Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC! I was really excited to read this one so soon (release date it March 2022). This was definitely a slow burn and not necessarily what I expect from Tessa Bailey.

On the surface, this is your classic “friends to lovers” and “forced proximity” rom com. If you’ve read It Happened One Summer, you’ve already met Hannah and Fox. Now Hannah is back in Westport for work and staying in Fox’s spare bedroom.

I liked how the book delved into toxic masculinity, imposter syndrome, and over-sexualization of men. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of Fox in the first book but he won me over here!

My only complaint is that supporting characters didn’t play much of a role. I would’ve loved to see more of Piper and Brendan!

This is an excellent take on toxic masculinity, open and honest communication, believing in yourself, and seeing beyond the role society has set for you (or you've constructed yourself).

I am a fairly new reader of Tessa Bailey. I came to her first with her book It Happened One Summer which I thoroughly enjoyed so I was very excited to see Hook, Line, and Sinker available to read.

This book is the follow up to It Happened One Summer, and it follows the story of Piper's sister, Hannah. Hannah finally gets the attention of her boss that she's had a crush on for years by suggesting relocating their current movie to the tiny Washington fishing village of Westport. This was the place Hannah was born, and it also happens to be the home of her new friend, Fox.

The book dives into the developing relationship between Hannah and Fox as they both try to overcome deep issues that stand in the way of this friendship becoming more. This novel is fun and feisty, and a perfect summer read.

I was scared to read this book because I ADORED “It Happened One Summer” and I did not want a repeat of the same story. I was not disappointed!
Fox has been a player his whole life, but has anyone ever wondered why? Now Hannah is in town, getting in his head and making him question what he knows. They’ll have a lot to work through if they want anything close to the happiness Brendan and Piper found.
Fox and Hannah’s book is unique. Their relationship has some of the traditional romcom elements (forced proximity, friends to lovers etc), but it also has some new ones. It’s refreshing to see something that feels new in the romance genre.
I will say if you’re looking for the spice you got in Piper’s book, you’re going to be waiting a while. Fox and Hannah have a lot more to work through before they can start with that, but be patient! They are worth it.
Overall this book kept me in Westport but gave me a new love story, made me fall for two new characters, and reinforced my need to read all of Tessa Bailey’s other work. I definitely recommend picking it up!

Having recently read It Happened One Summer and loving it, I was really excited about this book. I do prefer Piper's story, but this is still worth the read.

Pros:
- I absolutely loved the discussion of music and songs throughout the book. I would be so giddy when I knew and recognized the name of a song.
- The exploration of slut-shaming men I found really well done and how it connects to toxic masculinity interesting
- The foundation of friendship between the couple was really adorable and fun to read.
- I really appreciated that they didn't rush to be in a sexual relationship, and it really helped strengthen Fox's character arc.
- Just Fox in general, when his tattoos were described I was all in.
- The Epilogue

Cons:
- The ending felt a little rushed. It felt like the author was in huge rush to wrap up the book after the final conflict.
- I'm not a big fan of the movie aspect of the book but I do think I just have preference when it comes to fame and movies as topics in novels.

Definitely check this one out if you are a fan of friendship based relationships and the player/girl-next-door trope.

Can you read this as a stand alone? Yes, but it is more impactful if you read the first book before you jump into this one. This is fun and sweet and full of music and heart. And heat, it has some heat. Another great book from Tessa Bailey.

Hook, Line, and Sinker has a different tone than Piper and Brendan’s It Happened One Summer. It's fun, sexy and romantic but Hannah and Fox’s story is more complex and therefore the payoff in the end is more satisfying.

Fox Thornton has always relied on his looks not his personality to get by, especially with women. As we learned in the previous book he doesn’t date local. His relationships are not long term or short term, they are no term. He has purposely sought out no responsibilities and wants to be underestimated. Long ago he stopped trying to be more so he makes the jokes so he won’t be the joke.

Hannah Bellinger always sees herself as the supporting player, the second fiddle, the hype girl - not the leading lady. She wants to be more than a lowly production assistant for the director she has been working for. She finally gets the opportunity to have more responsibility and her first advancement forward is to scout locations in the fishing village of Westport where she spent last summer with her sister and met local fisherman Fox.

