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Jessica Walker had the perfect husband, the perfect son, the perfect life…until she realized it was all a lie. In the wake of her husband’s shocking infidelity, she knows only one thing: she has to start over. With her sister’s help, she buys a dilapidated lakeside mansion with the crazy idea of turning it into an inn. If she can survive the renovations – and the attention of her contractor – she just might succeed. At least, she hopes so. But when has anything ever been so simple?

Army Ranger turned contractor Chris Haley has big plans for the inn…and its owner. He’s never met anyone as cool, as blunt, as totally impossible…or absolutely beautiful as Jess. He’s been alone for too long, and he has a feeling she has too, even if she’s hiding behind a bitter exterior as damaged as her new house. When it comes to renovations, hearts aren’t so different from homes.

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First published November 18, 2013

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Lauren Gilley

68 books1,360 followers
Wrote some stuff.

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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Baba  .
858 reviews3,997 followers
October 9, 2015
1 obnoxious star. DNF @92%. Rant posted October 9, 2015

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Let me preface my rant by saying that I feel fucking entitled to all those f-bombs I will throw around in my rant. If that makes you uncomfortable, then I kindly suggest you take exit A. Now. Thank you. No hard feelings, I promise.

If you don't mind my freaked out behavior and you want to know why I was close to an aneurysm, then take a seat, pop the...er...popcorn, and listen to what I have to tell you about the Queen of Bitches.

At 89% I wanted to DNF because this fucking bitch drove me effin' bonkers!! Is this fucking bitch for real!?! Where in the hell does she take this gag-inducing entitlement and shows off this insanely stupid, obnoxious and frustrating attitude that's not going to lead anywhere? What.In.The.Actual.Fuck? Does she get off on this shit? I was on my way to work when she pulled another of her fucking bitch stunts, and I wanted to hurl my cell phone against the interior of the train. I was so fucking mad at this stubborn and cold bitch that I was close to tears! I swear I wanted to vomit all over her horribly self-righteous and cold attitude. Awful...there are no words to describe how fucking horrible this twat is! Does she think she's the only woman on earth who went through a bad break up? Does she think she's the only one whose hubs cheated on her? Then I advise her to fucking think again!!! OMFG!

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Congrats, Jess, you are in the final round of Bitch of the Year Award. *triple barf*

And don't you dare act like it's the burden of the millennium to explain to your son It's fucking ludicrous. I can't even! FYI, it's possible to talk about it without all your fucking drama Ilama.



"There's things more damaging than divorce," he said. "A lot worse. And kids can handle a lot more truth than most give them credit for."

Yep, Tam, you are right. Tam and Jo and Chris are the characters I actually liked. Maybe I'm going to read Tam and Jo's story someday.

Now this glorious and extended sample was among those very frustrating "highlights" of Fix You:


She had him, and he knew it, lips compressing into a tight white line. “I think you’re bipolar or something,” he said.
“If I am, it’s because I can’t take any more macho possessiveness. I do not belong to you; it’s not your job to find a solution for every problem I have.” She expected an outburst, but instead, he waxed thoughtful, brow furrowed, stroking at his goatee. “You know, I’m just the dumbass bachelor here, but I’m pretty sure you never had a damn clue what being married was supposed to be like.”
"Excuse me?"
"Your pussy little husband wasn't any kind of good husband at all, and you, sweetheart, have no goddamn clue what it's like to have a man."
Never in her life had she known anyone who she'd wanted to strike so often -- and he no less. She gritted her teeth. "Don't give me any more of that 'I'm the man' bullshit. I don't know how your stupid fat head even fits through the door!"
"This isn't ego talking," he continued. "Do you see your sister and her husband? Jordan and Ellie? Look at your brothers and sisters," he pressed. "When a man cares," he thumped his hand down on the edge of her desk, "when he really cares, he wants to do everything humanly possible to make his woman happy and safe. Do you not get that? Did Dylan suck so bad that you never figured it out?
"You think I like arguing with you?" he asked when she only blinked. "I hate it. But I have to, 'cause you're stubborn as all hell and you fight me about everything." His dark eyes were sharp, serious. "I'm here, Jess. Okay? I'm here. And you probably oughta be on a runway or a movie set somewhere and I'm just trying hard as I can to keep you around here, with me, because I don't want it any other way."


