Abby Reynold's returns to her small home town in Ireland. Her fiancé broke up with her then her large investment bank just failed taking away her lucrative job and all her investments. She's hoping to spend a few weeks living with her sister while she tries to regroup. On day one she meets hunky Luke Baily. It isn't until the next day that she realizes he is her childhood neighbor. They were friends when young but not in their teens. There was no big rift or falling out. Abby gets back into village life meeting new people and reconnecting with others. The story evolves over several weeks. Everyone knows about her job loss but she still claims for a while that she is still engaged.

This is a decent story and I'm seeing lots of reviewers liking it more than me. I never feel I got to know Luke very well and really didn't see the attraction between the two. I honestly was more invested in Abby's relationship with her sister and would they be able to become friends. But this is suppose to be a romance and not woman's fiction. I like Ireland as the setting, the village and supporting characters. And some of the banter is fun. I just didn't connect with the slow-burn, intimacy behind closed doors, romance. Thank you to NetGalley Bookouture and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I love that this is releasing on Valentines Day.

It had great banter and great chemistry. Highly recommend. Such a cute read.

Abby and Luke see each other after many years apart and Abby doesn't even recognize him. She's headed back home after losing her job and fiancé. While I completely understand Abby's disappointment in her circumstance, I was annoyed that it took her forever to tell anyone that she and her fiancé were no longer together - especially Luke. I was on his side during that situation.

Abby and Luke have an interesting dynamic and while I definitely felt the chemistry between them (the car scene is sexy and steamy!) the love part felt less believable. The story itself jumped around a lot between Abby and Luke, to Abby and Beth, to Abby and her sister, to Abby and her ex. There was just a lot going on so it was surprising how the story dragged in the middle.

All in all, this is a solid, cute, rom-com novel but. felt like it was trying to accomplish too much and fix all of Abby's relationships in a short period of time.

The Rebound by Catherine Welch was good. I love stories that take place in Ireland especially since I would like to go back to visit again one day. Reading books about Ireland is definitely a lot cheaper than buying a plane ticket to visit.

I was hoping for a little more romance but I still liked this book a lot. I already grabbed another Catherine Welch book to try that was mentioned after the book ended.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the chance to read and review. This was a four star rating. It will be on my blog soon.

The Rebound is a lovely romantic comedy / contemporary romance novel.

Abby returns home to Ireland to stay with sister and brother-in-law after she loses her job, apt, all her money, and fiancé all in a few weeks time.

Her and sister, Louise, were never close as kids and have not seen each other in person for several years.

She misses the bus and has a handsome stranger give her a ride. He turns out to be the next door neighbor she grew up with, Luke, who had a major glow-up.

The longer Abby stays, the more she likes being back home. As she and Luke get closer and she meets some new friends, she still doesn’t know what she wants for the future - to stay in Ireland? Go back to NY? Or something else entirely?

As I was reading, I cheered for Abby and Luke every step of the way. Their realistic romance me smile! The sisters learning to support and love each other again was a sweet bonus.

Thank you to Bookouture, Catherine Walsh, and Netgalley for an early copy of this book. My review is voluntary and all opinions are my own.

This was a stunning rom com. I loved it!

We are following our MC who is going though a very rough time, everything seems to go wrong and she is in this situation where she is being forced to move back to her hometown with her sister for a while until she is able to go back to her normal life.

but in the time that she spends in this beautiful Irish town, her life seems to be going better than she expected.

This was such an easy read and one that I found myself immersed in. It has one of my favorite tropes which is childhood friends and it was so well executed that you actually feel their chemistry.
The romance was soooo cute and also so hilarious at times!

Even tho this is a romance book there was an element that was even better in my opinion, which was the sisters relationship. It felt so familiar and it really did hit close to home because it was SO relatable. I could see myself in that position where I move to a different place far away from my family and you drift apart from your loved ones.
Honestly this felt like such a nice remainder to maybe get in contact with a relative that lives in a different place because even if you don't see them that often they are still there.

