Tessa Bailey returns to the seaside town of Westport, Wash., in Hook, Line, and Sinker, a breezy rom-com full of music and banter. Hannah and Fox met in It Happened One Summer, when her sister fell for his best friend. Bailey smartly chooses to build a foundation of friendship for her protagonists, who've been texting regularly during the seven months Hannah has spent living in Los Angeles.
A production assistant, Hannah has dreams of one day scoring films. When her film director boss starts having issues with his latest project, she convinces him to relocate the shoot to Westport. Fisherman Fox Thornton, meanwhile, is avoiding a promotion to ship captain, convinced that the playboy reputation foisted upon him at a young age will always get in the way of him garnering the respect needed for the job.
In Westport, Hannah stays in Fox's spare room, and the two bond through song recommendations and teasing, but it's their belief in each other that forms the core of Hook, Line, and Sinker. Despite Fox's attempts to prove to Hannah that he's only good for one thing, she refuses to get physical with him until he admits that he deserves to be treated as a whole person. Fox will do anything to support Hannah's goals, even if it means she reaches them without him. This book is less steamy than many of Bailey's others, but it's certainly no less intimate.
Readers may be sad to say goodbye to Westport, but they'll love to watch these two sail off into the sunset. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian and freelance reviewer