I think there is a misconception that Romcom can't be dark and broody in places. One of my favourite authors killed the love of her life off in the first third of one of her stories and that changed up for me how I viewed them.  Anyway, back to this book and matter in hand.

I do feel Beach Read is packaged up wrongly. The covers (I've now seen two) are as misleading at the title (although the title does link into the story.) The straplines I've seen do no favours in leading the reader in the right direction 'Two writers, one holiday - a romcom waiting to happen.' This isn't set over a holiday. He's been there for years and she's tidying up family loose ends. 'The New York Times best selling laugh out loud love story you'll want to escape' - This is not a laugh a minute book - to market it as such does a disservice to both a reader who is looking for that and this piece of work that is lovingly crafted through the highs and lows of life. Yes there are funny moments, but there are also many particularly raw and emotive moments and I feel the publishing house are doing the author a disservice marketing this as such.

I thoroughly enjoyed following the ups and downs of January's life and watching her unpick Gus' layers. I was looking for a light hearted read and whilst I'm might not have all quite been that, I wasn't unhappy at all with the lovely story I ended up with.

Absolutely magnificent. I’ve now read two books by this author and both have absolutely blown me away. 

Beautiful prose, great characters, a story I couldn’t put down. Can’t ask for more.

As far as romcoms go though, this is pretty much a dream formula! Two writers with very different styles, a small town, a challenge to write each other’s genre, all the family drama and heaps of sexual tension. Tick, tick, TICK! It was everything I love about the genre in how funny and moving it was and how real the romance felt.

This book has it all. Sexual tension so strong you could cut it with a knife. Witty and charming characters that pull you into their world and make you want to stay. Love, secrets, an intriguing and original plot - Beach Read brings it all to the table in a beautifully concocted masterpiece. A real gem that fills you with butterflies, flutters and warm tingles all over!

If you want a good book for lockdown reading, then this is definitely one to pick up. Penguin UK Books very kindly gifted me this ebook!

January Andrews is a romance writer stuck in a rut, no longer believing in the love stories she writes. Augustus Everett is also a writer lacking inspiration, but takes himself very seriously and has a habit of looking down on January’s chosen genre.

They’re stuck as neighbours for the time being, whilst both of them struggle to write their next books with deadlines looming.

Cue the bet. Augustus agrees to spend his summer writing something with a happy ending, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on montage-worthy trips and he’ll educate her on the slightly less favourable parts of life.

Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved January as a protagonist. I can’t really pin down exactly what it was about her that I liked so much, but she just felt so real and honest. She looks for the best in everything and that really spoke to me.

Rivalry to romance is a trope I really enjoy reading. Who doesn’t love it when two characters go from hating each other to not hating each other so much anymore? It gives me all the good feels.

Beach Read gets 5/5 from me. Loved it!

Does what it says on the tin! This is literally the perfect beach read, full of drama, love, friendship and humour. Brilliant but more clever than your average!

If only we could go to a beach!
A nice easy and pleasant read. A real holiday books. Like the style. Not an author I have read before but I would look out for more by this author.

This was a fun enjoyable read. Great characters, good story., enjoyed the way the stories were told. Would definitely Recommend

Great read! A heartwarming page turner filled with laughter and romance. A good escapism during the lockdown!

This book is undoubtedly the perfect form of escapism we all need right now. 
The concept of this book was wonderful from the offset, with two authors who are battling a case of writer's block, and in a twist of fate they end up moving next door to one another. 
As well as being relatable, the characters were remarkably realistic, and extremely likeable, which is certainly a bonus from a readers point of view.
The chemistry between them was perfection and I found myself well and truly invested in the outcome of their story. 
A gorgeous, fun read that allows us to escape for a little while. I adored this book!


*Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

4.5 stars
I had every intention of reading Beach Read on the beach this Summer but sadly that won't be happening this year or for the foreseeable future. But it was the perfect read for some Summer escapism whilst spending it at home.
I loved the concept of this book, with two authors suffering from writer's block moving next door to each other.
The characters were not only relatable and realistic but they were likeable, which isn't something that can always be said for books like these.
I loved the chemistry between the two of them and it had me wanting to read more.
If you're looking for a fun, easy Summer read, I would definitely recommend picking up Beach Read, as it's a lot more than your typical fluffy 'beach read'.
I'd also be really interested in reading more from this author in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

the book of the summer, i didn't expect to fall in love with it but then of course i did 

i know it's lazy to compare books so exactly to others but the whole time i was reading this i was thinking how it was like sarah dessen for adults, from the characters to the descriptions and settings to the undercurrent of real trauma set against a sunny backdrop

following two writers who are struggling both personally and with their writing, they swap genres for the summer with one attempting chick lit and one literary bleak fiction. but it was less about that then i assumed. it was about their relationship and their growth and how they forgive themselves as well as those around them

some parts were a bit annoying for me but overall it was a classic romance and i would read again!

this was a super cute read and I really enjoyed it!
I'd heard a lot of hype about this book and I do think it lives up to the hype. The only thing that I feel would have maybe made this the 5 star was if we'd got to explore the relationship between Nicole and Gus more as it seemed to be a big part of the story and what was wrong with Gus emotionally but it was barely explored and I feel it could have added more depth to the story.
i loved the concept of the 2 writers swapping genres and witing and I also love that the end results weren't quite what was expected. It also had some pretty steamy scenes in it! I'd definitely recommend picking this up if you're into romance!

