Welcome back to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us a little bit about Fix Her Up and the
new series it starts, Hot and Hammered?
Thank you for having me! The Hot and Hammered series was inspired by a trip I took to
Port Jefferson, Long Island. It’s got this rustic, small town vibe—right on the water—and I
immediately wanted to write my local family of house flippers, the Castles. FIX HER UP is the
youngest daughter’s story. She’s a birthday party clown who no one takes seriously. Enter
Travis Ford, her lifelong crush and major league baseball’s tabloid favorite. They decide to
pretend date to change their reputations, but of course fall deeply in love along the way.
Georgie has always been viewed as the “little sister” - generally annoying, always
cracking jokes, and often ignored or forgotten. But as readers find out, Georgie is a sensitive,
hardworking, and complex woman. What did you learn from Georgie as you developed her
character?
I learned how sensitive she is the moods/issues of those around her. She really listens
when people talk and wants to help, like creating a Kickstarter for her friend’s restaurant or
boosting Travis when he reveals he’s tired of being a joke. She’s just my favorite.
Travis was once at the top of his game - literally! But an accident sends him back
home, where he hopes to find solace, and ends up being hounded by the local single lady
population. What is it about Georgie that breaks him out of this rut?
At first, it’s definitely her persistence and the blunt manner in which she rouses him from
his man cave (read: food fight). But I think the fact that she genuinely becomes his friend first
and makes him feel valued that breaks him free of the rut.
Georgie is an accomplished birthday clown, and has dreams of turning her one-
woman show into a full-fledged party planning business. What job have you always wanted to
try but haven’t attempted (yet)?
I’ve always wanted to try running a food truck! My mother makes insanely great tacos
and I think we’d be millionaires if we went into business together. I think the main problem
would be locking myself in a truck with my mother for hours on end. LOL.
Romance tropes, while they’ve always been around, have been a popular topic as of
late. Why do you think romance readers gravitate towards various tropes? And what are some
of your favorites?
I think readers definitely gravitate toward the forbidden. Best friend’s little sister will
always be a trope that grabs me because it dances on the line of right and wrong without too
much guilt. Friends to lovers has been my absolute crack lately, though, and unrequited love!
Fix Her Up is
a play on the phrase “fixer upper,” and Georgie’s family runs a successful remodeling
business. I know I’m addicted to just about every HGTV show, but haven’t had the pleasure -
or horror - of a major home renovation. Do you have a favorite DIY-type show, and have you
done any of your own renovations on your home?
We just renovated our bathroom. It still had pink tile from the eighties and was basically
falling apart. I can’t believe how much work went into it! I have a whole new respect for those
HGTV shows now, because I can attest the problems they run into are not fabricated. My
favorite show is a toss-up between Fixer Upper and Love It Or List It. Also Trading Spaces!
I loved the different relationships featured in this book - romantic, familial, and both
male and female friendships. How do these connections define the hero and heroine? Were
specific relationships more troublesome than others to create?
The friendships in this book were a joy to write. When I plotted FIX HER UP, the
scene where my three female friends decide to form the Just Us League was really foremost in
my mind. I wanted to start the book with that scene I loved it so much. The forming of the club
really gives Georgie the impetus to better herself and go after what she wants.
What can readers expect from you next?
The next Hot and Hammered book, LOVE HER OR LOSE HER, will be out early next year!
I’m so excited about that book—it’s my first married couple. In the meantime, I’m wrapping up
my Beach Kingdom series and recording my daily podcast, Read Me Romance.
Rapid Fire Random Questions
Favorite animal: Horses
Coffee or tea: Coffee
Favorite book to re-read: Any Julie Garwood historical
Beach or mountains: Beach
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?:
A girl scout or a professional basketball player.
Dream vacation: The Greek islands.
Aside from reading and writing, what are your hobbies?: Podcasting,
traveling, watching true crime television, coaching soccer, eating.
Five people you’d invite to your book club (dead, alive, fictional, etc.!):
The Beatles and Dolly Parton.
Favorite movie: The Sandlot
You have a totally free afternoon - no deadlines, no obligations, no Twitter
notifications! What do you do?: Get a pedicure!
New York Times bestseller Tessa Bailey delivers a fun, sexy romantic comedy
perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.
Georgette Castle's family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked
balloons instead of blueprints and they haven't taken her seriously since. Frankly, she's over it.
Georgie loves planning children's birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her
own expense. She's determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that
means.
Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this
decade, perhaps?)
Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings
are pants.)
Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)
Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis
Ford!)
Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn't been on a date since,
well, ever. Nobody's asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that's for
sure. Maybe if people think she's having a steamy love affair, they'll acknowledge she's not
just the "little sister" who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image
than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite.
Travis Ford was major league baseball's hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now
he's flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can't even cross
the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And
then there's Georgie, his best friend's sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she
proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a
new job—he agrees. What's the harm? It's not like it's real. But the girl Travis used to tease is
now a funny, full-of-life woman and there's nothing fake about how much he wants her...
Romance Contemporary [Avon, On Sale: June
11, 2019, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780062872838 / eISBN: 9780062872845]
A sexy start to a
new contemporary series... Super HOT!
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she
packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under
four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a
Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend
and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough
Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several
stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing
continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband of seven years and three-year-old
daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her
dream of writing about people falling in love.
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