Rebound by Sadie Kincaid is the third book in the Manhattan Ruthless series, a set of interconnected standalones following the billionaire brothers of the James family. So far, these books have been phenomenally spicy explorations of complicated relationships, and Rebound promised more of the same signature heat and messy dynamics.
Elijah James still thinks his wife Amber is the one, even if she seemingly hates him. They’ve been together for twenty years, and what used to be a loving and passionate relationship has frozen over into a battlefield of cruel remarks and fake smiles.
When Amber asks for a divorce, she sees it as the only way forward, despite the love for each other that they keep hidden away. In the midst of their divorce, Elijah and Amber have a tense and heated moment on an elevator ride that leads them to the perfect solution.
They should have an affair. With each other. Just two strangers in a hotel room, escaping from their painfully complicated marital woes. As their divorce moves forward, their relationship heats up, but their clandestine affair might not be enough to patch up all the wounds left by their marriage.
Amber and Elijah have such amazing chemistry and Amber especially is so fun to get to know. She starts out as an ice queen, but throughout the course of the events of the book, she thaws into something deeply relatable. She is a complex portrayal of femininity in a way that is wonderful to read.
Rebound is a romance novel, so of course it is primarily about Amber and Elijah’s relationship, but it is also about Amber’s journey of self-discovery.
The fundamental issue in their marriage is his family — they hate her, and he chooses them every time. This leads to many other problems between them, and a complete lack of communication. This marriage is a disaster at the beginning, but they are still physically attracted to each other.
Despite the tangled knot of hurt feelings between these two, the spice is electric. It is maybe slightly less spicy than the first two in the series, but that’s not saying much. These two aren’t necessarily kinky or taboo, but they are definitely having all kinds of delicious fun.
Rebound has an unusual framework for a romance novel — given that the book begins with the main characters getting a divorce. I’ve never read anything quite like it, with these two working through the complex feelings of the end of a relationship while essentially starting a new one between them.
Their banter is incredible, but it’s often not really banter, it’s the vicious and barbed remarks of people that hate each other. This gives this book a similar appeal to an enemies-to-lovers romance, in which the characters are intimately familiar with the worst sides of each other and yet love each other anyway.
There is a lot of emotional drama that feels so intense in this book, with a great deal of painful moments for these characters. Despite this, it was still so much fun to read. Rebound has a certain playful feel, even when dealing with heavy themes, and the happily ever after is just perfect for Elijah and Amber.
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