The Comeback

Hollywood Heartthrobs #3

by Tabitha Bree

When you land your dream role in a Hollywood romance… but get cast opposite your ex.

SADIE

To everyone else, Damon Reeves is LA’s most notorious diva looking for a second chance after his scandalous meltdown on set three years ago. But to me, he is Damon Reeves, my high school sweetheart. Damon Reeves, the only man I’ve ever loved.

Damon Reeves, the man who broke my heart.

And now we’re in a movie together, and must pretend to be in love—and I have to be convincing, otherwise my Hollywood dreams are over before they’ve begun.

Acting classes didn’t prepare me for this.


DAMON

I finally have a second chance in Hollywood, and who shows up at the audition for my love interest?

My ex-girlfriend.

Making a comeback is hard enough without Sadie burning holes through me with her eyes.

Not to mention the feeling I get when the cameras start to roll, and our lips meet again for the first time…

*********************

The Comeback is a dual POV, steamy, second chance rom-com that will make you laugh out loud, swoon, and melt. It’s Book 3 in the Hollywood Heartthrobs series, but can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Genres: Second Chance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary, Second Chance Romance, Forced Proximity, Contemporary Romance

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2022

About the author

Tabitha Bree is an author, crafter, and sometimes yoga instructor based in Melbourne, Australia. A long-time fan of chick lit and romantic comedies, she is happiest (and most neurotic) when creating worlds for her fictional lovers to frolic in.

Rules of a Breakup is Tabitha’s fourth (and longest!) book in her catalogue, and a standalone. Check out the Seeking Series if you’re interested in a rom-com trilogy.

Visit tabithabree.com to receive a free short story and hear the latest books news!

Reviews

[Piper · Rating 2 out of 5]

POV: Dual.
Descriptive Sex: Yes.
OW/OM: Yes. A former one night stand of his and she's dating someone most of the time.
Separation: Yes. Months.
★★

Tabitha Bree gave me the perfect slow burn, second chance romance then veered into oncoming OW traffic. Bree then didn't give enough pages in the aftermath to recover. I enjoyed reading the story of former high school sweethearts Sadie and Damon. Their story from the audition process to filming was fun exploration of them going from bitter exes to friends to possibly something a little more. The premise of two exes trying to navigate acting together in a romance film is just so appealing to me.

Once she broke up with her boyfriend, I was looking forward to watching them grow closer, open up. And when Damon started to ease his way into her life by starting back at friends I thought, yes! this is it. this is my kind of love story. Then it all went downhill.

OW drama does that.

This is such a difficult review because I was fully enjoying the book until the OW's appearance (and the plus one she came with). I liked that while Damon was your typical fuckboy in the time after they broke up, Sadie wasn't just sitting in the corner, celibate and pining. She had relationships and moved on. I liked that they didn't just roll into bed again and their reconnection was gradual. Because of that promising start, I continued on, giving it the benefit of the doubt, because of how well they were progressing.

But the OW drama just went on for too long. I felt like there were too many chapters spent on this OW. Then to add insult to injury, Bree added an OM into the equation. I just could not see how this would end in a satisfactory manner, especially when I saw how much was left in the book.

I was right. Because the ending was rushed. Bree saved all wrap-up for the last two chapters. There wasn't nearly enough time together during and after the drama. And I needed some time to be reminded how cute they were together because I forgot all of it the second a baby and man-child came into view.

However low my rating is, this is still a well written novel and I think the majority of people will enjoy this story. This was just never going to be my type of novel the second an OW entered with her surprise. But I'm in the minority with these tropes, and I know that. So, take this review with a grain of salt and give it a chance yourself.


I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mari Pequenos Retalhos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice read, I enjoyed it, I just didn't think it was great. For me it was a very simple storyline that sometimes fell flat. I wasn't bored exactly reading it, but I felt like it was a bit predictable. Maybe it just wasn't a book for me.

[Joana da Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm in the middle of two very ✨adult✨ books and just needed a little romance to lighten the mood. I know this is part of a series but only felt like reading this one tbh, even though I know I missed some of the underlying info of some character's relationships. A cute second chance romance with some forced proximity thrown into the mix, very predictable indeed, but a good palate cleanser. Easy to move on from this one because I related to a great amount of 0 (zero) characters in this book.

[Sloth Incarnate 🍉]

Once again, booktok is a miss. DNF’d at 54%. I started it with a friend, thinking it would be good… but honestly I didn’t enjoy it. I hated the “boyfriend is an asshole” addition. It was going SO WELL until author decided to make him an asshole. This book would’ve been better had he actually been a nice man. Then the fl falls into bed with the ml within 5 hours of breaking up with her boyfriend (after saying time and time again on how much she cares for him????), claiming how “she’s always belonged with the ml”???? Sigh. Next.

