ARC review: Nailed It by Cindi Madsen

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After years of setting her own hours and living the dream bartending at an upscale bar, Ivy Clarke is looking for something more satisfying.  She watches HGTV and has an eye for design… surely she could flip a house, right?  No.  Wrong.  So very wrong.  Now, Ivy’s in way over her head and the only person who can save her is Jackson Gamble, her best friends brother and Ivy’s sworn enemy.  (Her gorgeous, infuriating enemy, who she happens to have a bit of history with.)  Can Ivy and Jackson make it through this reno together, or will they give in to their mutual attraction?

I loved Cindi Madsen’s Operation Prom Date.  Like, seriously, it was one of my favorite books of the year.  I was so excited for the opportunity to review her newest book and Nailed It did not disappoint.  The best way I can summarize this book is a second chance best friend’s brother enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance.  Phew.  That’s a pretty long description, but if you’d told me that’s what this book was about, I would have snapped it up even faster.  Just throw a bunch of my favorite tropes in a blender with a swoon-worthy hero and a sassy heroine and you’ve got this book, so that’s great.

Is Jackson pretty much perfect?  Yes.  (Can somebody please come spider-bomb my attic? Please?)

Is the best friend in question, Jackson’s sister Savannah, also pretty much perfect?  Yes.  (Can we have more books where the sister’s only concern about her best friend and her brother dating is that someone might get hurt?  That would be great.)

Is Ivy pretty much perfect?  Ehh… here’s the thing.  I totally understand why Ivy is the way she is.  Madsen does a great job of providing the necessary backstory for Ivy’s actions to make sense.  But even though I know why Ivy is so terrified of commitment and why she felt the need to act like a petulant teenager all the time, it still drove me crazy. Ivy is exhausting.  Imagine dealing with her on a daily basis.  Jackson must be a saint.

But, honestly?  Ivy’s issues are my only criticism.  Aside from that, I loved this book.  I loved the renovations and the decorating and Savannah’s twelve steps and the cats.  I had hoped that Savannah already had her own book, and she does!  Excuse me while I add 12 Steps to Mr. Right to my ever-expanding TBR.

I’ll leave you with this:

“I hope the house doesn’t end up going to some pretentious couple like a few of the ones on House Hunters, where the husband’s a freelance hamster trainer and the wife sells dreams and rainbows and they somehow make $1.3 million.“

I received a free ARC of Nailed It from the publisher (via Netgalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Final rating: ★★★★☆