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Tools of Engagement (Hot and Hammered #3) by Tessa Bailey-review

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Tools of Engagement (Hot and Hammered #3) by Tessa Bailey-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 22, 2020

Hair, makeup, clothing, decor… everything in Bethany Castle’s world is organized, planned, and styled to perfection. Which is why the homes she designs for her family’s real estate business are the most coveted in town. The only thing not perfect? Her track record with men. She’s on a dating hiatus and after helping her friends achieve their dreams, Bethany finally has time to focus on her own: flip a house, from framework to furnishings, all by herself. Except her older brother runs the company and refuses to take her seriously.

When a television producer gets wind of the Castle sibling rivalry, they’re invited on Flip Off, a competition to see who can do the best renovation. Bethany wants bragging rights, but she needs a crew and the only member of her brother’s construction team willing to jump ship is Wes Daniels, the new guy in town. His Texas drawl and handsome face got under Bethany’s skin on day one, but the last thing she needs is some cocky young cowboy in her way.

As the race to renovate heats up, Wes and Bethany are forced into close quarters, trading barbs and biting banter as they remodel the ugliest house on the block. It’s a labor of love, hate, and everything in between, and soon sparks are flying. But Bethany’s perfectly structured life is one kiss away from going up in smoke and she knows falling for a guy like Wes would be a flipping disaster.

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REVIEW:TOOLS OF ENGAGEMENT is the third instalment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary, adult HOT AND HAMMERED erotic, romance series focusing on a group of friends in Port Jefferson, Long Island. This is twenty three year old construction worker Wes Daniels, and thirty year old, interior designer / house stager Bethany Castle’s story line. TOOLS OF ENGAGEMENT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Wes and Bethany) TOOLS OF ENGAGEMENT follows twenty three year old construction worker Wes Daniels, and thirty year old, interior designer / house stager Bethany Castle. Wes Daniels is currently raising his half-sister’s five year old daughter Laura and doesn’t have time for a personal relationship but his back and forth, tempestuous relationship with his best friend’s sister Bethany finds Wes hoping for something more. Bethany is an interior designer, a home stager who works for her brother’s house flipping business but a business she is hoping to step out on her own. Hiring Wes Daniels as her construction foreman may be good for business but it also pushes our couple closer together. When a television producer offers to film a reality show series featuring Bethany and her brother Stephen pitting each other against one another, all bets are off. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Bethany and Wes, and the potential fall-out as Wes’ time in Port Jefferson comes with an expiry date; and his relationship with Bethany is threatened by our heroine’s need to sabotage all of her dating relationships.

Bethany Castle is a successful home stager with issues of low self-esteem . Struggling to venture out on her own, a chance to prove she is able is threatened by her insecurities heightened by her brother’s need to push all of her buttons. Wes Daniels is currently raising his five year old niece, and the opportunity to work with Bethany Castle means a chance at his own happily ever after but Bethany continues to struggle with their age difference and the possibility of Wes’s time in Port Jefferson coming to a close.

The relationship between Wes and Bethany is an older woman/ younger man, frenemies to lovers that quickly develops into something more. As Wes and Bethany work together on the show, Bethany falls for Wes’ niece Laura, a young girl whose future with Wes is not a permanent arrangement until Wes files for temporary custody, and a home visit threatens everything and more. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top , sexually graphic language and text.

All of the previous story line couples plays secondary and supporting characters.

TOOLS OF ENGAGEMENT is a story of family and friendships; rivalry and acceptance; romance and love. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the romance is captivating and sensual; the characters are animated, colorful and energetic.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Fix Her Up
Love Her and Lose Her

Copy supplied by Edelweiss

Reviewed by Sandy

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Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey-a review

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Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 14, 2020

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 hippy. 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.

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REVIEW: LOVE HER OR LOSE HER is the second instalment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary, adult HOT AND HAMMERED erotic, romance series. This is Dominic and Rosie Vega’s story line.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Rosie and Dominic) LOVE HER OR LOSE HER follows the crumbling relationship between married couple Rosie and Dominic Vega. Rosie has had enough and finally decides that she no longer loves the man her husband has become since his return from active duty, but Dominic isn’t going down without a fight. When his wife suggests ‘extreme’ couple’s counselling, Dominic jumps at the chance to make everything right, a jump that finds him relearning to seduce the woman he already loves. What ensues is rebuilding romance and relationship between Dominic and Rosie, and the potential fall-out when Dominic finally reveals a secret he has kept for close to a year.

