A character driven novel about RayAnne, who hosts a fishing show in Minnesota. Not a lot happens but it's kinda fun. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this quirky book about RayAnne, a professional sport fisher who reluctantly becomes a talk show host on her fishing boat.

RayAnne's character was fun for being so oblivious to her own talent and empathy, all the while trying to figure out her life and family relationships. There were many bittersweet moments, along with some off beat humour.

My favourite parts of the book were the interviews on the boat for the TV show. I loved these interesting women and the idea of such a different kind of talk show, one with real women doing interesting things rather than celebrities.

This was an engaging, light, interesting book that I quite enjoyed.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I didn't like this book at all.

The basic premise of the book was what drew me in - funny family-drama & fishing, but that what all I liked.

The main character RayAnne is a thirty-something-year-old fishing show host and has won several prizes in the professional fishing circuit in the past. So, I expected her to be an interesting person and less of an insecure, self-pitying man-hater. Reading the story from her perspective is depressing. I couldn't relate to or like any of her choices and attitudes at all so I just didn't grow to care about her either. Her family is insane but I suppose that was somewhat relatable and it did deliver on this aspect. Oh, and her brother and nephews' scenes were pretty funny actually.

In terms of story, nothing really happens in the first 50% of the book. It was basically just building up to something. This slow pace really affected my reading experience.

The writing is bad. Sometimes paragraphs were just long-running sentences dropping references like there was no tomorrow. Frankly, I wanted to drop this book in the first chapter. It just didn't work for me.

Overall, I just didn't enjoy it. The main character is the main problem for me and I feel like if she had a different personality perhaps I would've enjoyed it more. I don't recommend it.

Sarah Stonich has written a cute and original romantic comedy in "Fishing!" If I had to compare her style, I would say that it reminds me of 90s films like While You Were Sleeping or You've Got Mail (in book form).

Main character Rayanne feels that she doesn't measure up to the ideal of a woman on television. She isn't a perfect size two, she loves food, and she fishes. On her show, she and her guests fish and discuss the issues confronting the modern woman. Outside the deck of her ship Penelope, Rayanne tries to deal with keeping her show afloat (couldn't resist), an alcoholic father, a mother who leads spiritual menopause quests, a sponsor she just might be attracted to, and a grandmother who attempts to create man-traps out of food in order to get Rayanne married off.

Stonich understands the culture of fishing, but, more importantly she understands people. Her humor is spot on and laugh out loud funny. I would love to see this one made into a film! Here's a sample of one of its many comedic moments: "RayAnne is grateful for the ungodly hour and deserted street. A behemoth trout arches along the length of the vehicle, ready to gobble up a lure the size of a muskie. The entire back end of the RV is taken up by a woman’s image—not a real woman but an ideal everywoman, were everywoman an even-featured blond with blue eyes, perfect teeth, and flawless skin. The tire-sized O of her mouth looks ready to fellate the bottle of Mermaid Pilsner she’s raising to her mouth while one colossal eye winks seductively. The dual exhaust pipes poke from the front of her fishing vest in perfectly regrettable positions."

3.5 stars. Fishing! is women's fiction about the host of a Minnesota-based women's fishing talk show. RayAnne Dahl interviews women about their lives while she takes them fishing in her boat in northern Minnesota. The show, which airs on public television, becomes a surprise hit, but after a disastrous end of the season, RayAnne isolates herself and becomes depressed (though honestly I never totally understood her reaction--it didn't seem quite proportionate.) Throughout, RayAnne deals with family conflicts, a new dog, and just a hint of potential romance.

This was a nice story, and I loved the concept of the show. While I was really feeling the humorous first half of the book, it veered just a bit off course for me later on in the book, and the ending straddled the line between heartfelt and schmaltzy. But overall an enjoyable read, and if this really is the first in a trilogy, I would be happy to read the next books.

This book was originally published under a pseudonym and different title in 2015, and is being republished now under the author's real name. I'm not sure whether any changes were made, but the political and cultural references felt a bit dated for a book being published in 2020. I couldn't help but wonder if, in the present day, RayAnne's difficult, drunken father might have turned into a red-hatted MAGA cultist, and how that would exacerbate their conflict and change the trajectory of their relationship in the book. But in any case, keep in mind that it's a story taking place in 2014 or 2015, even though there's no notation in the book that it's set in the (recent) past.

Overall, a fair book. Being from Minnesota I really wanted to like this book more, but the characterization and portrayals only went so far, and the quirky didn't resonate too strongly with me. It is worth the read, and I do recommend it, but it wasn't my favorite, and I struggled in places.