🟢🪝My review for HOOK, LINE AND SINKER by TESSA BAILEY🪝🟢

🪝4.25 STARS🪝

Fox is a rugged and sexy crab fisherman known as a “good time guy”, not the guy for serious relationship’s just like his love ‘em and leave ‘em father.
Hannah is a music aficionado working as an assistant in film. She wants to earn her way up in the business without using her famous dad’s name and reputation. She doesn’t see herself as a person who stands out and she doesn’t put herself “out there.”
The two spent time together as friends when she was in his town with her sister for family business.
After she returned home they continued texting daily, music is a really cute way they share their feelings with each other.
Sending links to music or comparing their day to a band or album.
I love this aspect of the book! It was really fun and affective at relaying their mood.
Plus great music was playing in my head 🎶
At the core, I feel this story is about beliefs that the characters hold onto about themselves, beliefs that others put on them and that they created themselves. These are things that affect them and their behavior greatly.
It’s about self doubt and how that can affect multiple areas of your life.

It is also a delightful romance.
There is banter, really fun conversations and interactions.
They have great friendship and with that comes some very hot chemistry.
Plenty of steam, though it is a slow burn. When it happens, it’s fiery!
The two characters dance around their attraction and feelings, it’s not an action packed romance.
It is a steady, slow build.
There are plenty of moments where it hit me in the emotions. There’s emotional struggles the characters have, there’s big emotional revelations.
There are some very swoon worthy moments throughout, especially towards the end.
I think both characters are very likable, their story took me on a journey of finding yourself, letting go of all the judgmental things that aren’t helpful and letting love in and letting love win.
The epilogue was so sweet, sexy and emotional. It was the perfect ending for me.
I loved this story and characters.

#HookLineAndSinker #TessaBailey #NetGalley #romancereviews

Tessa Bailey is one of my go-to rom-com authors when I am looking for something steamy with substance. I think I may have enjoyed Hook, Line and Sinker more than the first book in the series. In the second installment of the Bellinger Sisters series, we follow the story of Hannah and Fox in the months after she returns to LA. When she is back in the small fishing town for a movie production, Fox lends her a spare room to stay in. This is such a slow burn friends to lovers romance but the tension and flirtation builds so well throughout the story that you cannot put it down. This could be read as a standalone but you definitely will miss out on some of the universe building that happens in the first book.

I came to the book with a lot of expectations because of how much I loved It Happened One Summer and how invested I was in Hannah and Fox just from Brendan and Piper’s POV observations and suspicions. So invested that I immediately hopped on NetGalley to request an ARC as soon as I finished IHOS.

Tessa Bailey did not disappoint with this second installment in the Bellinger Sister’s series. This was one of the best executions of friends-to-lovers troupe I’ve read. I loved Fox’s pining over Hannah and her insistence on empowering him and seeing through the bull shit façade he puts up to protect himself from getting hurt. Both characters saw personal growth that allowed them to be better people and partners for one another. The issues and trauma they worked through are less common in romance books (and perhaps fiction itself) including imposter syndrome, toxic masculinity, external expectations, and male slut-shaming.

In terms of critiques, I was disappointed by the several months time jump. I liked that it gave Fox and Hannah time to develop a friendship, but I really wanted to see several of the events in IHOS from their POVs. I would have loved learning more about their trip to the convention in Seattle and Fox finding and buying that Fleetwood Mac record. And him losing the need to visit Seattle every weekend. Heart squee!

Additionally, while I like that they worked through their issues, there was too much time spent on internal dialogues on these subjects when a conversation could have saved them both from self-sabotaging and hurting the other. I was surprised that they kept having to clear these relationship hurdles when IHOS had so much open communication. It felt like the miscommunication troupe, which is one of my least favorites. Just talk to each other! It dragged the pacing down and took me out of the story and I started skipped paragraphs of internal dialogue.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any fans of slow burn, friends-to-lovers, and forced proximity romances! It included an epilogue ten years later that concluded the series in a neat bow.

I LOVED It Happened One Summer. It’s one of my favorite books in 2021 for sure. So, I literally begged for an arc of Hook, Line, and Sinker. I can’t believe I’m saying this but….

