From the get-go, I knew that I would like Tools of Engagement more than her last two books (which I also enjoyed) and boy was I right!⁣
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Like other Tessa Bailey books, it has its cheesy moments but, somehow, they’re still incredible endearing. I wasn’t a big fan of the whole “damsel in distress needs the support of a man” storyline in general but I understand that it worked well in this case.⁣
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I enjoyed reading about Bethany’s transformation from perfectionist ice queen to a warm, self-accepting person. Though it happened quickly, it still felt entirely plausible and real in the situation, which I appreciated. With so many romcoms you have to take a leap and assume not all is going to feel realistic (I mean, honestly, who just has a reality TV show thrust on them last minute?!) but the relationships and emotional baggage and struggles here felt genuine. That is why I think, by far, this is Tessa Bailey’s best book yet. ⁣
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Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC to read and review. ⁣
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I am falling in love with Tessa Bailey's contemporary, romcom books. I liked the banter between Bethany and Wes. The two characters had their issues and learn to meet in the middle and be there for each other. I also appreciate the relationship and friendship Bethany has with the other women in the book.

I'm so glad I've read the Hot & Hammered series. I really hope she writes another series like this.

This was such a fun read! Even though it is the third book in this series, it can be read as a standalone. Definitely recommend if you are looking for an easy, quick read!

The third in this rom-com series, following Fix Her Up & Love Her or Lose Her, is an enemies to lovers story full of steam and heat. Bethany, who has it all together in an Insta worthy life, wants to head up a renovation project from start to finish. Her brother, who runs the family construction business, won’t take her seriously so Bethany decides to go it alone.

Until, sexy cowboy construction worker and all around hotty, Wes offers to help. Lots of sparks and banter lead to searingly hot scenes. But real life, Bethany’s insecurities and control issues along with Wes caring for his adorable kindergarten niece, gives them a bumpy ride.

And then there’s the competition between Bethany and her brother to see who can remodel and flip a house better on Flip Off, a new reality tv show.

Fun, romp of a book. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the DRC.

Tools of Engagement
by: Tessa Bailey @tessabaileyisanauthor
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I was lucky enough to get an ARC from @NetGalley and @harpercollins. The Pub Date is September 22!
I loved the first two books in this series - Fix Her Up & Love Her or Lose Her - but this was my favorite! Bethany and Wes had an unlikely romance - she is 7 years older, he’s a reluctant father figure to his niece, she’s an ice queen, he doesn’t do long term - but quickly find out their perfect for each other. Their relationship plays out on the television set of a house flipping contest against her older brother. I hate that y’all can’t read this until September! I’m so sad this is the last book in the Just Us league... can we have just one more @tessabaileyisanauthor?!?
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This was a great rom-com. Fans of Tessa Bailey will enjoy the banter, the steam, and the wish fulfillment. I really liked seeing characters from Fix Her Up reprised and I think Bethany was one of the most relatable characters in this series.

If you haven’t read her books, I don’t know what you’re waiting for; full of steamy romance, family/friends and laughs. I like how you are able to read each book alone, with not having read the others, and still understand what is going on. Though having read the others beforehand you’re given a bit more background on the characters and scenarios that happened prior. Tessa writes in such a way that you can see the story unfold right before your eyes — I can just picture in my mind how the characters look and the storylines play out!

A fun and sexy read! This was witty work by Tessa Bailey that follows here previous two books surrounding a certain group and set of characters. I felt that it was very predictable and a little less interesting than say the other two books in this series but I still enjoyed reading it!

Not my favorite romance. I haven’t read the others in this series, but I don’t think I’ll be picking them up. The writing wasn’t great and I didn’t get enough character development to care about the romance.

I enjoyed it. I liked the age difference between the characters. Some of the pacing seemed kind of fast but it was fun.

I read Fix Her Up last year and I loved it. I thought it was cute, had good humor, I loved the characters. I loved Love Her or Lose Her even more than I loved the Fix Her Up. So when I heard about Tools of Engagement I was really excited. I was especially excited because it was going to be about Wes and Bethany.

Tools of Engagement is about a girl named Bethany who puts on a front to the world: her friends, her family, her Just Us League members. She does not want anyone to know that her perfect world isn't so perfect. Instead of being perfect, she's actually kind of a mess. Enter Text cowboy Wes Daniels. Wes is a vagabond, has lived in 14 different homes due to being in foster care, he is not known for settling down and staying. Special circumstances bring him to Port Jefferson, Long Island. He is now the caregiver of his five year old niece. Wes meets Bethany is Love Her or Lose Her and the attraction between the two is instantaneous. However, that's all it is to Bethany, just attraction because Wes is 7 years her junior. Their relationship starts out as enemies to lovers, but when Wes steps in and decides to help Bethany flip a house, their relationship develops into something more. Will Beth give Wes a chance and open up to him or will she fall back in her normal ways? Will Wes decide to settle down and put roots in Port Jefferson?

I loved this book! Each of one of these books just keeps getting better and better. I was so thankful I got to read this book a little early because I was dying for Wes' and Bethany's story. I give this book 5 stars; this is a must read. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for this book!

Great banter, I like both backstories. A bit too sexually descriptive for me but the genuine development of the relationship made for a good read.

