Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Fix Her Up

Tessa Bailey’s Fix Her Up brings the story of a childhood-crush-turns-husband kind of story between Georgie Castle and Travis Ford. Georgie is the youngest in the castle family, making her siblings and parents perceive her as a kid even though she is already 23 years old. instead of getting spoiled with brand-new items, her wardrobe is filled with hand-me-downs from Stephen and Bethany, her elder siblings. her job as a BIRTHDAY CLOWN also worsens this condition where she is never taken seriously by her family and people at Port Jefferson. but, she still has her own goals. she is determined to expand her entertainment business. this means she has to get people—especially her family—to perceive her as an adult. how? first, she revamps her entire wardrobe and she fake-dates Travis Ford, Stephen’s best friend, who happens to be Georgie’s childhood crush. Travis was this hot, major league, baseball star before his injury that caused him to retire at the prime age of twenty-eight. he has no purpose until his agent contacts him that a network is looking for a baseball commentator whose image is the opposite of Travis’ nickname Two Bats. in order to acquire the PG-13 portrayal, Travis makes the internet believe that he is a changed, ready-to-settle, man.

my review:

i’ve read two of Tessa Bailey’s works prior to this—1) It Happened One Summer and 2) Hook, Line, and Sinker. one thing that i noticed when i was reading this is that this and Hook, Line, and Sinker have a similar formula; about a woman who fixes a man’s problems and these two main characters (in both books) has the same internal conflicts.

i truly don’t understand the way Travis’ mind works because he seems to be aroused ALL THE TIME, there’s not a single moment when he does not objectify Georgie. do people always like this when they are attracted to someone???

i can tolerate the corny dirty talks during their intercourse BUT i CANNOT put up with Travis’ use of baby girl. i gag every time i see the phrase on the screen of my kindle and i don’t think i will ever be able to hear or see this phrase anymore. this is the lowest form of an affectionate name. i beg every author out there to refrain from using b*by g*rl.

this book is ridiculous but i think this one is way beyond my understanding: Georgie forgets to wear a bra. is it a common phenomenon among women because i’ve never experienced this???

every character in this book is annoying. everyone in this book gets on my nerves. except Rosie.

the Just Us League and Tough Mudder thing are useless plot devices. the Just Us League is just like a friend group you have when you’re in middle school and why would these people at Port Jefferson be dying to get in the group????? i assume that this group is supposed to add female empowerment to this misogynistic book but still fails nonetheless. and now the Tough Mudder event… it can be extracted from the book and everything will remain the same until the end.

i know that this is fiction but why does the conflict get resolved in a short amount of time???? also, Georgie and Travis’ internal thoughts about their doubts were not explored enough. the excessive amount of erotica truly wastes the pages of this book when it could be used to add depth to the conflict resolution and the main characters’ conversations. even i don’t remember if these two ever really talked things through without ending up in sex.

i just don’t understand the time setting and how long have Georgie & Travis been fake dating for Travis to propose to Georgie during his commentator job on the public TV network? why does Georgie accept his apology easily? and how about Georgie’s new office?

Georgie girlie you deserve better. yes, you are allowed to realise your dirty fantasy about Travis but his problems are not yours to fix. she should’ve gone on the date with that single father.

this book is such nonsense but i’m entertained nevertheless. such a fun time to see this stupid stupid people doing stupid stupid things.

Content Warnings

alexandryareads's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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bergha1998's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved these characters, even the side one (who have their own books too!!!). The struggles they had were so real, and the mistakes and victories were as well. While I didn’t enjoy having a 3rd act breakup, it did make sense so I can’t fault it too bad. And the spice!! Not kinky, but steamy.

Slightly a Sports Romance, Fake Dating, Brother’s BFF, 3 3/4 🔥

“We’re about refusing to accept anything less than what we deserve. About realizing that we’re all important here despite mistakes or bad relationships or lackluster careers.”

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Tessa never fails to keep me entertained and wanting more. Sure its a little cheesy but sometimes thats what you need. Georgie is a beautiful character and one I aspire to be like when I grow up…

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I was missing my Tessa Bailey fix. I am sat here patiently waiting for Unfortunately Yours. So I thought I would read some of her other work whilst I'm waiting. I started with Fix Her Up because the cover was adorable. (I wish I was joking.)

This book has two points of view. The first one is Georgette Castle A.K.A Georgie. She had a crush on her older brother’s best friend for years. The grumpy, bear of a man working for her family’s house flipping business is a far cry from the charming sports star he used to be. But the moody scowl he is giving everyone in town isn’t scaring Georgie off and she is determined to show Travis that he is more than a “has been” even if it means she will put her feelings aside to just be friends. She is also wanting to expand on her business as her family didn’t include “the kid” in the business. Everyone in town treats her with kid gloves. So she asks Travis to act like they are dating so people will start treating her like the woman she is. Can she fake date him without developing feeling? The second point of view is Travis Ford, an injury ended his major league baseball career and he returns home to start over. He just wants to brood in peace and hammer out his frustrations and hopefully forget about the glory days. But now he can’t even walk through town without someone talking to him about his greatest hits or wanting to sleep with him. He has a chance to go into a different career but he must look like he is a family man rather than the player he used to be, Georgie offers to help and the girl he used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman who is slowly making him feel whole again. And he realizes he wants her. But Georgie is off limits and he knows he can’t give her the romance she deserves.

I loved this book. Was it original? No not really. Did I care? Absolutely not. It was fluffy, smutty and adorable. I loved Georgie as a character so damn much. She was funny, she was relatable, I wanted to hug her so much. As a middle child, I felt this book so deep in my heart and even though this was about the youngest child, I know what it felt to be ignored and not seen in my family. The way Georgie stood up for herself and made herself seen, I was screaming and nearly throwing this book across the room. I loved the development arc for Bethany as well and I hope we see more soon. Now Travis – THIS MAN – went from being a complete washout tool and then became this complete golden retriever who just wanted to prove himself worthy (which he did, by the way).

The one person that ruined this book was Georgie’s brother – Stephen. He was just a complete asshole for no reason. It wasn’t like he was protective over Georgie, he was just wanting to be the centre of attention. He didn’t like the idea of Georgie and Travis because he thought Georgie was obsessed, not that she was his baby sister or that Travis was a player but that Georgie was obsessed with Travis. Stephen was very condescending and controlling of his wife and I get wanting to start a family, but if the other half isn’t ready, don’t do things like know when she is fertile. He was just a walking red flag who didn’t need to be in this book in 60% of it.

I loved this book and I thought it was adorable. It would have been five stars if Stephen wasn’t annoying for most of it.

Content Warnings

clairew97's review against another edition

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4.0

Content Warnings

theverycraftyvegan's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A solid 4 stars for Fix Her Up. A very steamy book about a childhood crushed turned adult reality. Classic fake dating set up filed with lots of spice. I would have given 4.5 stars if Travis hadn’t constantly called Georgie “baby girl”. Made me cringe every time.

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Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

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amethystandherbooks's review

chelle22's review against another edition

chlaraphyll's review against another edition

alexandryareads's review

bergha1998's review against another edition

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

clairew97's review against another edition

theverycraftyvegan's review