The Fixer Upper somehow managed to be a very cute romcom that made a lot of great points about women in relationships while also making me deeply uncomfortable at times. On the one hand, the discomfort was part of the point - we're supposed to know what Aly and co. are doing by manipulating dudes into being "better" partners is questionable at best and concerning at worst. But on the other hand, a book that has such long stretches of cringey behavior by its leads isn't necessarily the most fun reading experience.

On the side of the good was the very enjoyable characters and the satisfying character arcs. Most everyone has a chance to grow and learn from their mistakes (of which there are so many). Aly and her friends have great banter and as morally questionable as the Fixer Upper scenes were, they were genuinely funny at times. This book had a good balance of emotions, ranging from funny to sad, sweet to honest. It also had a lot of spot-on things to say about the ways women perform emotional labor in relationships, and the ways in which social media can make people lose sight of who they actually are.

On the flip side, though, the book was built around an uncomfortable and manipulative enterprise. Which, again, is the point! But watching a woman decide over and over again to lie to her former best friend and crush is upsetting! I couldn't decide if the payoff - Aly's grand gesture and the long awaited getting together of her and Dylan - made up for it. Or if I even really thought he should be forgiving her.

I think in the end, this is a book that is a light and fun read... as long as you don't think about it too hard. Like a lot of romcoms based on schemes, it starts to feel a little yucky when held up too closely to the light.

3.75/5

This book is described as a feminist romantic comedy. However,I felt it was light on the romance. There was definitely some comedic factors and I particularly enjoyed the side characters, but, all in all, there is nothing extraordinary or memorable about this book. There were moments where I was enjoying myself, could relate to the women in the book, and saw this being at least a 4 star rating but overall, it was just an okay book for me, so I am going with a down the middle rating of three stars.

Aly, the protagonist, finds herself accidently becoming a "fixer upper" when women begin to come to her to improve their men without them knowing it. One day she is contacted by a famous influencer with the largest paycheck yet to discover who she is supposed to improve and motivate to propose is her oldest best friend and first love, who she hasn't spoken to in 15 years. I love a good second chance romance, but to me this one was primarily her forcing him to be the best boyfriend for another woman and their romance didn't rekindle until the last few pages, so I grew very frustrated with that aspect. I wish we could have seen their romantic relationship grow more in the book sooner, which is why I feel this is more women's fiction rather than a romance novel.

Overall, the book was easy to read, simple and would be one I'd read on vacation, but I don't think it would be one I would recommend to others.


**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

This book was NOT for me. I truly would’ve DNF’d it if I wasn’t working on my NetGalley ARCs. The main reason is that this book would’ve lost a race with a snail. I truly didn’t get actually engaged with the story until I was 57% into the story.

Aly is an amazing person that always seems to uplift and help people while simultaneously ignoring how everyone around takes advantage of her. After venting to her friends about discovering how one of her exes glowed up after they broke up, her friends points out how this is the pattern for all of her exes. The Gen Z of the group suggests that they create a business to do this for other women which leads her to an Influencer and her boyfriend who just so happens to be her ex-Best Friend and crush.

Now, I love a good enemies to lover, but this was NOT that. He pretends he doesn’t know her then starts to treat her coldly. They go from this not interesting enemies to rekindle friendship that reminisces on how they both have always loved the other. The issue is that none of it was interesting. The subplots and background pieces kept slowing down the story, and I wanted more Main Character time. The ending was cute, but there was so much paint on the wall from the background pieces I was just glad that it was over.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is really a women's/contemporary fiction title. While there is a second chance romance, that is not really the main storyline.

Aly is always supporting and helping others even if it means she can't get her own stuff done. She's got good instincts on where to nudge and what to say to help people make positive shifts in their lives. And while she's unknowingly helped a lot of past boyfriends realize their potential, she's not where she hoped to be career and life wise.

As she and two close friends (loved them!) put together a business for women to help them 'fix up' the men in their lives, it leads to a lot of bigger questions about life and Aly's life path. It does monetize her skill in steering people@in the right direction, but it also fees manipulative. I'm actually also listening to a book on moral philosophy right now (How to Be Perfect by the creator of The Good Place) and it complements this book well! Do the ends justify the means?

