The premise of Beach Read is what made me want to read the book. I found it interesting that two authors in this case, January and Gus, had to write a genre which was out of their comfort zone. She has to write literary fiction and him rom com. An added bonus is they know one another from college so the history between them could only add some great chemistry to the mix. Sadly I couldn’t feel the romance between January and Gus. For me it was only friendship. A bond which evolved thanks to them spending more time together cause they were helping each other out with writing their books providing tips and topics. I felt the pace was very slow and that’s mainly because not much happened except them trying to write their books and getting to know one another on a deeper level.

What kept me interested in the story was January’s reason for coming to the beach house. It had to do with her father. There was a lot of unresolved issues and her finding peace was definitely also a part of the storyline and one that kept me going now that the romance wasn’t working for me.
I liked January and Gus but as a couple they didn’t work for me. There are some great side characters especially January’s friend Shady but again as with the two MC’s I didn’t connect with her either.

On the front cover of the book it says rom com and laugh out loud. I didn’t get that feeling at all. Beach Read was kind of somber considering what January and Gus was dealing with. I went in with certain expectations and in this case it didn’t pay off. Don’t let my thoughts deter you from reading Beach Read. It just didn’t work for me.

I had a really good time reading "Beach Read". It's a romance novel that admittedly draws on some clichés but thankfully avoids those that are potentially harmful. While Gus may appear like the usual closed off/mysterious love interest at first, his character quickly becomes more fleshed out. It was never framed as though he was keeping secrets but instead shown how he slowly opened up towards January, thus avoiding unnecessary drama. I loved the chemistry between them – Henry really excels at that!
My favourite part about the book, however, was how Henry wrote about writing and the publishing industry. I loved the subtle critique, and I loved witnessing January's writing process. It reflected well how our surroundings can influence our work in subtle ways that can be hard to entangle sometimes.
Personally, at the beginning of the novel I grew a bit tired of January and Gus "accidentally" running into each other all the time – I found it a bit repetitive. The book was also a bit too cheesy at times for my liking, and I'm just not a huge fan of cheating plots (in this case it's a subplot) personally. 3,5 stars.

A second chance at the college romance that never was?
January is struggling as she clears out her fathers beach house. Normally a romantic and indeed a writer of the happy ever after she is battling with her feelings towards her dad and his "fancy woman", whom she has only found out about following his death.
Meanwhile Gus, the local author in residence is battling his own demons- struggling with the anniversary of his wife walking out, struggling with writers block, struggling with happiness in general.
It is inevitable the two meet, recognise each other from their college days, fall in, fall out and fall again but it is all done with some hilarious characters in the background (Pete!) and with some lovely scenery peppered amongst the angst!
It is truly a book you can read anywhere...somewhat predictable in nature but is that not exactly why we buy this genre? Everyone loves a feel good read and this one certainly does exactly that.
My only real issue was the last chapter had ridiculous formatting in the e-book. I don't know if it was intentional (I presume not as it rendered it virtually unreadable) but it was awful!

As a budding writer I absolutely fell in love with this book. The chemistry between January and Gus was great. This has been one of my favourite books of 2020! A great book to take your mind off everything and escape!

I really enjoyed this romance - both Gus and January have baggage and a past history. They meet up again living next door to each other both writing their next books. They strike a deal to get themselves out of their creative ruts - they will each write in the style of the other. Fields trips are organised to help their inspiration and they definitely will not fall in love!

They both have their own heartaches to work through and lack trust in relationships and the reality of love but they make it to right in this heartwarming and lovely story.

Well worth a read.

A perfect love story. I loved it.
The confusion in the budding relationship was so true to life and well written - the only less than believable thing was how Gus talked it out!
Both troubled, flawed characters, even though January has a history of happy endings, and Gus definitely doesn’t.
A nice easy summer read - just what the doctor ordered!

