The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex… Approximately. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.Īnd as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter.

Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth-a.k.a. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. (Apr.In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams-she just doesn’t know it yet.Ĭlassic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.įaced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life-or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. Although the climax is forced and predictable, the protagonists’ backstories shed light on their respective anxieties, adding depth to their conflicts. In what’s essentially a YA version of You’ve Got Mail, Bennett’s ( The Anatomical Shape of a Heart) contemporary romance offers sympathetic characters and plenty of drama. As might be expected, Bailey’s and Porter’s fiery retorts soon kindle passion, and the two start dating despite Bailey’s guilt about keeping him a secret from her online pal. But after Bailey settles in and starts a job at a quirky local museum, her mission to find her “film-buff soul mate” is sidelined as she becomes absorbed in a love-hate relationship with Porter, her arrogant, surfer coworker. Like Bailey, Alex loves old films and, coincidentally enough, he lives in her father’s neighborhood. One of her primary motives for going is to track down Alex, a boy she met online but has never seen in person. A year after her mother divorces to marry a lawyer, Bailey Rydell decides to leave Washington, D.C., to live with her father in California.

Alex approximately book 2