After seven chapters, I just cannot continue to read LOVE HER OR LOSE HER. Unfortunately, this is a DNF. I realize by the end Dom would have shown growth and his and Rosie’s marriage would be stronger. I just don’t care enough.. I'm not feeling any chemistry between them. Dom’s dialogue and actions are gross. Too much misogyny for my liking.

I always appreciate love stories where the couple already know one another, or stories where spouses who have drifted apart come back again. Rosie and Dom are high school sweethearts whose physical passion has never waned, but who barely exist to each other in other ways. Enter the quirky therapist to see if this marriage can be saved.

Dom is a textbook alpha male, and some of his "protective" instincts feel like in another story they would be warning signs. There is a LOT of explicit sex with dirty talk between husband and wife, so much that I actually skipped ahead during a few scenes.

I really want to eat Rosie's cooking. Her food sounds unbelievably delicious.

Received a review copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

FULL REVIEW ON FRESH FICTION
LOVE HER OR LOSE HER by Tessa Bailey is an emotional second-chance/marriage-in-trouble romance. Everyone around Rosie and Dominic assumes things are fine between them, even though it has been literal years since they’ve had a meaningful conversation. Between Dom’s deployment, Rosie’s suppressed restaurant dreams, and not only growing up but also apart, the Vegas have a lot of soul-searching to do. Rosie turns to the women of the “Just Us League” for support and as recipe taste-testers, discovering much needed female friendship, which helps in her own self-awareness and growth. And while Dom does have his co-workers to vent his frustrations to, his journey is mostly solitary, as he learns how he needs to change to be the man his wife deserves. The side characters of LOVE HER OR LOSE HER are mainly there for comic relief; Georgie and Travis from the first Hot & Hammered book are engaged and planning their wedding, and Rosie’s new BFF Bethany is clearly going to end up with new guy-on-the-job Wes in the next book based on their immediate “enemies-to-lovers” banter. As expected in a Tessa Bailey novel, the love scenes are fraught with tension, full of dirty talk, and scorchingly hot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey. All opinions are my own.

I have to be honest... I didn't finish this one. I loved the first book in the series so I was extremely disappointed when I couldn't get into this. Part of my reasoning was that it was extremely steamy... not only steamy, but steamy within a seemingly toxic relationship. Maybe it got better as the story went on, but I wasn't a fan of what I read at first.

A true second chance romance! Love Her or Lose Her is guaranteed to captivate you from the start, make sure to clear your schedule until you finish the book. I can't remember the last time I read a story with the main characters starting out together, but my heart sure enjoyed their journey back to themselves and each other. A wonderful addition to the Hot & Hammered series, this is a definite must read in my book!

This was an ok romance. I liked it better than her other novels, but it still was a big exaggerated for my taste. I wish there had been more substance.

Since I've been married for 30 years, it was great to journey with Rosie and Dom. Marriage is hard work and communication is the key. This book has it all including great friends, laughter and love. Thank you Tessa Bailey and I love visiting Port Jefferson.

Love Her or Lose Her continues the story of the Hot and Hammered Series. I am enjoying the series, but this one isn't as funny as the first story. I am looking forward to Tools of Engagement as Tessa Bailey has given us a taste of the new story line and characters.

I had heard some great things about Tessa Bailey and LOVE HER OR LOSE HER from fellow reviewers, so I thought I'd give her another try. I had previously tried to read FIX HER UP, but ended up DNFing it after 100 pages.

Unfortunately, I think perhaps I'm just not the right reader for Bailey's books. I know she has a ton of fans and readers who love her work. I think this is a case of not being a good fit with the writer. I'm not a particular fan of alpha males, and from what I can tell Bailey writes a lot of alpha males. I was really interested in reading LOVE HER OR LOSE HER because I loved what I saw of Rosie and Dominic in FIX HER UP.

All that said, I know there will be many fans of this book, sadly it just wasn't for me.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy contemporary romance with quite a bit of steam.

I loved continuing the story of all the folks in Port Jefferson. I really enjoyed Rosie and Dominic's relationship and how it progressed. As someone who married my high school sweetheart, it was touching and special to read about a couple that was already married, and had so many memories together. Not everyone gets to grow up with their spouse, I enjoyed seeing that translated onto the page. I very much liked how the characters had to overcome their fears and get out of their comfort zones to save their marriage. As always, Bailey is the Queen of Dirty Talk, and it was evident in this book, the steamy scenes were super steamy, but it was also a little bit slow burn. The only thing I didn't love was how much emphasis was put on the love languages. I know it's important to the plot, and generally helpful in marriage, but it was mentioned quite a bit in this book. Overall I enjoyed this book quite a bit!

Absolutely one of the best contemporary romance novels I've read in recent memory. I completely loved Dom...his quiet, protective sensitivity. Maybe one of the best book boyfriends around right now.

I haven't written my review for my website or Amazon/Goodreads yet, but plan to do so this next week. I just wanted to provide feedback and offer my appreciation to the publisher for the ARC. If I'm honest, the truth is I forgot I'd been approved for an ARC and bought a copy after release. But I still appreciate the ARC and am excited to read more by this author.

Thank you!

This book was very disappointing to me. I wanted to love it, but I didn’t like it. There were just too many over the top sex scenes in this book that it was really uncomfortable reading it. Like, give me a break. It was very cringey! The author also used way too many vulgar words, and that’s just not my thing. I also didn’t like some of the language usage in this book. For example, “I devoured that mouth...”

I didn’t like the main characters at all. Rosie felt like a selfish, self-centered and judgemental person. She’s very immature for giving up way too easy in their marriage. Dominic was just over possesive and why does he call his wife “honey girl” the entire book? I can’t with this pet name.

