I really loved this book. It was fun, exciting and full of love. I loved the main leads Luke and Abby and obviously the childhood to lovers trope can never go wrong.
I also really like how the side characters were involved in the story and loved them all. Be it the best friend, sister or the ex boyfriend, lol. These characters were really light and even interesting and didn’t seem to be out of the plot.

I really loved this one, I liked that the romance storyline was secondary to Abby finding herself as well as getting along with her sister.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, this book was so cute! This was the first book I read by Catherine Walsh and with how much I enjoyed it, I will definitely be checking out her first book - One Night Only.

Abby leaves New York and returns to her hometown in Ireland after her fiancé breaks of their engagement and she loses her job. She ends up meeting Luke Bailey her first night home who she thought was a cute stranger, but ends up being the boy next door who she grew up with.

I really enjoyed the romance and chemistry between Abby and Luke and also liked getting to see Abby reconnect and develop a stronger relationship with her sister. The chemistry between the two MC's felt real and authentic. They had a lot of banter, but I could feel the connection they had throughout the entire book.

I liked how this book was set up - with short, sweet chapters that made me say "just one more chapter" until I ultimately ended up finishing the book in less than 48 hours.

This was such a sweet romance novel and is the perfect Valentine's Day read!

This book is the perfect Valentine’s Day rom-com release. I picked this one out originally because of how cute the cover was (it will look great on a bookshelf!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the book itself. It follows the usual ‘will they/won’t they’ trope while dealing with a few big life events (loss of job, ending of a relationship, infertility, and so on) in a lighthearted yet heartfelt way. In Ireland! The author did a great job of setting the scene in Ireland - and the stage - for a fun, flirty romance. I especially enjoyed how the author framed various relationships (specifically the sisterly bond, as well as Abby and Luke’s relationship) in the book; they all felt so real and genuine. And the humour woven throughout elevated the story. The only drawback for me was that I felt that a few of the chapters ended or started abruptly and I had to flip back a few pages because I wondered if I missed something/shot ahead a chapter by mistake. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of rom-com reads!
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

4 ⭐️ A charming rom-com that will have you daydreaming about living a small-town life in Ireland

I adored this story. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I read it in one sitting. It’s simple, light-hearted, and fun. An instant comfort read and one I’ll be recommending. ❤️


All the characters are lovable in their own way.

-Abby is a go-getter whose fast-paced life has abruptly come to a halt and flipped inside down. While this change isn’t easy, if anyone can figure out how to keep moving forward, it’s Abby.

-Luke is the definition of a cinnamon roll. He was the awkward boy next door who grew into an absolute hottie. But beyond his good looks, he had a heart of gold. Luke puts everyone else’s needs before his own - the definition of a small-town gentleman.

-Louise is Abby’s older sister who puts up walls to protect her gentle heart. And after years of hardly speaking to each other, these two sisters end up living under the same roof and only time will break down whatever barriers keep them apart.

-Beth is the kindest person in the history of fictional characters. She’s a wonderful friend and a brave businesswoman. I love how she focuses on the positive and always knows how to make someone feel better. I hope Beth gets her own book!


The romance is sweet. I love the whole ‘We used to be childhood best friends but drifted apart” trope. It always makes me feel butterflies when they see each other for the first time in years and there’s that instant spark. Abby and Luke did have some miscommunication issues, which made me roll my eyes, but the conflicts were resolved relatively quickly, so it didn’t drag on.


FYI, the sex scenes are basically a non-descriptive highlight reel. These scenes were very tasteful and well-done, but I’m not going to lie, I was hoping things would get a little dirty. If I’m reading an adult romance, especially if the characters are over the age of 25, I expect some explicit sexual content. I understand that’s not always the case but it is my preference.


The setting - a quaint Irish countryside town - filled me with wanderlust. From the descriptions of the small-town life to the beautiful landscape, it painted such a visor picture! I’ve never been to Ireland but this story makes my heart ache to visit.


The pacing is perfect. Everything about this story just flowed so perfectly. From beginning to the middle to the end, you’ll find yourself captivated and eager to see where the story takes you next!


Overall, The Rebound is a lovely rom-com with an emphasis on family, friendship, and love. It’s nothing that will blow your mind, but it’ll make you feel butterflies and warmth.

