The premise of this book caught my eye. Aly realizes that all of her exes have gone through major life events since breaking up with her, whether it's a career change, marriage, buying a home, or some other marker of "success." She decides to start using this skill to help others improve their relationships. Eventually, she gets a high-profile client only to realize that the boyfriend in question is her first love. (Second-chance romance is my favorite trope!)

One issue I had with this story is that it was always the guys in the relationship that were the problem. They weren't motivated or couldn't commit or didn't know how to take care of kids — all really stereotypical stuff. I think this could have been easily written off by saying she was approached about relationships where women were the problem, but she turned them down to focus on the issues she had experience with, and all of her experiences were in relationships with men. Instead, it came off pretty sexist. Like every man is just some oaf who doesn't know how to do the dishes.

I think this story had a lot of potential, but ultimately, I didn't like where it went. Also, with the MMC being in a relationship for most of the book, it felt a little weird to root for the two of them.

This is a wonderful concept! I really enjoyed Alyssa's character. While I do consider this a romance book, the main focus is Alyssa's journey (which I adored)!

Alyssa is a fixer. She fixes everyone else's problems and never stops to think of herself. She has spent her career helping others rise on the career ladder, she has fixed her boyfriends and sent them off to their future wives, and fixed her mother's broken relationship with her father. So when she realizes she has this capability, her friends suggest they capitalize on it. They start up The Fixer Upper and even attract a celebrity client, who wants Alyssa to fix her boyfriend, who happens to be her childhood best friend and first love.

Dylan is similar to Alyssa in the sense that he transforms himself into what he thinks people want him to be. So it was funny to watch him push back against Alyssa a bit. I liked their dynamic and the tropes were well developed in this story. That being said, I was frustrated with Dylan at times. I wanted him to acknowledge his role in the demise of their friendship. I felt like he put too much of the blame on Alyssa and did not acknowledge that he was responsible as well. But it was a fun read with a fresh concept! Definitely recommend reading this is you are a fan of Scandal, Alyssa gives some Olivia Pope vibes (in a lot of different areas)

Special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of The Fixer Upper.

I'm a really sucker for a good rom-com book and for me the story line fell short in the romance department - was more focused on friends. I still enjoyed this story but would have liked a little more romance :) Gotta love people pleasing Aly, MC, who starts a "biz" to help women better their male counterparts. Aly's past then collides with her best friend who is dating a super famous influence! They had a falling out in their friendship but this romance forms them to figure things out - from pretending they don't know each other to trying to fix him into what Nicki wants - and mending a broken friendship. The characters are fun and relatable. It was a quick and cute read!


I feel it was more about friends and the romance was really the side plot of the story. Doesn't mean I didn't like it. I did, but I expected a tad more romance from a romance novel.

This book had potential, but I felt like it veered from the romance path too much to be considered a rom-com. I felt like Aly's parents' storyline was too much for the plot. Overall, the story was very underwhelming to me.

Aly has always been fixer from her best friend growing up, to her mom, her co-workers, and even all the men she’s dated. She’d date them fix them then they’d move on to be better versions of themselves with someone else.

This books gave me the movie Hitch vibes and was such a fun read. Along with that there were some deep topics and issues that Aly had to stop pushing away. Watching her become vulnerable and honest with who she is and what she wants was the best part. I loved the best friend trope also. I appreciated the fast pacing of the book also, had me flipping those kindle pages pretty fast once I got going.

Would definitely recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for this advanced copy!

After reading a lot of thrillers and fantasy, The Fixer Upper was a nice break in the mold. It was everything a romance novel should be: uplifting, hopeful, and, well, romantic. The main character, Alyssa, is stuck in a rut; work has been less than satisfying, despite giving her all into her job, and her love life is nonexistent. In the very first scene of the book, she has dinner alone in a restaurant, trying to act like she is happy and has it all together, when a chance meeting throws off the carefully constructed balance of her world. I think starting off the story in this way makes her more relatable; I’ve had times when I wasn’t fully happy but was doing everything I could to pretend to be happy, hoping to “fake it till I make it”.

