This  is a very pleasant summer read, but I can't help but feel it wasn't quite what I was expecting; it is a bit over-hyped for my liking.

January and Gus find themselves living next-door to each other. Both writers, both struggling with their next novel, they agree to swap genres and see who get published first. As they are thrown together, we find out all about them, both together and separately; what will the summer bring?

There is no doubt that this is a well-written and entertaining novel - and one I thoroughly enjoyed. However, due to the huge number of quotes attributed to it, I expected something with more of a 'wow' factor. I generally get caught up in novels very easily but the laugh-out-loud and tearful moments sort of passed me by with this one. It's a lovely read - and I wouldn't like to put anyone off reading - but for me it just lacked that something extra. Having said all that, I'm sure others will love it (I'm often out of step) and I'm very happy to give it four stars.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

January and Augustus first met in college and went on to become published authors writing in very different genres. Their paths do not cross again until January; broke and on a dead-line; moves into the beach house her father left her in his will. She finds him serious and standoffish and thinks he finds her writing frothy chick-lit. Their non-friendship begins to develop when they have a wager as to who can write and sell a book in the style of the other.

I enjoyed Beach Read, it was well written but it just didn’t thrill me but this may be that I was reading it at the wrong time (under lockdown)

[Chef's Kiss] Sometimes a book comes along exactly when you need it. I had a RomCom void in my life that this book met, and then some. It's the story of January, who once had the perfect life until the truth came out and it all fell apart. Now she's in her late 20,s broke, single and alone in a new town as she needs to get her latest book written. She's staying in her father's old beach house, which would be rather idyllic, except it was the home he owned with his mistress and it's now up to January to sell the place after her father's sudden death.
As if fate wasn't having enough fun laughing at her, January's new neighbour is her old foe from her college creative writing class. Augustus doesn't write books, he writes Literature. They'd always clashed when it comes to their rivalry, although there was one point when maybe, just maybe, hate had been about to learn into love.
The two struggling writers make a bet, to swap genres and write a new book that's more like the style of their literary adversary - could this create romance (January) or tragedy (Augustus).
I loved spending time with January, I loved the fact she was a cynic who was grounded in reality and was never intentionally cruel. Her writing process, like every aspect of her personality, feels relatable and honest. Her rapport with Augustus is fiery and enviable, a la Much Ado About Nothing - they clash and sizzle, bringing out the best and worst in each other. Such a fun read, yet one that had so much depth and emotion to it. A real joy and perfect Beach Read.

I really enjoyed this book especially the two characters January and Gus. I loved that they were authors and spent their time challenging each other to write their genre and the twists that it brought about. Great read

Beach Read is a warm, emotional, thoughtful story. January, a romance writer, grieving for her father and suffering writer's block goes to stay in her father's summer house. An encounter with her college nemesis and crush Gus, a writer of liiterary fiction leads them to swap genres. I loved the setting, the characters and recommend it as the perfect summer read. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Beach Read by Emily Henry came highly recommended by Josie Silver, one of my favourite Authors, so I knew I was on to a winner. This beautifully written story was an emotional read - sometimes funny, sometimes sad - with endearing characters and a plot that grabbed me right from the start. Highly recommended..

Beach Read by Emily Henry follows January, a romance writer who no longer believes in the happy endings she typically writes about in her books after finding out her dad lead a secret life and Gus, January’s neighbour and someone she used to go to college with. Gus is a literary fiction writer also having writer’s block and the two agree to both write a book in the others genre.
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, however, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would and ended up giving it a 3.5/5 stars. I think the hype around the book lead me to expect a lot more than what I got.
On the contrary, the book was still a great and fun romance read. It was nice to read about January and Gus develop together and begin to open up to one another as they spent more time together and see the witty banter the pair shared which often had me laughing out loud! It was entertaining to read about the pair writing genres they would not usually and seeing the end result of this. Furthermore, as the pair were neighbours, they were often communicating a lot by holding written notes in their windows which was so cute! It would have been a nice touch to read Gus’ POV as the book is just from January’s POV but this did not affect any character building or development and is just a person preference!
I would recommend this to someone looking for a fun, cute romance read involving writers trying to get past their writer’s block in an interesting way!

A light but smart romantic read, this novel is perfect for fans of The Flatshare and One Day in December.

A fun romantic comedy that I had a great time reading. The characters were realistic and well depicted. Highly recommended!

This book follows January Andrews as she tries to deal with the loss of her father and the secrets that came from this. As a romance writer her fathers death and given her a severe case of writers block and lead to the breakup of her and her long term partner. Now not only is she struggling to write, she is struggling to make ends meet. So January packs up her bags and leaves New York for the beach house her father left for her, hoping the change of scenery will help her writing and the house will give her some answers.

The serenity of the beach house is not all that she hoped for however, especially on the first evening when her neighbour is having a very loud party.

