Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey Reeled Me In

I put off reading this book as I mistakingly thought I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as the first in the series, however, I might have actually enjoyed it more!

Hook, Line, and Sinker follows Hannah (Piper’s sister from It Happened One Summer) and Fox (Brendan’s friend from It Happened One Summer). After initially meeting about a year prior, Hannah and Fox are about to be reunited in person. However, in their time apart, they were still connected. Like two people listening to the same song at the same time, Fox and Hannah were always in sync. Not only were they constantly on each other’s minds, but they were also in each other’s inboxes (the prologue is a list of their texts and it might be the best start to a romance book I have ever read). Now their lives are about to become more entwined as Hannah is visiting Westport to shoot a film she is working on but unfortunatly is unable to stay with her sister. Instead, she is forced to become roommates with Fox – yes, they were roommates. Finally, in the same place again, Hannah and Fox cannot ignore their connection, despite both wanting to.

Normally, I am not the biggest fan of friends to lovers. I don’t hate it, but it is not a trope that motivates me to read a romance (enemies to lovers and fake dating are the main romance tropes I seek out). Yet, I instantly loved this novel. I think part of the charm might have been because we had already seen the characters meet and I love the tension this created. This book showed me that I love a romance between two characters who are already connected when it spans a series – I knew I loved this in TV and film. But this book has motivated me to seek out this trope in romance books (or romance series I guess). I love characters who are drawn together despite their best efforts, but I am not the biggest fan of a slow-burn romance. I think I enjoyed how this book integrated the essence of this story into a rom-com. It was intense without sacrificing the fun.

I loved Hannah as a main character – her passion for music was so interesting to read about. At times it gave me the vibes of Pitch Perfect which may sound weird but she reminded me of Beca in various ways. Don’t get me wrong I also loved Piper (and her similarity to Alexis one of my fave fictional characters). But I found Hannah a bit more relatable – I definitely need to believe in myself a little bit more. Her job was really cool and fiction about the film industry always appeals to me.

Fox was also a more relatable character for me. I didn’t really love Brendan in the first book (there was nothing wrong with him but I didn’t find myself connecting with him in any way and for a romance, you have to love the hero not just think they are okay). In this book, I loved Fox’s point of view and desperately wanted him to believe in himself. I liked that he faced a similar, yet still distinct, issue from Hannah. They felt like two sides of the same coin.

Both characters were on a journey to accept themselves and see themselves differently than they have previously. They truly evolve in the story, and I love that this change was in their perception. They were wonderful together and I really feel that they will grow together. I really felt their connection and that is the sign of a great romance.