Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

It Happened One Summer, Book 2

From the publisher:

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?

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I always enjoy a romance when it’s the man who’s all insecure, probably because it is somewhat unconventional. That is the case here, and Fox is a terrific male lead. Strong, good looking, and has a reputation for never getting serious with anyone but always leaving the ladies happy. Until he meets Hannah.

Ever since last summer when they met, Fox doesn’t seem to get any pleasure from anything except their daily texts. Hannah is in California, Fox is in this small fishing village in Washington state. They are friends now, and Fox has never been friends with a woman. Never even thought it was possible. But they had fun hanging out together, and the texting has brought them even closer. So when Hannah convinces the director of the film she’s assisting on to move the production to Washington, he loves the idea and she is secretly thrilled. Her sister Piper is engaged and living in that small town and she misses her terribly.

But Piper’s future in-laws have come for a visit, taking the guest room. They arrange for Hannah to stay in Fox’s guest room. That brings them closer than ever, and Fox is in a real quandary. He knows he can’t be in any kind of relationship. His one long term relationship in college turned out to be a lie; he was her “hall pass”, a guy to have sex with and he never really recovered from that.

Hannah is trying to move ahead in her career but lacks some self-esteem; she wants to be the “leading lady” of her life and Fox tries to help convince her that she is. He is offered a promotion to captain the fishing boat he works on but is against it. Hannah tries to convince him he is deserving and to go for it. I love how these characters both learn and grow and help one another to reach their goals.

Falling in love is an unfamiliar feeling for the both of them, but they manage to work through all their issues to reach that happy ending, but there are a lot of laughs and a lot of angst before they get there. This was a terrific, sexy follow up to It Happened One Summer, and hopefully there will be more!

3/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER by Tessa Bailey. Avon (March 1, 2022). ISBN: 978-0063045699. 400p.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 4th, 2022 at 8:10 AM and is filed under Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.