[alohoemorah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Loved the beginning don’t get me wrong okay but what the actual fuck happened? Like I hate the miscommunication trope and I felt like the ending was long drawn like the last 100 pages were so unnecessary I just felt like the “plot” was forced and the whole baby thing ? Such a turn off and all the times where they were finally going to talk but something happened was fucking frustrating. Sadie read the interview and she’s on her way to him but oh no she Sarah the pregnant lady comes in it’s just like a big shit eating cliché. Don’t get me wrong I loved the first part of the book but the ending ? Bah i hated it.
I hate the boyfriend I forgot his name but he was so manipulative and it annoyed the daylight out of me that she could not see that and that’s Okey for some but I hate it.
I liked the writing tho 🫶

[Farah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute. Nothing special though. Didn’t really get attached to any of the characters

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making It Work . . .

Damon and Sadie dated in high school until their paths separated and he put all of his attention on his Hollywood career. Although a meltdown lost him popularity, he is trying for a second chance comeback. Unexpectedly, Sadie is the female lead and they will have to work closely together. Will this unsettle him? Will she be okay with doing love scenes with her ex-boyfriend, the only man she ever really loved? There will be plenty of emotions set loose in this romantic film.

But determined not to let this ruin her own career, Sadie decides to go along with it. But as soon as filming started and they had their first kiss, old memories surfaced. Will the two of them fall in love again? Will they take a second chance on each other? Or is it too late to go back to what they once had? Can she risk the pain if it doesn’t work this time?

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly frustrating.

Right, I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand it's a cute second chance, dual-POV romance, and Damon and Sadie together were cute. But on the other hand, her boyfriend started off fine and then ended up being a tool, which is such a cheap way to remove someone from a love triangle. And then! To top it all off, they introduce some drama through a pregnant woman. A surprise baby in a book drives me nuts. Meant that the happy ending took longer, and for not a great reason. Like, the payoff was disappointing.

Anyway, 3 stars, because I like her friends. I quite liked her, and Damon was nice. I'm a bit of a sucker for scenes where one character is sick and the love interest looks after them, it's cute. They just needed to actually communicate with one another.

Was easy to read though.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward. For the first part of story I did not like Sadie. She was not getting parts but he was so she got jealous, bitter, and pushed him away. It's like she didn't understand how it worked but acting profession is like that...very hard to have a regular relationship. She finds it out herself when she's gotten a part three hours away for three months away from her boyfriend.

Damon does seem to have grown up and we find his apology tour pretty impressive.

His drama seems a little forced and fast at nearly the end but it's ok 😃

[Siya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun to read and ngl I started around 6ish and finished in two hours-

Super easy read but like the plot twists were pretty easy to guess and the “oh my bfs an asshole and we highkey don’t work but I’m comfy w him bc you’re complicated” trope was giving but not rlly

The ending was cliche but who doesn’t like a few of those, they could’ve had a better stronger ending tho

the second chance trope was great tho, I loved it

[Savannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

what on earth was with the pacing and endless unnecessary name drops???? Take a shot everytime a real celebrity is mentioned.

[chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love me some good second chance romances 🫶 think it might be my favourite trope lol

the ending was a bit weak though, hence 4/5 stars

[rey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5⭐️

the book was meh but the acknowledgments at the end were great

[Joosub · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 50%

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (4/25/2023)! 🎁

[Grace Newland · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this book up until about 60%. I enjoyed that it was a second chance romance and it was evident the two still loved each other. However once the other women came along and claimed to have Damon’s baby, it become boring and it wasn’t needed in my opinion. Not only did it mess things up with Sadie it just wasn’t needed as it only seemed to prolong it in a way that wasn’t the best. I’m not a big fan of pregnancy being bought into any book so I didn’t like it in this book. It was also repetitive as every chapter was the two of them thinking the other one didn’t love them.

[Arceli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. it wasn't a bad read by any chance. I liked the chemistry and there was a good amount of steam. Second chance romance is a trope that is a hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, this book was in the middle. I loved the steamy scenes. You could see why the characters fell in love. However, the drama was a bit much. I like antagonistic and terrible exes but this one was a bit much. Despite me not being completely in love with this book. I highly recommend it.

[deborah ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

This was a cute novella with a Hollywood/Actor theme which I enjoyed a lot. This was also a second-chance romance which is usually a hit or miss for me. I how the author explained the breakup, it was a bit of a miscommunication thing but it wasn't unbearable. The two main characters didn't blame each other and realized they both could've done things differently. I loved how Damon was able to redeem himself and apologize to the people he hurt.

