Such a sweet and innocent story. I loved its track and how Dawson and Tully grow in each other. The story started with a misunderstanding between them with Tully having no clue about it and Dawson being so furious made everyone curious. Their relationship grows as they perform team-building activities together but that doesn’t last as Tully thought. The writing is too good and the portrait of the thoughts is perfect. The best part of the story is Dawson’s love for motorbikes and how well she can work on them, which steals the heart. Tully is the adorable one and the banter with them is hilarious at best. I would love to know about Tully’s friend's story too. I’m intrigued.

Tinkering with Love is an interracial enemies to lovers / love at first sight romance. Based on the synopsis, I really wanted to love this story. I definitely wouldn’t say I hated it, it was still a cute story and I am glad I read it but I felt like it needed more somehow. Overall I enjoyed the characters, especially how Dawson was a take no crap kind of woman who also had a loving side. Tully sounded very attractive and also was mostly a gentleman. But the writing overall was choppy and a few scenes were very cringey (the insta love/obsession and the nicknames, ugh) and I found myself rushing through just to see how the story would end up. There were a lot of side characters that also seemed like their stories would be a cute read. I may read others as I am now seeing this was a book number one, if the stories are a little less cringey and choppy. Overall, two and a half stars rounded up to three.
Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

First I want to thank Entangled Publishing for providing me an ARC for my honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book cover caught my eye on #netgalley and I got a good giggle from the title as well so I thought I’d give it a try. I am now really happy I was accepted cause this was a fun book with a lot of good aspects that had me reading until WAY to late at night.

Tinkering with Love
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release 6/21/22
What I Loved:
- Rock Falls, this is a small town I would love to visit with supportive neighbors and everyone knows everyone’s business 😉
- Linc/Mitchell, Tully’s best friends are blunt and supportive who doesn’t let him get away with anything
- Ladies of de Laroches, these women Dawn works with are fun/funny, love to dish it out and won’t let ANYTHING pass without a comment
- Mr. Harrellssen, I love the old grumpy man who only likes the MFC and he fits the bill perfectly
- Banter, the banter throughout this book between all the characters, especially Tully and Dawn, kept me giggling

Overall this was a really fun book with a good mix of characters, banter and a solid romance which builds organically. If you are in the mood for a new beach read I think this would absolutely fit the bill and you need to check it out!

Immediately what drew me in to this book was that AMAZING cover. I mean look at it! And it's an Enemies to Lovers?! ✨ p e r f e c t i o n ✨

This is a super quick, lighthearted steamy read! Perfect for fans of books with spice. 🌶️ However, this book kind of missed the mark for me. I thought the characters were somewhat unlikable and childish, and the premise of the story was farfetched. This is a personal preference but I wasn't a fan of the writing style. That's not to say it was bad, just that it wasn't for me.

I do believe this is one many readers and lovers of romance will enjoy! Thank you Entangled Publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was just a miss for me. While I do think this book has a gorgeous cover and description that drew me in, and the fact that it stars a woman in an nontraditional career (something I love), it was just....not what I was hoping or expecting. First off, it begins on some fairly ridiculous premises. What motor vehicle sales and repair shops would actually plan and fund a WEEK-LONG retreat for their entire staff?! A business like that would never want to shut down for that long! Also, someone moving cross-country for a job without a signed contract?!
Insta-love can work, but it didn't in this case. And the fact that Tully immediately starts referring to Dawson simply as "Legs"? ew. No. And then coming up with a second nickname to use for her instead of just using her actual name??? Made me roll my eyes.
I thought about quitting this book but opted to skim and see if it improved. For the most part, I did not feel it did. I enjoyed the curmudgeonly, elderly farmer that Dawson befriends. But maybe it's telling that I liked him more than any of the other characters, including either of the main characters, who I never connected with. I honestly had trouble remembering whether Dawson was the male or female MC half the time since I thought both that and Tully were kind of ridiculous names.
I wanted to like this one, but it didn't live up to the description, for me.

