Unfixable by Tessa Bailey

Unfixable by Tessa Bailey

He's the last thing she wants...but the only thing she needs.

Willa Peet isn't interested in love.  She's been there, done that, and has the shattered heart to prove it.  Ready to shake the breakup, she heads to Dublin, Ireland.  But there's a problem.  A dark-haired, blue-eyed problem with a bad attitude that rivals her own.  And he's not doling out friendly Irish welcomes.  

Shane Claymore just wants to race.  The death of his father forced him off the Formula One circuit, but he's only staying in Dublin long enough to sell the Claymore Inn and get things in order for his mother and younger sister.  He never expected the sarcastic American girl staying at the inn to make him question everything.

But even as Willa and Shane's fiery natures draw them together, their pasts threaten to rip them apart.  Can Shane give up racing to be with the woman he loves, or will Willa's quest to resurrect the tough-talking, no-shit-taking girl she used to be destroy any hope of a future together?

Wow!  This story left me with no thoughts in my head beyond, "Damn!" and the insane urge to fist-pump (which I may or may not have given into, ahem).  I loved how this book made me feel so many different things to such an intense degree; I laughed out loud, I cried, my stomach tied itself into knots a couple of times...this was not a passive read for me.  I felt so GOOD when I finished the epilogue that I had to take a break and run some errands (which flew by as my mind was still with Willa and Shane) rather than dive right into another book which is my habit.  I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

Surprisingly, this is a book I almost gave up on while reading the Prologue.  I didn't immediately connect with Willa as she lamented her lost relationship with Evan.  I didn't really care for the poor-little-lost-girl-with-a-great-guy-trying-to be-everything-she-needs pity party.  I may have thought that Evan was better off without this mess who was currently narrating the story.  And then Chapter 1 came about and suddenly I started to get this Willa chick and her anger and guilt both at and on behalf of Evan and her NEED, not want, not wish, but actual NEED to be who she is without feeling that it isn't safe, or enough, or wanted.  Soon after this point, Shane entered the story and I was hooked.  

Shane is surly and rude and sarcastic and so stinking sexy that I defy any reader not to fall in love with him.  And I loved how Willa didn't take any of his crap but she also didn't hold it against him when he continued to throw it out there.  And those glimpses of him when his true self emerged, the self that wasn't weighed down with guilt, the self that was tender, protective, and funny?  Like Willa, I found myself drawn to this side of Shane so much.
Willa and Shane's relationship isn't the only one to develop...watching Willa connect with Shane's sister and his mother, watching Shane's relationship with both of them metamorphose into something healthier and stronger, hearing Willa's thoughts and memories of her sister Ginger and Ginger's husband Derek, all of these relationships were beautifully developed.  It was great as the reader to watch Willa realize that not only was she no longer an island unto herself, but she never really had been.  She knew how to love deeply and fiercely, it was just trusting others long enough to allow herself to share that love with more than just her sister.  

Shane saw everything that Willa projected and was able to bore down to the very core of who she was without allowing her to bullshit either of them...the best thing was that Willa was able to do the same with Shane.  These two obviously were made for each other but the entire time they are developing their relationship, the fact that Willa is on a deadline to return to Chicago is hanging over their heads like a boulder ready to crush anything they build.  This does not help with Willa's knee jerk desire to cut ties to avoid heartbreak.  And there comes a point when it looks as if everything will unravel.  Watching how Shane calls Willa's bluff and Willa's realization that what she has with Shane is worth fighting for is one of the best endings to a book I have ever read.  And then, Tessa Bailey follows this up with the most heart-melting epilogue I have read in just about forever, leaving me breathless and wanting to begin the story all over again simply so I can have all the feelings again.  

I cannot recommend this book enough and if like me, you aren't convinced during the prologue...just keep reading.  I promise you will not regret it!!  

I borrowed this book from my local public library.