Linda Holmes never disappoints! BACK AFTER THIS is her newest romance, following podcast producer Cecily.

It was sweet and charming and delightfully nerdy about audio production. So fun!

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for a free review copy.

I thought this was a well-written romance. The pacing was good, and the 'breakup' toward the end din't bother me as much as I thought it would. I thought the podcasting setting was interesting and they included the right amount of details.

This was such an enjoyable rom-com! I loved all of the dating adventures and the dynamic between Cecily and Eliza. The dating podcast was also a fun approach! A light and easy read.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this book.

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

Linda Holmes has done it again! Her books always hit me just right with the perfect amount of cute, sweet and swoon. Watching the heroine find herself despite all the obstacles and love along the way always makes me smile.

This time we have Cecily who is brilliant in the podcast world even if it is behind the scenes and not quite where she wants to be. At one point in life, she was part of a podcast with her boyfriend that she was the brains and heart of, but he took all the glory being the voice. Then he dumped her and took the collaboration as his own leaving her behind in all ways.

Cecily is now a podcast producer who would love her own show. The place where she works is hitting hard times with imminent layoffs. So, when she is offered a show (not of her making!) she agrees in order to save her friend/coworker's job and the chance at making her own podcast if this show is a success. This podcast will showcase Cecily finding love while being mentored by Eliza, a life coach, through 20 blind dates chosen for her.

Right before starting the podcast, however, Cecily has the most adorable meet-cute with Will (and a dog!) that is totally epic. There is a definite connection, but it is not part of Cecily's new life plan being executed by others. Then Will keeps crossing her path in unexpected (perhaps fated?!) ways. Will is definite book boyfriend material....

I adored the romance but also was fully invested in Cecily finally coming to her "I am woman, hear me roar!" moment and discovering what (and who) she wanted in life. Honestly, I had kind of a love/hate relationship with Eliza trying to figure out her true intentions with Cecily. I am glad we got a full circle moment, but still...I guess, all's well that ends well!

I hope to listen to the audiobook, too...:)

5 stars

Back After This by Linda Holmes
4/5 🌟 pub 2/25

This book is another joyful and wonderful read from this author. She is so consistent with creating fun characters with confidence and go with the flow attitudes.

This one follows Cecily who is in the podcasting steaming space and is tasked with allowing an influencer dating-based program for their channel. This influencer Eliza is mega popular and guarantees. She can help Cecily find love. It also doesn’t hurt that the station needs this to go well so they can secure more advertisers to keep them afloat.

When she randomly meets a guy in the wild via a runaway dog, she finds a spark, but with everything going on, does not prayer prioritize dating him. They keep finding each other through her dating regimen, and when they get together, it is casual and light. Towards the end, she sees a future, but also holds back due to his lack of stability.

This character is so special and finds self love as well as value in adding someone else to her life.

Cecily, a smart, creative podcast producer who is still hesitant to look for love four years after her last relationship ended (because of podcasting, selfishness, and ambition on her partner's part) agrees to be the subject of a "finding love" series where she will be matched with twenty different men. Eliza is the matchmaker and the self-made success behind her brand of relationship and lifestyle advice. Will is the man Cecily (literally) keeps running into, and he is not among the twenty men Eliza has chosen for Cecily. What happens when real life and online life collide? Cecily is a beautifully drawn character and apart from a few moments that were a little too convenient, this book is a winner!

Linda Holmes is back with her latest novel, Back After This, filled with her signature humor and warmth. It follows podcast producer Cecily Foster, who loves her job and friends but keeps her personal life private. After a painful breakup, she’s not eager to date again, but her boss convinces her to host a show about her dating experiences, introducing her to quirky relationship coach Eliza Cassidy.

Cecily navigates twenty blind dates, filled with funny and awkward moments, only to realize she might actually have feelings for Will, a sweet photographer with a great dog. Holmes creates relatable characters, tackling the crazy expectations of modern dating along the way.

With witty dialogue and a fresh romance, Back After This is a fun read that fans of Holmes and romantic stories will enjoy.

Final Verdict: A clever, heartfelt, and funny look at dating and self-trust. Highly recommended!

