The characters, led by the relatable real estate agent Alex, create an engaging and heartwarming story. The absence of typical miscommunications is a refreshing twist, allowing the plot to flow smoothly. Macleod's skill in crafting enjoyable individual elements shines through, earning this book a solid 4 stars

Laugh out loud funny, heartwarming and a delight from start to finish, The Fixer Upper is the latest romantic comedy by Phoebe MacLeod.

Estate agent Alex might be in the business of selling dreams, but all her romantic hopes have been dashed by her long-term boyfriend Thomas. Despite the fact that he’s far from everyone’s idea of Prince Charming, Alex had had big dreams for the future – until Thomas announces that he’s blown all his savings on an artists’ retreat in San Francisco. Forget about putting down a deposit on a flat together, Thomas has put his dreams first – and it’s time Alex took a leaf out of his book and did the same.

Sparks don’t exactly fly when Alex meets her neighbour, Callum. The two are like chalk and cheese, but despite the fact that Callum is a grumpy nerd who likes to keep people at arm’s length, bubby Alex quickly realises that she has fallen head over heels in love with him. Will Alex end up finding everything she’s been looking for all this time – right next door?

Phoebe Macleod’s The Fixer Upper is a grumpy versus sunshine contemporary romance that fizzes with magic, emotion, charm and heart. Hilarious, addictive and hugely enjoyable, The Fixer Upper is a fun and feel-good page-turner from Phoebe Macleod perfect for rom-com addicts.

A sweet romance. There is nothing unpredictable or surprising in this novel, but that's okay. It's well written and the characters are enjoyable to read about.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This was my first Phoebe Macloed read and it did not disappoint. Such a fun storyline, filled with the best characters and some great shenanigans

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Yes you knew where the story was going to go as soon as you picked it up and yes it was extremely predictable but sometimes that is exactly what you need.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

This was such a good pallet cleanser book. I enjoyed it. It was fun and cute read. This is a book I will read again.

The Fixer Upper, by Pheobe MacLeod
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Fixer Upper was a really easy read, but not an awful lot happened. The plot was entirely predictable, which I’m not saying is a negative as most romance books are! The characters weren’t entirely likeable - the main character, Alex, was basically the only character I liked! Her best friend Emma was an awful flatmate and friend (messy and rude); the initial boyfriend, Thomas, was an asshole and uninterested in Alex; the final romantic interest, Callum, didn’t have a very consistent personality? And don’t even get me started on Mark 🙄
For serial romance fans, this might be a great book. For me, the redeeming qualities were probably the fact that the relationships weren’t plagued with misunderstandings and miscommunications. On top of this, I appreciated that Alex stood up for herself and didn’t settle for being treated badly.
The lack of exciting plot points stopped this from being rated any higher for me, it definitely needed something extra to add excitement.
Thank you BoldwoodBooks and NetGalley for the ARC 🫶🏼

This book's constructed the way you'd expect a fun read: the set up of the characters, threads that bind them together, some bumps on the road, and then the feeling of coming home. The actual material used in the construction — the characters, the plot, the events — are, however, a touch unremarkable.

The plot progresses very slowly, moving only a few inches throughout the length of the book. I liked how the characters were shown with quirks, but a lot of the plot was easy to decipher from the get-go. No major plot twists. But it was a nice, comforting read. So it's good for days when you need a snack-y read.

I really wanted to LOVE this book, because the premise was extremely promising.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the chance to read this book.

I have now read a few of Phoebe MacLeod's books, and they are all such easy and enjoyable books to read.
This book is a slightly different take on the nerdy girl glow up, with the man being the one receiving the glow up in this book.
I really love the way that Alex values Callum's kindness and personality even before she starts to notice his potential handsomeness. Their friendship certainly starts out on shaky (and amusing) ground but develops quite quickly after that.

That is also the only negative in the book for me - the romance aspect is extremely quick to happen - although that is common in the rom-com genre.

Overall, it is a really enjoyable story with some quirky characters and some unexpected friendships.

