Hope Floats by Joanne Phillips

Emily Weaver doesn’t believe in soul-mates, or being a ‘free spirit’. She believes in following the rules, working hard, and most importantly, she believes in keeping your feet firmly on the ground.
So when a surprise inheritance sees Emily gifted a beautiful canal boat, her first reaction is complete panic: her half-brother, Andy, wanted Emily to bring his boat from Oxford to Manchester, a three-week-long journey. There is no way Emily can do this, although she can’t confess the true reason, not even to her closest friends …
Along with Andy’s beloved boat, Free Spirit, comes a skipper – the gruffly handsome, Jack. Taking an instant dislike to Jack, Emily resolves to avoid all complications and keep her comfortable, city life on an even keel. Jack can move the boat alone; Emily doesn’t need to set foot on board. But Andy’s perfectly laid plans for her journey tug at her heart strings, and Jack’s constant jibes press buttons she didn’t even know she had, and in one crazy unplanned moment, Emily finds herself on board Free Spirit, ready for the trip of a lifetime.
Now it’s either sink or swim: Emily and Jack are stuck with each other whether they like it or not, because on the waterways, if you don’t pull together, someone is going to go under …