This book had me hooked from the start, and I found myself relating to the MC a lot. I enjoyed reading about her and her best friends more than the actual romance, but overall this was such a cute romcom! I’m sure I will be getting myself a copy when the book comes out.

Thank you @Putnambooks for this @netgalley ARC of The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe in exchange for my honest review!

I am going to be honest: I underestimated this one. I figured it would be light and funny and cute - which it absolutely was - but I didn’t anticipate the lines that would stick right between your ribs or get caught in the back of your throat. There are countless little moments that are so unexpectedly real and relatable in what is admittedly not an entirely relatable situation, and it brought this book from a breezy four-star read to the full five stars for me easily.

Aly has been solving other people’s problems for so long that she’s made it into a part of her personality.

It’s not always intentional - the push to recognize potential, the encouragement to go for that dream or job or crush. But after running into an old ex who accredits her for turning his life around, Aly realizes she’s been fixing people at the expense of herself.

With the encouragement and assistance of her two best friends, Aly starts The Fixer Upper, a service designed to help women who aren’t getting what they want or need out of their relationships. Simply put: they make a service out of taking over the emotional labor; and spend their free time helping men realize their own potential and now to reach it.

All is well, until a potentially life-changing new client introduces them to her boyfriend - and Aly is face-to-face with her childhood best friend for the first time since she confessed her feelings for him over a decade prior.

Juggling her career, her family, her friends, and now an increasingly complicated web of deceit, Aly is forced to face her own history - quite literally - with a man who she has never thought needed to be fixed up at all.

A cute rom-com with best friends to strangers, strangers to enemies, then enemies to lovers. It’s a journey and I enjoyed the ride!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Aly is a fixer. That’s all she’s known her whole life. How to fix relationships; how to fix careers; how to fix parenting struggles. You have a problem, she’s your gal. The only thing she is unable to fix is her own life and relationships. Soon after she and two friends form The Fixer Upper, a company designed to help others “fix” different aspects of their lives that they find lacking, she agrees to help a semi-famous influencer develop her boyfriend’s career/image. Only problem? Said boyfriend is Aly’s long lost best friend and first love. Cue the craziness, scheming, heart breaking, word waring, match making and overall chaos that ensues as a result, in Lauren Forsythe’s debut novel.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book that I found I didn’t want to end. Although the plot was a little far fetched at times, the overall message about relationships and who you are in them vs who you are at your core, is very well done. I also loved the aspect Forsythe presents of the “influencer” and losing track of what is real and what is being crafted to maintain an image in that world.

The well developed and charming characters(with the exception of one or two who were pretty loathsome), the witty banter being spewed left and right, the picturesque settings, and an adorably named Beagle all create a charming rom com worth adding to your to-be-read list.

Aly is a self described fixer who has a history of ex-boyfriends who have found success after dating Aly.
Aly and two friends, Eric and Tola, start a business to help “fix” men in other relationships. All is going well until Aly “meets” a blast from the past who is now dating a semi-famous influencer.

What I loved about this book: Tola. Hands down. What a fantastic friend. So supportive and cool. Eric and Aly were so lucky to have her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I liked the banter between Dylan and Aly.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this book for my review!

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 liked the second chance romance between Aly and Dylan. Fifteen years ago, they were childhood best friends who secretly nursed crushes on each other. However, after a night of teenage binge drinking and drunken revelations, a Big Misunderstanding happened and they lost all contact. Aly essentially ghosted and blocked Dylan like a coward, and Dylan buried his hurt and carried on his life being a bit of a fuck boy. I’m not a fan of miscommunication as a plot device—especially when it’s unnecessary and easily rectified—so honestly, this annoyed me greatly.

Aly and Dylan are both painfully flawed characters. I love flawed characters but these two confused me slightly. Aly is supposedly adept at “scheming”, and known as the “fixer” who gets shit done. However, she repeatedly gets taken advantage of by her boss and people at work. Frankly I don’t know how a person described as “manipulative” can also be the office doormat…? On the other hand, Dylan is deeply insecure and co-dependent, wears different masks to fit in, but is really suffering some type of existential crisis. They are both equally terrible people pleasers.