After a tumultuous year in her fairy-tale life, romance author January Andrews finds herself broke, heartbroken, and in dire need to write her newest book. She relocates to a lake house in a small town, and immediately has problems with her next door neighbor. Her neighbor turned out to be Augustus Everrett, her literary rival back in college. Augustus was a literary fiction writer, and was in a similar situation: he was having problems churning out a new book. The two strike a deal, where January would write her version of a literary novel, while Augustus would try writing a romance novel.

The book was a lovely and addicting read. The banter between the two characters ignited their chemistry. They both have their set of baggage, and the resolution of their problems were rational, though I found one story arc to be unnecessary drama simply because I think the character has made the decision clear, but it did set up a running bit in the book to be fulfilled. I love the side characters, especially Pete and Maggie. I wish there was more scenes with Shadi because she keeps on getting mentioned, and I would have loved for her connection to the story to be a lot stronger than it was.

Loved, loved, loved this book! January and Augustus are great charcters who are really personable. You can see the struggle January has, some of which has been made on assumptions.

Possibly not the right audience for the book but I found myself asking over and over how many more unlikely coincidences will be put into this novel before the end. It was good in places but I struggled to read it to the end.

I loved this book and I really wasn’t expecting to!
A messed up guy meets a girl going through messed up times and they help each other find their way through it. With humour and a cute plot line. It’s a Tom com for sure and I could not get enough of the two main characters.

I struggled to get into this book but after a few chapters I was hooked. You had no idea where it was going to go. I loved the competion between the two main characters and how they wrote each other genres. I am glad it had a happy ending. Not the book I expected but well worth a read

Beach Read is an interesting name for this book, purely because you could read it anywhere anytime. It focuses quite a lot on the seasons: summer and winter, so I think it would be ideal whether by a pool, next to a fire or just simply trapped at home during isolation. I can honestly say that this book brought me a whole lot of escapism during a time when it’s hard to feel anything else but anxiety. This story and its themes couldn’t have been more perfect for right now, as it highlighted the highs and lows of life, the navigating uncharted waters. How pessimists explore times of optimism and how optimists explore times of pessimism.

'And that was the moment that I realised: when the world felt dark and scary, love could whisk you off to go dancing; laughter could take some of the pain away; beauty could punch holes in your fear.'

SO what’s it about? It’s a second chance romance, it’s slow-burn and I’d have to say while it's enemies for five seconds, it's really just a beautiful depiction of friends to lovers. January and Gus knew each other in college, they are both writers and in January’s mind they were rivals of sorts, even though they wrote totally different genres. Fate plays a hand and throws these two into close quarters as neighbours, and it turns out they both currently have writers block. We learn a lot about what it’s like to write and also what it’s like to love books. I won’t spoil any more, but please read this as soon as it comes out in JULY.


''I remember you.’ His gaze settled on me again, his eyes nearly as solid and heavy as if they were hands.’

As I was reading this I made a lot of wishes on it, and was really happy when they came true. The thing about second chance is when the truth comes out, and when Gus confesses, it is EVERYTHING. We had a thousand descriptions of Gus, he was so real and sexy and beautiful and broken and rumpled and flawed and I love him so much. January worshiped him with her thoughts and I would have given anything to hear what he was thinking in those exact moments too.

We are in Januarys head and in my opinion this kind of heroine is impossible to get right but when an author does she is my favourite type. I want to experience what it's like to fall in love with someone who might crush my heart. That pain of loving even when you think it could be unrequited. That vulnerability. That I can’t help it. It is all incredibly relatable to a hopeless romantic like myself. This was that done perfectly. January wasn’t annoying or insecure. she was just insanely good and real with us. This was all reinforced with her epic friendship with Shadi, and even Shadis own experience with the Haunted hat.

'Reading and writing [romance] was nearly as all-consuming and transformative as</i> actually<i> falling in love.'

