Guest Post from Kelli A Wilkins, Author of Miss Dangerous Indenture

 

Like Feisty Irish Heroines? Don’t Miss Dangerous Indenture

A Historical/Mystery-Romance

By Kelli A. Wilkins

www.KelliWilkins.com

Hi everyone,

 Imagine this scenario: a young woman moves to a new town to work for a family. She is on her own and has to adjust to her employer’s rules while adapting to life in a new environment. After she arrives, she discovers the job isn’t exactly what she thought it would be and realizes she has gotten herself into a troubling situation. All seems lost until she meets a handsome young man…

This premise could be the basis of any number of romances: a Victorian-era story about a governess moving to a remote estate, a contemporary tale about a physical therapist or teacher relocating across the country, or, in the case of my historical romance, Dangerous Indenture, an Irish indentured servant leaving everything behind to start a new life.

Dangerous Indenture is set in Pennsylvania Colony and blends a sensual romance with mystery and suspense. Right from the start, readers (and the heroine, Shauna) are warned about Stewart House: “It’s got more haunts than the Tower of London.”

Here’s the book summary and links:

DANGEROUS INDENTURE

Indentured for five years… how long can Shauna resist her master’s son?

Desperate to escape her past in Ireland, Shauna Farrow signs on to become an indentured servant to Joshua Stewart, a wealthy man in Pennsylvania Colony. But a life of servitude quickly turns to drudgery, and Shauna’s hopes for starting over and creating a better life for herself are waning—until she meets her master’s roguish son, Ashton.

Ashton needs to redeem himself in his father’s eyes and earn the respect he has always longed for. Meeting Shauna turns his life around, and he sets out to win her heart. Torn between propriety and passion, Shauna struggles against her growing attraction to Ashton as long as she can.

But amidst their flirting, something dark stirs. Shauna soon discovers why no other servants wanted to work for the strange Stewart family.

Stewart House has an unsavory reputation: a previous servant died there under mysterious circumstances. When another servant goes missing in the middle of the night, Shauna is convinced that a member of the family is responsible.

Shauna’s investigation leads her close to the truth, and yet, she’s not sure who she can trust. Events take a deadly turn when she confronts the murderer and discovers the mystery of the Stewart family. 

 

Will Shauna be rescued before time runs out, or will she meet with the same fate as the other servants? 

Order your copy here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PJVQ7XJ

All other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/3JyROP

Read 5-star reviews here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/dangerous-indenture

***

When I wrote the book, I wanted to evoke a sense of danger and mystery around every corner. This wasn’t going to be a typical romance with the hero and heroine from different classes falling in love and having a forbidden affair. Nope.

The romance is almost a sub-plot of the book, and when the story begins, finding love is the last thing on Shauna’s mind. She’s more concerned about doing a good job than getting involved with Ashton (even if he is handsome).

I liked creating the incredibly dysfunctional members of the Stewart family. They all have secrets and practically have dual personalities. Joshua (the patriarch) is a big bear of a man who comes across as gruff and insensitive, yet at times can be caring. Colin (Joshua’s son) appears to be a respectable married businessman, but underneath his proper exterior lurks a dark and dangerous manipulator (among other things).

Colin’s beleaguered wife,Minerva, is mentally unstable and trapped ina terrible marriage. Readers and the other characters in the story aren’t sure if she’s truly mad or not. And she might be a murderess…

Our hero, Ashton Bailey, is flawed and has a lot of problems to overcome. For starters, he’s the black sheep of the family and has been sent home in disgrace. He drinks too much, womanizes too much, and has nearly given up on life. He’s a failure in his father’s eyes and wants to redeem himself, but isn’t sure how. Ashton knows that Stewart House is a terrible place and vows to protect Shauna while she’s working there.

This cast of characters and their interactions (fighting, name-calling, secrets, and lies)carry the plot. Everyone has an agenda, and readers learn that not everyone is telling the truth… or is exactly what they seem. Ashton wants to become respectable, Colin wants him disowned, Minerva wants Shauna gone, Shauna wants to stay out of trouble, and Joshua just wants some peace.

