So I usually like second chance romances and I liked these two characters, Aly and Dylan, a lot. They have an amazing back story but the premise of the book bothered me.

I don’t typically like books with cheating (emotional or physical) and while I hated Nikki, I feel like that is what was happening throughout the whole book. It made me kind of uncomfortable and I kept waiting for the shoe to drop.

The ending was perfect though and the side characters were amazing! Ben and Eric, I’m rooting for you guys! Could have used some spice but overall most of it was cute!

Thank you, Penguin Random House Audio and G.P. Putnam's Sons, for my complimentary copies.

"Love is only meant to be terrifying right at the beginning, right before you fall, then it's meant to feel like home."

I loved this quote from The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe. This is a second-chance and childhood-friends to lovers romance. However, this was a slow-burn romance, which was too slow for me. There were times I just got bored and thought about not finishing. Regardless, I finished and was happy with how everything ended. This quote will stay with me long after this book.

*ARC Review*

I sadly found The Fixer Upper to be a bit of a bore. It is a VERY slow burn (almost non existent), and maybe should not be called a romance. I love rom com books because they have a realistic element that allows the reader to relate to the love story. This plot just did not give me that. The idea of creating a business around "fixing" men just did not sit right with me, and I couldn't root for any of the characters. As I was reading I didn't even care if the former best friends got back together. There is no steam in this one, so if that is what you're looking for this is not the book for you.

I loved this story. It felt real and true, the storyline of a miscommunication seperating to youth and then have them come together again later in their story. Second chance love stories are my second favorite Rom-Com troupe. This book put a smile on my face and had a real feel good Hallmark movie feel to it.
My favorite quote came from Alyssa's mama " Love is only meant to be terrifying right at the beginning, right before you fall, then it's meant to feel like home".

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe is a funny, sweet romance about Aly and her old friend, Dylan. When Aly runs into an old boyfriend and sees how much he's changed since their relationship she's surprised. She's even more surprised when he credits all his positive changes to her and their time together. When Aly and her friends realize that this isn't the first time that it's happened but it's really a patter with her and her ex's, they decide to start a business.

Using Aly's knack for creating positive changes with men, the Fixer Upper is born. With a steady stream of business and they attract the attention of a well-known influencer who wants Aly to work her magic on her boyfriend. But when she finds out that her boyfriend is none other than her old best friend and first love, Dylan, her life and job starts to get thrown out of whack.

Aly is a great lead. She's strong and confident, but she's also got her insecurities and fears that make her more real. She's relatable and makes the whole story so much more fun. Her friendship with Dylan is one that meant so much to her but when she meets him again after years, they're a little rocky. But I really liked the way they rebuilt their friendship and as they spent more time with each other, they also grew as people.

This was a fun, light romantic comedy that makes you smile and will warm your heart. Aly and Dylan are great together. Their fears, the misunderstandings and miscommunications, their insecurities, it all came together in a really solid way and the whole story flows really well. The grand gesture in the end made me smile so hard and was really the cherry on top of an already wonderful novel! I would definitely recommend this cute rom-com if you're looking for a relatable and lovely story of love and growth!

“In this funny and sharp romantic comedy, a woman with a knack for turning her boyfriends’ lives around starts a professional service to help wrangle men, only to be unexpectedly matched with an old flame.”

You guys . . . I LOVED this book. I am extremely stingy about my 5 star ratings, but this is my favorite romance of the year so far. Aly and Dylan were childhood best friends until Aly’s one day ghosted for reasons explained in the book. Later, when Dylan is essentially the project of his celebrity girlfriend’s new PR campaign, she hires Aly to intervene.

I am not normally a fan of friends to lovers or miscommunication as the central issue, but I love a good career woman plotline and second chance romance, so I predicted around 3-4 stars. However, I fell in love with Aly as a character - she’s funny, sympathetic, ambitious, and incredibly hardworking. Dylan had very obvious flaws, but you could just FEEL the tension and I loved that.

I also appreciated the other plotlines within the book, most notably Aly’s relationship and conflict with her mom. I can’t say much more about it without spoilers, but know it was a highlight for me because it felt incredibly authentic.