TY to Net Galley and Ballantine for the ARC. I was a little disappointed in this book. I found that I was interested in the two main characters Cecily and Will but not in the overall plot. The plot centers around a company who produces podcasts, a company that is the current employer of Cecily. The author was unsuccessful in gaining my interest in this storyline and so the first half of the book was very slow and was only redeemed slightly after Cecily and Will began their friendship.

Cecily is working in podcasts when she is approached by her boss to be the subject of a dating podcast. She agrees on several conditions not realizing she will meet Will, who will become more important than anyone she meets on this podcast.

Thank you to Ballantine Publisher, netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I have read several books by this author so I was happy to read this book. This book was the third book from this author and I felt it was lacking something and found it boring. A podcaster Cecily, is trying to find love without success. The solution is she creates an assignment to find the perfect mate. She has interviewed numerous dating perspectives but, in order to find the ending you have to read the book.

I have enjoyed other books by this author, but this one was not for me. I listened on audio narrated by the author. This books set around a podcast, had potential for being recorded as on a podcast. I did not like any of the characters.

A nice and easy read that didn't necessarily have any surprises. I would have liked more from the 20 Dates part of the story, I think it would have been fun to see more development there and it would have given the inevitable end a better payoff. Still enjoyed though!

This one was a slow start for me. I definitely struggled to get into it at the beginning and took a couple breaks to read other books before coming back to it. In the end though, I am glad I did, because once I got through roughly the first third, I couldn't put it down. I was laughing out loud from how funny it was. I definitely want to read more by Linda Holmes, I thoroughly enjoyed her work!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At the beginning I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy reading about a podcaster hosting a dating show but it’s done really well. Cecily is very relatable and although the story is predictable it’s written very well so it’s still enjoyable.

This is a fantastically well-written, laugh-out-loud hilarious romance set in the world of podcasting. I was so deeply invested in these characters, and I can't remember the last time I read a book in any genre that was so consistently funny all the way through. There were some fade-to-black scenes that I think could have faded to black a little bit sooner, but even these were written so well and so tastefully that they didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book at all. Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over is one of my all-time favorite romances, and Back After This is every bit as amazing. It will definitely make my list of favorite books of 2025.

I really enjoyed this new release contemporary romance by @lindaholmes97 The main character, Cecily, is an audio engineer who reluctantly agrees to make a podcast with a life coach/influencer who will help her find love through a series of steps. There's a great meet-cute aspect to this book (involving a dog), good banter, an interesting antagonist, and an overall early 2000s rom com feel. I kept picturing Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling as the main character which says something about the tone of the book. It seems like there were a lot of thrillers last year with podcasts as a plot point, but this rom com talks about audio engineering and podcasting clearly from an experienced point of view. I listen to a lot of podcasts, or rather a lot of episodes of a couple favorite podcasts, and I thought all the behind-the-scenes details about audio were so interesting.

The banter between MCs was my favorite, they had great chemistry and a huge dog that made lots of appearances.

Boy did I love being a part of Cecily and Will’s adventures around DC! Their story, mixed in with Cecily’s podcast misadventures made this the perfect book to binge in February, providing all the laughs and hope for my own meet cute, dog included!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a little bit to be pulled into this one, but I really ended up enjoying it. Cecily is a podcast producer and is given the chance to have her own show, but there are circumstances. She must work with Eliza, who is a relationship and life coach/influencer. She agrees to go on twenty first dates with men Eliza chooses, and it will be filmed. But before the show is filmed, she meets Will….and she likes him, but Eliza doesn't think he's good for her. Her and will just end up running into each other all the time though. I was curious to see how she would navigate the show, while being attracted to Will. This was a light, funny and entertaining read and I'm happy I was able to get to it.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

I love Linda Holmes. This book is no exception.

Cecily makes podcasts, and that's basically her whole personality. She gets chosen to host a podcast where she works with a life coach to go on 20 dates. After committing to the podcast, she meets Will. Cecily finds herself drawn to Will as they keep bumping into each other. Cecily's journey is messy and she has a lot of truths to confront but the story is engaging and you root for her the entire time.