Thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hook, Line, and Sinker was actually the first 2022 release I read...way back in August of last year. Despite not getting around to sharing my review until now, I loved this book. It might be my favorite by Tessa Bailey that I've read. The small crumbs of Hannah and Fox that we got in It Happened One Summer had me really looking forward to seeing their relationship play out in this book, and I was not disappointed.

Hannah was such a great character, and I'm sure a lot of us can relate to her feeling of not being the leading lady in her own life at times. I also looooved Fox and how his relationship with Hannah paralleled him taking on responsibilities in other areas of his life, as well as standing up for the respect he deserved. Overall, the way their relationship developed from a really adorable friendship to more was so well done.

While there are some references to things in the first book of this duo, you can absolutely read this one without reading the other.

4.5/5

Hook, Line, and Sinker is the much-anticipated follow-up to It Happened One Summer and is a must-read romantic comedy.

Hook, Line, and Sinker follows the story of Hannah and Fox. Fox is a man with a reputation and is known for giving the ladies a good time. But when Fox meets Hannah, all bets are off. Hannah isn’t falling for his charm or antics. For the first time in Fox’s life, a woman wants to be just friends. However the more time these two spend together, the more the lines of friendship start to blur…

Hook, Line, and Sinker was everything I was hoping it would be and then some. I loved the slow-burning romance between Hannah and Fox. These two were amazing friends and had an undeniable connection. Fox could charm the pants off of anyone, but Hannah refused to just be another notch on his bedpost. I really loved watching these two grow from friendship to more. I loved how much faith Hannah had in Fox, the way she built up his confidence, and showed him that even a player deserves more.

Hook, Line, and Sinker is a smartly written and entertaining romantic comedy. I loved being back in Westport and catching up with Piper and Brendan. Hannah and Fox’s story had me hooked from the first page and had me devouring their story in just a few short hours.

In the end, all that’s left to say is that I loved and adored this book. It checked off all of my boxes and was just the romantic comedy I was hoping it would be. Hook, Line, and Sinker is the perfect book to spend your day getting lost in. I hope you will fall head over heels for Hannah and Fox just as I have.

After reading It Happened One Summer, this was a highly anticipated second in the series. Tessa Bailey has some steamy romances which is usually why I am drawn to her writing. This particular book was more mellow but it didn't take away from the story. Hannah and Fox had to navigate their friendship to see if they would eventually be able to work as a couple. It was hard to put down. Definitely a great read and another wonderful book from Bailey.

Favorite quote: “Hannah had a playlist consisting of three hundred and eight love songs and not one of them could describe this moment accurately. Not even close.”

I love this book so much. One of my top romance reads ever, and that’s saying a lot because I read a... lot of romance.

Hannah and Fox are just friends - best friends even. They text every day from afar, they send each other music recommendations, and now, they're roommates. Let the tension build and the growing affection begin!

Fox is my dream man. My new book boyfriend. My new favorite leading man. Aside from the fact that he’s a bit dense at times, he is so pure and sweet and well-rounded and unintentionally deep and I loved him beyond.

I aspire to have Hannah’s patience one day, and shall strive to attain her level of self-composed. The way she just gets Fox is next level; it’s bone-deep the way she understands what he’s trying to say when he says the wrong thing, or even when he says nothing at all.

Hannah + Fox’s relationship was everything I wanted it to be and somehow even more.

I don't know what it is about text messages in books, but something about them just gives me life and make me really happy. And the texts in this book do NOT disappoint! The texts, the steam, the spicy, the affection, the love, the banter, everything in this one was amazing!

i liked It Happened One Summer, but I absolutely LOVED Hook, Line, and Sinker. different enough yet similar in all the right Tessa Bailey-esque ways, this is one of my new favorite reads.

PUB DATE MARCH 1, 2022 - mark your calendars!