Hate is a strong word but I really hated Jess. I fucking despised her.

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*snort* And that's your fault because you after all. Argh.


"I don't now what things were like," she managed around the knot in her throat. "But this…this is not good."
"Well of course not. You offended the shit out of him."
"I don't really care if he's offended."


Or this…

"Don't feed me your optimistic bullshit; it doesn't look good on you."
Jo had the decency to look abashed. "I'm trying--"
"I know what you're trying to do," Jess said. "And it's not going to work. I'm
Her sister pulled a disgusted face. "Overdramatic much?"


Don't feed me that whore bullshit! You are being overly RIDICULOUS and MELODRAMATIC! *headdesk*

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BTW, they hardly cared You made your fucking bed, now you can fucking lie in it.


Chris curled his hands into fists on top of the table.

Good grief. I'm not a violent person, but I was ready to smack this bitch.


And this is the section where I decided I could not take it anymore. DNF @92% because Jess was a fucking nightmare. Horrible. Awful. Cold. Bitchy all the time. Just terrible. I can't stress enough how fucking livid I was!



Un-fucking-believable. What the fuck did this woman smoke? She She's a truly obnoxious creature. THE QUEEN OF MINDLESS DRAMAAAAAAAA.

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OTHER ISSUES

The repetitiveness

223 x smile, smiled, smiles

The quirks

As per usual, a fuckton of semi-colons.

As per usual, the word twitch

44 x twitch, twitched, twitching, twitchy

His mouth twitched, …
She twitched a smile and said, …
She twitched another apologetic smile…
…his eyebrows gave a little twitch.
…and his eyebrow did the twitch thing again.
This time the eyebrow twitch and smile were a package deal.


Seriously. *facepalm*

…caught the surprised smile that twitched up one corner of his mouth.
…his mouth twitched unhappily.
Jo twitched a strange little smile, then said,…
He twitched a grin.
His smile twitched in a guilty way.


etc.


Other things I didn't like

The soap opera drama Ilama.


The magical domino effect

The following revelation made me hit my head on my table. Jess is getting cheated on by her "marvelous hubs", and almost everyone in her family (she has brothers and sisters--I actually don't remember anymore how many, TBH) HAS MARITAL PROBLEMS. Hey, it's contagious. Awesome, right? So very original, right? And so logic, right? I mean…let's just add some more drama, just for shits and giggles. *facepalm* You know how it goes…it's really, really contagious. So let's add another facepalm. See? Easy-peasy.

Slut and kink shaming

I didn't like Dylan, but just because he cheated on Jess doesn't mean that he's a pervert because he's into kink.

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Also, I didn't get to know his new lover, so I can't really say anything about her, but she was suffering from slut shaming. Well, How convenient, right? This kink and slut shaming is so not ok at all. By the way, I don't know if Jess wasn't at fault too because when a couple divorces, there usually are several problems that have led to said divorce. It's common that both make mistakes.

Fix You was too cheesy and sappy for me.

There is plenty going on here and there are too many side characters and not enough focus on the main couple. The first 18% bored me to tears. The hero enters the "merry" picture at 19% which, clearly, was too late. Hmm…for his sake he should never have entered the picture in the first place. *Baba pets Chris*


Bottom line
I'm very sorry for Chris that he didn't find another woman. He deserved so much better. I know, nobody is flawless, not even Chris, but I really liked him. Although by the 92% mark, I did not care anymore if they would get their HEA because obnoxious Jess accomplished to poison and ruin the entire book for me. Frankly, I enjoyed Whatever Remains very much and Chris and Jess made a cameo which got me curious in the first place. This being said, I honestly wish I had never touched this HUGE PITA of a book that is Fix You. There is nothing to fix here. At all.

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READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.


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Profile Image for Bev .
2,227 reviews481 followers
August 21, 2017
This should have been another brilliant read in the Walker saga but sadly Jess ruined it for me. She was an intentional bitch, so unnecessarily nasty and cruel that she made me twitchy. We all have our off days and our inner bitch comes out ...... Jess has an off life. No joke!!

Thank goodness the rest of the Walkers got their cameos to break up the bitch fest, this saved the book because ... Jess. 'Nuff said!

