Okay so here is my attempt at making a formal review for one of my easily favourite reads of 2020.

This is a love story between two very broken individuals. One is a fiction writer who searches for the dark unsettling things and pours his gut-wrenching words into literary fiction and the other chooses happiness and sunshine, writing romance novels for those who seek an escape. They both have complicated pasts. He grew up with an abusive father and felt he was missing a piece of him because of the events that happened in his adulthood. She grew up in a loving family that turned out to have secrets buried deeper than her father's casket.

Do not be fooled by the title or genre! Do not think that this will be your 'light beach read' you crave by the pool because this book will tear you apart, only to put you back together again. It was funny. So funny. I laughed so many times at their sarcastic remarks. I really loved the soft slow burn romance between them as these two people worked alongside each other, falling slowly in love, but deathly afraid of it because they knew what they had was magnified ten times of what they experienced and they weren't sure if they would live on if they didn't work out.

It's not your perfect romance. It's filled with two broken people finding happiness with each other. It's ironically a combonation of what they both wrote. A realistic story but filled with a romance plot. I really recommend this but I'm scared some people might walk in and think one thing and being disappointed because of the marketing of the book

If this book is not already on your TBR for May, I hope my review puts it there! I’m giving this story all the stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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January Andrews writes bestselling romance novels. Augustus Everett pens literary fiction. They have what may seem a rivalry in writing, but deep down it’s a mix of unspoken feelings, missed opportunities, & a heavy weight of unexpected conflicts. These two characters are rich with wit & that delicious spark that ignites between opposites, which ultimately you know will only make things hotter.
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Though I loved the chemistry & the build up to steam, it was the soft moments in between that captured my heart. I found myself re-reading lines, in utter awe of this beautiful story-telling that seemed to be speaking right to me. There is definitely a much deeper story here & goes way beyond your typical “beach read”. Don’t be fooled by that title. This story is packed full of emotion, depth, & will leave you questioning your own “what if’s” & wanting to take charge of writing your own “happily ever after... right now”.
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This won’t be the last you’ll hear of me gushing & proclaiming my love for this novel! Get ready, because this is just the beginning. I think I just found a favorite read for 2020.

Between 5 and 10 stars.

Wow. WOW.
This book blew me away and it really resonated with me. The blurb intrigued me and I requested but I can say this was not what I expected. So NOT a beach read.

What it is instead is so well written, so deep, so emotion-filled and stirring.

January and Gus knew each other in college and couldn't stand each other. Years later, she comes to the beach house her father left her and Gus lives next door. She recognizes him first and thinks he doesn't her, but he does. It turns out that, at this moment in their lives, they're both going through a phase of not being able to write.

As they live next door and can see into each other's houses (literally), they eventually come up with a challenge to help each other write, but the opposite of what they usually write.

They start going on research day trips. January plans day trips to help Gus understand the romance genre, and Gus takes her on interviews with survivors of a cult.

But there's so, so much more. There's the drama of their individual lives, their insecurities and fears, both as individuals and as writers, there's the growing friendship between and the attraction that might break it, there's family and neighbors, and exes, and the coming to peace with the death of a loved one.

It's beautiful and I love it and I'm telling you to get it and read it.

Warning: some language and sex, if that's a deal breaker for you.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

What a unique plot---a romance novelist writing the great American novel and a literary novelist writing about romance. This definitely makes for an fun "beach read."

My first book by this author and I really enjoyed it.this was a perpetual pageturner. The title is perfect because this is a great beach read. It is tender, smart, and steamy.
Loved it!

I went into Beach Read blind, as in I didn't even read so much as a blurb before diving in. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I normally prefer to sway more towards the erotic side of romances, but it was time for something a little lighter. Not that Beach Read was a light read by any means (tricky title there). I actually found myself more invested in the character's well-beings than in a typical romance novel. I felt January's disappointment over her family secrets, I suffered through Gus's heartbreak, and I was over the moon about Shadi's developing relationship.

Everything about this book WORKED. The characters, the texting (which can be hard to properly convey in books), the best friend relationships AND the romantic one, the secondary characters, the light side of the romance mixed with the dark side of Gus's research. It was a roller coaster of emotions and my heart was in it 100%.

