Hooked

by Kate Davies

Madison McIntyre has been banished to the ends of the earth, or at least Westhaven, Washington feels that way to her. She has one month to prepare a resort plan for her company or she'll be out of a job. She has gone incognito in the small fishing town, hoping to succeed where no co-worker has found success before. Dylan Edwards loves living on the coast of Washington. Ever since his ex-wife ran off to the big city, he's been raising his daughter in the small town where he grew up. He's content with his charter-fishing business, his life, and no city girl is going to interfere with that contentment. Neither one of them can deny the sparks that fly whenever they're together, and the passion between them is as wild and untamed as the ocean itself. When the truth comes out, will their growing feelings survive the storm?

178 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[The Book Worm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the plot of Hooked - actually, I loved the idea behind the plot, it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I think the rest of the book fell a bit short of that potential. The characters are not very well developed, some situations are not entirely realistic and there are too many cliches to mention. Madison had lots of pre-conceived ideas, some of them not always consistent. Dylan was more or less Ok, but sometimes behaves more like a teenager than a full grown man. And the whole town hall / idiotic boss issue is sorted out so easily it's a wonder there was ever a problem to start with.
If you're looking for a quick, no strings attached, read with a happy ending, you may want to give it a try though.

[Ing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madison McIntyre has been sent to Westhaven a small coastal town in Washington for a month. The company Donovan Development which Madison has been working for has not had much luck in winning the small town over on their plan for a luxurious resort center. Madison's assignment is to research and create a proposal that would help win the town council member over to the idea of the resort. She is supposed to present this proposal to the city council meeting before the month is up. For Madison this is her chance to finally prove herself to the big wigs and get further with the company. Madison craves stability and she has played safe her whole life. Some would call her a workaholic. During her stay in Westhaven Madison stays at an Inn own by Ronnie Edwards. She doesn't tell the townspeople who she works for but that she is there for a sabbatical. Ronnie is a matchmaking momma. Her son Dylan Edwards who is a single divorce father is running the fishing charter boat in town. After checking Madison into a room at the Inn Ronnie decides to do some matchmaking between Dylan and Madison.

After their first interaction both Madison and Dylan have some pretty bad preconceived ideas of the other even though there were some sexual sparks flying. Soon though as they get to know one another they both realize that they might not be able to live without the other but lies, hang-ups from previous relationships, luxurious resort plan, and a slimy boss thrown into the mix could rock the boat for this budding romance between Madison and Dylan.

Just like the title of the book I was "Hooked" from the beginning until the very end. This is one of those fast, fun, and entertaining reads that had me smiling from the first page to the last. I love the city girl and small town boy storyline so this was a plus for me. Westhaven seems like my kind of small town and I found myself wanting to get on a plane and find this place so I could meet my own Dylan. The dialogue was witty and smart. I had many laugh out loud moments and I have to admit I had a little tear in my eye by the end of the book not because it was sad but because it was one of those feel good endings. Madison and Dylan came to life in this book and every page with them had me entertained. The secondary characters added to the storyline like Dylan's mother and daughter instead of hindering. The relationship was believable and I love how Kate slowly builds up the sexual part of the relationship. I rooted for Madison when she finally took a stand against her slime ball of a boss and I enjoyed seeing her slowly change from a workaholic little pushover to a strong woman capable of standing on her own two feet. Dylan was sexy, smart, and funny. Seeing him with his daughter had me sighing several times in the book. This book was a very satisfying read and I am looking forward to more books by this author.