Writing the twists and turns of the mystery was a lot of fun. When the new servant, Lila, goes missing in the middle of the night, Shauna is convinced someone in the house killed her. But who?Shauna is a clever amateur sleuth, and when she starts to solve the mystery, she realizes that she’s in danger.

The book has a“Dark Shadows” feel to it. A mysterious house, a strange family, everyone has secrets… In fact, several of the character names in the book (Colin, Joshua, and Minerva) appeared inthe original “Dark Shadows”series.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the making of Dangerous Indenture.I welcome comments and questions from readers. Be sure to follow my blog for the latest updates and visit me on social media.

Happy Reading,                                                   

Kelli A. Wilkins

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has published more than 100 short stories, 24 romance novels, and 9 mystery/thriller/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and she likes to scare readers with her horror, mystery, and thriller fiction.

Her latest book, The Route 9 Stalker, was published in January 2026. This mystery/thriller is set in Central NJ and follows Detective Jim Rourke on a disturbing new case. Meet him for the first time in The Route 9 Killer.

Kelli’s 24th romance, For Love’s Sake, an epic historical/fantasy romantic adventure, was published in 2025.

​

In 2024, she released Surreal Escapes, a collection of 7 speculative/spooky stories. Anything can—and does—happen in this anthology.

Follow Kelli on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins and visit her website/blog www.KelliWilkins.com for a full title list, social media links, and more.

 

Spotlight for The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble

 

The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble

Published:  March 3, 2026 by William Morrow Paperbacks

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Books about Books

Taken from Goodreads:  A thrilling and timely historical novel of books, banning, and the women who helped save New York’s famed Book Row, from bestselling author Shelley Noble.

1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of forty bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain. It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history—Anthony Comstock.

And home to three sisters who vow to stop him.

For the three Applebaum sisters, the narrow, four-storied Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known. Olivia, the oldest, is an expert in restoring rare manuscripts. Daphne, the outgoing middle sister, oversees the retail shop and is a favorite with their customers. Celia, the youngest, is left to dust and catalogue, but often sneaks out to do heaven knows what. Little do her sisters know, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints, and sewing patterns, despite the personal risk.

Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications. Even classic literature or fine art could send a person to jail. In the face of such oppression, Celia and the booksellers of Book Row band together. But secrets and a mysterious stranger mean the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on  Amazon

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :  Shelley Noble is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Whisper Beach, Beach Colors, and The Tiffany Girls, the story of the largely unknown women artists responsible for much of Tiffany’s legendary glasswork, as well as several historical mysteries. A former professor, professional dancer and choreographer, she now lives in New Jersey halfway between the shore, where she loves visiting lighthouses and vintage carousels, and New York City, where she delights in the architecture, the theatre, and ferreting out the old stories behind the new. Shelley is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Historical Novel Society.

Spotlight for New Harmony: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss by Leon E. Pettiway

New Harmony: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss by Leon E. Pettiway

Published:  November 26, 2025 by Meishin Press

Nestled in the quiet beauty of New Harmony, South Carolina, Margaret comes of age in a world defined by the unspoken rules of the Jim Crow South. As a young girl, she learns what it means to be both Black and female in a society determined to confine her. As a mother, she discovers that love can be both a shield and a vulnerability.

When the murder of her son shatters her family, grief settles into every corner of her life. What follows is not a story of spectacle, but of reckoning. Through memory, faith, and the sustaining presence of community, Margaret must find a way to carry the weight of loss without losing herself. Rooted in Southern history and shaped by generational memory, this novel offers an intimate portrait of motherhood, endurance, and the fragile threads that bind families together.

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3NN680i

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/244474540-new-harmony

Leon E. Pettiway, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington, where his scholarship focused on race, environment, and criminal justice in urban America. Over the course of his academic career, he examined how structural inequality shapes lived experience and social outcomes. In later years, his work expanded to explore how Eastern and Western philosophical traditions might inform conversations about justice and morality. A fully ordained Buddhist monk in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, he now devotes his time to spiritual practice, teaching, and writing. New Harmony: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss is his debut novel.  You can learn more on his website and follow him on Instagram.

