Hook, Line, and Sinker

by Tessa Bailey

Overview

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND #1 USA TODAY BESTSELLER

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.

Now, Hannah's in town for work, crashing in Fox’s spare bedroom. She knows he’s a notorious ladies’ man, but they’re definitely just friends. In fact, she's nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport’s resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker’s eye… yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can't deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost. 

Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she’s walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and… and… man overboard! He’s fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he’s all in, she'll choose him instead?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063045699
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Series:	Bellinger Sisters Series , #2
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	197
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

#1 New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books.

Editorial Reviews

01/24/2022

Bailey’s second Bellinger Sisters novel (after It Happened One Summer) sizzles with romance and wit. Though Hannah Bellinger’s stepfather is a well-known movie producer, she’s determined to be successful on her own merit and begins her career in L.A. as a production assistant. When her director crush, Sergei, needs a location for his latest movie, she suggests using fishing town Westport, Wash., hoping to sneak in a visit to her sister, Piper, and Piper’s fiancé, Brendan. It proves logistically impossible for Hannah to stay with Piper during filming, so she asks her friend Fox Thornton, a member of Brendan’s fishing crew, if she can crash in his spare room instead. Hannah and Fox struck up a fast friendship when she visited Westport the previous summer and have texted every day in the six months since. Despite Fox’s love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation, Hannah can’t help but feel there’s something real between them. But is she willing to risk their friendship and chance getting her heart broken or should she play it safe with Sergei? Bailey expertly captures both the intense chemistry and true friendship between Hannah and Fox as she takes them through humorous mishaps and miscommunication. This sparkling rom-com will have readers hooked. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"sizzles with romance and wit...Bailey expertly captures both the intense chemistry and true friendship between Hannah and Fox as she takes them through humorous mishaps and miscommunication. This sparkling rom-com will have readers hooked."  — Publishers Weekly

"Bailey continues the delightful story she began in the hilarious rom-com It Happened One Summer (2021), in which Californian Hannah met fisherman Fox... The music and seaside setting add flavor and color to this delicious, slow-burn love story." — Booklist

“A romantic comedy delight. If you loved Schitt’s Creek, It Happened One Summer will be your absolute jam.” — Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate Equation

“I put my entire life on hold the moment I opened It Happened One Summer. I read it in one long, luxurious sitting, reading each page twice, not wanting to miss a moment, and dreading The End. I knew I was reading one of my new favorite books, and I will reread it for years to come, whenever I need a dose of small-town coziness and hard-bodied sea captains. Tessa disarms you with a laugh, heats things up past boiling, and then puts a squeeze inside your heart. The tenderness, vulnerability and heat I am always guaranteed with a Tessa Bailey book are the reasons she is one of my all-time favorite authors.”  — Sally Thorne, USA Today bestselling author of Second First Impressions

"Her voice feels as fresh and contemporary as a Netflix rom-com...  Bailey writes banter and rom-com scenarios with aplomb, but for those who like their romance on the spicier side, she’s also the Michelangelo of dirty talk. She wields filth like Da Vinci does a paintbrush, and there’s a lot to be said for an author who can fill such exchanges with all the requisite heat, enthusiastic consent, and yes, even humor, of such a scenario without veering into corny territory."   — Entertainment Weekly

"Two delightful people find both themselves and true love in Tessa Bailey’s sequel to It Happened One Summer, Hook, Line, and Sinker... Bailey is a master at articulating emotion through both narrative prose and dialogue, and readers will feel everything going through the hearts of this charming yet imperfect couple. Every page in this fabulous novel is pure romance gold." — BookPage (Starred Review)

"Bailey’s plot is fast paced with plenty of humor laced throughout. Fox and Hannah are well-developed, likable characters with emotional depth that will resonate; they have a lot to overcome, but readers will be rooting for them."  — Library Journal (starred review & Pick of the Month)