As Fox and Hannah’s friendship grows and their living situation changes we find out Fox is more emotionally complicated than the surface would suggest. Tessa Bailey expertly communicates Fox’s desperate hope and fear as his feelings for Hannah deepen. His reputation, horribly imposed upon him by his parents, forces you to think about the imprint of expectations. How what we model and say to children, overtly and covertly, makes a lasting, lifelong impression.

Along with the thought provoking story-line is Hannah’s love of music. Hannah communicates her thoughts and feelings through music and I enjoyed looking up all the music references in this book.

An absolutely charming extended epilogue gives both the Bellinger sisters their long term HEAs and brings a satisfying end to this duology.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been reading Tessa Bailey for a while and her books are always a hit but this one takes the cake. Fox's journey from Playboy to Dependable Man was heart-wrenching and authentic. Bailey tackled a topic that isn't always discussed, men putting pressure on other men to be a certain kind of person, a playboy, and not allowing for depth or growth. Fox and Hannah have such a connection and I honestly couldn't put this title down.

Cue up your favorite love song and get ready to dive into Fox & Hannah's story. We first met them both in It Happened One Summer and now 7 months after leaving them, their story picks up in this sweet and hopeful book. If you love friends to lovers romances, pick this up immediately!

The love story, integration of music, and character development are everything you could hope for in a book. I love that we are seeing male vulnerability and the damaging societal expectations men can face--it's not something you often see explored in 'rom-com' books. Hannah's loyalty and perseverance will make your heart swell. This is the kind of book that when you read the last page, you immediately just want o start reading the story all over again.

Only negative is I wish there had been more Piper & Brendan only because I enjoyed their story so much.

Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the ARC.

Tessa Bailey does such an amazing job with this series, touching on deep issues like toxic masculinity, sexualization of people at a young age, feeling like you're not the main character in your own life... While still delivering super hot chemistry!

This one's a friends to lovers with a dash of online romance and forced proximity, and sort of best friend's sister adjacent. Ooh, with some mutual pining as well! Delicious.

I LOVE Hannah. She's just so strong and amazing, and thinks she's just a supporting character in her own life. I guess I can relate, maybe that's why I wanted to be her best friend. I was also so ANGRY on Fox's behalf, and spent a lot of this book with tears welling in my eyes at his skewed inner image of himself. I just want to give them both a big hug - and then tell them to go kiss, haha!

This is the second book in the It Happened One Summer series. Which I suppose it could... maybe... be read as a stand alone? You really need to read the first book, It Happened One Summer, to get the full impact of this book. I finished It Happened One Summer and started this book IMMEDIATELY after (luckily for me I had a digital ARC!). I finished Hook, Line, and Sinker in one day and am MAD that there's not more, haha. Go read these books, they're fantastic!

Tessa Bailey is such an amazing writing and storytelling. I read It Happened One Summer and I was so nervous to read Hook, Line, and Sinker. I absolutely loved Hannah and Fox, and their friends-to-lovers romance. This book was still steamy but also touched on deeper topics such as commitment and the struggle of finding your own way/who you’re meant to be. I absolutely cannot wait to read more by Tessa Bailey. Thank you so much for the ARC!

*drops everything immediately and reads when the approval for this one comes through from NetGall*

I fell in love with Tessa Bailey after reading It Happened One Summer. This book was still steamy like IHOS, but this one dove into deeper topics about commitment and expectations and growing into who you want to be rather than who everyone thinks you are/should be. I loved that Fox was vulnerable and that we got to see his side of things.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon & Tessa Bailey for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This great book comes out March 1, 2022. I honestly don’t know how I can wait until March to get my hands on a physical copy *cue tears*

After reading the first book in the Bellinger Sisters series, I was really looking forward to reading Hannah and Fox's story. This is a cute and lighthearted take on the friends to lovers trope. The story takes on themes of self-discovery and the power of belief in oneself as the two protagonists have to reconcile the way they see themselves with their desire to grow and change as individuals, while at the same time discovering their feelings for each other and learning how to be together as a couple. Overall, I enjoyed this read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for sharing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Tessa Bailey book never fails. LOVED returning to Westport and getting to read all about Hannah and Fox's story! Please don't let it be the end of the Westport chronicles! I don't want to leave yet!

