Tessa Bailey Book Set 3: It Happened One Summer / Hook, Line, and Sinker

by Tessa Bailey

The #1  New York Times  bestselling and beloved Bellinger Sisters series from Tessa Bailey, now in a single volume! This bundle includes the following IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER : Hollywood “It Girl” Piper Bellinger is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a Pacific Northwest harbor town where she butts heads with a grumpy local. But as she gets to know the town, reconnects with her past, and develops surprising feelings for big, bearded Captain Brendan Taggart, Piper begins to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. HOOK, LINE, AND Hannah Bellinger and charming ladies’ man, Fox Thornton, are just friends . And now, roommates. But after weeks living in close quarters, sharing late-night ice cream, and sleeping down the hall from one another, she's fallen hard. Fox doesn't do relationships and acting on their intense chemistry could ruin their friendship… but it’s a risk she’s willing to take.

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Spicy

702 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2023

About the author

New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books.

Reviews

[Avani ✨]

LOVE. THIS. SO. MUCH.

[DaNey McLean]

Read more like a hallmark Christmas movie, not my thing

[Ann Wilder]

The Bellinger Sisters series by Tessa Bailey was such a fun, spicy little two-book series! I love that Piper and Hannah are sisters but are SO different, and each of them gets a romance that fits her personality perfectly.
The series starts with It Happened One Summer, when Piper Bellinger—glamorous LA socialite, party girl, and lover of all things expensive—is sent to the tiny fishing town of Westport, Washington, with her sister Hannah.
And then Piper meets Brendan Taggart.
A huge, bearded, grumpy sea captain who takes one look at her and basically thinks:
Absolutely not.
Brendan is routine, tradition, hard work, and small-town life. Piper is glitter, high heels, champagne, and Instagram.
Obviously they’re going to fall in love.
I LOVED watching Brendan go from thinking Piper is ridiculous to being completely, hopelessly obsessed with her. He’s gruff and stubborn and very much has that that’s my woman energy.
And Piper surprised me too. She could have easily been written as a shallow spoiled-girl stereotype, but there’s so much more underneath her personality. She loves being feminine and glamorous, and the book doesn’t require her to stop loving those things in order to grow up.
Then Hook, Line, and Sinker gives us Hannah and Fox.
And the entire vibe changes.
Hannah is quieter and more grounded than Piper, and Fox Thornton is the gorgeous fisherman with a reputation for never taking women—or relationships—seriously.
Except Hannah becomes his friend first.
They text. They talk about music. She gets to know the person underneath the reputation everyone has assigned to him.
Then Hannah comes back to Westport and stays in Fox’s apartment.
Just friends.
Sharing an apartment.
While Fox helps her pursue another man.
This plan is flawless. No notes.
I actually think Fox’s story has more emotional depth than I expected. Everyone—including Fox himself—has reduced him to the attractive guy who’s good for sex, and Hannah is one of the first people who makes him feel like he has value beyond that.
So while Piper and Brendan give us grumpy/sunshine + opposites attract + explosive chemistry, Hannah and Fox give us friends-to-lovers + forced proximity + emotional intimacy + painful pining.
And I honestly loved having both.
The sister relationship is one of my favorite parts of the series too. Piper and Hannah genuinely LIKE each other. They’re supportive without being identical, and moving to Westport changes both of their lives in completely different ways.
But let’s not pretend we’re only here for emotional growth.
This is Tessa Bailey.
These fishermen are not taking these women upstairs to discuss the local weather patterns.
Especially Brendan.
SIR.
Small coastal town + fishermen + sisters + found family + grumpy/sunshine + friends-to-lovers + forced proximity + men who fall HARD + enough dirty talk to permanently alter the fishing industry.
I had so much fun with this series.

Overall series spice level: 5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Romance content: VERY explicit open door — both books contain multiple detailed on-page sex scenes, explicit sexual language, and dirty talk. It Happened One Summer is especially spicy, while Hook, Line, and Sinker has more of a slow-burn emotional buildup before things get.

[Tara Blais Davison]

4/5 I hate to admit this b/c the idea of a fully grown, phone-obsessed L.A. IT girl and her little sister accepting the older sister’s punishment (for inviting her entire contact list to assist her in breaking into a pool, and thwarting their step-father’s business deal) and agreeing to spend the next three months sleeping in creaky bunkbeds above a rat-infested bar in a tired fishing village; with very little money, is pure fantasy, but I liked it. I preferred the second book ( Hook, Line and Sinker) over the first. I guess I’m just a sucker for a happy ending.

[Dalene Prinsloo]

3,5 stars

[Maria Paula Garcia]

So good. Not a fan of the narrative bc is third person , but overall awesome story with great plot some spice and the main characters are very well developed.

[Courtney]

Just rereading Piper and Hannah's stories 🤗

[Kila Foley]

Mindless romance. I hate myself for loving this shit.

[Brie]

Loved the Bellinger Sister series! Funny, insightful, fun, all around a good time had with them and their journeys to love.

[Alex]

Both stories were basically the same story lol.

Nothing remarkable - won’t remember but cute love stories too. I definitely liked “it happened one summer” more than the second book.

[Lynn Porter]

Cute room com

[Kathryn Merwin]

Loved this set. A good, rom-com to make you smile and weep. Alittle predictable but I kinda like them that way.

[Katrina]

3.5 ⭐️ a 3 for Piper who was no Alexis Rose but grouchy Brendan/all the side characters definitely helped. Definitely a 4 for Hannah because I too had my life forever changed by Rumours on vinyl.

[Katie]

Easy read- no plot just romance

[Baylee]

This was a 2 book set, and I listened over audiobook. I have never read or listened to a Tessa Bailey book yet so I figured it was time when I saw this. Adorable! The first book was very cute and is was more like strangers that rubbed each other wrong to lovers, which was adorable. Very spicy. The second book was about the best friend/sister. They already had a rapport from meeting in book one and was building on a friendship together. They both very obviously had feelings for each other but they held off until both were sure and comfortable before they got together so it was slow burn then super spicy when they finally got together. It was actually pretty sweet because the guy in this second one, Fox, was really needing the time Hannah gave him to rebuild himseof and his confidence. It was worth it when they got together in the end. So both are worth the read or listen. I need to get into other Tessa Bailey books because her writing is great

[Kaysey Beury]

Hook line and sinker was better than IHOS. Piper was awful, but I liked Hannah's character in HLS much better.

Heads up, the spice is off the charts. I wish I had looked for closed door recommendations instead of trying to just skip and skip and skip. 😬 🙈🙊🙉

[Maddie Olfson]

On the smutty but not too aggressive side of romance, no real plot. An easy read with a happy ending!