Thank you to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored Tessa Bailey's It Happened One Summer so when I saw that she was following up with Hannah and Fox's story, I knew I needed to read it immediately. The book opens on a text exchange between our couple that nicely bridges the time gap between the end of the previous book and sets up context for their story.

Hannah has always viewed herself as a supporting actress, never the leading lady. Fox has allowed himself to become the womanizer that everyone expects him to be so that he's laughing at the joke, not becoming the joke. Wow, can Tessa Bailey write complicated men so well. I loved the way she peeled back the layers of Fox's story to get to the very heart of him. On the flip side, we see Hannah stepping out of her comfort zone and asking for what she wants. The character growth from both of them is phenomenal and their friendship and love story was a treat to read.

(On another note, this author writes the hands down best steamy scenes that are absolutely worth the wait.)

In the end, I think I liked this installment a little less than the first book; however, it was still a fantastic read and one I'm sure I'll revisit in the future.

Thank you so much Tessa Bailey for sending me an ARC copy of Hook, Line, and Sinker. I've heard a lot of great things about this book and felt an extreme need to read this book myself. I just recently started getting into romance novels. I love everything about this book. The story is awesome and the book Cover art is beautiful. I would definitely recommend this to all my friends and family and also to anyone who loves a good romance.

NetGalley/ARC review--many thanks to the publisher and author for the early access read!

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey is the second in the Bellinger Sisters series, and they should really be read in order. HLS is technically a standalone, but I think you'd miss a lot if you read it first/only.

Hannah Bellinger returns to the sleepy fishing village of Westport WA when the production company she works for goes on-location there. She's determined to go from lowly PA to soundtrack designer, taking herself from supporting actress to leading lady in her own life, at least professionally. She's less sure about taking the leap with her longtime crush and director, Sergei, and she's been feeling that was for the duration of her 7-month texting-based friendship with the town playboy, Fox Thornton. They connected in book 1 when Fox was charged with babysitting Hannah, and their friendship has just stuck. What will happen when Hannah ends up sharing Fox's bachelor pad while she's in town? Can Fox change his ways when he realizes he's head over heels for his best friend?

I was super super excited to read Hook Line and Sinker after getting the teaser in book 1, and it did not disappoint! The back and forth is perhaps a little drawn out, but it feels pretty dang realistic.

Spoiler free Hook, Line, and Sinker eARC review

3.75/5 stars

“Take some time and think. Because next time you tell me goodbye, I’ll believe you.”

I enjoyed this one WAY more than It Happened One Summer.

For starters, I love Hannah. She is a selfless character who is sure in what she wants and is not afraid of the execution that may take. I loved seeing her grow as a character and gain confidence. I also loved how much she believed in Fox, but also that she wasn’t going to let him get away with his self-doubt.

I also really loved Fox. He was a character that has been through some things that had led him to believe he wasn’t worthy of love. It was sad to see him be so hard on himself, but seeing his character growth was so great. My favorite thing about this couple is that while they may have had their doubts, they never gave up on each other.

I definitely favor Hannah and Fox over Piper and Brendan.

Overall a fun read! I think the writing still feels a little rushed, but I enjoyed this one more.

Also, I just KNOW Fox is SO HOT.

I was so looking forward to this story ever since Fox and Hannah met! This was such a cute book and definitely has more emotional depth, so there are lots of chunks where both Fox and Hannah are into their feelings and thoughts before there is dialogue or action to move the plot along. And it makes sense because the characters, especially Hannah, are that type rather than Piper and Brendan who were just boiling with spice and brighter. Hannah is an intense person internally because of how she interacts and feels with the music she's deeply infatuated with and Fox is deep into his thoughts because of insecurities and his growing attraction to Hannah. Hannah is definitely relatable with how she felt like a supporting character only but she definitely can communicate well with songs and assert herself when absolutely necessary. Fox is just the darn sweetest. People may write him off as a simple man, but there's so much more to him beneath the surface.

