The Fixer-Upper
HarperCollins, June 2009
After her boss is caught in a political scandal, fledgling Washington lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left broke, unemployed, and homeless. out of options, she reluctantly accepts her father’s offer to help turn Birdsong—the fading Victorian mansion she recently inherited in Guthrie, Georgia—into a real estate cash cow.
Unfortunately, Birdsong turns out to be a moldering Pepto-Bismol-pink dump with duct-taped windows, a driveway full of junk, and a grumpy distant relation who’s claiming squatter’s rights. Stuck in a tiny town where everyone seems to know her business, Dempsey grits her teeth and rolls up her sleeves, and begins her journey back to the last place she ever expected: home.
“’The Fixer Upper’ is 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 with the feds. As ever, Andrews injects a brisk tale with generous doses of her sassy trademark humor. You’ll hate to turn that last page. Worse, you’ll have a powerful urge to finally strip the floor and repair that torn-up screen door.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“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.”
– Publishers Weekly