This book was also pretty funny and made me laugh a few times. I also really liked the premise of the movie they were filming. It makes me wish it was an actual book.

Overall, the book was pretty good and I only have a few complaints. First, the Jaime and Sarah storylines. I get there needed to be some drama but I didn't like how Sadie got back with Jaime who was an asshole, she was drinking dumb bitch juice fr. I also didn't like the Sarah pregnancy thing bc Damon was pretty stupid for not asking for a paternity test first thing. Like you're a whole celebrity you didn't think some random would wanna trap you?? Second, is Sadie asking him to drop out of the movie... like what?? Be so serious, she definitely got on my nerves with that. Those things brought the rating down a few stars. Other than that everything was good and I liked how the book ended. A part of me wished we got flashbacks to their time growing up in Ohio 🥹. Thanks for reading.

Bye!

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

In between 3.5-4 ⭐️

I was in the mood for a cute romcom that was just a good time and this did the job. Not my new favorite but it had its moments and it had me cheesing.

I usually don’t like to hate on FMC but the girl in this book really pissed me off the way she was letting her boyfriend treat her (I guess this was done on purpose). I hated the boyfriend so much every time he was on the page I wanted to throw the book. I also hated the other women drama in this book I felt like it was pointless and I could see the plot twist a mile away.

Throughout the book we get multiple scenes where our two main characters are going to confess to each other how they feel but something always gets in the way. This was my biggest problem with the book it just felt like there was so much build up to a moment and when it finally happens it’s anticlimactic and then the book just ends. I know some people like that but I always like a few chapters of the couple actually being a couple. This book almost feels incomplete I would have liked to see the couple maybe going to the movie premier together and coming out as a couple, maybe do an interview together I don’t know but SOMETHING. The ending just wasn’t giving me what I needed.

All that being said I still enjoyed the book and the writing hooked me from page 1. The two main characters are likeable and the MC is in love with the FMC from the beginning he never wavers or doubts his feelings which I loved. I also really liked the smut in this it honestly bumped it up a star because if the smut sucked this would have easily been like 2.5 stars.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damien and Sadie were high school sweethearts but their love story fizzled out when his Hollywood career took off and Sadie thought there was no room for her in his busy life. In the recent years, he has had a tantrum go viral and his life went on a downward spiral, what with casual sex, intoxication and wasting a lot of money. Now he gets offered a second chance to act in a movie but the director wants to cast him opposite Sadie whose career has been less notorious than Damien's. The role is important to both of them so they agree to try to get along enough to make the movie. It is filmed in Georgia, away from their California homes, and Sadie's relationship to her boyfriend Jamie gets stressful because of the long distance. Not that it was going too well to begin with. The filming evokes a lot of emotion in both Damien and Sadie. Damien is trying to redeem himself in the public eye, and Sadie needs to figure out what to do about Jamie.

I enjoyed the general vibe of this book and the characters are nice, once it's clear that Damien's spiralling is in the past and not an ongoing concern. There is some sexual content.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Angie (angies_bookrebrew) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damon and Sadie were high school sweethearts. So when she came out to LA to follow Damon and also pursue an acting career, things start to fall apart. Years later Sadie is being considered for her first lead role in a romance film. She cannot contain her excitement until she finds out that the male lead is Damon, who is trying to make a comeback.

I liked that you can clearly see how deep their feelings were for one another. That despite their breakup, they still deeply care for each other, even if they don't want to admit it. When they start filming the movie, they have to pretend they are in love on screen. It makes both of them think back to when they were in love in real life.

Damon has a lot of issues. That being said, I did like that he acknowledged his role in their breakup and you can see how much he still loves her. Sadie, in my opinion, had a lot of issues of her own. She stays in her relationship with her crappy boyfriend because she doesn't want to be alone. I think they made a great pair because they both had to work on themselves and their relationship pushed them to do that.

[Lisa Benison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow-burn, Second Chance for "The One That Got Away" with All the Heat and Drama!

This was a fun read told both POV's - Sophie's: the struggling actress getting her first big break and Damon's the former Hollywood heartthrob trying to make a comeback after losing it all with an on-set breakdown. Naturally they are former high school sweethearts and each others "one true loves" with a bad break-up and plenty of misunderstandings along the way. But their chemistry is off the charts (making for a great movie casting) and a fun to read, and their history is still the basis for a friendship - or so they think. This was a great, well written book, and part of a series but you don't have to read them all or in order, although some the characters do repeat (series is in KU, so it is easy to do). I really liked Sophie and Damon so I became invested in their story and couldn't put the book down and finished it in one sitting - Enjoy!

