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.

Wow, I love this one! Travis was one grouchy bear from the first moment we met him and it was fun to watch his interactions with Georgette. This one was just cute and Tessa know how to write her dirty talking hero's. Steam was off the charts. I'm already adding book 2 to my tbr!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Fix Her Up

I really enjoyed reading Fix Her Up. This book had several of my favorite tropes -- friends to lovers, best friend’s sister, fake dating. All three hit their marks.

Georgie is a clown. Literally. That’s her job. To dress up as a clown and entertain at kid’s parties. She isn’t taken seriously and deep down that truly bothers her. She wants to be seen. Seen as an adult, seen as woman and seen as a businesswoman.

Travis is in a slump. No longer a ballplayer after an injury, he comes back to the town he grew up in and withdrew from the world. That is, until Georgie enters his apartment, throws food at him and brings him back to the land of the living.

WIth a job prospect on the line, Georgie and Travis strike a deal. Pretend to date so they could each get what they want, Georgie to be taken seriously and finally be seen as the adult she is and Travis to show he changed his “Two Bats” ways and is in a serious relationship in order to get the announcing job he’s up for.

What he didn’t expect was to catch some serious feelings for Georgie. Watching them bring out the best of each other was great. And, of course, the sexy times were what I’d expect from a Tessa book. Down and dirty and full of steam. I loved the dynamic between the two of them.

One of the things I enjoyed most was the underlying theme of sisterhood between Georgie, Bethany, Rosie and, though she ran a bit high-maintenance at times, Kristin. Building each other up and helping each other attain their goals. I would very much recommend this book to others.

I've quite liked what I've read from Tessa Bailey in the past, but this one sadly just didn't work for me at all. I really did not connect with any of the characters outside of Georgie & her brother, and it's not a great sign when you're actively rooting against the couple to get together in a romance. The pacing & tone were off, as well, from what I've encountered from Bailey in the past.

That said, there are some real crowd pleasers in terms of tropes in this one, and it's certainly not the worst book of its kind I've encountered. If you've enjoyed this author in the past, it's definitely worth seeing if you like this one better than I did.

This was your classic guy violates bro code by falling in love with his best friend sister/starting a fake relationship for the sake of obtaining something at the end (in this case its a job for Travis and respect from her family for Georgie. There are so many variations to this story, I keep reading to see how authors try to make it different, This story pretty funny since georgie is your girl next door and the baby of the family, so even though she is an adult she is still treated as one. Reading her character grow and development is a quick, funny read. The story will tug at your heart a little but its mostly a feel good read.

**A preface filled with relevant information to the experienced readers out here who’s review-read summaries are law, and a star missing can mean the difference between a book match made in effervescent heaven or of you cursing said reviewers name for all eternity because the book was a flaming dud, despite the stellar, glowing reviews that say the opposite.

I’ve been on a reading hiatus I was not even aware I had participated in until I was recently asked for a new- release book recommendation and I drew a complete blank; it has been 2 months since I have read a new release and that last book was Lisa Kleypas’ much anticipated— though devastatingly lacking in plot and execution— Devil’s Daughter (2.5-3 stars so you can get a full picture of my actual devastation for my much-loved Kleypas). I digress. My hiatus abounded from my lack of interest in repetitious plot lines, vampires, unrealistic dialogue and what’s worse, cringy AND unrealistic dialogue in the same novel (sometimes with vampires, there are some real messy books out there people!). I apologize for the blatheration, I promise I’m getting to my review but you really need to understand that I’ve had this book hidden under my very nose just waiting to be read and reviewed but I honest to goodness am self-diagnosing myself as having had Book Fatigue Syndrome: something I just made up right now that happens when all the books you read suck and make you cringe and die inside for an original story with developed characters who don’t have to be perfect! but need feeling so you can have feelings while you’re reading about them! End rant.

Which moves me along to Tessa Bailey’s Fix Her Up. I read two pages and put it aside for a month, due to BFS. Then I read it in a day straight and started to believe again in author’s who have a purpose in writing entertainment for their audience. Hallelujah!

Fix Her Up had a heroine, Georgie, who was actually funny— and I hardly ever laugh during books, it’s a problem but it’s mine— and entertaining, and charming and quirky and unique enough to grab onto and hold my attention. The love story between Georgie and Travis was endearing, the dialogue cute, the problems semi-conceivable enough that I wanted to continue the read.

I do have to Debbie Down this love fest though because I’m annoyed by book tropes: this book was sailing along fine up to the 30 percent mark and then uh oh! randomly the main characters propose to fake date! NOOO! You guys were doing so well before that unrealistic, never done in real life, blah-dom! Other than that this book was a quick, funny read with endearing characters that got me out of my book slump and eager to roll my eyes into another book. Because, as you hungry readers like myself know, you sometimes have to read 30 blah books to get to that one book that makes you laugh, and cry and ache for your book friends! I see you Sue!

Happy reading and thank you Tessa Bailey for helping me get over my Book Fatigue Slump! You are a definite auto-buy from now on.

