The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe (ARC Review)

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe
Published by Penguin on August 2, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
Source: ARC

In this funny and sharp romantic comedy, a woman with a knack for turning her boyfriends’ lives around starts a professional service to help wrangle men, only to be unexpectedly matched with an old flame.

Ever since she can remember, Aly has been fixing everything around her: her parents’ marriage, her colleagues’ work problems, and her friends’ love lives are just a few examples. After a chance meeting with an ex who has gone from living in his parents’ basement to being a married project manager in three years, she realizes she’s been fixing her boyfriends, too....

So, Aly decides to put her talents to good use and, alongside two work friends, sets up the Fixer Upper, an exclusive, underground service for women who are tired of unpaid emotional labor. Using little tricks and tips, Aly and her friends get the men to do the work themselves—to get out of the job they hate, sign up for that growth seminar, do more parenting. Before long, a high-profile Instagram star hires them to fix up her app developer boyfriend. There’s just one catch—he’s also Aly’s childhood best friend and first love. As Aly tackles her biggest “fixer upper” yet, she’ll have to come to terms with their complicated history and figure out how much to change someone she’d always thought was perfect as he is....

If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for romantic comedies with the enemies to lovers trope. Even better if you have a vibrant group of friends and some forced proximity. But before I dive in, I wanted to thank G.P. Putnam and the author for the advanced copy for review!

Aly was a fun, complicated character. Her relationship with her parents (Mom, really) has had a huge impact on her life and relationships. (Duh. I know.) Aly has coped by becoming the ultimate team player. I’m talking people pleaser to an extreme with an ability to read the motivations/hopes/desires of the people around her. Mostly anyway. She uses this well-honed ability to slowly make her way up the marketing chain and she is so close to attaining it. Her (terrible) manager has been dangling it in front of her for a year. So she a lady with a plan and she has worked herself into the ground trying to attain it only to be shaken by the discovery that she seems to be running on a hamster wheel while her previous paramours have moved on to become successful in whatever form that may be.

I liked this book and I liked Aly and her little vibrant group of friends! I know this is labeled a romantic comedy, but it leans more toward chick lit/women’s fiction for me. The main theme of the book is Aly changing and finding her new “why” or purpose. Shifting away from her people pleasing, setting boundaries, and becoming comfortable with herself. This is all great and I love to see it but with a romantic comedy I’m expecting the relationship with the MMC to be front and center. This isn’t to say the book isn’t funny. There is some fantastic banter between Aly, Eric, and Tola. But the bulk of the story is Aly finding herself and becoming comfortable. Learning to advocate for herself and not bend over backwards to please everyone. She’s learning to love and appreciate herself. ALL good stuff. So why just three stars?

I’m just not swooning over the romance even though it has some of the tropes that I would usually enjoy. This is more a: friends that have a big miscommunication (le gasp)-> which leads to ghosting -> which turns them to apparent enemies (?) -> to friends with shit to hide -> to eventual romance but we don’t even get to see it! I’m not bitter.

For me, the romance was the weakest part of this book. I knew going in that the MMC was going to be in another relationship for a bit of the book, but once it hit 75% and he was still in that other relationship I started to riot. Aly and Dylan were stronger characters apart than when together.

I didn’t particularly like Dylan. There is a point where he mocks Aly for being a people pleaser. That’s awfully rich considering his superpower is being a chameleon in relationships; shifting to become what the other person desires. Their miscommunication was an easy fix in the end, but it didn’t feel particularly satisfying. Especially with the grand gesture happening right at the end that kicks off the romantic part of the relationship.

The Fixer Upper was an enjoyable debut with some really great, feminist “you can do it” messages that I always enjoy seeing in my romances! I didn’t love the romance, but the friendships were solid. Fair warning, there is no steam.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.