I liked this one even better!!

Friends to lovers is a favorite trope of mine so I enjoyed watching Fox and Hannah’s friendship develop into love. Fox’s backstory is heartbreaking and made me fall in love with him. His personal growth throughout this book is beautiful. Hannah is the supportive person he needed in his life and is such a wonderful person.

Plus, the glimpses of Piper and Brendan were so much fun. As you know, I need an epilogue in a romance book and this epilogue literally brought tears to my eyes.

I will pretty much read anything Tessa Bailey writes at this point. She’s an auto buy author for me.

This book gave me so many different emotions. It felt like a hug from a friend, it’s slow burn friends to lovers left me feeling happy and content. Tessa Bailey really brought out the emotion with this book, and I fell in love with it.

My heart just hurts for Fox. His background and how he was raise makes me burn with anger. But I love how Hannah was steadfast in her hope and love for him. She would not give up.

I really enjoyed how they used music to help communicate with each other and on other personal levels. The connection Hannah was able to find and nurture with her deceased father was absolutely perfect.

This is book two in the series, and could be read as a standalone, but I’d recommend reading in order. Both were five star reads for me.

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey set sail on a love story filled with sea shanties, record stores, Hollywood stars, and one of the best reformed rake tropes I have ever seen. Fox Thornton is a notably-flirtatious king crab fisherman who is at a nexus in his career. No one has ever taken him seriously, but know his best friend wants him to become Captain of the ship, something Fox knows he doesn’t want. Hannah Bellinger is a dedicated production assistant from Hollywood determined to make her mark in the music department. Instead of designing the soundtrack for her life, she wants to design the film soundtrack. When an opportunity at work comes up to pitch a new filming location, she knows it’s her chance to show initiative. Hannah offers up the small fishing town where her sister is, the place where her biological father was from. Hannah is sure she can crash with her, but her sister’s guest room will be full and the only other place to stay in town is with her long-distance friend Fox. Will they maintain their friendship or will they defy town gossip and allow things to develop into something more?

Let me just say this book is working through a lot. Yes, it is a genuinely funny and cute romantic comedy. It is also examining the role of toxic masculinity in the formation of intimacy or vulnerability in young men. It looks at the difficult ways we manage our perception of ourselves and our ability to take up space in the workforce. It follows a young woman’s journey to accepting her connection to her deceased biological father. Ultimately it unpacks the way internalizing personality traits informed by others’ treatment can harm anyone. I really loved the way Bailey cares about approaching difficult subject matter and working through it in character interactions.

Now, it helps that our protagonists are absolutely adorable. I will protect Fox and Hannah at any cost. Their relationship formed over a shared language of music was wonderful. It was nice to see how they both acted as a sounding board for eachothers work-based insecurities. I also enjoyed watching Hannah and Fox navigate their jobs outside of their shared apartment. They were actually shown being competent at their jobs and it paid off in the narrative. Their emotional and vocational journeys went hand in hand and readers are allowed to believe their paths are growing in a similar direction.

The clash between the big Hollywood production and the small town was easily smoothed over so it never becomes an antagonistic focus in the text. The secondary characters are fully formed and a helpful way of informing character development. Musically, the book was my jam (seriously the soundtrack would absolutely rock). I am down with the concept and characters, so I would highly recommend giving this book a go. If you were a fan of That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert this book is right up your alley. Get ready to place your shipment for Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey set to release March 1, 2022. Thank you, Avon and Harper Voyager via NetGalley for providing the eARC of Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review an advanced copy of this book. Oh my word! I didn't not want this story to end! We first met the Bellinger Sisters in book one which featured older sister Piper returning to the sea fisherman town that her father was from and where he is know as a hero after his death. Piper ended up falling for fisherman captain Brandon and is settling down in this town. Both sisters step father is a big wig in Hollywood and Hannah is working on a film, attracted to the director while texting and flirting with Fox - who has told his buddy Brandon, Hannah is off limits. When the crew is in town filming and Hannah needs a place to stay and Fox has an extra room well you can see where this is going.....loved, loved these characters, this book, this town and all! I did not want this book to end.

