Hooked On You by Kathleen Fuller is a first for me by her as a contemporary romance author. I've read several of her Amish romance books and enjoyed them all. This book is about a young woman going home to her small town in Arkansas from New York to help her grandma out. She is a bit hard to warm up to. However, I liked the hero and the other characters really well. This book looks like it is the first in a series.
*I was given a copy of this book by Thomas Nelson Publishers and this is my honest opinion.

Hooked on You, by Kathleen Fuller, is a tale set in the small town of Maple Falls, Arkansas. Riley McAllister has not been home in ten years; however, when she learns her grandma Mimi has broken a leg and needs assistance, Riley cannot stay away, no matter how much she wants to!

Riley cannot believe it, when she learns that Mimi has sent Hayden Price to pick her up at the airport. Hayden was one of the reasons that Riley left Maple Falls and never looked back!

Now that Riley is back in Maple Falls, it is interesting to see everything in which she becomes involved. She cleans up Mimi's house, as well as Mimi's crafting store, Knot's and Tangles, with Hayden's help. However, everything gets upended when after thirteen years,Riley's mother suddenly walks back into her life!

Hang on for the explosive conclusion to this tale!

As a knitter, I REALLY wanted to like this book. I figured it was combining two of my favorite things - knitting and romance. So it had to be great, right?

Sadly, this book had WAY too much drama for me. It’s not often that I want to reach into a book to shake some sense into the main character, but that’s exactly what happened in this book.

Riley hasn’t been back to the small Arkansas town where her grandmother lives in 10 years. She doesn’t want people to talk about her; she feels like she doesn’t fit in; she’s embarrassed of her druggie mother; and the list goes on and on. In other words, she’s a real head case. Hayden threw one pitch in the major leagues and promptly ended his baseball career before it ever began. So he came back to the same small town to work for his dad at the hardware store they owned. Riley & Hayden knew each other from high school, but they didn’t really speak because she has always been a head case and he was too focused on baseball. But now that they are back in the same small town, they begin to feel the chemistry between them. Only Riley runs away from Hayden for 75% of the book. Obviously Hayden is the head case because he stays around - I couldn’t ever figure that one out.

It could be a cute story if Riley didn’t act like such a weirdo for most of the book. She seriously suffers from an inferiority complex big time - I honestly saw nothing appealing about her so I’m still confused as to why hunky Hayden would be so attracted to her.

And the small town where they live was just depressing - all the locally owned stores were closing for good, etc. Hayden & Riley wanted to single handedly save the city, but not quite sure they will ever get enough customers to make a difference.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

Five stars definitely, I read it in one day because it was impossible to put it aside, the chemistry between the two main characters is so great.
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Riley's social difficulties and Hayden's sincerity leaves the best scenes and dialogue. Mimi is great too and her group of friends are great.
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It is a RomCom that deals with issues such as gentrification, family and loneliness and leaves a good feeling by not solving all the issues
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I loved this book from start to finish and it made me want to search for more work by this author.
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Thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for give me this great reading in exchange for my honest review I enjoyed it

Hooked on You has all the makings of a great romance novel - returning to one’s hometown to help rejuvenate a family business, a burnt out sports star finding a new direction for his life, a small town setting and a quirky group of old friends who like to meddle. Sadly, I wasn’t able to connect with the main characters in the way that I wanted and the writing and dialogue was a bit stilted, leaving me unsatisfied with the plot. A light and easy read, but not one of my favourites of the genre.

Hayden has returned home to Maple Falls to help run his father’s hardware business. After finally making it to the Majors in baseball, he blew out his shoulder on his first pitch. Riley has returned to Maple Falls after her grandmother is injured during a softball game. Riley is just counting down the days until she can return to New York and finding her place as a mixed media artist, but being ‘home’ and getting to know Hayden again makes her reassess her life goals.

A sweet book, it was the lack of depth to the characters and their background stories that made this an okay book for me, rather than one I adored. Not a lot happens in the story and I found it hard to believe in Riley and Hayden’s connection. The prose and dialogue is a little stilted, and I’m not sure how realistic Hayden’s voice was at times. The drama introduced at the end was overly dramatic and just added to my overall disinterest in the story.

Sadly this one just wasn’t for me, but might be good for readers who are looking for a laid back and light romance.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

This story gave me everything I want when I look for a romantic women’s fiction book. It was set in a charming, although declining, small town. It had a group of dear friends who acted like a sisterhood, self-named the Bosom Buddies. They could always be counted on to speak the truth in order to encourage and exhort one another; to show up and help pick up the pieces when life was hard; and to celebrate with you when life was good. And the book had a beautiful love story between handsome and kind Hayden and beautiful but broken Riley. There were also some appealing secondary characters who I hope will get their own stories in future books. I was hooked right from the start all the way through to the last page. Highly recommend! I was entrusted with a complimentary copy of this book and this voluntary review expresses my honest opinion.

