The beginning of this book had me worried it was going to be rushed and cliché. However, once the initial plot was set up it progressed very well. I enjoyed this women empowered romance quite a bit.

Here’s 5 things I enjoyed:
1. The character development was immaculate. It was not only believable but also inspiring.
2. The friends to enemies to lovers trope was done well.
3. While I tend to hate the miscommunication trope, it was done in a way that didn’t leave you frustrated with either the main character or the love interest.
4. Women empowerment was woven throughout the story line that allows you to relate to at least one aspect within this book.
5. The resolutions for all the conflicts and issues throughout the story were done very well.

Thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and the author for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

Remember the cliché line, don’t judge a book by its cover? I fell for it hook, line and sinker with this book, The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe! Based on the front cover and summary blurb on back, I expected it to be a cute, little, light-hearted RomCom. Oh boy it is not that! For fans of Josie Silva’s, One Day in December, get ready to eat your heart out with this Contemporary Fiction Second Chance Romance. Even being completely blindsided and outside of my normal preferred genre’s, I rated The Fixer Upper as a 4 Star!
Set in London, England, UK, Alyssa Aresti (AKA Aly) has a terrible track record with ex-boyfriends. She dates them, plants the seed for their success in life, and then eventually the relationship fizzles out. Her friends realize this pattern and suddenly The Fixer Upper is formed. A web-based secretive site allows for Aly and her friend to “help” those women in need with their relationship issues. Of course it was all fun and games, and sure, lives were being changed for the better until one high profile influencer asked for the impossible! Unable to say NO, The Fixer Upper got to work. Enter target male… Dylan James. The Dylan James who also just happens to be Aly’s first and only true love.
What worked well for this book was the build up of conflict. In Aly’s personal life, in her work life and eventually in her relationship; everything conflict related lead to her own metamorphosis. And don’t get me wrong, Forsythe painted harsh scenes, harsh realities people live in daily where anxiety usually wins. However, Forsythe’s writing style gave smooth edges to the harsh situations. As a reader, it was not overwhelming and I was able to form deeply felt connections to many of the characters for which ever their circumstances were. Something, someone, or some situation will resonate with everyone who reads this book!

3.5 stars
This book was cute but the message behind the book is probably the best part of it which makes me conflicted on how to rate it lmaoo FRTC

Aly Aresti is a walking fixer. Every man she’s dated has somehow benefited from her fixer-upper ways. It seems the only person she can’t fix is, herself.

“Face it, Aly, this is what you do. You date guys who aren’t worthy of you, and then you do everything for them.”

When Aly and her friends come to the realization that she is a bonafide fixer, they decide to take their group on the road. They create a professional service for women who want to give their men an extra push. She is unexpectedly sent to “fix” her childhood best friend and former love.

From there you can pretty much guess what happens. Except this book surprised me! I mean it still came to the cliche ending but the WAY it all played out was exceptional.

First, I love the dedication, and I think it explains a lot about the book’s theme.

“For the women who learned, sooner or later, that selfish is not a dirty word.”

Second, I absolutely love the side characters. I really want to be a part of their little friend group. The characters’ personalities are so well written that I felt like they were real people.

Lastly, this book is definitely a feminist romantic comedy. It’s face pace with a slow-burn romance intertwined, it's hilarious, and it’s light-hearted and fun!

Thanks, NetGalley for the early eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review! Honestly this book has such a beautiful cover and that's what made me want to read this.

Aly has been fixing things all her life - her parents, her coworker's work, etc. She's so great at it that, she starts The Fixer Upper, a secret website where women who are tired of the men in their lives always letting them down, sign up so that Aly and her friends can do some behind the scenes magic and fix them up. Everything starts going haywire when a big instagram celebrity hires her to fix her boyfriend because the boyfriend is Aly's childhood best friend and first crush that she never forgot about.

The plus: I liked the growth in Aly at the end. She starts to trust others and builds real friendships with Tola and Eric. She figures out that she doesn't have to continuously fix those around her and that others can figure things out for themselves (ex. her mom).