Overall, an easy read with some fun moments sprinkled in between. There was some chemistry between Aly and Dylan, great camaraderie with side characters and a healthy loathing for the villain, Nikki. No steam (disappointing) and a very rushed ending IMO. The grand gesture happens extremely late—right at the end at 98%—I was worried I wasn’t going to get a HEA.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'The Fixer Upper' is at its best when it's just the three friends making mistakes and growing from them together, these moments enlivened by their funny, playful dialogue. But the romance storyline fell flat. The book tells us that Aly always loved Dylan but I still have no idea why. Dylan just isn't developed enough, and you only get a few flashbacks to their earlier friendship. I think making them strangers—so that readers could see them falling for each other, rather than just being told it's so—would've made for a stronger romance.

I loved everything about this charming rom-com, Smart, witty and not dependent on the tired, predictable plots typically found in this genre. I can't wait to recommend this one !

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Lauren Forsythe for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a super cute British romcom.

The pacing of this novel is fast, which I really enjoyed. I also loved the main character, Aly, and thought that she was very realistic and relatable. She’s hardworking, but insecure, and I loved her relationship with her friends and their decision to start “Fixer Upper” - a business that “fixes” parts of a relationship that people don’t like. I felt bad for her throughout with her job and mom, plus what happens later with Fixer Upper.

Aly is approached by a social media influencer who wants her to help motivate her boyfriend to propose. The only problem is, her boyfriend turns out to be Aly’s old best friend and former love interest, Dylan James.

This book is a second-chance romance between Aly and Dylan and I really enjoyed seeing them reunite and fall for one another again. However, I will say that I enjoyed the other aspects of the story just as much, if not more, than the romance, which surprised me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I’m giving it a solid 4 stars and I recommend it.

This book is a movie waiting to happen!

Aly just became one of the most relatable characters I've ever read. She is insecure, hardworking, overworked, hurting and trying to hide it, but experiences so much growth that I can't even express in a short review. She finds her worth and shows herself the love she deserves first and foremost, in the best expression of empowerment. And, trust me, I did NOT expect that to be a core message of this rom-com plot line.

Besides that, the rest of the characters in this story, such as Tola and Eric deserve their own stories too. They are so well written, as side characters, that I wish I had more from them.

Overall, 4.5/5.

Thank you to Lauren Forsythe, her publishers, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its publishing date in exchange for my honest review!

This one just wasn't for me. The premise was cute but I thought the characters lacked connection amongst themselves and with the reader. It was a quick read which was nice, but the rom com was just a little too cheesy for me!

Absolutely loved this book! The pace of the story moves quickly, without missing out on really getting to know characters which is great. The concept was fun, new and you could really picture what was happening and swap in any UK reality star you wanted in your head while reading. It incorporates all the best part of a romcom that I look for in a story and had the added parts about women in the workplace and actual issues we often deal with which I appreciated being highlighted. One that I will definitely be recommending to all my friends!

Thank you for the chance to read this book early!

For some reason I went into this thinking it would be a romcom and it really wasn't. It was pretty sad throughout the entire book. I felt so frustrated with Aly's situation and the amount of crap she took from her mom and work colleagues. I expected to feel less frustrated as I read but really, I was just really upset for the mc. I think that shows it was a well written book and I was invested. It just wasn't what I thought it would be (that was my error I guess). The cover looks sort of fun and lighthearted. I will say the tension was acute and I wasn't sure how the characters would solve the overarching dilemma in the book. I think overall it was a really well-done book. I think if my expectations would have been different, I would have liked it more.

Aly is a natural-born problem solver. She has an uncanny knack for figuring out what people need and helping them subtly reach their goals. Through a chance encounter with her new and improved boyfriend and a conversation with her two best friends Fixer Upper is born. All is going well when Aly is approached by social media influencer and reality TV star Nicolette who wants her agency to motivate her boyfriend to propose. If Aly and her team can pull this off it would be great for business perhaps even launching them into stardom. The only problem is Nicolette's boyfriend is Aly former best friend, Dylan James.