Hooked on You is my first Kathleen Fuller book. Riley pulled at my heart and Hayden is the right person to bring her out of her dysfunctional past. They are drawn to each other and maybe if they can learn to trust the future will be brighter.

Kathleen is a new author to me and I was first drawn in by the cover image and then the blurb.
I loved this story, I enjoy stories that center around small towns with unforgettable characters. Riley is a strong and independent woman that has a hard past that has made her very defensive, guarded, and a little bit lonely. She has a good friend and roommate Melody in New York and her Mimi in Maple Falls.
Most of the story takes place in Maple Falls, she goes back to help her grandmother when she is laid up in a wheelchair from breaking her leg. Riley has a hard time going back to Maple Falls, she views it as a place filled with sorrow and loneliness. The longer Riley is in Maple Falls the more her guard starts to go down a little bit. She gets to meet new people, be reacquainted with people she knew from the past, and gets to see a clearer picture of Maple Falls. She grows to care about more people other then her mimi and takes an active role in helping out.
Hayden is strong, sweet, and hard working and has had his own hardships he is trying to overcome. Him and Riley have great chemistry and I enjoyed reading about their relationship as it grew, stalled, fell apart, and blossomed.
There is some romance, some sadness, some anger, and angst in this story but the flow of the story was great. Things come to ahead, things are blown up but worked out. The ending was great and it made me want to keep reading,
I hope the author writes more books about the characters in Maple Falls.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange fir my honest review.

Hooked on You is a very well written romance. I loved the plot, setting and the believable characters. Readers of romance books will enjoy this book.

Riley McAllister was a frustrated artist living in New York City. Hayden Price was a former major league baseball player whose career had been cut short by an injury. Their paths collide when Riley returns to the small town of Maple Falls to care for her grandmother. Will Riley and Hayden be able to move beyond past hurts and losses to create something lasting and beautiful together? Journey to the quaint town of Maple Falls, Arkansas to meet a cast of characters you won’t soon forget in this heartwarming tale of hope, trust, and new beginnings.

Lovely, clean romantic story taking place in a small southern town where present is met by past.

As Riley heads to Maple Falls to help her grandmother she would never count on recieving the warmth and welcome from everyone there. She hasn't wanted to get attached to noone or nothing and her first thoughts were to get her grandmother healthy and be on her merry way back to New York. Her attachment issues has been a problem since her childhood as she was dragged around the states by her mother and her addiction. The deep settled hurt and the voices in her head wouldn't let go but feed her anxiety. 

When Hayden Price and his kindness struck on full force, the what ifs and possibilities start to mix in her head until.....

Find out for yourself. It was clean romance, which I haven't read in a long while, but I loved every second of this book.

Riley McCallister never planned to come back to Maple Falls; she'd planned to become a renowned artist in New York. Hayden Price never planned to work at his family's hardware store; he'd planned to become a major league baseball pitcher - which he did, for one pitch. When Riley's grandmother takes a hard slide at a church softball game and breaks her leg, Riley finds herself back in her grandmother's yarn store, planning to only be there long enough to get her grandmother literally back on her feet. Hayden, however, has adjusted his plans, and is looking forward to settling into Maple Falls, until he finds that his family may have different plans of their own. Can Riley and Hayden find a way to be content with their plans being changed?

After reading through a string of overly sappy romances, this novel hit many of the right notes for me. Riley, the self-proclaimed artistic loner, and Hayden, the popular athlete, were a great combination of characters. I loved that this wasn't a second-chance story, per se; Riley and Hayden never connected in high school, each thinking the other never even noticed them. I loved the Bosom Buddies, Riley's grandmother's collection of friends who bonded over knitting and crocheting and had been together so long as to be able to speak truth to each other, while also watching out for each other. I loved how the younger version of them, dubbed the Musketeers by Hayden, easily took Riley in, even through her resistance.

If you're looking for a Christian novel with strong threads of faith, this isn't the book for you. While the characters go to church, there are no conversations about God, or prayer, or the Bible. However, it is a clean novel, with themes of love and forgiveness, and how blood family is not the only kind of family.

I give this book 4 stars. I'm excited that this is a series, and I can't wait to see which characters get the spotlight next!


I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been knitting since 2003, so I grab any book that relates to the craft. This was a very sweet, if stereotypical, clean romance. Riley left small-town Arkansas hoping to make it as an artist in New York City, but years later she’s still not having any luck. After her grandmother is injured, she comes back to Arkansas to help Mimi, convincing her that she will fix up the yarn store to sell, because the small town is dying a slow death. Hayden was Riley’s high school crush, who has moved back home after an injury ruined his Major League dreams. He plans on taking over the family hardware business, but his parents have other plans. Together, Riley and Hayden fall in love as Hayden breaks down Riley’s barriers and learns more about her tumultuous childhood. Riley and her grandmother uncover and reckon with some newly-uncovered family secrets, while Riley and Hayden hatch a plot to bring the small town of Maple Falls back to life.

