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The Fixer Upper

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Entirely satisfying, an expert balance of warmth and compassion, terrific supporting characters, a little steamy sex and just enough suspense to keep you from guessing how it will all go down." — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A hilarious novel about one woman's quest to redo an old house . . . and her life, as only New York Times bestseller Mary Kay Andrews can tell it.

After her boss in a high-powered Washington public relations firm is caught in a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left unemployed and broke. Out of options, she reluctantly accepts her father's offer to help refurbish Birdsong, the old family place he recently inherited in Guthrie, Georgia. All it will take, he tells her, is a little paint and some TLC to turn the fading Victorian mansion into a real-estate cash cow.

But when she arrives, Dempsey realizes that "Bird Droppings" would more aptly describe the moldering Pepto Bismol–pink dump with duct-taped windows and a driveway full of junk. There's also a murderously grumpy old lady, one of Dempsey's distant relations, who has claimed squatter's rights and isn't moving out. Ever.

Everyone in Guthrie seems to know Dempsey's business, from a smooth-talking real-estate agent to a cute lawyer who owns the local paper. As if that's not bad enough, pesky FBI agents keep showing up on her doorstep, looking for information about her ex-boss.

All Dempsey can do is roll up her sleeves and get to work. Before long, what started as a job of necessity somehow becomes a labor of love and, ultimately, a journey that takes her to a place she never expected—back home.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Isabel Keating plunges listeners directly into the life of Dempsey Killebrew. Fired in the heat of a political scandal, lobbyist Dempsey learns she's been framed for her boss's corrupt acts. To distract her from her life's disarray, Dempsey's father sets his unemployed daughter on a mission--to restore the family home in Guthrie, Georgia. Dempsey slips into the new community, the massive renovation project, and a satisfying relationship with verve. So does Keating, who fixes listeners up with easy Southern accents, believable emotions, and eccentric characters, especially Dempsey's pretentious mother. Keating keeps everything light as Dempsey tangles with love, political intrigue, the FBI, and finding her authentic self. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 11, 2009
      Andrews's latest Southern charmer begins with junior lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew in the crosshairs of a political bribery investigation. Suddenly unemployed and the victim of a sleazy smear campaign by her former boss, Dempsey decides to take up her father's offer of flipping a recently inherited family home in Guthrie, Ga. As it turns out, the house needs much more than a fresh coat of paint, and Dempsey's ornery cousin and her dog are squatting there. So it is that the formerly glamorous Dempsey steps into her dead uncle's overalls and chips her manicured nails as she scrubs and sands her way through fixing up the house, quickly finding a renovation groove, fitting in with the locals and embarking on a romance. Meanwhile, the FBI and a pesky reporter come asking questions about the bribery accusations. This authentic tale of cleaning up life's messes and self-discovery is bright, engaging and thoughtful, enlivened by Andrews's quirky characters and lovely backwoods setting.

    • Library Journal

      July 15, 2009
      Arriving just in time for summer beach reading is the most entertaining novel yet from Andrews ("Deep Dish"). Washington, DC, insider Dempsey Jo Killebrew is surprisingly clueless about her lobbyist boss's less than ethical behavior, even after she finds herself unceremoniously fired and licking her wounds in Guthrie, GA. There she reluctantly undertakes a project of restoring a dilapidated house that her father had recently inherited, hoping to sell it for a profit. Not surprisingly, this project is full of problems. The house's elderly resident isn't one bit anxious to move out, but luckily the charming if eccentric townsfolk include a pretty darn handsome local lawyer who comes to Dempsey's defense when it looks as if she might be in just as much trouble as her backstabbing former boss. Add a couple of FBI agents, a meddling mother, and a dog named Shorty, and readers will find themselves eagerly turning pages to find out how the situation resolves itself. VERDICT Fans of Jennifer Crusie or Susan Elizabeth Phillips will find this a delightful addition to the genre of slightly wacky romance stories. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 3/15/09.]Margaret Hanes, Warren P.L., MI

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      May 1, 2009
      Dempsey Killebrews life is in shambles. She is abruptly fired from her high-powered job as a Washington lobbyist when her boss is accused of political shenanigans and uses vulnerable Dempsey as his scapegoat. Out of work, out of money, and out of options, Dempsey goes to Guthrie, Georgia, at her fathers request, to work on a house he inherited. Not only is it a total mess, its also inhabited by an elderly distant relative with a shotgun who has only disgust for anyone named Killebrewand no plans for moving out. With limited funds from her father, Dempsey sets out to fix the house, and maybe herself with a little help from her new friends in town, as she struggles to clear her name and avoid federal prosecution for the allegations made by her former boss, who took advantage of her navet'. Andrews serves up a tempting and satisfying dish of southern-fried romance, featuring a courageous heroine who is wooed by a worthy hero.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

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