There was nothing friendlier than sharing what kind of music defined their day. It didn’t matter how much she looked forward to those nightly texts. Staying with Fox imposed no risk whatsoever. It was possible to be just friends with a man who exuded sex—and she would have no problem proving it.

Hook, Line, and Sinker (From ARC, quotes may have changed in publication copy)

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon Books, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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?

I fell in love with Tessa Bailey’s writing last summer while reading It Happened One Summer, so I was excited to see that Hannah and Fox were getting their own story in Hook, Line, and Sinker.

Hannah and Fox hit it off the summer she spent in Westport, but Fox doesn’t do relationships. He’s a one-night-stand, love-em-and-leave-em type, and that’s just fine for Hannah, seeing as she has her sights set on her director. So, they strike up an unlikely friendship, texting almost daily and getting to know each other on a level Fox is unfamiliar with.

When Hannah comes back to town for a film and needs a place to stay, they both realize that their feelings for each other go beyond friendship. Fox has truly fallen for her, but is he willing to dig deeper to get past his player exterior to be the man she deserves?

I fell in love with the dynamic between Hannah and Fox from their first interaction in It Happened One Summer. I couldn’t help smiling at their banter and Hannah’s immunity to his charms, both of which continued into Hook, Line, and Sinker in the best way. Even through their texts in the prologue (which I loved since I’m so partial to texting fics), you can tell they have chemistry. So when Hannah gets to Westport again, that chemistry only escalates into full-on pining, which is one of my favorite tropes.

But, like It Happened One Summer, Hook, Line, and Sinker goes beyond just steamy chemistry. It delves into Hannah’s journey to connect to her father through music and grow more confident in herself. It explores slut shaming in men and Fox learning to love and trust himself.

My biggest complaint is that something about the pacing felt off. A lot of the more significant important moments between Hannah and Fox felt forced, including the sex scenes between them.

Overall, I loved the relationship between Fox and Hannah. The slow burn friends to lovers was great; I just wish the book’s pacing had been better.