Helpful Score: 5
Mary Kay Andrews is an absolute dream writer! She writes books that you can't put down! I'm reading her books as my kids are crying for food and my ears don't hear anything because I'm so wrapped up in her stories, so beware may be a danger to parenting :) Seriously, this is a great book my second favorite of hers, Hissy Fit comes in first! The Fixer Upper is about a woman who has lost her job and goes to fix up her dad's inherited home. It is a delightful read! I love HG TV and I love reading so this combines two of my favorite things! Mary Kay Andrews is the queen of Southern chick lit! I LUV her!
Helpful Score: 5
Smart, funny and engaging read. Sit back and enjoy Dempsey's attempts to fix her life and the house her father inherited. Great story and wonderful characters (especially Ella Kate). So many of my favorite authors have disappointed me with the books published this year. Thank you, Ms. Andrews, for a terrific read! Highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 3
Dempsey Killibrew has worked as a lobbyist for a very short time when a political scandal breaks and she finds herself without a job, broke and homeless. Her father comes up with the perfect solution, he has just inherited a house in Gurthrie, Georgia, that the lawyer assures him that with a TLC the house will sell for much more than it's current appraisal. He convinces Dempsey to get out of Washington and head to Georgia to give the house a good cleaning and a little paint and he'd split the profits with her.
Well when Dempsey get to the small town and sees the house she knows it a much bigger job than she ever imagined, plus she has inherited a 79 year old "mean old lady" and her dog as part of the deal. She also realizes that small town life is much different from anything she has ever experienced. Everyone knows everything about everybody.
She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work trying to return the house to the beautiful home it once was only to have the FBI come calling trying to pin the whole Washington scandal on her. We see a totally new Dempsey emerge as the story continues.
The was a very enjoyable story as are all of Mary Kay Andrews sagas. It's the kind of story that even after the last page is read you want to know more, after the crisis is over what happens to all the characters. You become so involved in the story, the family feels so real.
http://dollycas.blogspot.com/
Well when Dempsey get to the small town and sees the house she knows it a much bigger job than she ever imagined, plus she has inherited a 79 year old "mean old lady" and her dog as part of the deal. She also realizes that small town life is much different from anything she has ever experienced. Everyone knows everything about everybody.
She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work trying to return the house to the beautiful home it once was only to have the FBI come calling trying to pin the whole Washington scandal on her. We see a totally new Dempsey emerge as the story continues.
The was a very enjoyable story as are all of Mary Kay Andrews sagas. It's the kind of story that even after the last page is read you want to know more, after the crisis is over what happens to all the characters. You become so involved in the story, the family feels so real.
http://dollycas.blogspot.com/
Helpful Score: 1
This was my first MKA book, and it will not be my last. Actually, since i've read The Fixer Upper i've read 2 others by MKA.
Call your friends, call your cousins, call your friends and tell them to read this book
Call your friends, call your cousins, call your friends and tell them to read this book
Helpful Score: 1
Good characters and decently interesting plot but the language and style are much too crass for me and the message is not terribly edifying. The house fixing goes unrealistically smoothly. I gave two stars for Dempsey's relationship with the best character in the book - grumpy,elderly distant cousin Ella Kate. This thread in the book shows MKA's talent. But I wouldn't pass this one on to a friend.
Another good read by Mary Kay Andrews.
This book was hard to put down. The characters were easy to fall in love with.
Great book. As with all books by Mary Kay Andrews, you feel drawn into the characters' lives right from the start. I couldn't put it down once I started reading. I found myself wanting to fix up an old house just like Dempsey! I love all of her books, but this one does have some of the same elements of the others that are just a little too "coincidental." Everything always falls into place and there is always exactly what the main character needs right there waiting for her. All in all, though, very entertaining read.
Another Southern location for Mary Kay Andrews. This one involves a little politics and house flipping as a cure for trying to forget your problems. The author lets us know its hard work to fix a house up but not everyone gets an expert to guide a novice in the right direction. But this is still an entertaining book which is why it gets 4stars.
This is not as good as MKA other books. There are a lot of inconsistencies and errors. I'm disappointed.
What a good book!! I can not remember on what blog I found this book - but thank you to whomever you were, such a great read!!
The highlights of the book were A. The main character starts in Alexandria, where I currently live and ends up in GA right near where the boys parents live. B. What great writing that made it absolutely hard to set it down after my lunch hour was clearly over!! C. A good solid story with great characters that kept the story believable.
I have read some reviews that did not believe that this girl coming from a law/public relations background could easily adopt the handyman talents she did. WELP to that I say she didn't she had a fantastic handyman beside her that taught her everything in the book. As this being the only negative I read about this book, I say negative no more!
I can not say enough good things about this book. I don't want to send out any spoilers, but I want to recommend it to all my ladies who read women's fiction/chick lit. I think this book can entertain both crowds.
The highlights of the book were A. The main character starts in Alexandria, where I currently live and ends up in GA right near where the boys parents live. B. What great writing that made it absolutely hard to set it down after my lunch hour was clearly over!! C. A good solid story with great characters that kept the story believable.
I have read some reviews that did not believe that this girl coming from a law/public relations background could easily adopt the handyman talents she did. WELP to that I say she didn't she had a fantastic handyman beside her that taught her everything in the book. As this being the only negative I read about this book, I say negative no more!
I can not say enough good things about this book. I don't want to send out any spoilers, but I want to recommend it to all my ladies who read women's fiction/chick lit. I think this book can entertain both crowds.
Such a sweet book. I think some of the resolutions are extremely simplified but I love the cast of characters and would love it if she wrote another book about them. It's a quick and easy read.
I Loved this story. A top D.C. Lobbist is being framed by her Boss. With No money and no job her Dad talks her into going to the old family home in a little town in Ga. to fix it up to sell."Only needs a little paint"so he tells her. When she gets there she find it in very different cond. and a old aunt has also taken up residence and isn't going anywhere.
A light romantic and heart warming novel which has an underlying theme that gives the book a little more depth. A good fun read to take along on your vacation.
Ordinary plot. Unlikely ending. Still a fun, quick, and easy well-written summer read. Recipes at the end are tempting.
I loved this book! I would highly recommend all of Mary Kay Andrews' books.
Her best since "Hissy Fit"!
Another winner.
I love all of Mary Kay Andrew's books and this one does not disappoint. Sassy Dempsey is just what the little town of Guthrie needs!
So painfully inane. I can't believe a 28 yr old Georgetown grad lawyer can be so whiny and ignorant. FBI confiscates her hard drive on suspicion of corruption and she whines that her friend's emails about a late period are on it. She inherits a house and won't stand up to the dog-siccin', shotgun brandishing squatter, even when assaulted with a broom...even pays said squatter for the coffee and tomato soup she used. And her former boss throws her under the bus to the grand jury and she whines that she needs him and he won't take her calls. The Washington Post calls her every kind of criminal and she still didn't think she just may need a lawyer. My 12 yr old has more sense and a far-sight more backbone. And don't even try to make sense of the FBI procedures. Laughable.
