The author's last book fell a little flat for me, but this book was so enjoyable. I was happy reading this! It was a sweet, engaging story with well-written characters that I was definitely rooting for. I was completely invested and loved the dynamic between Cecily and Eliza in addition to Cecily and Will. And Will. What a guy. This is a book that I will definitely recommend!

fine cute and quick rom com
is the premise a little iffy and the characters a little shallow? yeah, its a rom com
nothing groud-breaking, fun read. some things are just nice filler

Once I finished this book, I had to hug my e-reader. I fell in love with the characters. They made me laugh out loud and cheer for them. The relationship between the two main characters was believable, in both how it unfolded to their “happily ever after”. They were people with lives and emotional baggage they needed to work through. The meet cute even made me giggle.

It was also fun to learn more about podcasting and the behind the scenes work. I listen to Linda Holmes regularly on NPR. It was good to see her get to use her knowledge of audio broadcasting.

A podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love?
Longtime podcast producer Cecily Foster has always operated behind the scenes. For years, she’s worked toward hosting her own show, putting everything, including her love life, on the backburner. So when her boss finally offers her the chance, she’s over the moon.
But there’s a catch. Actually, two
1) The show will be about Cecily’s dating life
2) Cecily will be mentored by renowned dating coach/life coach/influencer Eliza Cassidy.
Cecily would rather do anything else than put her singledom on display, especially since the last time she mixed work with romance the outcome was catastrophic. But when Cecily’s boss tells her that doing the show is the only way to protect her mentee's job, she realizes she has no other choice.
To make matters even more complicated, Cecily finds herself unable to stop thinking about Will, a photographer she serendipitously met while chasing a runaway dog down a busy street. Even though there are sparks between the two, Eliza forbids Cecily from dating Will, whom she believes is no better than Cecily's disappointing exes.
As Cecily struggles to balance her real romantic life and the one Eliza wants to create for her, she finds herself at a crossroads. Will she fall back into old patterns, or is this her chance to finally find love that lasts?

Another really good novel from Linda Holmes. She knows how to tell a story while building characters the readers will like. As the host of a podcast, she knows a little bit about podcasting and I appreciated the behind the scenes of it.
I really, really liked this book which makes it hard for me to write about. Cecily and Will are great characters and Holmes' love of dogs comes through with Buddy. Their meet-cute is one of the most original ones I've read recently.
Highly recommended.
4.5

A podcast producer turned podcast host records her way through twenty blind dates, all arranged by a larger-than-life influencer life coach. The only hiccup is Will, part-time dog rescuer, part-time Hot Waiter, part-time photographer. Everyone’s insists she shouldn’t fall for him, but she just can’t seem to stop running into him.

As a fan of Linda Holmes’ previous books, I was really excited for this one. The behind-the-scenes podcasting details were interesting and felt authentic, thanks to the author’s audio background. This book is a great pick for when you want to relax with a lighthearted, feel-good read.

Linda Holmes does it again! A snappy rom com full of deep character development with a side of man's best friend (dog) in quite possible the best meet-cute ever. This book is about a woman who works for company that does podcast and BOY - did I learn a lot about what goes into developing a podcast. The amount of recording, the editing, etc. I had no idea. Cecily is single and her ex is a big time podcaster (ouch!) but that doesn't stop her. Her boss pitches a new podcast idea highlighting her dating life which seems really cringy (I mean, that is cringy right?) but somehow it works and forces her to get out of her shell a bit. Simultaneously,. she meets Will who is kind of the opposite and a bit of a floater... .trying to figure out how life. But they have chemistry and form a real friendship. There is also Will's giant Great Dane that cannot be ignored. Holmes is able to create such a delicate balance of banter and move the plot along - I think I finished this in two days.

Back After This by Linda Holmes

Oh man, what a combination, caped (you'll have to read it to find out), hot waiter and a goofy, knows he's all that, Great Dane. What more could one ask for?

The thing is, Cecily Foster loves what she does. She's a fantastic podcaster producer, really good at what she does, so good that everyone is glad to let her do all the work and give her almost no credit for doing it. It's happened to her in a very big way in the past and it's still happening to her now. But she has dreams and plans although she tries not to dream too big since her biggest dreams have been crushed in the most devastating ways. One thing that Cecily has decided is that she will never date a man who might be intimidated by her skills, work success, and dedication to her job. She will only date men who are extremely successful, career driven, and who will have no inclination to be jealous of her job or steal her work.

Enter hot waiter, yeah, that's going to go nowhere. He doesn't meet the man with a high career goal criteria but also, against her protests and will, Cecily is going to be the star of a podcast series where she has twenty blind dates so she's off the market with anyone else for a while. She's only doing this to keep her best friend's job safe, Cecily has to make this work or more than one person could lose their job. Since Cecily's podcast dating mentor thinks the hot waiter is an example of all Cecily's dating failures, he's off the table to consider at all! So no hot waiter, no making plans to meet up with him! Only random accidental meet cutes allowed (not really allowed but a nice way to get around bossy mentor if they happen).