The plot was super cute and hit with Fox's backstory and how Hannah wasn't letting him get away with running away anymore. I adore the both of them as a couple but maybe I'm greedy and wanted more because most of the book was like a sort of type of slow burn with the attraction sizzling through the roof but not enough official couple moments! But I did enjoy all the other subtle things that expressed their love for each other before it was official-official. Fox's sweet little gestures (but he can still get dirty) and quiet Hannah's assertiveness with him was such a perfect match. They kept each other honest.

I think I loved Hook, Link and Sinker even more than It Happened One Summer! So sexy and so fun to read! I devoured this book in one sitting and then wanted to read it all over again. A perfect romance novel!

HUGE thank you to Netgalley and Avon+Harper Voyager for sending me this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely ADORED the first book in this series. I was so beyond excited when I saw Hook, Line, and Sinker was available to request on Netgalley. And then I was approved and I did the biggest happy dance. I love these books!!

This is my first time reviewing a contemporary romance and I don’t really know where to start. All I can say is that I absolutely loved Hannah and Fox’s story. I’m a sucker for any kind of friends/enemies to lovers and forced proximity tropes. I loved watching Hannah and Fox’s relationship bloom into something. I especially liked that their text messages from the past months apart were included at the beginning of the story. It really gave nice context to their friendship. Overall, I think that Hook, Line, and Sinker was slightly less good than It Happened One Summer, but I still totally loved it. This series was my first experience with Tessa Bailey’s writing and I loved it! The setting, characters, banter, and romance were all done so well. And the smut is *chef’s kiss* amazing.

If you are looking for a fun, easy-to-read, smutty romance then definitely check out It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey!

Tessa Bailey gave us the swoony friends to lovers story we needed. It was sweet and angsty and honestly just really well written! I actually really enjoyed how well the characters communicated and talked through their problems.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
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Tessa Bailey….I just couldn’t even wait to read the final book in the Bellinger Sisters. I love these ladies. Heart of gold and their men….hearts to match.
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Hook, Line and Sinker gives us Hannah’s story. Sweet, sweet Hannah. I loved the friends to lovers trope. It fit Hannah and Fox perfectly.
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This one had great chemistry and wooo, it was hot. I mean. Blushing in my chair steamy. Bottom line. This one was a win. I read it in one sitting and had a stupid grin on my face the majority of the time.
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Highly, highly recommend you read the Bellinger Sisters. Start with It Happened One Summer…trust me on this one.

I don’t even recognize myself anymore but I have fallen back in love with reading FINALLY! Thanks to @avonbooks and @netgalley for this e-galley of the new @tessabaileyisanauthor in the Bellinger Sisters series!

This book is Hannah and Fox’s who we meet in the first installment ‘It Happened One Summer’. Hannah is Pipers younger sister and Fox is Brendan’s best friend and fellow crew mate in the small fishing town of Westport. Hannah is back in LA working on a movie but her an Fox have maintained a texting relationship. When the movie needs a new location, Hannah suggests Westport and circumstances just happen that her sister is going to have company so she ends up staying with none other than Fox. Can they remain just friends or will it be more?

Ok I loved this one! The chemistry was SO GOOD. Scorching. This one is a slow build and slow burn and I was just as frustrated as the characters at times 😂 but the payoff is SO worth it. 🔥🔥 Their relationship starts with forced proximity and Fox vowing to help Hannah win over the director she has a crush on and boy do I love watching jealousy play out. And my gosh their communication. I just love when characters can communicate and work through issues together instead of using it as a way to drive conflict and these two were chefs kiss. I love how patient Hannah was and how she saw who Fox truly was and never gave up on him. It was all just everything I look for and love in a romance - make sure you grab your copy when it comes out next March!! // ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️

3.5 - Following two side characters from It Happened One Summer, Bailey’s newest novel is a thoughtful friends to lovers romance that, while it has its spicy moments, lacks the heat and chemistry of the first entry in this series.

