Book Review: Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey

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Title: Tools of Engagement

Author: Tessa Bailey

Release Date: September 22, 2020

Sub-genre: Contemporary

Trope(s): Enemies to lovers

Content Warnings: child abandonment; drug use (all by side character)

So not going to lie, I wasn’t going to pick up Tools of Engagement after lukewarm feelings about Love Her or Lose Her. I like a lot of things about Tessa’s voice (hello hot dirty talk), but there were some ick moments for me in Fix Her Up (baby girl is my least favorite nickname ever) and I had some problems with Love Her or Lose Her. But I got the chance to read an early copy of Tools of Engagement and I decided to give it a shot because I liked Bethany and Wes in the other books. And I’m really glad I went for it!

Bethany is a perfectionist–to put it mildly. She stresses about all the little details in life, needing everything to fall into place. She wants to prove herself capable of taking on more work in the family business–flipping houses–but her older brother doesn’t want to give her the chance. So when she gets an opportunity to work on a remodel all her own, she decides to take the chance, after imagining a million ways she could screw it up. When she needs a contractor, Wes, formerly a member of her brother’s team, jumps ship to join her project. A reality TV producer gets wind of the dueling house flips and sets up a competition between Bethany and her brother. And if that weren’t enough pressure for a woman who has to be in control of everything, she also has to deal with battling her feelings for Wes, who is messy and complicated–Bethany’s least favorite things. On his side of things, Wes is dealing with raising his niece and trying to provide a stable home for her after his sister leaves her in his care. It obviously all works out in the end, and they live happily ever after (duh).

So first and foremost, this book is hawt. That is clearly Tessa’s strong point, and her reputation for writing the best dirty talk remains firmly intact after this one because yowza. In addition to all the hotness, I loved the dynamic between Bethany and Wes. I like how he grounded her and forced her to see herself in a new light. The one thing I wish we would have seen from Bethany is some therapy, because I think her issues went beyond perfectionist and more into OCD (there is a brief mention of her scratching herself so badly she makes herself bleed because she can’t keep her hands from picking at her neck). But I thought it was interesting seeing how she dealt with her issues and learned how to let go a little.

Probably my favorite part of the book, other than all the hot sex, was seeing Wes with his niece. Normally I am not a huge fan of kids in my romance books, but it was so fun and sweet watching him fall in love with being her parental figure. I liked their dynamic and how the two of them came together to create a family. It made me fall a little bit in love with Wes just because of how awesome he was with his niece.

This was the perfect dose of enemies to lovers and I’m really glad I gave this one a chance because it was totally worth it!

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars