Dempsey Jo Killebrew thought she had it all. She's employed
as a lobbyist for a powerful Washington D.C. public
relations firm with an attractive older man as her boss.
However, she believes her greatest achievement is her
independence from her flaky mother and perfection-driven
father. It all disappears in the blink of an eye when the
FBI announces its investigation of criminal bribery
involving the firm and a congressman. The FBI snatches
Dempsey's files and whisks her computer away. Dempsey finds
herself fired and on the defensive. She flees D.C. and
accepts her father's offer to rehab and flip a home in
Guthrie, Georgia, that he recently inherited.
Guthrie sounds like the perfect place to lick her wounds
and restore some sanity into her life. Then Dempsey gets a
look at Birdsong, the family homestead. Once upon a time,
Birdsong was a stately Southern mansion; now it's a crumbly
pink wreck, inside and out. With her usual single-minded
determination, Dempsey tackles the project. Hindering her
progress is a distant relative who claims squatter rights.
Dempsey cannot throw the mean-spirited old lady out on the
street. Being a talented lobbyist, Dempsey will use her
charm and personality to eject the lady. She is not
successful. Help does arrive in an assortment of town
characters, especially one cute country lawyer.
Slowly Guthrie's Southern charm works, leaving Dempsey
looking forward to a future, but first she needs to gather
her courage and clear her name. With the FBI's aid, Dempsey
will nail her scum-sucking boss to the wall.
Once again, Ms. Andrews creates a warm and touching story
laced with her signature humor. She uses that humor to
balance the hardships Dempsey endures and eventually
triumphs over. THE FIXER UPPER is a heartwarming,
entertaining read that is sure to delight.
The delightful New York Times
bestselling author returns with a hilarious novel about
one woman's quest to redo an old house . . . and her life.
After her boss in a high-powered
Washington public relations firm is caught in a political
scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left
almost broke, unemployed, and homeless. 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, oh, is Dempsey in for a surprise when she arrives in
Guthrie. "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.
Furthermore, everyone in Guthrie seems to know
Dempsey's business, from a smooth-talking real-estate
agent to a cute lawyer who owns the local newspaper. It
wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the pesky FBI agents
who show up on Dempsey's doorstep, hoping to pry
information about her ex-boss from her.
All
Dempsey can do is roll up her sleeves and get to work. And
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 again.