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon Books for the #arccopy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore this book. I read ‘It Happened on Summer r a while ago and loved it so this book was high on my TBR. Fox and Hannah’s story starts in ‘It Happened on Summer’ and they became friends. They are complete opposites. It is a slow burn and friends to lovers. This love story felt so real and I could feel the chemistry through the book. I loved this so much and cant wait for Tess Bailey to release more books.

Tessa Bailey does it once again 😁🙌
It has everything you could ever want :
• Friends-to-Lovers 🧎‍♀️
• Slow burn 🤩
• Amazing chemistry 😩
• 🌶🌶🌶

At this point Tessa is an auto buy for me, would recommend 🥳

Well this should be no surprise that I just LOVED this. I loved Hannah and Fox in Piper and Brendan's story and I just KNEW their story was going to be swoon-worthy and filled with so much music!

What I loved about this book:
❤️ The friends-to-lovers aspect was done SO well - I LOVED their friendship and how Hannah wouldn't let Fox get away with deflecting and pushing his true feelings aside. She really got him to open up and using music as an avenue to having deep conversations was just so perfect. Friends-to-lovers isn't always a favorite trope of mine, but I think it helps that here, there was always an undercurrent of "more" for both of them that just kicked up the tension!
❤️ Obviously the playfulness of the two of them was there and the chemistry was wonderful 🔥
❤️ Being back in Westport and also having a little bit of Hannah's LA life be brought into the mix
❤️ The personal growth journeys that both Hannah and Fox underwent - loved them through all the stages and where they ended up. I wanted Hannah to succeed and reach her goals and my heart just felt for Fox - he grew SO much in this book and there were many points in the story where I could feel his struggle and just wanted to give him a hug ! This book definitely had me riding a wave of emotions 😭 😍

Tessa is an auto-buy author for me - her books never disappoint! They are always a perfect combo of sweet, steamy, and hysterical, and this book fits into all three of those categories perfectly!

4.5 stars!

I read It Happened One Summer last August and immediately loved it, and I was so excited to hear that Hannah and Fox would be getting their own story. Tessa Bailey is an insta-buy for me; she writes charming, compelling, quirky characters who you can't help but fall in love with. What I find the most refreshing about her love stories is how she's able to develop her characters as strong people outside of just their relationship. She creates strong female leads. Hook, Line, and Sinker is about Hannah and Fox, a Hollywood movie assistant and a fisherman "playboy". They meet through Hannah's sister and Fox's best friend (Piper and Brendan from It Happened One Summer), and instantly hit it off as friends. Their friendship develops through months of texting and being apart, but when Hannah must come to town and stay at Fox's apartment, their friendship quickly gets complicated, and love and steam ensues. Hannah and Fox, both still figuring themselves out and what they want to be in their lives, are able to support each other wholeheartedly and encourage each other to be brave and go for what they want. I could not put this book down for more than a few hours! Bailey never fails to make a sexy, heartwarming, tear-jerker. I can't wait to see what she writes in the future.

ABSOLUTELY loved it!! Fox>>>>>

I adored It Happened One Summer and had super high expectations going into this one and it did not disappoint! I am generally not a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope, but the queen of sweet, sass and spice has done it to perfection.

Thrust back into the world of Westport, a small seaside town full of charm and hot fisherman, this book follows Hannah, Pieper's younger sister. In town for a movie filming, Hannah reconnects with Fox, her friend who she met last summer and has been texting nonstop since. With a strong foundation in friendship, the two find themselves getting closer and closer but with Hannah's reservations about ruining a strong friendship and Fox unsure about commitment, where will it all go?

From laughing out loud, to breaking my heart, this book has it all and is the perfect compliment to It Happened One Summer. I would recommend it to all romance, rom-com and feel good book lovers!

I liked this so much better than the first one. There was still an annoying amount of “masculine/feminine” descriptors present (which is a personal pet peeve), but thankfully not as many as the first book. Hannah and Fox were a much more interesting couple to read about than Piper and Brendan, and they actually seemed to have a relationship built on more than just lust.

