A review by bookishneverland
Tinkering with Love by Aliyah Burke

3.0

I don't know if it's just the month of May, but it's been very hard to find books that really hook me. Tinkering with Love seemed like everything I'd love. Black FMC, breaking of gender norms. Slight enemies to lovers, but it just didn't hold my interest. To be completely honest, Tully creeped me out. Not once did he pump the breaks when it came to Dawson. The first 45% of the book was at a team-bonding retreat and I still don't understand the relationships of all the other characters' names.

There was something missing when I was reading Tinkering with Love. The secondary characters felt like an afterthought for much of the book and it was crazy 3 people given the most depth were at the very end of the story. The single mom and daughter and the grumpy old man.
There were so many throwaway details that could have been added to the plot but were discarded to the side. Personal details were given about both Tully and Dawson that seemed like they could affect the plot were never heard again.

Many people, will really love the grumpy girl/ sunshine boy. But Tinkering with Love had many flaws for me, and I couldn’t fully immerse myself in Rock Falls.
You could tell the writer has plans to have an interconnected series but unless the next book has been character growth. This series will not be for me.