Book Review for The Woman and Her Stars by Penny Haw

 

The Woman and Her Stars by Penny Haw

Published:   March 3, 2026 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Genre:  Historical Fiction, British Literature         

    

Taken from Goodreads:  She must find her own place amongst the stars.

Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself – one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes. But when her brother becomes obsessed with sweeping the heavens, everything changes.

Newly appointed as the King's Astronomer, William is rushed away from the bustling streets of Bath to the quiet countryside of Windsor. When Caroline makes a discovery that could send her right back to the people she was rescued from, she has no choice but to leave her carefully constructed life and follow her brother. Taking up the position as William's assistant, Caroline resolves to learn everything she can about astronomy. But the more she understands, the more she falls in love with her telescope, and soon, she discovers that she might be good at the science, great, even, and that the stars could offer her the freedom she's always secretly wanted. When it’s clear that Caroline is just as much the astronomer as her brother, she realizes she must break free from the life she has lived and find her own place in the night sky.

Based on the true story of Caroline Herschel, The Woman and Her Stars shines a light on a woman who was raised to believe she was worth nothing more than to serve others, but whose genius and resolve made her one of the world’s leading astronomers. An awe-inspiring story set within the societal boundaries of the Georgian era, it’s a hopeful journey of self-discovery, familial bonds, and passion.

 

My Thoughts:  I love a strong female character.   Caroline Herschel is just that.    She grows up only wanting to stay with her brother William and not be forced to go back to her mother.  William treats her as an intelligent woman, giving her the skills to work along side him.  It is a time when woman are not thought to be smart but she is recognized as a talented singer and eventually an astronomer. I felt that the biggest obstacle was herself, she struggled to accept herself as someone who was more than just the assistant. 

Some of the stargazing was beyond what I was looking for while reading the book but I truly enjoyed the family dynamics, the strength of Caroline’s knowledge, and the protection that William gave her.    William protected her from society and family but held her back, unintentionally, within her own knowledge.   She deferred to him and let him guide her even when there were times that she had more knowledge than he did.   The best parts of the book are when she discovered or realized something new and showed her excitement in being the one to find it. 

The Woman and Her Stars is a historical British fiction book.  I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the settings.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon

 

Meet the Author (taken fromher website):  I am a writer. Previously, of articles and columns for newspapers and magazines. I’ve written for Business Day, Sunday Times, Financial Mail, Sunday Independent, The Weekender and many others I’ve forgotten and you might not recognise.

Now, I am the author of books featuring strong, interesting and independent women. My writing also illustrates my love for animals and the outdoors, and explores the interconnectedness of all living things.

Early in 2024, I was honoured to receive the 2024 Philida Literary Award.  The award celebrates the life of renowned South African author, André Brink and is presented annually to a writer mid-career for an oeuvre of between three to five books of any genre.

My debut historical fiction, The Invincible Miss Cust tells the story of Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon, Aleen Cust. Find it at a bookstore near you here or order it online here. My second work of historical fiction, The Woman at the Wheel is based on the life of Bertha Benz, wife of the ‘Father of the Automobile’, Carl Benz. You can order it here.

Follow Me to Africa is inspired by the life of distinguished paleoanthropologist, Mary Leakey. Order it from a bookstore near you here or order it online here. My fourth work of biographical historical fiction, The Woman and Her Stars is about the world’s first paid woman astronomer, Caroline Herschel. It will be released on March 3, 2026 and can be pre-ordered here.

My first book, Nicko—The Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm is a children’s book, which was published in 2017. My inaugural novel for adults, The Wilderness Between Us was published by Köehler Books in 2021 and is available in all formats on Amazon here. You can locate it via Indie Bound here and find out more about it on Goodreads here.

In South Africa, as part of a distribution agreement with KaravanPress, wholesale/trade orders of The Wilderness Between Us and Nicko can be made from Booksite Afrika on (021) 950 5900. The Invincible Miss Cust, The Woman at the Wheel, Follow Me to Africa and The Woman and Her Stars are distributed in South Africa by PenguinRandom House South Africa.

