The Fixer Upper was a fun read. I love the dynamic between Aly and her two coworkers/friends, Tola and Eric. The banter was great.

When I read the description, I was definitely expecting a Romance book, but I think we got more of the Woman's Fiction. The romance between Aly and Dylan was more of a subplot, unfortunately. I did love that there was the second chance trope in this, BUT so was the miscommunication trope. A very, VERY long miscommunication. It was annoying, to say the least.

I think this book had a lot of potential, it just wasn't executed in the way I would have liked. Still a cute story though. Which is why I rounded up from 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP for kindly sending this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aly Aresti is a fixer - she's been fixing her boyfriends, colleague's work issues, and everyone else's problems for her entire life. As someone who tends to be a fixer, I definitely related to Aly and how she felt throughout the book.

I think my biggest issue with the book is that I expected a romance book, and this read more like a women's fiction with a romance subplot. The main focus of this book was Aly's business and her personal growth, and the romance really took a backseat. I think if my expectations had been set appropriately I would have enjoyed it a lot more. While it does have an HEA, the MMC spends most of his time in a relationship with another person, and that isn't something I love in my romance books.

I really enjoyed the banter in the book - both between Aly & Dylan and between Aly, Tola, & Eric. I also live for great character development, and this book absolutely killed it in that area. I loved the confidence that Aly gained throughout the story, both in her professional and personal lives.

The Fixer Upper was interesting, giving me lots of heist vibes.

A lot of time was dedicated to how they set up the business and I think that set the tone of the book, and not in a good way.

Once we finally met the H And things got going, sometimes time would just be skipped over or glossed over. You would think after all the detailed in the first 25% of the book in how to set up a business thag the romance would be detailed, but it wasn’t.


There was some heart wrenching moments- especially the one in the bathtub when the h finally FINALLY stood up for herself.

I just wish HE would have groveled. At the end, I felt like he did what he’d always done which was keep a girl
Hooked until
He knew the next one was a sure thing.

It took me a long
Time to write this review after reading because I just couldn’t get past that unfair ending for her. Sure it’s a HEA but, will it be ? Did he change at all ?

This book is the perfect rom-com that feels warm and familiar but new and refreshing. The Fixer Upper is that rare rom-com that can make you laugh out loud and hysterically cry in the best way possible. This book is the perfect antidote to a bad day, but also presents an interesting look at life and love in the digital age.

Aly, after spending her whole life helping fix other people's problems, especially her past boyfriends, falls into the business of fixing womens' boyfriends for them, with the help of her two best friends. They are hired to be the motivation to either advance said boyfriend's careers or propose to their girlfriends. However, when reality TV starlet Nikki hires them to do both for her boyfriend, Aly realizes her new 'project' is actually the childhood best friend she had spent most of her life loving, Dylan. Thus, Aly is forced to choose between helping a woman marry the man she once loved or face the financial insecurity that comes with quitting her assignment from Nikki.

This book presents a really interesting look at the facade of social media and influencer culture and how much, or how little, of what we see is really real. Nikki is the perfect example of an influencer, but she is not made out to be entirely vain and vapid, she is ambitious and passionate about the things and people she loves. I really appreciate that Forsythe didn't reduce her to a two dimensional stereotype. One of the greatest things about this book is that, unlike a lot of other books, it doesn't rely too much on miscommunication too much between Aly and Dylan. While it is present, it doesn't drag on longer than necessary. Perhaps what I appreciate most about this book, though, is it's insight into the role women play in relationships. Women have to become the sole source of emotional intelligence in a relationship and, often, are forced to be the sole source of responsibility as well. Aly and her friends set out to try and solve that in what is a noble, if slightly misguided, quest.

Perhaps the only real complaint I have about this book is the relationship Aly has with her mother. Her mother, despite being redeemed at the end, is frustratingly over-emotional in a surprisingly immature way. She very much feels like a teenager trapped in a volatile high school relationship, not the woman who works at a hospital and has a large group of friends. If she had other friends to lean on, why does she force her daughter to be her sole source of emotional intelligence. While necessary for the plot, her mother's tendency to forgive her father is hard to forgive. So, when she is given her redemption, it feels insincere, like you are waiting for the other shoe to drop and she runs back to Aly crying.

Despite my sole criticism, Forsythe has written a novel that gives that warm, fuzzy feeling that all the best romantic movies give you. It makes you swoon, then wonder about the role of social media in your own life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC in exchange for my honest and fair opinion!

Swoon worthy second-chance romance that i could totally see into a movie! Absolutely loved this book and all the harsh truths it touched on but also the humor

This delightful read was fast-paced and interesting. The plot was something new and enjoyable. It kept me reading all night. Would Aly figure out that she was the one who needed to be fixed? Would she and Dylan realize maybe they didn’t need to be changed if they were with the right person?

