Back After This by Linda HolmesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Cecily Foster loves to make podcasts. She fiercely protects her colleagues, dearly adores her friends, and never misses dinner with her sister. But after a disastrous relationship with a colleague who stole her heart and her ideas, she’s put romantic love on hold.
When the boss who’s disappointed her again and again finally offers her the chance to host her own show, she wants to be thrilled. But there’s a catch—actually, two catches. First, the show will be about Cecily’s dating life. And second, she has to follow the guidance of influencer and newly minted relationship coach Eliza Cassidy, whose relentlessly upbeat attitude seems ready-made for social media, not real life.
Cecily would rather do anything other than put her singledom on display (ugh) or take advice from the internet (UGH). But when her boss hints that doing the show is the only way to protect a friend’s job, she realizes she has no choice.
To make matters more complicated, once she’s committed to twenty blind dates of Eliza’s choosing, Cecily finds herself unable to stop thinking about Will, a photographer she helped to rescue a very big and very lovable lost dog. Even though there are sparks between the two, Will’s own path is uncertain, and Eliza’s skeptical comments about Cecily’s decision-making aren’t helping. On the one hand, Will seems great. But on the other hand . . . don’t they all?
As Cecily struggles to balance the life she truly desires and the one Eliza wants to create for her, she finds herself at a crossroads. Can Cecily sort through all the advice and find a way to do what she loves without losing herself in the process?
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This book was a very fun read. I am a big fan of podcasts, so the behind-the-scenes insight into them was enjoyable to explore, and I really liked getting to know Cecily and hearing her story. I am a sucker for any novel that has a dog in it, so Buddy was a welcome addition to the action. I also liked that it wasn't predictable...I was pretty sure I knew what the HEA was going to be, but I was never quite sure how we were going to get there.
There were also enough "bad guys" thrown in for me to have someone to root against, which upped the satisfaction I felt when our heroine ended up sticking it them in the end. My only complaint is that some of resolutions felt a little tepid after the consistent action of the first 3/4 of the book. All-in-all, however, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a smart romance with some humor thrown in.
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