I just loved everything about it, how it started, how you then get to see all of the beautiful relationships develop and how is ended, in a way it had a super happy ending but it also made me tear up a bit.

Again, a stunning fluffy contemporary that I feel like everyone would love!

Sweet romance involving a woman (Abby) returning home to her small town in Ireland after hitting crossroads in life, and the handsome man (Luke) who was once the boy next door. Their romance is big part of the story, but the central problem is who Abby is, who she wants to be, and what changes she is ready to make in her life.

She has a relationship with her older sister that reminds me of the sisters in Fleabag--brusque but loving, underneath the sharp retorts--and part of her journey home is strengthening their sisterly bonds. She also makes new friends and reconnects with old ones, and these platonic relationships help her to open up with Luke as she decides how she feels about him and what kind of life she wants with him.

The book is comfortable, cozy, and warm, like a crackling fireplace rather than a roaring bonfire. Sometimes, though, cozy is exactly what you are looking for--and if so, this is a lovely read.

This book, wow, it was amazing! I adored the rebound. I loved both Abby and Luke. It did start off quite slow but it quickly picked up and i dove right in. I have no other criticisms!

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own.

Abby is forced to head back to her home town in Ireland to stay with her sister after losing everything in New York City. The book starts off with an (in my opinion) adorable meet cute between Abby and a hot stranger who offers to take her to her home town after she realizes the bus she’s waiting for isn’t coming. The banter between the two of them is top notch from the start and I found myself laughing immediately.

Turns out hot stranger is actually the glow up of the year and the boy she ran around with as a kid. The pining between the both of them will have you equally going awwww and wanting to kick them for not moving faster!

This book is a slow burn with great banter and two characters with amazing chemistry. The Rebound in a light hearted read and a great choice if you’re wanting to pick up something easy and funny. (The egg hunt scene was my FAV) I would have enjoyed spending more time with Abby and Luke as they navigated their way through their connection but overall a solid four star book.

The Rebound was a sweet story about coming home again and trying to find where you belong. I enjoyed the first half of the story but felt that the middle of the story fell flat for me. It was too predictable and I caught myself skimming the pages to get to the end.

Packed with likeable characters, witty banter and the famous Irish charm, Catherine Walsh’s The Rebound is a quick and fun read.
The story starts off with the MC Abby Reynolds returning to Ireland after many years - her perfect career and love life overseas have both hit rock-bottom and Abby needs to lie low as she figures out her next move. She’s none too happy about needing to crash with her older sister, Louise, who is chalk to her cheese - but needs must. As she reacclimatises to her childhood home town of Clonard, Abby rekindles old friendships whilst also establishing new ones, warms up to her sister, stays firm in her job-hunt in the face of constant rejection, and also finds comfort in a so-called rebound, who feels like a more honest and real connection than her ex-fiancée. Luke Bailey. Le sigh!

****Spoilers******
Bonus points for the following:
1. Treating Tyler and the hotel room conversation with him with such maturity and normalcy, and for not turning him into a total caricature
2. For staying true to Abby’s character and keeping her career focused throughout. Sure Luke is a very nice distraction, but I think the work and love life balance was handled very well

****End spoiler****


Final thoughts
This is a 4.5 rating (with those bonus points), rounded down to a 4.
Go read it - what are you waiting for?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC. This did not affect my review.

As a first time reader of Catherine Walsh I was unsure what to expect from The Rebound, but it's safe to say that I fell in love with it from the first page!

I love the relationships in this book, not only between Abby and Luke, but also with her sister/old friends as she navigates returning back to her home town after losing her home, job and fiancé all at once.

The tension between Abby and Luke was great - my only complaint being that I wanted to see more of them! The story as a whole was so romantic and funny, and has left me eager to read more of Catherine's books asap!

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

Pub date Feb 2022
3.5 A very cute friend-to-lovers romance set in Ireland. An enjoyable way to spend a day.

