Unfixable By Tessa Bailey

A Review By Wendy

4.5 Willa, Shane, Dublin, Tessa Bailey Stars * * * * 1/2

There are some authors which just know their groove... they have a way of taking the reader by the hand and heart; leading them on path through all the twists and turns of interpersonal relationships, making sure they come out the other end.... better than they went in.

Tessa Bailey is one of those authors for me. She unapologetically shows real emotions; ways those new to being on their own... learning who they are...how they can falter and miss all the good they have inside. They can think they are "Unfixable"... that they are broken and will break those they allow to care or love them.

The character, Willa, is one of those people. She was introduced to us in Protecting What's His, Line of Duty series. She and her sister Ginger fled Nashville, met Derek and how Ginger and Derek fell in love. It was a great book; it was my intro to Ms. Bailey and Entangled/Brazen. In my review I actually wrote, "The sister was really well thought out and almost stole the story", predicting what many of the readers felt. Willa needed her own tale and this is it.

Last time we saw Willa she actually was falling hard for a sweet boy, Evan. He was the perfect guy... high school football star, healthy family life... lots of friends. Everything Willa has never seen herself with... her family life outside of Ginger was horrible; she experienced seeing and hearing things children should never have to... teaching her to close herself off to all.... only Ginger and then Derek were allowed in. 

We catch up with her as she is "handling" her break up with Evan as the only way she knows how... by running. She finally realized she was hurting Evan as well as herself because she was never going to be "the normal" he wanted her to be.... oh, he loved her... but it wasn't the type of love which encouraged her to just be Willa... stubborn... observant... hidden and sometimes fearful... He wanted her to just be like all of his friends ... and Willa was tired of pretending... so she broke it off. She entered a photography contest and the winner would go to Ireland for a month and shoot the experience. She won and vowed to let herself just return to the caustic, sarcastic person she was comfortable being.    

We meet Shane... beautiful, Irish, manly Shane. Oh, he just happens to be an International Grand Prix  driver who's family owns a B & B which not doing well. He is there because his Dad died; his mother has some quirky aging problems and he is planning on selling the place and continue racing. But right now... he is miserable...picking up the contest winner from the airport who is staying at the hotel. He comes smack into all that is defiant Willa; they both take an instant confrontational method of communicating.... the kind that has quick zings... the kind that has an undercurrent of something more... but both parties can never figure out what is causing it.

We, as the readers though, we get to see it all. We get to see Willa become watchful; a little wary but open up to the people and surroundings. Shane, his sister, mother and other characters chip away at all of the barriers she has used over the years to distance herself; she is surprised by all of the feelings and warmth which come with them. 

I appreciated all of the "moments" which we were privy to... I also was enchanted by the descriptions of Ireland from Willa viewpoint. When she talked of the mist actually surrounding her ankles like a cat... I could picture it... when she was in the non-tourist bar during a musical contest... I felt the hot sweaty bodies there watching and cheering on the two lads playing with all their might.

I also was touched by how it took a bit for Shane and Willa to connect and become as intense as it finally did. It was not the usual insta lust of seeing someone and an hour later they had hooked up. This was very different ... there was a mental courtship of sorts... Shane knew what he wanted... no doubt.... but he also felt his way with Willa... relishing her pause... her working it through her head at her pace. I actually felt the beauty of their coming together... a recognition of being free to just be the real person we are meant to... and having our someone accept us just as that.

Which brings us to the other part of this story... the heartbreaking impact parents can have in a way which will hurt long after they are gone... children are programed to want their parents to love them and approve of who they are and become. It is something that can be elusive and if the moment when the parent decides to finally be there for the child slips by and doesn't happen... then the child now adult may sometimes think they are the damaged one... rather than the other way around. This was addressed and done with care.

I hope Ms. Bailey decides to tell a novella, at least for more of the friends I have made in Dublin. Faith, Brian and Patrick have left an impression...What do you say, hmmmm....

A Gifted copy was provided by Entangled/Brazen in exchange for an honest review.