The minuses: This was not romance. I didn't really feel the connection between Aly and Dylan. I might have felt more of a connection if there were a couple flashbacks to their childhoods. I couldn't even tell they liked each other, other than them stating they have been in love with each other their entire lives. Also did anyone else feel like there was emotional cheating. Dylan had a girlfriend the entire book, yet he was flirting and '"in love" with Aly the whole time? The whole fixing him up for his girlfriend but also being secretly in love with him was so icky.

3 stars because it was okay enough for me to finish it and not give up. It was kind of slow for me. There was 0 romance like it was marketed. Also, I usually love any best friends to lovers trope, but unfortunately I couldn't feel a strong enough friendship for that.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book to me is what I would consider a “palette cleanser”… Maybe you just read a book that was very emotionally heavy or you’ve been stuck in a reading rut and want to get back into it.

This book was fun and flirty with your typical “enemies to lovers” trope which I love. The side characters were a joy and you felt very involved in this read. This book was also super relatable to those struggling to meet someone in a society so focused on a picture perfect image and who felt everyone around them was happy and love but secretly dealing with more issues that you know.

Overall I enjoyed this fast paced read and definitely recommend it! I do want to mention in the ARC I read, there were a few typos that need correcting that were most likely accidentally overlooked (capitalization, missing letter in a word).

As an extreme peace-keeper, I completely related to the premise of this book - a woman (Aly) who is used to managing her friends and family's conflicts or life complications decides to put her talents to use in the romance department/getting actually paid for her emotional labor. This is complicated when Aly's first love comes back into her life, and she ends up helping him with his self-image and dating life. A little Hitch-esque, except with a much more feminist lens.

The pacing of this book is fast, the characters are (usually) likeable - it's a fun read! I'd recommend.

The story follows Aly who improves the lives of men without her or their knowing, and eventually to her creating a business around that concept after many requests from different wives and girlfriends. Women who are looking for their significant other to finally propose, or go for the dream job, or simply communicate more effectively. All fun and games until one day, an influencer seeks her service to get her boyfriend to be this hot new tech entrepreneur and propose to her. All in one month. The real kicker? It's Aly's former best friend and love from her childhood that she hasn't see since that one fateful day that ultimately made them ghosts of each other's past.



Cute and fun story! I probably would categorize this as a second chance romance or even a friends to enemies to lovers romance. Considering it was a quick read, I did want to see more of the relationship between the main character Aly and Dylan. It felt like we got a glimpse and then poof! The story was over. Which also brings to me say that there wasn't much development in the book. Huge bonus is the power of womanhood. Women finally standing up for themselves and believing and knowing that they belong in this male dominant world. I loved that it had that message and gave us a great example that women should never settle for less than what they deserve.



Thank you so much NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Lauren Forsythe for this e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This is a short but sweet read that was overall enjoyable! I ultimately found this book to be a bit one dimensional at times - specifically with the side characters that I wish we got to see more of. I actually really ended up liking Aly and Dylan and the main storyline between them! Overall this was a great read that had so much more than just romance!

ARC kindly provided in exchange for my honest review.

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe is a novel about a woman named Aly who, unintentionally at first, fixes her lousy boyfriends and then they go on to be more successful versions of their previous selves. She creates a company with her friends to help other women fix their boyfriends. She gets a new client who is a celebrity and her boyfriend, Dylan, happens to be Aly’s childhood love that she hasn’t seen for 15 years. This novel stands out because the main character is very relatable. Whether she is dealing with her annoying coworkers or her parents failed relationship, she faces the world with an ambitious attitude. She would do anything for the people she loves. I loved getting to see Aly and Dylan’s dynamic. I do wish, however, that we got to see a bit more of them as children. I think that would really benefit the story and make it a bit more romantic. All in all, this story is very cute and I enjoyed it.

I highly enjoyed this book. I could really relate to Aly as being someone who fixes things, needs to be in control, and constantly being overlooked. Her relationships with her mom and her boss were so real, and the author did an awesome job really illuminating this "oldest daughter syndrome" - the oldest daughter being the one who receives the parents' burdens and griefs.

I love second chance romance with childhood best friends, so I was rooting for Dylan and Aly all the way. Their banter, their history, and their chemistry was all amazing! However, I don't like the constant miscommunication between the two of them, yet, I know that Aly shutting down is so real.

