Very well written book. Really enjoyed this author, would definitely read more by this author and recommend on my book IG

I've been loving these types of contemporary romance books. and this one was no exception. I loved our Mcs and the plot. I laughed a cried and I couldn't get enough.

The Bounce Back is a story about Neale, an aspiring artist, whose life has blown up. She is forced to be responsible, where at 28 years old she's never had a real job. She meets our hero, Anthony while on her journey to self-discovery and a romance ensues. While this book is marketed as a rom-com, it is definitely more women's fiction.
I loved the familial relationship between Neale and her sisters. And the diversity in this book was fantastic. Unfortunately, Neale was a difficult character to connect with, due to her immaturity and selfishness. I enjoyed seeing her growth, but it still fell a little flat for me. I wish that there had been more focus on Neale and Anthony's romance, or that it had been marketed appropriately as women's fiction.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but can't say that it's one I'll remember years from now.

The Bounce Back is a light hearted and laugh out loud romance that touches your heart and is a very lovely read.

This book's cover is misleading. The style is often seen on cute, sometimes borderline fluffy romance novels, which this book was not. It didn't feel like the typical romance, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Overall, if you can forget any expectations of the story as a romance and be a little forgiving with the main character, the story is enjoyable enough.

I didn’t get too much of a romance story feeling as I was expecting and maybe that’s why I couldn’t really get into it the way I wanted. Either way, the writing is brilliant and makes me want to read more in the future by this author.

I feel I was a little short changed with this book. It's marketed as a romance but actually reads much more as a women's fiction book. So I didn't get into it at all.

I def like The. Checklist more than The Bounceback. I had a hard time rooting g for Neal’e and Anthony felt flat at times . And Neale was a little vapid to the point of annoyance. But i like Addie’s writing a lot. Yes maybe this was a bit more women’s lit but it’s still a romance

I agree with most of the other reviewers that this feels more like women's fiction than rom-com, however it is fun and cute and at some point connecting to the main character was a bit of a struggle and she kinda lights up when she chooses to pursue art and get to know her co-worker.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC

This was fun and cute! This leaned a little more toward women's fiction than romance, but I enjoyed it all the same. My only problem was that I had a hard time connecting with the main character, but that might have been just me.

This is my first time reading something by Ms. Woolridge and it was quite a delightful read. It was a sweet story about finding your passion and learning to struggle with and overcome hurdles along the way before you get there. Neale really had a lot to learn before she could move forward from her disasters. She meets Anthony and can't seemed to get him out of her mind, and they had a really great connection. He was exactly what she needed. The cast of characters was great and I really appreciated the diversity among them.
Wonderful characters and an engaging storyline will keep you captivated till the end. Great, fun, read!

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

While the cover and blurb imply this is a rom-com, it definitely feels more like women's fiction, as other reviewers stated. So this book wasn't what I was expecting. That doesn't make it a bad book by any means, but it wasn't the romance I had hoped to read.

The Bounce Back tells the story of Neale, a young artist who just messed up big time. She ruined her performance art piece in a dramatic and embarrassing fashion and got kicked out of the local art collective. To top it all off, she just discovered her whole family thinks she can’t make it on her own AND her boyfriend is a twat that won’t commit to their “non-linear” relationship. Neale is determined to prove that she can be responsible and take care of herself. So, she gets a stable job, gives up art, and is determined that she will not fall for hot co-worker Anthony. Now, if only she can stick to those plans.
I liked the idea of the Bounce Back and the story had similar vibes to Act Your Age, Eve Brown, which I loved. Unfortunately, I had a much harder time connecting with the characters. In addition to her life going sideways Neale also had an issue standing up for herself against her family, she never felt very passionate about anything other than stubbornly sticking to the whole “I am going to be boring Neale now”. I also had a hard time connecting with Anthony as a love interest. Every time he was on screen it was how beautiful he was, but I hardly felt any personality to him at all, and almost no actual connection with Neale other than being hot. The story was more about Neale’s personal growth than her romance which is fine if you know that is what you are getting into.
The book was an enjoyable and quick read but frustrating at times and not as much of a romance as I would have liked. If you like stories about personal growth and less focused on romance then you may like this one more than me.

I thought the story was unique and I liked it. I thought it was more women’s fiction than romcom, but I’d like to read more by this author.

Title: The Bounce Back
Author: Addie Woolridge
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥/5 (Warm on the Smut-O-Meter)
Series: Unnamed
Tropes: Contemporary, Workplace, Big family
Content Warning: Failure, fighting with family, Workplace tension

The Bounce Back is fiction with romantic elements. While this was marketed as a rom-com, it is neither primarily a romance or a comedy. I think a lot of the low ratings come from this misrepresentation. I fell deeply into the story and had to explain to my husband why I was crying at 10 PM while looking at my phone. Neale is a difficult person to like initially. She’s a little self-absorbed and immature. The book takes her from an unstructured leaf in the wind to a young sapling, newly rooted and growing.