I LOVED this story and couldn't put it down! It was funny, smart, and romantic without feeling like it was trying too hard. I love all the characters and the way the story played out. It's refreshing to read an ending where the heroine doesn't have to give up her intense and smart job to get the happy ending she wanted. Loved this.

Thankyou to Netgalley for an ARC and the chance to review this book.

The Rebound is a slow burn rom com that was a perfect summer read, in fact I read it in a day. It had a great amount of cutesy romance and fluff as well as personal growth from the character. That being said it was a very easy to consume book with not too much to think about. A perfect rom com. A little too slow burn for my liking, but that characters made up for that. Abby made me laugh out loud, her tendency to blurt things out added a relatable element to the story. Luke was a swoon worthy character who I can see many others falling for. Each side character was so vastly different and all added a little bit of complexity to the story which I loved.

Fun and flirty, The Rebound is the perfect 'will they, won't they' love story.

Main character Abby suddenly finds herself with no job, no fiancé, and no money. She has no choice but to leave the luxuries of New York for the sleepy Irish village where she grew up. Sharing a home with her sister is daunting enough, but faced with the prospect of rebuilding her life again from scratch? It's clear that Abby needs a lucky break - and fast.

Enter Luke Bailey. Handsome, charming, and hard-working; Abby can easily see that Luke is the complete package. There's just one problem - Luke and Abby were once best friends. With the memory of a shared childhood and the space left by years apart hanging between them, can Abby risk giving her heart away again so quickly?

Although she evidently has her faults, Abby is a likeable character and you can't help willing her to succeed. This is a romance novel but at its heart, all Abby wants is to find her place in the world. She's learned the hard way that all the money and career success in the world mean nothing when the chips are down. With a heart battered and bruised by her ex, she can only hope that her childhood home might just hold the answers.

A sweet and slow-burning romance story, The Rebound is an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC.

Once again, a homerun for Catherine Walsh! The Rebound is a great romcom, absolutely funny and realistic.

Abby goes back to her hometown in rural Ireland after getting dumped by her fiancé, losing her job at a big bank in a huge scandal where herself and everyone lost their savings and investments and losing her new appartement owned by her former employer. Obviously, she feels pretty down and going to stay with her sister with whom she has a strained relationship feels like a failure for this high achiever. The first person she sees is her childhood friend and neighbor Luke who she doesn’t recognize at first (major glow-up).

Abby makes things complicated for herself by not telling the truth about her stay with her sister, so everyone thinks she is engaged (making her kind of an a-hole to flirt with Luke), that she is there just for a couple weeks. Obviously, things with Luke get complicated, hot and cold…

This book has an amazing balance between the romance and everything else she is living. I loved reading the slow evolution of her relationship with her sister, it was absolutely beautiful. It was totally human, it shows how life is messy and how easily we interpret words, actions or expressions for something totally wrong from someone else, how we make things more complicated for no good reason. It depicts a young strong and unapologetically ambitious woman, the kind of character I prefer. So, this is not only a cute and funny romance, it’s a book about relationships with family, friends and herself. How you get back on your feet after getting knocked down.

Absolutely great book, I strongly recommend this author, her first book was great as well!

The Rebound by Catherine Walsh

Synopsis: Abby had everything. The job, the apartment in the city, and an amazing fiance. That was until her fiance broke up with her, and then the company she was working for went bankrupt. Abby finds herself back in her hometown of Clonard, Ireland. She is living with her sister who gets on her nerves, in a town she ran away from. Jobless, homeless, and loveless, Abby finds out that maybe the town she was so quick to get out of has more to offer. Especially, when she is reunited with the boy next door, Luke Bailey. Abby senses her priorities start to shift.

You all know I LOVE a good RomCom book and this one truly delivered! I absolutely fell in love with Luke Bailey. He will definitely become everyone's most desired book boyfriend! I adored Abby so so much. She was a brazen, driven, and ambitious main character. She did not settle for what she wanted, which I really liked. She was able to have the life she wanted, and share it with the guy she fell for. There was only one part where the characters were not communicating fully that bothered me, but I understood. Miscommunication usually isn’t my favorite, but I feel like the characters actually needed it. Catherine Walsh has an amazing knack for giving each character a unique voice, and she truly made me laugh out loud quite a few times!