Aly and her two close friends decide to use Aly’s desire to help people to launch a business. Fixing Up guys who are lacking something their significant other needs. It could be more help with the kids, advancement in their career or even taking the marriage plunge. Aly could fix these things with some nudging in the right direction. She was excellent at knowing what that nudge needed to be. Things are going well for their little side hustle until a self-absorbed social media influencer wants her boyfriend fixed. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is Aly’s best friend since childhood. After a kiss and misunderstanding 15 years ago, they lost touch, but could this bring them back together?

Aly and Dylan were likable, especially with all their flaws. Both were genuine characters. They only wanted the best for people. Their story had all the elements I like except for romance. Their banter was great, but we really never got to see their romantic feelings in action. The icing on the cake would have been a smoldering romance between the two. The book was a solid 4 star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I think the idea of the book was really cute and this has a lot of potential as a movie. However, for being a romance novel I was definitely disappointed at the lack of romance. I felt like I was waiting the entire book for something to happen between them. It was just too slow of a burn for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for sharing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

📚Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 (rounded up on Goodreads)

The Fixer Upper is a sweet friends to lovers story focused around Aly and Dylan.

Alyssa (Aly) Aresti is a bit of a fixer and a control freak. She’s spent her entire life trying to fix things. She’s tried fixing parenting issues, relationships, boyfriends, careers, etc. She has tried to fix it all. Feeling stuck in her job and after finding out her ex boyfriends have gone on to be successful after she helped them to realize their potential, she starts a company called The Fixer Upper.

The Fixer Upper is created by Aly and two of her friends, Eric and Tola. It is meant to help with certain areas in people’s lives they are unsatisfied with. Whether it’s a boyfriend who says he doesn’t believe in marriage and won’t propose or a coworker who constantly asks for guidance and is unsure of himself, Aly fixes it.

After some success, Aly is approached by a major influencer, Nicki, to help get her boyfriend to propose in time for her to be on a new reality show. Aly is hesitant, but agrees to meet Nicki’s boyfriend before committing to anything. Only problem is, Nicki’s boyfriend is Dylan James, Aly’s best friend from her childhood and her first love. They haven’t seen each other in years after a huge fallout. Dylan pretends he doesn’t know Aly and she plays along.

The lying and scheming begins and eventually, mayhem ensues. Is Aly able to follow through with her contract or do her feelings for Dylan get in the way?

I really enjoyed this book and the characters involved. The banter was often funny and sarcastic, but also romantic and charming. I loved the overall message in regard to relationships and not trying to change someone to fit your ideal partner, but to love them as they are and embrace their flaws or differences.

The Fixer Upper is scheduled to be released on August 2, 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A swoon worthy second-chance romance that will leave you thinking about it long after it's over, The Fixer Upper is truly a delight.

3.5/4

Cute little British romcom that made me laugh out loud at parts. Great banter between all the characters, especially anytime Aly, Tola and Eric are on page together. To be honest, the entire premise of this book is highly unrealistic, but it’s okay, I switched off the part of my brain that had many questions pertaining to details and logistics.

I’m so sad that this book didn’t live up to expectations! It was so slow to get off the ground and I really struggled to slog through it. It could have been much shorter. The characters were very basic and one dimensional, as if they were cardboard cut outs of what they could have been. The gay best friend and the usual pushy bestie? It was so boring. Not to mention, the romance was nowhere to be seen!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Lauren Forsythe, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book, I really enjoyed it! Aly is the ultimate fixer and gave me major Olivia Pope vibes…if Olivia Pope was more life coach/ therapist and less crisis manager/ bury dead bodies (literally and figuratively). This book was so timely for me, and really digs into the issues that women in male-lead industries face on a daily basis. I loved Aly’s character building and getting to see her grow into the badass boss that we could see that she was, but took a little bit of time for her to believe. The old saying “do as I say and not as I do” kept playing through my mind, because it seemed like Aly could fix everyone but herself. In true Aquarius fashion, I am super independent and terrible with feelings so I felt a kindred spirit in Aly. I also loved Aly, Tola, and Eric together. They were the threesome I never knew I needed, but loved because of their funny millennial vs. Gen Z dynamic. One of my favorite quotes by Tola in relation to Aly and Eric, “millennials need to go to therapy, good God”….preach sister, you try graduating college in the middle of a recession. I am obsessed with Tola and I really want her to have her own book because she is a true badass feminist (hint hint Lauren Forsythe, I’m already ready for a Tola sequel). This is just a personal preference, but the only reason I didn’t give this five stars was because there was zero spice.

While I'm usually not a huge fan of non-steamy books, I absolutely adored The Fixer Upper. Aly is such a relatable heroine - a woman that has hustled and worked hard, but has gotten caught up in being helpful and a team player, all to her professional and personal detriment.

This second-chance romance was just swoonworthy. I adored Aly and Dylan, and was rooting for their reconnection while reading - so much so that I finished it within 24 hours.

I am so eager to follow this author for any future works!