I was rooting for Aly. And I thought her choices and struggles felt authentic. She and the other characters all had flaws (like all of us, right?) which made them really relatable, especially since we got some great back stories. While I wasn't a fan of all of Aly's choices, I loved her journey and how it all came together in the end.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Aly is a well-known fixer upper. When she realizes she's been fixing her boyfriends too, she does something about it. Her and her friends create The Fixer Upper, a service for women to help their men. When Aly is hired to fix-up her childhood best friend and first love, things get complicated.

I loved the character of Aly, I love reading about such a strong-minded and successful woman. I loved her relationship with Dylan, I want more! Anyone who likes the second-chance romance trope will love this book.

👩🏻‍🔧The Fixer Upper
Author: Lauren Forsythe ( @laurenforsythe_author )

🥰: Huge thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

🗓Release Date: August 2, 2022

👩🏾‍💻: If you loved Good Luck Chuck, but not all the raunch do I have a book for you! The main character in this book Aly realizes that not only do her exes after her take her advice, but also that they move on to bigger and better things. This not only shocks Aly, but also makes her question why she hasn’t had the same success. Upon this realization, Aly goes on a journey to see if this theory of her being a true fixer-upper is fact and begins to realize that it’s been her all along who truly needs a little fixing.

🧡Recommended if you enjoy:
•PG romances (no spicy scenes)
•Fast reads
•Miscommunication tropes
•Books with banter

🏷Hashtags: #readwithCupcake #thefixerupper #netgalley #romcombooks #honestreviews #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #readingcommunity #bookreviewer #romancebookstagram #romancebooks

Aly goes to work as a consultant to app developer Dylan. But she's keeping secrets: (1) Dylan doesn't know his social-media-star girlfriend actually hired Aly to make Dylan more Instagram-ready; and (2) the girlfriend doesn't know Dylan is Aly's ex-best-friend and first love. Can Aly turn him into the perfect man—when he's already perfect for her?

Aly and Dylan have a complicated relationship. While this book mostly has a light tone, there's deep emotion behind it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Fixer Upper is a hilarious but heartwarming second chance romance between two childhood best friends, Alysa and Dylan, who meet again in their thirties under unusual circumstances. Aly is hired by Dylan’s high-profile influencer girlfriend Nicki to ‘fix him up’ so he will become a successful tech entrepreneur and will propose marriage, if only so she lands a new reality tv show. Only he pretends not to know her at their introductory meeting, and he doesn’t know the real reason she’s been hired by Nicki. As the pair slide from initially antagonist to becoming friendly again, Aly must navigate her friendships, her relationship with her family, her job, and her feeling for Dylan. The first half of this book focuses on Aly’s past with her fixer-upper boyfriends and the start of the operation with her friends Eric and Tola (which the dynamic between these three are honest the highlight of the book), while the back half is her struggling with her feelings and guilt over the deception. The ending felt a little flat and rushed - not enough groveling and everyone left her off the hook too much - but overall a really fun read!

Aly is a certified “fixer”. Of her parents’ marriage, her colleagues’ work problems, and the love lives of her friends. After running into an ex who blossomed into a real adult post-Aly, Aly and her friends decide to use her talents and start The Fixer Upper, an underground service for emotionally exhausted women. The business becomes wildly successful until their newest client wants them to fix her boyfriend, Aly’s childhood best friend and first love. Is it possible to change someone you always thought was perfect?

For fans of Failure to Launch and Hitch! I loved the premise of this one and thought it was a super fun/quick read. And wow did it tug on my heart strings! Aly’s growth from the beginning to end was written beautifully. You could definitely argue that she was unlikable due to the deception of her business, but I promise you that you will be cheering for her by the end. There’s just something special about the childhood friends to lovers trope for me so I really enjoyed that aspect of the book! Thank you so much to @laurenforsythe_author, @putnambooks, and @netgalley for my gifted digital copy!

Thank-you NetGalley and publisher for the chance to review this ARC.

This was a surprise! A very good romance novel!
The character and the writing were very good.
It's my first book by Lauren Forsythe and it won't be the last!