It was refreshing to read about a male main character having a personal transformation, as typically it’s only a female main character that does in romance novels. I do wish Fox’s career desires/journey had been as well fleshed out as Hannah’s, however. I didn’t really get the sense that he actually wanted to be a ship captain until the very end of the book, it just seemed like something Brendan was pushing him to do.

(Slight spoilers) I don’t typically like flash forward epilogues, but I’m glad Hannah wasn’t the only one compromising with a move. It was sweet seeing the love Fox had for their daughters too. Still don’t like Brendan and Piper as a couple but what else is new.

I really love Hannah, and if Fox hadn’t wifed her I would’ve! One of my new favorite romance heroines for sure.

I want a book for Sergei I’m not going to lie. A film boy who’s actually a sweetie!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022! This book was a great follow-up to It Happened One Summer. I loved Hannah and Fox’s story. Hannah is so relatable, and I loved watching Fox slowly open up to her and grow trust with the people around him. This is all happening while Hannah is trying to navigate her passion in life and figure out her career, which is so stressful and something a lot of people go through. The chemistry between these two jumped off the page. Loved it!

WOW…. I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK. After meeting Hannah & Fox in IHOS, I was very excited to read their book. I never would’ve expected to fall in love with them the way that I did (I literally cried happy tears at the epilogue).

Their dynamic was everything and I love a good friends to lovers story. This book made me smile so hard and ugh I just love this couple so much. If I could give this book more than 5 stars… I would because it was simply just so amazing.

Okay, listen: I loved It Happened One Summer. I rated it 5 stars.
Hook, Line and Sinker was somehow better.
I'm a Hannah 100%. I loved reading about her love of music and I related to her on that aspect so much.
I didn't expect to like Fox, but he started to grow on me almost immediately in this book. I don’t love the man with attachment issues trope, but Fox’s backstory made it believable and interesting. He also made just saying “Hannah” so sexy.
Their love story was so sweet and sexy without being cheesy or cliché.
I loved the chemistry, I loved the spice, and LOVED that epilogue.
Thank you to Tessa Bailey and Harper Collins for the
ARC!

Hannah Bellinger and Fox Thornton are just friends. When Hannah comes back to the small town of Westport for work and needs a place to crash Fox doesn’t have a problem with her staying with him, because they are just friends. The fact that Hannah has a crush on her boss and Fox is allergic to commitment means they can’t be anything more than friends. But the more time they spend together the more friendship start to feel like love.
I thought this book was a satisfying sequel to It Happened One Summer, and I enjoyed Hannah and Fox’s story. It was interesting reading about Fox’s insecurities and how everyone’s negative perceptions of him affected his outlook on life.

I’m such a ho for Tessa Bailey.

Thank you Avon Books for my copy of Hook Line and Sinker! All thoughts are my own.

I was ready to fall in love with Fox before I even started this book and fall in love I did. It’s a storyline I simply love: two strangers meet and don’t get along, then become fast friends, and quickly learn their friendship is so much more. Frienemies to Friends to Lovers if you will. It was just the warm and sunshine I needed during these dreary winter days. It’s quieter and calmer than It Happened One Summer but it still captures the same magic that story did. Plus Fox is hella dreamy.

Synopsis:

What I Liked:

Fox and Hannah—I LOVE THEM. That’s all. I’m such a sucker for the reformed rake.

The Setting—Just like It Happened One Summer, I fell in love with Westport, Washington. I did feel like this story was a little more isolated, but that was necessary for the couple.

Use of Music—I usually don’t like when music is mentioned in books or at the top of chapters (that doesn’t happen in this one) but I really loved Hannah’s passion for music. It lept off the page and added so much to Hannah and Fox’s journey.

What Didn’t Work:

To Little Plot—I really felt like this was just about the relationship. Which hey, it’s a Romance! I just would have liked a little more exploration into Hannah’s job woes and Fox’s life on the boat. Just a dash!

The 3rd Act Break Up—This isn’t a spoiler since it’s a very common Romance trope but I just really didn’t like the use of it in this one. It felt so forced and put us through more heartache for no reason!