The Rebound by Catherine Walsh starts with a classic romcom meet-cute but quickly progresses into a story with more depth and heart than expected.

When Abby’s life is turned upside down and she feels forced to flee back to hide at her sister’s house back in her native Ireland, it’s expected that there are going to be some bumps along the road and potentially a host of interesting side characters. While that is definitely true of the book, I did not anticipate connecting to the book as much as I did. Oftentimes, siblings are portrayed as BFFs or mortal enemies, but the very real middle ground is not represented as much. Abby and Louise are very different from each other and not overly close. Even as adults, they fight all the time. It reminded me of the relationship I have with my own sister, and so it meant something to me to watch the sisters slowly start to understand each other a little more and form their own version of a sisterly bond.

Similarly, Abby and Luke’s relationship in the book is a breath of fresh air. Sometimes I feel romance heroes and heroines border on (or completely cross over to) toxic levels. There’s passion, yes, but it’s not always the healthy kind. For Abby and Luke, it’s mostly about Abby not being honest and missed opportunities paired with the fact that they both genuinely care for the people in their lives and aren’t willing to heart each other or anyone else. It was a refreshing change to read a book about two kind, imperfect people trying to figure things out.

This book would be great for people who love sexual tension and connection (but maybe don’t want more detailed sex sense) and those looking for a multi-layered story to connect to.

The Rebound was a fabulous rom com. It was a quick and easy read and had all the things you could want from it.

The Rebound centres on Abby who has found herself back in her rural hometown in Ireland having lost her job, fiancé and apartment in New York. When she arrives the first person she meets is the very handsome Luke, who gives her a lift back home. Only Abby doesn’t realise that this Luke is actually the Luke she grew up next to. Can Abby figure out what to do with her life next? Can she repair her relationship with her sister? And will Luke be the perfect rebound, or could it turn into much more?

In her author’s note Catherine Walsh explains that she wanted to focus on unashamedly ambitious women in her novel, and she does so brilliantly, in different ways throughout the novel. You have Abby who was once a high flyer but is now lost, yet still retains her ambition and doesn’t want to settle for anything other than what she knows she can do. There is her sister Louise, who is focused on her activism and trying to make a difference. Finally there is Beth, a business owner who is able to acknowledge when things are not going to plan. Beth takes ownership of her decisions, even if that means acknowledging her failure and moving forward. I loved Walsh’s portrayal of each of these women, none of whom are perfect, but they’re so working hard to achieve their own very different dreams.

I also loved the different types of relationships portrayed within this book. Of course this is a romance and I really enjoyed reading about the building tension between Abby and Luke, who together I thought made a great pair. Their chemistry sizzled on the page. But I also really liked the evolving relationship between Abby and her sister Louise, who had previously been frosty with one another. Additionally I thought the portrayal of female friendships between Abby and Beth, and Abby and Jess added so much to this story. The friendships between them served different purposes but each helped them with their own journeys.

I really enjoyed The Rebound, it was everything I was hoping it would be. It was a a really fun romance, with great humour, heart and some brilliant female characters.

This is my first time reading something by this author and I really enjoyed it. The story caught my attention from the beginning and held it all the way through. This is a sweet and romantic comedy and I enjoyed every minute of it. The characters were wonderful and felt so relatable, I couldn't help but fall in love with them. The storyline had a nice smooth flow and the romance was wonderful and there were plenty of humorous moments that had me laughing out loud or just generally left me with a smile on my face. Abby comes back home to a tiny village in Ireland after making it big and essentially losing everything in New York, including her fiance. She initially doesn't tell anyone about her losses. After spending some time with her family, she sees them in a new light and they might be exactly what she needs to help her get her life back together. She also reconnects with her childhood friend, Luke, and major sparks go off between them. While the budding romance was well played out, I also enjoyed seeing the relationship between Abby and her sister Louise. It was nice to see their relationship grow as well. I really enjoyed this book and I will be looking out for more books by this author!

