Amy Sparling, $0.99, ISBN 979-8201823733
Contemporary Romance, 2021
In Amy Sparling’s Julie and the Fixer Upper, our heroine Julie Baskins is moving to this lake house that she has rented for both breakup get-over-it R&R and writing the next few books in her new bestselling hard-boiled detective series.
She used to be a romance novelist, but the muse dried up once she discovered her ex being a no-good cheating SOB. Luckily, she has a second wind of a writing career, and she’s going to make the most out of it when…
Hold it. A douchebag is still staying at that place! Okay, he’s hot, which is a good thing, as he would only be a real creep had he been fat and ugly and still acting the way he is.
Max is the guy fixing up the place, and naturally he can’t move out until he’s done. When Julie calls the landlord, the lady just goes all “LOLOL! This is a funny mistake. You don’t want me to refund your deposit? Okay, I have better things to do, so I’m hanging up no—!” because she’s from the South or something.
So, she and he have to stay in the house together, and she hates him until she realizes that he’s hot and she can’t help wanting so bad to have a go at him, oh, and she also realizes that he’s funny and… well, let her explain it.
I want to hate him, but he’s funny and kind and he eats salads like some kind of weirdo who cares about his health. All these good qualities are starting to topple over the wall of hatred I’d built up in my heart, the wall that tells me I hate men and I won’t ever be friends with them.
That’s not her horny goggles at work, of course. She’d still feel the same way had he looked like the offspring of Jabba the Hut and some poor captive human slave, I’m sure.
Now, I really like this one. It’s a really fun story with bubbling dialogues, humor that doesn’t scream “Look at me! I’m SO FUNNY haw, haw, SNORT!” right at my face, and there is a nice chemistry going on between those two.
It’s a short story, but it feels like a complete, enjoyable little episode that doesn’t leave me wanting to read more to get the full picture. The pacing is fine, the heroine’s first person narration only makes her an adorable creature with enough self-awareness and humor to make her a likable protagonist, and the whole thing is a really cute read.
Still, I’m not convinced that this romance would happen had Max had a beer gut, looked like Richard Simmons, and weighed 400 pounds. Some of the things he does in this story would drive loony women to make rant-filled TikTok clips about their horrible experience with such a man and hope that their rant “would help other women that are going through the same traumatic dating experience” had he looked like that!
Nonetheless, I’m pretty happy I read this thing.
No, really, I feel so much lighter and the day seems tad brighter after I’m done with this, so I have to say that the author has done some sneaky magic here on me.
So, this thing is fun and it puts a big smile on my face, even if it’s just a pretty artificial romance all things considered. I can’t ask for more from this short story—it’s just feels right the way it is.