I enjoyed this slow, sweet story. It’s not my usual kind of read, but it’s perfect if you want a sweet, clean romance without a ton of drama. Unfortunately, it did seem to recycle many tropes and was ultimately forgettable, with stereotypical characters and stilted dialogue. Great for a beach read, or for a hot summer day when it’s too hot to think here in Alabama.

If you like Hallmark and Lifetime made for TV romances, you will enjoy this story. There isn’t any real depth or substance to the plot, but it provides light and easy escape into the characters’ lives and their romantic entanglements. The story moves along at a slow and steady pace until it reaches its predicted end.

A few months before I first saw Hooked on You on Goodreads, I had this random thought of wondering if Kathleen Fuller would ever write something other than Amish fiction, so imagine my surprise and delight when I spied Hooked on You. I knew I had to read it!

Riley has lived in New York City for nine years trying to make it as a Mixed Media Artist to little success, so when her grandmother breaks her leg and needs her to come home to Maple Falls, Riley dutifully returns home.

Hayden remembers Riley as this mysterious girl(in high school) he always wanted to get to know, but he was never able to get to her. He thought she was incredibly talented( and beautiful) as an artist, but nothing happened between them at the time.

I thought the budding friendship/relationship was so cute. I liked the realness of showing with both their insecurities but also their strengths came through strongly as well. Riley is very hesitant about where this relationship can go because she has every intention of returning to NYC. Hayden already knows what it is that he wants. I was all in with Hayden and Riley, I haven’t really liked a fictional couple like them in a really long time.

But Riley hasn’t really dealt with her mother, who she refers to as Tracey. She(Tracey) returns home and changes everything for Riley and Hayden. Riley has many unresolved issues around her mother.

Hooked on You really hooked me and curled around my heart and took up residence! I haven’t read something like this in a really long time. Definite five stars.

My gratitude to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

It’s amazing how our childhood shapes who we become as adults. Riley’s life is turned upside down when she goes to help her Mimi who has broken her leg. This was a good read for a relaxing weekend.

Received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest opinion.
This was a fun story, with some in the beginning messed up characters. It was nice to see them grow, and learn from their mistakes. I really liked the ending, it came to a logical conclusion.

Kathleen Fuller’s debut novel of her Maple Falls Romance series is titled, “Hooked On You,” and explores second chances and reconciliation. A lovely Christian romance and quick read, this one is to be published May 11, 2021.

When Riley McAlister left the small town of Maple Falls, Arkansas, 9 years ago to pursue her dreams in New York, she had no intentions of returning. Unfortunately, her grandma, 72 year old Erma (Mimi) McAllister injures herself sliding into third base and asks Riley to return and help run Knots and Tangles, the family yarn store. Riley begrudgingly agrees, thinking she can easily convince her grandma to sell and retire, therefore, allowing Riley to return to New York.

When Hayden Price graduated with Riley, he was headed to the big leagues and had big plans for baseball to take him out of his suffocatingly small and dilapidated hometown. Unfortunately, he blew out his pitching arm during a minor league game and ended his baseball career. He returned home to work in the family business, Price’s Hardware. Life hasn’t turned out as he expected and he’s stuck with debt from college and a broken engagement.

For those of us whose grandmas are no longer with us, Mimi is the epitome of the quintessential grandma; a bit nosy, a bit bossy, but only has our best interests at heart. Mimi would never admit it, but she is attempting to join the two founding families of Maple Falls in an attempt to heal the hearts of the two people she loves most. You’ll love this story about finding out what home really is and the benefit and joy of sharing that with someone you love. In the process, you’ll be reminded that when we focus on the past and bitterness, it prevents us from forgiving and finding happiness and love. I look forward to the next book in this series, "Much Ado About A Latte."

Thank you Kathleen Fuller, Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for this sweet and loveable advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book really didn't grab me. It felt like a bit of a slog to read.

I really loved the idea of it - and I loved Mimi/Erma. But Riley and Hayden feel so predictable and one dimensional that I couldn't get on board with their romance at all.

I could see this being made into a hallmark movie - and I'd probably watch it. But it's just not an engaging book. The characters (apart from Erma/Mimi) have no flair. They're just there for the sake of having characters. I will take that back actually, Bea, towards the end emerges as a great character. But besides her and Erma, I felt nothing for any of the characters. The plot meandered along and just didn't capture me.

I really wanted to love it, unfortunately it was not to be.

Hooked on You has ALL of the cheesy predictable Christian fiction tropes - an estranged mother, a group of old ladies, the "3 musketeers" of friends. There wasn't any depth to the first 3/4 of the book, but I'm glad I held out for the end. If you can overlook the cheese, the end is satisfying.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.