everything i love in a book and more. this book has so much more than meets the eye. obviously it has a ridiculously cute romance but it deals with some really hard-hitting topics as well. I especially appreciated the discussion around grief being that it's not some universal thing that everyone goes through in the same way. We were able to see that through the different people and how the loss at the forefront of the story affected them each differently. There's also discussions of abuse and physical violence in the past of a character that was handled quite well. overall I think that this book really stood out to me because it wasn't just a romance trying to be more than that but it was at its core a story about coming together after loss. highly, highly recommend.

This was the perfect beach read! Although I was expecting an ocean beach and not a lake beach, it was all good. The characters were great and I will definitely read her next book!

Beach Read by Emily Henry
• contemporary m/f romance, LGBTQ+ rep

Rating: 4 stars

January Andrews writes romance and August “Gus” Everett writes doom and gloom. Two complete literary opposites and former college rivals are forced to be neighbors for a summer on the shores of a beautiful lake.

January- broke and freshly wounded by a family a scandal, has to sell the beach house she’s staying in while meeting a writing deadline. Gus- also suffering with writer’s block and dealing with his own scandal, strikes up a deal with a January......
- they both have to write in each other’s genre and submit their books by the end of the summer. January takes Gus on the perfect rom-com field trips and Gus takes January with him to interview former members of a death cult.

Thoughts:
This was such a good book! January and Gus with their witty banter, little digs, and simmering sexual tension really kept me flipping the pages. The unraveling family drama was captivating and devastating at the same time.

January was a very likable and relatable character. Gus was the perfectly dark & broody, swoon-worthy, mysterious, closed off, cynical, resident {is he really though?} bad boy.

The side characters were great! I loved January’s bestie, Shadi, and Gus’ aunt Pete and her wife Maggie really stole some of the scenes.

Interest: 5/5
Romance: 4/5
Heat: 3.5/5
Happy Ending: Yes
Cliff Hanger: No
Would I recommend: Yes

*** I was given a copy of this book for an honest review by the publisher through Net Galley ***

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. So angsty. Very funny, but also: lots of ANGST. If you come into this excepting fluffy, rom-com sweetness and light, you may feel that you have been tricked. This is either terrible marketing that makes me wonder whether the jacket writer read the book, or it's brilliant marketing because many people felt compelled to pick it up and are now talking about it; I dunno.

Love the premise, and I can see how it could have been very light (and there's nothing wrong with that, esp right now!). But the book addresses some issues and experiences. If you're prepared, then it works great, because it is also cute and funny.

Liked the impassioned defense of books with happily-ever-afters that highlight emotional growth and non-male character's POVs.

[Got a little impatient with January refusing to read her dad's letters and her assumptions about what Gus's choices are going to be in a/the pivotal matter. The "Dark Moment" in this book felt very contrived.

Also...where the heck is the Other Woman living now? Why didn't she get the house? If she has a place of her own in that town (which she clearly does; she's showing up for all the GNOs)...why did OW & January's dad have a beach house together? (hide spoiler)]