[EVANGELIA MARAGKOPOULOU · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading the author and I loved it . She is a young raising actress who just got her first major role in a movie . Her costar and love interest in the movie is her ex-boyfriend back from high school . It has been three years since he had a meltdown infront of the camera and he spend it drinking and doing stupid things . When the director of the movie ask him to be the leading actor he accepts . At the rehearsal he is shocked to find out that his costar is the girl who loves . As they filming starts they are acting polite with each other and finaly the became friends . But what will happen when they both have feelings for the other ? She has a boyfriend and he a mistake from the past ? Will real and honest love win at the end ?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

So very sweet

Definitely a slow burn but i found it cute.

This i very much not very spicy so if someone told you so they are LYING! There is one scene ONE scene and it barely counts.

However I DID get butterflies in my stomach a lot while reading this book.

BUT UGHHHH FUCK! I FUCKING HATE PREGNANCY TROPES!!!! ALL KINDS SUCKS! This is specifically a “I like mc but oops i got another girl pregnant! wait yikes never mind she lied!” I saw the lie from a mile away and HATED every part of it! LIKE FUCK why would you do that.

and just a warning that there is a lot of misunderstandings where if they just would talk to each other and not push each other away everything would have been great.

It’s a short but fun read. It’s not the best but it was very decent and definitely not the worst i’ve read.

[em · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3this would have been a million times better if I actually liked the characters

Don’t even let me go there w the characters bcs the plot was so good at the start. Like second change and like forced romance was good and the time on set was chefs kiss but the whole pregnancy and Jamie being an ass was not it. Did not like how they fully miscommunicated and he saw her and was like I LOVE U I LOVE U like come on bro

Now the bloody characters. Damon was the biggest red flag ever like no one likes u shut up. Sadie was just annoying and like how can u not find anyone on the whole planet better then freaking Damon and Jamie. Bring me onto Jamie. Who birth this child bcs they and the whole family deserves to die. Like bro just bcs ur not successful doesn’t mean ur VERY SUCSEASFUL GF doesn’t have to like controling much.

I loved the plot at the start but it all kinda went down hill

[Emily Perlaky · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh how I wanted to love this book. When I came across the plot line I was instantly hooked, however the execution just fell SO flat.

First off, all the miscommunications! 50% of the book was each character realizing they were still in love but jumping to some ridiculous conclusion and running away. Then to only reconcile in the ending chapter. It felt too rushed and felt very unsatisfactory.

Now I will say, I loved the characters. Damon’s character development was great, and I wish we would have seen a little more of that from Sadie. Getting back with Jaime and never realizing how manipulative he was?? It was strange.

Overall, I don’t regret reading the book, I just wish there would have been more.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, first of all, I love the easy flow of the writing, is super fast and fun to read and LOVE the pop culture references.

All the miscommunication and just general lack of communication had me SO frustrated! It's a trope I really can't cope with lmao

Sadie also annoys me tbh, she changes her mind a million times and can't seem to understand Damon's point of view until she gets into the same situation. I understand her, sure, but still kinda irks me.
And Damon: baby, I love you, you're doing so good, I'm so proud <3

All in all, I do think it's a good, cutsie book, definitely worth a read!

[Nessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book disappointed me. At the start it was really good and addictive but then the thing I hate most in books happened
A unknown woman showing up saying “I’m having your baby!” Is not exactly the best way to add drama to a book, I personally find this annoying and after that incident I just wanted to skip that part and forget it happened but of course I didn’t forget and that just made the rest of the book bad.
Overall the book before the incident was good, I enjoyed reading it so that the only reason I give this book three stars. I’m just so mad because I was really liking it but it got messed up.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me cry two times, with sobs. First of all Damon is hot. I hate that they had miscommunication issues cause they could have had their happy ending so much earlier. But it all turned out well. Sarah and Jamie are dickheads. I mean what kind of person would trap someone into thinking the baby was his. about Jamie, I never liked him . He always wanted to stay home. Damon's reaction to Sadie moving to NY just proves how much of an asshole Jamie was. Damon reacted so well and was so happy for her while Jamie was like, you should turn it down. I didn't understand which characters were which though. For example, I never understood who Evie was

[Indie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it !!! love this series !!! love Sadie and Damon... this is their story... a fast paced rom/com. they were high school sweethearts until Hollywood called... now, her star is rising... he needs a comeback... he had a melt down... they both need this... they have to make this work... but, one kiss... is all it took ... to have all the feelings to come back... can this work ? in real life... or just the movies ?

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.