A super fun and easy read, Catherine Walsh introduces us to Abby Reynolds, a former superstar who has fallen from the sky and lands back in her childhood bedroom, living with her sister (with whom she does not really speak) and family, with nothing to do (she lost her job and the small town has no real prospects), and all alone (she just broke up with her fiance). What follows from the introduction is a delightful recovery for Abby. She has the opportunity to rebound into a better life, and we get to enjoy her progress.

Abby is going to die on a cold park bench at stupid o'clock Monday morning in with 2% phone battery. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic but that's how she feels. Rather than being home in Manhattan with her fiancé, she's returned to her small hometown in Ireland single, unemployed, homeless and a little hopeless.

So when a man offers to help her get home, she can't help but think maybe a handsome stranger is exactly what she needs to cheer her up … but he isn't a stranger at all. He's Luke, the boy next door. The boy she grew up with … and he has definitely grown.

But like everyone else, he still thinks she's a successful Manhattanite who's getting married soon. Can she finally admit the truth to everyone, and herself, if that means she might finally get to know the boy next door?

"I'm not having a breakdown. I have lists. Lists and a plan. This is my plan! I didn't say anything about it being a good one, I just ..."

A tale of mishaps, misunderstandings and mistakes that anyone who's ever had to start over again can't help but cry and laugh along with!

Abby was a woman who's life had shattered and she had to figure out not only how to put the pieces back together again, but what pieces she wanted. She made stupid choices, let her pride get in the way of her decisions and messed up along the way - but she was just trying to find her way in the world and I loved her no matter how much she sometimes infuriated me.

Her relationships with friends, family and lovers change and evolve as we progress through the pages - some heartbreaking and others completely heartwarming. I adored her friendship with Beth and how loving they were with each other, how much they helped each other despite their relationship being quite new.

This was a slow moving story, but it was never about the destination, instead it's Abbys journey through life that's the focus - and just how much life can change when you look the other way. An adorably indulgent romance about moving on and moving up, The Rebound is a perfect Valentines Day read!

Abby has lost her job, all her savings and her fiancé breaks up with her. With nowhere else to go, she jumps on a plane back to her home town of Clonard in Ireland. With only the clothes on her back and her meagre belongings in her suitcase, Abby finds herself stuck in the middle of nowhere after misreading the bus timetable. Along comes an attractive young man who Abby is instantly attracted to and offers her a lift. When she gets to her old house, she realises that the stranger is her neighbour Luke. Abby has to figure out what she’s going to do now, not only professionally but also how to tell everyone that she’s lost everything she worked so hard for.

Walsh’s new book is such an enjoyable and easy read with lots of laughs, heartfelt moments and romance- the perfect book to be released on Valentine’s Day next year.

Abby is a strong-willed and determined go-getter. She wasn’t afraid to make the move to New York to fight for her place in a very busy and competitive company. Even when everything goes wrong, her determination to find a solution and not giving up is emphasised by the author. The women in this story are all strong, independent women which I loved to see and read about!

Luke is your quintessential guy next door who’s grown up to be a “looker”- handsome, kind-hearted with a wicked sense of humour. I love the development of Abby & Luke’s relationship in this book with all the ups and downs to keep you wanting to read on to the next page and find out what happens. I love their banter- it makes the story and the characters seem so realistic and genuine.

The perfect feel-good romantic story with comedic moments throughout. Sweet and charming with a bit of spice, The Rebound is perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes. 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC! The Rebound is out in the 14th of February 2022. If you like this book, check out Catherine’s other book One Night Only!

A sweet, charming rom-com set in Ireland, the Rebound follows Abby Reynolds as she deals with her recent job loss, home loss, and breakup with her fiancé. Abby leaves New York to go back to her small home town (village) in Ireland, telling her sister she plans to stay with her for a couple of weeks. Shortly upon landing in Ireland, she bumps into a very handsome stranger who kindly offers her a ride to her sister’s house (and her former childhood home). What Abby doesn’t realize is that this stranger is the neighbor/boy next door she grew up with, Luke. As Abby figures out her next steps and how to move on with her life, she also has to figure out who Luke fits into her picture.

