3.5 stars.

So can I just say Abby annoyed me a lot in the beginning to almost the end? She’s super selfish and only cares about herself. She doesn’t care about the people around her and it’s hard to like her at this point. She’s stubborn and arrogant. This heroine was hard to like she was so set in her ways and what she wanted.

She also kept playing this hot and cold game with Luke while also lying and miscommunicating with him. I feel like there were a lot of issues that could have been resolved with a simple conversation.

This same thing happened with her sister Louise, they couldn’t get along because they didn’t talk. They just continued to assume what the other was thinking or feeling, it drove me insane!

But lets talk about Luke, can you say swoon??? Ugh tall, dark and handsome what more could a girl want? He's also sweet and kind and always helping Abby out. And sometimes I feel like she doesn’t deserve it.

So fast forward into the book, I started to see a different side to Abby and thing maybe she's not as annoying as she seems. Then she starts to treat other people better and starts to really think about what she wants when it comes to her career and future.

Since she had a life all planned out and that blew up in her face, she had to figure out what she really wanted out of life, because she was forced to, which was a good thing because I think this made her happier when she knew what she really wanted.

So even though I really didn’t like the miscommunication between Abby and Louise, I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow and they become closer. I started to enjoy the dialogue between them, instead of getting annoyed.

“That’s Luke!” I exclaim, twisting in my seat to watch him go. “He just drove past!” “What?” Louise’s eyes widen as she glances in the rearview. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I almost strain my neck as we miss our exit, going around again. “That’s his car. Where’s he going?”
“That’s the road to the hotel. It can’t be him.”
“It is.” I slap the dashboard in frustration. “We have to follow him.”
“But what’s he doing out here at this time of night? Unless he—” Louise breaks off with a loud gasp. “Do you think he’s going beat up Tyler?”
“What? Why would he do that?”
“For your honor!”
“I lost my honor the summer before college, thank you very much.”
“I mean the honor of you. He could be going to fight Tyler for—”
“No one is fighting anyone! Go after him.”

“What if he is going to go beat him up?” Louise glances at me. “Please don’t tell me you find that attractive.”
“Of course not,” I say automatically. “That’s so unhealthy.”
“Right.”
Right. “I mean, I guess a little part of me wouldn’t mind if—”
“Abby!”
“Well, don’t put the idea in my head then! He’s probably just—”
Louise blasts the horn, cutting me off as Luke’s brake lights turn on.
“He heard us,” she says, waving triumphantly at him as he slows down.
“You think?” I glare at her.
“We could have just met in the parking lot.”

Abby and Louise following Luke was the funniest! And the way that they seemed so confused! It was hilarious.

WOULD I RECOMMEND:

I would recommend this book because even with everything going on it was very captivating and it pulls you in.

But the name is a little misleading, there's not much rebounding, but there's a whole lot of miscommunication and assumptions.

I do feel like this book was really slow to get into, I feel like things didn’t start happening until the book was almost over. The whole beginning and middle wasn’t really much going on besides Abby getting use to living in her small hometown again.

Abby returns home to Ireland from NY after loosing her job and a break up. While trying to find a rid to her sisters, she ends up hitching a ride from a stranger, who turns out to maybe not be a stranger after all.

The concept of this book was very interesting, what I thought would be a typical romance that could play out on the hallmark channel was instead more of a romantic fiction then just your typical romance.

Abby knows what she wants, even when she doesn’t know what she wants and won’t falter to the men in her life! As much as I loved Abby and Luke, the true highlight of this book was the estranged relationship between Abby and Louise and watching them come together in their adult lives

The rebound was a fun and light romance that explores Abby coming back home from New York after being dumped by her fiancé and losing her job. Although Abby was a likeable character and her romance with Luke was cute, I felt that the book was quite slow paced, and nothing really differentiated it from a typical romance book.

This was a fun read that draws you in from the start. The heroine Abby is a go-getter who returns to her small town home in Ireland after a series of setbacks in New York City. Back in the town where everyone knows each other, she restores her relationship with her sister and reconnects with childhood friend, Luke after a series of conflicts. I enjoyed reading this and was rooting for Luke and Abby from the start. I also really enjoyed the development of Abby's relationship with her sister, Louise.
However, I felt annoyed at some of the misunderstandings that arose between Luke and Abby because they seemed like the issues could have easily been resolved with a conversation, making the conflict seem unnecessary.