I live on the slopes of a mountain near the sea not far from Cape Town in South Africa, where I walk my dogs with my husband, run and read when I’m not at my keyboard. You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Available Now!! A Thousand Perfect Lies by Monica Murphy

 

A Thousand Perfect Lies by Monica Murphy is now live! Secrets don’t die. They just transfer schools. New York native Billie Vale arrives at Wickham Academy, England’s most elite boarding school, with a forged identity as Belinda Winters and one mission: clear her sister’s name. Isla lies in a coma, accused of killing her best friend. Billie has one shot to uncover the truth in a school built on privilege and deception. Succeed, and her estranged father will finally help her mother. Fail, and it will tear what’s left of her family apart. But Wickham’s secrets run deep, and not everyone wants them exposed. The school’s golden prince and its brooding outcast both seem to know more than they’ll admit—and both have reasons to keep Billie close. As she digs into the lies that built Wickham’s empire, she discovers that loyalty is just another currency, every hallway hides a motive, and everyone here protects their own at any cost. But someone at Wickham knows what really happened… And they’ll bury Billie before they let her find out. Perfect for readers who loved the dark social hierarchies of Gossip Girl and the twisty, secret-laden tension of One of Us Is Lying, A Thousand Perfect Lies delivers prep-school glamour, sisterly redemption, and a mystery that turns privilege into peril. Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo! Amazon: https://bit.ly/4sLPBtj Apple Books: https://bit.ly/4pRaKzI Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/49AXMRW Kobo: https://bit.ly/4sWuLYs Purchase the deluxe limited edition hardcover today! Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aQadZn Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/4kTF2Rr Books A Million: https://bit.ly/49HpxZ7 Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3NunaQB Target: https://bit.ly/3ZpQsCu Walmart: https://bit.ly/3Lrlsip Don't miss out on the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run in the U.S. and Canada only, a must-have for any book lover. Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4qxEDpJ

Book Review for To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

 

Divided Fates #1

To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast

Published:  March 3, 2026 by Avon

Genre:  Dystopian, Romantasy

Taken from Goodreads:  Enter the brutal world of Endlock, a prison where the wealthy hunt the inmates for sport. The first novel in an electrifying dystopian romance series, this high-octane debut about forbidden love, found family, and a fight for survival will leave you breathless.

In the city of Dividium, the law is simple: commit a crime, and your punishment is a life sentence in Endlock.

Raven Thorne is Dividium’s most notorious bounty hunter, living on the edge of society. But when her younger brother, Jed, is sentenced to Endlock, Raven will do anything to save him—even if it means getting herself arrested.

Now trapped in a prison where danger lurks around every corner, Raven must use all her cunning and strength to protect Jed—and herself if she is to complete her perilous mission. But there’s one obstacle she never expected: the prison guard who stirs something deep inside her. The man she should hate. The man whose true motives seem impossible to pin down.

In a world where trust is a weapon and love is a liability, Raven must decide if she will risk everything to tear down a vicious system.

My Thoughts:  A debut dystopian novel… I could not wait to sink my teeth into this story.  At no point was I disappointed.   From the very beginning I was invested in the storyline and the characters.   The author did something amazing; she caught me from the first paragraph and never let me go.   This is the perfect book, and I am excited to see what she writes next. 

To Cage a Wild Bird felt like a YA book with the ending not being a cliffhanger but leaving it open for potentially more to come.   I loved the YA vibes, even better with the spicy parts sprinkled within the story.   The relationships and friendships between the characters made them relatable, making it easy to cheer them on.

I loved this book and cannot wait to talk about it with my fellow dystopian readers.

Thank you Avon for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Brooke Fast is a lover of dystopian, fantasy, and all things romance. When she’s not writing new worlds, you can find her curled up on the couch with her husband and their pups in their self-built tiny house in the mountains of Maine. She’ll either be consuming copious amounts of coffee and thumbing through the latest romantasy release or sharing book reviews and writing snippets under her alter-ego, @librarybrookes. To Cage a Wild Bird is her first novel.