I thought this book was enjoyable, breezy, and easy to read. As much as it is a romance, it is also a story of Abby reconnecting or improving her relationship with her older sister. I enjoyed their dynamic and how they began to confide in one another and grow closer. The romance plot had some angst and miscommunication (which is not my favorite), but thankfully, miscommunications were dealt with in a fairly timely manner. The side characters were fun and supportive and I appreciated that they did not coddle Abby but encouraged her to stay true to herself and welcomed her back after many years of not seeing her.

This book comes out on Valentine’s Day - February 14, 2022. I recommend it to anyone looking for a cute romance read.




Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A thoroughly enjoyable book with some great characters. It starts off a bit slowly, but once it gets going it’s a good read.

I have to say this because it is true. This book slaps.
The banter between Abby and Luke, the two main characters, is genuine and natural. And definitely witty.
Trust me, right now, you need this book in your life.I plan to get a physical copy of this book, because I will absolutely be rereading it in the future
Overall this was such a sweet lovely book!!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

QOTD: What are your Wednesday plans?
My A: We’re taking our kitten, Felis, to get spayed today. It’s a sad day in our household thinking about having to leave him overnight. The best way to beat the blues? A great book!
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Let me tell you, there are some AMAZING books coming out in 2022! I’ve been blessed with some NetGalley gems this week and I can’t wait for the books to go live so everyone can read them! Next up: The Rebound by Catherine Walsh.
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This Friends to lovers/ second chance romance is exactly what I needed this week! Over the weekend I ended up reading two books I didn’t bother finishing because they were just not that good and I could feel that pesky bad book slump inching in. This book is on the lighter side, never really tackling the super hard topics you sometimes come across in romances which made it the perfect book to cleanse my palate. The romance is pretty easy-going and a slow burn with the angst kept low which makes it easy to love! I would’ve liked to see a little more depth in the story in general, but I still really enjoyed it! I especially liked seeing Abby and his sister grow. My oldest sister and I could not be any more opposite if we actually tried and we had to share a room while I was in middle school and she was in high school. It was... fun. I totally understand their small bickers and instant defense when in reality, they just never knew how to talk to each other.
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All in all, this is a fun and fast read that will leave you with all of the warm and fuzzies!
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BLURB:
It’s 7 a.m. on a Monday morning and Abby Reynolds isn’t where she wants to be. She wants to be in her beautiful loft apartment in Manhattan, drinking a coffee with her fiancé
Instead, she’s heading back to the childhood home in rural Ireland she swore she’d never return to, with some big old secrets. Namely that she’s suddenly found herself unemployed, homeless, and absolutely 100% single. She’s feeling all out of luck. Until the first person she meets after she touches down is an absurdly hot guy called Luke, who offers her a lift home. Gazing deep into his sparkling emerald-green eyes, Abby knows instantly that he’s exactly what she needs to take her mind off everything. The perfect rebound. It’s a flawless plan. Until the next day, when Abby realizes who he actually is. Not just a stranger. He is, in fact, Luke Bailey, aka the boy next door. Luke Bailey who—so help her God—she’s pretty sure she once shared baths with, back when they were kids. Not that she can allow herself to imagine him in a bath now, not without blushing from head to foot. And judging by the smirk on his face, the same Luke Bailey who’s known exactly who she was the whole time… And who, like everyone in the village, still thinks she’s a high-flying New Yorker… who’s getting married next year. Abby is certain getting under Luke will help her get over her ex. But the truth is stopping her. Can she admit to everyone back home that she’s single and has lost everything? Because, if she wants the boy next door, she may just have to…

'A newly single girl. A tall dark handsome stranger. What could go wrong?'

Turned out, a lot could go wrong and I totally loved the journey. Abby Reynolds is at a turning point in her life but she doesn't quite know it yet, she's still stuck in the 'how did this happen to me' part. 
Jobless, fiance-less, and apartment-less - Abby moves back to Ireland to live with her sister until she figures things out. 

Abby was the best character, I totally related to her and rooted for her from the start. Catherine Walsh did a beautiful job of keeping the characters honest to themselves and the pages turning. 