I loved this book. I liked how the characters had a history, but also discovered each other in a new light. The Just Us League was inspiring and hilarious. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you so much to Avon for sending this to me on Netgalley!!!

I LOVED IT!!! It was so incredibly sweet, adorable, and STEAMY!! Don’t let the cover or title fool you, this book is HOT! The sex scenes had me fanning myself but then something really cute would happen and make me smile huge!! I couldn’t get enough of this book, it was addicting to read and flew through it in two sittings. I literally spent the entire day in bed reading this and it was wonderful.

The story follows Georgie and Travis who have known eachother forever because Travis is Georgie’s older brothers best friend. He’s a play boy, baseball athlete until an injury makes him retire super early and he has to go back to his childhood town. He’s trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life while Georgie, who is the youngest sibling and a clown for a living is trying to reinvent herself so people would take her more seriously. And she’s ALWAYS had the biggest crush on Travis which just made it all even better. This also has the fake dating trope which I LOVE!! The two of them help eachother out and help make each other better and it’s just beautiful to read!

I really loved them not only as a couple but as individuals. So much family and a lot of personal growth but I love how it stems for them helping eachother our of their comfort zone. I was so proud of both of them by the end of this book and the ending was SO CUTE!!

I loved how involved Georgie’s family was and especially her friendship with Rosie and Bethany! I loved them and all the moments in the Just Us League! I loved how they each had their own goals and would cheer eachother on, so refreshing to read about! I can’t wait for Rosie and Dominic’s story!! Hearing about it in this book just makes me so eager to find out how those two are going to work it out and find their HEA!

So many favorite parts in this book but I will say that I’ll probably never look at a baseball dugout the same way again! If you read the book you’ll know what I mean! I loved watching Travis fall for his best friends little sister and how deep in love with her he was by the end of the book! It was so angsty while still adorable at the same time. I really love the fake dating trope! It just pulls at your heart in all the right ways. I loved watching Georgie fall for who Travis really is, this imperfect man. I loved all her awkward moments with him, especially in the beginning. She was so strong and knew what she deserved! Plus her job was so unique and led to some really cute and eye opening moments for Travis! I loved these two together so much and by the end of the book, I really felt like they were fully in love. I hope to see them again in the next book!!

This book is the perfect summer read, especially if you’re looking for something light, fun, and STEAMY!!! Definitely pick this up on June 11th, and I’m so excited to read more from Tessa Bailey!

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
Georgie has been in love with Travis for half her life. He only saw her as an annoying little sister. When his life goes off the rails and he ends up back in their hometown, drowning in his sorrows, she goes after him.
The opening scene in this book was worth the read. Everyone is tiptoeing around Travis and his shattered dreams. Georgie, however, is not going to let him destroy himself wallowing. So she enters his home and throws days old food at him. I loved that she gave him no quarter. She knew he was stronger than that and he still had a lot of life to live. She wasn’t concerned about getting him to like her, she just wants him to stop with the pity party.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was very familiar. A fake relationship that begins to feel real. A family who doesn’t take their youngest seriously. A major misunderstanding and hurt feelings. A grand apology gesture.
It is a good story and I enjoyed it but that opening scene had me expecting a lot more.

This book was SO cute. I loved the story of Travis and Georgie so so much. They were so cute. It's pretty much guaranteed that any book with fake dating will be a win for me, and this is no exception. I love love love the strong family relationships and the quality character development that I saw throughout the story. I'm so excited to recommend this!

This is the first Tessa Bailey book I have read, but it certainly won't be my last. I thought the cover was cute and the premise was promising, and I am so glad I picked it up! This was such a charming story. I love the childhood crush aspect, I love how their relationship blossomed, I love the family aspect. I was very pleased.

Didn't finish. The hero was too cold. I couldn't get past how much of a mean hero he was. Then all the details about his past sex life and how the heroine didn't have one.

Fix Her Up was a thoroughly enjoyable romp! I’m a sucker for fake relationships, so I was quite excited to read this one. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the characters) the fake relationship wasn’t as much of a focal point as I was expecting, but was still great.
Romance novels seem to either have cookie-cutter characters or girls who are so quirky I end up rolling my eyes half the time. Georgie, while certainly leaning more towards the quirky side, managed to seem realistic enough, and was funny to boot.
It was a fun, quick read that has me interested in Tessa Bailey’s other books.

Fix Her Up was my first Tessa Bailey book and while I was excited to get in on the ground level of a new series, I was also a little nervous. I think it was the combination of best friend’s little sister trope combined with a family business trope – both of which are hit-or-miss for me depending on how they are written and so while excited to give a new-to-me author a try, I approached cautiously.

But all that nervous hesitation was for nothing because this book sucked me in almost immediately and my heart swooned and thumped away happily over the course of Travis and Georgie’s love story.