Hannah has never had the same “leading lady” energy as her older sister; she is stuck in a dead end job as a production assistant, too scared to make a move on her long time crush or ask for a promotion to work on the music side of the filmmaking process. Fox has been type-cast as a playboy; terrified of walking in his philandering father’s footsteps, he sticks to one night stands in the big city so he doesn’t break any small town hearts. When Hannah finally speaks up at work and offers up her hometown of Westport as the perfect filming location, she finds herself crashing at Fox’s apartment. Months of near-constant texting have laid the groundwork of a solid friendship, but close proximity almost immediately leads to sexual tension. The novel is at its best when examining the toxic masculinity Fox was raised with or when it gets slightly meta in exploring Hannah’s experiences as a side character. While there are definitely some spicy moments between Hannah and Fox, the romance lacked the spark I was craving. Hannah was much more emotionally mature than Fox, and I had to seriously suspend my disbelief to accept that Fox could process his childhood trauma and long-standing relationship issues in a few short weeks. A better established friendship or a longer time frame might have benefited the story.

This is my begging Tessa Bailey to please give me 20 more books for these sisters. I loved Piper and Brendan but Fox and Hannah truly took me by the throat. I loved their slow burn, pining and longing, friends to lovers, forced proximity.
The fact that Hannah went from not speaking up to standing her ground, knowing what she wants and getting it, being so emotionally smart and sweet and the way she didn’t let Fox believe those things about himself, she trusted and believed in him while everyone else had an idea of him. I think the way Fox was so protective and in tune with Hannah was also super sweet and one of my favorite things. I wish I saw a little more Piper and Hannah because I think their sister duo was so great but overall, I loved this book so much. Hannah truly did not give up on Fox and their relationship was one of my favourites.

This book truly gave me a book hangover and I can’t wait for this to come out in paperback so I can reread it all over again and highlight so many of my favorite scene and quotes

Thank you to Avon, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for this ARC!

Absolutely outstanding. I knew I was going to enjoy this book, but boy was I unprepared for the depth of Fox’s character and journey. Fox and Hannah’s relationship unfolds in the most beautiful way. Hannah’s persistence in being there for Fox and helping him unlearn the toxicity that was forced upon him was so incredibly endearing and had me rooting for them the entire time. This book is such a beautiful pairing to the story of Piper and Brendan. With Piper and Brendan, we had the perfect telling of grumpy sunshine and their story fulfilled all my rom-com desires. But with Hannah and Fox we get a much more complex story of two friends unpacking their emotions through honesty. Simply beautiful. And that epilogue? I won’t spoil any details but it was the best happy ever after for all the characters we have come to love in this duology.

The pacing of this book was just right, I never felt bored or anxious to get to the conclusion. It was entertaining through and through with each subplot holding significance in the development of Fox and Hannah both individually and together. Extremely excited to purchase this in March and add it to my collection! Westport and it’s characters definitely hold a special place in my heart. Thank you Tessa Bailey!

Friends to lovers isn’t usually my favorite but, this book has changed my mind! I was very curious about Hannah and Fox in the first book in the series and I loved watching their angsty love story unfold. I was really touched by Fox’s vulnerability, I truly enjoyed his character. Hannah and Fox’s story was more emotional and heartwarming than I expected, it even had me tearing up at the end. This was definitely friends to lovers done right, soooooo right!

eARC provided by HarperCollins through Net Galley

Short and sweet review: if you like It Happened One Summer, I think you'll like Hook, Line, and Sinker; though depending on what you liked about IHOS you may not enjoy it as much. 3.5 Stars.

I had a good time with this one! It's more Slow Burn than IHOS (as much as any Tessa Bailey I've read can be Slow Burn) and I was lowkey more invested in their friendship than their relationship, but it was fun.

Hannah's story is the better of the two of them, I think. Growth and learning to take charge of her life, you love to see it.

