Tessa Bailey

Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be anyway. Now Rosie’s lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with ten years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp. Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to-emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he’s all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous—yet surprisingly helpful—assignment after another, their remodelled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they’re getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret... and it could demolish everything. 

A Novel

Love Her or Lose Her

4.50 stars for my nearly-divorced and flawed parents. god, rosie and dominic have so many flaws, which makes their relationship relatable, and endearing (if that makes sense). the sexual tension, inner monologue, and unsaid thoughts . . . 😮‍💨 furthermore, i like how they managed to fix their marriage despite all the ~ secrets ~ and miscommunications.

idk if i still make sense (it’s 5am, ffs) but in conclusion, i love (and i can’t stress this enough) how flawed their characters are. definitely will re-read!

I liked this sequel—not as much as the first book in the series—but I did like it. I think the just….. LEVEL of miscommunication trope killed me a little. Like holy SHIT. People. Jesus. 

I kind of didn’t vibe with the emphasis on The Raw Animal Sexual Chemistry Despite Their Crumbling Marriage And Massive Intimacy/Communication Issues. Like babes I am begging you to have a chat please, and maybe stop eye fucking when you DESPERATELY NEED TO FOCUS ON THERAPY. 

Also was not a huge fan of the level of emphasis on Dominic’s service, only for that to barely be explored? It felt like the beginning and all the book promo promised some ptsd representation, and then didn’t take the opportunity to delve into that. I do appreciate the rep for how harmful gender stereotypes of the “stiff upper lip, show no weakness man” can be, but it felt odd to me still. 

All this as if I did not cry happy tears at the end. Smh.

Claire

I liked this sequel—not as much as the first book in the series—but I did like it. I think the just….. LEVEL of miscommunication trope killed me a little. Like holy SHIT. People. Jesus. 

I kind of didn’t vibe with the emphasis on The Raw Animal Sexual Chemistry Despite Their Crumbling Marriage And Massive Intimacy/Communication Issues. Like babes I am begging you to have a chat please, and maybe stop eye fucking when you DESPERATELY NEED TO FOCUS ON THERAPY. 

Also was not a huge fan of the level of emphasis on Dominic’s service, only for that to barely be explored? It felt like the beginning and all the book promo promised some ptsd representation, and then didn’t take the opportunity to delve into that. I do appreciate the rep for how harmful gender stereotypes of the “stiff upper lip, show no weakness man” can be, but it felt odd to me still. 

All this as if I did not cry happy tears at the end. Smh.

Isabella 

been pushing off reading romance books since it has been months since i have last read a contemporary romance book, and i'm glad this is the one i picked up! i really enjoyed it. i love a second chance romance, marriage in crisis trope. enjoyable.

Nialani Thompson

4.5
This book was really good. Rosie and Dominic’s chemistry was unmatched. I love that the issue fell onto both of them and they both had unresolved problems regarding their marriage and their actions, feelings, etc.. I didn’t like some things about the book, which can’t be helped; I really didn’t like how four therapy sessions was supposed to unravel the ways they are as people (specifically for Dom and his closed-off nature and desperation to be perceived as strong and capable) when it had been engraved in them since they could breathe. I love that they got the house, and I love that they recognized each other’s need for certain things in the relationship and worked to better each other and themselves. I really liked the hippie therapist too. I love the vulnerability they each had and getting peaks into when it showed. Super good, can’t wait for the rest of the series (even though this is book 2 haha)

Bailey Johnson

The smut 🥵🥵🥵🥵the plot 🔥🔥 Tessa never misses. This book is about Dominic and Rosie, middle school sweethearts fixing their marriage one pot head counseling session at a time 5/5 smut

rakshu

god. i’m so emotional. dominic and rosie, you have my heart. i will love you forever

melina25

Gotta say, definitely my fav book in the series!!

Yasmin Dunnewind

Such an improvement from the first book. I liked the characters and their growth. Loved seeing love languages in a book and the impact it can have on relationships

“You’re incredible with or without me,” he rasped beside her ear. “I can do my best to learn to live with both if it means I get to keep your heart.”

Mika Chavarria

Technically 3.5 stars.
I really enjoyed the MC's plots and POV was definitely better than the first in this series.
My only complaint seems to stay the same: why is it when the author writes, she always writes the male POV to be obsessed with sex and giving their partner a pet name? It's not relatable according to my hubby, and also sounds weird when listening to this as an audiobook.
The only other thing I find an issue with in this one, is how slow the last few chapters are, I really enjoy the revelations but it seems to be overdone by following the first book's footsteps. Could've been trimmed a couple chapters down, but that's just me 🤷🏻‍♀️


Potential spoilers ahead 
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First of all. SUPER SPICY SCENES!!!! While they were YUMMY to read, they made me feel Dom and Rosie were more into their physical needs than the needs the therapist tried to focus them on!