The writing, wow, I have never read Emily Henry before (although she is on my tbr). It was one of the best romances I’ve ever read. It was filled with metaphorical sentences, that were so creative, they were designed stop and savour, I don’t know how she even thought of them. I could quote the whole book. This story evoked feelings in me that I’d felt before. It made me nostalgic for the other books that I love this dearly. It made me want to reread and chase those highs. That is such a special thing because this book was 1000000% unique and original, it just belongs on favourite shelves everywhere with those few other greats.

(ARC kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are subject to change before publication).

This wasn’t the “laugh out loud” book I expected to escape into so I disagree with the strap line after the title. That said, I started out enjoying Beach Read and finding out about the two main characters, January and Gus.

My attention drifted several times towards the middle and I had to put it down before forcing myself to plough on. To me, the research into cults wasn’t of interest and didn’t reveal much more about the characters and I just couldn’t believe that January would take so long to open her beloved Father’s letter. When she did, all of the letters that followed were far too many for me as a reader to take in and digest. A sprinkling of these throughout a few chapters would have made for more enjoyable reading, for me.

Their relationship wasn’t well paced.-lots of yearning without touching or revealing their true feelings and then chunks of sex. I gathered they practised safe sex after the first condom request so ‘have you a condom?” didn’t need repetition each time.

The ending was predictable but I didn’t mind that. I was relieved it was upbeat. I do think the middle could have been edited to be sharper and give the novel more pace.

What happens when a romance writer challenges a 'serious' writer to swap genres?

January Andrews is a fairly successful writer of women's fiction, but ever since the death of her father she has been lost in a sea of grief and anger, especially when she discovers he had a secret life. A year ago she had a perfect life: sexy boyfriend; happily married parents; and a successful career. Now none of those exist except in her memories and she has come to her father's secret beach house love nest to write her overdue fifth novel.

Unbeknownst to her, January's beach house is next door to Augustus (Gus) Everett, a writer of dark highbrow novels and also her college rival, formerly known as Sexy, Evil Gus or SEG for short. Thrown together in a small town January and Gus snipe at each other, he thinks she's all rainbows, unicorns and happy endings whereas she thinks he churns our dark and dreary worthy novels. Both of them are suffering writer's block so January challenges Gus to a bet, who can write the more successful novel in the other's genre?

I've read this plot device before, or seen it as a Hallmark movie, but this is nothing like those stories. January is struggling to come to terms with her father's secret life, Gus has his own demons. Gus is researching for a book about a cult which involves interviewing relatives of people in suicide cults and survivors of a fire which destroyed another cult. It's deep, and grown-up, and funny, and sad, and sweet, and small-town, and a wonderful opposites attract romance.

I loved every second of this rollercoaster novel and January and Gus were such vivid, rounded characters it was a pleasure to see them reframe their teen years and events closer to home over the course of the novel.

My first novel by Emily Henry and I loved it, look forward to reading more by this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Chose this as my next read for a bit of escapism but it didn’t quite work for me. It has pace and energy but the characters didn’t interest me and the plot was predictable. Sorry, not for me but I can see it would appeal so worth a read.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader but have been opening my mind to more women’s fiction and romance novels.

This was such a easy read and I read in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. Henry develops the characters so well that I felt like I knew them. Moreover, her description of the beach and the cottages was so good that I could picture them in my head.

I absolutely loved this book. I am so extremely grateful to NetGalley for opening up my mind to something totally different. 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Beach Read is essentially a book about two writers living next door to each other who after a fun bet decide to swap genres and along the way fall in love. Told in first person by our heroine January- an optimist with rose tinted glasses and a big believer of love, romance and HEA (happily ever afters). January moves to her fathers beach house after his death and the breakup of her long term relationship. She is also going through shock and anger regarding an unexpected secret about her father following his death.

Our Hero is Gus a brooding pessimist who is also a writer but does not believe in fluff and romance. Both writers are in a slump and have deadlines to meet. From there the idea comes up to swap genres and together they delve into market research to gather material for their books and you can guess where that leads.