 

Book Review for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT By Erich Maria Remarque Translated by Maria Tatar; Foreword by Samantha Power

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT By Erich Maria Remarque Translated by Maria Tatar; Foreword by Samantha Power Penguin Classics Hardcover On Sale: March 31, 2026

Taken from Goodreads:  One by one the boys begin to fall…

In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the ‘glorious war’. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young ‘unknown soldier’ experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.

 

My Thoughts:  All Quiet on the Western Front is a war story.   While reading I felt like I was alongside the boys fighting the war.  There is graphic details that brought to life the horrors that the soldiers saw and lived through. 

 

The story is a real look at life as a soldier.  Everything from the front line fighting, the friendships that were developed, the injuries received, and the visits home were shared with first hand knowledge.   There is so much more to this book.  I had tears in my eyes during many scenes, smiles for the friendships and laughs, and fear for all that the soldiers were experiencing.  

 

All Quiet on the Western Front is an amazing book.  A story that is almost 100 years old but unchanging as it is the true story of a German Soldier.

 

Thank you Penguin Classics for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) wrote his most famous novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, based on his experience as a soldier in the German army in World War I; it became an instant bestseller upon its publication in 1929. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they burned his books and, in 1938, revoked his citizenship. Remarque had already resettled in Switzerland; in 1939 he left Europe for the United States, never to return to the country of his birth. All Quiet on the Western Front has been translated into more than fifty languages and adapted into three acclaimed movies. It is the most widely read novel of World War I.

Maria Tatar (translator) is the John L. Loeb Research Professor of Folklore & Mythology and Germanic Languages & Literatures, Emerita, and a senior fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. She is the author, editor, and translator of many acclaimed books, among them The Heroine with 1001 Faces, Lustmord: Sexual Violence in Weimar Germany, and, with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the NAACP Image Award–winning Annotated African American Folktales. She served as Harvard’s first Dean for the Humanities and is a frequent contributor to the BBC, NPR, and other media outlets. Born in Pressath, Germany, and raised in Illinois, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Samantha Power (foreword) is the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning book “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide and the New York Times bestselling memoir The Education of an Idealist. A former war correspondent, she served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and a member of President Obama’s cabinet, and is a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School.

 

PRAISE FOR ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT:
“[A] gripping new translation . . . Human fallibility almost guarantees that All Quiet on the Western Front will be read generations from now. But with more conflict occurring now than at any time since the end of the Cold War, with global tensions among the superpowers rising, and with entire media ecosystems armed for informational warfare and demonization, we can be grateful that this new translation will help shape the moral architecture of future generations—driving home the urgent necessity of seeing our common humanity despite all that stands in the way.” —Samantha Power, from the Foreword

Spotlight for Then There Was You by S.L. Scott

Then There Was You by S.L. Scott

Publish date is March 27, 2026

I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to smile, to laugh, and to really live. Until I met him.

Heart-stoppingly handsome.

Totally forbidden.

Keats Matthews looked at me like I was something special.

He was escaping his past. I wanted to escape my present. Together, we fell hard and fast and knew we had found forever. Or so we thought …

Six years later, his shoulders are broader than I remembered, his charming smile thaws my frozen heart, and it’s so tempting to run my fingers through his hair like I did years ago. But it’s the tenderness and warmth in his brown eyes that remind me of the forever we almost shared.

It’s magic when we’re together again. Our chemistry has only magnified. Seeing him, confident and more irresistible than ever, has me falling for him all over again and hoping for a second chance.

But he still believes our timing was off before. He’s wrong. It was the secret I kept hidden that was our undoing. Time hasn’t healed old wounds, and not everything hidden has come to light. When it does, we’ll stand together or fall apart. Either way, we must find out.

Add to Goodreads

Pre-order on Amazon

 

GET SOCIAL w/ S.L. Scott Follow: Website - Facebook - Instagram - TikTok

Cover Reveal for Marked by the Alpha by Sheritta Bitikofer

 

Marked by the Alpha
Sheritta Bitikofer
Publication date: June 11th 2026
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

An alpha with a storied legacy. An independent woman rebuilding after grief. Forbidden desire—for only one is human….

After her mother’s death, photographer Erica Barrett, buys a home she and her mother obsessed over during her childhood in the quaintly historical town of Tolstone. Her magnetic next door neighbor intrigues and disturbs her. The sensual pull feels otherworldly.

Wolf shifter Dominic Beaumont never wanted to be the prime alpha of the sanctuary city, Tolstone, but when his father dies, he’s forced to step up as pack leader and prime alpha over all the wolf packs sheltering in his town. Erica’s arrival is dangerous. The attraction is fierce and instant, but duty comes first.

When revelations about Erica’s past and parentage create chaos, and she questions everything she thought she knew about herself, Dominic is her strength. But as tension builds in the pack, and his leadership is challenged, love becomes a risk that could cost him his authority, his people, and everything he’s sworn to protect.

Perfect for readers craving illicit wolf-shifter romance filled with fate, secrets, rebellion and an alpha willing to risk everything for love.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

Author Bio:

Sheritta Bitikofer writes paranormal romance with a particular fondness for wolf shifters and witches. Her stories are driven by one guiding belief: love inspires courage. Through fierce romances, unbreakable pack bonds, and the magic of covens and family, her characters fight for the lives—and loves—they deserve. Sheritta lives in northwest Florida, where she drinks far too much coffee and joyfully balances life as a wife and mother while crafting her next heartfelt paranormal love story.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Newsletter

—

Book Review for The Fix Up by Marina Adair

 The Fix Up by Marina Adair

Published:   February 26, 2026

Genre:  Sports Romance, Matchmaker

Taken from Goodreads:  Poppy Hart is one viral project away from hitting a million followers when she inherits a crumbling Mid Century Modern house in the Hollywood Hills—every DIYer’s dream. Even better, her eccentric Aunt Opal pulls strings to land her a full-production renovation show. The downside? The contractor is none other than Decker “Drill ’Em Hard” Jamison, former NHL legend, current shirtless menace, and the man Poppy once shared the most catastrophic blind date in the history of blind dates with. Walking away isn’t an option—not when this show could change her life and Opal is the only person who’s never abandoned her.

Decker isn’t exactly thrilled either. After a career-ending injury and one very unfortunate neon-orange-thong scandal, he needs a PR miracle, not six weeks trapped with a judgmental, freckled DIY princess who thinks a good time is alphabetizing paint samples. Still, the contract is signed, the cameras are rolling, and neither of them knows the the “renovation show” is actually Opal’s secret matchmaking experiment, and Poppy and Decker are her final, most chaotic test subjects. Soon they’re drowning in viewer-dictated challenges, mysterious house mishaps, and a rescue dog with better instincts than either of them—while the sparks they swore they’d never feel again start burning dangerously close.

But when the truth about the show explodes—on camera—trust fractures, loyalties snap, and Poppy is left wondering why being abandoned by Decker hurts worse than anything before. The only way to fix what’s broken is for both of them to take the biggest risk of telling the truth, choosing each other, and betting that sometimes the real love experiment isn’t filmed for television—it's the one that changes your life for good.

My Thoughts:  The Fix Up is an easy and quick read.   The story flows pretty much as expected.   There were a few little twists but nothing that shook up the story so much that I did not see it coming.   This is a book that goes as expected with relatable characters, a flirty storyline, and the HEA that is expected.

I enjoyed the secondary characters.   Decker’s brother and nephew add a great look at his home life.   The nephew is only 18 but had a very adult outlook on life, giving advice to his uncle.  Opal, Poppy’s aunt, is very unique and made me giggle a few times with her antics. 

Thank you Hambright PR for a copy of the book via BookFunnel in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon

Meet the Author (taken from her website):  Marina Adair is a New York Times author whose fun, flirty contemporary romances have sold over a million copies. She has hit #1 overall in Amazon Kindle Paid and her St. Helena Vineyard series was optioned and made into the original Hallmark Channel Vineyard movies: Autumn in the Vineyard, Summer in the Vineyard, and Valentines in the Vineyard. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a MFA from San Jose University and currently lives in Northern California with her husband, daughter, and two neurotic cats.

GET SOCIAL w/ Marina Adair

Follow: Website - TikTok - Instagram - Facebook