Tully Faulkner knew from the moment he saw her that he wanted to have her. Even her hot and cold personality didn't dim her light in his eyes. Tully knew it wouldn't be easy, but to him she was worth the fight and so much more. All he has to to is convince her to give him a chance and he's determined to do so.
Dawson Shay is also determined, determined to stay away from Tully. She's looking for a fresh start and has no time or tolerance for Tully. All she wants is to do is work and be left alone until Tully shows her how much fun they could have together. Maybe, just maybe she should give him a chance or was she right about him all along.
This is a sweet and spicy enemies to lovers romance with plenty of push and pull between the hero and heroine. Dawson in the beginning is a little hard to like for me. Even when find out the reason for her less than pleasant demeanor, I'm still much of a fan. It's really Tully for me who saves the story and keeps me rooting for this couple. I also enjoyed the secondary characters comradery which made up for Dawson's irksome moods. Overall, I enjoyed the story line because even though Tully definitely had his work cutout for him in winning Dawson's heart, I really enjoy hard won happy ending and Tully and Dawson did get theirs.

A fun and fantastic book. Dawson is the new woman in town. She is unhappy because nothing seems to be going her way. Tully is a former NHL player who is the town’s hometown hero. The story has some wonderful characters. The setting is really great. The backdrop of a team building event in the mountains makes for some hilarious moments. Tully and Dawson start out not liking each other which creates big tension. They spend time together and find that everything is not as it seems. It leads to a very sweet happily ever after.

This was a enemies to lovers romance that I really wanted to fall on love with. Of course, you have them going back and forth or rather, in this case, Dawson really being more abrasive. Tully, on the other hand, seems to be all about Dawson from the beginning. It was more of a one sided when it came to the trope. Dawson seemed to only run hot or cold with no middle ground while Tully seemed to always be more upbeat. This book did win me over towards the middle and end and was a quick read. While I did enjoy the book I feel like it had so much potential that was just out of reach. I would honest rate this book at about 3.4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Tinkering With Love by Aliyah Burke in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to preface my review by letting readers know that this is by no means a horrible book. It just simply wasn't for me, particularly. Just because it did not appeal to me doesn't mean that someone else won't thoroughly enjoy this novel. Sometimes when we take a chance on something, it can be hit or miss, and in this case, unfortunately - for me, it was a "miss".

I really liked the concept/setup of this novel, actually. It had so much potential - in the end, I feel like it just didn't deliver in the way that it ultimately could've. I thought an interesting premise was introduced - someone moving across country to find a new job, and not ending up with said job - quite the predicament, and lots of potential for drama to unfold.

However, the drama that unfolded...I wasn't a fan of. It was very insta-love which sometimes works with me, and other times, it's more difficult for me to suspend my disbelief. In this particular case, it was the latter. The vast majority of it read as massive Title 9 violations, not to mention the "enemies to lovers" trope, which to me actually read as some kind of weird kink (they'd be completely at each others' throats, and then BAM! hot passion! While some readers (and people in general ) might have this particular preference, unfortunately do not. Arguing with someone does not turn me on. I was so proud of Dawson at the beginning of the novel when she was sticking to her guns and treating Tully as a creeper/stalker (which he was essentially acting as) but then wanted to punch her in the face when she gave in and decided to fall for him.

I hope this review does not dissuade the publisher from allowing me to try new ARCs in the future!

Tinkering On Love is an awesome read, I so enjoyed reading about Dawson and Tully. Dawson is a curvy bomb shell beauty who moves to another state for her dream job to rebuild motorcycles only to find out once she arrives the job has been given Tully. Tully is a super sexy bearded tattooed alpha male loved by everyone and his dream job is own his motorcycle shop. Tully has no idea that the job he has was promised to Dawson. Dawson has been given the job as manager of a car dealer instead and she is doing an awesome job. She’s not happy nor is it the job that she wanted but she graciously accepts because she needs a job. The motorcycle shop and car dealership have merged together with the owners marrying each other. Now the two companies are off on a team building wilderness retreat. Tully and Dawson see each other and there is instant attraction between the two until Dawson finds out that Tully is the person who has the job she was promised. I so love the camaraderie between the two. The chemistry is so hot and sizzling that the two need a to be cooled off. Tully is so into Dawson but from her point of view she can’t stand Tully but she has it so bad for him. Tully has wagered a bet of $10,000.00 between his friends that by the end of the retreat he will have Dawson and who ever wins the bet the money will go to the winners charity.

This is a fast past easy quick read, that is entertaining, drama filled, awesome characters, romantic, sizzling heat, great chemistry with an awesome plot.