Overall, I wish I saw more of their deeper connection to each other than just physical reaction. Very unrealistic for me.

I think this is the first romance I've read where the protagonists have married already and are trying to fix a broken relationship. I absolutely loved the concept and how Tessa Bailey executed Rosie and Dominic's reconciliation. The appeal of the novel for me was the emotional connection. I enjoyed understanding how each character viewed their relationship and the efforts that both the hero and heroine did to make it work again. I loved that Bailey pulled in the use of love languages, and overall, I was pleased with the realism of the story. It's simply about two people who've loved each other for a long time but have lost that spark that pulled them together in the first. I honestly just loved seeing the work the couple did to get their HEA.

There aren't a lot of books about married people out there, probably because part of the allure of romance novels is in the meeting and the "honeymoon phase" of relationships. So I went into this book not knowing what to expect, but I should have known that Tessa Bailey was going to knock it out of the park. This is a story about how everything falls apart when a couple stops communicating. It's about finding the ways to make your partner feel loved. It's real and raw. Dominic is a strong, broody, alpha protector with a strong libido and dirty mouth who thinks his sole job is to provide for his wife. Rosie loves her husband but wants more. The one thing NOT wrong in their marriage is the sexual chemistry. In true Tessa fashion, the heat in this book melts the pages. The possessive was Dominic fights for his wife will make you swoooooon. So, so good.

Love Her or Lose Her had some pretty major ups and downs.

Pros:
~While it had some of Bailey's usual heat -- when they do finally have sex.... -- it was still lacking a bit in that department. Maybe I'm just holding out hope for the super dirty Bailey romances I first fell in love with. But all in all, it wasn't bad, just a bit of a slow burn which isn't my favorite.
~ Sometimes the "trying to make this work again" scenes were cute/romantic.


Cons:
~ One of the biggest issues I had was the pacing of conflict -- he was holding info about a motherfucking HOUSE from you until *this close* to the end, after you had otherwise mended your relationship and moved forward, and suddenly that blows up and then blows over even quicker?
~ I was very uncomfortable with their hippy-dippy "marriage counselor" who LIED TO THEM hoping to use said lie as reverse psychology or some shit and then tried to claim 'look it worked, didn't it? It's fine, moving on!' No. ~ The heroine is supposed to be Latinx (I'm pretty sure? I thought at one time Dominican, another time I thought I heard Argentinian.....which are not the same at all so hopefully I'm misremembering....) yet her background is basically nonexistent to her character or the story, only being used for a few "native" dishes that she loves to cook. I mean, I guess it's not THE WORST attempt a white author has had with writing a POC but it's not good either?

I was hooked on Rosie and Dominic's story from book one in the series, so I was definitely excited for this book. And can I just say that Tessa Bailey delivered in expert fashion. Rosie and Dominic have been together since middle school and love each other very much, yet for the past five years, they have drifted apart until they are no longer talking and sharing things with one another. Rosie hits her limit at the beginning of the story and says their marriage is over, but Dominic is not letting her go without a fight. Thus ensues the funny and heart melting series of events as Rosie and Dominic go to marriage counseling and attempt to find their way back to one another.

There's levity to the story through the counselor Rosie found (a hippie who goes all out with hippie decorations and enjoys smoking a joint at work and having a threesome in the woods) as well as when Rosie and Dominic allow themselves to reminisce on the happy times in their relationship. There is also deep and heart felt emotion as these two expose their vulnerabilities and insecurities to one another that have built up over the many years of increasing distance. They have a lot they need to work through and they do have genuine issues with how their relationship was working, but even with all that, the level of love, affection, and care between the two was palpable from the pages. Not to mention the sexual tension, which Bailey delivers with her usual heavy helping of extra sexy dirty talk. This book was balanced in all these elements and as such was a fantastic read that I had a hard time putting down. Highly recommend!

This was so wonderful! I loved the first book in the series and was worried the second could not match up but it does. I love that this was about a married couple serapting and getting back together, as there are so few romance novels that deal with this. I loved how Tessa dealt with this. I also loved the therapist as a character.

Thank you for sending me an ARC for an honest review!

After reading Fix Her Up, which was a five star read for me, I was super excited to get into Love Her Or Lose Her. I found this to be a fairly worthy second book. It was certainly steamy and pretty heartfelt. It was nice to have a romance about an already married couple.

Some other readers found the hero, Dominic, to be problematic to the point of unlivable, so I’m afraid I put off reading the book for too long because of it. Now that I read it, I have to disagree. I actually liked him a lot. Sure, he had his problems but they stemmed from insecurities that he had to overcome. I certainly didn’t expect either Dom or Rosie to be perfect. And why would I? Their marriage is supposed to be in the rocks. Why would it be if the characters were perfect?

The books gets highest marks in steam and featuring characters from Fix Her Up. As much as I enjoyed the book, there really wasn’t that much in stakes. But the simple plot was a enjoyable enough and it was nice to see the changes in the main characters in the end.

I usually prefer historical romance, but this book made me want to try more contemporary stuff. The marriage counseling plot was really funny and sweet, and it's nice to see characters being more open about certain topics. That said, it's an eternal truth that so much could have been solved if they just talked to each other! Even when I know a HEA is coming, I hate knowing about a Big Secret standing between the main characters until the very end.

I love that Tessa Bailey has the ability to take overused rom-com tropes and make them fun, flirty, and unique again. She revives them and gives them life again!

This is a great second-chance romance that is emotional, raw, and meaningful. This book had the power to be steamy while also heart-warming...how? I'm not sure but I'm here for it.