My complaints: No spice. Like . . . none. I’m not normally one to want spice to go overboard either, but a little something would have been nice. Obviously, this was not a dealbreaker as I still gave it 5 stars.

Second, the whole issue with the house is literally not how the law works. I’m a divorce attorney, so I recognize that most people would be able to suspend belief (or not even know they were suspending belief!), but the whole “she’ll lose the house if Aly doesn’t fix it!” was like . . . not it. But that was a smaller issue in the grand scheme of the story.

Overall, a heartwarming, entertaining read that is somewhat predictable but incredibly heartwarming.

Read if you liked: Sarah Adams books, Scandal (the TV show), second chance romance, and powerful career ladies who know what they want professionally but are emotionally lost. Lol.

I was able to read this early thanks to Netgalley and Putnam Books

Even before I started this book, I messaged a friend and said, “I’m pretty sure this one is going to stress me out.” A girl realizes she’s “fixing” every guy she dates, and then she and her friends decide to turn that into a business, helping other women fix their boyfriends. Of course she’s eventually hired to “fix” her childhood best friend, who she was madly in love with, for his influencer girlfriend. And I was right! It stressed me out!

The minute Aly takes the job trying to fix Dylan, who is perfectly wonderful and just doesn’t want the same public life as his girlfriend, my stress levels rocketed. There’s history, obviously, that makes the two of them hold each other at a distance, if not be out and out rude to each other. But when that softens and we start to see just how wonderful they are at supporting each other and being friends, it killed me. I spent the rest of the book waiting for the moment he found out the true terms of her deal with his girlfriend because I knew the fallout would not be good.

And it was worse than I expected. Dylan’s whole thing is that he’s a people pleaser, he never wants anyone else to be unhappy. So when he finally lets loose on Aly in the third act argument? I wasn’t prepared for how harsh he would be. It’s not that I think she didn’t deserve it or that he was wrong to finally express himself so strongly, but damn, I was just as shocked as she was.

The friend characters here are so strong. I loved each and every one of them, and they each had lovely, distinct personalities. Tola, in particular, was completely wonderful. Everyone needs a Tola in their lives.

All in all, this was a really fun, if stressful, book. Would I have loved a few more scenes of just Aly and Dylan? Of course. But I don’t think the book falters for not having them. It’s just me wanting more of a good thing.

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe is not a book about fixing homes (as I thought when I received this book) but about fixing people. And fixing people is much more fun than fixing homes.

Aly is a fixer. For her whole life, she’s been fixing people. Her parent's marriage, her friends, her neighbors, and her co-workers. She knows what people need and she has a way that makes them see what they need. But, the only person Aly can’t fix, is herself.

There is a love triangle, I thought the author handled it well, but it may put some readers off and I can understand that. Also, the whole fixing people is basically manipulating people and although it's done with humor, and good intentions and the characters learn a lesson from it, it still may put some readers off. I just decided I would go with it and I enjoyed the banter, the friendships, and the romance.

I enjoyed this book very much and it moved quickly. I enjoyed the humor in the book and I liked most of the characters. I liked Aly’s toughness and her ability to make quick decisions. Although the romance was more of a side plot than the main theme of the book, I did enjoy the romance, once it got going. I really liked her relationships with her friends, they totally understand each other and support each other. I liked their unconditional love for each other, and how when one would make a mistake, they were able to forgive each other.

I recommend The Fixer Upper to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

For Aly’s entire life, she has fixed everyone’s problems (or at least tried) - her mom’s, coworkers and men she has dated. When she runs into an old flame, she realizes that she was the last person she dated before he grew up and moved on, and her friends think she has quite the talent. “The Fixer Upper” is born, and Aly helps fellow women get their men, to be blunt, “fixed up”. It seems to be going well, until a hot shot Influencer hired Aly to get her boyfriend to propose. The problem is that boyfriend is Aly’s childhood best friend, whom she has always loved. Can the fixer upper fix her own problems?

