A review by lisibee815
The Big Fix by Holly James

emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Penny is a tenure-track college professor whose short-term life plan was to spend the summer finalizing her case for tenure. Anthony's Uncle Lou died recently and left him responsible for emptying his uncle's mansion. Penny's sister tricks her into going to his estate sale, ostensibly to fix her up with Anthony.  But who would have thought there'd be a dead body mixed in with the priceless antiques? Mystery/criminal caper mixed with insta-lust (but closed-door) romance, witty writing but not LOL. Slow-ish to start, but the pacing picked up around 30%.  I really love the fantastic pop-art inspired cover! 

But, overall I may not have been the right audience for this one. I've read this author before and enjoyed her books but this one didn't resonate with me as much. I was aggravated with Penny in the beginning: you are clearly a smart woman and you *know* Anthony is surrounded by scary people, but you poke around anyway and insert yourself into danger? It was like she abandoned all of her common sense, at least partly because of attraction, and the insta-lust between the two felt like a plot device meant to distract from the poor judgment of the main characters. Unfortunately that aggravation stuck with me during the rest of the book. Penny was surprisingly impulsive and it felt out-of-character at times (especially for a woman who had been fighting hard for five years to be taken seriously in her male-dominated profession, although in retrospect maybe that should have been a clue to me that she was tenacious and wouldn't give up when presented with a mystery/puzzle to solve). Pay attention to content warnings, especially if you're squeamish, there was some content that took me by surprise (mostly some graphic injury detail, but at least one other thing that would spoil part of the plot if I included it here). Bit too much hills-and-valleys with the tension for me and some of the reveals felt anticlimactic. But if you love forced proximity, perilous situations, and insta-attraction then this quick read is a great way to spend a few escapist hours!  Publishes March 25, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing an eARC of this story, all opinions are my own. 

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