Hook, Line, and Sinker

Bailey’s second Bellinger Sisters novel (after It Happened One Summer) sizzles with romance and wit. Though Hannah Bellinger’s stepfather is a well-known movie producer, she’s determined to be successful on her own merit and begins her career in L.A. as a production assistant. When her director crush, Sergei, needs a location for his latest movie, she suggests using fishing town Westport, Wash., hoping to sneak in a visit to her sister, Piper, and Piper’s fiancé, Brendan. It proves logistically impossible for Hannah to stay with Piper during filming, so she asks her friend Fox Thornton, a member of Brendan’s fishing crew, if she can crash in his spare room instead. Hannah and Fox struck up a fast friendship when she visited Westport the previous summer and have texted every day in the six months since. Despite Fox’s love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation, Hannah can’t help but feel there’s something real between them. But is she willing to risk their friendship and chance getting her heart broken or should she play it safe with Sergei? Bailey expertly captures both the intense chemistry and true friendship between Hannah and Fox as she takes them through humorous mishaps and miscommunication. This sparkling rom-com will have readers hooked. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Mar.)