Content Warnings:

death of a parent, mention of infidelity, mental illness, emotional abuse

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Steam Rating: 2.75/5 Overall Rating: 4/5

When I got the email that I was approved for an arc of this book, I dropped everything I was doing and immediately started reading it. Hook, Line, and Sinker was absolutely amazing!
Read if you're looking for:
-Friends-to-lovers
-Cute nicknames
-Forced proximity
-The guy falls first
-Dual POV
-A little fake dating
- Vinyl records/music
-Slow burns

The development of friends-to-lovers between Hannah and Fox was quite a ride. They slowly- ever so slowly- become more than friends. Fox's backstory is emotional and he's the one we see go through the most growth. Which for me was refreshing to see the man in a story go through the growth and development since we usually read about the female character's growth. I loved the way they fell for each other and the fierceness of that love that developed. He tried to sabotage everything and she wouldn't let him. I love that she had enough faith in him to stand by him while he realized he did in-fact deserve her. You will go through all of the emotions while reading their adorable love story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC of this story in exchange for my honest opinions and feedback. Thank you to Tessa Bailey for this amazing and heartwarming story. Fox and Hannah will forever be one of my all time favorite book couples!

When I found out Hannah and Fox were getting a book I was so excited! Hannah and Fox have so many sweet little moments. I absolutely love the way that Tessa Bailey writes dialogue. She writes in a way that people actually speak.... with amazing dirty talk ;). I also thought it was really cool how both characters had completely different character arcs. Hannah's journey was about asserting herself and going after her dreams. Fox's journey was about believing in himself even when other people don't.
Now onto the negatives. I feel like there were times when the story was a bit slow. The main topic of the book was toxic masculinity, which I think is extremely important to talk about, but it seemed a little repetitive. I also didn't really like the way Hannah reacted when Fox was pushing her away. It seemed almost as if she didn't have respect for herself and I always thought of her as more of a strong woman than that.
I feel like there wasn't as much smut in this book as we usually get from Tessa, but the tension and moments we did get were amazing as always.
Overall, the story was cute, and I definitely think it's worth a read.

I'm not usually a fan of sequels that follow a secondary character from the original novel — I'm definitely more a fan of stand-alone books. That being said, Tessa Bailey really nailed it with this one. While the original characters appeared and were acknowledged, it was selective and for a purpose, which allowed me to really focus on Hannah and Fox's story. And their story? AMAZING.

I've read quite a few of Bailey's books, and this one definitely ranks as one of her best. The characters are honest, unguarded, and raw, and their hopes and fears are relatable and heartwarming. Their love tugged on all of my heart strings, and their strong friendship made the ending that much better. I laughed, I cried, I swooned. It was perfect. (Plus, it featured some of my favorite tropes — slow burn, friends to lovers, forced proximity, etc. etc. How could I not love it?)

MUST READ!! If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. It was my first ARC and I couldn’t believe it got to be a Tessa Bailey book. I was already obsessed with her as an author and this book only made that grow. I adored the love story between Hannah & Fox. It felt real, and raw and very much applicable to real life. I like how you really got to know each character and part of their pasts. It had the right amount of push and pull within the growth of their relationship. The way she is able to describe how people feel in her books is incredible. It puts to words so many emotions that I never understood how to describe. 10/10 HIGHLY RECOMMEND. BUY THIS BOOK

In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another deliciously fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man…

King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he’s a guaranteed good time—in bed and out—and that’s exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. She’s immune to his charm and looks, but she seems to enjoy his… personality? And wants to be friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is.

————————————
Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for an ARC of Hook, Line, and Sinker. Wow this book was so good. Probably Bailey’s best! What I loved about this book was the journey of healing for Fox. I find that often we get the vulnerability of a woman in books and here we get to see growth in a man! We love that journey for him! Fox and Hannah’s love story was dare I say… better than Brendan and Piper’s? Yes. The beauty of music in this book and taking a chance was so good. I cannot wait for everyone to read it!

5⭐️