What happens when Dawson finds out about the bet the Tully has made, how will Tully explain to Dawson that he didn’t know the job he has was promised to her, can Tully and Dawson set their differences aside to realize that they are the perfect couple and enjoy an HEA?

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Entangled Publishing LLC: Amara and I am leaving my review voluntarily. Thank you.

I had a difficult time getting into this story. Any female character who ditches big city living for her dream job was believable. But making the MC African-American was not necessary. This did not add value to the story.

The budding romance took 7 days to happen and much less to come crumbling down until the reconciliation. The MCs separation could have been avoided with a simple discussion.

Tinkering With Love
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Read this novel if you like:
Small Town Romance 🏡
Enemies to lovers
Multiple POVs
Love from first sight
Badass women
Campaigning and scavenger hunting🏕
Likeable characters
Motorcycles

Dawson Shay moved from San Fransico to Rock Falls in the hope of working in the position she was promised for. However, she came to find out that someone else has taken the job someone who is unbelievably attractive, sweet, nice, sexy, and liked by everyone in town but he is also the enemy.
Now Dawson has to work together with this guy ( Tully Faulkner ) him being the manager responsible for motorcycles and she is responsible for cars😣.

The owners of the company decide to take both of the teams on a team-building event for them to bond, leaving Dawson in a difficult place torn between her attraction toward Tully and her anger.
Tully on the other side was swept away by Dawson from the first time he led his eyes on her not knowing why she hates him so much and was irritated by him decides to win her affection through a series of activities throughout the event.

This novel was fast-paced and strict to the point from the start.
It was funny, romantic, and steamy.
The banter between Dawson and Tully was cute.
It's this kind of book that you could finish in one sitting and take with you to the pool or the beach.
Make sure to grab your copies when it's published.
Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for approving my request for an ARC of this book.
" I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own."

3 1/2 stars.

This is the story of Dawson, a motorcycle builder extraordinaire who moves from San Francisco to a small town in Vermont to get some experience building bikes so she can open her own shop. Plans go a bit awry when she gets there and learns that Tully has the job she thought was hers.

Don't you worry, he's the hometown hero, and everyone loves him. Dawson takes another job and of course they wind up working together, tensions build, and then things happen at a team building getaway.

This was a fast read, I wanted some parts to go slower, some to be skipped over, but that's fairly common. When I started the book I thought were were being set up for this to be the first in a series, but things seem to have gotten wrapped up with the other characters at the end of the book. I hope I'm wrong. I will read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

first off... the cover of this book? 10/10 and what instantly sold me to read this book.

tinkering with love is an enemies to lovers romance but Tully (MMC) is instantly infatuated with Dawson (FFM). he is not afraid to showcase how he feels about her and starts flirting instantly and can't comprehend why Dawson is not falling for his charm like he's used to.

you come to find out that he took the job that dawson was supposed to originally have. she moved from the Bay Area to this small town with a certain job in mind and came to find out it was given to tully. tully has absolute no idea about this and makes a bet with his friends that he will find a way to get dawson to like him.

this is a reverse grumpy x sunshine and I loved seeing that!

dawson has such a fiery personality and is so independent and a boss queen and I think it prevented her from a lot of miscommunication down the line because she wouldn't hear tully out.

there's a little spice and let me just say that man has a way with words.

didn't get super attached to these characters but for a quick romance with a lil spice thrown in there, I think people will enjoy this book!

thank you to net galley and the publisher for receiving an arc in exchange of my honest thoughts and opinions <3

My Summary
📚My first read from Aliyah Burke and I loved it! This sexy rom com was a page turner! The love story of Tulley & Dawson "Aka Legs" kept me reading!! I hope there's a part two!

⚜Likes/Dislikes

📚Her writing style is young and fresh like my favorite authors. The story amazing also.

📚Dislikes- None

⚜Favorite/Least Favorite Part

📚The end! No spoilers!

⚜Can everyone read this book?

📚Absolutely! Highly recommend!

⚜Would I recommend?

📚Yes! A must read!

Just Read Stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley, Aliyah Burke, and Entangled Publishing, LLC for this e-ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oof. First and foremost, why is a supposed "team building" retreat mandatory? Is that even allowed? Is it even considered team building when you're being forced to go? And the trip goes on for a week? That just seems ridiculous.

I'm sorry but I did not like the characters at all. I'll start with Dawson, she's so indecisive and reading her perspective just had me wtf?! because Tully was right when he got frustrated because she could not make up her mind at all. A lot of it has also got to do with the writing style, which I didn't really like. I do admit that I liked that Dawson was a motorcycle gal and BIPOC, but that's about pretty much it.

