THE FIXER UPPER

In Forsythe’s debut, a woman starts a business “fixing up” hapless men for their frustrated partners, but things get complicated when her former best friend becomes a client.

Aly Aresti didn’t grow up with a perfect model of romantic love—her parents’ relationship was rocky, and she often found herself being the one to console or encourage her mother as her father flitted in and out of their lives. As she gets older, she finds herself devoting her energy to helping her boyfriends recognize their true potential—pushing them to dress better, attend classes, and find better jobs. Even at work, Aly can’t help spending her time mentoring younger employees instead of focusing on her own work. As a result, her ex-boyfriends all become vastly more successful after receiving a push from her, and her colleagues are succeeding while she can’t get the promotion she so desperately wants. Together with her work friends, Tola and Eric, Aly starts a side hustle called The Fixer Upper. Together, they’ll work with women who wish their partners were slightly more—more focused on work, more involved in parenting, more invested in personal hygiene. Aly’s track record is so great that eventually she gets hired by a social media influencer and reality TV star named Nicki, who needs help motivating her app developer boyfriend to level up in his career—and propose. It would be a great gig—if Nicki's boyfriend, Dylan James, didn’t happen to be Aly’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t spoken to since they had a disastrous kiss as teenagers. Now, she has to help Nicki turn Dylan into someone Aly isn’t sure he wants to be—and Aly realizes that her feelings for Dylan never really went away. Aly and Dylan never have quite enough chemistry for the reader to get fully invested in their relationship, and many of the plot points feel a bit far-fetched. However, Aly’s desire to stop being a people-pleaser and start working on herself is relatable, and her journey to personal fulfillment follows a satisfying arc.

A pleasant, if sometimes slightly unbelievable, look at the importance of taking responsibility for your own happiness.