With the promise of a job as manager of a motorcycle shop, Dawson packs up and moves her life to the small Rock Falls community. But when she arrives, her position has been given away to local town hero Tully. She's given the position of manager to their other company, an auto shop. Dawson has always loved motorcycles and wanted to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to owning her own custom bike shop, so she's understandably bitter and angry and wants nothing to do with Tully at the team building event their company puts on. Tully is immediately attracted to her and can't understand why she hates him so much when she finds out who he is. As they're forced together for the team event, they give in to the attraction, but can their relationship survive the fallout when the truth comes out.
Although it felt a bit creepy that Tully came on so strong, I did like his happy and likable character. I felt bad for him that Dawson kept playing hot and cold with him. I felt her hatred should have been directed at the company owners who unfairly passed her over rather than the guy who unknowingly took the job. I like that she found her strength and independence in the end

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the unique premise of this book but Iverson it was a meh read with lots of language. Overall not a fan.

Tinkering With Her Heart!

How can you go wrong with Aliyah Burke? I think not!

I simply devour Aliyah's books, I know what I'm getting when I read her books. Realistic situations. Flawed but usually relatable characters. Most importantly, a couple that I can root for on their way to their HEA.

When Tully sees Dawson for the very first time, she takes his breath away through their various interactions. However, during their work retreat he finds out that she doesn't like him very much and that makes him determined to win her over.

Tully's a glutton for punishment because Dawson doesn't make it easy for him--at all. Will this couple get to their HEA together or will Dawson's bitterness overshadow the love she can have if she just opens her mind and heart to the possibilities?

This is a too short instant attraction story. I’d definitely like to read more about this couple—the story begs for a fuller length story.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgally and Entangled Publishing and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I really wanted to like this book because the premise seemed so interesting but it turned out to be not as good as I hoped. Not that it wasn't good, because it was. I feel my expectations for it were higher and it didn't live up to that, disappointing me a bit. It's still a good read overall and I'm sure many others would absolutely love it. It maybe just wasn't for me.

Tinkering with Love is the first book in the Rock Falls series by Aliyah Burke. This fast-paced enemy to lovers romance will pull you in from the beginning and hold your attention until the very end. Overall, Tinkering with Love had a lot of fantastic elements, including a great small-town setting and a funny crotchety side character.  I can't wait to read the next book in the Rock Falls series.

Tinkering With Love is the story of Dawson and Tully, who work at the same place but due to a misunderstanding, Dawson is antagonistic towards Tully, who in the meantime has no idea.

I couldn't get into this story and didn't find either main character likeable enough to root for them. Some of the set ups in the story didn't ring true for me and as a result, I found myself less and less interested in what was going to happen.

thank you so much to netgalley & the publisher for sending me an eARC!

i was excited for this book the moment i saw the cover. i mean come on!! just look at it 😍 the cover & the banter between dawson and tully were about the only things i enjoyed about this book, sadly.

⛔️⛔️SPOILERS BELOW:

it was hard to feel a connection to either character. i don’t know what it was but i didn’t care for either one. i honestly hated dawson at times with how rude she was to tully at times, especially because it was all because of a misunderstanding. i also hate the whole “bet” trope, so that rubbed me wrong the entire book even though it was tamer than others i have read.

i wanted to dnf this at 60% but at that point, i just pushed through to see how it ended. spoiler alert: i hated the ending. they got back together way too fast to me. even though it was like 65 days later or something like that, we didn’t get to see anything that happened in that time frame.

there were also so many times that stuff would happen but it was discussed after the fact rather than actually being on page. many conversations and what not would take place off page but be referenced on page later on.

lastly, the sex scene did not deliver. i guess i have just read so many where the fmc’s pleasure is prioritized and with the little we got, it wasn’t in my opinion.

this is overall a generous 2⭐️ read for me. i didn’t hate the entire book, there were moments i enjoyed or laughed at, but overall, it was a let down.

⚠️tw/cw: parent with drug & alcohol addiction, living in foster care system, infidelity (not between mcs), fatphobia, death of parental figure, parent with cancer

In a switch-up, we have a grumpy-sunshine book where the female is the grumpy one. And Dawson Shay sure has reason to be grumpy. She grew up in foster homes though her bio mom has recently contacted her and she's... not a good person. Also, after being dumped by her boyfriend, Dawson moved a good distance because she was promised a job which was then yanked away from her after she arrived in town. Sure, they owner of the place gave her another job (which she is, by the way, rocking). But now she has to go on a corporate retreat with none other than the man who stole her job.
Tully Faulkner isn't sure why the new employee in town doesn't like him but he sure likes her. In fact, he makes it his mission to make sure that she's going to like him. Which would usually be somewhat gross but he does actually make sure that she is allowed to shut him down and (it's implied) that he would walk away.
The two get close during the retreat (with an interesting scavenger hunt) and even closer afterward. This is a nice start to a series but so much relies on the characters not actually talking to each other. Even after SO many of the side characters tell them to.

