Fix Her Up: A Novel
A spicy, hilarious HGTV-inspired romantic comedy trilogy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker!
Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that means.
Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)
Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)
Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)
Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)
Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?
Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there's Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her...
“Her voice feels as fresh and contemporary as a Netflix rom-com.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Fix Her Up ticks all my romance boxes. Not only is it hilarious, it’s sweet, endearing, heartwarming and downright sexy. It’s a recipe for the perfect love story.” – Helena Hunting, New York Times bestselling author of Meet Cute
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Community Reviews
I'm new(er) to the works of Tessa Bailey, only have read a few of her books. But the ones that I have read, I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, I was an early listener to [her] Podcast, and fell in love with her personality so I had to give this one a go! Plus, I am a huge fan of the brother's best friend troupe! And while this did have me laughing out loud, and had great character growth, I just didn't love it.
Georgie, being the baby of the family, was never taken seriously and has always been treated as someone whose opinion didn't matter. Her profession, a clown, didn't help the matters. However, I do love she found something that she loved doing and made the most from it. She's funny, sweet, and adores kids, so the job was perfect for her. She has a lot of growth throughout the novel, which I loved!
Travis, your typical man whore, is wanting to wallow in his self-pity after an early retirement from his professional baseball career was cut short due to an injury. Since a job he wanted needed to show that he was no longer "two-bats," he agrees to the scheme of pretending to settle down with Georgie (another favorite troupe!). I liked him enough, but... I can't put my finger on it. I just didn't feel he was... authentic?
While there was some obvious chemistry there, and I enjoyed the banter between them, I wasn't at all a fan of their scenes together.
I did, however, love the element of the women getting together to help one another and boost each other's confidence!
I do see the appeal of this book and know that many will love it more than I did! I will continue with his series, because I love a good relationship in trouble story!
Georgette "Georgie" Castle has trouble getting people to take her seriously. As the baby of the family, her siblings and parents still look at her as if she was a child. The community sees her as a cute clown in oversized clothing. We'll give in a little on that since her occupation is as a birthday clown, we can kind of understand why. But nobody sees her for the intelligent woman that she is.
Travis Ford is feeling sorry for himself. Injury has taken him out of the sport he loved so much and now he's having difficulty seeing a future where he isn't a has-been. Past indiscretions leave others believing in the worst of him.
Georgie decides she's not letting the man she's loved since grade school drown himself in a pity party. When a job opportunity is presented to Travis, if he cleans up his act, Georgie is more than willing to "play" at being his girlfriend. And when things start to heat up for real, Travis can't imagine being without her. Travis also sees what everyone else is missing. Little Georgie has grown up.
I really enjoyed this book. Travis and Georgie had fantastic chemistry. I liked how Travis stood up for Georgie to her family, being the first one to really believe in her. Just as she was the only one to really believe in him.
I also liked the theme of the "Just Us League" started by Rosie, Bethany, and Georgie. I can't wait to see where that goes in future books. Rosie and Dom definitely need to figure out if their relationship is salvageable and how to save it. Bethany and Georgie's brother, Stephen, is a jerk to Bethany. I can't wait to see her be a successful general contractor...and maybe rub it in his face a little bit. I really didn't like him and his and Kristin's story was odd and kind of annoying...what I did read about them made them unlikeable.
NOTE: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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