4.5
I absolutely adored It Happened One Summer, so of course I picked up Hook, Line, and Sinker immediately after finishing it, expecting the sexy/flirty/fun rom-com vibes to continue into this one. And, in some ways, they do! But in many more ways, this book feels much deeper and more emotional than its predecessor - this book deals with heavier topics and bigger issues, and that fraught nature of it doesn't always feel as fun to get through. There were definitely moments where I wished it could just be easier for Fox and Hannah, but I want to be clear: the payoff is worth it. This book carries more weight to it, but it means the ending feels incredibly hard-won and earned.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

4.5/5 Stars

I'm now convinced that friends-to-lovers is the superior trope. This book had top-tier angst. I couldn't believe how much I related to Fox, whose back story into why he's the resident playboy brought up excellent points about toxic masculinity and a fear of intimacy. His crush on Hannah was apparent from the jump. In It Happened One Summer, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about these two.
.
When Hannah pitches Westport as the location for Sergei's (current direct crush) new film, she needs a place to crash. Luckily, she and Fox have been talking nonstop since she left and the solution presents itself obviously. Right away, these two idiots have so much mutual pining for each other. I LOVE yearning omg.
.
Not wanting to give too much of the plot away, but I loved that Hannah came into her own here, too. You can see what a supportive and loving character she is, and seeing Fox offer that back to her was absolute perfection. There were scenes in this that were so raw with emotion that they low-key blew me away.
.
I really want to gush about this, but it's out in March of next year, so that isn't fair to people who follow me on Goodreads! Definitely a must-add to the pre-order list.
.
Docked a half point because the epilogue felt vaguely Hallmark to me, but I still love a corny ending.

I am a HUGE Tessa Bailey fan and I haven't met a book of hers that I didn't love! Same goes for this new series! I knew from reading her first one in this series, It Happened One Summer, that I would fall in love with all of the characters again, and sure enough, her witty back and forth banter, steamy scenes and grand gestures won me over again. Loved this book so much!

Hannah and Fox have my whole heart, their relationship is adorable and angsty and I absolutely adored every minute of it.

First of all, the prologue full of just their texts got me right of the bat. They were so cute and I loved that little glimpse of watching their friendship continuing to grow from where It Happened One Summer left off! I loved their relationship and the progression, it was definitely more on the slow-burn side and full of tension and I just loved it!! Like I’m usually not the biggest fan of friends to lovers but this was definitely an exception.

Their story as a couple is wonderful, but learning about them individually was even better. I loved how they both had their own things going on and how they both had things to overcome, especially Fox. My heart was hurting for this man at some parts. It felt really raw & real and made their relationship so much better.

And the use of music was perfection!!! I loved this addition to the story and thought it was so cute and fun. I loved how this was used to help set moods of certain parts & really help you understand them more, especially Hannah! I loved that actual songs were name dropped so the book kind of got its own soundtrack in a way?? Not to mention how it ended up connecting Hannah to her roots, I really loved that part!

Overall this book was a 10/10 for me, I loved Hannah & Fox and actually liked this book even more than It Happened One Summer, which surprised me. I think in part it’s because Hannah & Fox felt a little more relatable to me than Piper & Brendan. There’s so much more about this book I could say but this review is already too lengthy.

(The spice in this book was probably a 3, maybe 3.5 out of 5 on the spice scale)

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review*

So far I am really loving this series - we get a taste of the characters Hannah and Fox in the first book and I am so glad they got their own book! Hannah is a flower child and Fox is a bit of a playboy yet not - they are complete opposites yet adorable! Now that Hannah's sister has found her HEA, will Hannah now get her chance? A great romance, plenty of sexiness yet a good plot and some good humor too.

I enjoyed the first book in this series enough to be interested when I found this second installment available on NetGalley. I’m so happy that I gave it a try. I really loved it, and flew through it! I finished yesterday, and I found myself really missing the characters in the book today.

I enjoy Tessa Bailey’s books, but she rarely writes a slow build up in her couple’s relationships. This one is different. Hannah and Fox have been slowly simmering since the first installment, and the author really takes her time solidifying how much they care for each other. This has been my favorite of all of her books.

Although it’s nice to read the first book in the series to have some background, but you absolutely do not need to to enjoy this book.