I’m pleased to share my review for the latest book by Emily Henry today. Thank you to Penguin Books UK for a digital review copy via NetGalley – my thoughts are my own and not influenced by the gift.

This book was actually very different to how I expected it to be – not as ‘light and fluffy’ as the title suggests. Instead I enjoyed meeting two writers dealing with hefty amounts of emotional baggage who had known (and kissed) each other during college and who are now neighbours overlooking a beach.

The story starts as we meet January, Gus, and Pete and slowly start to find out more about January and Gus. I enjoyed how the story evolved, as we found out what had happened in the past and how that had led them both to be living next to the beach, struggling to write their next books.

This is a book that looks at how our families shape us and how we love others, and how everyone has a different background story (including the families who lost family members to cults). There is sadness and humour, anger and love in this story. I enjoyed the book and will be recommending it to friends.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from NetGalley.

January and Augustus are both damaged, hiding out at the beach, trying to avoid parts of their lives they'd rather not face. I loved the simplicity of life with the oceanic background.

The book had some really deep parts and I could particularly relate to January and her childhood experiences of her Mum's health, this definitely spoke to me.

Two of my favourite quotes:
"That's the key to marriage. You have to keep falling in love with every new version of each other."

"In winter I'd just prefer to be dead." (I wouldn't go that far, but would definitely like to hibernate 😂)

I felt parts of this book read like a script for a "Hallmark Movie" but overall I enjoyed it and its left me with a warm feeling.

I’ve read my fair share of contemporary romance books this year, enough to say that this one is very different from the rest; especially for one element in particular that makes it special. Beach Read does not try to make you swoon or daydream with the main characters’ lives and relationship. Absolutely not. This book delves deep in family relationships, secrets and mistakes. It shows the scars those family secrets can leave on the parts involved. While I expected to find a swoony romance and a light-hearted plot within the pages of this book, I’m very happy and surprised to say that it showed me and taught me very important things about life and love.

January is a character I really liked and grew fond of, her personality really stands out and her narrative voice always kept me invested in the book. We get to see her trying to put the pieces of her life back together after finding out shocking things about her parents (her dad mostly), and that journey towards accepting, forgiving and moving on was pure gold. The author developed January’s inner battle with herself and the past in a very realistic and complex way.

Gus was, though her polar opposite, very similar in a certain way. Just like her, Gus is also broken and trying to find his way back to himself. I don’t want to spoil too much about him so I reveal a lot, but I really liked his character and I believe he’s as complex as January, they’re both equally good developed. He’s a witty and sarcastic man that can always make January (and the reader) smile. Their relationship in the book was amazing, funny but complex and realistic, and that was the beauty of it: it was never a fairytale, but this raw representation of what real life love is like, with its ups and downs.

I also really loved the part that writing had in this book. Both protagonists are authors and Beach Read talks about writer’s block, the process of making a book and the importance of getting out of your comfort zone when you’re not finding what you need being inside of it. I was able to relate to this on a personal level. I loved to see January letting out her frustrations on her new book and knowing the reason why Gus doesn’t like happy endings.

January’s parents also deserve a special mention in this book. Without them and their story, January would’ve never experienced everything that happened in this book. I liked how the author, without the need of time jumps, wove the past and the present together and then slowly untangled January from the past to become her own better person. You cannot love nor hate January’s parents, especially her dad, and that’s what made him so brutally real. For me, it was what made the book even more valuable: their crucial part in this story.
With Beach Read I had my usual swoon-worthy contemporary romance, with fun and even steamy scenes about a couple I absolutely adored. But more than that I had a very valuable lesson on what true love is like, how nothing’s perfect in real life and the importance of forgiving and moving on, for the sake of your own happiness. The author made an incredible job with this book, and I look forward to read more by her soon.

I think everyone's been dealing with some doom and gloom given the COVID situation happening all around us, and this book was a glorious counter to all of that. January is a romance-writer who finds herself at her father's secret beach house, getting it ready to sell after he's died. Her neighbor is also a writer, Augustus Everett, who writes Serious Important Novelly Novels. As a fun competition, they make a bet where they'll each try writing in the other person's genre or style: January— lighter and happy endings, Gus— dark and bleak all around. Whoever sells their novel first, wins.