Lastly, I was not a fan of Dom's character development, was it hoping he wouldn't be so possessive and dependent on Rosie but I guess not... also hated that the author had the chance to expand on his PTSD after being in the military and war, but got nothing!
Missed opportunities in this book!

Amelia 

Read it in one sitting and had so much fun.

Kathleen Tom

5 Stars ★★★★★

HI BOOKLOVERS,

I freaking looooooooooove this!!! Omg. 

You guys need to read this. It's just so sweet and I want my own Dominic. 

Highly Recommended! :)

xoxo. Kath!

3.5 🌟 love languages are essential! Taylor Swift's "Afterglow" perfectly embodies this book as well as Rosie and Dominic's journey with saving their marriage.  Tells me this love is worth the fight, I lived like an island, punished you with silence  LITERALLY FITS

The main guy was pretty toxic in my opinion, and even though he had developed, I still didn't like him.

This book was mostly about the couple telling the readers how greatly they loved eachother, but I didn't really feel their chemistry.

Also, this whole series is soo sexist. Like, when the guys went after their significant others when they decided to have a night out. Wtf?? 

Eszter Baranyi

It was mediocre.

The main guy was pretty toxic in my opinion, and even though he had developed, I still didn't like him.

This book was mostly about the couple telling the readers how greatly they loved eachother, but I didn't really feel their chemistry.

Also, this whole series is soo sexist. Like, when the guys went after their significant others when they decided to have a night out. Wtf?? 

"Do you want me back because I'm your wife and I'm supposed to be there? Or do you miss Rosie?" Her chest lifted and fell. 

"Can you imagine how hard it is to believe you want me home when you barely seemed to register I was there before?"

His laugh held no humor. "Jesus Christ. If you only knew."

I can totally see the appeal for this one, but sadly I don’t think it was for me. 

This story is about Dominic and Rosie, who fell in love in high school and are currently trying to see if their marriage can be saved. 

I loved how Rosie was discovering the version of herself that she lost and I also really enjoyed the growth of Dominic’s character. I loved that they went to therapy, that they both had to learn each others love languages and overall I liked how it ended too. I think it was the some of the characters and the conversations in between major plot points I didn’t love? Also Wes just showed up and said, Bethany’s in NY?! Let’s ride. I can’t tell if I find that hot or presumptuous 😂.

Kathryn

"Do you want me back because I'm your wife and I'm supposed to be there? Or do you miss Rosie?" Her chest lifted and fell. 

"Can you imagine how hard it is to believe you want me home when you barely seemed to register I was there before?"

His laugh held no humor. "Jesus Christ. If you only knew."

“Tell me.”

I can totally see the appeal for this one, but sadly I don’t think it was for me. 

This story is about Dominic and Rosie, who fell in love in high school and are currently trying to see if their marriage can be saved. 

I loved how Rosie was discovering the version of herself that she lost and I also really enjoyed the growth of Dominic’s character. I loved that they went to therapy, that they both had to learn each others love languages and overall I liked how it ended too. I think it was the some of the characters and the conversations in between major plot points I didn’t love? Also Wes just showed up and said, Bethany’s in NY?! Let’s ride. I can’t tell if I find that hot or presumptuous 😂.

2.75-3/5 ⭐️

Jennifer Eggleston 

4.5 stars

Second chance romance but make it spicy. Wouldn’t say this was a romantic comedy ... there were some laughable moments mixed in with the drama. 

Rosie and Dominic ... 1st loves and forever love.

Sven Test

Rosie and Dom were high school sweethearts. They got married young and soon after, Dom left for the military. After his last return home, things were never the same.

What he'd given wasn't enough.

This rom-com was hot! One thing Rosie and Dom have always had is their physical connection. Those two can seriously go at it, but not where it matters most. They don't even kiss unless it's on Tuesday's, their scheduled sexy time. Rosie has felt like her marriage is going nowhere. When she decides enough is enough, Dom opens his eyes and realizes he's about to lose the love of his life.

"You're the most incredible woman I've ever seen. So beautiful you make me ache. And you've got a heart to match. You're patient and loyal and dedicated and kind. A man who never worried about doing enough to earn you? That man would be an idiot."

Love Her or Lose Her starts with this couple's separation. I admired Rosie for making the decision to separate and start to live her life by following her dreams. I loved that she didn't crawl back to Dom when he went to look for her. I loved she looked for hippiest of counselors to help them out.

I kept looking forward to those counseling sessions because it's when we see Rosie and Dom at their most vulnerable. It's when they open up and truly share what has made their marriage fail. Everything about those sessions were heart-warming to me.

"You're incredible with or without me. I can do my best to learn to live with both if it means I get to keep your heart."

I have to say, while my favorite is still Fix Her Up, I truly loved Rosie and Dom's marriage--it's full of hope and warm feelings. Something I thought wouldn't do it for me was Dom's alpha male side. But I really think Tessa Bailey made it work really well. Sure, his alpha side would come out at some interesting moments, but at the same time, it was great to see him letting Rosie be her own person and letting her blossom and grow. The love these two had for each other was astounding and beautiful.