3.5 all for the Walkers and Chris stars.
Profile Image for Michelle [Helen Geek].
1,775 reviews411 followers
July 14, 2016
07/10/2016 -- Reread this book and enjoyed it as much the second time. When I look at when I read it the first time and then now, less than a year. Yep .. I really like this author.

09/23/2015 -- Outstanding. I'm fast approaching the end of this author's backlist and hate that. I'm really enjoying her writing. This book was the best, so far, in the Walker Family series.

Immediately it grabbed me. The very first chapter is powerful. Any woman who has had the "cheater" husband or boyfriend, can appreciate the descriptive and absorbing emotions Jess experiences. So powerfully moving. It took me back to that place. It put me smack in the middle of that stomach churning anger. Who does that? This author does it masterfully. Truly amazing writing.

Toilet paper baby .. I'd read toilet paper if this author wrote something on it. I'm a fan for life.

This book stands alone - no problem. Saying this, you'll love the Walker family and will want to read them all. Don't have to, but you won't be able to resist.

Happy Reading!
2,091 reviews24 followers
June 1, 2018
So we come to the end of the series about the Walkers and what a journey it was.

the Walkers lived ordinary lives - the kind of non-exciting lives that they'd scorned as boys and girls - aunts, uncles, business owners but it was glorious and I loved every word this author wrote about them.

Book 3 brings is the story of Jessica Walker. Dumped by a husband who wanted to treat her like a dog, stick a collar around her neck and expect her to bow to his every needs but Jessica Beaumont (Walker) was not that kind of woman. After the discovery of a pair of black pants in her husbands coat, she made the decision to end her farce of a marriage and tossed him to the wind.

Jessica didnt think she deserved happiness -she needed fixing. She was wrong about one thing though. She's never needed fixing she just needed the chance to shine and the right man to do that and Chris Haley was that man.

Its been a long time that a series of books gripped me so much and kept me engaged the way that these have. I loved that I was able to read each book one straight after the other and each book had its own story to tell. I could wax lyrical about the writing of Lauren Gilley but I dont need to. Her stories say it all.


What is even better is that I am going straight onto the next series, The Russell's and I might just finish them before Book 4 in the Dartmoor series is released.
Profile Image for Emmy.
79 reviews
March 22, 2018
1st read, August 2017
2nd read, March 2018

"Second chances, it turned out, happened."


Real stories, real lives. Flawed, beautiful, strong, difficult, real characters and relationships. So real that it feels like you're standing right there, a voyeur, observing every fight, every kiss. So real you actually feel like you're the one discussing life choices, like you're the one being hugged by your loved ones. All topped off with the humor and comic timing worthy of a SNL performance. That's what this author creates. That's how good she is.

And I realize that it's fast becoming an addiction. Literally (haha). With each Gilley book I read, the more I want. And it's an addiction I never ever want to be rid of.
Profile Image for suzy.
827 reviews2 followers
February 28, 2016
Enjoyable read, sad that I've come to the end of the Walker novels, can't help but feel Jess was very cold, didnt like her at times. I enjoyed this story but I just absolutely loved book one and two more. We had a little of Jordan, Tam and Jo in this book but I wanted more, also didn't get any of Mike and Delta, shame. Of to read the novella. If you've read all of the previous Walker novels, I'm sure you will want to read this one.
Profile Image for Bec.
1,354 reviews21 followers
May 17, 2021
Wow LG certainly turns up the woman scorned hell it almost lasts the entire book! I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to have one man since teenager and then find out he isn’t what you thought. You have an interpretation of what your life is only to find out it isn’t. I really felt for Jess. However, she managed to catch him before she was in her fifties, she is thirty two, she is very attractive and has the support to start again. I thought from reading book 2 she was smart, however it took some convincing to move her away from all her negative self talk. That was entirely the ex’s fault.

I like Walt’s come to Jesus moment and I also liked how he is slowly winning his family back over. He was the child that didn’t fit in that’s for sure. The Walkers are one solid unit and no doubt infidelity feels like it could be catchy and all the women in the family feelings a little insecure.

One thing I have to comment on with relation to the writing is at times hard to follow the POV especially when we have Jess, Jo, Walt, Chris, Tam etc having a turn. It’s never in the first person but I remember struggling with it in book one.🙃
Profile Image for Antonella.
4,129 reviews622 followers
December 18, 2017
5 Plus stars
Family saga could be read as standalone, but I recommend whole series, it is that good.
5 siblings, 4 of them have their book, but each book is told from multiple POVs.