"With her singular talent for writing romantic chemistry that is both sparkling sweet and explosively sexy, Tessa Bailey once again delivers—It Happened One Summer is everything I want in a modern romance, with two complicated, appealing leads, a setting that feels lived-in and also fresh, and storytelling you want to sink into even as you can’t stop turning pages. The total package from one of the genre’s very best." — Kate Clayborn, author of Love at First

"Tessa Bailey writes pure magic! It Happened One Summer has everything you could want in a rom-com—heartwarming romance, laugh-out-loud humor, and scorching hot chemistry between the lovable socialite and sexy ship captain. I absolutely loved it!" — Alexis Daria, bestselling author of You Had Me at Hola

“Bailey strikes rom-com gold in this outstanding tale... [She] is bound to earn new followers with love scenes hot enough to boil water and a hilariously naïve Schitt’s Creek-inspired protagonist who is clearly out of her depth.”  — Booklist (starred review) on It Happened One Summer

“I could not stop smiling. Romantic comedy perfection.” — Lauren Layne, New York Times bestselling author on Fix Her Up

“What presents itself as a light, sexy beach read transforms into a thoughtful exploration about identity … Come for the fun look at the workings of a film set and the maybe-more-than-friends “Bridgerton”-esque “I burn for you” tension, stay for the smart commentary on toxic masculinity, healing one’s inner child and how others perceive us shapes our own self-understanding.”
— USA Today

“Readers may be sad to say goodbye to Westport, but they'll love to watch these two sail off into the sunset … Full of mutual pining and sweetness."
— Shelf Awareness

“For readers who have been fans since Bailey’s debut, the love scenes do not disappoint, and the signature antics and comedic scenes that have you laughing and turning pages abound in the novel.” — BookTrib

“Get a beach towel, a comfy chair, a summer drink, and sink your whole self into this breezy rom-com for an hour or two of total relaxation. Tessa Bailey’s writing stands out in all the right sexy ways. It is truly nice to find a funny romance that sinks into complicated feelings about self-worth, giving way to a heartfelt story about the love we give ourselves… a tearjerker, and the tension is to die for. Tessa Bailey’s writing made every little scream I inflicted on my blanket worth it.” — Buzzfeed

From the Publisher

"Bailey continues the delightful story she began in the hilarious rom-com It Happened One Summer (2021), in which Californian Hannah met fisherman Fox... The music and seaside setting add flavor and color to this delicious, slow-burn love story."

Booklist

I put my entire life on hold the moment I opened It Happened One Summer. I read it in one long, luxurious sitting, reading each page twice, not wanting to miss a moment, and dreading The End. I knew I was reading one of my new favorite books, and I will reread it for years to come, whenever I need a dose of small-town coziness and hard-bodied sea captains. Tessa disarms you with a laugh, heats things up past boiling, and then puts a squeeze inside your heart. The tenderness, vulnerability and heat I am always guaranteed with a Tessa Bailey book are the reasons she is one of my all-time favorite authors.” 

Sally Thorne

"Her voice feels as fresh and contemporary as a Netflix rom-com...  Bailey writes banter and rom-com scenarios with aplomb, but for those who like their romance on the spicier side, she’s also the Michelangelo of dirty talk. She wields filth like Da Vinci does a paintbrush, and there’s a lot to be said for an author who can fill such exchanges with all the requisite heat, enthusiastic consent, and yes, even humor, of such a scenario without veering into corny territory."  

Entertainment Weekly

A romantic comedy delight. If you loved Schitt’s Creek, It Happened One Summer will be your absolute jam.

Christina Lauren

I could not stop smiling. Romantic comedy perfection.