One thing I will never get enough of is strong, plucky, quirky heroines. Georgie fit the bill on all counts and then some. I mean, she’s a clown by trade and part of me thought that might be a little over-the-top for me. But…it wasn’t. It was somehow perfect for her and handled in a way that didn’t seem too zany or weird. I also loved how she wasn’t afraid to call Travis on his bad behavior, she wasn’t afraid to push him, and she wasn’t afraid to walk away when it seemed like he wasn’t good enough for her. I absolutely adored her.

The chemistry she had with Travis was on point. It sparked and sizzled and gave me that highly coveted achy, swoony feeling in my chest as they flirted and bantered their way into real feelings. I loved Travis’s story arc just as much as Georgie’s, and while he proved to be a bit more frustrating as a character than Georgie was, I still loved him pretty intensely. He was all growly alpha male, but also wounded and I seriously couldn’t get enough of all the ways those two healed each other.

There were some things that I felt maybe deserved a bit more resolution. Travis and Georgie’s story tied up beautifully, but I would have liked some more closure with Georgie’s family relationships. I mean, there were some pretty broken, icky relationships there and it maybe wrapped up a little too neatly for me. But overall, my heart felt full and happy with how this book played out and I absolutely will be back for more!

Whew. This might be the steamiest book I’ve ever read. Don’t read it if you don’t like suuuuuuper hot scenes. 😊😂 Travis and Georgie had amazing chemistry. I could have lived without Georgie being a professional clown. I just thought it was odd and didn’t quite fit. But wooooweeeee this is a spicy read!! Fans of Helen Hoang and Christina Lauren will dig this one. 4 stars.

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

The best friend’s little sister trope is not one of my favorites romance tropes but it could be if the book is done well. This book was cute and light and I would recommend it for a quick beach read. I didn’t enjoy the male character as much as I thought I would but I did like how spunky Georgie was at first. This is a solid 3 stars for me. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

actual rating: 3.75 stars

This has been one of my most anticipated books of the year ever since the cover and synopsis released. I am a big fan of HGTV shows, and I can't lie: both cover and description of this book gave me those vibes. When I saw I got accepted for an ARC of it, I was so excited to start it!

Overall, the book was pretty enjoyable. I think what really drew me into this story from beginning to end was the character growth. This book was more than just about two people finding love with each other: it was about two people finding themselves in the process as well. Both Georgie and Travis learn so much about themselves in this book, and they both grow into such mature adults by the end of the story. They feel like completely different people (in the best of ways). The messages that we learn as we see these two grow were incredibly important and touching: Georgie found her voice. After so many years being treated as someone who did not have the capability for opinions by her family (all because she was the youngest sibling), she finally learnt how to be heard, how to raise her voice so that others could take her seriously. Travis learned that even if you have a messed up family, that does not mean that you are a lost cause. And even if, after years of working towards something, you lose it, it does not mean that you need to lose yourself in the process. And that you can be a great husband and father, even if you own dad did not give you a good example of what that would be.

Another aspect of this book that I absolutely adored was the girls supporting girls theme. It was so prominent throughout the entire book, and it warmed my heart to see Georgie, her sister Bethany, and their friend Rose come together to support each other during not only the happy times, but also the bad times; and to give each other the strength to follow their dreams.

Now, I gotta say, as much as I loved Georgie, I had a really hard time connecting with the romance. I think it was mostly personal preference; the dominant personality going on with Travis is not really my thing, and I very rarely love it. They had very sweet moments for sure, and some of their scenes left me smiling super big, specially by the end of the book, but there was something lacking in there - maybe their relationship needed a bit more build up - that made it hard for me to connect 100% with these two.

This was my first ever Tessa Bailey book, and all in all, I am very intrigued to pick up another one of her books. I loved the characters she created, the growth they went through really spoke to me, and the girl power in this story made it a very enjoyable read for me. The girl scene were definitely my favorite part!

I also need the second one asap, because the couple it'll be about showed up in this book and i have to say, being the angst obsessed reader that I am, that I am definitely intrigued.

With the already known and loved by many writing style of Tessa Bailey, we open a new series (hopefully), full of love and wit and two characters so adorable you wish you were their neighbor so you could witness everything first hand.. Travis, the baseball player with an injury that ruined his career and Georgie, the clown. not in a figurative way, no: AN ACTUAL CLOWN.. If I ever have to read a book where the female protagonist chooses to dress up like a clown for kids birthday parties, I'm all over it. What a fantastic way to portray the hard working american woman. Seriously. I loved Georgie not only because she held on to that long time crush she;s had on Travis, but also cause we see a Georgie becoming a real butterfly and showing her family her job is seriou, her mindset is serious, her love for Travis is serious. Usually her family would not believe this, but the development we have in her throughout the story is absolutely fantastic. Travis will learn to grow more mature with her, to overcome his insecurities and to learn to live life as full and loving as Georgie will.

Many kudos for the illustrated cover. How refreshing it is to see a nice cover that show's love instead of male nude torsos or sexual innuendos.. This is exactly what caught my attention.

This was my second Tessa Bailey book, but it will most def wont be the last. Thank you so much to the publisher for granting me this privilege of receiving this ARC in exchange for an honest review.