On the Rebound

Today I have the fun pleasure of participating in a blog tour for Heather Justesen, who just released her second book, Rebound. She's got a ton of fun contests going on at her blog right now, so be sure to check it out.

Now to our feature presentation. Rebound is a romance novel that centralizes around Lily, a pregnant stay-at-home-mom who lives a pampered lifestyle. The problem arises when the FBI arrive for her dinner party instead of her husband. From there Lily's life turns into a whirlwind of broken dreams and expectations. She struggles to hold on to her indifferent husband all while taking care of their child, preparing for baby, and finding a new place to live. When her husband leaves her desolate and she has to fight for every penny from him, Lily is forced into a single, working-mom lifestyle. Romance is far from her mind, but she finds it, in the face of an unexpected acquaintance, Curtis.

I really liked in this book how the husband was so two-faced. He was active in their church and seemed a model citizen, but was living a double life. I also liked how Curtis, who never saw himself assuming on the responsibility of a family when he fell in love, also fell in love with Lily's children. I have many single-mom friends who fear they will never find a man who accepts them and their children. While this book is fiction, hopefully that trend will catch on!

I didn't like how forced Lily's husband's indifference felt. I thought even a deceitful man wouldn't be so obviously hateful to his wife. Their marriage wasn't that troubled, after all, just 'issues' that many of us have. I honestly would have enjoyed seeing him feeling more regretful that she didn't see this coming, but it's time for them to move into different places in their lives. The completely hateful and obnoxious felt out of character.

This novel is a spin-off from an earlier novel, and many of the characters and their story lines came from Heather's first novel. I found this distracting, as I haven't read the first novel. The characters felt thrown in and I didn't really care about their story lines. I wanted Lily's story. But that is my opinion. I know other readers who really enjoyed getting those background stories.

Overall, it was a fun read, and romance is always fun because it helps us remember the feelings of falling in love with our own dear ones. So exciting! Heather is still breaking out into the market, so if you get the chance to go to her blog and check out her novels, I'm sure she'd appreciate it!