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.

Tools of Engagement is my favorite installment in this series (the rest of which I've also loved) so far! Wes and Bethany are both such sweet, complex characters who complement each other beautifully. Their emotional connection is as compelling as the (super steamy) physical one and I just loved them so much. I do think readers will enjoy it more if they've read at least the previous book in the series (Love Her or Lose Her), as there was some nice build-up to the Wes-Bethany relationship in that one, but it still stands on its own just fine. Bailey's writing is as hilarious and sexy as ever and I'm so glad I got to enjoy this one early!

I really loved Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey so I was excited to explore more of the Castle siblings and watch them get the happily ever after they deserve. I really related to Bethany and her need to seem completely put together and the extremes she went to keep that image up. I loved watching her change for the better and let that perfectionism go. She is an amazing woman and I loved how career-driven she was. She wasn't sorry that she cared about her job so much and everything she brought up about her exes made sense. It was really great to see a career-driven woman get her happily ever after.

Wes was a great love interest and I loved seeing him step up to take care of Laura. His banter and attitude were swoon-worthy and I was rooting for him the whole time. I liked a look at the foster care system and how it can affect people. That experience was a key part of his personality and it made his reactions to problems make more sense to me.

I think it was a really cute romance and a lot of people could see themselves in either of these characters. It felt so natural for them to fall in love and I loved that it was on a fake HGTV show. However, the ending knocked an entire star off the review for me. I thought it was extremely out of character for them and it honestly just makes me mad. It seemed to undo all of the character growth that they both had throughout the novel. It just felt so rushed and I'm really disappointed. Overall, it was really cute. It just didn't wrap up the way I thought it should've.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

Bethany is a mess masquerading as perfection and Wes is a great guy with a lot on his plate who can see past the illusion to the real woman. I take issue with the unrealistic aspects of the house flip they're working on but I like the story and characters enough to suspend disbelief. This was a fun and entertaining read.

This one fell a little flat for me. I liked the main characters, but something about it just felt unfinished....sometimes more like vignettes than a throughly developed plot. The plot chugs along, but a lot of the things that happen just don't make sense. I guess I'd say that each individual character had a distinct journey, but their journey as a couple didn't feel as satisfying. I still liked it and the writing is sharp, but this just felt rushed somehow.