Overall, this was a cute, a bit emotional, romcom for the women who feel overlooked for their hard work!

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun, light book. The premise was appealing and well carried out. Overall, quite enjoyable. However, several of the prominent characters in this book were portrayed very one-dimensionally. There were occasional hints of depth to characters that ultimately weren't supported throughout the book. The pacing was also a tad wonky-things picked up very quickly at the beginning, then slowed down So Much in the middle that it was a bit of a struggle to keep reading. The conclusion also ended up being way too neat and way too easily resolved. 3.5/5 stars.

I feel like the character in this book was a bit all over the place and not very relatable. It was a light easy read but not one I would pick up again. I felt like I was reading to finish and not because I was enjoying the story.

.This was a pleasant surprise in the best way possible. I knew that I would enjoy it, but I fell in love instead.
The Fixer Upper was a feel-good novel that was hard to forget. Memorable from begging to end, thanks to fabulously vibrant and distinctive characters and an overall storyline that was heart-touching .

Thank you so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with an eARC.

I thought this book was a perfect, quick read. It was uplifting, fun, and had all the perfect elements of a light romance novel. I enjoyed the character development of Aly and the unique story. If you're looking for something to get you out of your reading slump, this book is it.

I really enjoyed this book! I ended up loving the friendships in this book more than the romance, which surprised me. All of the side characters were so great! I related a lot to the main character and her struggles with learning how to ask for what she wants and stand up for herself instead of always doing that for others. I enjoyed the concept of the Fixer Upper business, even though I did have to suspend my disbelief a little. The romance part of the book fell a little flat for me, but the rest of the book made up for it. Overall I highly recommend it!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4468854727

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review!

The book focuses on Lucy and her story of finding her way through her lost memories. She reflects on the last 10 years after waking up from a coma. She’s lost her memories, and thinks she’s 17 even though she’s 29. Lucy is a likeable character, and I was really hopeful for the plot. I had a lot of high hopes based off of the description. However, right away, I wasn’t hooked. There was a distinct young adult vibe, and lot of inner monologues which I wasn’t a fan of. There wasn’t a whole lot of romance, and I just found myself not wanting to pick it back up after putting it down. All around, it was alright just not my cup of tea.

It is always satisfying to read a story about a woman who starts her own business. This one is really fun, because Aly, always a "fixer' in her personal life, decides (with the help of some good friends) to make fixing other's lives her business. What she did not forsee was that her first big "make or break" client could very well be her ex boyfriend and his new partner. Fun and fast-paced romance.

Where has author Lauren Forsthye been all my life (not on Instagram, apparently)? How is this her first book? When can I read more?

If I had read this book without knowing the author, I would have thought it was a new Emily Henry or Sophie Cousens release. It's soo good.

Aly is a fixer. One of those who take on other peoples problems, doles out advice, and then holds their hand until they succeed while putting her own ambitions on the back burner. She does it with family, friends, and boyfriends- who seem to get their 💩 together right after they breakup.

She and her two work pals, strong characters who need their own book, turn this unhealthy habit into a business.

When Aly is hired by a C-list celebrity influencer with $100k and a boyfriend who needs fixing, things get complicated because that man happens to be Aly's first love from high school days... but she realllly needs that money.

The thing I love about this book is it's more than a well-written romcom (it is that, which I love), it's also an exposè of sorts on the common occurrence of women feeling the need to fix and take care of others, even partners.... and a gentle call to spend some of that energy on one's self. #heard

I read it one night, I snickered many times, and I miss the characters now that I've reached the end. All sure signs of a good book.

3.75 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for this E-ARC copy.

This book was a fun quick romance read. I liked the MC and her personality a lot. I thought she was very real and her humor with her friends made me laugh quite a bit throughout the book. I loved the Male MC and their history. I loved their friendship and seeing the secrets they kept from each other come out.

My only complaint was that I needed more… It was 60-70% before I finally got to see them be flirty with each other and then when they finally did become a thing the book was over. I really just wanted more of them.

Overall, it was a fun & cute read. If you like a friends to lovers romance give this a shot when it comes out in August.