On to Tully. First off what the fuck are those nicknames? "Legs" and "Grumpy," no thank you. He keeps repeating over and over again about how much he likes/loves her but I just don't really feel it, you know? I wanted to drop this book so bad because of Tully. He can defend himself all he wants but that bet was such a shitty thing to do. "I didn't even remember the bet." my fucking ass.

Overall, the writing style isn't for me, the characters aren't my taste, and the plot itself just felt super rushed. And, I want to add that the book gets 2 stars for the interracial relationship and side characters.

I had a hard time getting into this story. It just didn't capture my interest and I was glad when it was over.

I'm sorry to the author, but this was truly one of the worst books I have ever read. I almost DNF'ed it at like 15%; I only pushed myself to finish because I received the copy as an ARC and wanted to read the whole thing so I could write an honest review.

On paper, "Tinkering with Love" should be a perfect summer read; the tropes list contained some of my favorites, for example: reverse grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, and small-town romance; unfortunately, it did not work well for the story, the execution was done rather poorly, the whole plot was boring and predictable. I would not call it enemies to lovers book more misunderstanding to I'm gonna be a bitch to the love interest for no reason to lovers.
There were so many things I didn't like about this story; first of all, the male character's name was literally Tully, like that's just nasty. Why would you do that to your own character?? Secondly, he was instantly in love with MC even though they had barely one interaction, after which he claimed she was "IT for him" (very creepy loser behavior). Also, he talked about having 12 children with her on a first date??🚩 Another thing I hated was the nickname he gave her, which was literally "Legs" sorry but in what world is that cute? Tully and Dawson had absolutely zero chemistry (for a book with insta love/lust, I expected more on that front). The whole "romance" happened within the span of a week, after which they spent months apart, pining for each other for absolutely no reason. How can you expect me to root for a couple if they spent more time apart than together? The hot/cold behavior from the main character was annoying. I just wanted to shake her to get a fucking grip. All of their issues could be resolved with one simple talk.
The last thing that didn't work for me was the writing, I usually don't mind 3rd person POV, but something was off in this book. I found it really choppy, and sometimes I felt like I missed something or didn't read a sentence or two.

Overall it wasn't for me; I skipped most of the pages or just read the dialogue. The epilogue was quite cute, tho, and I liked Mitchell's character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My first read from this author but won't be my last. I'm a sucker for grumpy-sunshine, enemies to lovers and a small-town setting.

Was Tully over the top in his insta-love/lust for Dawson? Yep. Did it put me off? Nope. 'Cos Dawson made that man work for every crumb of affection. She had chips on both shoulders and attitude enough to sink a battleship. I LOVED her! She is no pushover. She has worked for everything she has and her last relationship rightly left her with a bad taste in her mouth. Her other is also a piece-of-work!

There are lots of great tropes at work and some worthy topics meshed into the story. Tully may have been oblivious to the job -taking but he did his best to resolve it once he knew. Was the bet with his friends juvenile? Also yes but it made with no malice and wasn't about him "getting anything" from Dawson - just getting her to admit she liked him. But it was easy for that to be blown out of context by that odious little backstabbing toad!

Mama Tully has a fair portion of blame to wear over the job debacle but otherwise was a lovely character. Each of our MC's have a great set of friends - Tully's lifelong and Dawson's new but no less vocal in their support of her.

Dawson is amazingly well thought out and endearing (even with all the chips on her shoulders). Those are genuine problems and she faced them with dignity. I loved learning about her love of bikes and crotchety older men with Nordic names.

Grumpy x sunshine, and enemies to lovers

This cover first of all is beautiful.

I had so much fun readinh this book.Well writen and hreya characters.

Minor triggers

Enemies to lovers workplace romance with POC main character. Good read, not my cup of tea, but will recommend!

This is a cute enemies-to-lovers, workplace rom com with physical humor. If you like sensually driven, insta-love, steamy contemporary romance, this book is for you.

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

2.5/5 Stars

I always love a strong and fiery female main character, which Dawson was. What I enjoyed the most, was the friendship that bloomed between Dawson and the older man that seemed to detest everyone. I often find myself divulging in many enemies-to-lovers trope books. The idea of the plot was great but fell short when it came to the chemistry between Dawson and Tully. It felt as if a good friendship was forming, not a relationship. There were moments when it felt a bit choppy, especially at the end with the flow of time.

First off, this cover is absolutely stunning.
I wasn't sure about the writing style, which made me take a while to get into it. On top of that i found the beginning very confusing and full on. Around the 25% mark i started speed reading the remainder as i wasn't completely enjoying it, it seemed like certain parts were dragged out. Overall OK.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is a great enemy to lovers and interracial romance, insta –love. I really did like this book but the lack of communication between Dawson and Tully had me wanting to yell at them both. But all in all I enjoyed the story.