Fix Her Up (Hot and Hammered, #1) by Tessa Bailey

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Content/Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, depression, emotionally abusive parent, talk of divorce

“You have to fight for what you deserve. What you want is no more or less important than what anyone else wants.”

Holy shit, friends… This might be the best damn romance I have read all year so far. When everyone said to go listen to the audiobook and then never gave an explanation why, I finally understand. It’s so good, so steamy, and definitely the first time my spouse has ever saw me listening to a sexy read on audiobook. What an experience for the both of us! Don’t let this cover fool you, this book is too hot to trot and I’m still quaking. For my first Tessa Bailey read, it hit the ball right out of the park!

We follow two main characters who grew up in the same small town together. But after five years have past, one of them returns home, they both realize that maybe you just need someone who really believes in you to make a brighter, happier future.

⚾ Georgette Castle – 23-year-old clown, an actual birthday party clown, and the youngest or “the baby” in her whole family, and you better believe that they have no problem letting her know they never take her seriously.

⚾ Travis Ford – 28-year-old, who’s newly retired professional baseball player, due to an injury. But after moving back to his hometown, he’s struggling now more than ever.

Both Georgie and Travis want to be taken seriously by everyone around them. So the two of them come together to strike up an agreement, a friendship agreement, that start with a few meals, some deep cleaning, and one broken fireplace. But all of these things can lead to so much more and soon a fake-dating act is sprung! Travis wants to look more wholesome so he can land a job that brings him back to baseball. While Georgie wants everyone to see her as more than the comedic relief.

“We’re not about cutting people out of our lives. 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.”

And of course, sex is completely out of the question especially once Travis finds out she’s a virgin. Sparks fly, it becomes hard to keep hands to themselves, yet Travis doesn’t want to be the stepping stone to Georgie’s sexual awakening. Meanwhile, Georgie knows she’s different from Travis, wants different things, things Travis doesn’t want to give her. All of this mixed together, I was on cloud-nine, from the angst all the way to watching the chemistry ignites flames between these two characters. Watching these two figure out their attraction and discovering how strong their pull was to one another, absolutely priceless!

Let me just say, I was screaming for every time Travis would say ‘babygirl.’ Most people would find it very cringey with how often it was said, but I was living for it. The entire time I was constantly reminded of Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds and how deep their connection is. It also made me super soft because my own partner uses that nickname to show endearment. So I was wrapped in some deep feelings and felt my own little flame in my chest burn while reading this book.

“You . . . accept me. Exactly as I am. But you still change me for the better.”

Overall, I can understand why many readers had issues with this book. I see you, your opinions are valid. However, this book was perfection and this was something that I ultimately needed to help bring a little light back into my life, right now. I loved the dirty talk, I loved reading how both characters viewed one another, and the fake-dating was so good! This was my very first Tessa Bailey, gotta say, color me impressed because now I need to read more by her. I have no idea why I put this off for so long!

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