I'd recommend this to any contemporary romance lovers who want a light but fun and relatable read.

4⭐️1🌶
Omg this book was so cute! I loved the small town vibes that gave me Gilmore Girls vibes. I loved Luke and Abby! The characters are all so well written and the relationships between them felt real. This is a single pov rom com with an friends to strangers to enemies to lovers situation 😂 (I know quite the journey). It’s a story that just makes you smile and feel good and you can relate to Abby, which I really enjoyed. I also really liked her relationship with her sister. If anyone has ever seen Dawson’s Creek they remind me of Joey and her sister Bessie lol. The spice in here is very mild which I didn’t mind because I felt it was done very well. It is set in Ireland and I am sucker for that as well😂 Abby is the overachieving, workaholic girl from a small town who ran to the big city as soon as she could, but things didn’t turn out the way she expected. Luke is your good boy from a small town, a little closed at times, fell for her first male mc. He is definitely the guy you bring home to meet the family 😂😍. Over all I really really enjoyed this book! It will be published February 14, 2022! You need to read this one!

I really wanted to enjoy this book.

Abby seemed like she would be an interesting heroine, but she fell quite flat for me.

The romantic tension between her and Luke seemed forced, and I almost feel like I would have preferred if they hadn’t been friends when they were children.

All in all… this romance book just didn’t give me what I was hoping it would give.

I liked this, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Overall Walsh writes compelling characters and understands how to make a romance interesting. My primary issue is how deeply unrelatable Abby, our primary character, is. Abby is going through some really relatable things and yet she still didn't quite hit the mark for me. She felt just slightly out of reach, which is a real shame.

This is cute and there are some really nice moments throughout, but it was overall "just" nice.

I enjoyed this book; it was a heartwarming, fun, romantic, easy read. The storyline follows main character Abby as her life falls apart and she moves back home to pick up the pieces. Once back home she falls for Luke, the boy next door.

As with most romcoms, it’s fairly predictable yet keeps you hooked until the end. I didn’t think that Luke’s character was very well developed and therefore had trouble feeling the connection between Luke and Abby. I actually enjoyed watching the connection grow between Abby and her sister Louise more so than Abby and Luke. This didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. This is my first book from this author and I will definitely read more from her!

•~Book Review~•
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" He smirks, dipping his head to kiss me softly. " You're beautiful", he whispers." And smart and ambitious and brave and I love you. I want to wake up to you every morning and talk to you everyday. I want to take you to dinner and meet your friends and teach you to drive. I want you, Abby Reynolds. All of you. For as long as you want "
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🍃The Rebound is a romantic comedy written by Katherine Walsh, filled with family drama, love, friendship and most of all it is a story of an ambitious woman who wants live her life on her own terms.
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Abby Reynolds is an officer ina well reputed wealth farm McFarlane crunching up figures for her livelihood. Trouble befalls when McFarlane goes bankrupt rendering Abby jobless, penniless and homeless. She comes back to her hometown Clonard to her sister Louise and her husband Tomasz to live with them. On the day of arrival, she's given a lift by a handsome stranger named Luke whom she finds irresistible. Back in home Unable to live her extravagant life and mingle with her sister she falls into the depth of despair. She soon befriends a local woman Beth and gets to meet several of her childhood friends. She also later comes to know that Like Bailey is just not an handsome stranger but her childhood friend and next door neighbour. To top it up,s he gets to know that Luke always had crush on her. Sparks fly and so does trouble brews. Will Luke and Abby fall on love? Will they be able to come out of all the troubles that barged on them?
Read the book to find out.
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The book had the mixed punch of romance , comedy, family drama and office drama that kept me entertained thoroughly. I laughed out loud and felt anxious for the main characters at some pages. There was a little bit of spiciness in the book but not a lot of it. But it was completely fine. The plot was well built and the characters were bubbly.
I totally recommend this book.
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3⭐️

This was well-written but as a romance it just didn’t capture my heart much. It was a bit Bridget Jones-y but not as funny and it was actually a little dull in places? I think the main issue was that I didn’t like any of the characters and I think in a romance novel you have to want the two love interests to get together – I didn’t really care about Luke and (oh my gosh I don’t even remember her name).