The spice! The emotions! The humor! This was a great follow-up to Bailey's It Happened One Summer and Fox and Hannah were a delightful pairing. I sped through this one and would highly recommend for any fans of Bailey's contemporary romance.

Hook, Line, and Sinker is definitely my new favorite Tessa Bailey romance.

Hannah and Fox have such great chemistry as a couple, but I also adored Hannah and Fox's stories, watching them come into their own in their storylines. I can't wait for March 2022 to bring this heartwarming and hilarious romance into more hands!

This was perfection.

Hook, Line, and Sinker was the absolute perfect conclusion to the Bellinger sister’s stories.

As soon as this was announced I was dying to get my hands on this. I absolutely adored Fox and Hannah’s story, and I’m so glad it was everything I wanted and more. This had me laughing, swooning, and smiling throughout the entire book.

Tessa Bailey, you have a fan for life!

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Avon Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so so cute and such a good follow up to It Happened One Summer. Loved this spicy friends to lovers story!

A read It Happened One Summer a few months ago, and I thought it was amazing. So, hearing that it had a sequel I was excited to get back to these characters, but also nervous that it wouldn’t live up to its predecessor. But those fears have been squashed!
Where Piper and Brendan’s story had been fun, romantic, and steamy, Hannah and Fox’s steered more towards meaningful and cathartic while also keeping the steam and spice. Hannah is the ever relatable “go with the flow” girl trying to figure herself out. And Fox is stuck in a box of assumptions made about him, and can’t decide whether it is better to stay or break free. Together, the two create an emotional story that hits you in the feels when you don’t expect it to.
I’ve honestly never read a book with such a layered relationship as this one! It keeps you emotionally invested until the very end leaves you with a nasty book hangover.
I’m really sad to be finished with the Bellinger Sisters series, but very happy that I got a opportunity to read them.

I ate this story right up. It was a fun laid back coastal story. This is the second installment in this contemporary romance dualology. It is multi-perspective following Hannah and Fox, who were both side characters in the first book. While I have not read the first book, it was easy to get caught up and Tessa Bailey provides enough information without giving up the story. Hannah and Fox, both are dealing with some internal struggles, but they have developed a budding friendship over text with their love of music. However, even though feelings are developing, they live thousands of miles apart. Not to mention that Fox has gotten several warnings from his best friend and Hannah's sister to be on his best behavior, since he does not have the most stellar reputation with the ladies. When Hannah suddenly gets the opportunity to visit her sister and catch up with Fox, she jumps on board and things get heated( in a good way).
This is the second book I have read by Tessa. I enjoyed this story, it was cute! It was a story focusing on where both characters needed to work on themselves and fight their attraction, with a bit of miscommunication. There was some tension, especially with them staying in the same house. I personally would have liked a little bit more heated moments, but that is my personal opinion. I loved Hannah's character, she is fun and optimistic but still struggles with self doubt and taking her shot, which I know everyone deals with. Fox, I felt a bit more on the fence with him. Sometimes he was great and others I was like what is his problem. I really enjoyed the setting on the coast of Maine, it was nostalgic and looking at the hard life of a fisherman. Overall, great story, fun time and I would definitely recommend checking this out. I will be going and picking up the first one because I definitely can’t miss out.
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Holy smokes Batman if I could have given this book more than 5 stars I would have. Fox and Hannah are the perfect couple. I absolutely love their dynamic and how well the compliment each other in every way. I think this is my first time reading a friends to lovers romance and I am absolutely sold! The writing of this book is phenomenal, I loved getting to get to see how both characters felt and loved getting to see Piper and Brendan as well.
I also loved how Tessa Bailey put the “That kid is going to be a heart breaker” theme in there for Fox and what mindset that can give a kid when put into their mind at such a young age. I definitely think Fox and Hannah both had amazing character development which only made me fall in love with them even more.
And the epilogue was absolute perfection!