This is a cute story, I like Cecily and I adore the hot waiter and Buddy, the Great Dane. Cecily is far from perfect and it's trying to be perfect in an obsessive compulsive way when it comes to work and men that have led to the unsatisfactory imperfections of her life. I enjoyed watching Cecily figure out what is important, face the fact that a lot of people she's known are not at all what they appear on their carefully curated surfaces, and that she needs new rules for herself and life. This was a fun buddy read with Jayme and DeAnn.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

There were parts of this book I liked. Mostly when Will was involved. When Will wasn’t involved we mostly got Cecily and her people-pleasing tendencies driving us crazy. Cecily is a podcaster who is unsure of herself in most regards. She feels she needs to sacrifice herself over and over to save her podcasting company, to help an influencer, to save her friend’s job. You want to just shake her and say “No Cecily, all that stuff has nothing to do with you”. It is a cute premise. It reminded me of a podcast I listened to “Monica and Jess love boys” and of Christina Lauren’s “The True Love Experiment”. The problem is because Cecily is so self-sacrificing it’s hard to hold my interest and I found myself taking a lot of breaks while reading this book. I wish we were able to dive a little more into Eliza and explore her character more rather than just the annoying foil to Cecily but wait she’s not so bad plot at the end.

Thank you NetGalley, Linda Holmes, and Ballatine Books for an advanced digital copy of this book.

This was a lighthearted story line, that allowed character development, with the reader falling for the main characters with every punch. While mildly predictable, it was still a great read.

This book was so incredibly enjoyable. I love podcasts so much so reading a book that gave a bit of a background to podcasts was so fun. Cecily's journey through the book was aggravating at points mainly because I could see myself in some of the ways she gave up what she wanted for the benefit of others. The love story intertwined in the book was so rewarding because you could see Cecily learn so much about herself. I read the book very fast because honestly, I just couldn't put it down. I think it would make a really great book club book because the themes throughout of personal growth, losing yourself in relationships, and stepping out of your comfort zone could really lead to interesting and energetic discussions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the review copy!

I'm a fan of Linda Holmes's previous work so I was excited to read this. It's a really sweet romance. I also enjoyed learning more about audio production! I love a book that I can finish in a day.

I started this one and got to about 35% before I really stalled out. This book is really heavy on the podcast content and not as much on a plot that felt cohesive or compelling. The message seemed to be a lot of "look how hard running a podcast is" which is definitely a pretty common topic of a lot of books today. Not my favorite one of hers, but isn't stopping me from trying others!

Linda Holmes has a knack for many things, and writing romance novels is one of them. She creates characters and a storyline you care about, leverages romance hallmarks in a way that is more cozy than trite, and peppers in laugh-out-loud dialogue (I LOVE her dialogue). Back After This is probably my favorite of hers so far, with its three-dimensional protagonist and quietly hunky love interest. The premise -- a sort of speed-dating podcast series -- is fertile ground for her to show off her sense of humor and drive the plot forward with ups and downs. Loved it.

3.75 rounded ⬆️

New York Times bestselling author, Linda Holmes (Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo) is back with another story of a woman who needs a fresh start!

Longtime podcast producer Cecily Foster has always longed to host her own show, so she agrees to do a show her boss wants her to do when he promises to give her, and her friend and mentee, Julie-a chance to work on a project that SHE would like to do after this show wraps up.

The catch:

The show will be about Cecily going on twenty dates chosen by renowned dating coach/life coach/influencer Eliza Cassidy.

Of course, after FOUR years of being Single-she meets an intriguing guy named Will, just before the show is about to start!

He was chasing a runaway Great Dane named Buddy, who got loose on a busy street. She, who always carries a huge bag with everything you could ever need in an emergency, has just what he might need to corral the dog!
(See the adorable book cover!)

Even though sparks fly between the two, Eliza forbids Cecily from dating Will, whom she doesn’t believe is ambitious enough for Cecily. She is positive that at least one of the twenty men she has lined up will be a more suitable match.

But, when the two keep bumping into each other, one has to wonder if it’s coincidence or Serendipity?

I love when a book can HOOK me with an opening line-but unfortunately, this one started with a couple of chapters that had me questioning if I even wanted to read the book. (Yawn) Thankfully, once we got past the technicalities, it picked up and captured my interest.

It’s the third book that I have read recently which had the female protagonist having to go on dates selected by other people. (Trendy new trope?) But, this one focuses more on the main characters growth rather than the dates themselves. In fact, all twenty first dates are summarized in Chapter 12!

Still, I was interested in seeing how Cecily would reconcile her growing attraction to Will with her obligation to the show!

