Rebound Remedy by Christine d’Abo

Cole and Owen’s fling starts out as a rebound remedy but can they make it work in the long term? I received one copy of Rebound Remedy by Christine d’Abo at no charge in exchange for my honest reviews but all opinions expressed here are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

Rebound Remedy by Christine d’Abo

Purchase Links: Amazon

Title:   Rebound Remedy

Series:   N/A

Author:      Christine d’Abo

Publisher:  Riptide Publishing (November 9, 2015)

ISBN-13: 978-1626493544

Genre:     M/M, Contemporary

Length/Format:  ebook, 155 pages

Heat Rating:   2

Star Rating:   3

 

About the Author:  Learn more about Christine d’Abo by checking out the author’s website or following along on Facebook or Twitter.

 

Book Blurb:  

The last thing Cole expects to get for the holidays is dumped. But there he is, in the airport on his way to Banff for a romantic getaway, helplessly watching as his boyfriend’s ex declares undying love, proposes-and is accepted. With a few weeks to go until Christmas, Cole’s mood dives from jolly to jaded. But instead of sitting at home alone and feeling sorry for himself, he goes to his favorite bar, McGregor’s, for a pint and some company.

The moment Owen McGregor sets eyes on Cole, he knows there’s something wrong. So he takes it upon himself to ensure that Cole has a happy holiday: twelve outings for the twelve days before Christmas. Even if he can’t quite think up twelve activities that don’t involve getting the forlorn hunk into his bed.

With each outing they take together, Cole realizes that the love he thought he’d shared with his ex was less than perfect. And that Owen might prove to be more than just his rebound remedy.

My Review:

In Rebound Remedy by Christine d’Abo, Cole has just been dumped in a very public and embarrassing display.  He is less than happy and hits his favorite bar to drown his sorrows and find some company.

Owen the bartender feels his heart tug a bit at Cole’s obvious bad mood.  He is determined to put a smile on his face this holiday season with a bit of non sexual fun.  A friend is just what Owen thinks Cole needs to get out of his funk.

Between the two of them, they come up with 12 days worth of holiday fun and begin to realize that what started as a rebound may be turning into something deeper.

Rebound Remedy is a slow, sweet and relatively angst free holiday romance.  Cole and Owen start hanging out together as friends and get to know each other slowly.  It seems real and their relationship develops naturally from friends to lovers.  The heat is a little on the low side since they are specifically NOT looking for a sexual relationship with each other at the beginning but they are really good together when things finally move along.

The whole premise of the story is ’12 days of Christmas’…where the guys spend 12 days doing fun things together to cheer up Cole.  However, I found it a bit unrealistic that they fell in love in those 12 days.  Especially since Cole was just royally dumped. While the story seemed to move slowly, it also seems unrealistic to be head over heels in love in less than 2 weeks.

I  enjoyed both characters.  They were sweet and thoughtful and generally very likable.  They did have some communication issues which caused a bit of angst occasionally but overall, they were very ‘real’.  The setting is well written and you really get a nice feel for the Toronto area as you move through the story.

If you are looking for a sweet, low angst holiday romance, I think you will enjoy Rebound Remedy. It didn’t really grab my attention and pull me into the story but it was a slow and relatively good read.