"You're going to rule this world, just like you rule mine."

Tessa has done it again! I was rooting hard for these two. And now I CANNOT WAIT for Bethany and Wes' story! It's an enemies-to-lovers romance!

"Texas called, Wes. It wants its rodeo clown back."
"Oz called. They're missing a witch."

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Tate

Favorite Quote:
	“ We build resentments towards our loved ones. Sometimes we aren’t even aware of them. But they grow so strong, they prevent us from remembering what we loved about our partners in the first place.”

Summary: Rosie and Dominic Vega are high school sweethearts known to be the best of friends and lovers, at least they used to be. They have fallen into a lull where neither is happy but neither is willing to change until Rosie’s supportive friends encourage her to demand more out of her life. Rosie and Dominic embark on a new journey: marriage boot camp! 

Review: This was a unique read! I appreciated how Bailey demonstrated both Rosie and Dominic were faithful and still love each other, as well as demonstrating how both had faults that affected the resulting relationship troubles. The marriage counseling was entertaining to read but also insightful. The emphasis on individual love languages was interesting and Bailey clearly did her research, though at times it came off as a bit preachy. I loved Dominic as a character! Obviously, he was dealing with a lot of unresolved trauma and toxic masculinity, but reading his point of view was heartbreaking when he talks about his devotion and love for Rosie as well as the importance he puts on providing for Rosie. Rosie is a lovely and competent woman who is really easy to connect to. Her dissatisfaction with her career and her marriage are for completely valid reasons and seeing her take charge of her life was so inspiring and you couldn’t help but root for her. The female friendships are wonderful through more than a little cheesy. It is really nice to read about women supporting women! Once Rosie and Dominic began to actually communicate, you really begin to realize how their marriage got so off track and how much potential there still is for them to have a happy and successful marriage. This book was a nice change of pace for an avid romance reader, such as myself, this book is not quite a second chance romance but certainly has similar components if you are a fan of second chance romances.

Jaila Esterline

** spoiler alert **
           I liked Rosie and she’s the only redeeming quality of this book. I cannot fucking stand Dominic. I would rather throw myself out of a moving car than read something with him in it.

Catarina Silva

4 stars
I really liked this, second chance romances are my favorite. The only thing I didn’t care about were the sexy scenes, I don’t know why but I was not into them, so I just skipped it

samantha youngclaus

One of Oprah Magazine's 22 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020 + Marie Claire's Best New Books of 2020 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with a unique, sexy romantic comedy about a young married couple whose rocky relationship needs a serious renovation... Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be anyway. Now Rosie's lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with ten years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp. Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to-emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he's all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous--yet surprisingly helpful--assignment after another, their remodeled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they're getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret... and it could demolish everything.

Love Her Or Lose Her

Laja

After reading Fix her up, I was very intrigued to read Rosie and Dominics story. With that being said I did NOT like Fix her up so I also went into this with low expectations. I had a list of problems with Fix her up starting with the pet name. Let’s just say it wasn’t for me and I couldn’t cringe any harder. 
Going into Love her or Lose her I was hoping the pet name wouldn’t be a problem and to be honest it wasn’t but it wasn’t something I thought of as “aww I love that” or would want to be called myself. Let’s just say the author doesn’t win any points in the pet name category. 
The story overall was fine but nothing to write home about. The relationship between Rosie and Dominic was your classic case of “if you would just use your words and communicate we wouldn’t be in this mess” kind of couple. 
The sex scenes were cringey to me but I’m quickly finding out that I’m not a fan of the authors smut. They are long, drawn out,and the characters take dirty talk to a whole new level. I can only take so many pages of “oh my gods”, “Christ’s”, and very descriptive paragraphs of what they were going to do to each other’s privates, when they should have just been doing it. I’m not shy to smut and openly read it but this just irked me. 
I did like the overall story and the main characters being POC. It just felt like it played into the stereotypical romance recipe though. In love until fall out, break up, find way back to each other, find another reason to get mad at each other right before the end, happily ever after. I will tell you this though, Mrs. Bailey knows how to trap you into wanting the next book. Alas I must know Bethany and Wes’s story so I will be reading it. Jokes on me I guess Lol 3/5 stars.

gracie

I read this book in 4 hours in one sitting and she did not disappoint! tessa bailey coming in with the SPICY SPICE! I’ve also never read a romance rekindling like this before and it was great to see the couple go to therapy and break down their walls to work on rebuilding their relationship. I also loved how much tessa emphasized knowing your partner’s love language(s) and showing your love in a way that they’ll recognize and appreciate!

kels

Corey’s Books

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars
The second in a series about Rosie and Dominic, the high school sweethearts of their town. Without posting spoilers the two grow throughout the series and learning what things will bring them back to eachother. An adorable book, with few chili peppers that’s for sure. 

Love Her or Lose Her A Novel

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