The Fixer Upper

Overall rating: 4.5, rounded up.

I enjoyed this book so much! I was pretty much hooked from the first page and when the main love interest came in, I couldn't put it down, their love felt so real and tangible even before it becomes a romance.

If you're familiar with British romances, this, like those, doesn't focus purely on the romance and the romance takes some time to develop.

The Fixer Upper is about Aly who has been helping everyone in her life, but never putting herself first. The book mainly focuses on her slowly learning to prioritize herself, and maybe have a second chance romance with her first love.

I really liked the way the book handled Aly's growth throughout the book. I feel like she's a great example of growth without making the character unlikeable to begin with. Her going from helping literally everyone else, to even her own detriment, to actually claiming her own voice and space felt great!

The two MCs are both flawed characters. They're both people pleasers, but in very different ways. They learn from each other's mistakes and both change for the better. I really liked the love between them, even before it became a relationship, how much they care about each other felt so deep and real. I was rooting for them the whole way.

The friends of both of the main characters were great but especially Aly's, I loved that they didn't feel like caricatures and they brought out the better parts of Aly. They also felt like great characters themselves, I'd be happy to read a book about any of them.

Even though it might look like a big chunk of the book is about manipulating people, I actually quite liked the direction the book went with it. The characters learn from the mistakes of their assumptions and take their endeavors in the right direction.

Overall this was such a great read for me. And I enjoyed all the plot lines, even outside of just the romance

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the eARC!