I think the other thing that didn’t work was that the story did not deliver on the blurb. The blurb made it sound like she had a one night stand with a hot guy and then discovers that actually he’s her childhood best friend and neighbour etc and things get conflicted what with all her secrets. That just wasn’t the set-up at all and I was disappointed that there turned out to be very little tension and instead heaps of miscommunication. Also, the whole name etc of The Rebound and her formulating a ‘plan’ mentioned in the blurb is just not present at all? She doesn’t calculatingly decide to have a fling to get over her ex and she explicitly says he’s not a rebound – so I guess I feel the marketing/branding for this book was way off. Also, it sounded like it would be spicy and it just wasn’t.

All in all, I would rather have read about Beth & Jess.

Overall, a well-written and okay read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookoure for the ARC!

Things are not going well for Abby. When we first meet her, she’s recently lost her fiancé, her job, and her apartment… and she’s stuck waiting on a bus that isn’t coming. Seeing no other option, she ends up accepting a ride from a stranger who ends up being her childhood friend, Luke. In this funny, sweet story, Abby embarks on a journey to self-discovery, learning to love herself, and opening herself up to taking a chance.

I really enjoyed this story! I read most of it in one sitting, and it was pretty easy to follow. I liked watching Abby’s own character development unfold, while she nurtured relationships with her sister, Luke, Beth, and the other residents of small town Clonard, Ireland. The humor was witty and fun to read, but I wish there had been more banter! This is a great book if you like childhood friends to lovers or mending family relationships.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ☘️☘️☘️☘️
Writing: ✏️✏️
MC: 👩🏻🧑🏻👩🏻🧑🏻
Romance: ❤️❤️❤️❤️


This is a cute an adorable Romance novel set in Ireland!
The plot was GREAT, but the writing has some transition flaws that confused me more than once. It has really great potential and a few jaw dropping & laughable moments! If you can look past the transitions, I would say it’s worth the read!

After losing her job & Fiancè, Abby moves back to Ireland to live with her sister until she figures out her next step. On the first day itself she bumps into Luke, who happens to be her childhood friend, whom is apparently couldn't recognize. So begins a journey of self discovery, love, second chance & reconnecting with family members.

Just like the first book by Catherine Walsh, this too had the magical rolling hills backdrop of Ireland.
I loved how easy going & comforting the plot was.
Luke & Abby's banter was hilarious & very cute; perfect & in sync with each other.

The side characters were amazing especially Beth. She was such a sweetheart & I couldn't get enough of her.
Abby mending her relationship with her estranged sister was the most heartfelt part of the book! Their bond was so lovable.

This is a cute rom-com. I typically love these types of books. About halfway through this one, I became disinterested, though. It couldn't really grab my attention. I love a good "rise above hard times book" and that may be more what this is versus a rom-com.

Thanks for the advanced copy!

This story jumped out and grabbed me in a really low key way. It was a little slow moving at times, but I still looked forward to saving some time to read it.

4 stars— I’m giving it 5 stars on here because I think it’s worth more than some of the 2 star reviews. Besides, I’m an American who is biased to Irish love stories and stories set in Ireland. I loved Normal People and since then I haven’t gotten enough of these fun Irish writers.

This is a cute Irish love story set in Clonard, Ireland. The writing is great. So great that we bookmarked that region to try to whisk ourselves off to an Irish village someday. I loved the characters and loved as she reconnects with her hometown… And her childhood buddy. Overall this is a quick fun read. A little slow at times, but I still looked forward to picking it up and diving into the cute little village and these characters.

Slow burn romance alert!

Thanks NetGalley!

I absolutely adored The Rebound and have found a new favorite in author Catherine Walsh. The lively and loveable characters felt like close friends right away, and her depictions of the Irish scenery and culture felt like a mini vacation. My favorite relationship (although I absolutely loved Luke and Abby) was Abby and her sister Louise. Learning to love and appreciate family members as adults vs children can be difficult, but I really appreciated the arc and growth that both women had as they grew to understand each other better. All in all, I really enjoyed this novel and definitely recommend it to those looking for a relatable and realistic story of love an family.