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A review by faintingviolet
Her Favorite Rebound by Jackie Lau
4.0
This book is all about characters working through their emotions. Sierra’s relationship with Colton isn’t good, but it is also fulfilling a need for Sierra at the time. Through much of the book we are with Sierra as she unpacks what her relationship with Colton is, what her emotions about him are, can he be trusted, and is she happy. That question about happiness also extends to her family, who are quite awful overall. But the things she never has to question are if her work makes her happy, or if she’s attracted to Jake, and if he sees her in a way others don’t. We’re also with Jake as he is struck with seemingly instant love for Sierra the moment he sees her across the restaurant. He spends time deciding if that is even possible, and can he manage to demonstrate his emotions to her by respecting her boundaries – especially when he knows he can’t trust Colton.
The other major emotional beat here is worth and family expectations. Jake is recovering from working for Colton and tarnishing his soul in the pursuit of money. He is making amends for having helped a billionaire earn more at the expense of others. But he doesn’t feel he’s a good enough person, still, to be happy and at every turn his brother confirms that back to him. Sierra is made so miserable by her family by their expectations of who she should be that she has learned to accept less, to not need much of anything at all. She must find that she is worth happiness and someone who sees her as she is and is proud of her for becoming the person she wants to be.
Between those two things Jake and Sierra are a well-matched pair and this book works through the various things that are keeping them apart, and then the things that are keeping them from truly being together once they start a physical relationship. So why not more than four stars? The pacing in the chapters felt a bit off – sometimes hardly any time passed, sometimes weeks passed. I found myself wanting more of what we didn’t have on page, and for that reason I can’t rate this one any higher. But this is a story I am glad to have read, and that I’m glad Lau tackled writing. She works through getting her characters to let go of the shoulds, and that’s something many of us need to see reflected in what we read.
I received Her Favorite Rebound as an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. It publishes March 29, 2022
full review: https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2022/03/09/her-favorite-rebound-and-a-very-beery-new-year-cbr14-24-25/
The other major emotional beat here is worth and family expectations. Jake is recovering from working for Colton and tarnishing his soul in the pursuit of money. He is making amends for having helped a billionaire earn more at the expense of others. But he doesn’t feel he’s a good enough person, still, to be happy and at every turn his brother confirms that back to him. Sierra is made so miserable by her family by their expectations of who she should be that she has learned to accept less, to not need much of anything at all. She must find that she is worth happiness and someone who sees her as she is and is proud of her for becoming the person she wants to be.
Between those two things Jake and Sierra are a well-matched pair and this book works through the various things that are keeping them apart, and then the things that are keeping them from truly being together once they start a physical relationship. So why not more than four stars? The pacing in the chapters felt a bit off – sometimes hardly any time passed, sometimes weeks passed. I found myself wanting more of what we didn’t have on page, and for that reason I can’t rate this one any higher. But this is a story I am glad to have read, and that I’m glad Lau tackled writing. She works through getting her characters to let go of the shoulds, and that’s something many of us need to see reflected in what we read.
I received Her Favorite Rebound as an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. It publishes March 29, 2022
full review: https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2022/03/09/her-favorite-rebound-and-a-very-beery-new-year-cbr14-24-25/