DNF at 25 percent.

I can’t finish it. I could maybe force myself but reading is supposed to be relaxing and fun. This book does not bring me joy so I am quitting 😂
There are just so many books that I could be reading and enjoying so why continue and torture myself.

This is my first Tessa Bailey book and sadly probably my last. The marketing and synopsis were great and initially drew me in. I mean look at that cover. Super cute!!

I am a very character driven reader. Plots are awesome but mostly I need to be invested in a character or care what happens to them and relate in some way to something in the book. These two characters drove me nuts. I disliked both of them. I don’t care if they get together or not.

Even the side characters annoyed me and they kinda have only made a cameo at this point.

I’m sorry. I must move on with my life.

This was a very fun read that hit every element that I expect from a RomCom. Very much in the vein of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne, Bailey created some memorable characters that I enjoyed from page 1. I can honestly say that I've never read about a heroine that worked as a CLOWN for a living. Georgie actually became one of my favourite heroines of the past couple years--she was so endearing and had such a fire that left me totally smitten. Highly recommend this read!

“You have to fight for what you deserve. What you want is no more or less important than what anyone else wants.” - Travis Ford
.
.
Travis Ford, the town hero, who after an injury has been released from his professional baseball contacts. He finds himself back in Port Jefferson with no job, or family and feels like a failure. Until one day his best friends kid sister decides to take matters into her own hands, and give him the wake up call he needs, in the form of a one sided food fight.

Georgie Castle has always been the baby, the kid sister, being the youngest of the Castle children. She is often still thought of in that way, and not taken seriously by her family or others in town. She had big dreams of opening her own business, but for now she is the town clown, for birthday parties and events.

Georgie and Travis decide they could help each other improve their images. Travis, nicknamed ‘two bats’, has a reputation as a player, and not just baseball. While Georgie is often still seen as a teenager she used to be. They each have exactly what the other needs, so they decide to start fake dating. The idea seems like a good one until Travis learns one thing ... Georgie has has a crush on him for years. He has to decide which is more important his future career or steering clear of his best friends little sister who he may have started to have more than just “fake feelings” for.

Fix Her Up was a cute romance. But don’t let this cover fool you, it is full of steam. This was the first book by Tessa Bailey, but not my last. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollinsPublishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Georgie and Travis were absolutely amazing. I loved her sass and their connection. This story was funny and loving and filled to the brim with the Tessa Bailey steam we have come to love with a heartfelt connection.

Loved this quirky, romantic, steamy comedy. The female lead Georgie is an entertainment clown for children's birthday parties and isn't taken seriously by her family. Travis feels like a washed up baseball player after an injury that puts him out of the game. The angst was definitely there with Travis being Georgie's brother's best friend. Fun read.

A Cute Romantic Comedy - 3.5 of Laughing out loud stars

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey is a Rom-Com M/F story , perfect for pool and/or beach reading. "cause it has an easy to read plot , it's light-hearted , medium angst level with a nice UST and some steamy scenes.

Book is a mix of fun tropes, you got :
*Brother's best friend .
*DIY house makeover .
*Heroine makeover .
*Fake dating.
*Hero is a rake , a certified manwhore .
*Heroine is a blushing and sassy virgin.

I liked this book but I didn't loved it. I can't pinpoint a particular reason for it ; but it just might be , it's me and not the book situation. Give the book a chance and read it ; got to say, I did LOL more than few times.

I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley for my honest review.

This was a really great book. I’ve been in a bit of a romance slump, and this has pulled me right out of it. I had to stop reading this a few times so I didn’t start cackling in public.
Travis is a former Baseball player who was forced to retire after an injury. He moves home and immediately begins to drink himself into a stupor. Until Georgie shows up to whip him into shape. Georgie is Travis’s best friend’s younger sister, and she’s always been in love with him, and now it’s time to give him the tough love he needs to get his life back on track.
This was a wonderful book. I loved the characters, Travis and Georgie had great chemistry, and they were so fun. I loved that Georgie was a party clown. It’s so different and it really added something special to the book. The supporting characters were fantastic, and really pulled the book together. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments. There is a lot going on in this book, but it never feels overwhelming. I am so excited for Rosie and Dominic’s story.

