Excuse me while I take a cold shower and fan my face. You see, this book is scorching hot. HOT, I tell you. Of course. If you’re familiar with Tessa Bailey, you’d know it’s to be expected. Whew, hopefully I’ve cooled down enough to write a coherent review.

First thing, I’d recommend reading Fix Her Up first although isn’t not 100% necessary. There’s just a lot of character overlap and I always prefer to read in order. We meet shy Rosie and quiet Dom previously so I was t expecting their explosive relationship. And I don’t mean violent in any way. It’s just that these two have such raw chemistry despite the problems in their marriage.

I won’t spoil plot details but essentially the entire book is Rosie and Dom trying to save their marriage despite some pretty big obstacles, mostly dealing with a lack of communication. Dom is a great guy whack doesn’t talk much and doesn’t know how to express his feelings in a way that makes Rosie know how much he cares. Rosie is sick of feeling less than herself and not talking to her husband.

A lot of the book is actually pretty funny, especially moments with the ‘Justus’ league. All the old characters are back and provide a lot of depth and levity to the book. The writing is fast paced, banter is great, sooo many reasons why I enjoyed it. There are definitely some serious moments as well and I shed a few tears related to both Rosie and Dom’s feelings on their marriage.

The ending is perfect, though and has a nice little set up to the next couple!

LOVE OUT LOUD

Romantic Comedy plus Marriage-on-the-Rocks equals the perfect combination, right? Yeah, it's not the first pairing I'd think of for a feel good rom-com either, but in this case it totally works.

"My heart. you get that, too. All of it. I'm begging you to take it back before it stops working. You're my home. I need you with me."

Now if you're looking for some emotional, angsty, woebegone realistic tale of a marriage on the brink that will make you ugly cry and feel totally depressed, stop right there. Love Her or Lose Her is a romantic comedy after all.

"We don't love each other the easy was. Dominic, but out hearts are in the right place every single time."

Rosie and Dominic's story balances heart-tugging emotions, swoony-sweetness, and insatiable love. Their love is fierce, committed love, old love and new love, a love that they've had for each other since they were teenagers and it's grown and evolved over the years. So much of their story is learning how to love each other for who they are now. To cast out insecurities and fears and learn to trust in each other to forge an even stronger love moving forward.

"Her husband needed actions to feel her love, and she would never stop finding new ways to show him, the same way he did for her with words. They would continue to grow a little more each day until they reached forever. They were best friends, soul mates . . . and perfectly, eternally flawed."

Love Her or Lose Her takes an unconventional mix and really makes it work. Rosie and Dominic's story is at it's core filled with love and some quirky and supportive friends (that you may remember from Fix Her Up that bring lots of humor.

[No cheating! HEA. (hide spoiler)]

Typically I love Tessa Bailey’s books. I know this is not a “women’s fiction” author, however, with the premise being a marriage in trouble I was hoping for a little more emotional depth. Based on the synopsis I really wanted to enjoy this book however it didn’t work out for me. I found the character development to be a bit shallow. As I read this book, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters and did not buy into the idea that this was a marriage on the brink of divorce. Overall it was too light and fluffy for my personal preference.

***I ended up receiving this title via Edelweiss as well. Review posted to both.

I am really enjoying this series from Tessa Bailey. The characters are quirky and interesting. The stories are original and put a smile on your face.
Rosie and Dominic were unique. Yes, that's the word I am looking for. Rosie is outgoing, fun, and has a wonderful group of friends. Dominic was ex-military and came home a different man. He used to be fun, loving, insatiable. Now he just is. And … Rosie has had enough. Everyone but Dominic saw this coming. Now, they have some decisions to make. Rosie has no idea that Dominic will do whatever it takes to get his marriage back on track. He doesn't … can't ... live without his Rosie. It's time for him to step up, be the man he used to be, support his wife's dreams and just be there for her and for their marriage. Even as things start coming together, the marriage back on track, Dominic still has one secret he hasn't told Rosie and it may be the one that really tears the marriage apart.
From the Just Us League to Armie, I had times that I laughed and others that I was a little sad. But, I didn't stop reading Love Her or Lose Her until the end. I love how everyone pulls together and supports each other. I love how strong the woman are and how they make their men see the errors of their ways. Tessa Bailey just knows how to make me smile with her stories and I always look forward to her next one.

I really enjoyed this book because it seemed different from other romance novels. I don’t read that many romance novels that involve a long term relationship and I enjoyed how that impacted this love story.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
I loved Tessa Bailey's first novel and I got to know the characters from this book. I usually don't like to read books where the romance has gone stale or a couple is already married, but this one was surprising and lovely.