I'm one of the few people that didn't seem to get into this one. I did not finish it in the end as I just felt no real connection to it's characters. Was a really hoping to get swept up in this one!

I honestly have no words for this novel. It is a virtually perfect romance. January and Gus are both published authors who find themselves in neighboring beach homes hoping to break their writer's block. They write in different genres (he in lit fic, her in romance) and decide that if they switch to each other's genre, they will break their creative dry well.  But what starts as a very clever plot twist ends up being a depiction of deep friendship that turns into a love that challenges and heals them. January and Gus come with so much baggage and it is beautiful - and at times painful - to see them come at these ghosts of their pasts (and present!) to find love.  There is a little bit of everything - rivals to friends to lovers - but also heavy issues revolving around parental relationships, abuse, and cancer. Each piece is orchestrated perfectly in the service of creating beautiful, complex characters full of chemistry and wit. This is a debut and it completely blew me away. One of my favorite romances of 2021.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Could not put this down. Started Friday night and finished Sunday night. Absolutely loved it! So romantic, so full of love and laughs and the sec scene is lovely too!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK! It is everything I want in a rom com, the characters were amazing, the story was amazing and it was oh so romantic

This was an interesting one for me. I actually loved that this one goes deeper than the usual run of mill romance books. 

I really enjoy strong characters and Beach Read certainly delivers that. Yes Gus is your typical reserved, slightly nerdy guy and January is your typical girl next door (in this case literary) but a lot of this book focuses on their own lives and issues they are dealing with. 

Until the last third where everything falls into place perfectly all of a sudden and then it lost me. 😬 though I think romance enthusiasts will definitely appreciate the change in direction. 

I can definitely see why this one is so well loved though. It’s very easy to feel for January and Gus and the plot has a little bit of everything.

“Falling's the part that takes your breath away. It's the part when you can't believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It's supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.”
Thank you Penguin UK for providing me with a temporary e-arc through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Everyone promised me this will be the read I am looking for. Everyone promised me that this is just the light, breezy read that I need. Everyone promised me that it may change my life. Well, it did none of that but ruin my favourite tropes in romance and bore me to death.

January and Augustus had a rivalry going on back in the college. Blah, blah, blah... enemies to lovers, slow burn, moody-guy, sunshine-and-flowers-girl, contradictory-situations, meant-to-be-meaningful-but-failed, competitive-friendship-that-leads-to-swapping-of-the-genre-between-the-two-protagonists and character-arc-only-portrayed-the-way-it-has-been-just-because-it-should-be.

Like considering the attention of this novel, there were one or two lines in the book that really struck out to me amidst everything else and only because I wanted them to so I could quote from the book in this review.
I know I sound venomous and have given this 2.5 stars but let me tell you, I have my reasons. Emily is an engrossing writer. But I found her to be that friend who dwindles around but has a great story to tell that you are very eager to listen. Everything about this story is perfect except the way it has been told which did not work out. There were chapters that felt so slow (not the slow-burn kind) and I was super bored. Some scenes even felt unnecessary. Even when I am super disappointed in a book, you won't find me reviewing a title in this tone. But since it was the fact that so many readers confidently promised me that this will be the best read ever, I'm low-key pissed that I did not experience that. But I did love the last couple of chapters and was super sad I couldn't say the same about the whole experience.

It can be a one-time read. And it was to me. It was so not the best but it wasn't super worse or anything to make me feel like my time invested in this book was a waste. This may just be the book you see all over the bookstagram and get recommended to read, but this may just be ✨not✨ what it may seem to be. But then again, many seemed to have enjoyed this book. I may have not but that doesn't mean you won't either. You'll just have to check this out and find out, all by yourself!

As romance novels go, this was definitely a cut above the rest, with an interesting story of two authors in neighbouring beach houses, both recently single, both with complicated family trees, and both with serious writer's block.
He, Augustus Everett (AKA Gus), is a serious literary fiction writer (of course he is!), while she, January Andrews, writes highly successful romance novels (rolls eyes). I wish the gender stereotypes ended there, but they don't - he's mean and moody and seemingly an emotional void, she's neurotic and needy and massively overanalyses EVERYTHING, turning the slightest look / comment / action into insane theories. So far, so bad.
That said, there's also a lot to like here - some interesting family situations, some great threads in the two main characters' backstories, and when the main protagonists aren't being annoying, some really fun interactions between them (and not just in the biblical sense). This feels like a positive step forwards in romantic fiction, I just wish they'd taken a bigger step.