WoW!
FIXER UPPER is an utterly unique, wonderfully written, stunning contemporary romamce novel. And a phenomenal debut at that!
Pure delight and I enjoyed every single page.
The chemistry is so well done and perfectly fleshed out. Made it hard for me to put down.
Fun fast plot that I couldn't get enough of.
Lauren Forsythe hooks you in from chapter one and doesn't let you go until it's done.
I will be recommending this book to anyone and everyone.

G.P. Putnam's Sons,
I can't thank you enough for this DRC!
I will post to my blog and platforms close to pub date.

Girl gets peer pressured into harnessing wizard level manipulation skills to make profit. Is forced to take on her childhood love as a client because her mom sucks.

Started really slow, you don’t meet Dylan until almost 10% into the book.

They also both became totally fine with each other and fall back into their friendship almost instantaneously and without any resolution. That comes much later. There was a lot of potential with the best friend/stranger/enemy to lover tropes that wasn’t met.

I didn’t really resonate with any of the characters and the romance was nonexistent. Typical gay best friend, typical static mean girl antagonist. I did enjoy Eric and Ben’s relationship. From the small glimpses the reader gets that seemed like the most realistic thing in the whole novel.

Ally’s relationship with her mother and her internal battle surrounding that was done well. I loved the way the novel portrayed her childhood trauma and how it has impacted her life.

Some of the actions taken were really out of character and seemed to only happen to further the plot, and not something that would feasibly happen. Felix was totally normal until the last half of the novel where he became the biggest d bag.

Would I read it again? Probably not.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

The first half of this book was a drag and I considered DNFing it multiple times. The end was cute, but I think it could have been a shorter piece.

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

Aly just can't seem to reach her dreams, but she's great at helping other people reach theirs! She hasn't had a serious relationship in her adult life, instead dating a series of "fixer-uppers"--men who are not motivated or who just can't seem to take that last step toward their dreams. Somehow--she has been "fixing" each of them, and just before they take off into success, she abandons the relationship. She's doing the same at work, and keeps getting passed over for a promotion but helping others so much that they are taking her for granted and using her work to launch their own success. So she and her friends start using her "power" for good to help people improve their own relationships. Until a huge opportunity comes, but it's to "fix" the only man she has ever loved...her best friend who didn't love her back...who is now close to proposing to someone else. How does she "fix" someone she always thought was perfect when it's just...complicated?

I was surprised in several ways by this book. The first was that I didn't expect that it would start at the beginning and we'd see how her lack of boundaries and need to help others is a chronic problem. I was expecting it to start in the middle with her business of helping others already set up as her main thing (not a side hobby), and we'd be shown her origin story in pieces as the book progressed. I was intrigued by this unexpected straightforward timeline, and I think it worked well. I was also surprised by how obvious it was that her lack of boundaries was having such a detrimental impact on her life. She willfully ignores good advice and lets family and coworkers take advantage of her ALL THE TIME. It was frustrating as a reader, but I also understand it was a necessary part of the story. The book and characters were enjoyably well-written. I definitely felt drawn into the narrative and was fully engaged and pulling for all the right people.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and the publisher

Rounded up from 3.5 stars. My feelings on this were complicated: I loved Aly and the whole gang (would totally read a Ben/Eric book). However, I agree with what many other reviewers pointed out: There was very little actual romance in this book! I also can’t even count how many times the word “snorted” was written. I enjoyed the ending but this just didn’t hit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I actually had to DNF this book! I couldn’t connect with the main character at all…I was very irritated with the fact that the men need “fixing up” instead of accepting them for who they are and they were needing to conform to what was “socially acceptable” or “perfect for her” it just seemed very narcissistic. I also felt like this wasn’t a romance but maybe was labeled as the wrong genre.

I know there are people out there who will love this book but it just wasn’t for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putman for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! The Fixer Upper follows Aly, an ambitious and focused woman who has always put her plans and career first. When she runs into an ex and his new wife, she does some digging with her best friends and quickly realizes that all of her exes are living better, grander lives since she broke up with them. She spent all her relationships fixing these men, but never reaping the rewards of her work. Armed with that knowledge, she and her best friends start a business helping women “fix” the men in their lives. All is going well until a high profile client hires them to help her, and Aly has to face the consequences of her past.

Overall, I felt very neutral toward this book. I love the concept, and I liked Aly, Eric and Tola. My biggest issue comes with the pacing. We are 20% of the way in before the main conflict has really taken root and we meet the MMC. We are 60% (!!!) of the way into the book before we even get a CRUMB of emotional intimacy between the main characters! The tension beforehand was not intimate or flirty. At 70% of the way through the book the MMC is still attached to someone else, saying he loves someone else, and Aly is still lying to him. While Nicki is made to be annoying I am not rooting for Aly at all 70% of the way in!!! How can I be when the MMC is telling her he’s in love and happy?

I also take issue with the love interest in general. I don’t like that he is emotionally unfaithful, and I have a hard time believing in him and Aly.

If it sounds interesting, I say give it a go, but go in with the knowledge that it reads slowly (which is not necessarily a bad thing!)