In Alyssa’s case, this chance meeting makes her evaluate her love life skills and she decides to start Fixer Upper with her two friends from work. These two are her ride or die, even if she doesn’t feel like they are; again, this is something I strongly relate to. Through a series of coincidences, Alyssa accepts an assignment to “fix” Dylan, her first love. From the beginning, I shipped these two; I loved their dynamics and how they took each other through the ringer. I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories (friends-to-lovers? second chance romances?) and this one hit right in my heart strings. When the climax came, I was sobbing like *I* was the one who had just had my heart broken. And the way it ended was pure perfection.

The Fixer Upper should be considered non-spicy romance, as there were no sex scenes at all. (I’m pretty equal opportunity romance, but I know some people expect spice from romance novels and this is not that.) It was much more character focused, specifically on Alyssa and Dylan working through their internal and external struggles. I appreciated how the characters and misunderstanding felt real. I know some might characterize the foundation of the misunderstanding as just miscommunication, but they were teenagers who didn’t know how to express their feelings and they took that with them into adulthood (which I could easily see myself doing).

Overall, this novel was romance perfection. It was a solid story, with characters I was rooting for, a romance I cried over, and an ending that left me hopeful. If you’re into (non-spicy) romance, this is a fantastic book for you!

This was a quick, fun read with a mostly likable main character. Both Aly's struggles and triumphs as a single person in her 30s were very relatable. I wish that there was a little more depth to the leads, but otherwise this was a pretty standard chick lit book.

Aly, still unattached in her 30’s, has been fixing the lives of others, in particular her past boyfriends, for years. She sees the potential in each person and coaches them to be the best they can be. But then they move on. She does the same thing at work, helping others who earn the promotions she should have gotten. Her good friends at the marketing agency where she works recognize her talent as a “fixer”, and they agree to set up a side consulting business to exploit her talents. They start to have some success, but then they take on a client who is an old unrequited love; however he’s about to be engaged to someone else and pretends not to know her. Things get complicated, and it’s hard to see how Aly can get out of this tangle with her self-respect intact and without the renewed heartbreak from when she left him years ago.

This was a great book!! It had a solid plot and it was an easy read. I liked the characters and their interactions. I will look for more books by this author.

Alyssa and her two eccentric and lovable friends: Tola and Eric, decide to start The Fixer Upper. A social experiment/business where Aly will use her past-relationship experience to help motivate women’s partners to get the promotion, take the course, propose, help out around the house. Anything you want fixed in your relationship, The Fixer Upper can handle! It’s no surprise when the company is approached by an influencer wanting her boyfriend to propose, but it IS a surprise when the boyfriend shows up and is Aly’s first love!
This novel was equal parts funny, heartbreaking, and real. Aly has to heal from generational trauma, stop overworking, and start taking what she wants out of life! It was almost inspirational. Is it okay to want this novel by Lauren Forsythe turned into a film already?

Thank you to NetGally and the author for an ARC of this book.
I'm going to start off by saying, overall this book was really interesting and wasn't what I was expecting. I really liked the focus on how women often put so much emotional labor into every situation and honestly take on so much more than their fair share. And in that aspect, I really liked how the book went about. But there were many things I struggled with in this book. Up ahead, I do discuss some of the major things I struggled with in this book which might be a little spoilery so beware if you read it.

***SPOILERS***

I really struggled with looking past some of the manipulation in this book. It does address that to some extent but some of those scenes were really hard to read. But what I could barely stomach was the blatant cheating in the book. The two protagonists were best friends since childhood and haven't seen each other in a long time but are brought together when the male MC's girlfriend hires the female MC to fix him. And either party having a partner during the course of the book isn't something I'm a fan of, but normally that isn't too much of a problem when the situation is different. But to me, it seemed like there was emotional cheating because the male MC was with his girlfriend when everything was going on in this book. And while he never "actually cheats" on her, I still consider it cheating.

3/5⭐️
Friends to almost lovers to ghosted to emeries to lovers - whew what a ride.
Cute, quick read but lacked in character development. Would love to read a sequel of one of the friends POV or a extended epilogue to get a better sense of the supporting characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC.

This was a fun and fast read. I definitely plan to buy myself a physical copy now! Thank you netgalley

I was lucky enough to win an electronic ARC of THE FIXER UPPER by Lauren Forsythe through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and have a great week!

