Review: Rebound Therapy by Jerica MacMillan

19 April of 2016 by Deb Markanton

Reviewer's Rating: 4

4.0Overall score

Beautifully Written, Wonderful Characters!

Rebound Therapy By Jerica MacMillan

Contemporary Romance

Released October 7, 2015

Self Published

Series: Rebound Series, Book #1

Synopsis

Jenna just needs a little rebound therapy.

Jenna Anderson is still stuck in her grief a year after her fiance died in a tragic accident. All she does is go to work and spend time at home, her former spark gone. Her best friend decides she needs a rebound guy to have some fun and start to live again.

Brian MacCallum is the hot owner of the wine bar where Amy takes Jenna. He has a mischievous grin that he wields like a weapon to convince Jenna to give him a chance.

Will his love be enough to pull Jenna out of her grief so she can learn to live and love again?

This is a short read that grabs your heart and doesn’t let go. If you like relatable characters, references to The Princess Bride, and steamy scenes hot enough to melt your Kindle, download Rebound Therapy now!

Excerpt:

“I’ve decided what your next step should be,” Amy says after the first movie is over. We’ve eaten half the pizza, and each plowed through half of our respective pints.

I groan, both from feeling overfull and with dread from hearing her decision for my life. “I’m stuffed,” I say, putting the lid back on my ice cream and getting up to put it in the freezer. “Do you want another Mike’s?”

“Sure. Aren’t you going to ask what I’ve decided?”

“No. I don’t want to know.”

“Yes, you do. It’s brilliant, I promise.”

“What happened to sympathetic Amy that I talked to on the phone earlier? Can I have her back?”

She grins. “Nope. It’s proactive Amy’s turn. Ask me what you should do next.”

I take a deep breath and brace myself. “Fine. What have you decided I should do next with my life?”

“You need a rebound.”

“What?”

“A rebound. You know, to bounce back.”

Review

Reviewed by Deb

Beautifully Written, Wonderful Characters!

Rebound Therapy is such a beautifully written story! Jerica MacMillan handles the subject of loss, grief, and moving forward with one’s life as if she were offering us a delicate china cup filled to the brim with fragrant, earthy tea; with grace, respect, and wonder. And yet all it takes is one sip for us to figure out she’s spiked our Earl Gray! Thus ends my Zen-like rambling. In case you didn’t get it, what all that meant was there’s a lot more to Rebound Therapy than meets the eye. I love how the absolute ease with which this story unfolds contrasts with its intensity as well as the depth of her characters.

A year has come and gone since Jenna’s fiance Tom was killed in an accident. Logically, she knows she needs to move on with her life, however, that pit of grief and guilt is damn hard to climb out of. Her best friend Amy has been patiently nudging her along for months. Jenna may not want to admit it, but she might actually be ready to put herself out in the dating world again. Her only other option is therapy, which she’d rather avoid. But dating? Isn’t that betraying Tom? They were about to be married! How will it ever be possible not to feel guilty? Jenna’s thoughts and feelings are conveyed so well, it was easy for me to put myself in her shoes, and wonder how I would deal with such a dilemma. It’s definitely a tough call. Especially when she feels an immediate attraction to Brian, owner of the wine bar Amy drags her to one night.

I love that Brian instinctively knows how to handle Jenna without walking on eggshells. He’s respectful of her past but makes it clear he wants to be involved. Even though Brian is merely supposed to be Jenna’s “rebound therapy”, it quickly escalates to something deeper. Instead of triggering painful memories, their time together creates exciting new ones. The chemistry between them is more explosive than what she had with Tom and the sex… Let’s just say, Brian’s desire for her is all consuming. It’s like nothing she’s ever felt before.

Rebound Therapy is not all smooth sailing. It is, after all about finding oneself after a tragedy. But it’s also about enjoying the new that comes into your life rather than comparing it to what was. It’s about letting go of the guilt society expects us to hang onto. Ms. MacMillan has given us a touching story with the added bonus of humor and fun that will leave you with good feels and, most of all, hope.