Let me start by saying, I almost skipped past this one because it seemed like it was going to be the predictive, cheesy rom-com. But I am SO glad I gave it a chance, because it is really a sweet story. The characters are all so well written and likable and I felt that the author did a great job of showing Aly’s growth as well. Her whole life has been influenced by her parents’ messed up relationship, and she finally sees that. And what she does with it in not only her love life but her career are inspiring. It is also worth mentioning that Aly and her friends realize that the scheming they are doing with their “fixer upper” mentality, is a bit morally gray to say the least.

“The Fixer Upper” is our August 2nd! Thank you to Netgalley, Lauren Forsyth and the publisher for the ARC! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly!

This book was a wonderful surprise that I inhaled in 24 hours. Stuck in her job waiting for a promotion, Aly is a fixer for everyone but herself. She fixes coworkers problems, fixes “unfixable” men for other women, but can’t seem to fix herself. Encouraged my two of her friends to start a company that puts Aly’s skills to use, she is hit with the perfect client, a social-media influencer who needs Aly to fix her boyfriend and get him to propose to her quickly. Offering her an obscene amount of money, Aly jumps at the chance only to discover that the influencer’s boyfriend is none other than her ex-best friend from her youth, Dylan James. Conflicted over whether to take the job or not (Aly desperately needs the money to help her mother—again fixing people’s problems) and reveal her true identity to Dylan who believes she is just hired to help him get his fledgling app into the marketplace.
Reader beware, there is deceit within Aly’s (and Dylan’s) relationship, but I was not bothered by it as it appears each character has their own version of past events and unintentional misinformation. If the miscommunication trope is something you struggle with, then this book may not be for you, but I found that it was written in a very honest and well thought out way. I loved Aly and Dylan’s story and thought the tension between these characters was well executed and helped drive the story. There are very real and difficult situations both Aly and Dylan have to work through on their own and Forsythe makes her characters more vulnerable and real as the narrative develops. The childhood connection between Aly and Dylan make this also a second-chance romance, but will their past be too much for them to get over? or will the complications of Aly’s hired purpose be too much for their future? Definitely read this book if you want to know more and enjoy a slow burn build up. Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning started out really strong in this romantic comedy, but all the characters ended up feeling like caricatures.

I received an ARC of The FixerUpper by Lauren Forsyhthe from NetGalley. I was hooked from the first chapter. There was really strong character development from the start. A fast paced Rom-Com perfect for a beach read!

I loved this book! It took me a few days to process before I could even write this review, too many tears to see through.

I have to say, based on the description, the story was a little different than I expected. I mean this in a good way. I liked seeing Alyssa in her work environment and the personal growth that takes place. I almost threw my book (kindle) at one point because I thought she was going backward. And in a way she was, but then… bam!

I also loved seeing Aly and Dylan’s past unravel into the future.

Loved it!!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to review this book! All opinions expressed in ALL of my reviews are mine alone.

This was a quick read for me. Didn't really grab my attention. There were a few good parts in the book that helped me finish the book.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4

The main character Aly is a fixer, she goes about her life-solving people's problems and "taking one for the team" all to get a promotion, while in her personal life she has a type, she dates projects not people; as every single person, she has dated has improved his life after their relationship ended and all because of actions she encouraged and things she did or said during their relationship.

That is why along with two friends from her office she starts Fixer Upper, enabling them to help other women get the breakthrough in their personal lives that they desperately want by "fixing" their significant others. Still, everything gets complicated once the man she got hired to "fix" is her childhood best friend who she hadn't seen in 15 years.

This book is such a good summer read, or perfect for a rainy day, it is fun and quirky, I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and for obvious reasons, this book relies heavily on it, but the story, the plot and the characters are worth the trope being there. Overall I enjoyed this book a lot, I would recommend it to anyone who wants a friends-to-lovers, behind-the-scenes, office romance.

