Member Review
Review by
Jill N, Reviewer
Alyssa Aresti is a marketing master. She works hard at her job, just waiting for the day that they announce promotion to head of branding. She’s not currently in a relationship, but she’s okay with that. She goes out to eat once a month at a fantastic restaurant by herself, just to enjoy good food and good wine. But when the maitre’d at her latest restaurant choice balks at seating her at a table for one, she stands up for herself. And the guy behind her in line stands up for her too. And when she turns around to acknowledge him, she realizes she knows him.
An ex-boyfriend of hers, this guy is now married and about to buy a house with his lovely wife. When she had dated him, he had lived in his mother’s house and taught guitar to kids. When Aly looked him up later on social media, she found out that he was a project manager, clearly successful, and very happy.
When Aly told the story of bumping into her ex-boyfriend to her best friends at work, Eric and Tola, Eric pointed out that she did that a lot, that she was the one who nudged the people around her to become better, to take the risks, to putting in the work, to making the change. She shrugged it off, but Eric and Tola went to work. They asked Aly to make a list of ex-boyfriends, and then they did the internet research. They found that after Aly, each of her exes went on to become 85% better, based on her definition of success. They got jobs, or got better jobs. They found stable relationships, marriages, started families. There were even a couple of them who acknowledged Aly as the one who changed them, even if they didn’t say her name.
Eric and Tola realized that they had something special in Aly. She was someone who could make a difference. She was a fixer.
Aly shrugs off the gift she offers others, but her friends keep pressing. Tola thinks there is a business idea there. And they decide to test Aly’s ability. They have a friend who wants her boyfriend to propose. They’ve been together for a long time and it’s been good, but she wants that commitment. Aly sits next to him at the bar and tells a story about how she broke up with her boyfriend because he couldn’t propose. She didn’t tell him what to do. She just told her tale of finding someone new, letting him come to his own conclusion. And a week later, when they all see the ring on her finger, they know they’re right. Aly is the fixer, and they have a way to help people live their best life.
They start taking more jobs, friends ask, and then friends of friends. They make suggestions, nudge at changes, encourage small changes that can end up taking someone to the next level of their career or their relationship. They make a difference. And then they get the call. Multimillion-dollar influencer and reality TV star Nicki calls, wanting their help with her boyfriend. He has an app idea that could help a lot of teens, but he’s slow to take it public. He shies away from social media. And she wants him to propose to her. And she is willing to pay Aly and her team if they can make it all happen in a month.
But when Nicki’s boyfriend turns out to be Dylan James, everything changes for Aly. Dylan was her best friend in high school, her first crush, her first love. But he hadn’t loved her back. He’d had a great smile and had won over other girls by pretending to be exactly what they wanted him to be. Only Aly had known the real Dylan. But when he broke her heart, she had disappeared and never looked back. Now he’s standing in front of her, needing to be fixed so that he’ll launch his new app and propose to his girlfriend. And Aly is the only one who can make that happen.
Aly has her own reasons for needing to make this happen. She has things to prove, and she needs the money that Nicki is willing to pay in order to fix things in her own life. But as the weeks go by and Aly starts to reconnect with the Dylan that used to be her best friend, she has to decide if she can really sell him out to his reality star girlfriend, or if she will figure out another way to pay for the problems she’s been keeping from her friends.
The Fixer Upper is not your typical rom com. Aly is a powerful woman who can make things happen, and she knows it. Author Lauren Forsythe has created a protagonist who seems to have the ability to fix everyone but herself. But she is smart, and she is surrounded by really well-drawn characters who all have an electricity.
I really enjoyed The Fixer Upper. I think it’s a romance for smart women, a comedy for strong women, and a story that blends empowerment with enjoyment into an impressively fun novel. I loved these characters (with a few obvious exceptions), and I wished I could keep hanging out with them. This is just a really intelligent novel, and it just may be the nudge that women need to invest more of their emotional energy into fixing themselves instead of trying to fix others.
Egalleys for The Fixer Upper were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.
An ex-boyfriend of hers, this guy is now married and about to buy a house with his lovely wife. When she had dated him, he had lived in his mother’s house and taught guitar to kids. When Aly looked him up later on social media, she found out that he was a project manager, clearly successful, and very happy.
When Aly told the story of bumping into her ex-boyfriend to her best friends at work, Eric and Tola, Eric pointed out that she did that a lot, that she was the one who nudged the people around her to become better, to take the risks, to putting in the work, to making the change. She shrugged it off, but Eric and Tola went to work. They asked Aly to make a list of ex-boyfriends, and then they did the internet research. They found that after Aly, each of her exes went on to become 85% better, based on her definition of success. They got jobs, or got better jobs. They found stable relationships, marriages, started families. There were even a couple of them who acknowledged Aly as the one who changed them, even if they didn’t say her name.
Eric and Tola realized that they had something special in Aly. She was someone who could make a difference. She was a fixer.
Aly shrugs off the gift she offers others, but her friends keep pressing. Tola thinks there is a business idea there. And they decide to test Aly’s ability. They have a friend who wants her boyfriend to propose. They’ve been together for a long time and it’s been good, but she wants that commitment. Aly sits next to him at the bar and tells a story about how she broke up with her boyfriend because he couldn’t propose. She didn’t tell him what to do. She just told her tale of finding someone new, letting him come to his own conclusion. And a week later, when they all see the ring on her finger, they know they’re right. Aly is the fixer, and they have a way to help people live their best life.
They start taking more jobs, friends ask, and then friends of friends. They make suggestions, nudge at changes, encourage small changes that can end up taking someone to the next level of their career or their relationship. They make a difference. And then they get the call. Multimillion-dollar influencer and reality TV star Nicki calls, wanting their help with her boyfriend. He has an app idea that could help a lot of teens, but he’s slow to take it public. He shies away from social media. And she wants him to propose to her. And she is willing to pay Aly and her team if they can make it all happen in a month.
But when Nicki’s boyfriend turns out to be Dylan James, everything changes for Aly. Dylan was her best friend in high school, her first crush, her first love. But he hadn’t loved her back. He’d had a great smile and had won over other girls by pretending to be exactly what they wanted him to be. Only Aly had known the real Dylan. But when he broke her heart, she had disappeared and never looked back. Now he’s standing in front of her, needing to be fixed so that he’ll launch his new app and propose to his girlfriend. And Aly is the only one who can make that happen.
Aly has her own reasons for needing to make this happen. She has things to prove, and she needs the money that Nicki is willing to pay in order to fix things in her own life. But as the weeks go by and Aly starts to reconnect with the Dylan that used to be her best friend, she has to decide if she can really sell him out to his reality star girlfriend, or if she will figure out another way to pay for the problems she’s been keeping from her friends.
The Fixer Upper is not your typical rom com. Aly is a powerful woman who can make things happen, and she knows it. Author Lauren Forsythe has created a protagonist who seems to have the ability to fix everyone but herself. But she is smart, and she is surrounded by really well-drawn characters who all have an electricity.
I really enjoyed The Fixer Upper. I think it’s a romance for smart women, a comedy for strong women, and a story that blends empowerment with enjoyment into an impressively fun novel. I loved these characters (with a few obvious exceptions), and I wished I could keep hanging out with them. This is just a really intelligent novel, and it just may be the nudge that women need to invest more of their emotional energy into fixing themselves instead of trying to fix others.
Egalleys for The Fixer Upper were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.
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