The Fixer Upper is a lighthearted, closed-door romance. I love that Aly struggles to find balance between her career and her personal agenda. It makes her a more authentic character. As always, I wish this were an open-door romance because it would have made the character's relationship all the more swoon-worthy, but otherwise I was satisfied by the spice-free love.

Release Date: August 2, 2022

📖📖📖

Aly is a fixer, it’s what she does. She is so adept at fixing boyfriends that they are 87% more successful after dating her (according to Eric). When Aly is shown the hard data she is convinced by Eric and Tola she is convinced the start an underground project where women can pay her to “fix” their significant other. When a chance hiring brings Aly face to face with her ex best friend, can she fix him or will she decide he’s perfect as is?!

This is not a romance. That being said it is very cute quick read. I found myself caring way more about Eric and Tola than Aly. I understand the authors intent but Dylan come off as a jerk. A meh book. It was fun but not worth a re read. Look for it if you have a beach day planned!
#Thefixerupper #penguingroupputnam #laurenforsythe #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #notaromance

2.5 ⭐️

This book left me feeling like the 🥴 emoji. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. I would definitely label this book more as women’s fiction than romance.

I haven’t really connected with any of the characters and that made it hard to root for them. I have to say though, the “villains” in this story were very easy to hate so props to that.

The pacing felt odd as well, moving slow at the beginning and then switching to a faster pace as the book progressed.

Our main character Dylan really came off as a self-righteous a-hole at first. He did “change” and became more likeable but it was kinda concerning, seeing as he usually would morph into a different type of man to be more appealing to other people, making it difficult to truly know his genuine self.

Nonetheless, he still somehow won me over when he dropped the mask and showed vulnerability, giving the reader a deeper understanding of his motives. Reinventing himself over and over again might’ve been our male main character’s mechanism to protect himself, probably caused by childhood trauma.

This book’s biggest trope is miscommunication, so if you don’t normally enjoy that in your books this one might not be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This books was an adorable, quick read. I found myself rooting for the main character, Aly, through the whole book, and Dylan was a lovable romantic lead. It was fun to watch their friendship redevelop and figure out what they both really wanted. There are no sex scenes in this one, so if you’re looking for steam, best move on. I would totally recommend this to someone looking for a light romance. Solid 4 stars for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam Books and Lauren Forsythe for the ARC.

Heartwarming and brilliant ! Absolutely adored the MC and her journey ! One of my favorite romances I’ve read !!!

Although I thought this was a cute rom com. I didn’t love it. Aly was a cute character, and I enjoyed that in her attempt to fix everyone else’s relationships, she gets paired up with fixing the boy who broke her heart. Obviously, this breaks open the past, and “what if” for the future. With that being said, the book is also very predictable, because you can see very quickly what direction the book is headed in.

This was a really enjoyable romcom. The fact that the main character is know for fixing the lives of those around her from her parents to her coworkers is really sweet. It shows how deep her care goes for those around her because she never changed or fixed anything for her own gain. When she ends up running into an ex and finding out how his life turned around she realizes she had been fixing her boyfriends as well. The business that she made was a smart idea to help others, but it can very easily back fire. I really liked how this story played out. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this story.

This is a sweet and adorable story! It was a great change from other romance books that have been coming out lately. A great story about finding yourself and finding your way back to old friends.

This was very cute! I have a very different personality from Aly, our protagonist, so it could be a little frustrating at first to watch her overwork herself unnecessarily, but I thoroughly enjoyed following along as she grew and came into her own confident, skilled self. Dylan was also fantastic and a great character all on his own, though it was impossible not to root for these two to be together. The friends were truly everything and really made this book something especially well rounded with interesting stories to be found everywhere! I look forward to where any sequels take them.

This book started slow, and drug on and on. I was about 70% into the book before I felt invested in the storyline. I think the idea of this book was better than the final product. Aly was manipulative and judgmental. It took her way too long to acknowledge what she was doing was wrong. Dylan stayed in his relationship with Nicki for way longer than he should have.

That being said, there were some parts of the book I enjoyed. Aly had amazing friends--Tola and Eric stole the show. Aly's storyline with her mother tugged at my heartstrings. While the book severely lacked in the romance department, a few key moments made me believe Aly and Dylan were soulmates.

I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and Lauren Forsythe for the ARC!