Nailed It

by Cindi Madsen

[llamareads]

After spending a childhood being drug along as her mother chased her “flavor-of-the-month” guy, Ivy is anti-love, anti-relationships, and anti- any sort of commitment, down to what color to paint the walls in her condo. But it’s a spur of the moment decision that lands her in hot water when she decides to take on renovating her mom’s ex-friend’s house, the only place she ever really felt like home. In over her head, Ivy’s best friend’s brother, Jackson, is called in to lend his professional help. But while fixing up the house, will she also end up fixing her heart?

Sometimes, the right book comes along just at the right time. This book has a lot of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance romance, DIY home renovation, and a heroine with emotional “issues", to put it mildly. Ivy has a very set view of life, condensed into a series of rules. While I could see how her stubbornness could get frustrating for some readers, I thought the slowness with which she opened up to Jackson was believable and so sweet. I loved the chemistry between Ivy and Jackson - the bantering, the sex scenes, everything. And, oh, I adored Jackson. I loved that he was willing to give Ivy space to deal with her issues while at the same time setting boundaries. I loved that he was capable of being supportive of her quirks and past trauma while also gently pushing her boundaries.

Though this is the second book in a series, this works perfectly fine as a stand-alone. In fact, I’ve already added Savannah and Linc’s story to my TBR list. If you want something that’s well-written, humorous, and hot, then this is the perfect book for you. In summary, this is a light, comfy, funny read, the perfect thing to curl up with a cherry Coke in your window reading nook and devour in one sitting.

I received an ARC from the publisher in return for an honest review.