When we are looking for great beach books for Spring Break or summer, or that beach getaway in our mind, we want compelling characters, a page-turning story, juicy details, steamy emotion, and enough romance to keep it real. ? On The Line, by Jackie Nastri Bardenwerper, fills our checklist perfectly... but really is so much more than just a juicy beach read. Piper, the main character, truly loves the beach. It is her home and is her essence, and because the author understands beach living and is aware of the real tensions that exist in living in a tourist destination, each of the characters were real to us; we understood them and were rooting for them. Good beach books help you pass the time and let you get lost in another world, we were hooked after a few chapters when we met Logan, the handsome newcomer with a few secrets, but who already knew about Piper's fishing skills. Is he too good to be true? What secret is he hiding... and why do strange things start happening on the island? There are so many stories within the story, but Jackie is a masterful storyteller and so skillful that we didn't realize how she was reeling us in. All we knew was that we couldn't put the book down. Which, by our very strict standards, means On The Line? is one of our beach books of the season!
Synopsis from Amazon:
Sixteen-year-old Piper Wesley has always been better at hooking fish than guys. But with her best friend Benny by her side, she’s never minded. And besides, her fishing skills have made her a celebrity in her hometown of Islamorada, an island paradise in the Florida Keys. So when a slump in tourism threatens to sink her family’s fishing charter business, Piper recruits Benny to help her win a major fishing tournament and the $25,000 grand prize. It seems like a perfect plan. Put her skills to use, win some money and help her parents weather the storm. Except that now Benny cares more about hanging out with his girlfriend Marina than helping Piper. And he keeps disappearing, usually after something suspicious happens on the island. Add in Logan, a Michigan transplant with a growing interest in something other than Piper’s fishing, and it looks like practicing for the tournament will be anything but easy. Leaving Piper to wonder how she'll win. And who will be there when it’s over.
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