This married romance was everything I hoped it would be. The chemistry of the characters radiated off the page, but the best parts were Rosie and Dominic learning new communication skills and how to work with each others' love languages to connect and reform their relationship. They both truly wanted their relationship to work and were willing to do the work, and I enjoyed reading along as they learned.

Rosie and Dominic are a mid-20s married couple that met in grade school. After a deployment for Dominic, the spark in their relationship has died with the exception of their Tuesday nights. One day Rosie realizes she is fed up with this path, and the couple has to determine if their marriage is over, or if it's work fighting to stay together.

This is probably the steamiest book I've read - if that's your thing, read on. It was too heavy on the physical aspect of the relationship, and I would have preferred more substance, especially in Dominic's character development. A not-insignificant part of the book was about love languages and focusing on each other outside of their physical chemistry, but in each scene it came back over and over to just that.

I also was disappointed with some of the gender roles and character development, but did enjoy the build up of Rosie determining what's next for her in pursuing her (career) passion.

I was provided a complimentary ARC for an unbiased review through netgalley. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins.

"He might be the perfect husband. If only he’d give her the time of day."

Rosie and Dominic’s story was a marriage in trouble story. And as the title states, Dominic has to man up and love her, or he’s going to lose her. I will say that I expected this story to be more romcom, because the first book (Fix Her Up) had a healthy mix of serious and funny. LHOLH was definitely more on the emotional contemporary side of the spectrum. There are some lighter moments brought on from side characters that we met in book one, and of course there is the high heat factor, but this one was definitely more about fixing the marriage between the mains. And that topic is frustrating and emotional.

None the less. It’s a good read, and if you’ve never read a romance where the couple is already established and trying to maintain the establishment, then I definitely think you should try this one out. Rosie is trying to fix her marriage and take hold of her dreams. Dominic is trying to make his wife happy the best way he knows how. Rosie and Dominic both grow and learn in this story, but Dominic is definitely a possessive alpha male. He changes some in this book, but that’s definitely a key trait.

I read Fix Her Up by Bailey and could see this book coming from a mile away. There was a hyper focus on Dominic and Rosie’s sexual tension and their lack of communication in that novel. A theme that continues into Love her or Lose Her. What I did not see coming was all the discussion of “love languages.” While I have heard of it in the abstract, this was a very romantic, easily digestible example. It made me think about what my love language is, and how I relay it to those around me.

I enjoyed Rosie and Dominic's journey in salvaging their marriage. Dominic's devotion to Rosie was very clear throughout the novel, and I appreciated when Rosie came to realize that she had to take some blame in their issues as well. Taking accountability for your actions (or lack of actions) can often times be hard (especially when pride kicks in), but I liked that these two accepted that they both made mistakes. They felt like a real couple going through a rough patch that is often common with lack of genuine communication.

And I loved how this still felt like a Tessa Bailey novel, where the main characters had zero issues with burning up the sheets lol. Dominic was swoon-worthy with his love and refusal to give up on his marriage with Rosie, and Rosie was fierce and devoted to getting what she knew they both deserved as a marriage.

Tessa Bailey does it again. A sexy quick read of a couple finding their way back to each other. As someone who has been married for 7 years it's nice to have protagonists that are older, married and still ready to rip each other's clothes off. 10/10 would recommend! Can't wait for book 3!!!

Love Her or Lose Her is the story of a married couple, Dominic and Rosie. The couple met at a young age in school. There is hot sexual chemistry but nothing else. The couple grew apart mainly due to lack of communication. The story depicts the struggles married couples go through and the difficulty of maintaining a relationship especially when one partner does not communicate.

The book could have been a home run if it was not littered with profanity and explicit porn. I am not a prude, but I find when foul language is thrown into a novel on almost every page it distracts from the plot and believe me this is a really good realistic plot. This novel can draw a wider audience as it shows a couple struggling to save a marriage and most couples have similar experiences and can relate to Rosie and Dominic.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy.

I absolutely adored book 1 in the Hot & Hammered series by Tessa Bailey. Fix Her Up was witty, laugh out loud funny, and oh so swoony. Book 2, Love Her or Lose Her, I couldn't wait to read. I liked Rosie in book 1 and wanted her to have her HEA. There were some really good moments. I really liked the scenes with Armie. Some of the hotter scenes were indeed steamy. However, I found this couple to be entirely too frustrating. There was so much internal dialogue for the characters, and they repeated the issues ad nauseam. I got in the first half of the book - she needs words - he needs actions. But every other page repeated this same fact over and over, and yet, Dominic still used the fewest words of any character I have ever read. I wanted to shake them out of him! There were some really good, sweet moments between the characters, but these moments were too short in my opinion. They needed more dialogue and less internal musings. When it was all said and done, I am glad I read the book. I still love Georgie and Travis, I am intrigued by Bethany and Wes, and I am so curious about Stephen and Kristin. This is a great family dynamic that I want more of, and if that was the author's intention, she succeeded.