Three stars
This book comes out June 20, 2022
ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I honestly couldn't get into this book. I had to give up on about 20%in. It just didn't capture my attention.

I really wanted to love this story because I liked the main idea, but I think it really lacked execution. It felt like a lot of details were not complete. Dawson felt like an incomplete character because her background and characteristics were never really fleshed out. Even though she had a reason to be angry with Tully, her feelings for him seemed to swing widely back and forth. I would have liked a more detailed glimpse of what her life was like in Rock Falls besides her job. She seemed to go out with friends and have joined the quilting club, but that was never clear. I also wanted to get more detail and background around Tully. While we learned more about him than Dawson, it never felt like it was done in a complete way. I wanted more about his past and also his friendship with the other two ex-pro athletes. What does Tully end up doing after leaving the shop? Also more information on how things pan out with both mothers. I actually found the story cute, but definitely needed to be hashed out more.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was definitely an enemies to lovers rom com. Starting off at a weeklong team building event in the wilderness with cabins. Dawson, which can I saw I love that name for a girl, is trying to make the best of it since she moved out here from SF for a job she was promised and it was given to another.
Only to run into a bearded tattooed muscular hottie, like literally run into him, and get all googoo eyed. Till someone says his name and she realizes it's the dude that took her job. Nope and nope.
All she wants is to prove herself and build motorcycles. All Tully wants to do is find out why she hates him and won't stop until he does.
He was relentless and she had a hard time resisting. I mean beards.. enough said.
These two def had chemistry 🥵 and so many other challenges to overcome.
The epilogue too! 😍

Thank you entangledpub and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Dawson is beyond disappointed when she packs up her life for a job opportunity to rebuild motorcycles only to arrive and find out that is was given to someone else even if they gave her another job in exchange. To make matters more difficult she now finds herself having to go on an employee retreat only to find out that the man she is attracted to is the one who got her job.

Tully is enchanted by Dawson from their first meeting but the fact that he was given the job she wanted and that he made a questionable decision when it came to Dawson add some additional turmoil to an already complicated situation.

Dawson is fierce and confident in who she is and what she wants while Tully has good intentions but doesn’t always make the best decisions. They definitely had some challenges to overcome which only makes their love and their relationship stronger in the end.

Dawson is a strong, curvy, African American who is new to town pursuing her dreams. Unfortunately those dreams are shaken up due to some unforeseen circumstances. Tully is the hometown “hero” who always seems to get what he wants. These two are pitted against each other personally and professionally and sparks fly. I really liked the character of Dawson. While she is confident and determined she also shows vulnerability. The fact that this is an interracial romance is recognized but not dwelled upon as the two characters are ultimately just individuals trying to make a relationship work. There are a few hiccups in terms of writing and plot points, but overall this is a nice romance. Note - open door. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tinkering in Love was a complete miss for me even though it is my favorite genre - Enemies to Lovers. Tully’s love at first sight was within the first five minutes of meeting and his ways of banter were cringe worthy. I found his use of “Legs” insulting. The heroine is clearly a smart, intelligent and of course sexy woman who deserves more credit than being called “Legs.”

I honestly read the first 25% of the novel then just skipped ahead to 75% and I fell like I didn’t miss a thing. Thank you Entangled Publishing for the complimentary copy of this novel.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So I really wanted to like this book. Like I really wanted to. I mean just look at the cover. A bad a$$ black female MC that works on motorcycles? And a tatted guy with a beard? Yes, please.

Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to the hype. I thought this book would be more about working on motorcycles and the two MCs dynamic and instead it starts out at a work retreat in the mountains. It doesn't even really get into the motorcycle bits until almost 60-70% into the book.

So needless to say, I needed less work retreat, more motorcycles.

The cover really is killer though.