3.5 stars

** A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC for my review.

The Rebound was fine. I didn’t love it, and didn’t hate it. It’s the kind of light easy read that you could pick up and put down easily. There’s nothing new to add to the rom-com genre with this one, and that’s ok!

I had the incredible chance to read another ARC by Catherine and, honestly? Before I knew about the book, I knew I would love it. So it's no surprise when I tell you how much I loved the book. Instantly going into chapter 1, I was already so connected with the characters and by the time the book ended, I got so upset as if I was losing someone close to me. My favourite thing about the book was that not only does it focus on the characters, their development and their story, but it also talked about the place. I've never read a book that describes the scenes so perfectly that it makes me want to pack my bags and take a trip to an unknown place just so I can experience the book 10x better. And god, oh god, Abby has my heart. There is a way about the author writing her books, that I just instantly fall in love with a character that is not common for me. Where in ONO, I fell for Declan before I even loved Sarah? Abby felt too much like home to me that I knew after the first paragraph that she would be my girl and all I wanted to do was hug her. Moving away to a different country when I was 18, I could connect to this book in SO many senses. That might just be the reason that it was the first and only book this year that made me cry when it ended. Even writing this still makes me emotional and, oh how I wish I could get that first feeling I got when I opened my ARC. I'm so incredibly excited that this book will be out in the world before we know it but don't mind me for feeling smug that I had the chance to read it earlier because I'm in love with this one - just like the last one.

The Rebound
Catherine Walsh
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Abby Reynolds is a success story… until, she isn’t. Reeling from the loss of her job and her fiancé, she flees the big lights of New York City and heads back to the one place she never wanted to return…. her hometown of Clonard in Ireland. While there, she struggles to repair relationships with family and old friends, including her old neighbor, Luke. Will Abby ever make it back out of Clonard… and does she even want to?

This book was very cute and, as someone of Irish descent, I really enjoyed the setting of the novel. This book was a veryyyyy slow burn and some of the miscommunication/lack of communication between Abby and Luke was frustrating - you just want to shake them and say just make out already! I loved the banter between Abby and Luke; it was laugh-out-loud funny and just really endearing…I just wanted more of it! To me, this book felt more like a general fiction story of Abby and her growth/relationships with a small romantic side plot than a full-out romance novel. The ending felt a little rushed in terms of their emotional relationship to me, but I did enjoy the epilogue.

Overall, a very cute, solid three stars!

I was so excited to receive an arc as I loved this authors previous book. Sadly I was a bit disappointed. There was so much drama and so many issues (although they all get resolved neatly and pretty quickly) I would not consider this a “hilarious rom-com. Towards the end, I was like “ugh what now”. I love the writing style and the general idea of the book and will absolutely read future books by this author. I really appreciate this opportunity and my thanks to the publisher and author for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc.

Unfortunately for me this booked missed the mark. It was overall a light and easy read but I felt that the connection between our two main characters just wasn't there. I thought the idea of this book held so much promise but in the end each chapter read more like a short story. The writing was really good though and I loved the relationship between Abby and her sister Beth. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Typical chick lit, didn't hate it didn't love it. Might consider reading other books by the author.

I think this is a wonderful book full of small town nuisances that make you feel as if you are visiting. The main character is going through a tough time and unexpectedly catches feelings for a childhood friend. The story that unfolds is sweet and lovely and a great weekend read!

"𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧," 𝙄 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢.
"𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧."
"𝙇𝙞𝙖𝙧."
𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙠𝙨, 𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙡𝙮. "𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡," 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨.

Abby and Luke, wherever do we begin? I'm utterly OBSESSED with them, they're absolutely adorable. Their friendship, their love, their flirting and their scene together were heart fluttering, melting and cute.

The story completely sucks you in from the beginning, Abby's lack of emotional communication felt relatable, she goes from being a tolerable protagonist for the first two chapter to owning my heart by the end.
The rest of the characters all felt like family to me, they welcome you with an open heart, make you swoon and of course add a tad bit of drama and tension to  add some spice to the plot. But most importantly they mane you laugh out loud. Just look at this scene among many others:

"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙙," 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨. "𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮."
𝙍𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙛. "𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮?"
"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧."
"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚... 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩." 𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚. "𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮."

Also can we appreciate the well developed sister dynamics portrayed, like the sibling banter between Abby and her sister felt so genuine.