Just going by the book cover and the synopsis I thought this book would be a chick-lit rom com but it’s more like Women’s fiction. A slow burn angsty plot that is heart warming but also at times heartbreaking. Our two main characters had a lot of layers that we got to learn each chapter. This is the perfect beach read as the title suggests. Emily Henry’s writing is beautiful and she creates stunning vivid settings that really helped me to escape our current lock down reality and let my mind drift to a sunnier brighter tropics. The connection and banter between the couple was great, and their backstory and journey from childhood makes you root for their love. I did not give it the full five stars because I would have liked to read Gus point of view and have alternating POV for January and Gus that would have been perfect.

Thank you to the author Emily Henry, Penguin Books UK and Netgalley for this arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

January is a writer of romances, Augustus (Gus) writes literary fiction. They have met at lakeside houses while they are meant to be writing their next novel but both are suffering from writer's block. They decide to write in the style of each other. After an initial testy sparring they start to get on and before you know it they are confiding their angst about all sorts of issues. It isn't a spoiler to say that the inevitable happens.

I was disappointed in this book. Yes, at times it is funny but this isn't enough to make up for the lack of any real tension in the novel. The characters are somewhat dull and one dimensional. January is a bit of a spoilt child, stunned by the revelation that her parents' happy marriage wasn't all it seemed. I just wanted to tell her to get over it. Gus goes from being the aloof, arrogant artist to a little boy lost in a way that is just annoying. But for me the most tedious thing was the endless sex scenes. All curves and sweat and nibbling. It led to a lot of page skipping.

I am sorry not to have liked this book more. I thought it had an interesting premise but it failed to hold my attention. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I've just read this book from the confines of my house instead of on a beach in Barbados where I should have been but hey ho! I thoroughly enjoyed this book - yes it is predictable but very well written with endearing characters that made reading it an absolute pleasure! Cant wait to look up some more easy-read titles from this author! Many thanks to netgalley for an ARC in return for this honest review.

“And they lived happily ever after…”

Children films, romcoms and even the odd action have a happy ending. Why? They give an optimistic outlook for the viewer. You may completely be repulsed but even for a split second, in the cinematic world at least for a moment they’ll be happy – until a meteor comes and destroys the world. Life can bring so many challenges and it’s up to yourself how you tackle each hurdle. Heartbreak, grievance and emotions provide a new chapter to your personal story.

In Beach Read, we find a grieving January arriving a new town to unfold the secrets of her late father. How could the man that raised her keep a lie? Why did her mother standby and stay with him? Everything would come to light but first she needs to enter the beach house. With high emotions, her surroundings provide more evidence that during her 28-year life existence – her father was a complete stranger, as she continues into a spiralling black-hole, she is brought back to reality to blaring music from her ever so close neighbour. As life couldn’t get any worse for January, she finds herself living next door to her college writing rival, Augustus Everett. Awkward and determined not for her to be the old fairy princess they embark on a writing bet, who can publish a book first in each other’s’ genres. Research trips in each other’s genres turns out to be unofficial dates, they open up to one another to the point that the desire for one another builds so high, they can no longer resist. But can January keep her promise to Gus that she wont fall in love with him? Can she find love again, when her father ruined everything she knew?

This book was initially a struggle to get into but after a few chapters in, this book was hard to put down. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, the characters and storyline were easy to follow. Throughout the book I was routing for the happy ending the main characters deserved but throughout the book it made me wonder if they could get it. Would Gus’ character really be falling for January? Was this another of his research projects for writing a book? Could January be capable of opening her heart again? Would January be broken furthermore? A simple love story with unexpected turns along the way.

As cliché as it sounds, I really do believe in happy endings. I am a bright light, hoping to see the positive aspects of life. Though, when I am tested, I do find myself sinking into a blackhole. I guess we all do, the mind is a complex thing – no one is perfect. We all must to be hopeful and see the small wins that life gives us…a constant reminder to look for a happily ever now.

I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.co.uk.
All opinions expressed in this review are my own.