Her neighbour, Gus, turns out to be a lot more than a random annoying person who lives next door and so this book follows the two characters as they each deal with issues from their past, realising it can be interpreted very differently depending on your perspective. 

I wanted to love this book, I had seen so many other people love it and the concept of it really appealed to me.
However some parts of it seemed too forced... I know it was romance and *to be expected* but there were some parts that I just felt didn't flow well and some of the banter between characters just didn't seem right.

It is also worth noting that there were some darker concepts explored in this book and it is not the 'easy read chick-lit/rom-com' that the blurb seems to suggest.

Being in lockdown as it gets closer and closer to the summer months is tough - most of us will likely have had summer holiday plans and trips far and wide to look forward to. For the most part, these are cancelled but my lust for all things summer still runs deep. A book I've been looking forward to reading is Beach Read by Emily Henry - and my goodness, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

I received a copy of the Penguin books summer release catalogue last month and was invited to request titles that stood out to me. Beach Read by Emily Henry was on the list and I urgently requested a copy - with everything going on at the moment, Penguin were able to send an e-copy and not a physical copy but I was absolutely fine with that - I've just recently treated myself to a kindle and whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of it at first, it's definitely quickly grown on me. I was eager to read this one as soon as the download hit my device.

Beach Read by Emily Henry follows January, a published author with an impending deadline. After her father tragically dies, very suddenly, she finds out that he has been leading a double life and is handed the keys to his beach house. Skint, uninspired and in need of an escape, January moves herself into the beach house as a last ditch attempt to meet her September book deadline. In the beach house next door lives fellow author Augustus Everett - while January writes romance, he writes literary fiction- they couldn't be more different. Worst of all, January and August know each other. Quite well, in fact. On the same programme at college, spent an evening making out at a party... January's views of Augustus are all negative. With the town intent on throwing them together, a challenge between the two is created - January will write something in the literary fiction genre, while Augustus will try his hand at romance fiction. What can go wrong?

I absolutely adored this book - I fired through it in a single sitting and I loved every aspect of this marvellous book. It was engaging, thoughtful, emotional, romantic and even a little bit raunchy at times - combined to make a perfect contemporary romance. I've read a lot of contemporary romance books during lockdown and they just keep getting better - this one is absolutely no exception. I adored the characters (where do I get myself an Augustus Everett?) and the whole story was the summer read I didn't know I needed. I'm beyond excited to see what Emily Henry does next - surely only good things to come? 

Review on www.hollieinwanderlust.co.uk

This book had so many dimensions that all came together in a subtle, yet powerful way. It makes the relationships seem so true to life, but also above and beyond. Two writers, coming together over shared interests, both with backgrounds that make them super aware of how rough life can be. Makes you think twice about what Happy Ever After means. 5 stars!

Augustus 'Gus' Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction.
January Andrews writes bestselling romance novels.
While she pens happily ever afters, he kills off his entire cast.

Their writing styles are polar opposites, and they've been rivals since college. When they find themselves living in neighboring beach houses one summer, both struggling with writer's block, they strike up a deal to swap genres. January will write something dark and gritty, while Gus will write something with a happy ending. They'll even take each other on 'field trips' to help with research.

It seems like the perfect challenge to force them out of their creative ruts. Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love... Really.

I requested this book on Netgalley only to realise I'd already bought it on Kindle!

I sometimes find with rom-coms that they go overboard on the romance but are lacking in actual comedy. Beach Read is perfectly balanced. It put a huge smile on my face and there were times where it made me laugh out loud. January and Gus have great chemistry and I loved their playful banter.

Although this is a fun and light-hearted read, it also has some depth. Both characters have experienced pain in their pasts, and it takes a while for their friendship to blossom.

This is the perfect holiday/beach read (it's right there in the title!) and I'd 100% recommend it.

A enjoyable light easy read for a rainy summers day, Is it an all time great, no but well worth taking the time to read with interesting and engaging main characters. A mildly amusing contemporary love story that I would recommend.

Did I enjoy this book? I am not really sure to be honest. I enjoyed bits of it and the premise of it but, and I know I am in the minority here, I found bits of it to be extremely pointless and other bits which I think could have been explored further.

Until last year January had it all - two loving parents, a wonderful boyfriend and a lucrative career as a writer. Today she has nothing or do it seems. Her father died and at his funeral she found out he had led somewhat of a double life and what’s more it appears her mother knew about it. Her boyfriend of six years is no more and she has writer’s block.

