Religious area finding book a hit (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
bible belt
'religious area' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'book a hit' is the wordplay.
'book' becomes 'bible' (bible is a kind of book).
'a hit' becomes 'belt' (I've seen this before).
'bible'+'belt'='BIBLE BELT'
'finding' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bible belt that I've seen before include "area of Protestant fundamentalism" , "Fundamentalist tract" , "some fundamentalist states" , "part of the US" , "Regions of the US where Protestant fundamentalism is dominant" .)