The third installment of the Hot and Hammered Series does not disappoint. Wes and Bethany’s love story is a very unconventional one. When Wes steps up to the plate and helps Bethany challenge her brother on a competing home renovation, she realizes that maybe he isn’t as bad as she thought. But she has spent years perfecting the perfect home and life. Will this 23 year old cowboy and his niece fit into her world?

I really struggled with parts of the first two books in Tessa Bailey's Hot & Hammered series. What I loved about both previous novels, however, was how well they set up the relationships for each upcoming book. Wes and Bethany's banter was one of the best parts of Love Her or Lose Her, and it really pumped me up for Tools of Engagement. Because I seem to inhale any enemies-to-lovers romance in a single sitting without fail, it's no surprise that this book was a highlight of the series for me.

Tropes aside, this novel just felt more even-keeled to me. Wes and Bethany were a strong match. Their barbs were equally scorching. Both had realistic issues that were larger than simple miscommunications. After three books, I've concluded that Bailey's sex scenes (while super steamy) aren't really my vibe, but these ones worked much better.

This series is ending on a higher note for me, because this novel's 3.5-4 stars.

3.5 stars. The conclusion to Tessa Bailey's Hot & Hammered series features older sister Bethany and new-in-town cowboy Wes. They are thrown together in a house flipping competition against Bethany's brother and the family business, and theoretically Wes and Bethany dislike each other. But do they? Wes is also dealing with temporary custody of his five-year-old niece, who is adorable and boundlessly energetic.

There were things I really liked about anxious perfectionist Bethany and ruggedly earnest Wes's story. Wes really challenges Bethany to be herself by relaxing her high standards for her work and home. Bethany helps Wes see himself as a capable surrogate parent and a stable partner. Their story had a little too much instalove, though; I didn't feel like they really knew each other all that well. I could have used more Just Us League; they were around but not as involved in this story as the previous ones in the series.

Might be my favorite book of the whole trilogy! Wes and Bethany are the one of the hottest hate to love stories I've read since The Hating Game. Perfect closure to this enjoyable home improvement series - wish there were more!

Super cute rom-com with a sudden uncle guardianship situation. Lots of chemistry between the two leads and a happy ending.

Every time I look at this book I'm just going to remember that it was a bright spot during The Quarantine. I'm so glad I got this ARC.

There's something a bit more - comfortable? - about this book than the others in the series. By that I mean I wondered if Bailey felt more connected to the heroine or related to her more than her other MCs. Tools of Engagement brings the jokes more in a way that had me laughing. The real difference for me between a 4 and a 5 is if I audibly react to scenes.

I also like that this isn't an Unbelievable enemies-to-lovers novel. Both of the characters never actually despise each other and admit that to themselves from the beginning. It's something of a pet peeve of mine when I read "But I just hate him!" when there's no basis for it - ? From the get-go Bethany and Wes have fun with each other and it's just fun to read.

Bethany and Wes get their haters-to-lovers romance in the third installment of the Hot and Hammered series. With a shove from the Just Us League, Bethany breaks from Brick and Morty to do her own flip of Travis’s childhood home— and Wes goes with her as her foreman. Upping the stakes is an HGTV-like reality tv/home renovation combo contest: Stephen vs. Bethany: who does it better? Quickly, though, Wes becomes more than foreman as he sees through Bethany’s perfect, not-a-hair-out-of-place facade. He is there calming her, reassuring her, and loving her through all the messes of home renovation. And she is there for him, too, as he grapples with becoming a permanent guardian for his niece. Together, they obviously make the strongest reno team, but are they the strongest parenting team?

Firstly, super weird for the protagonist to have my name; that’s the first time it’s ever happened. And that she share one of my own flaws—perfectionism—made it even weirder. But, the way that Wes supports her through her spirals and anxiety— I will 1000% always promote positive portrayals of mental wellness in books to help destigmatize mental health. I also really liked how the final denouement wasn’t based in miscommunication or lie-by-omission, as 98% of romances are. It felt more realistic because life comes at your from all angles, and those outside factors create strain and fissure in relationships that leads to their dissolution, too.

On the chaste to steamy scale, it’s a 7.5: hot and heavy and frequent without overpowering the interpersonal aspects relationship.

Tools of Engagement is the third in Tessa Bailey's Hot and Hammered series of adult contemporary romance novels. At this point, a reader who has read the other books in the series will recognize most of this cast of characters, and will get to see the relationship progression of the characters from other books, which is fun. Tools of Engagement focuses on Bethany and Wes, an unlikely pair who team up to flip a house for a reality TV competition with Bethany's renovation master brother, Stephen.

This story has a few fun home renovation scenes, but most of the plot is focused around the characters of Bethany and Wes growing, individually and together: Bethany realizes that her need to be perceived as perfect is not a sustainable or satisfying way to live, and Wes realizes that his drifter days are coming to an end. There are some sweet moments between Bethany, Wes, and Wes's 5 year old niece, Laura.

Unfortunately, like the other books in this series, the romantic dynamic between Bethany and Wes is a little too old-fashioned for comfort. Wes is, like, a Texan cowboy who says lots of cringey things about being a protector and being overly possessive and what not, which is wildly not sexy.
Overall, this read is fairly light and engaging and if readers enjoyed the other books in this series, they won't be disappointed in this installment whatsoever.