The one thing I could have done without was learning about Buddy’s chews-“Bully Sticks”! 😂 If you don’t know what they are, I will let you discover what that delicacy is for yourself! I am glad that I am a cat person! ☺️

AVAILABLE February 25, 2025

Thank You to Ballantine Books for the gifted ARC provided by NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

An engaging, hilarious and fresh romance! Linda Holmes’ Back After This was a perfect escape from the winter doldrums. From the opening paragraphs of this tale set in the of the moment world of podcasting, I found this story engaging and often laugh out loud amusing. Like the best of contemporary romances, the characters were relatable, the banter was sharp and the happily ever after sparked joy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

The thought of dating 20 different people for 20 blind dates to just "find" the right person seems like a living hell for an introvert. Cecily jumped right in even though she had found someone. She wanted it all to be a successful podcast, she wanted to make her dreams come true and she was willing to do anything to make that happen. Bring in a dog and a man who volunteers to run after him and you have a rom com that will have you routing for things to work out. Do they? I guess you'll have to read it yourself to find out. I have loved all of Linda Holmes's books and this one is no exception. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. I am so grateful that I got to read this before its release.

Well, I officially have rated all 3 books by Linda Holmes a 5/5. I wrote in my review for Flying Solo that I wasn’t sure if an author could be considered an auto-buy author for a person after only 2 books, but clearly she is and now I can say it even more confidently after 3 books.

I felt like her first two books leaned more towards women’s fiction - the main character goes through a lot of self reflection & growth with a romance on the side. While the same could be said about Back After This, the romance felt more prominent to me. I say that in a great way, I loved the romance in this book. There was just so much chemistry. While I loved Cecily on her own, I loved it even more when she was with him.

There were a couple things I didn’t necessarily love - phone numbers were exchanged but very few texts and I would have loved to see more communication there. There were also a couple time jumps that made me a bit curious about what could have been happening at those times. But tbh that is probably just me being greedy for more simply because of how much I loved this.

I’ve seen the author mention on Instagram that she will be narrating the audiobook herself, and I’m so intrigued by that. I love rereading books via audio, and I will definitely be picking that up. I highly recommend this, just like her previous books.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A comfy and charming romance set in the fascinating world of podcasting but which has that frequent bane of the genre - a passive woman who just can’t say what she wants.

Cecily Foster is the backbone of Palmetto Productions. She is their best producer and knows more about how things work than anybody. But because she is scared of asserting herself and getting her worth, she agrees to host a podcast she doesn’t want to do: one in which she, as a single woman in her 30s will be coached by a self-anointed dating guru, Eliza, and will go on 20 dates with the aim of finding love. But before she even starts on her romance journey she meets cute with Will, who then keeps popping up in her life.

The novel threw me for a bit of a swerve: I was assuming a big chunk of it would be focused on the 20 dates, but those are dispensed with in chapter 12. Instead, there is the developing romance with Will, which Eliza dismisses and forbids, and Cecily’s gradual evolution from manipulated pushover to a woman who takes control of her life (finally!)

There is the usual cast of romcom support: a supportive and witty best friend, a loving sister with perfect husband, a beastly ex (who doesn’t get quite the comeuppance we were looking for), and an ineffectual and self-centered boss. Eliza the influencer has a bit more substance than these, and the author shows all the hard work that goes into her picture perfect life.

The backdrop of the podcasting world is fascinating and clearly one the author is very familiar with. The balance between the technicalities of how that works and Cecily’s proverbial journey is nicely balanced. Dare I say I was a bit more interested in her professional journey than her romantic one with nice but actually quite boring Will? Personally, I'm with Eliza and I don’t think their relationship is going to last.

Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a solid romcom that wasnt even that romance focused. I loved it. As a certified podcast enjoyer, I immediately knew I had to read this book. Truly a witty, insightful, romantic and wacky book that makes you really think about what you want in your life as well as just how grueling audio editing can be. Cecily was such a great FMC and Will was adorable. Very easy to read and relax to, much like winding down with an episode of your favorite podcast.

Another standout novel by Linda Holmes. If you are a fan of her prior novels, then you should enjoy this one as well.

Cecily Foster is a podcast producer who enjoys the behind the scenes work. She likes to fix the audio but dreams of one day having her own show. The industry is experiencing challenging times and her employer wants to try something new. They reached out to an influencer, Eliza Cassidy, and have secured advertisers, and have asked Cecily to participate in an experiment - 20 blind dates that Eliza will set up and in turn will be made into a show. Cecily agrees to the experiment and asks for the opportunity to create her own pilot show in return.

At the same time, Cecily randomly runs into Will out chasing a dog, and then continues to run into him all over town. They form a friendship, but could it be something more? She's tied to the blind date show, and Eliza encourages her to see the experiment through. There's something in making the experiment work for Eliza too, and Will isn't part of that plan.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Cecily and Will and how he was always there at just the right time. Their relationship was the best part of the story, including their interactions with their siblings. I almost wish there was even more about their relationship included in the story, and more about the different blind dates, instead of some of the background characters and info about podcasting.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review.