Back After This

 

Back After This by Linda Holmes (2025) 304 pages

Cecily is a producer of audio podcasts for a company that sees its business model failing. Her boss, Toby, sees an opportunity to bring out a series that will help right the sinking ship. Cecily hasn't had a relationship since her last boyfriend dumped her, taking their shared podcast with him. She is being asked to work with relationship coach Eliza Cassidy on a series that will have Eliza setting Cecily up with 20 dates in order to find her a husband. Advertisers are lined up to support this program. It is not what Cecily really wants to do, but she agrees because she will be hosting, it will help save the job of one of her colleagues, and Toby has agreed to let her make a pilot for her own project after this is done.

As the series gets underway, Cecily runs into a guy she doesn't know, and helps him corral a Great Dane who had gotten away from his owner. Later she sees this guy, Will, again and again. He has had his own relationship woes, but he's funny and thoughtful and she is drawn to him, but knows that she needs to take the dating project seriously.

The characterizations are good and the dialogue feels real and is often funny. Readers get the inside scoop on audio project details from the author, who works for NPR. I liked the novel a lot, just as I liked a previous novel of Holmes', Evvie Drake Starts Over.

Back After This

Back After This by Linda Holmes, 320 pages

Cecily has made herself indispensable at the podcast production company where she works. She's a great editor and producer, and literally wrote the book on how to save and properly access the company's audio files. She's been pitching her own ideas for podcasts for ages, and while her boss has shown some interest, there's always been one reason or another to not produce them. So when he comes to Cecily with a plan to center her on a self-help podcast with a trendy influencer, she says she'll participate but only if her newest idea can finally get produced. He agrees and suddenly Cecily finds herself the subject of Twenty Dates, a podcast in which influencer and relationship coach Eliza sets her up on, you guessed it, 20 dates, promising to find the right guy for Cecily.

There is something hard to believe about the setup of the podcast, and the fact that Cecily goes along with it (especially knowing her boss's track record with promises), as well as some of the other elements of the book that I won't spoil here. However, Cecily as a character is ridiculously relatable, as I feel like every hardworking woman has, at some time or another, been overlooked or taken for granted at a job, and can probably relate to the revelations Cecily has throughout the book. Overall, it's a good, enjoyable read, especially if you want a behind-the-scenes view of creating podcasts along with your drama.

Listen for the Lie

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, 336 pages

Five years ago, Lucy's best friend Savvy was murdered after a wedding in their small Texas town. Lucy has no memory of that night, but given that she was found covered in Savvy's blood not far from the body, everyone assumes she did it, despite the fact that the police never charged her with the crime. In the aftermath, Lucy divorced her husband and fled to Los Angeles, where she's enjoyed a much more anonymous life...at least until a popular true crime podcaster picks up the cold case. Suddenly, everyone knows who Lucy is, and it's managed to end her job and relationship in one fell swoop. At the request of her beloved grandmother, Lucy heads back to her hometown and starts working with the podcaster to discover the truth of Savvy's murder, whatever that may be.

This was an interesting, quick read with a main character that is such a mess that you can't help but shake your head at her. But she also has a fantastically dark sense of humor, which made her so realistic and likeable to me. The book is alternately billed as a thriller and a mystery, though I'm not sure it really matters in the grand scheme of things, because it's wicked fun and keeps you guessing until the end.

Hana Khan Carries On

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin, 350 pages

Hana Khan is a young Muslim woman in Toronto, working three jobs (though only one that pays anything) in order to help her family's halal restaurant while pursuing her dream of a career in radio broadcasting. She's recently started an anonymous podcast in which she muses about being the daughter of Muslim immigrants and quickly gains a devoted, but equally anonymous, fan known only by "StanleyP." As their friendship moves from the comments sections to direct messaging, Hana finds herself wanting to make this relationship real. In the meantime, she's stuck in an internship where she's expected to speak for all Muslims, while simultaneously trying to save her family's restaurant from going under as a new halal restaurant (owned by dreamy Vancouver transplant Aydin) gets ready to open down the block.

This is Jalaluddin's second novel, after Ayesha at Last, and both are excellent examples of romance novels that focus on the emotional and personality connection rather than the physical. I mean, there's not a single kiss in this book! But it still has all of the heart and romantic tension of any other romance novel, while serving up something that's true to the hajib-wearing main characters. I love the way that the relationships are presented, as well as the growth in the main characters in very realistic situations. Even if you're not a romance reader, it's worth a try.