In this contemporary romance, tangled relationships obscure the path to true love. Despite promising meet-cute moments, the narrative is overshadowed by the female lead's ongoing relationship with another man, leaving the central romance feeling rushed and lacking chemistry. Critiques include concerning portrayals of a homeless character and a disjointed plot lacking a compelling hook. The epilogue's focus on a secondary couple's wedding further detracts from the main storyline, leaving readers unsatisfied. Overall, while humorous at times, the book falls short in delivering a satisfying romance due to issues with character development and plot coherence.

What begins as an adventure in friendship turns into a potential double love affair!

It was great watching the meet cute moments between Alex's bestie and their new neighbour, especially when the one at the Cafe went so well! Tongue tied is a real condition, and usually eats rears it's head just when you're trying to keep your cool. Such is the case here, but the heart knew what it wanted even when the mouth couldn't form the words. One connection down, that left one friend flatmate-less and one bestie (Alex) in the same situation. A swap of a sort happens, and while it might have been made out of logical convenience, it might just end with hearts a flutter.

It was cute to see the comings together actually come together. There were moments of laughter along the way, moments of growth, self realization, and change, but perhaps most importantly... love of both the soul mate variety and the friend. A great pick for Contemporary Romance fans as well as light Romcom and Women's Fiction fans.

"The Fixer Upper" is a romantic comedy set in England, focusing on Alexandra Griffiths, a successful estate agent, and her interactions with her best friend Emma, her boyfriend Thomas, and her new neighbors Mark and Callum. As Emma and Mark start a relationship, Alex grows closer to Callum, transitioning from friends to lovers. The story unfolds with humor and entertaining interactions, with a focus on Alex's professional life and personal challenges. The romance develops gradually, making it a delightful read for fans of gentle romance with comedic elements.

This was enjoyable and a perfect palette cleanser read. A fun fast read. Would have loved a bit more romance in this though.

I would recommend Phoebe MacLeod's new book, the Fixer Upper. Wonderful story for everyone to enjoy. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy reading!

A two fold rom com.
Alex is a real estate agent who is moving into a flat with her friend. When her boyfriend goes to America for an art retreat things start going downhill.
I found this one tricky to get into. I liked the main character and the romantic lead but I felt like their relationship didn’t have enough depth and happened too quickly. For most of the book Alex is in a relationship with Tom and we see the relationship disintegrating. It is interesting to see the relationship fail in real time but doesn’t leave much time to develop the new relationship. I would have liked a longer epilogue to compensate for this.
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Alex meets Callum when he moves in next door. First impressions are not great, but as she gets to know him she starts to fall for him. A great read.

unfortunately, this book was a flop for me. I was excited for a witty rom com but it felt so stereotypical and the characters didn’t feel 3D at all. Callum’s got that ‘just a normal guy’ vibe to the point that cringed at every single thing he did. also, Emma seems like a horrible friend! the whole inexperienced shy geek thing was just painful and the situations that Alex got into were not as funny as they were uncomfortable! there was barely any time for her to get together with Callum after how long it took for her to break up with her boyfriend from the beginning of the book.

Um 😶
Pros:
It made me laugh out loud a few times.
It was well written.

Cons:
The FMC is in a relationship with a man who is not the MMC, for over 50% of the book-we get more of their “love” story than we do of the actual couple the book is supposedly about
The actual “love” story is lacking in chemistry, time to to develop, and any semblance of detailed progression-it’s literally just 80+% in and suddenly they are couple and all is well.
There’s no hook to the plot, there’s lots of tiny little plots but none of them go anywhere and there’s no twist because you spend the first half of the book waiting for her to break up with someone else.
The whole bit about Jerry the homeless guy gave me the ick- the way they spoke about him and the infantilisation of “oh just give him a treat to distract him and he’ll leave you alone” he’s an adult human being not a child or a dog!
Oh and the epilogue is someone else’s wedding…they mention that our main couple are getting married the following month, so flash forward to that and give us their wedding not the wedding of the other couple that are barely in the book once they get together!
I
I’m sorry I laughed but even that wasn’t enough to make me enjoy this book-oh and the name makes no sense-the apartment doesn’t need fixed up, and if it’s meant to allude to Calum then a haircut and him wearing different glasses just doesn’t cut it.