The story follows Aly, a young hardworking female that’s single with dating prospects on the horizon. On a solo night out she runs into an ex-bf that, at the time of the breakup, wasn’t who Aly saw herself settling down with. Imagine her surprise when she confirms that his circumstances have dramatically changed, based on his relationship with her, and he’s now married and settled and successful. In a retrospective look at her ex-bfs a pattern emerges that post-breakup with Aly all of the men have turned into catches. Because she fixed them up! When the idea is floated to start an underground service that provides basically coaching to men that are in need of fixing up, the business takes off.

Aly and her team find themselves meeting with a social media influencer who’s beau is in need of a fix up. Imagine her surprise when the bc is no one other than her childhood best friend and first love, Dylan. All bets are off as Aly and Dylan work together so that she can provide her services to Dylan in an effort to fix him up but the sparks are rekindled. Aly soon realizes that Dylan doesn’t need to change as he’s already perfect the way he is and he would be the perfect catch. The monkey wrench of it all is that he’s in a relationship and said gf won’t give him up without a fight.

I enjoyed this one and appreciate the opportunity to have been able to read an ARC copy courtesy of Lauren Forsythe and NetGalley. It’s the perfect beach/pool/summer read as it’s light and a quick easy read!

The Fix Upper wants so badly to be a "sassy feminist romcom" (unfortunate and actual words from the acknowledgements). Instead, it is an incredible run on toxic heteronormative nonsense. The plot hinges on the idea of monetizing emotional labor in order to improve men for other women. Aly has spent her whole life fixing other people's problems, and more so, determining what potential other people have to try to push them into that potential in every relationship she has. After her friends do some analysis, it turns out every one of Aly's exes has a mathematical increase in success after they breakup and thus a new business idea is born the Fixer Upper, where the three of them attempt to fix men for women to somehow outsource emotional labor that other people are doing. Which is all fun and games to Aly and her friends, until they are approached by an influencer who wants them to "fix" her app developer boyfriend. The catch? He's Aly's first love.

The premise it's self genuinely wasn't so bad. Obviously, I requested this ARC and sat down to read it all of my own volition. I even finished it in under two days. That said, it ends up boiling down to a deeply normalized idea that changing your partner is some sort of goal to be achieved in most relationships. And even when the book bothers to question that, we have spent well over two thirds of the book building this new venture of Aly and co as something worth and special. There are multiple, albeit jokes, lines about how this is a next step in feminism that land hallow in the grand scheme of the manipulations that are pulled off for the sake of nothing. The fact I had to read a line that called Aly's outfit "girlboss" genuinely may have taken years off my life. It is not there is not a good delivery of jokes like that in the world, Forsythe simply never finds them.

All of this is to say nothing of the side characters and the reductionist lives they lead. Every once in a while there is a moment of genuine interest shown in Aly's friends and yet it still comes off as stilted. The secondary pairing is two gay men. And there is no way of writing this without sounding incredibly petty but here we are. I am not entirely convinced that Forsythe has every had a conversation with a queer person so much as heard a public gay break up. But of course the only queer folks in the book end up together even after calling their friends on trying to set them up. Of course, the youngest member of Aly's friend group goes out and parties until two AM having the youth Aly is forever denied. Of course, the influencer is so wrapped up in her self that she would ruin everyone around her.

Perhaps I am being too harsh and simply was not the audience for this book. That's is more likely the fair assessment of the situation. However, I would beg the author to continue on her journey of reading more feminist theory and writing because this simply isn't it.

This is a British rom-com with quick wit and delightful banter. Are there some aspects that didn't quite fit? Sure, but did I still enjoy it? Definitely yes! Grab this one for your next beach read.

DNF at 20%

Ahhhh, one of my biggest pet peeves is lying in books, but also when books are wrongly categorized. This is Women's Fiction, and even though I enjoy that genre as well, I thought this would be a romance. I don't think this book is for me.

Thanks to PUTNAM and Negalley for my copy.

The Fixer Upper is a fun beach read. Aly and Dylan knew one another as teens and went their separate ways. Years later Aly is realizing that every man she's been with was improved by their relationship and yet she never reaps the benefits. Beyond the second chance romance story there is good reflection on women and how we focus on our relationships and the power we trade away in work and love. The secondary characters are also interesting people and fun to have in the story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.