Tessa Bailey does romcom well. And after adoring It Happened One Summer, I knew I wanted to get my hands on Hook, LIne, and Sinker as soon as I could. This is the ultimate Friends to Lovers: Boy Falls First edition. In book one, Fox and Hannah are support characters. HL&S gives them their HEA. They are friends first, and really lift each other up that way. Even though they love each other and want to be with each other, they keep that on the sidelines until they are both ready. The tension at times is unbearable, but it is totally worth it in the end. I will always one-click a Tessa Bailey novel, and can't wait to see what she does next.

Hi. I'm Millie and I'm obsessed with Tessa Bailey's romances. Getting to read this early felt like Christmas in October.

Unless you're a Leo, you have probably had times where you felt like the supporting actor or actress in your own story. A big part of my enjoyment of this book was seeing a female character who is trying to find her way in her career and take charge in her own life, instead of just being the best friend and the one in the background, and at the same time, she is supporting and helping someone else see their worth. But the best part is that Hannah doesn't read insecure, clueless, and passionless. (Which is how this could have played out in a more Chick Lit format) She knows she loves music, is good at selecting songs for every mood, wants more for herself in her career, and she pushes herself to get it.

Unless you are Beyonce, you've probably felt a bit of imposter syndrome at some point too. We also get to see the growth that Fox experiences as someone who does not believe he has what it takes to be a leader, have responsibility, and to be a partner, which is not something I think we typically get for male leads. Especially with Tessa Bailey's typically alpha males, they always seem to be sure of themselves and confident, but Fox shows that a lot of times there are feelings under that facade.

Hannah reads very grounded and mature and it was refreshing the way that she considered Fox's insecurities without judgement and allowed the relationship to progress naturally and authentically without a physical aspect. BUT that does not mean it was boring or slow. The tension is constantly building, and there are tons of little moments that will make you swoon. And in true Tessa Bailey fashion, the steam delivers.

If you are a fan of friends to lovers, you will die for this one. I highly recommend starting with Piper and Brendan's story because this book picks up after Hannah and Fox have already established a friendship in the first book that you don't want to miss.

Now I'm just sad there isn't a third Bellinger sister. Westport will hold a place in my heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advanced Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hook, Line, and Sinker delivers! Hannah and Fox continue their story after meeting in It Happened One Summer. This story is arguably more about Fox’s character development than Hannah’s, and I was here for it. I enjoyed watching him try to navigate living beyond self-imposed and societal pressures, as Hannah found her footing personally and professionally. I would have enjoyed seeing more of Hannah and Piper together, but overall I really enjoyed this story.

Oh boy did I love so much about this book. It's the perfect friends-to-lovers book. I read it in one sitting - completely devoured the characters, their little town, and the love story between Hannah and Fox. I've already pre-ordered a paperback copy of this because I can't wait to read it again when it's published!

I loved this book! Fox was my favorite he has the purest heart and him and Hannah both learn to overcome their personal hangups! I would definitely recommend this book it is a quick and fun read! I am so jealous of the bellinger sisters that got a sexy fisherman!

Thank you SO SO much to NetGalley for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I now forgive the mediocrity of It Happened One Summer because it means that we got to start Hook, Line, and Sinker with phenomenal sexual tension from the very beginning. Having the background story of Hannah and Fox's budding friendship meant we get to jump right into the good stuff. Not only do I enjoy a friends to lovers much more than an enemies to lovers story, but Hook, Line, and Sinker was such a fantastic slow burn that kept me turning the pages until the very end. I am absolutely in love with Hannah and Fox's dynamic. Hannah exhibits absolute queen behavior by refusing to reduce Fox to his sexual value like everyone else in his life has. Fox does the hard work of discovering himself and the value of this relationship by dismantling his previously internalized beliefs. The dual POV gives the reader insight into how hard that struggle is for both of these characters, and I am so thankful for it. This is a beautiful love story, yes, but it is also a hard hitting commentary on toxic masculinity and the sexualization of young boys. Fox comes to value himself and recognize his own worth outside of what he can offer another person sexually, and it is such a beautiful metamorphosis to watch! Hannah is so patient and persistent in pursuing Fox for his personhood, and it is so precious. I smiled the entire time I was reading this book. So heartwarming, SO spicy, such an amazing story of the meaning of love. Highly recommend.