How have we gotten this far and NO ONE has commented on their names being JANUARY and AUGUSTus? Not in the book, not in reviews: as every English Lit professor will tell us, names are never given by accident; we need to explore their meaning. 250-word essay, 12-point Calibri font, double-spaced. I'll wait.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.
I will start by saying that adult romance/contemporary isn’t the genre I typically read. It is usually my go-to when I need a break from dark historical fiction or a heavy fantasy. But I will admit I had high hopes for this book.
Let’s talk about the characters first. In the beginning, I enjoyed January’s character, she seemed real. She is dealing with some heavy issues and is trying to find herself again after ending a long-term relationship and the death of a parent. But there are times when she seems overly insecure. Comments that Gus (our love interest) makes at the beginning of the book or actions that seem relatively normal has her questioning her and Gus’s every move. I liked Gus, but not at the beginning. I get he was supposed to be the dark and mysterious writer, with a dark past, but there was just something about him that didn’t click with me. He came off and very pretentious at times and had the attitude that I’m broke, and no one understands my pain. He seemed to be the stereotypical brooding male and I am not a fan. By the end when he finally breaks out of that exaggerated role, I like him. He seems like a fun guy and someone who deserves January love and attention. I enjoyed reading Gus's and January’s banter. Sometimes it seemed like the author was trying too hard to make them seem like the cute couple but most of the time I loved how January held her own and dished it right back at Gus.
There were a few parts that lacked for me though. One is that I wanted more about the stories they were writing. I feel like the parts about Gus’s cult research was just filler moments that didn’t add up to anything. And the beach, they were living in a beach house and I think we were on the beach twice. What happened to January's Saturday romance training? It just kind of faded out and was forgotten about. I wanted to see some more bits and pieces of Gus's romance novel, as we did with January’s fiction.
This book had plenty of romance and humor, but under all those the typical rom-com traits, there is a deeper story being told. It’s the story of a complication relationship between January and her now-dead father. It’s the story of a divorce and a hard childhood/life of never being chosen.
In the end, it is a different story from the cute “beachy” read I was expecting. But I am glad I read it, it provided some chuckles and a happy ending. I would consider picking this book up if you want a quick read. I would for sure recommend this book to others.

I had such a fun time reading this book! Definitely a fun read, brooding guy, fun girl, with drama and laughs. Lighter than some of the other modern romance that I have been reading.

For someone who doesn't read romance, I really liked this one! I buddy read it with a friend (who reads a little slower than me) and found it very funny. I even liked the audiobook, which I happened to get too. I think Emily Henry write very interesting characters, and this plot was a lot more solid than her alien book (the last thing I read by her). I thought the love interest in this one was very realistic.

This romance/chick lit novel was not for me. It was a chick lit romance that tried to be serious at times. Decide what kind of book you want to write. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Shelf Awareness for Readers: With Beach Read, Emily Henry (Hello Girls) offers readers a fun, clever romance novel that tackles stereotypes and misconceptions about the genre head-on. When "women's fiction" author January Andrews's father dies suddenly, she discovers that he left her the keys to a beach house she didn't know he'd owned--that he'd shared with a mistress she hadn't known about either. Newly single, broke and no longer able to believe in the romance that grounds the stories she's always written, she moves into the house, only to discover that her next-door neighbor, Augustus Everett, is a condescending author of serious literary fiction. Despite their different styles, the pair have two things in common: crippling writer's block and a belief that the other looks down on their style of writing. So, they strike a deal: January will write a serious novel without a happy ending, while Gus will draft a romance.

Beach Read is itself a romance, so it will come as no surprise that these adversaries do ultimately become lovers. Gus eventually tells January that her writing "makes the world seem brighter, and the people in it a little braver." The same could be said of Henry's writing: though the characters in Beach Read face common challenges (heartbreak, career disappointments, realizing one's parents are flawed), the ways Henry explores vulnerability and emotions through their experiences shed light on the very real processes of grief, healing and finding love. This is not a romance seen through rose-colored glasses, guaranteeing neither its characters nor its readers a neat, pat happily-ever-after; it is a story that reveals the work it takes to find peace in moments of "happy for now." --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Discover: A clever rom-com tackles genre stereotypes in this story of two authors whose struggles to find happiness for their characters might also lead them to happiness--and love--themselves.

Beach Read is one of my favorite 2020 reads! It has an excellent premise: romance author January Andrews and literary fiction author Augustus Everett are beach house neighbors for the summer and, upon discovering that they are both in writing ruts, they make a deal to write in each other's genres and see who gets published first. Sounds right out of a rom-com, right? The novel certainly delivers on the promise of a lovely romance, providing readers with many a scene that will make you laugh, swoon and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But that's not all Beach Read has to offer, as the author effectively manages to make her portrayal of January and Gus feel so real and honest. Emily Henry certainly didn't shy away from peeling back all the layers of these characters, showing us all the beautiful and broken parts of themselves. All these elements - the characters, their relationship, the story - came together so beautifully, and I flew through the pages of this novel. I definitely recommend checking it out!

