britt33's review
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
katierosecrane's review
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The characters were so lovable. And the plot was comfortable, but not too comfortable. It kept familiar tropes that other romance books have, but put a slight twist on them.
Only reason I wouldn’t read it higher is the plot is too simple compared to other books I’ve read.
Only reason I wouldn’t read it higher is the plot is too simple compared to other books I’ve read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I wanted to read this book because I was missing my Tessa Bailey fix. I am sat here patiently waiting for Unfortunately Yours. So I thought I would read some of her other work whilst I'm waiting. I started with Fix Her Up because the cover was adorable. (I wish I was joking.)
This book has two points of view. The first one is Georgette Castle A.K.A Georgie. She had a crush on her older brother’s best friend for years. The grumpy, bear of a man working for her family’s house flipping business is a far cry from the charming sports star he used to be. But the moody scowl he is giving everyone in town isn’t scaring Georgie off and she is determined to show Travis that he is more than a “has been” even if it means she will put her feelings aside to just be friends. She is also wanting to expand on her business as her family didn’t include “the kid” in the business. Everyone in town treats her with kid gloves. So she asks Travis to act like they are dating so people will start treating her like the woman she is. Can she fake date him without developing feeling? The second point of view is Travis Ford, an injury ended his major league baseball career and he returns home to start over. He just wants to brood in peace and hammer out his frustrations and hopefully forget about the glory days. But now he can’t even walk through town without someone talking to him about his greatest hits or wanting to sleep with him. He has a chance to go into a different career but he must look like he is a family man rather than the player he used to be, Georgie offers to help and the girl he used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman who is slowly making him feel whole again. And he realizes he wants her. But Georgie is off limits and he knows he can’t give her the romance she deserves.
I loved this book. Was it original? No not really. Did I care? Absolutely not. It was fluffy, smutty and adorable. I loved Georgie as a character so damn much. She was funny, she was relatable, I wanted to hug her so much. As a middle child, I felt this book so deep in my heart and even though this was about the youngest child, I know what it felt to be ignored and not seen in my family. The way Georgie stood up for herself and made herself seen, I was screaming and nearly throwing this book across the room. I loved the development arc for Bethany as well and I hope we see more soon. Now Travis – THIS MAN – went from being a complete washout tool and then became this complete golden retriever who just wanted to prove himself worthy (which he did, by the way).
The one person that ruined this book was Georgie’s brother – Stephen. He was just a complete asshole for no reason. It wasn’t like he was protective over Georgie, he was just wanting to be the centre of attention. He didn’t like the idea of Georgie and Travis because he thought Georgie was obsessed, not that she was his baby sister or that Travis was a player but that Georgie was obsessed with Travis. Stephen was very condescending and controlling of his wife and I get wanting to start a family, but if the other half isn’t ready, don’t do things like know when she is fertile. He was just a walking red flag who didn’t need to be in this book in 60% of it.
I loved this book and I thought it was adorable. It would have been five stars if Stephen wasn’t annoying for most of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Child abuse, and Abandonment
clairew97's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
lmy612's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A solid 4 stars for Fix Her Up. A very steamy book about a childhood crushed turned adult reality. Classic fake dating set up filed with lots of spice. I would have given 4.5 stars if Travis hadn’t constantly called Georgie “baby girl”. Made me cringe every time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Cursing, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Moderate: Body shaming and Alcohol
marmellowreads's review
emotional
mysterious
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Abandonment
samanderson24's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
stressedoutreader's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse and Alcohol
pandalesque's review against another edition
tense
1.5
This is the romance for your "woke republican" in your life...
OMG... I just finished this bcs I paid for it and wanted to have all the information to rant about it.
I thought I get a house makeover romance with smut and interesting family/friend dynamics...
The business/aspekt of flipping houses was so not central or even there it's sad.
The family dynamics are patriarchal, sexist bullshit that wouldn't be a problem if the book didn't try to "fix it" explore it in a even more humiliating way for the women.
+ Talk about being the youngest sibling and wanting to be taken seriously and being noticed positively and working for it
+ Attempt at positive female relationships
- In the first 5-10' mentioning of church and god...
- Characters are so artificially built and the plot so cringy
- 3rd act conflict / misunderstanding makes NO SENSE
- So heteronormative/cis-normative, it seems almost homo-/transphobic
- the smut between the MCs is problematic at best, bcs of the very shakey consent
- Submissive virgin FMC with toxic masc dominant possesif MMC
- Language used to describe body parts during s** was cringy ("(sensitive) flesh"...) to be fair, other authors unfortunately do the same.
