The Rebound by Catherine Walsh

The Rebound by Catherine Walsh

The Rebound by Catherine Walsh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ireland-set slow burn romance is a pleasurable read

3.5 Stars rounded up

What you need to know about “The Rebound”:
✔ Small town romance
✔ First Person Narration only from Abby’s p.o.v.
✔ Childhood friends
✔ Abby, newly unemployed, homeless and broken up
✔ Luke Bailey, studying to be a physiotherapist, Abby’s childhood neighbor
✔ Slow burn romance
✔ Takes place in Ireland
✔ Complete Standalone

Abby has just lost her job, fiancé, and all of her savings. Out of options, she’s gone back home to Ireland to stay with her sister (with whom she constantly clashes) when she meets Luke who gives her a lift to her hometown village of Clonard.

Luke, who she first thought was a kind (and hot) stranger, turns out to be her former neighbor and friend from childhood. They grew up together and Abby becomes embarrassed that she didn’t recognize him and flirted with him on the drive.

In this slow burn romance there is a slight misunderstanding regarding Abby’s fiancé, a funny Easter egg hunt and a lovely day at the beach.

The relationships between Abby and her sister Louise, her hometown and herself are carefully unfurled and it’s lovely. This book moves slowly through these relationships but the pacing is very good and it wrapped me up so much that I didn’t put it down once.

This is a “gentle and unhurried” romance that lets the connections within occur organically. The Rebound is a low spice, low angst, slow burn romance that is a pleasure to read.

I received a review copy of this easygoing, Irish romance and this is my honest review.

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Synopsis

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

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…

The perfect feel-good romantic comedy that will make you laugh until you cry and fall completely in love. Fans of Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes, and Emily Henry won’t be able to put this down!

What is your favorite trope?

Check out my review of Paris is Always A Good Idea.