Disclaimer: This is a review, and as such will contain opinions, spoilers and (often) general shit talking. (If you talk about what you don’t like about a work, you learn a lot. When you think through a work with the stakes presented to you by the creator, by the context of the work, you learn a lot. I review things, not because I love to dislike things, but because dislike contains rich and vital information for the process of experiencing something, but I cannot access it without interrogating it.) So, if you don’t want to have this thing spoiled for you, or don’t know how to behave when a person on the internet, that you don’t know, has opinions that don’t line up with yours, this review is not for you. It’s also not for the author/creator of the work. Please and thank you.
The Bellinger Sisters is a duology, consisting of It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line and Sinker.
It Happened One Summer is the story of Piper Bellinger, a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town, where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills.
Piper comes in as the disconnected and self-centred city-dweller to Brendan’s locally born-and-bred. It’s a grumpy/sunshine story that’s a light read.
The way she describes life in a small fishing village is very real, and the way Piper stands out in her heels and fancy dresses rings very true.
The characters are more archetype than fully developed characters, but both of these books are in the good vibes category when you need something in between the heavier reads.
I will say I liked that Piper was portrayed as high-maintenance from the beginning and the book leaned into it.
Other books tend to skim that issue, making the relationships seem more shallow – but here the gruff captain was happy to have someone to spoil and shower with gifts.
For a romcom there weren’t that many humorous and awkward situations that provided opportunities for witty and sassy banter, however I liked the slightly slower pace and less scripted feeling of their interactions.
The fishing village thing is a whole vibe and I loved it.
Took me a while to get around to reading Hook, Line and Sinker because I was worried it’d just be a copy of the first book but starring the sister.
This friends to lovers is set up already in the first book, but Fox is head-over-heels for Hannah, so it feels more like simp to lovers.
King crab fisherman Fox Thornton is a fuckboy who doesn’t like commitment – until he does. Meaning he meets Hannah.
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.
Going for the more conventional romcom than the first book, this was definitely flatter, the characters more stereotypical, and the situations more contrived.
The “nice” girl and the “horny, handsome” guy just wasn’t as interesting a dynamic as the couple in the first book, where Piper clearly offered Brendan something he wouldn’t have gotten from anyone else.
In many ways Hook, Line and Sinker was more true to life, which also made it more boring. This book feels like an afterthought to the first one.
Did I enjoy it?
Very much so. Tessa Bailey speaks my romcom language, for sure.
This duology isn’t so slavish to the conventional script of romcoms which I like because most typical romcoms just make me gag.
So, both books are the kind of books I read when I want to just have vibes and a quick, light read.
I will say: I didn’t get through either book in one go without reading conventional fantasy at the same time.
But when the long series get cognitively too heavy, or the chemistry between characters isn’t developing enough, I like to read light romance books to punctuate the heavy reading.
Rapid-fire round:
- Did the book meet your expectations? I was expecting a mushier romcom, was pleasantly surprised.
- Who was your favourite character in the book and why? Brendan, I love grumpy characters.
- Who was your least favourite character in the book and why? Piper, because I find people like that so annoying in life.
- Did you relate to any of the characters? Brendan and his love for his work.
- What themes or messages did you take away from the book? Um, little fishing villages are quaint. But you prolly also have everyone up in your business all the time.
- Was there anything in the book that surprised you or that you didn’t expect? The fishing town vibes were really nice.
- What did you think of the ending of the book? Very syrupy.
- What do you think the author’s intention was with the book? What message or theme do you think they were trying to convey? The juxtaposition of the quiet little village to the LA girl was an interesting dynamic that I think was very well explored throughout the book.
- Which part of the book did you find most memorable? Brendan’s relationship with the sea.
- Did you find any aspects of the book confusing or unclear? How long are Piper’s arms/fingers for her to casually slip a finger up his ass during missionary sex?
- Were there any moments in the book that made you emotional or had a strong impact on you? Nope.
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