Aly is a fixer. She has been fixing everything around her: her parents, work problems and friend’s love life. After a chance meeting with an ex she also realized she’s been fixing her boyfriend’s too. That’s when she and her friends thought about Fixer Upper. They thought they could empower women by helping them fix their men. Help the men see their potential and act on it. Sounds easy until their biggest client Nicki asked for their expertise. Things get complicated when the Fixer Upper new project is no other than Aly’s estranged best friend Dylan. This was a fun and fast paced story. I can’t say it was a romantic love story over all because it was more than that. It was about women empowering women, the influencer lifestyle (the unrealistic part) and the issue of fixing everything else except yourself. The friends to enemies to lovers trope was just the cherry on top. I really wished there were more Aly and Dylan moments together and Hello I needed explanation and story behind the two digit years of silence and no communication. Overall this book was enjoyable. The funny banters between characters had me giggling. I need friends like Eric, Tola, Ben and Priya in my life. The work situation got into my nerves (coz it still happens) but I was glad Aly finally stood up for herself and finally acknowledged her worth.

My favorite part of the book is the Five Wonderful Things. It was Dylan’s mum saying. Tell five things you’re excited about today and if you can’t think of five, you’ve gotta take yourself off on an adventure.

Aly has a talent for fixing her boyfriends. After dating her, they go on to be successful and happy, while she is still looking for love and waiting for the success she deserves. One day, her friends decide to turn her talent into a business. It isn't too long before her "fixer" business meets her personal life as she is hired to "fix" her childhood best friend. She has a complicated history with him and some unresolved feelings.

I really enjoyed this book! I enjoyed the scenes between Aly and Dylan, especially when he finally stopped giving her the cold shoulder. I really loved their friends and how the author portrayed those friendships. They were supportive and gave push back when needed. I could not stand the character of Nicki, which means the author did her job. She was awful!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book has a pretty fun and unique premise. The MC had dated so many men who after breaking up with her went on to be extremely successful. When her friends realized that everyone she dated ended up better after she dated them, they decided to turn her ability to "fix a man" into a business. This part of the book was funny and pretty entertaining.

The love story side of this was not for me. The MC desperately wants to go back to her first love that treated her like trash. Don't see the appeal there at all.

I enjoyed probably half of the book and struggled through the other half. I think a lot of people would still find this to be a fun and easy read. I would definitely read more by this author in the future.

Thanks so much to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the chance to read and review this book prior to release. It will be available for purchase on August 2nd.

Fast, easy read! No spice but a cute enemies to lovers book! Not long and could be read in just a few hours!

⭐️ rating: 4.5 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
📖: women’s fiction, romance
🔥 steam: closed door, just kissing

Guys, I never thought I’d be able to go back to enjoying romance books without steam - but I have been proven wrong! And honestly - continuing to call this a romance is a little off. It’s more of a woman’s fiction with a healthy helping of adorable.

Things I Liked:
✨ Eric & Tola! Their banter with the MC and without was absolutely amazing. I need an Eric in my life. Like right now.
✨ The progression of Aly really coming into her own & realizing that she was seriously underestimating herself
✨ The relationship between Aly & her mom
✨ I honestly just really loved the writing style! I felt like I was talking to & reading about my friends and that made me want to keep turning pages.
✨ While we don’t get a lot of them, I really enjoyed Aly & Dylan’s rapport with each other. You could tell from very early on that these were two hurt people who knew each other very well - both how to build each other up and tear each other down.
✨ THAT ENDING. I cried.

Things I didn’t like:
✨ I wish we’d gotten more of Aly & Dylan’s history (including why they fell apart) earlier in the book. You don’t get to hear Dylan’s side until way too far in.
✨ The last few chapters felt rushed? Like - everything that happened in them was well built up in the book, but the actual execution of the ending felt too fast.

This book may end romantically, but it’s really about finding yourself, loving yourself, and realizing that you are enough. And I think that’s something a lot of people don’t hear enough.

So in case you didn’t know, you are enough. You are worth it. You are amazing just the way you are.

Im such a huge fan of second chance romance so this book was the perfect read! Add this book to the long list of great romcoms coming out during the summer time. I really liked Aly's character and she was someone I could relate to. Surprised to see that this is a debut novel and I am looking forward to more books by this author.