This was an adorable romance, and some of the premise would have seemed far-fetched or cheesy if it was written by anyone else. January's sense of humour isn't unlike that of Veronica Mars, who also happens to be her favourite TV character. This was engrossing, and exciting to read: I couldn't put it down and it was truly heart-warming.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reader cover in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of January Andrews and Augustus Everett, both novelists but of very different genres! January writes books with happy endings until her father dies suddenly and she realises he was not the man she thought he was. A very good read.

The story of January and Gus is the tale of two such different lives on the surface but dig a little deeper and you’ll find the similarities of hurt, trust and a fear of falling in love again.
Drawn quickly into the romance of Emily Henry’s writing I loved every minute of this exciting tale.

I started reading Beach Read with very high expectations after reading the blurb and all the excellent reviews. It was definitely a nice and fun read but not quite the story I hoped for. It started of as a light readwith likeable characters but turned into a somewhat depressive situation.

I don’t read a lot of straight-up adult romance novels. I’m more of a fantasy with a romance sub-plot kind of gal. I was admittedly hooked on the blurb of this one though: two heartbroken novelists with writer’s block living next to each other for three months while working on their novels and definitely, absolutely not, falling in love….

Reader, I laughed. This was a rom-com at its essence; cracked with laughter in the dark places of bereavement and heartbreak, a heart-warming and genuine love story that would appeal to the romantics, the realists and those who enjoy a good book about a book. 3.75 stars.

I enjoyed Beach Road. Light hearted and easy to read love story. Perfect to read on holiday in the sun

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC
I went in to this book with some high expectations after seeing so many glowing reviews from other readers and I was not disappointed. So much so that I read it in one sitting as I found I could not put it down.
January and Gus were characters that had you wanting them to find and heal each other and fall in love. Trying to overcome their own heartbreak and writers block they make a deal to work the in the others genre to see who can sell their book first. I laughed out loud at their banter with each other and cried in places that was written in a way that felt real. I loved the side characters Shandi and Pete and their random placement in the book

I’ve read more than my usual share of beach reads this Summer, and I figured another one won’t hurt. Especially if the title itself says Beach Read. That has to be a sign, right?

January is a hopeless romantic who likes narrating her life as if she's the heroine in a blockbuster movie. Augustus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale. January and Augustus are not going to get on. But they actually have more in common than you'd think:
They're both broke.
They've got crippling writer's block.
They need to write bestsellers before the end of the summer.

The result? A bet to see who can get their book published first.
The catch? They have to swap genres.
The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...

For two writers set in their genres, January and Gus can’t stress enough how their stories are derived from reality – Hers always ending in happily ever after, while his being bleak literary fiction. The challenge to swap genres, with complimentary crash courses thrown in, leads them to discover that writing outside your comfort zone is more than they bargained for.

The highlight of the book is the witty banter between the characters. That, with the joy of making new friends, finding a soulmate, the thrill of falling in love, and uncovering dusty old family secrets, makes this a page turner.

On a side note, I’ve been noticing in books I’ve recently read: Is exchanging handwritten notes the new romance? Call me crazy but I'm absolutely swooning over it!

If you are convinced romance novels are not for you, allow this book a chance to change your mind. You may well learn this is what you’ve been desperately missing in life.

Beach Read by Emily Henry. This ARC courtesy of Netgalley and Penguin UK Books.

I almost don't know what to say about this book. I went into it with such high hopes, because the premise sounded great and the more I heard people talk about it, the more people I kept seeing giving it 5 stars, the more I was excited to read it.
I expected to love it and for the first half or perhaps a little less, I did.
The characters seemed interesting with compelling back stories and issues. They played off each other well and there was some funny, cute banter that I'd expect from a chick lit. Had this kept up, I think I'd be amongst those giving it five stars.

However, for me, the second half of this book fell flat.
It felt like the issues and character traits that had been set up in the first half, which based on everything I'd heard about this book, were meant to make this a more emotionally compelling read and less of a fluffy one. Weren't developed enough.
It almost seemed like they'd been forgotten entirely for a while there, and nothing ever really happened.
Now, don't get me wrong. Had this book focused solely on the cute romance, I'd have been here for it. Because I've read a few great cute romances lately and the first half gave me major potential five star Vibes.
However, because we had these emotional side stories, which I've seen many people describing as heart breaking and tear jerking. It could never be simply a cute romance, and that would have been fine too. Better even, in my opinion, because I was looking forward to having that great balance of romance and drama, and having it pack an emotional punch.
I was ready for it to make me feel all the things.
It just didn't.
Because those themes weren't developed enough, which left the book feeling neither like a light romance or something more emotionally impactful.
Added to this, I found the second half to be a little repetitive and a lot of scenes unnecessary.
I also felt that most of the side characters were largely forgotten about or didn't add to the story.
On the whole, there was so much I liked to begin to with, but ultimately the book fell a little flat for me, and I wished it had been more well developed.

