Look, do I think Emily Henry & I would be BFFs IRL? Nope.
Do I recommend people literally read this book on the beach? Absolutely.

Emily Henry's characters read as a little, well, Mary-Sue-ish. They're not people I would personally want to be friends with, but their shenanigans are entertaining for a brief vacation into someone else's life. In real life, I personally prefer people to behave ethically and kindly even when they're visiting a new place, and these characters make selfish sort-term decisions. But sometimes reading means considering another point of view, and the writing here is exactly fun enough to make sticking with the unlikable characters worth it 'till the end of the book. And, in a way, unlikable female protagonists could be feminist. I'm not 100% sure they're unlikable on purpose, but I still look forward to reading the author's next book.

I was really disappointed by this book. It's marketed so cheerfully as a romance, but it was heavy and a slog for me. I kept waiting for something happier, but it just never really got there. It has a HEA, so it can technically be called a romance, but it definitely felt more like women's fiction with a romance.

I really enjoyed this book. Had substance and wasn’t just your typical “beach read” despite the title. I look forward to reading more books from Emily Henry!

Content warnings: mentions of deaths, cheating, divorce, cancer diagnosis, cults

This book makes me think of a mixture of words that normally wouldn't go together-- snarky, bitter, embarrassing, misunderstandings, thoughtful, poignant, steamy, literary, and cute. Surprisingly, it works! I easily binged it in one day because I NEEDED more.

While I caught onto a few of the beats as they were happening, I was still invested and willing to overlook the predictability because it was the characters I wanted more of. What they would say, think, do. Augustus "Gus" and January are almost polar opposites in their demeanor and outlook on the world but they work well together. They spark a challenge into each other, pushing each other's limits respectfully and bringing out parts of themselves that they are afraid to share.

Their banter was witty at times, while full of sexual tension at others. It was interesting seeing how their academic rivalry of sorts (mostly one-sided on January's) translated to challenging each other out of writer's block.

If you've been sleeping on this one, I recommend putting in on your lists this year.

First of all the title is just misleading. I was expecting a lighthearted, meet cute, boy (Augustus) meets girl (January) type story. - and maybe I missed it but I don’t even remember there being a beach. Instead this is a story about two slightly broken people struggling with trust issues trying to move on from their individual grief. There was some funny dialogue, a few amusing misunderstandings and light romance but the tragic cult survivor side story made the overall story feel too disjointed for me to really invest in the main characters and their relationship.

January is at the lake house her father owned and left to her. One she didn't know about--because it was a secret--along with the affair he had there. So the perfect marriage that shaped that her childhood growing up, while mom beat cancer twice; where love always wins, right? Hm, not so perfect after all, leaving January questioning EVERYTHING. Sure makes writing her next romance novel pretty hard. Enter Gus, who is living next door. He's her nemesis from college, another writer, who challenges her and has his own heartaches and personal darkness.

I liked how their relationship grew from fighting, to understanding, then supportive before they moved to lovers. I've read Emily Henry's YA and loved them, this adult romance is a great new addition.

Two broken people that I happened to adore.

Sounds pretty light and fun just by looking at the title and cover, but it's a bit heavier that I'd expected where their backstories are concerned.

But it cute.

Pretty nice storytelling.

Great for reading on a holiday trip to the beach but also addressed themes that were more weighty than the usual beach read. Enjoyable and relatable.

Loved every second of this book. Emily Henry has really found her stride in writing adult romance. These characters and this plot will stick with me for a while. Going to be a big one that I recommend to friends and library patrons!

January is a bestselling romance author and Augustus is an acclaimed literary fiction author. They are complete opposites in ever way, except for the next 3 months they are neighbours. They strike up a deal to write a book in the other's genre with one caveat, that she can't fall in love with him.

This book was not what I expected based on the title and cover but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There was some depth to the characters in that they both had unique upbringings that created baggage for each one of them. The build up in their romance was captivating. I did find the characters a bit hard to relate to, they were such extreme opposites, with January being really idealistic and Augustus being pretty miserable, but I guess opposites attract!

I would recommend this book if you like enemies to lovers or want to learn a bit more about the writing process. I found that aspect pretty interesting!

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book as host of the Girly Book Club.

Wow, I loved it! This was such a fun romance, with so many different layers. The writing challenge added a really interesting layer to it - I don't think I've ever read a romance with so many details about cults before. It made it incredibly unique to me and super fun to read and see where it was going.

" I've never met someone who is so perfectly my favourite person "

A romantic Novel about acceptance , forgiveness and second chances .
The story of January after discovering a complicated and shocking secret at her dear father funeral .
Her journey to learn how to deal with her feelings , her struggles to forgive and understand the mistakes o her favourite person while at the same time experiencing the unexpected risk of falling n love and trust others again .
The novel is really deep , I loved all the discussions Gus and January have through the book .
All in all , it was a good story to understand romance , love and forgiveness.

Trigger Warnings :
Grieving
losing a loved one

Easy read - a fun beach romance with serious undertones (grief, cult trauma). It falls victim to a classic pitfall if its genre: characters failing to communicate and making assumptions that lead to unnecessary conflict.

I loved this book! It was the perfect summer romance. great banter between characters and a great setting. please write more!

This book was not what I expected. I was expecting a light romance and this book was not that. January is grieving the death of her father and her ideal of who he was. Gus is also grieving. They knew each other as students and now they are living next door to each other in small town Michigan and both are battling writer's block. They make a bet to switch genres, he will write a HEA romance and she will write a dark literary novel. Even though there is some romance there is also a lot of sadness. The story was all over the place and the ending was predicable. For me the book dragged on and it was too long. It was not the quick light read I was looking for word to.

January's father has passed away strangely as she always expected her mom to die first, as  her mom has survived cancer twice.   She always thought her parents had the perfect marriage only to learn that her father had a mistress and a second home that her father has left to her.  His mistress had the audacity to show up at the funeral and give her the keys.

January is suffering from a writer's block and is feeling broken -   she barely has money to survive and she has broken up with her perfect boyfriend.  She has no choice so she ends up going to the place her father left her in North Bear Shores Michigan to write a book to meet her publisher's deadline and sell off the house.

I read this book for my book club.  It's the first book that I read by Emily Henri.  It's a cute romcom which I found perfect for a summer read, the name of the book is appropriate as it feels like one of those books you want to read when you are on the beach.  It's not a heavy book, it's something you can get through easily.  If you really like Romcom's then you should like this one; it's an enemies to lovers trope.

I loved this book! The banter, the romance, the fact that 2 writers have to write different books is so perfect. I loved every minute of Beach Read.

On the surface this seems like a fun romance, but it deals with darker themes than expected. There's a nice depth to the characters' interactions and what holds them both back from pursuing their relationship. I think there was a little too much "romance really is a serious genre!" (surely people reading a romance know that already), but I appreciated that past trauma was dealt with and discussed in a way that is often glossed over in the genre.

A cute story of two writers with writers block (because Henry writes that she had writers block when she wrote it) happen to be next door neighbors (and former college rivals).

Parts of this I loved. There were a couple parts where they seemed to go in the same circle over and over. Maybe that’s real life, but I wanted her to do something differently.

Still, it is a fun Beach Read :)

Compelling, readable, and full of heart. I really enjoyed this book. It kept surprising me — both with it’s depth, and it’s lightness, as well as with how much i enjoyed it! I tore through it.