Lauren Layne

★ 11/01/2021

Bailey's steamy, friends-to-lovers romance is the sequel to It Happened One Summer but can be read as a stand-alone. Hannah has returned to Westport and is living in Fox's guest bedroom while the film company she works for shoots in the small fishing village. The entire population of Westport believes Fox is a player—a reputation he's cultivated and earned with out-of-town hookup trips. But he hasn't had to "go to Seattle" since meeting Hannah a few months ago. Hannah knows Fox is a good guy. He's never made a move on her; in fact, she's been exchanging texts with him for months and considers him one of her best friends. Hannah, for her part, is nursing a crush on the film's director. She wants him see her as more than a useful assistant but hasn't gathered enough courage to act on her feelings. As Fox and Hannah spend more time together in Westport, their physical attraction becomes undeniable. The source of their overwhelmingly hot chemistry could just be their forced proximity, but they'll have to risk their friendship to find out. VERDICT Bailey's plot is fast paced with plenty of humor laced throughout. Fox and Hannah are well-developed, likable characters with emotional depth that will resonate; they have a lot to overcome, but readers will be rooting for them. Recommended for general purchase.—Heather Miller Cover, Homewood P.L., AL

Library Journal

2021-11-17
A playboy fisherman learns he can be more than just a pretty face.

Fox Thornton is a king crab fisherman and the resident Casanova of the small coastal town of Westport, Washington. He’s the life of the party and has convinced everyone—even himself—that he’s not capable of anything more. Imagine his surprise when he strikes up a friendship with Hannah Bellinger. They bonded over a shared love of music when her sister fell in love with his best friend, and Hannah and Fox continue their friendship via text after she returned to Los Angeles, where she works as a production assistant. Hannah doesn’t even think of Fox as a romantic possibility: He’s unbelievably handsome and effortlessly self-confident, while she often feels like a supporting actress in her own life. When the film she’s working on begins shooting on location in Westport, Hannah crashes at Fox’s apartment. It seems harmless enough—she fancies herself in love with a co-worker, and she can’t imagine Fox would ever see her as anything but a friend. Living in close quarters ratchets up the emotional intimacy and sexual tension, leaving Fox and Hannah to each question long-held assumptions about their own worthiness as romantic partners. Fox has never had anyone that values him for who he is rather than how he looks, and the major arc of the novel is his journey to accepting that he has value beyond being handsome and charming. It’s an unflinching look at how toxic masculinity harms men, for Fox must unpack the weight of cultural norms and expectations he’s been internalizing since childhood. The romance between Hannah and Fox unfolds slowly, with side plots that keep the reader entertained while the main characters do the hard work of figuring out how to be together.

A slow-burn romance showcases characters trying to become the best versions of themselves.

Kirkus Reviews

"With her singular talent for writing romantic chemistry that is both sparkling sweet and explosively sexy, Tessa Bailey once again delivers—It Happened One Summer is everything I want in a modern romance, with two complicated, appealing leads, a setting that feels lived-in and also fresh, and storytelling you want to sink into even as you can’t stop turning pages. The total package from one of the genre’s very best."

Kate Clayborn

"Two delightful people find both themselves and true love in Tessa Bailey’s sequel to It Happened One Summer, Hook, Line, and Sinker... Bailey is a master at articulating emotion through both narrative prose and dialogue, and readers will feel everything going through the hearts of this charming yet imperfect couple. Every page in this fabulous novel is pure romance gold."

BookPage (Starred Review)

"Tessa Bailey writes pure magic! It Happened One Summer has everything you could want in a rom-com—heartwarming romance, laugh-out-loud humor, and scorching hot chemistry between the lovable socialite and sexy ship captain. I absolutely loved it!"

Alexis Daria

"Bailey continues the delightful story she began in the hilarious rom-com It Happened One Summer (2021), in which Californian Hannah met fisherman Fox... The music and seaside setting add flavor and color to this delicious, slow-burn love story."

Booklist

Bailey strikes rom-com gold in this outstanding tale... [She] is bound to earn new followers with love scenes hot enough to boil water and a hilariously naïve Schitt’s Creek-inspired protagonist who is clearly out of her depth.” 

Booklist (starred review) on It Happened One Summer