You can't live life worrying about what people will think. You'll wake up one day, look at a calendar, and count the days you could have spent being happy." It actually got worse. As Fox had Hannah pinned against a wall, in a full make-out sesh, I am completely zoned out thinking of best gifs I could use for Christian😭😭

Hook, Line, and Sinker: A Novel (Bellinger Sisters Book 2) Hook, Line, and Sinker: A Novel (Bellinger Sisters Book 2)

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. The prologue with all its text exchanges between Fox and Hannah was cute, but I guess it failed at showing me how their frienship evolved during the months they spent apart, only speaking through their phones. 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.”But then we reach the middle of the book, and I feel like it kind of lost some steam for me. Instead of the usual snappy pace, it just went on and on. Fox or Hannah would come up with yet another reason (or the same one) for why they can't possibly be together, and we just went in circles, again and again. i really enjoyed the first book in this series because i felt it didn't take itself too seriously and hit all of its emotional beats with relative seamlessness. with hook, line, and sinker, i've had to write up a small laundry list of pet peeves: I loved the character development, the romance and ensuing maturity of the characters felt real and believable while still retaining that sweep-you-off-your-feet romance. 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

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey | Waterstones Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey | Waterstones

stars? This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and while I did still enjoy it, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. In It Happened One Summer, the snippets we got of Fox and Hannah’s friendship were EVERYTHING to me, but I was pretty let down by the way their relationship ended up playing out in their own book. I understand why Fox was hesitant to open himself up fully to Hannah, but that doesn’t mean that I liked it, lol. Also, the super unnecessary third act conflict in this one drove me bonkers. With all that being said, this was still a Tessa Bailey book so of course I did enjoy it (and the smut was of course, A+), but this as a whole just did not quite do everything that I was hoping it would and I am pretty bummed about it. Here's hoping her next release works a little better for me! The story starts seven months after It Happened One Summer; this whole time, Hannah and Fox have been texting every day and nursing tiny crushes on each other. Now, the movie Hannah’s working on as an assistant producer is heading to Westport for filming, and she’s about to move into Fox’s guest room for the duration. Dating advice to entice OM? There were maybe two dumbass advices like "hey maybe bite ur lip more?" and she never even used them. As for Hannah, Hannah is a little bit of me (ironic considering my names also Hannah), but she sees the good I. People and the beauty of something despite all the negatives. She’s honest, supporting, kind, caring and lovely and I adore her. I am also incredibly proud of Hannah for taking that big step and doing what she thought was right for her, and fighting for the man she loved. Hannah is someone we need in our lives, she’s a ray of sunshine like her sister, and a fictional character I will always remember.Sure, the flirtiness was there and I appreciated most of it, but they're not a couple I could see walking that very long run, if you get what I mean. 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. I couldn't form an attachment to any of the characters. I found Christian amusing and there were times when I could relate to Fox but other than that...there was a big hole in place where interest should've been. So, yeah, the moment this book came out, I put on hold every other book I was reading and dove into it like I was having pregnancy cravings and this book was a pool filled with fries.

Hook, Line, and Sinker: A Novel: 2 (Bellinger Sisters, 2)

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." BooklistHannah and Fox’s story is more intense, sentimental but also heartwarming than I expected. Especially seeing the vulnerable side of Fox affected me deeply. 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. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first one is that one of Hannah’s main character traits is that she is very into music and is very nerdy about it - which is great! I just… don’t think that can be an entire personality? Idk! I mean, I feel like most people are very into music, and we’re all nerdy about the artists that we love the most. So I was a little annoyed that this had to be a thing with Hannah. Like, we all love Fleetwood Mac, chill out!