This is a delightful different spin on the usual love story. Two writers living next door to each other that are exact opposites. Both are experiencing writer’s block and strike a deal to help them meet their deadlines. Throughout the book you can’t help rooting for them. Many life Reflections on life and love are revealed through the author’s great writing! #BeachRead #EmilyHarris #NetGalley

Gus Everett is a dark, brooding hero fit for the 21st century – of course good-looking, he dropped out of high school and worked as a gravedigger before saving enough to go to college and become a famous writer of dark, brooding literary novels. Heroine January Andrews genuinely believes in the HEAs (Happily Ever Afters) she writes for the characters in her popular romance novels – until her father dies and she learns a troubling secret at his funeral. The two wind up spending the summer next door to each other at beach houses on Lake Michigan, and to overcome the writer’s block they’re both grappling with they make a bet. Gus will try his hand at a romance, while January tackles the great American novel, and each weekend they’ll take each other on field trips for research.

Emily Henry satisfies readers with all the expected tropes of a romance novel (meet-cute, lots of escalating drawing-together-then-pulling-apart tension, erotic sex scenes (a little too detailed for my taste – do I really need to know that it was his left hand cupping her breast? – but undeniably hot), and of course the HEA – all without being clichéd. Since I’m an aspiring novelist, I loved the scenes when Gus is researching a suicide cult (of course he takes January along) and when the two of them get swept up in their writing.

I fell hard for romance novels as a teenager, but when I studied comparative literature in college, I spurned them (sort of like Gus) as only a snooty college student can, and it took a decade or two before I got over my ridiculous contempt. If only I’d read this novel when I was twenty, I might have resumed my affair much sooner. As January introduces Gus to romance novels, she has many opportunities to defend the genre, and she would have won me over just the way she does Gus.

This was a book that had plenty of buzz in my social circles, yet I was still surprised by it. Completely different tone than I expected (I guess because of the cover and whatnot?) but enjoyed it completely. The end results for both authors made me laugh, but this was also not as gimmicky a read as it could have been and I appreciate that.

I LOVED this. I loved the cover and the title, so I really didn’t read the summary when I requested this from @netgalley. I had no idea that January and Gus were writers, and it was such a good surprise. (I love book and sometimes I wish I could be a writer. It’ll never happen; I have a hard enough time with Instagram captions.) January and Gus were college rivals during their writing classes. Now, they’re both published authors - and happen to live next door to each other due to January’s father’s secret house. This is an enemies to lovers troupe, but I loved how research for writing romance books was the driving force in their relationship. While I couldn’t listen fast enough, I was super sad when I finally finished - this to me is the sign of a great book!

This fabulous debut novel by Emily Henry is a treat! The cover is a bit deceiving...there are some dark moments. But, overall, a delightful romance. A must read!

A big thank you to Berkeley Publishing Group and Netgalley for a free e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine, if you will, two rival writers, living next to one another one summer, and suffering from writer's block. Sparks are going to fly!!

January Andrews writes women's fiction and makes sure her books have a happy-ever-after, but lately she doesn't believe in love after learning some truths about her deceased father. Augustus Everett writes literary fiction and kills off all his characters.

So they make a summer challenge with each other: both of them will switch genres.

The chemistry is electric, the bantering is hilarious and the pages fly by. Makes for the perfect summer read.

This is a perfect summer read. The romance is engaging. the characters are revealed in such a way that they change and grow as you read. Father/daughter relationship is portrayed in a way that is different and believable.

This was such a great book!

I’m not usually a romance fan, but this one felt different to others I’ve read! While it was a good book to relax with and could be very fun and light at times it wasn’t totally lighthearted. The main character was dealing with the loss of her father (and the secrets revealed about him upon his death) and it was wonderful to see how her personality and perspective changed throughout this book.

This book wasn’t for me but I can see how people would love it. I felt like the book was confused about what kind of book it wanted to be. Half of it was a cute romcom and half dealt with more serious topics. I wish it would have focused on one.

This was a super cute and fun read. There was deeper content to the book than I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to recommending it to others. I also look forward to reading more of Emily's works!