Hook, Line, and Sinker

Another page-turner from one of my favorite authors Tessa Baily!

Hook Line and Sinker is the second book in the author's It Happened One Summer series. You can read it as a standalone, but I do recommend reading them in order if you plan to pick them up. In this novel, we follow the delectable Fox Thornton, king crab fisherman, and the younger, music-obsessed Bellinger sister, Hannah.

When an opportunity arises that allows Hannah to be back in the seaside town of Westport, where her sister, Piper, has recently remarried the unofficial mayor and notorious grump, Hannah seizes it. Unfortunately, Piper's in-laws are visiting, meaning her husband's guest room is occupied, leaving Hannah stranded. At least until Fox suggests she room with him. Seriously? How bad could it be? They're best friends, after all.

Fox finds that it can be pretty damn difficult. Especially when it's clear that what he feels for Hannah falls far outside the best friend bracket, now he's scrambling to protect her reputation while trying to keep himself at arm's length. They're at an impasse because to Fox, she's too important to be another notch on his belt to the rest of Westport, but to Hannah, he's worth every catcall and side-eye.

Tessa always does her thing with the contemporary! Hands down incredible writing; I couldn't put it down once I started. Don't get me started on the characters! I loved Fox from Piper and Brendan's story but getting into his head was a religious experience. It was a lesson in not judging a book by its cover. I wanted to high-five Hannah so many times along their journey. For sticking with Fox, for growing the balls to ask for what she wanted. It was refreshing watching these characters come into their own. The difference between Fox and Hannah at the start of the book and them at the end was startling but in the best way ever!

Tessa touches on some sensitive topics that I don't think I've seen addressed anywhere, the hypersexualization of boys and men starting from a young age and, even more than that, the idea that children become their parents. Fox's youth and subsequently his life is a testament to the self-fulfilling prophecy and the way it shapes us sometimes. But it's also a sign that you can always unlearn things about yourself. Reinvent yourself. It's a reminder that you are not who people make you out to be but exactly who you want to be.