Georgie Castle is the youngest sibling and is never taken seriously. It doesn’t help her cause that she’s not in the family business, but instead is a professional clown (yes, you read that right). She loves kids and it’s her passion but it makes her family take her less seriously than they already do.
Travis Ford is Gerogie’s long time crush and her brother’s best friend. He is a former MBA player who is home after an injury got him out of the game. He’s a bit depressed about it and needs someone just like Georgie to get him out of the funk he’s in. Georgie does exactly that. And while doing that, she finds herself a little along the way.
I wavered on ‘Fix Her Up’ despite the cute blurb. Tackling the brother’s best-friend, fake dating trope (crossed with the manwhore/guileless virgin one which I didn’t expect and detested), it actually started off pretty damn well, then turned predictably cringeworthy because the blurb hadn’t quite revealed the intricacies of the characters that could make or break the story for me. ‘Fix Her Up’ is a classic Bailey read, nonetheless. I could power through the pages because of a writing style that I am comfortable with; my own complaints about the tropes are my own prejudices showing up here.

Georgie is a 23 year old professional clown for children's birthday parties. She is the youngest of three and is sick of her family treating her as if she is still a child. Travis is Georgie's older brother's best friend and is home after his baseball career is ruined by an injury. Georgie has always loved Travis. Travis has a reputation as a player and needs to change that if he wants to be considered for a commentating baseball job. Georgie to the rescue!
Great cast of characters. Enjoyed Georgie tremendously. Her Just Us League with her sister, Bethany, and friend, Rosie, was good for some laughs. Travis was pretty good, too. He didn't want Georgie to get hurt once their "fake" dating relationship was over and that came across.


I think the cover is misleading. This is not a cutesy rom-com. There are cute moments, but there is a lot of detailed sexy time, too. Also, too much "Baby Girl" being said by Travis! Way overdone. I was cringing every time he said it to her. Other than that, a solid romance. Looking forward to Dom and Rosie's story next.


Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers (Avon) for a copy of the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't love this book, but I liked it pretty well. There were parts that were laugh-out-loud hilarious, but there were parts that kind of...dragged? for me. I can't totally put my finger on it, but I wasn't able to get as into the main characters as I'm sometimes able to. The thing that really did it in for me, though, was the ending. I don't need an epilogue (though I love epilogues!), but I need SOMETHING after the denouement. It was maybe the most abrupt ending I've ever encountered. Pretty good right along, comedic gems throughout, the grand gesture comes, and them bam. The book just stopped. I kept paging ahead because I thought maybe a chapter had gotten cut off or something. If that kind of thing doesn't bother you, then it's definitely worth a read. Not among my favorites, but a fine read to pass the time.

This is a fun rom-com to pick up this summer for a fun pool read. I will say to beware reading this in public...this is super spicy read!

I always love a good fake romance story - in this case, the reasons for the fake relationship are a little out there. Georgie (can I just say this is the cutest name??) wants to be taken more seriously as an adult and Travis needs to appear settled and wholesome. Honestly, it seemed to me like their chemistry was so strong from the beginning that they were really just looking for a reason to date.

For me, this settled at around a 3-star read because I was not very crazy about Travis. He had a lot of deep issues he was working through, which I understood, and I thought was portrayed well, but I had a problem with his, um, sexual persona? (lol) I don't even know how to describe it except that it made me wildly uncomfortable. If you are used to spicier reads then it may not bother you very much.

"Fix Her Up" is a heartwarming tale of a girl and a boy who didn't know they were perfect for each other until it was almost too late. An excellent read for sitting in the sun and soaking up summer!

