Title: Back After This
Author: Linda Holmes
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: February 25, 2025
From the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo, a podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love?
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?
Very well written!
Cecily Foster is a podcast producer. She used to do a podcast with her ex-boyfriend, but when he dumped her, she lost her home, her show, and her lover.
A couple of years later, and at her work, things are tense. There are rumors that they might be letting some people go. Cecily's boss calls her into his office to tell her that they have a new idea for a new podcast, and Cecily will be the one running it. She will also be the main feature. His boss wants her to partner with an influencer who is now a dating coach. The dating couch is setting her up with twenty blind dates, and she assures Cecliy that she will find love by the end of the dates. Cecily has never seen herself as someone who will want to do this, but she hopes that if this goes well, no one will lose their job, and it may help find her a companion. Yet, the universe has another idea. Just before the new podcast begins, she meets Will, a photographer who is trying to catch a great dane that was running away. Sparks fly between them after they keep on bumping into each other. What is Cecily going to do when she is not supposed to see anyone else who is not part of the podcast?
I fell for Will and Buddy, the great dane, right away. In my head, there was no reason to go on other dates. I was rooting for Cecily to pick them.
This was a nice rom-com with likable, down-to-earth, and relatable main characters.
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Ballantine Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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