This one gets a 4.5/5 ⭐️

If you want a feel good RomCom book that will make you fall in love with the characters and Ireland, pick up this book! It is coming February 14, 2022. You can pre-order it on Barnes and Noble today, or on Amazon for your Kindle.

I love anything set in Ireland! I had the privilege of visiting the country in 2014 with my family and it was 11 of the best days of my life!

We traversed the entire country by car - my Dad was the REAL MVP for navigating the wrong side of the car and road with not a stop light in sight but too many round-a-bouts for our liking! The people are some of the kindest, the culture was beautiful, the food was amazing and the vistas were breathtaking. So set a book in Ireland and I'll be the first to sign up to read it!

This was a great surprise to receive the approval on Netgalley - I was immediately sucked into the story and cheering Abby on after her life was turned upside down. It was a really quick read until about 40% of the way through when it started to stall, sub plots were introduced that, upon finishing the book, just added pages without adding depth.

The save the beach element felt a bit contrived and the story started to lose its luster for me. This was a fairly predictable romcom - but don't get me wrong, that isn't a bad thing! I read romcoms for their predictability - so this didn't disappoint.

All in all, I enjoyed this, but I don't think it will be a lasting or memorable read.

3.5 final rating

After reading her debut book, One Night Only and really enjoying reading it, I decided to try out her newest book, The Rebound, which will be released on the Valentine's Day itself!

Abby was laid off from her work, and returned back to her childhood town, Clonard in Ireland. As she is trying to start her new life in Ireland, after living in Manhattan for so long, she is trying to adjust her life--and she meets her childhood friend Luke, who has grown into a tall dark handsome man. The story is mainly tells about the developing romance between Abby and Luke, and how Abby adjusts to her new life in Clonard.

OK, this was actually a funny read and I felt like I was watching a cheesy Hallmark romance movie on the TV when I was reading this book. The first part of the story was slightly boring but gradually it got slightly interesting. However, unlike One Night Only, this was not as good as her debut book, but nonetheless I actually enjoyed reading the book and the slow developing romance between Abby and Luke.

If you want a Happily Ever after stories, then this book is one for you--worth 3.5 stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. I liked the premise of the book and was excited to dig in. Abby's fiance breaks up with her and then she loses her job at a financial firm in NYC (a la Bernie Madoff/Lehman Brothers) and moves back home to Ireland with her sister. She reconnects with an old family friend and then starts rebuilding her life. This love story was too slow burn for me and didn't have the pay off I was looking for. I found myself only meh on the book.

It's a comforting read for me. ✨

Really loved how it ends. 👀💛

The book does not solely revolve on romantic relationships, it also tackles family & career story lines (which I think was, and is great. Kudos Ms. Walsh ✨)

The protagonist's journey from despising her roots to learning to love it was well written.

//Actual Rating: 4.8 stars//

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the Arc.
I loved the authors writing in this, I definitely want to check out more of her work in the future, I need me a Luke Bailey! Overall, 4 stars.

Thank you net galley for a copy in exchange for my opinion. The Rebound was such a fun and funny story. I really enjoyed Abby and Luke. All the side characters were delightful

I was absolutely delighted to receive an advanced copy of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 by Catherine Walsh as her previous book 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 was a solid 5-star read of mine. This is a super sweet and fun romcom set in small town Ireland. Abby Reynolds finds herself lost and without many options after he boyfriend of 3 years Tyler breaks off their engagement mere weeks before the New York, NY company she worked for imploded – leaving her not only single and unemployed but also homeless. She returns home to Clonard, Ireland to stay with her sister who now lives in their childhood home with here husband while Abby sorts out her life, only she didn’t exactly tell her family the extend of what had happened.

Returning home after having been away for a long time is never easy. It is amazing how much people change – I loved that Abby didn’t recognize Luke when they first met … and equally loved that he had a bit of fun at her expense when he realized this was the case. I know some will find Abby frustrating because she is indecisive, inadvertently leads Luke on and keeps secrets from her family. However, I think it is quite realistic. I can only imagine what it would feel like to have so much change in your life all at once. For someone as career and goal driven as Abby it would be tough to admit your life is in shambles and you don’t have a clear path out of the mess. I thought it was really great to see how she grew and matured throughout the book and especially how she gained her independence.