Don't think too hard about Fox's ~tragic backstory~ and you'll be fine. If you read this book, just accept that it is what it is, no matter that it's...ridiculous...and don't spend too long thinking about the fact that what he needs is therapy and a backbone and not a girlfriend and you'll be alright.

The spice is...not doing it. If you loved IHOS for the spice, you're going to be pretty severely disappointed here.

As for what this did better than IHOS? Okay, so I don't know if anyone else cares about this, but I lost my mind when I realized they were actually opening the bar for business in IHOS, because there was not one mention of a business license or taxes or building inspections or distributors or ANYTHING so I'd spent the entire book assuming they were just renovating the building or something. Seriously, it bothered me so much that it lost the book a whole star in my rating and I still can't stop thinking about it. Enter Hook, Line, and Sinker and when I tell you I SMILED every time there was a mention of permits or copyrights or licensing deals with Hannah's work with a production studio...Love. To. See. It.

Not strictly speaking a spoiler, but I'm gonna mention something the book doesn't have, so I'll put it under a spoiler warning:
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[ If you're looking for Piper and Brendan to pop up all over the story, don't, because they're not there. They make glorified cameos for the most part. I understand giving Hannah room to breathe in her own story, but for two sisters who were so attached at the hip that Hannah wouldn't let Piper serve her ~exile~ alone, they sure make almost no effort to see one another in this book. (hide spoiler)]

Fox has a reputation as a womanizer, and after being warned away from Hannah,he vows keep things strictly friendly. Fox and Hannah have been texting for months, ever since Hannah returned home to her life and job in LA, and Fox truly values her friendship. When Hannah's work on a movie brings her back to Westport, Hannah stays in Fox's gust room and slowly realizes her feelings for Fox. Getting past his insecurities is nearly impossible, but Hannah knows that Fox isn't the playboy he and others believe he is.

I enjoyed so many aspects of this books. The friends to lovers trope is a great one, and the characters are fun and interesting. The growth of the two characters is amazing to read: Hannah becoming confident at work and asserting herself, and Fox getting past his long-held beliefs about himself. This was a great followup to It Happened One Summer.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review! I thought I loved It Happened One Summer, but Tessa Bailey nailed it on this one! I love Hook, Line, and Sinker 100x more. I enjoyed Hannah’s and Fox’s stories as individuals, so I loved theirs together! The steam was on point, too. Five stars for me!

Hook, Line and Sinker is a wonderful friends to lovers, slow burn journey. Hannah and Fox met a year ago when she was helping her sister transform their father's bar. The unlikely friendship between the local fisherman man-whore and the sweet LA production assistant was forged over the love of music. When they were apart, their text messages and talks over music kept the friendship alive. I loved the texts and the banter back and forth between the two. The author made you feel the connection between them with out them being in the same place. When Hannah suggests Fox's hometown as a location for the movie she is working on (to try to impress her boss who she is hopelessly crushing on), she is forced to become roommates with Fox. This sound easy. Living with your friend, SHOULD be easy. When they are only a room away, however, chemistry brews and sparks begin to fly. What I love most about this book is that Hannah and Fox both help the other become better, stronger people. They truly keep their friendship platonic, for the most part, until the other overcomes their insecurities with the help of their friend. This is the second in a series but can be read as a stand-alone. I highly recommend this friends to loves gem!

Wonderful. As emotional and romantic as the previous book. Didn’t think I’d like the main characters, but I found myself falling for them almost immediately. Loved the emphasis on good mental health and standing up for yourself. The almost over-the-top happy epilogue was very welcome too. After this crap year, I needed an ending like that.

Alright Tessa, you had no business making me feel so much in one book 😭 I absolutely adored this story about Hannah and Fox! Their chemistry is palpable while reading and the entire time I was screaming “KISS ALREADY!”. Spoiler, they kiss haha. The character development is so perfect, and the epilogue is everything I’ve ever wanted. Please give me more Tessa!