Emily Henry proves yet again that she will forever be my favorite author. I went in expecting a fun book that would make me laugh and yes, I did get that, but I also got so much more. There was complex family relationships and self discovery and regret and the writing.... was my favorite thing about the entire book. Something about Henry's writing makes it feel personal, like she's right there with you on the journey... it's magic.

From someone who doesn't read romance too often... I've definitely put this on a high pedestal.

I thought this was an interesting read. The characters were unique and I enjoyed the book. I did expect something a little lighter, but it was still a good read. I will be purchasing it for our library. I think our patrons will really like it.

This touched me a lot deeper than I thought it would. It has a yellow, cheery cover—one would expect complete happiness. But the message was thoughtful and had so much meaning behind it. Beach Read will make you laugh out loud, cause insane happiness, and might cause you to shed a tear or two. I know I couldn’t stop those measly little tears from falling from my face.

While this is all romance, it took a familiar plot and completely made it it’s own. I don’t know why I always have such a soft spot for the “emotionally unattached” hero that really feels more deeply then we give him credit for. Cliche? Maybe. But it totally worked for Gus! He was so damn dreamy!

Ever since we’re introduced to him in the book, the sparks fly off the pages. The tension anytime January and Gus were together was delicious. I felt it deep within my bones. The angst made butterflies appear in my stomach because all I wanted was for these two characters to just get it together already!

What made this particular read so special was that it spoke directly to a bookworms heart. Henry wrote this story just for me. I felt that pain January felt. I felt her joy and I felt the moment she fell in love. If you’re looking for a book that has it all—romance, swoons, hard times, betrayals, and hope, don’t pass this one by! I wish I could read it again for the first time.

This book is hilarious, heartfelt, and a wonderful slow burn. The main characters fizz with chemistry and banter.The secondary characters, Gus's aunts and January's best friend Shadi, give depth to our heroes and provide insights into both characters while also feeling like fully fleshed out people in their own right. I really enjoyed this book.

I accidentally read this in a day and a half when I had intended to take my time with it because I was just so taken in by our main characters January and Gus! I thought the premise of them being writers and old college rivals who swap genres on a bet to shake off the writer's block was fun and unique, but this book's real strength was in drawing the deep emotions out of each of them in a way that felt believable and also brought them together. The end felt a little uneven pacing-wise compared to the bulk of the book but I can't even complain, I loved January and Gus so much.

I'd recommend this one to folks who loved Evvie Drake Starts Over because I think this is another great example of a book with a romance that's just as much about dealing with losses and emotional baggage.

Beach Read is anything but the fluffy, frilly pageturner the title and cover suggest. It's a pageturner, most definitely, but beyond the romance and humor that fill the pages, there's something delightfully sharp about this book. Read it at the beach, on the toilet - I don't care. Just read this book.

January Andrews is suffering from writer's block. To try to kick it, and more importantly because it's free and she's broke, she heads to her late father's beach house for a change of scenery. The house delivers. It's full of memories she'd rather not face and sits right next door to the house where her college crush-cum-writing rival lives. Augustus Everett is a lovely distraction and January's opposite. She lives for that HEA and he considers it a waste if all his characters are alive and well at the end of a book. But clearly their methods aren't working at the moment, so on a drunken evening, they decide to switch genres. She'll write the next great literary downer, and he'll pen a swoony rom-com. Whoever sells their book first gets ultimate bragging rights and all the glowing cover blurbs you could want. Readers, you know what happens when two characters make a bet.

January and Gus are practically perfect in every way. Their dialogue sizzles. I wish I were half as witty and quick-thinking as one of them. Their relationship had the perfect inevitability that I want from a romance novel. They were refreshingly open and honest about how they felt without any of the will they/won't they drama that usually comes with this type of storyline. That's not to say there isn't plenty of drama in this book, but it's the kind that feels believable. No one gets caught in a silly lie that gets blown out of proportion. No one has a deep, dark secret that they unveil at the worst moment. Their problems were genuine, heart-wrenching problems that a lot of us face in life and our relationships.

Beach Read is without a doubt the best book I've read in 2020. It falls in line with my favorite romances that I read over and over. Emily Henry maintains the perfect recipe of swoon-worthy romance, snort into your kindle humor, and I'm not crying, you're crying heart and depth. This is one of those books that I will recommend obnoxiously to everyone.