Her father left her his beach house in Lake Michigan and it is there she goes when it seems all is lost. However she can’t bear to look in certain rooms for fear of imagining him and THAT woman. She is still struggling to write and is getting pressure from her agent. It turns out her neighbour is a man she used to go to College with, a fellow writer, Augustus Everett. He too appears to be struggling with writers block and they make a bet that each of them write a book in the others genre. This leads to a lot of research which sees them grow closer.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Emily Henry's novel is a blend of women's fiction and a darker variation of a rom-com, set in small town North Bear Shores, located on Lake Michigan. January Andrews is an author specialising in uplifting, happy ever after romances, a career inspired by her ostensibly rock solid, loving Ohio family, January and her father unstintingly supporting her mother who had twice succumbed to and beaten cancer. She had developed a bright, adventurous and cheerful persona, had the perfect boyfriend, living with him in New York, but everything falls apart with the unexpected death of her beloved and idolised father. It emerges that he was involved with another woman, Sonya, at his lakehouse beach house, a betrayal of January's mother, challenging everything she had believed about him and her family, her mother had known but refuses point blank to talk. Unable to cope, descending into a world of depression and darkness, her perfect relationship sinks without trace with her partner unable to accept the new January. Broke and facing writer's block, how can she peddle her feel good writing when her faith in happily ever ever has been knocked so badly?

January has inherited the beach house with all its memories of her father's betrayal, and having nowhere else to go, she is going to prepare for its sale whilst trying to write the book she is being pressured to produce by her agent, Anya. To her complete surprise, the neighbouring beach house resident is a familiar face and crush from college, the moody and brooding serious literary author, Augustus 'Gus' Everett, who is facing his own trauma and demons, with his own inabilities to write too. Gus had never taken January's writing seriously and apparently looked down on it, viewing it as more frivolous, unlike the dark and bleak themes that inhabit the literary genre. The pair find themselves agreeing to swap genres, promising to support and promote whatever the other comes up with. Gus involves January in his interviews of those involved with the New Eden death cult, and January introduces Gus to the romantic possiblities of the likes of carnivals and line dancing.

Henry writes an unusual rom-com that is well written with protagonists that are likely to capture the hearts of many a reader. However, I have to admit to struggling to get through the book, and the truth is that I am honestly not sure why. I had to make myself labour through it, reading a little every day, the only way I could make it through to the end. I can appreciate the story, the charms of January and Gus, and the skills of Henry in the novel, as can be seen by the many enthusiastic reviews of this novel. I can see many others falling in love with the protagonists and their obstacle strewn path to love, so despite my issues with it, I recommend this to others looking for a heartwarming read with a difference. Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
Beach Read by Emily Henry is an easy read to just snuggle down and pass a few hours on a weekend. The characters of January and Gus are likeable enough and their story is an easy to read romance and is the story of two people finding ‘their happy for today’ Ending.
An easy to read story.
Recommended.

5 stars

This story was everything I enjoyed the book from the beginning. There are two characters named Gus and January who is a romance writer. The fact that they communicated via the house windows was so cute. You get to see the childhood background of our main characters and I enjoy how many of the moments in the book was so hilarious but be aware that it will be emotional too.

thank you net gallery for the lovely arc.

Firstly, thanks to Netgalley & Penguin for providing the digital ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Beach Read follows the life of two writers (January & Augustus) who are trying to write a new book amidst personal loss & turmoil. They each have to deal with problems that they rather try & hide from.
January is a romance novel author. She has recently lost her father after her mother has won the battle against cancer twice, and she got to know at his funeral that he left her a house in his hometown & that he was probably having an affair. Plus, she & her boyfriend split too. She takes off to North Bear Shores to checkout & sell the house, and also write another book that her agent is dying to sell.
Augustus ( he prefers Gus, you'll know why) writes literary fiction and is struggling with his new book due to its extensive research and the gory plotline. He lives in North Bear Shores next-door to now, January. Gus is quite the nemesis to January (or at least in her mind!) and comes off as satirical, sarcastic & cynical. Although you'll see more layers in him than any other character.

They bump into each other at a bookstore in town and January knows that this is going to be hard!
From the get-go, they have a camaraderie which is mainly insulting each other (or atleast January thinks so, while Gus is downright cynical.
But what they both are avoiding is that one night in their past.

This n0vel is from January's POV.
.
.
.
Okay, so the things I liked:
- The writing: fun, witty, full of quotes & one-liners. Rich in content
- Characters: Well defined, relatable, realistic, and with many layers love it)
- Plot: Although it is a romance novel, it is quite close to a literary (if the romance was highlighted a bit less)
- Growth: The characters grow over the book's journey and I honestly love Augustus!
- The BET is quite cool.

There's nothing, in particular, I didn't like about it. Maybe that it had more potential. But it is amazing as is too.

I look forward to reading more of the author.

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down. January and Gus were real, vulnerable, flawed and lovable and made we want to sit down and write my own novel.

I really enjoyed learning the history of January and Gus and what makes them tick. January is a hopeless romantic whose view of the world has recently been knocked off-kilter and she's struggling to find balance in her new world. While Augustus has had a difficult past and writes books that expose the darkest parts of humanity. Their competition sparks new creativity for both of them and between them.

The characters leapt off the page and made me laugh, swoon and root for them to find each other. I wish January's best friend Shadi could have been in the book more as she seemed awesome... maybe she'll have her own book next!

This book grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go. 5 out of 5.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy to review.