Bounce Back by K.M. Jackson
Series: Loving on the Edge, #2
Romance Contemporary
April 4, 2016
River Hill Press

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “What the hell was in that pocket and could I get some?”

All Sabrina Jacobs wants to do is focus on building her new life, and that starts with rebuilding her marriage. Her husband has moved back into their home and thankfully, exclusively into her bed, she’s making a name for herself with her home based finance business and she’s even starting to master the suburban mommy mafia game. Too bad she didn’t factor in being assigned as co-chair in charge of the annual Cougar and Cubs gala with her town nemesis. As busy as Sabrina is, she definitely doesn’t have time to deal with the likes of one Cassandra Stanton.

Currently a Cougar in waiting, Cassandra Stanton is well on track to being Edgewater town royalty, that is, if she can keep it together and pull off the fundraiser of the year. Too bad she’s saddled with co-chairing the event with the chronically clueless Sabrina Jacobs. Not to mention the fact that her husband, Richard, has chosen now to have his most inconvenient, can’t keep it in his pants, mid-life crisis. Cassandra just doesn’t have the time to deal with coddling him and pulling off the party of the year. But maybe the town’s new contractor can give her the tools she needs to work out all her problems and rebuild her life, only this time on her terms.

Can these two unlikely allies come together for a cause and give the Cougars of Edgewater a night they won’t soon forget, all the while gaining control of the chaos their own lives have become? (Goodreads)

Bounce Back is the sequel to K.M. Jackson’s entertainingly heart-wrenching Bounce. Bounce introduced us to Sabrina and Sean Jacobs-the all American family. Sabrina is devastated when Sean tells her had an affair. Suddenly everything Sabrina believed in is gone and replaced with fear, disillusionment, and heartbreak. Jackson did an excellent job of examining the insecurity many couples face in relationships and the emotional and mental journey Sabrina takes as she copes with what happened  and if she is willing to forgive Sean and take him back or forget him and their marriage altogether.

“Nothing is more important than our time rebuilding our marriage.”

Bounce Back is definitely lighter than Bounce. Jackson pays special attention to Sabrina’s lingering feelings of resentment and anger towards Sean while she attempts to navigate her new life working from home and trying to understand the politics of the PTA. Solid narration from Sabrina’s POV gives us an intimate view of all her emotions and thoughts; giving the story a more humorous, less serious this time around. I loved Sabrina in Bounce and was pleased to see her characterization and dialogue stays mostly the same. She deals with numerous topics in here from her sister’s almost militant refusal to commit to her boyfriend to the dreaded chair that she sees as the enemy in her marriage. She talks about being African American in a predominantly white town, her fear that her kids love the nanny more than her,  that she has become too  “mom looking”, and her ever present awareness of her husband’s attractiveness to the opposite sex. She also deals with her own attention from the opposite (and same) sex that is both flattering and strange.

A solid subplot intertwines with Sabrina’s story, giving us another look at infidelity in the marriage and the different ways couples deal with it. Cassandra Stanton, Sabrina’s nemesis, is a woman of many contrasts. She and her marriage, like Sabrina’s, seems perfect but the rot is there and we see how her heritage and childhood dictates the decisions she makes. Sabrina’s storyline almost takes a backseat to this one storyline in terms of conflict. I found Cassandra’s need to maintain the status quo and the excuses she makes for her husband’s behavior very interesting.

“…that has to be the biggest load of bullshit that you’re trying to pass off as the truth…as if being an asshole has a race or gender for that matter, and worse yet, as if the pain somehow excludes you. Trust me, none of us are excluded from that club, sweetheart.”

A varied cast of secondary characters from the average to the outrageous help to round out the story and give readers some laugh out loud moments as this small, prestige little town seems to rival Peyton Place in some areas. Soccer moms and femme fatales are in abundance. Though Sabrina feels a little out of place, she does have the beginnings of a strong network at her back. There is a dinner party that let me giggling because I could easily imagine the looks on Sean and Sabrina’s face when they walked in on the “after party” entertainment.

The ending is both a victory and vindication for Sabrina and Cassandra. They came…they saw…and they kicked arse both personally and professionally. Sabrina and Sean have gotten even closer in their new beginnings and Cassandra learns that while life has no guarantees, the only thing holding her back is herself.

Bounce Back is a fun, witty, laid back contemporary romance that is sure to please fans of Bounce and K.M. Jackson. I do hope Jackson continues this series. I’d like to see more of this town and it’s characters.

Grade: B-

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