This was a fun and easy read. I love how the characters with the exception of Nicolette were dynamic and left me wanting to know more about them. Despite it being light-hearted most of the time I enjoyed the author's ability to also add some depth to the storyline. Overall it was a great read. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t mean to read this in one sitting, but the heart wants what it wants!.

The Fixer Upper had so many of the wonderful trappings of a 2000s rom com that it immediately sucked me in and wouldn’t let me go until I finished the whole thing. Childhood best friends to enemies to lovers? Yes, please! All of the characters were interesting and involved in the story, not just our main characters, which I really enjoy. It feels more real to me. Aly and Dylan aren’t perfect characters, but that’s one of the many things I liked about this book. Again, it just feels more real. It was easy to root for them to work through their past and come back together, whether it was as friends or more. I loved their adventure together at the seaside and all of the old habits they easily slipped back into. It really showed the depth of their connection.

It may seem like such a small thing, but one of the most impactful moments of this book for me was when Aly treats herself to a fancy meal and glass of wine (one of her favorite indulgences) and she can’t enjoy it anymore. After finally feeling connected to others again, she realizes she wants more. She doesn’t want to be alone and for the first time in a long time she finally has people in her life who make her feel less lonely. The side characters were all great (Helena Bonham Barker! I laughed out loud) and developed as well.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. I really enjoyed this one.

This book was one breath of fresh air, I really loved the whole concept. I have been reading a late of romcoms lately so I wasn’t planning to start with it in a day or two but when I started I just couldn’t put it down. It was such a cute rom-com. I loved the best friends to strangers to lovers trope and how the plot also focuses on more than just the MCs. I loved how flawed, raw and authentic characters are. Also, I quite liked the pace and the word-building. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.

Okay, I wasn’t planning to read this book in one day, but that’s what happened! I started casually reading on my kindle and next thing I knew, it was the end of the book. This was SUCH a cute rom-com book. I loved the best friends to strangers to lovers trope & that the plot focused on more than just the couple itself. We got good insight into the main character’s friends, her relationship with her mom, why she always feels the need to fix things, etc. I think this is the perfect book for someone who is looking to get into the romance genre. There is tension and sweet moments between Aly and Dylan, but I liked that there was not any explicit scenes. That might be a critique when this book blows up on tiktok and social media, but it was refreshing to read a well thought out romance novel that didn’t involve the characters jumping into bed together. I’d give this a solid 4.25/5 stars!

Fun read! The concept reminded me a bit of the Sarah Jessica Parker movie Failure to Launch from years ago. It’s an enjoyable romcom.

You’ve gotta love a strong female character on a journey go finally find what she wants in life (& trying to get the guy at the same time)! A feel good cozy romance! From best friends to strangers to a little bit of enemies I loved the entire journey and found myself rooting for Ali on every single page!

Favorite quote:
“‘Love is only meant to be terrifying right at the beginning, right before you fall,’ she said softly, ‘Then it’s meant to feel like home.’”

Aly and Dylan are so flawed and so wonderful. They're both insecure and talented and hurting and trying to hide it, which is refreshing to read about because I have not come across many characters that so perfectly portray what it is like to put on a "mask" for the world, including your friends and family, and pretend that everything is just great even when your life is falling apart!

There were several moments that I wanted to smack them and tell Aly to just SAY WHAT SHE WANTS TO SAY but the tension of her misguided attempts to do what she "thinks" is best is part of the whole plot so I guess it would've been a really short book if she just did that. Haha

For those who are icked out by cheating tropes, never fear, this does not have a heavy dose of that! I think that Dylan and Aly's relationship development was painfully and realistically portrayed and I really enjoyed this book.

Also, Eric and Tola are great! Enough said there. They kept me laughing but also brought some great reality checks to the story (and Aly).