Thank you for allowing me to read this book in advance!
This story got me hooked from the beggining. Love the way Abby and Luke met each other, without her realizing it, and things progressed.
There were some obstacles but they fought through it. Other characters like Beth, Louise and Tomasz was also interesting ones. Loved the banter between Abby and Luke but the constant fights (when it was clear they liked each other) annoyed me a bit.
After all, it was a good read.

Unfortunately this story just did not work for me. I found the main character's motivations for her secrecy to be a little overdone and not very believable. I think her anger towards the male main character to be silly and unwarranted considering he was being an upstanding guy.

This is a slice of life, character driven story and unfortunately there just wasn't enough plot to keep me interested. I don't, however, think this book is inherently bad, I just think my reading preferences don't align with this author's writing style. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to someone who reads similar books.

Adored this book. Just so much fun and such a welcome distraction when you need one. Really well done - looking fwd to reading everything Catherine writes.

It would be an understatement to say I was SO excited to stumble across another book by Catherine Walsh on NetGalley!! One Night Only (Catherines debut novel) quickly became one of my favourite reads of 2021 so of course I jumped at the chance to read The Rebound, which was just as good!

The Rebound centers around our MC Abby, who has just lost her job/career, her savings, her home, and her fiancé. Stuck and feeling like she has no other options, she returns to her hometown in Ireland to crash with her older sister and brother-in-law. Abby is such a relatable and inspirational character, and even though I haven’t been through the kind of ‘crash’ Abby’s gone through, I found her story so relatable, compelling and heartwarming.

4.5 stars rounded up! 💗

I absolutely adored this book and couldn't stop smiling the entire time I was reading.

Abby was a likeable and relatable character who was funny, authentic, ambitious and a real friend to those she cared about. I loved that she wasn't someone who lived for drama and craved attention. The love interest Luke was absolutely perfect too and it was so refreshing to have a male character who was mature and didn't flounce off in a huff whenever he was annoyed or didn't get his way - he actually talked things out and acknowledged when it was time to give someone space.

The story was well written and wasn't cheesy or full of Irish stereotypes or clichés (thank god) - it just felt real. It was about average, relatable people in their average, relatable lives with some sweet, flirty moments sprinkled on top to completely melt your heart.

Honestly? I loved every single page of it.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Abby loses her job, her fiance and her savings, and comes home to a small place in Ireland, to stay with her sister Louise (with whom she's always had a difficult relationship) and her husband Tomasz (who everyone calls that - no Tom-ming in sight). She also runs into her childhood pal, now grown into an attractive physiotherapist in training. While in Ireland, she finds perspective, and more. Also, there's some whale and beach-saving.

A fluffy chicklit novel whose strength is somewhat spoilery: I liked what the novel did at the end, how it chose to deal with the homecoming / potentially retreatist-seeming scenario. I also appreciated that the Polish immigrant character got to speak actual English and not a mangled version thereof.

There are some funny and touching moments, the latter primarily related to the relationship between the protagonist and her sister - in fact, the sister is clearly the standout character, and I can't help feeling I would have enjoyed being in her head more than being in Abby's.

What I didn't enjoy was the way in which protagonist was introduced at the beginning - it made her seem unnecessarily mean-spirited in a way that was very internalised-sexist. And in general, I wouldn't have minded her being drawn a little more decisively - if she's meant to be spike-y and occasionally mean, let her be properly and enjoyably mean, and if she's meant to be relatable, maybe some of her thoughts were a little too self-centred (like that reaction she had around her sister in one of the first scenes).

Overall, I think the book understands the assignment, but at the same time, despite some good moments, it just didn't stand out enough. It's a pleasant enough beach read but not something I'd keep on my shelf after reading once. Other readers may, of course, find something that'll stay with them more.

I adored this book. Abby and Luke are so freaking cute and I loved getting to read their story. I also really enjoyed Abby’s journey with her familial relationships and her associations with Clonard. If I could have more of anything in this book, I’d say more childhood stories. It’s frequently mentioned that they were super close friends as kids but we don’t actually get much reminiscing. I’d have loved to hear Luke gush about his childhood crush on Abby. Also, I didn't love Louise but I very much approve of her activism. I would certainly recommend this to anyone that likes contemporary romance with easy readability.

The Rebound was a cute and funny romance about a woman named Abby who had to return to her small hometown in Ireland after the company she worked for in New York went under.