𝙇𝙤𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚. "𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚."
"𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩," 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮. "𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮."
"𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩."
𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. "𝙄 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣, 𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛-"
"𝘼𝙗𝙗𝙮!"

Overall a great read with light humour, which I highly recommend checking out :)

5/5✩

A big thanks to Bookouture & Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book, which I voluntarily read & reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

The Rebound Catherine Walsh Publication: February 14, 2022

This was such a fun, poignantly sweet book! This is the story of Abby who goes from having it all (fiancée, big New York city living, high paying job…) to losing it all in a matter of weeks. Without having many options now that she is homeless, dumped by fiancé and jobless, she travels back to her small Irish hometown to stay with her sister, Louise, and her husband. Abby unknowingly runs into the “neighbor boy” (Luke) who has done a 180 in the looks department and is now extremely attractive.

The relationship growth in the book was just brilliant. Abby and Louise go from contentious sisters to building bridges and supporting one another. Abby’s friendships old and new were cemented so solidly. I also loved her quirky parents, hilarious. Honestly, all the side characters were just as interesting as the main couple. The relationship with Luke made me smile so big and warmed my heart. And while technically Abby rebounds with Luke from Tyler, the bigger rebound is how she rebounds back in living her life to its fullest.

Such a feel good book. Catherine Walsh needs to be applauded!

This was a quick and easy read, there were so many moments that I giggled alone while reading this book. I found the characters very captivating. The main character, Abby, is such a humorous person, I care for her more and more throughout the book (even though I wanted to punch her sometimes). The CHEMISTRY, I mean even from the first scene, that was present between Abby and her love interest was soo compelling and as it was developed we can see the growth in both characters.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this! I admit I was maybe even a little judgey, thinking ofc she goes home and jumps the hottest guy...

While that is true, it also isn't! Abbey and Luke are just one part of this lovely story. Story of childhood friends, of coming home, finding your balance getting up when life is hard and you are down in the rabbit hole 🕳
Story of sisters and sisterly love! This will not be your typical, out of the factory line romcom but it will satisfy any and all romcom desire you might have.

Well except spice, there is some but mild and scarce, so if spice is what you need, maybe not this one.

What I loved:
- Going home idea, home to rebalance yourself
- Characters that are very humanly flawed, not typical men written by a woman
- Sister love ❤
- Small Irish Town setting
- Funny banter
- Misunderstanding done well
- Satisfying end

This was a sweet book overall. The characters were mostly unlikable for the first ~50% of the book. The second half was significantly better- the characters were more likable then and great banter. The ending, while predictable, was cute but very abrupt.

A fun romance with some real giggles! Don't believe the title though as I am not sure where the rebound fit in, Abbey isn't really all that sad about the end of her relationship and certainly not rebounding. Maybe looking at some of her life choices and I get that wouldnt be a catchy title at all!
Luke and Abbey are cute together and I like the way the book ends for them, it seems like the right story arc for them. The supporting characters and their stories added depth to this romcom that I found to be quite liberating in it's reality and truth, without being too heavy or bringing the lightheardness of the book down.

The "keeping a secret from everybody who loves me" trope always stresses me out to read. I think this book does it in a great way, and while I didn't totally buy being immediately in love with each other upon return home, it was definitely able to scratch my itch for angst.

3.75 stars rounded up. I looooooved the Irish scenery in this book! It was unique and lovely. The characters are sympathetic and relatable. Nice rom-com with a bit more seriousness to it than some. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

“The Rebound” by Catherine Walsh was such an adorable read, perfect for reading in one sitting. It is a romance following the story of Abby, who just lost her job and fiancé, and is coming back home to Ireland to stay with her sister. The story starts with Abb getting a ride with a handsome stranger called Luke.
The book was really cute and easy to read. I read it in one sitting and before I knew it the book was ending. “The Rebound” had lots of funny moments and jokes which brought a smile to my face. I liked the characters, especially the minor ones – Rory was definitely my favourite one. Abby and Luke were great together, but I wish we got a bit more of an insight into their characters because the only thing I know about them is that Abby was a workaholic and Luke was nice.

I also liked how the book normalised certain aspects of life, such as periods or difficulties getting pregnant. Fiction books usually don’t mention periods or peeing, but this book did in a subtle, normal way. Also, the relationship between Louise and Abby was so similar to my relationship with my sister – it was complicated, and not idealised as it is often in the books. The way the relationships were described made me like the book even more.

Overall, I enjoyed it and it is a perfect book for relaxing.