3.5 stars: This is one of those books that I know had my brain and my heart battling it out. On one hand, I felt like it had a lot of issues that were not addressed. On the other hand... *swoon.*

For the swoon: Dominic. Loves. Rosie. Oh man, does he love her. I'm not a huge fan of the alpha male, but this man loves his wife. I love romances about established couples/marriages and I think Bailey did a great job of showing how people who love each other can get to a point where they are no longer together. In her introduction she talks about love languages, and she leans on that heavily in the book. It was a bit simplistic, but it definitely worked, and it hit me in all the feels.

The strength in the book comes from how Bailey writes the relationship arc, how Dominic and Rosie navigate their love & their commitment. Dominic's arc is especially moving, and while a little heavy-handed on the toxic masculinity, it was food for thought. As someone who has a lot of trouble saying what they are thinking, even while my brain is screaming JUST SAY IT, I could 100% relate to what his character and his difficulties in talking. People who express their emotions easily will probably be very frustrated with Dominic, but I understood him perfectly.

Like in Fix Her Up (which you don't have to read to enjoy this one, although it might help a little for background), I loved the female friendships and support.

For the issues: once again, like in Fix Her Up, the sexism wasn't addressed. These men are NOT feminists. Also, while both main characters are supposed to be POC, the representation felt really forced. Honestly, it read like a white woman trying to get diversity points. And, while I can appreciate that people have strong sexual chemistry, Rosie and Dominic's was over the top and got a little tiring. The sex scenes themselves though were fine and in traditional Tessa Bailey style, very high heat. Be warned, the pet name is "honey girl," and it is used liberally.

I read this book in two sittings. I really liked the relationship arc & the story; it made me laugh, it brought tears to my eyes once, and at the end I gave a great big happy-relieved sigh. That being said, the book has it's issues.

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

I thought this one was so cute! I really loved how Rosie and Dominic learned to communicate, and the way they broke down each other's walls over time. I've never read a Tessa Bailey novel before, and I think if I'm being honest, the sex scenes were a little too spicy for me. My only complaint was I was hoping for a few more tender scenes from Rosie and Dominic, something to contrast with how explosive their chemistry was the rest of the time.

This book was way too spicy for me, but I gotta say: Tessa Bailey is great at what she does. And also I know so many of you need to know that Bailey cites Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages as serious inspiration. I thought that was a delightful nugget, and the way she incorporates the love languages into the book was so fun.

First off I would like to Thank NetGalley and Harper Collins Publisher for allowing me to read an advance digital copy of this amazing book! Second Thank You Tessa Bailey for writing once again a great romantic comedy love story!
This book takes you on a marriage journey between Rosie Vega and her high school sweetheart turned husband Dominic Vega. Rosie has found herself in a marriage that communication has completely broken down once her love of her life returned home from his final tour of Afghanistan. In no way has Dominic stopped loving his wife he just thought he was doing what he needed to do...provide for his wife. They may not speak to one another but once a week their sexual chemistry is off the chains and they have hot and heavy bedroom time (wink-wink.) Rosie finally has had enough of the silence and leaves her husband and moves out. Dominic will not let his marriage end without a fight and asks for one last chance to get her back. Rosie suggest they do one last ditch effort and go to marriage counseling with the pot smoking hippest one she could find.
Can the two learn to speak each others love language to save their marriage?

This book has it all ... relatable characters, romance, comedy, steamy sex scenes ... give this book a go you will not be disappointed one bit!!

As soon as I read Rosie on the page of book 1, I couldn’t wait for her story. I’m so happy it delivered.

I loved Rosie and Dominic. I love their history and their passion. The chemistry between them was overwhelming at times, yet somehow it really grounded them. It was delightful seeing Georgie and Bethany and the rest of the group and I’m beside myself at the set up for book 3.

Plot wise, it was good. Some scenes did feel a little repetitive, but it helped to show how they were taking down the walls and communicating. There were some subtle swoons and it was very sweet seeing these two reminisce and reconnect. Oh and don’t forget: chemistry off the charts.

Overall, it was so easy to root for these two and I swear I went through the entire range of emotions rigs along with them. I can’t even wait to see more of their HEA in the next one.

**Huge thanks to Avon for providing the arc free of charge**

I have to admit, I started this book feeling slumpy. I am so glad it got me out of my reading slump. Rosie and Dom were adorable. I loved them and I loved their dynamic. What annoyed me with this book and kept it from being a 4 or 5 stars was the fact that Rosie as never satisfied. That drove me nuts.

It did also make me think more about my own marriage and made me try and see things differently. I can be like Rosie, never satisfied, not paying attention to how my husband shows me he loves me. So I have to say, me getting that from this book was huge.