She meets a mysterious and hunky man named Luke one late night at the bus stop, later finding out that he was her childhood friend and next door neighbour.

It’s light-hearted, friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance vibes. The writing was great and I loved the relationship between Abby and her sister Louise.

I also really loved the small-town charm of the book. Beth, the local cafe owner that befriends Abby was another highlight character for me.

Favourite parts of the book: Abby and Luke meeting, the egg hunt, Abby and Tomasz talking about Louise & Abby’s relationship, the epilogue

Overall a really great romance book with lots of charm and heart. I’d read it again!

Overall rating: 3.75 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️✨
Spice: 0.5/5 🌶

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion below.

Overall impressions

Fun, lighthearted read that gave me Hallmark movie/ rom-com vibes. The Rebound by Catherine Walsh takes place in a small village in Ireland by the sea. After the main character Abby experiences two major setbacks in life she decides to return to her childhood home to sort things out. While there she learns a lot about herself – in a way I feel like the book on the surface could be seen as just a “childhood friends meet again as adults and romantic chaos ensues” kind of thing BUT really it’s about rebounding and bouncing back when life presents you with challenges- you never know what you will learn about yourself and what you want out of life.

The Rebound by Catherine Walsh is an interesting tale. The cover of the book markets the novel as a story of a woman, Abby Reynolds, trying to get over the loss of her boyfriend and her job in New York. While it is definitely that, the more interesting parts of the story were how Abby was unwittingly reconnecting with her childhood home and her sister; the potential "rebound" with childhood friend Luke Bailey felt secondary.

While the potential romance was, to me, the less interesting part of the story, it was still great and Luke is a wonderful character. There were also so many fantastic side characters in this novel such as Abby's sister, Lousie, old friend from New York Jess, and new friend Beth. The interactions between Abby and her sister were the definite highlights of the story. My only complaint is that I wish a little more time was spent developing the relationship between Abby and Luke, but overall this book was a quick, fun read! I recommend this book to readers of small town stories, family stories, and romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.75

The Rebound is a romantic comedy about a newly single woman going back to her hometown in Ireland after some unfortunate events.

This book overall was quite enjoyable. The writing is absolutely fantastic and there were a few elements, like the setting of the story that I really enjoyed. However, the plot and storyline just wasn’t what I had really been expecting.

This is in the heroine’s POV only and does have the childhood friends-to-strangers-to-lovers trope, which I did really enjoy. Even though this book is categorized as a romantic comedy, I personally felt like it was more of a women’s fiction only. The romantic and comedic subplot was just very slow and minimal.

The main character, Abby Reynolds was great. Her journey in rediscovering herself and reconnecting with her sister was absolutely fantastic and well written. Her character development and growth throughout the story was also really well developed.

The romance in this book again wasn’t that significant as the story focused a lot more on Abby’s journey with her career, but the connection she had with the hero, Luke Bailey was quite heartwarming. There was low angst and conflict between them as well, which was really nice.

The ending did feel a bit rushed but was still a nice conclusion to Abby’s story. Overall, just a charming and well written story about a heroine reconnecting with her family and herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly DNF'd this book and can't give it an accurate rating. I couldn't get into it. The tone of the character and progression was moving too slowly and made it hard to get invested.

When your life goes up in spectacular flames, fleeing home for a regrouping seems like the thing to do even when home can be a minefield of emotions! A story of starting over and how renewing old relationships can be the new beginning that you didn't even know you needed. A sweet story of romance, getting your life back on track, mending fences with loved ones and so much more all wrapped in a delightfully entertaining plot to keep you humorously entertained for hours! Excellent characters, fantastic setting, well woven storyline are all just the ticket to wonderfully written story and this book has that and more! I'm excited to read more stories by this author in the future!

This was a super fun book, I ended up reading this in one sitting. It's one of those cheesy rom-coms that I use as a palate cleanser between fantasy books.
The main couple was fun to read about, although I will probably forget everything in a few months. I think I would have enjoyed this slightly more if the two main characters were a little more developed. I especially liked the side characters, Jess and Beth were fun side characters.
There were a few small elements I enjoyed in this. First, the mention of Portugal: first that the parents were living here and also the Portuguese Man O' War. We love to see it. Also, the egg hunt. Scavenger hunts are a niche activity I love to see in books.
I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between the main character and her older sister develop. As someone who has a younger sister, I really liked seeing two sisters bonding and how realistic their relationship was.

Abby Reynolds left small town Ireland for New York and didn’t look back. She built an ideal life for herself, fancy job, loft apartment, smooth American fiancé until her company goes bust, she looses her job and the flat that went with it and her fiancé has doubts about their relationship and calls it all off. Abby bolts for home and while she’s at it she may as well get herself some rebound action with the hot/only guy in the airport on arrival to cheer herself up. Turns out he’s the boy next door that had a whopper of a glow up since she last saw him and as rebounds go not ideal.
This was lot of fun, Abby is very relatable and didn’t annoy me, her behaviour made sense which seems like little to ask for but in the land of rom/com is harder to come by than you would expect. I emoji yes the Irishness of this too, the dry banter was top notch. Special mention for Abby’s sister and her husband they were sassy and adorable respectively. I liked alot.

Well this book was just lovely! A fun and delightful read, just what I needed to read at night after long days at work, dealing with the old and the new Covid restrictions...

Abby Reynolds has been dumped by her fiance and she has just lost her job after the big firm went under, so jobless, homeless, single and broke she leaves New York and returns to her hometown, a small town on the west coast of Ireland. Abby and her older sister Louise have never really gotten along but she moves in with her sister and her husband Tomasz anyway. On her first day in Ireland Abby gets a lift from her old childhood friend, Luke, without her realizing who he is - and anyway, she isn't really looking for a rebound guy. Even if they seem to hit it off right away.

Luke is a great guy - a really great guy - and Abby and Luke have great chemistry, but more than about the rebound-or-not relationship I loved that this book was about Abby's journey into realizing what she wants in her life, and for herself, and also about the relationship the two sisters have with each other. This was a book about friends, family, love and caring for those around you - just what we need in times like these!

I laughed a lot and it made me shed a tear too. The story garnered a 5 star rating because it has been a while since I have read a book with which I have a special connection too. Surprisingly, an eArc would be the book that made me reflect a lot. I enjoyed it and would recommend this story to people who love Sophie Kinsella novels too. It also has a good ending that did not leave me hanging.

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The Rebound by Catherine Walsh
The Rebound
by Catherine Walsh (Goodreads Author)
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Read in January 2022
I don't know what to say besides i loved it so much!!
The Rebound has everything that a romcom should have!
It's romantic, funny, lots of sarcastic characters and a bunch of swoony moments.

And even tho it's a romance book, it doesn't feels like the romance part is getting pushed into your face. Walsh's writing is just so beautiful that i had to finish this book in one sitting because it was so easy to find myself in the story and falling in love with the characters.

What i absolutely adore and appreciate is that Abby, the main character, didn't settle down for anything else than what she wanted in life. Yes it was a rocky road and sometimes she didn't seemed to know what she wanted but deep down she knew that she could achieve everything again and even more.

The Rebound isn't just a romcom book. It's a book about life goals, struggles and family issues. It's pretty much a book for the soul.

This was a light read with a female protagonist who's strong and independent, who knows what she wants and she's not afraid to work hard to get it.

Great self rediscovery themes are discussed throughout the whole book, about when you feel like your world is falling apart and you're moving backwards while everyone is going forwards.
The family dynamics are also great and the awkward/funny bits definitely took my mind off from the thrillers i've been reading recently.
But calling it a rom com it's a stretch imo the romance wasn't the main focus here, the internal struggle while the protagonist slowly but surely found re invented herself was.
+ I don't like messy relationships in real life and I don't like reading about them either cause they usualy are for the lamest tiniest things and they just end up pissing me off but the author is using them as a way to move the plot forward and it just doesn't feel realistic. Or healthy.

All in all, reading this was like pressing a mind reset - pick me up button and I love it.

Thank you NetGalley & Bookouture for the digital ARC.

This was my first time reading one of Catherine Walsh's books and I really enjoyed it! The Rebound is a cute romantic comedy and I loved the European small-town setting. I could just picture the rolling meadows of Ireland while reading this book. In the beginning, it was a bit slow and I thought that there could be more scenes to further build the main couples' chemistry. Regardless, near the end, I found myself rooting for them. I loved how Luke and Abby were childhood friends and then reunited in adulthood. I am a sucker for the "childhood friends" trope. Although there was nothing crazy or new happening in this book, I still thought it was a nice, light-hearted read and would recommend it for someone who doesn't want to read anything too deep.