Fixie Farr lives within a dynamic family: Family First as the family motto goes.
Mum is as peaceful and loving as they come. She’s the supermom that you could only ever dream to become.
Dad was bigger than life before he passed away, leaving an empty hole and an empty chair at the dinner table. He was the man in charge in their family business (Farr’s) but when he passed, Mum worked her tail off to keep it thriving.
Jake, big brother, is a posh, temperamental achiever who strives for bigger, better, more.
Power. Profit. Potential.
With the power and money to go big, he constantly undermines Fixie at every turn and makes changes to the store and to their lives that could potentially bring them under.
Nicole, the yoga guru, the animal personality wizard and one terrified of things such as her marriage and the coffee maker. Ambitious and flaky, you love her and hate her. She isn’t the perfect older sister but she’s there and there’s hope in that.
In a family such as this, when does the line blur between putting family first and putting yourself last?
Fixie the fixer has a flaw. She can’t but fix things and most the times it ends up going south. Ever since she was ten, she was madly in love with a boy named Ryan Chalker. He was a star, bound for Hollywood, bound to make waves and watch the world follow behind. Naturally, he and Jake became the best of friends and waves turned into tsunamis and in her eyes, Fixie could never compare. She was a failure. She failed at skating, she failed at her own catering business, she fails to see the flaws in Ryan and she keeps her head down with the family business.
I draw breath, telling myself that this time I’ll do it; this time I’ll really have my say. But as I look up at Jake’s intimidating face, it happens again. My nerve collapses. The ravens have started flapping around me.
Enter Sebastian Marlowe. Founder and CEO of ESIM (Ethical Sense Investment Management). He has woodland eyes and the cure for the ravens but when they meet in unexpected circumstances, they later wish life could be reversed.
You can’t go back in time and do life a different way. That’s not how it works.
When Fixie’s world comes crumbling down, she doesn’t have the strength to carry on. Where Sebastian was once a stronghold, he is no longer and Fixie is left to fend for herself. Family First.
But when does Family First cross a line? And why should Fixie always come last?
I gave this book 3 stars (3.5 stars but I didn’t feel like I should round this one up to 4 stars). It wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t a 4-star book either. It was funny, cute and quirky. I was willing to stay up late finishing it but once done, realized I would have rather had my sleep and finished the next day. I wouldn’t recommend it per se but I do feel like it would be a great beach read; something you fly through quickly.
I got frustrated a lot at Fixie because of the allowances she gave other people, especially her brother. The brow-beatings she got on a constant basis were annoying and you really just wanted to smack them all. Mum disappears for a long time and you truly feel the absence (which I’m sure is intentional but it feels very obvious that she needed to be out of the plot to make it work). The ending was tied up quickly with a nice little bow but at least it left you happy.
Thank you to NetGalley, to Random House Publishing Group and to Sophie Kinsella for the Advanced Copy in exchange for an honest review. Looking forward to future books!
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The Nashville Wife 