The book's title and description are misleading. They make it sound like this is just a light rom-com, but both main characters are struggling with deep issues of loss, which give the book a more serious tone than the description implies. I would have preferred to read the light story that I was expecting, but I enjoyed this book well enough.

Emily Henry does a phenomenal job describing the heat between literary writer Augustus (Gus) Everett and romance writer January Andrews. Gus has been giving her a hard time about her desire to give everyone a happily ever after (HEA) since they attended the same fiction class in college. When they find themselves living next door to each other in a small tourist town on Lake Michigan, they challenge each other to see if the other can’t write what s/he would write. January dislikes that he assumes it’s so easy to write a romance novel, and his arrogance makes him assume she can’t write darker works.

After some tragic events and secrets have become unearthed in January’s life, she finds it hard to write HEA stories because she no longer knows if she believes in that. So now might be the perfect time for her to write the angsty-literary sort of fiction her nemesis Gus prefers. Every Friday night he’ll take her somewhere depressing, and every Saturday she’ll take him on various non-dates that might happen in a Rom-Com.

I fell in love with Gus right along with January, although she wouldn’t call it that. She’d call it lust. She knows from her days in college that he never sticks with a relationship for more than a couple weeks, so whatever she’s feeling for him, she’s sure will be short lived. Until their secrets start to be revealed . . .

This is a deeper book than the title suggests (by design, of course). To paraphrase a line that January says to Gus when he asks what women’s fiction is, she basically says that because her books feature women, it’s women’s fiction. If it were a man, it would be called fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES MAY 19, 2020.

I have never read this author before, but you can bet she is on my radar now. An adorable love story, with great dialogue and banter. Very witty. Nice slow build up of the relationship, very believable. I especially loved the rant about "women's literature". I also enjoyed getting to see a little bit about what an author's "process" looks like. Laughed out loud regarding the "Give up pants." This one will definitely make it to our shelves, and as a recommendation to patrons.

Such a fun, interesting read! January and Gus had such a unique relationship- it was unusual and intriguing to realize their personalities. I also enjoyed the way they wrote and communicated while doing so. This would be an enjoyable book club selection.

I loved this. I devoured it. I wanted more. I thought the writing was wonderful, the characters were extremely likable. Reading this felt like a punch in the gut, yet made your heart swell and yearn for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

January and Augustus could not be more opposite. While she writes romantic comedies, he is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. Neither understand the other. January would prefer all of her stories to have happy endings, whereas Augustus is fine with killing off all of his characters. For the next three months they must fight off their writer's block while being next-door neighbors. Their solution? Each must write a book of the other's genre.

I really enjoyed this book. I was expecting purely a quick read and romantic comedy, but experienced a lot more. Both January and Augustus have secrets and family challenges that added a lot of depth to their characters. I loved seeing that these two polar opposite characters may have more in common than they originally thought.

Overall, I found the pacing of this book to be solid. I enjoyed how the story was broken up, following both the relationship between January and Augustus as well as their writing and researching processes. I found the start of the story to be very strong and then around the 60% mark, The last few chapters dragged out and I wasn't really satisfied with the ending (I think it was wrapped up too neatly for the complexity of the story), but as whole I really enjoyed it.

This was heckin cute, y’all. It was the perfect amount of sad with the perfect amount of happy and the sexual tension was *chef’s kiss*. I loved Gus and his evolution as a character and that for once it was two broken characters not trying to fix each other but instead working on themselves *with* each other. The emotional turmoil of all the characters seemed realistic. Also I want Pete to be my aunt.

I loved this book! I've been in a little bit of a reading slump lately and this finally pulled me out. Beach Read is about 2 writers living next door to each other while trying to work through their writer's block. January is reeling from the death of her philandering father and Gus has his own personal issues. January writes romance while Gus writes literary fiction. They decide to switch genres for the summer and write the opposite of what their used to. I loved both main characters, their backstories, and the romance and history between them. This was such an engaging read that kept me hooked and wanting more. I enjoyed the side-characters and it was refreshing to read a book that wasn't set in a large major city, instead being set in a small beach community in Michigan. This was a great book and made me want to read more by this author!