, slow-burn yearning, fated timing, and a heroine who has to break her own heart a little before she can choose joy.
I was surprised by how much I liked the book’s messy emotional honesty. Tess could have easily become a simple “woman torn between two men” heroine, but she feels more bruised and specific than that. Her panic isn’t just about Sam. It’s about being unseen by Josh, being edited down by the life she thought she wanted, and still feeling obligated to honor the girl who once loved him. The train setting gives the romance a lovely sense of suspension, like Tess and Sam are living inside a pocket of borrowed time. Their conversations over tea, wine, Van Morrison, and Sam’s writing have that dreamy almost-unreal quality travel can create, but the book is smart enough to let reality rush back in. I especially liked the ache of Sam’s lost letter, because it turns a romantic misunderstanding into something sharper than a gimmick. Both of them are waiting, wounded, and misreading silence as rejection.
The writing is at its strongest when it leans into intimacy and familial texture. Ruth is a scene-stealer, profane and tender and meddlesome in ways that made me laugh even when I wanted to shake her. Her hiding of the ring and later the invitation is not exactly defensible, but it feels rooted in fierce sisterly terror rather than plot machinery, and that gives the story some bite. I also appreciated how food, music, and books keep threading through the emotional life of the novel. Tess’s baking, especially the monster cookies tied to her grandmother and childhood kitchen, gives her softness and history. Sam’s writer’s block breaking open after meeting Tess is a little grand, but it works because the book is so sincerely interested in how love can reawaken a person’s voice. At times, the prose can run hot, with repeated intensities and a few moments where the longing circles the same feeling, but I didn’t mind much. The excess is part of the book’s unique feel.
The novel isn’t really arguing for impulsive romance so much as it’s arguing for self-recognition, for the courage to stop performing gratitude for a life that’s quietly draining you. I closed the book with affection for its big feelings, its sisterly chaos, and its belief that sometimes the person who helps you lose your baggage is also the one who sees you most clearly. I’d recommend Excess Baggage to readers who enjoy emotional, character-driven contemporary romance with family drama, slow-burn yearning, fated timing, and a heroine who has to break her own heart a little before she can choose joy.
Read
May 18, 2026This heartfelt romance delivers an emotional journey filled with longing, self-discovery, and the irresistible pull of unexpected connection. Set against the backdrop of a cross-country train ride, the story beautifully captures the feeling of being suspended between the life you planned and the life your heart suddenly begins to imagine.
Tess is an engaging and relatable protagonist. Having loved Josh since high school, she believes her future is already decided. Her upcoming wedding represents comfort, history, and certainty. But when she meets Sam aboard the train, everything she thought she knew about love begins to shift. The chemistry between Tess and Sam feels natural and believable, growing slowly through shared conversations, stolen moments, and the intimacy that comes from traveling together.
The train journey itself adds charm and atmosphere to the story. The changing scenery mirrors Tess’s emotional transformation, creating a romantic, almost cinematic quality. From quiet late-night conversations to moments of tension and vulnerability, the pacing keeps readers invested throughout the journey.
Fans of emotional contemporary romance will appreciate the novel’s blend of romance, heartbreak, and personal growth. The story balances tender moments with emotional stakes, ultimately delivering a thoughtful exploration of love, timing, and the courage it takes to question the path you thought was certain.
Tess is an engaging and relatable protagonist. Having loved Josh since high school, she believes her future is already decided. Her upcoming wedding represents comfort, history, and certainty. But when she meets Sam aboard the train, everything she thought she knew about love begins to shift. The chemistry between Tess and Sam feels natural and believable, growing slowly through shared conversations, stolen moments, and the intimacy that comes from traveling together.
The train journey itself adds charm and atmosphere to the story. The changing scenery mirrors Tess’s emotional transformation, creating a romantic, almost cinematic quality. From quiet late-night conversations to moments of tension and vulnerability, the pacing keeps readers invested throughout the journey.
Fans of emotional contemporary romance will appreciate the novel’s blend of romance, heartbreak, and personal growth. The story balances tender moments with emotional stakes, ultimately delivering a thoughtful exploration of love, timing, and the courage it takes to question the path you thought was certain.
April 4, 2025
Written by Jodi Hettinger, Wessington springs native. Romance, well written. Tessa, Sister Rose, Josh and Sam... Fitz.
August 6, 2025
I absolutely love this love story! The characters are well developed and the dialogue is very true to life.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews