Hook, Line, and Sinker - by Tessa Bailey (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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?

Review Quotes

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

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'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)

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 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

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

"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 could not stop smiling. Romantic comedy perfection."--Lauren Layne, New York Times bestselling author on Fix Her Up

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