I ADORE this book. I read a *lot* of romance novels; most of them I read and then pass on to the next one, enjoying them in the moment but not letting them get any deeper than a fling. And then there are books like Fix Her Up which leave a lasting imprint on your soul. With characters you want to put in a little box in your heart and keep them there to take out and cuddle when you need them. Georgie Castle and Travis Ford definitely made a home in my heart with this one.

I forget I was reading a book, I was so deeply immersed in Fix Her Up. Georgie and Travis became two of my best friends, and if you've read my reviews you know that main characters you want to be friends with are my #1 sign of a truly GREAT book. (Maybe it's the Hufflepuff in me, I don't know.) Tessa Bailey does a phenomenal job of writing characters that are very REAL - multi-dimensional characters that you want to root for, with flaws that not only make them relatable but also make you love them even more.

Georgie's struggle to be seen as an adult rather than just the baby of her family isn't something I've struggled with, but I still empathized and identified with her. I love her joy and that she is just HAPPY being a clown for kids' birthday parties, while at the same time feeling a drive to succeed on a bigger scale and expand her business. Her sense of humor is so refreshing, and at the same time she's not just this fluffy silly character but instead has insecurities, as well as being a FIERCE lioness with a spine of steel when it comes to defending and supporting the people who loves. , as well as being a FIERCE lioness with a spine of steel when it comes to defending and supporting the people she loves. Georgie is whimsy and wonder, sass and strength. I want to both BE her, and be best friends with her.

And then there's Travis. *swoony sigh* I love characters who struggle with insecurities, who are a little bit broken or damaged. Travis feels like he is disposable, and he works so hard to not make any real connections because they put him at risk of being thrown away again.

The dynamic between Georgie and Travis is SO AMAZING. Georgie has been in love with Travis since she was 14 and he was 17, and it's great to see her love of this vision of him grow into something that about who he really is. And then Travis has always seen Georgie as his best friend's little sister. They both have a long history of caring about the other, which is such a great base on which to perch this precarious, sexually charged fake relationship. It's like a powder keg, and it's glorious to watch it blow. ;) Then they each defend the other so fiercely, it sets off all those golden sparks in my heart and just makes me melt.

I LOVE that Georgie and her sister Bethany and their friend Rosie start a women's club to support each other and push each other to reach for their dreams. I love love LOVE seeing strong female friendships in books. Georgie uses her (fake) relationship with Travis to try to get her family and community to see her as an adult, but really she's started the work of being taken seriously herself by having a frank conversation with her sister.

Fix Her Up is the first book in the Hot and Hammered series, and can be read as a stand-alone. At the time of writing this review, there's no info about the other books in the series, but I'm assuming the next book will be about Rosie and Dom, with another book about Georgie's sister Bethany.

If you haven’t seen me mention it an infinite amount of times before, these cartoony cover romcoms have become my kryptonite. Meaning, I want them all and I want them now. There’s no need to read a blurb, or reviews, or look at ratings, I just know I need them in my life. The title/cover of this one led me to believe the action was going to center around my other guilty pleasure – house flipping. Little did I know that the flippy family business was not going to be the focus at all (I bet book #3 is because Bethany is gonna need some luvin’ eventually too!!!!), but rather it was going to be about a FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER. Oh my lort. Any time I can picture Clayton Kershaw as the leading male I get all double-leg-kicky.

But then the female lead was a CLOWN. Literally. A C.L.O.W.N. No one enjoys a clown for cripes sake! However, I am nothing if I’m not a masochist trooper, so I marched on with just a bit (translation – A LOT) of trepidation. For any of you who are also super not interested in reading about Bozo getting her groove on, have no fear! Despite our leading lady legit wearing the white face paint and honking nose, she also had goals of becoming THE name in children’s party planning and was not a manic pixie dream girl like I feared she would be.