Rosie Vega has always wanted to open her own restaurant, and with the help of her friends and a GoFundMe page, Rosie sets out to make her dream come true. Dominic will do anything to put his marriage back together including following the instructions set out by their eccentric counsellor but when Dominic discovers that Rosie is going ahead with her plans for a restaurant, Dominic takes matters into his own hands thereby revealing a secret he has kept from the woman he loves. Herein lies a bit of a conundrum for me: yes, Dominic has a secret; he should have included his wife in his decision but to I did not believe that his actions warranted Rosie’s response.

The relationship between Rosie and Dominic has become stagnant and static. Dominic is over-protective of Rosie, but our heroine is oblivious to the extent to which her husband will go. The only thing our couple have in common is their fantastic sex life but there is more to marriage and relationships than amazing sex. The fact that Dominic was willing to give therapy a chance meant our hero was willing to step up to make things better. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Travis and Georgie; Stephen and Kristin, Bethany, and newcomer Wes Daniels. There may be something developing between Bethany and Wes.

LOVE HER OR LOSE HER is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the relationship struggles in the face of their deteriorating marriage; the characters are dynamic and captivating but I want to address the blurb that states Love Her or Lose Her is a romantic comedy because, IMO, there was very little humor or comedic text. I guess one person’s comedy is another person’s tragedy.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one FIX HER UP

Copy supplied by the publisher through Edelweiss

Reviewed by Sandy

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

Website /Facebook /Twitter / Instagram / Goodreads

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FIX HER UP (Hot and Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey-a review

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FIX HER UP (Hot and Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

About the book: Release Date June 11, 2019

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World… whatever that means.

Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there’s Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her

••••••••••••

REVIEW: FIX HER UP is the first instalment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary, adult HOT AND HAMMERED erotic, romance series. This is twenty-eight year old, former professional baseball player Travis Ford, and twenty-three year old, birthday clown Georgette ‘Georgie’ Castle’s story line.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Georgie and Travis) FIX HER UP follows the fake relationship trope between twenty-eight year old, former professional baseball player Travis Ford, and twenty-three year old, birthday clown Georgette ‘Georgie’ Castle. Travis Ford’s life has spiralled out of controlled since the career ending injury left him without a direction in life. Heading home with his tail between his legs Travis will come face to face with his best friend’s younger sister, a little girl who is now all grown up. When the second opportunity of a life-time is offered to our story line hero, Travis knows he has to clean up his act including his reputation as a man-wh*re, and a hit it and quit it serial dater. Enter Georgette ‘Georgie’ Castle, the woman who has offered to go along with a ‘fake relationship’ deal, in an effort to help Travis become the next big thing in baseball commentating. What ensues is the fake but building relationship between Georgia and Travis, and the potential fall-out as sins of the past destroy the fragile truce between Travis and the people back home.

Travis Ford’s reputation as a womanizer precedes his return to his hometown of Fort Jefferson but the one-time baseball phenom is no longer riding the glory train but the train to embarrassment festered by his previous reputation. In an effort to clean up his image Travis agrees to a ‘fake relationship’ with his best friend’s sister, a relationship that is about to turn into something more. Georgie Castle has never been taken seriously by anyone in her family and her career choice as a birthday clown seems to solidify her family’s observations of their youngest child. Never taken seriously Georgie ventures off on her own only to realize that her relationship with Travis may have been a bigger ruse than she could have ever imagined.

The relationship between Travis and Georgie is a best friend’s little sister / fake relationship that finds our couple considering that what ifs and whys of something more but Travis’ past refuses to die including the reputation that is constantly dragging him down. The $ex scenes are erotic, passionate and intense. Travis likes to talk dirty to the woman with whom he will fall in love.

We are introduced to Georgie’s family: brother Stephen and his wife Kristin; their sister Bethany, and their parents Morty and Vivian Castle; friends Rosie and her husband Dominic; and several small minded townies with long memories.

FIX HER UP is a story of family, friendship, reputation and love. The premise is wondrous and spicy; the characters are sassy, eclectic and energetic; the romance is steamy and hot. FIX HER UP is a flirty, fun and playful story you will not soon forget.

Copy supplied by Edelweiss

Reviewed by Sandy 

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