What to say about Lauren writing that I haven't said before?!? As always.. It is..
Outstanding.
Addicting.
Real.

What I loved the most or what I want to point out it is the heroine. She is amazing. WOW!!!!!
When female is written so good so real... When she is such a strong woman with such good head on her shoulders, no bullshit attitude... no playing games.....when you can feel her pain and embarrassment and struggle... You root for her..you learn from her..
Then she makes everything better...the story and the hero...and this novel..


Again great family book with all the things that can be expected...drama, problems and hardships... also loyalty, togetherness and love.


READ IT!!!!!!!!

Profile Image for Claire Louise¤°.¸¸.•´¯`».
1,107 reviews64 followers
January 17, 2018
Dude, this heroine. Ugh

That's all I have to say about this or I'll rant for a week and this is one of my go-to fave authors.

It was just not a good fit for me :P
Profile Image for Grace Foster.
1 review
April 3, 2018
This is one of my favorite books by Lauren Gilley, I love everything about this book
Profile Image for Daniela.
1,185 reviews
September 20, 2017
Even though a lot of it pissed me off I still loved this book. From the first book Jess was snarky and as she described herself a "bitch". In this one she is a colossal BITCH!!!! Now, what happened to her was horrible and a lot of her behaviour was her lashing out because she was so devasted - she's also very insecure. What happened to her has happened to countless women and we all having different coping mechanisms. There were a few times where if I could I'd reach out and slap her and shout "WAKE UP". Chris was a real sweetheart and bless him for putting up with her - he was able to see through it all and realize what was going on. Ellie bothered me in this one also - she's still very immature at times. Jo & Tam will always be my fav couple and they didn't disappoint. Even though Walt redeemed himself I still don't like him - he grates me in all the wrong ways. The father Randy didn't disappoint either - he made me LOL and he touched my heart with the words that he spoke to Jess with. Another wonderful installation of The Walker Family!
Profile Image for Shirley.
673 reviews
August 24, 2017
4 – 4.25 Stars

Ok so I’ve seen a LOT of reviews where folks have said Jess was a bitch and I was a bit nervous going into this book. Now whilst I don’t disagree with this description I didn’t find her to be the intolerable fiend a lot of people did. I found her to be bitchy yes but I felt she wore her bitchiness like amour lashing out when she felt overwhelmed or vulnerable. I think after what Daryl did to her she ending up hating everyone and everything and it took a long time and some big ass patience from Chris to bring her round. I’m not sure what it says about me but I actually ended up liking Jess in the end. As for Chris well I just loved him and like I said the man had some patience, he was a real man’s man and even though Jess didn’t think that’s what she wanted deep down it is what she needed.

I loved all the interaction with the rest of the Walkers and I especially love how LG shows them warts and all with all their internal struggles and insecurities.

Profile Image for Brenda.
1,264 reviews27 followers
April 17, 2018
Not writing much in the way of reviews these days, but will say this was one of the best Lauren G. books I have ever read! Truly fine.
Profile Image for Deborah.
864 reviews18 followers
April 5, 2016
I continue to absolutely love the Walkers. And this time Walt managed to win me over.

The pain and hurt that Jess went through in this book was hard to read, I really felt for her and completely understood her defensive actions even when they were self defeating. I loved that Chris was super sensitive and called Jess on her attitude more than once.

Watching the Inn come together as they came together was magical. I really loved everything about it. The way the Walkers support each other and welcome new people to their family is amazing and I can't get enough of reading about them.

A wonderful love story and so much more as always from Lauren Gilley.
Profile Image for Low-La.
563 reviews10 followers
September 27, 2016
3.5 stars. Hate to say this b/c I love Lauren Gilley's writing and books but Jess was starting to annoy me. The only thing that saved this story for me was Jo and Tam and the rest of the Walker Clan
Profile Image for Wangari.
1,692 reviews
November 21, 2016
4.5 stars

I had forgotten how amazing Lauren Gilley's writing is. I loved Ben Haley & couldn't believe that I just happened upon his brother Chris' book now!!

I want to read Jordan & Ellie next. Then Tam & Jo - I know that one will kill me.
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