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The last thing Abby expected is that she would be back in Ireland living with her sister Louise. Wait- the real last thing is that she would find love with Luke, the boy next door she left behind. These two were friends from the beginning of time but their long separation meant that Abby didn't recognize him at first. So trope-y but so fun. Louise is a hoot and their bickering will resonate with sisters everywhere. Luke, well, he's a good romantic guy. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers but no one will be surprised if there's an HEA.

I LOVE that this book is being published on Valentine's day! I love a childhood friend turned "something more" situation. It is the perfect book to read during the month of love!! I love that Abby is a strong, smart woman and Luke is so beyond sweet. The humor was on point as well as the banter. I loved the supporting characters too! I think this book was a definite win for me, and I will definitely be reading more from Catherine Walsh!!

*arc for honest review* this is one of my favorite books so far this year. from the first chapter i got me so excited to just keep reading and i was obsessed throughout the whole book! and it’s a slowburn. one of my favorite tropes! they didn’t have much scene’s in the middle but it was totally worth it! as well as the progression with her sister’s relationship i just loved it! abbyluke are now one of my favorites! can’t wait for more books from this author

This was the first time I’ve read a book by Catherine Walsh, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a charming and sweet story full of my favourite tropes: returning home, slow-burn and unrequited love. However, I personally feel that when it comes to the returning home trope of the main character going back to their tiny hometown after some sort of crisis/failure, the novel doesn’t always deliver everything it promises to. And I’m often left feeling disappointed by the ending. But Catherine Walsh is an exception. She actually makes it work.

I really enjoyed the level of detail in this novel, in terms of all the circumstances that led Abby to returning home and all the different consequences of what going back actually meant for her. From repairing a rocky relationship with her sister, and reconnecting with everyone and everything she had once left behind, to realising it was okay to start over, and cultivating a newfound appreciation of her hometown. It was beautifully layered by Catherine Walsh, whilst still being an entertaining, light-hearted and comforting read.

I particularly loved the characters. Literally all of them (with the exception of a certain New Yorker). Especially Abby. She was straight up a BOSS who knew exactly what she wanted, and had an unmatched drive and ambition, right from when she was only a teenager. She worked extremely hard to deserve every opportunity she got, and every penny she earned - and it was so inspiring and empowering being able to read about such a strong female protagonist. And Louise. Whilst she’s the polar opposite of Abby and that’s why the sisters have never really been able to see eye to eye, I love how their relationship blossoms from something nonexistent to a sweet, sisterly bond. And as someone who has a younger sister who’s my extreme opposite, I found myself relating to Abby and Louise in that sense, which made them more real to me. Which gave me all the more reason to love watching their journey from a strained relationship to sisters realising while they won’t always like each other, they’ll always love each other.

Luke. My heart MELTED at the unrequited childhood love, and just being able to read about the man he became was amazing, since he is easily the most caring, loving and sweet character. Like Abby, he also works hard to get where he wants. But the most admirable quality about him had to be his willingness to make sacrifices for the people he loved. I really appreciated the relationship between Luke and Abby - from how they reconnected as friends, and how they were there for each other at a time when both of them felt a little behind everyone else in the race of life, and as though they had failed in some sense. Luke is the knight in shining armour EVERY GIRL needs. He will literally make you want to take a trip to rural Ireland in hopes of finding him there to give you a lift.

But what I loved most was that it didn’t revolve entirely around the romance - and that Abby and Luke both still had a life, and other relationships to maintain, and other goals they wanted to reach. They sort of fit together and complemented each others’ lives, rather than just letting the romance consume them and throw everything else out of the window. And the final thing that I absolutely loved was the wholesome and holistic ending - in that EVERYONE (who deserved it) got their happy ending, and not a single character was left behind. There were no loose threads, and that gave me the closure I needed when I finished reading it. It was one of the sweetest reads ever, and if I ever do happen to go to rural Ireland - this is definitely the book I’m taking for the trip.