- Basically just a story about him getting fixed by a woman and the MMC being/becoming a decent human being for once
- Jealousy and Posessiveness
- performative feminism that made women look annoying, not to be taken serious, .... (Club)
- Second hand talk about why she likes "clowning" but never really shown
- FMC juggling for a kid and it being happy isn't the genius move it's written out to be, in my opinion! All the men impressed because they can't distract a child if their life depended on it???
Problematic representation of wanting children and adult relationships:
- Character (male) not wanting a family and kids, until he falls in love with a woman and she changes his trauma, and insecurities and life... ?
He needs therapy... not her being his therapist, social worker, manager or enabler. Also there are people who don't want kids and don't have to change their minds.
- FMC parents almost neglecting her and never recognizing it
- Her brother *BERRRKKKK*, such a dick toxic masculinity guy adding 0 value to the story. Forcing/Pressuring his wife to have kids?????
- Also brother and MMC have no obvious "best friend" relationship in my opinion
- "she's all that"-moment... Of course she has a beautiful body and just had to wear tighter clothes... cringe
- all the relationships (around them) seem to suck too (brother, Rose's, parents?...)
I "CLIP" in audio books usually for good quotes or insights... this time I clipped bcs I wanted to come with receipts about the cringy, puke-y and misogynistic lines...
OMG... I just finished this bcs I paid for it and wanted to have all the information to rant about it.
I thought I get a house makeover romance with smut and interesting family/friend dynamics...
The business/aspekt of flipping houses was so not central or even there it's sad.
The family dynamics are patriarchal, sexist bullshit that wouldn't be a problem if the book didn't try to "fix it" explore it in a even more humiliating way for the women.
+ Talk about being the youngest sibling and wanting to be taken seriously and being noticed positively and working for it
+ Attempt at positive female relationships
- In the first 5-10' mentioning of church and god...
- Characters are so artificially built and the plot so cringy
- 3rd act conflict / misunderstanding makes NO SENSE
- So heteronormative/cis-normative, it seems almost homo-/transphobic
- the smut between the MCs is problematic at best, bcs of the very shakey consent
- Submissive virgin FMC with toxic masc dominant possesif MMC
- Language used to describe body parts during s** was cringy ("(sensitive) flesh"...) to be fair, other authors unfortunately do the same.
- Basically just a story about him getting fixed by a woman and the MMC being/becoming a decent human being for once
- Jealousy and Posessiveness
- performative feminism that made women look annoying, not to be taken serious, .... (Club)
- Second hand talk about why she likes "clowning" but never really shown
- FMC juggling for a kid and it being happy isn't the genius move it's written out to be, in my opinion! All the men impressed because they can't distract a child if their life depended on it???
Problematic representation of wanting children and adult relationships:
- Character (male) not wanting a family and kids, until he falls in love with a woman and she changes his trauma, and insecurities and life... ?
He needs therapy... not her being his therapist, social worker, manager or enabler. Also there are people who don't want kids and don't have to change their minds.
- FMC parents almost neglecting her and never recognizing it
- Her brother *BERRRKKKK*, such a dick toxic masculinity guy adding 0 value to the story. Forcing/Pressuring his wife to have kids?????
- Also brother and MMC have no obvious "best friend" relationship in my opinion
- "she's all that"-moment... Of course she has a beautiful body and just had to wear tighter clothes... cringe
- all the relationships (around them) seem to suck too (brother, Rose's, parents?...)
I "CLIP" in audio books usually for good quotes or insights... this time I clipped bcs I wanted to come with receipts about the cringy, puke-y and misogynistic lines...
"Her face transformed with "feminine outrage"
"with the hand full of little sister tit."
"And this definitely marked the first time in history he'd been eager to get inside the head of a woman."
"There wasn't the typical feminine urge to squeal to her friends."
"...He kissed her like he was, taking care of her, soothing her, letting her know that he'd stand guard while she wept. And the responsibility made him feel more like a man than he ever had in his life.
"He gave her a look of pure man exasperation. you've got until I say ..."
"A man using her mouth. She never felt more like a woman."
"Sweet girl, so beautiful."...
"Sweet man, ... So strong."
"He never been in this place. torn between aching to f*ck and needing to talk. To just... hold her. "
"You wanna be with me?"
"Want? No. I'm saying I need you. ..."
Also the end... WTF. I think a lot of other low reviews already talked about some points I brought up and had some more good ones.
SMUT 🔥🔥/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Body shaming
kjohnstone62's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Alcohol