I’d seen the hype all over social media about this so I had high expectations but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to the expectations for me .
The bright summery cover indicates a summer beach / rom com sort of read but I it’s actually a lot more poignant and dark and not really very beachy !
The characters are likeable and I did like their banter but I felt it was just very drawn out .

I kept seeing this book being advertised on my newsfeed so I decided to give it a read and I'm glad I did.

It's not your typical predicable romance, I had expected a light read but it was actually quite a deep story that was moving and emotional. I think the fact that it wasn't what I expected is why I enjoyed it so much.

It made me laugh and cry and I loved it!

Look. I've been saying lately that romance novels between two heterosexual people might not be my thing anymore but here we are.
I really liked this book. I don't know if it was because the two main characters were writers and I love anything centered on writing or just that it was so well written and well done, with complex and layered characters.
I'm a sucker for character-focused novels, especially in romances. That makes all the difference to me.
This really gripped me from beginning to end and I felt everything.
Yes, with all that raving, you'd think I'd have rated this more than four stars, ut I don't know, I still had something missing. Could not tell you what anymore though. I mean, I read this over a month ago, I'm too old to remember it well.

This book made me cry! Once I started Beach Read, I couldn't stop. The plot was amazing. Emily Henry has such a talent. She managed to write of a blossoming romance with the subplots of cancer, betrayal, dysfunctional families and their secrets. One of my favourite things from the book was the witty dialogue between January and Gus. The main characters felt so realistic. I could not hold back the tears when the novel shows how January's father felt about his daughter. Such an intense and heart shattering father and daughter relationship. This book was just absolutely captivating. I love how it dealt with hard topics but still left you feeling satisfied with the ending.

Given all the hype on social media about this title, my expectations for it were high. Unfortunately, I realized within the first few chapters that it wasn't for me. It is targeted at a very specific audience: women under 35 who either live in the USA or at least understand the culture and vernacular of the country. As a 60 year-old Brit, that doesn't include me.

The story has an intriguing premise and a nicely developed plot as well as likable characters. It's funny and also deeply poignant in places. But I just couldn't find a way into it. I didn't understand the writing style, and many of the social and cultural references flew right over my head. Thankfully, I was reading it on my Kindle and could easily look up everything that baffled me. But that's no way to enjoy a book.

My reading tastes are varied: from YA and chicklit through to women's, literary and historical fiction, crime, suspense and psychological thrillers. This is my first encounter with a supposedly mainstream novel that I simply don't "get". I felt frustrated all the way through and finished it decidedly underwhelmed.

I do see why it would appeal to the right demographic, though, and I would probably recommend it with that caveat. For me personally, though, it fell far short of expectations .

This book centres around authors January and Augustus (Gus). I feel my review is a little harsh, but the cover and description are really inaccurate. I was expecting a summery, light hearted romcom, but felt the book was pretty dark at times.

I didn’t connect with the characters, which always makes it difficult for me to really enjoy the book. I also felt some of the writing was quite long winded and drawn out.

I honestly think this is my issue as the book has so many great reviews.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book 📚

Augustus and January are both authors, who used to go to college together. Both are struggling to write their latest books and take themselves off to retreat - coincidentally to the same beachfront location. A nice read, but maybe a bit too long and drawn out, but would recommend.

This book was honestly so different to what I was expecting from the cover and blurb. To me the cover screams light-hearted, easy going beachy rom-com but the story actually feels a lot darker than that (and it really wasn’t very beachy?).

The first 100 pages were great. I had a number of laugh out loud moments which very rarely happens to me when I’m reading so I loved that!
However, I found as the book progresses the mood felt a little all over the place. I loved the witty banter between Gus and January at the start but then there were some really dark themes which I felt didn’t really fit. At times I felt like it could be that cute rom-com I was expecting and then it would seem super dark and depressing.

I think if you go into reading Beach Read expecting something a little darker than the cover suggests you may really enjoy it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ebook review copy.