We meet Neale on the day of her biggest failure, during a multimedia art piece she catches her costume on fire setting off the sprinkler system that ruins her art and others. The next day her parents urge her to move out of the family home. She also is broken up with, though her ex claims they were never actually dating. Amidst all of this, Neale decides to quit art and get a nine-to-five job. Here we see the romantic elements. Anthony is the first person Neale meets at Happy Hearts, a Seattle card company, and he ruins her plans of being a secular nun.

I loved Anthony and most of the Happy Hearts staff (you know what you did Susan), so much that I wish I could buy one of the singing Halloween cards. Neale needed this foray into the “real world” and experience of excising art from her life.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Bounce Back is listed as a rom-com. And while it does have some funny moments IMO romance is not the main aspect of the story. To me this reads more like women's fiction.

This book can be read as a standalone. However it is connected to The Checklist.

The narrator is 28 year old Neale Delacroix (3rd person POV).

There were some things that I really enjoyed about this book. I loved Neale's sisters Billie and Dylan. And I really enjoyed the relationship between the three women. I also really liked seeing the growth in Neale's character. Art is a big part of the story. And I think that was a really fun part of the book.

I did enjoy the romance aspect. Although I wish that it had been a bigger part of the story. Also unless I completely missed it I wish that there had been more mention about the diversity of the characters. There is one amazing lesbian character. And one who uses the term THEY. But I honestly did not realize that the main male character was black. I would have loved that to be more a part of the story.

I do wish that Neale had been a more likable heroine. She definitely grew on me as the story progressed. But overall she was not my favorite.

The Bounce Back is a book that focuses on the bond between sisters. It shows us about failure and growth. And there is an enjoyable romance.

*The Checklist is Dylan's book (Neale's sister).

The Bounce Back by Addie Woolridge is the first book that I've read by her and I loved it. While it was a little light on the romance portion of the rom-com I still enjoyed the book overall. While The Bounce Back might not have been heavy on traditional romance aspects, there were some between Neale and her very attractive coworker Anthony, I think to a certain degree there was a romance with Neale finding herself after she feels lost. And maybe that makes this a women's fiction book more than a romance but I wasn't too disappointed by it all and honestly I could see there being a second book that focuses less on Neale growing as an individual and growing into being part of a couple.
Neale Delacroix is the youngest of three girls in a family full of famous artist, with an exception of her werido oldest sister, Dylan, who has a normal job. Because of that Neale feels the enormous pressure to succeed, but when her art performance ends with her costume catching fire, the sprinklers going off (ruining everyone else's art) and getting kicked out of the art collective she is part of she thinks she's had enough kicks. But Neale keeps getting kicked when she's down, her family basically thinks she's a loser and her "we don't do labels" boyfriend breaks up with her. So Neale decides she's done with art and men once and for all, and decides to get a white collar job at a local greeting card company. While working at Happy Hearts doesn't make her heart sing with love her sizzling coworker, Anthony, sure makes her want to give up her vow to never date a man again. But soon Neale has to realize some hard truths about herself and she needs to confront them before she can find her niche in the world.

Thank you netgalley for this arc

Like most readers, I had expected this to be a romcom because that is how it was advertised but it was actually a woman’s fiction. I really loved how the author incorporated intersectionaliam since that is something that we often times do see ignored in more romcom settings. I think the main issue with this book is that it tried to be a romcom but ultimately was not.

First I'd like to thank Netgalley for offering an ARC of this book. I'll get straight to the point, I did not enjoy this book. It was miserably boring to get through, and I had to force myself to read it. I enjoy romance, but this kind of PG-13 cookie-cutter stuff doesn't do it for me. I got 75% of the way through and I put the book down for months. Even at that point there wasn't much happening in the story. The main character Neale is so childish I couldn't take her seriously. The characters were flat, and the plot was flimsy. I did try to finish this book completely, but I was miserable so I just skipped to the last chapter. This book was a huge miss for me.

I did not quite know what to expect from The Bounce Back but was definitely impressed. The story follows Neale as she works to put her life back together after a disastrous art show where she pretty much burned the place down. It was fun to read her fish out of water experience in a 9-5 work environment and see her sweet romance with her co-worker Anthony go from a spark to a flame.

Although this was a really great romance I appreciated all the personal growth that we got from Neale and how she seemed to really phoenix herself by the end. This book is great for anyone out there who loves creativity, romance, and laughter. The pacing was perfect, the story was unique, and the emotions felt so real and raw at times.