The secondary characters were really great. I was so surprised to read the author notes and find out Louise wasn’t originally a part of the book, the relationship between the sisters was so well done and felt equally as important as the romantic relationship with Luke. Abby and Louise are so different but really when you boil it down also very similar at their core.

Luke is the-boy-next-door, he is charming, endearing and easy on the eyes. He seems like such a good guy, considerate, generous and thoughtful. At times I was a bit frustrated with Abby for the way she treated him and was so thoughtless with his feelings – knowing this was part of her self-growth journey, but still he just always took it in stride. The flirting and the tug-and-pull of their relationship was very entertaining and I kept waiting for that “this is it” moment when thy would finally get together. I would have loved to know more about Lukes story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy feel-good read, Abby and Luke were so fun, their banter was adorable keeping me entertained through out. Their story was a bit of a slow burn, which I coincidently love, but I did find myself occasionally saying “just have the talk already, tell each other how you feel”. I would absolutely recommend this book to others. It is not closed door, however there isn’t a lot of steamy scenes so I think it would still be enjoyable for those who enjoy closed door romance. It felt very much like a Hallmark romance to me.

Thank you to Catherine Walsh, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

3.75 ⭐️

The story in itself was very predictable but I still found myself enjoying it quite a lot! It was also very easy to get into it so that was a plus point.

Our MC, Abby was a strong, opinionated woman, which I loved seeing a lot. There were some times when I didn’t like her behaviour but that was in the beginning and she quickly made up for it!

Small town setting is one of my favourites to read about and to no one’s surprise, it was one of my favourite elements in this one too! I loved the close knit community and seeing how they all interact with each other AND take care of each other!

Another thing I enjoyed seeing was the development in Abby and her sister’s relationship. In fact, all of Abby’s friendships in here are very adorable and heartwarming!

Luke was so sweet (but also grumpy) so I had a really good time reading their chapters and watching them interact!
They had a childhood friends to lovers plus slow burn romance so of course I loved it!


In all honesty, I very much enjoyed reading The Rebound but maybe after reading and loving the author’s debut ‘One Night Only’, I had way too high expectations (which is my own fault) and maybe that’s why I’m inclined towards it not being a five star read for me.

A super cute and fun rom-com set in Ireland. A totally wonderful escape and a really fun loving and light romance. I really enjoyed The Rebound with Abby Reynolds as she navigates the big changes in her life. Suddenly thrown off course from her goals, she finds herself unemployed and unengaged and on her way back home to Ireland after five years away. For once she’s unsure of herself and doesn’t know what direction to take or what to do, but being home will be refreshing for her. Especially when she runs into Luke Bailey, former childhood best friend and next door neighbor. She finds herself being able to focus on herself and what she wants and what she wants is Luke Bailey…..and a job. When her past comes calling, Abby has to decide if she’s changed for the better and when a job offer comes in in a new town her relationships, the old and new, will be tested.

This was a really fun book. I couldn’t get over Abby and Luke’s first and second meeting with each other. Just super funny, couldn’t stop grinning about it. Their flirty banter was so fun and you knew that when they finally got together it was going to be fire. I really enjoyed Abby’s growth throughout the book also. She really hit rock bottom, and home was the last place she wanted to be but in reality it was the best place for her, back to her roots. Also, I loved all the characters in this book. I loved all the relationships she had, the new ones, rekindling the old ones, and especially her and her sisters relationship. It was sweet seeing Abby and her sister, Louise, become really close. Overall this was a really awesome book. It was lighthearted, really fun at times and super sweet and romantic. Easy recommendation!

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

Thanks NetGalley and Boukouture for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Rebound is exactly what you expect from a contemporary romance set in Ireland and, while it offers no shocks or surprises and follows a fairly standard narrative, this does not make it a difficult read. It is, for the most part, a light hearted romance which offers comedy in the form of Abby and Luke's misfortune and side characters such as Beth and Jess. The familial relationship between Abby and Louise is heart warming, though it does little to endear the reader towards Abby for the first 2/3 of the book.

The novel reads easily and if contemporary romance in a semi-rural setting is your thing, then this is a book you won't want to put down!