Hook, Line, and Sinker (Bellinger Sisters, 2)

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Could you do the same, please? It took you sixteen takes to nail four lines of dialogue this morning.” Hannah and Fox’s story is more intense, sentimental but also heartwarming than I expected. Especially seeing the vulnerable side of Fox affected me deeply. In all honesty, I did not have really high expectations for this book. I read a bonus scene of Fox and Hanna right before I started and I was so utterly unimpressed with it, I thought the same would apply to the book. Well...it did, but it wasn't as unbearable as I thought it would be. A lot of the dialogue and some romantic/sex scenes were incredibly cheesy and cringy, much like the first book. There was a fair amount of clichés as well, that I felt were unnecessary but other than that this book was a pretty decent read. Thankfully, a lot of it was actually enjoyable. The storyline was really interesting and there are times when clichés are actually kind of fun.

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. While in town, Hannah stays in Fox’s spare room. It’s fine… they’re just friends. While Hannah has a little crush on a coworker, Fox decides to help her out by being flirty with her to give a little more attention to her. When that flintiness turns real and real feelings get involved, they both have some big choices to make. Hannah Bellinger had always been more of a supporting actress than a leading lady. The hype girl. If she’d lived in Regency England, she would be the second at every duel, but never wield the pistol. But seeing Hannah in his own apartment, getting jealous to see her with her precious douchebag director change something in him! Since they spent time at the convention center and he bought her Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. It seems like Fox felt the same: they already started seeing fireworks: but both of them were too stubborn to talk about their feelings.King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a carefree flirt. 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. Hannah was such a highlight for me. She was so fun and compassionate and witty, the friend of all our dreams. completely freaking out over the fact that I finally had another Player Boy/Nerdy Girl romance novel to match Beautiful Player that I could swoon over Maybe it's my mood, maybe it's the fact that I have only read one book by Tessa Bailey so far so I didn't really know her range, or maybe my expectations for Fox and Hannah’s story were too high. my heart is so full. ok so i honestly didn’t think going into this that i’d be walking into a tsunami of emotions. i was hollering, screaming, crying, and dying. 🤬🥹🙄🔥😝😝🥶

I didn’t know what right felt like until you,” he choked out. “I’m holding on to the good you give me. I’m holding on to you.” Even then, we barely broke the surface of Fox and his glorious [read: horrible] name. I felt n o t h i n g for this man. His pity party was an absolute rager 24/7. He kept telling us how doomed and tortured and sexually promiscuous he was but we were shown zero evidence. The book tried to go in depth with stuff his mom did but so much of it was just misunderstandings and caring way too much about other people’s opinions. This comprised his entire character. It was so hard to stomach after the first hour let alone the tenth. If he would’ve had SOMETHING else going on, even a hobby, maybe then I could’ve been more tolerant. I didn’t even get the sense he liked his job. Hannah is a lowly production assistant in Los Angeles with aspirations to work on movie musical scores. She has a crush on her director Sergei, but he hasn’t noticed her in the two years they’ve been working together. When he doesn’t like the location of the current movie he’s woking on, Hannah suggests they move the location to Westport, WA, which coincidentally is where her sister now lives with her fiance Brendan. I recently saw a meme that said “The problem with a good book is you want to finish the book, but you don’t want the book to end.” And that’s exactly what I thought of this book. This slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance was a joy to read. this is a wonderful follow up to ‘it happened on summer’ and gives a heartfelt send-off to the bellinger sisters.

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In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man… Laughing at other people is a method used to humiliate others. It publicly shows your empathy level and consideration for others if you sardonically laugh at and slander someone publicly for their failures.

and honestly, i love how hannah prompts and encourages fox to grow. usually the female characters are the ones who goes through the development in romance novels, so its beyond refreshing to see the guy be the focus instead. foxs character development is so wholesome and purposefully combats the societal pressures men face when it comes to maintaining a certain reputation and image. its a topic that definitely needs more attention. To go along with all the “girl” language, I just don’t like the daddy-adjacent kink. Fox had this weird fixation on babying Hannah and treating her like a child. From treating her injuries to protecting her delicate ears from bad language, it just felt off to me. It’s just not my kink. I didn’t like Brendan spoiling Piper in book one either. Both were possessive and jealous at times they forfeited rights to be. Everyone in that town treated Hannah like a child. They were all SO worried about her dating Fox but no one, not one person, asked her opinion on the matter. She’s too innocent, too young, too this, too that. She was a whole ass adult. Miss me with that patronizing bullshit. Seeing as it was her vagina he was rawdoggin, I think she should have a chance to talk. It was WEIRD. Piper was even guilty of this and in cahoots with Brendan.

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington. I just wished their relationship felt more balanced and that they worked better as friends before they got all the lovey dovey talks and stuff in the way. And thankfully Tessa Bailey answered our prayers with this spectacular cover and most emotional, tear jerking, sweetest love story! As for their relationship, it actually turned out to be much better than what I expected, which of course made me very very happy. It was really cute and I had so much fun reading how they went from 'just friends' to 'if I lose you I'll die'. The tension and the longing were so. damn. gooood. I live for this stuff. Obviously, the spice was juuust right. Duuuh. Also, I swooned a lot over them, despite most moments being cheesy and over the top. As I already said, clichés are actually kind of fun on occasion. If I had to choose a favourite part, however, it would be the ending. It was just so beautiful in the most unexpected way. Once again, I expected something really cheesy and cliché but thankfully it was anything but 😍😍 and that epilogue...oooh that epilogue...it was so adorable.

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. Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face. Main-character moments are those moments in which you are in charge of whatever is happening around you. The author tells a simple yet powerful way to create such a moment in your life.As seen on E!Online, PopSugar, CNN, EliteDaily, Vulture, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Nerd Daily, PARADE, LA Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, and more! This is a forbidden crush to friends to lovers and it was incredibly addicting. If you have ever felt like you take the supporting role in life rather than being a leading character, you will find connection with this book. Always being the advice and therapist friend, never fully feeling like you have the confidence to take strides over your life. It will touch those who feel like imposters when stepping into things as well as accepting the reputation the people around you see you for instead of paving your own path. I included Christian's little........mood board? Because I wanted to start this review on a positive note. And I think I've made it clear enough that he was the only entertaining or interesting addition to this book. Being Hannah's frenemy led to some hilarious interactions. And before any of you go building ships and whatnot🛠️🚢 he's gay. I blame it on lust, and to whoever decided to advertize this as a friends-to-lovers as it's certainly not.