Fix Her Up by Carey Heywood

​CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Publication date: 05/24/2017
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

There was technically nothing wrong with this book. It was well-written, the characters were realistic and interesting, the dialogue was smooth, the sex scenes were suitably sexy. So why not a 5-star rating? Well…

First I’ll list out the things I liked about the book (because my mom always told me not to lead with criticism, and she’s a smart lady):

1. Finley’s a decent heroine. She’s understandably upset by her recent divorce, but she’s not emotionally crippled by it or so devastated that she finds it hard to carry on. I liked her strength of character.
2. Noah is pretty much the perfect book boyfriend. He’s hot, he’s alpha without being an alphahole, he’s not a manwhore, and he fixes stuff. It just doesn’t get any better than that, folks.
3. I love a good renovation romance. This one even featured the hot guy making a table out of a repurposed old door. Hot guys and repurposed furniture = my catnip.
4. It was free. No idea how long it’ll be free, but hey, who doesn’t love a free book?   
5. It was a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance. Two of my favorite tropes!

As for what I didn’t really love, it was just kind of...boring. I’m all for low-angst reads, but this was a totally NO angst read. There were really no barriers to this couple’s HEA other than the heroine’s fear of getting hurt again. And that fear kind of irritated me after a while because Noah showed no signs of being anything other than an awesome book boyfriend sent to Finley by the romance gods. I mean, where else are you going to find a man who thinks you’re hot when you have a cold and sneeze on him? When I have a cold, my husband can dodge a sneeze like Neo can dodge bullets in The Matrix. And I’d bet money he doesn’t find me at all hot when I’m congested and snorting nasal spray and popping cold meds every few hours. In other words, ladies, (this includes you, Finley) if you find a man who thinks you’re hot when you’re sick, grab him with both hands and don’t let him go, because you’ve found the Holy Grail of men. You’ll never do any better. It took Finley WAY too long to realize what a catch Noah was, in my opinion.

And a few other odds and ends:

1. All of Noah’s brothers were pretty obvious sequel bait. I’m not a fan of that. They didn’t really serve any purpose in the story other than to push Noah and Finley together.
2. When Noah asked his sister to find out if Finley might want to live with him, I wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him to stop acting like a damned teenage girl. Sack up and ask her yourself!
3. At one point in the story, Finley’s idiot ex shows up. Then he disappears after he talks to her once, and I was a little confused as to what his purpose in the story was. That whole scene could have been erased and it wouldn’t have hurt the story in any way. In fact, I think the story would’ve been better off without it.      

So, that’s about all I have to say about this one. It was a decent read. Nothing earth-shattering. For a free read, you could do a lot worse.      

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s stigma free. No rehab needed!

Other reading suggestions
Check out our list of awesome renovation romances. You won’t be disappointed!

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