And then. THEN! It was a FAKE ROMANCE TROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh how I love the let’s pretend we’re in love trope. The terms this time around were MLB bad boy Travis suffered a career-ending injury before ever reaching 30 and went into a downward spiral. When a chance at a broadcast career becomes available, Travis has to make quick work of spit-shining his image. Enter his bestie’s sister, Georgie. In love with him since they were in kids, she’s willing to put her feelings on the backburner in order to help Travis achieve his goal as well as for her to achieve hers (*cough losing her V-card cough*).

Not only was this completely adorable, but also? They went to pound town before the 50% mark and lemme tell you, Travis had more than just magic hands. You know what that means, right? Sploooooooooooooooooooooosh. There’s only one thing I have to say about Travis: #hecangetit

Bottom line? All the Starzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I’ve had a shitty couple of weeks and this baby turned my frown upside down. A perfect poolside read!

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

This book came SO close to four stars, but I had to knock it one off because of a pernicious romance trope that seems semi-inevitable at this point. It's so hard to make complications and obstacles that don't involve the male character (in particular) being a irredeemable douchebag, but this isn't the way. (I'm not going to say what that particular trope is. You can probably guess it in three.)

What I will say is that the dialog is charming, the characters have chemistry, and oh my! those sex scenes are extra raunchy. Mr. Baseball Player has a very dirty mouth. I was blushing.

I loved that the heroine is a legit birthday party clown, and there is no shade cast by the narrative for her career choices. Her family, on the other hand, insists on seeing her as the baby (she's twenty-three!), which makes the return of her childhood crush into her orbit extra difficult. Travis is a baseball player whose career ended early with an injury, and he's a prickly ball of rejection and self-loathing. His nickname is Two Bats.

Leaving you with that mental image.

3 1/2 Stars!!

"Georgie reared back and threw the full container of melted dessert at Travis's naked back, watching in fascination as it spread into a Rorschach painting on his shoulders. And hair."

Travis Ford, the object of Georgie's teenage dreams (well, maybe beyond teenage), is back in town. After an injury, Travis is no longer a hot commodity on the baseball diamond. He's back in his hometown, wallowing in self pity, take out and alcohol.

Georgie Castle has never left her hometown. Where she is, is where she will stay. The baby of the family and often overlooked, she starts to learn how to make her own way in her the family. And her community.

A convenient agreement between her and Travis can benefit them both. As it turns out, neither expected their fake relationship to become the real deal.

This is a sweet story of a girl (possibly) getting the man of her dreams. And a man getting something he never thought he could have.

While the premise of "Fix Her Up" by Tessa Bailey may seem familiar, what really drives the novel is the protagonist, Georgie Castle. Her character development throughout the entire novel is so authentic and inspiring, which makes you root for her every step of the way, as well as wish she were your friend. She is a very real character with real goals and issues that many people can easily relate to, and is unapologetically herself. While the plot is centered around her romance with her childhood crush Travis Ford, it by no means defines her or diminishes what she deserves in life.

Travis Ford as a character was a bit much at times, though. Whether it was playing into a stereotype or maybe that's who he'd always been, he came off pretentious and very jock-ish with his language and excessive use of the term "baby girl" when addressing Georgie. It got to the point where it become laughable how forced some of his affection was towards her. He wasn't all bad and I did appreciate when Bailey dug a little further into his personal struggles and demons that plagued him, which made him more well-rounded and someone you could root for.

It was also just nice to see a novel where there was no big cataclysmic event that tore the two love interests apart, and that they actually grew together as a couple in a very genuine and relatable way. In the early stages of any relationship it's always difficult to fully understand one's emotions and what they want out of that relationship, and Bailey is able to capture that turmoil in both Georgie and Travis beautifully. All-in-all, "Fix He Up" was such a fun read and am excited to read more of Tessa Bailey's work.

