The Bellinger Sisters’ Duology
Embarrassing rom-com lover moment: I hadn’t read a Tessa Bailey book until March when I read It happened one summer. “Horrified looks from everyone in the room”- Speak now, Taylor Swift. I am horrified as well because I love her! For my second blog post, I wanted to give my commentary on another popular book. (In this case a series). The Bellinger sisters’ duology begins with It Happened One Summer following the older sister, Piper, and her love interest. The second book is about the younger sister, Hannah, and her love interest.
It Happened One Summer opens with Piper being dumped by her boyfriend. In an act to save her socialite reputation, she and her friend break into a hotel swimming pool to host a party. Piper parties without a care in the world until… the cops show up. Piper is put in jail, and her stepdad, a billionaire director, is not so pleased. Tired of Piper’s careless behavior, he sends her and her sister, Hannah, from LA to run their late father’s dive bar in Westport, Washington. Westport is a small, tight-knit town where everyone knows everyone. Piper and Brandon meet the first day she’s in town. Brandon is a rugged fisherman who thinks Piper doesn’t belong in his town. But soon, Piper will prove that she has more than just a pretty face. She has a heart too.
I read a lot of romance, and relationships in books can be very toxic and entail a lot of fighting. Despite Piper and Brandon’s rocky start, they have probably the healthiest relationship of any book couple I’ve read. Piper was definitely spoiled, but she really had a lot of character development throughout the book. Piper did a lot to help her own development throughout the book. Being in charge of the dive bar really gave her purpose and helped her gain confidence. Brandon also helped her grow by showing her simple things like how to grocery shop. I think that Brandon also learned from Piper. She helped him overcome the grief of losing his wife and gave him a new future. Piper and Brandon were a great couple, and they made me so excited to see more of them in Hook, Line, and Sinker.
Hook, Line, and Sinker is Hannah’s book. After her Westport adventure with Piper, Hannah returns home to LA. Hannah works on a movie set and has a hopeless crush on the director, Sergei. When the thought of changing the set location to a small, charming town arises, Hannah suggests Westport. Sergei, loving the idea, decides to send everyone to Westport to film the movie. Needing a place to stay, Brandon’s best friend and Hannah’s long-distance bestie, Fox, offered Hannah his guest room. Fox is the notorious town bad boy, and even though he has feelings for Hannah, he likes her too much to make a move. However, living with her doesn’t make it easy. Not to mention she’s in love with another guy. Right?
I was so excited going into Hannah’s book because I absolutely loved her in It Happened One Summer. Hannah is the more laid-back and down-to-earth sister. She is very much into vinyl and music, so I immediately loved her for that. Fox didn’t stand out to me too much during the first book, but I loved him in this one. I loved seeing into Fox’s mind and learning how amazing he is. He was so sweet to Hannah and had such pure intentions with her. I definitely am adding him to my list of book boyfriends. As for the book itself, I have to say I didn’t love it as much as It Happened One Summer. It didn’t keep me as engaged, and I didn’t read it as fast as the first one. However, I read the first one on vacation, so I may have just been more in the mood then.
Alright after realizing how long this blog post is, I probably could have split it up, but here we are. Tessa Bailey, thank you for these sweet, charming, small-town romance books. I can finally say that I have read one of your books! I would highly recommend this duology to all of my rom-com lovers. Y’all are probably way ahead of me on this, but if you aren’t do yourself a favor and check them out!
xoxo, taylor