2.5 Stars
It's been a long while since I've read one of Bailey's novels and was excited about this new release. The synopsis immediately caught my attention, sounding like the usual romances I tend to enjoy, but sadly "Fix Her Up" did not work for me. It wasn't a total miss ~ I adored the heroine, Georgie. She was a bright, loving, spirited young woman determined to expand her business, establish her place within the family and reinvent herself. She was all about positivity, the sisterhood and girl power. Her love interest, Travis, is where the story lost me. In general, I disliked everything about him. I found him too cold-hearted, disrespectful and unworthy of Georgie's affections. He had Alpha tendencies with all his growling and broody behavior, which I love, but he failed when it came to claiming his woman. Travis, on the whole, was not my kind of hero and unfortunately, my feelings towards his character overshadowed the entire read.

This story regardless of how I felt about the hero was well written and included several tropes that readers might enjoy. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, focused another couple, whose circumstances piqued my interest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (HarperCollins) for the free e-galley of this novel. All opinions expressed below are my own.

I have mixed feelings about Fix Her Up. On one hand, I really enjoyed the story! I liked the small town setting and the side story of fixing up houses. For me, it was a unique setting that I really enjoyed (who doesn't love home improvement shows!). I enjoyed both Georgie and Travis as characters. Georgie is cute and spunky and so fun! Travis is apparently an ex-athlete hearthrob. A great couple to cheer for. Both characters have items to work on in their lives and there's a larger cast of characters to get behind. I adore the cartoon cover and think this will make the story appeal to a larger audience, but would only recommend this one with heavy caution. I think it could work for some, but I still think it works better for a more traditional romance reader.

On the other hand, there were several things that didn't work for me. I'll outline some of those:
1) The "dirty" sex talk and sex scenes. I believe even the characters describe it as filth. This was off-putting for me. I don't mind a sexy novel and am fine with dirty talk, but this really did read filthy. It seemed to hint at more of an S&M or dominant relationship that just didn't sit well with me. Plus, I just don't picture Georgie enjoying this, especially right off the bat.
2) Georgie works as a clown. I shouldn't stereotype, but picturing her as a clown and as a sexual being was just a bit icky for me. Sorry to all of the clowns out there.
3) Misogynist themes. Okay, I get that this is small town, but why do all of the men seem to be sexist? Do we really have to believe that exists? And do our women really have to have their own club in order to build themselves up? I was especially bothered by the relationship between Georgie's brother and sister-in-law. He shows up EVERYWHERE she is and takes her home. What is this?

I ended up settling for 3 stars. I enjoyed this novel, but really had difficulty with the parts outlined above. If it hadn't been for those, this would definitely have a much higher rating. I liked the characters and the setting. This is my first Tessa Bailey novel, but maybe some of the others would work better for me as a reader.

Georgie Castle’s family runs the best renovation business in town. But Georgie has her own business – as a clown. No one takes her seriously and she is forever relegated to youngest sibling.

Travis Ford is the gorgeous best friend of her older brother and she has had a crush on him since forever. Now that an injury has ended his professional baseball career, he has returned home, feeling like a failure and hiding from the world.

Georgie tries to save Travis from himself and he notices she isn’t a kid any more. Then, Georgie proposes they fake date to try to accomplish both their goals – her being recognized as an adult and him being taken seriously to win his dream job—and the attraction is more than both of them can believe.

Can Georgie and Travis overcome their own insecurities and other peoples preconceived ideas about them and find happiness?

I wanted to read Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey because it seemed like a cute, sports-themed romance. It was cute. Georgie’s character is very cute and sweet and caring. Travis is a nice guy (well, in the beginning he is annoying) even though he thinks he is a failure and damaged. The story, with Georgie wanting to be accepted as a mature adult and Travis trying to overcome tragedy, deal with his demons and falling for his best friend's little sister, is very appealing. Tropes are popular for a reason and they are engagingly employed here. I enjoyed the story and would recommend it. However, based on the description I was expecting a gentler romance. This was quite a modern and sexy story—it almost seemed like Georgie’s character was too sweet. And some of the language and behaviors of the male characters were a little offensive. It was a bit incongruous and pulled me out of the story more than once.

Overall, it was a fun story and I would try other novels by the author. I would recommend it for readers wanting a spicy, contemporary romance. 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.