I couldn't make up my mind about this book as I struggled, initially in particular, to get into.. I found it rather convoluted and for me didn't flow particularly well. Quite intense main characters with convoluted pasts which they were struggling to come to terms with. The plot panned out rather predictably even if it took a while to get there.

HOWWW have I never read an Emily Henry book?! Seriously?! How?!
AMAZING.

I just finished this book and I am basically thanking the literary gods for this book - a book about people writing books is always a winner for me, and January was basically my hero, seriously I loved her. I want a movie of this book already.

January Andrews is a romance writer who loves happily ever afters, until her own life crashes and burns around her. One year on shes trying to piece together whats left of her life, write a book for her agent that she doesn't wanna write, and figure out her dads hidden secrets. There she meets Gus, Augustus, who she briefly knew at college and now lives next door to (also an author).

Seriously amazing, no spoilers from me, it needs a read! Beautifully written and so well thought out, and I am now definitely on the hunt for more Emily Henry books.

Really struggled getting into this. I was hoping to be swept away into a nice ready fun read but it felt darker than I expected and January was a character that I struggled to connect with.

Not for me, but I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

There is nothing objectively bad about this book. It's an interesting premise - a romance writer and a literary fiction writer deciding to switch genres to write their own books. The execution, unfortunately, is flawed.

'Beach Read' has a lot of strings involved. There's an enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, which is punctuated with the heavy trauma that both of them carry, there's the deadbeat dads that both characters still hold in their minds, there's the topics of the books - one of which is based on the horrific true story of a cult - which don't gel at all with the genre of the book. It's far too much and none of them are paid off well through the writing. After about 100 pages, every chapter just feels like a re-write of the previous one, just with slightly different words. There's so few central characters involved that you can only read about them for so long with their one-dimensional problems before you want to put the book down again.

It feels like Henry wanted to write a 'different' rom-com book: one with depth and intensity about it, so it couldn't just be classed as your classic women's fiction novel. But it's just not very well done. I think that it needed to be stripped back again and re-thought. I'd have been far more interested in two novelists going against each other when they swapped genres and falling in love - the other clutter just needs to be pushed away.

While this is packaged as a romantic comedy, the book has a lot going for it. It has quirky main characters who are the result of their very different childhoods., it has some laugh out loud moments, it has a good supporting cast, it has sadness and loss at it’s core, and it has some very well written sex. What is not to like?
I’d recommend this book and I thank the author, the publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it prior to publication in the UK (Beach Road is an American book.)

I really enjoyed this. But... I have some issues. The title: it didn’t quite fit, the novel was darker in tone than suggested. The challenge: all the talk about writing kept reminding me I was reading one of the genres being discussed. Having said that, I did like the way the writer deliberately veered of from the rules, which I realised was the whole point and that did make for an interesting read. I didn’t really need the sex scene to be spelt out for me but I think some people like that in a love story.

I loved this book!!

When January's father dies she discovers he had a whole secret second life, so when hers starts falling apart and she is struggling with writers block she decides to move into her father's second house for the summer to focus on finishing her book.

She soon realises that her new grumpy neighbour is actually Gus, the guy she knew and fancied in college and one drunken night later she has made a deal, they each need to write a book in the other's genre. To do this they need to do research. Gus takes January to see the darker side of life, whilst January takes Gus to learn all about romance on the condition that she doesn't fall in love with him.

I really enjoyed Gus' and January's story and found it easy to care about them both and want their happy ever after. This is a great, easy read, perfect for anytime you want to escape for a bit!

Beach Read by Emily Henry a refreshing five-star read. This is one of those stories that will keep you hooked, its witty and funny, and the dialogue is so good you can see the sparks coming off the page. This was not what I was expecting, it turned out to be so much more, this will be the perfect each read, but it will also be a perfect read at other times as well. Gus and January seem like the couldn’t be more opposite of each other, under the surface but as you read you learn the truth. Don’t miss this great story, and I for one will be checking for more from this author as I loved every word.

January writes romance Gus writes the opposite.. They were at school together but she thought he hated her and he thought the same about her. They meet up years later and bet each other they can't write a book about the others genre.. Quite enjoyed the book until the last chapter when I couldn't read it for all the repeated words and jumbled up letters so couldn't get to finish. I know it;'s probably a proof but it would have been better if I could have finished

DNF @ 54%.

I don’t even know where to start. I’m no expert when it comes to marketing but even I know that cover shouts light, easy-going rom-com rather than angst-filled romance which could also pass as the life and times of an author. Not for me.

Perfect book for the summer by the pool. It was fantastic to read. I couldn’t put it down. It was well written. Nice and easy to read. Idyllic location that made you just wish you were right there.

very good book I enjoyed to see the ups and downs of January and Gus whether they would both get their happy ever after end or not.

This is a beach read. Easy, enjoyable and fun. Good characters who engendered empathy. What is not to like. I read it in two chunks

Oh, I LOVED this book.

January Andrews and Augustus Everett - from their names to the way the story was told, there's so much about this book that made it feel like I was following two YA characters into their thirties, and I mean that in the best possible way. There is a rawness and honesty to YA that we sometimes lose in adult fiction, and it's here in spades.

I loved that the author started with a lovely, hooky concept, and then kind of threw any thoughts of plot away and let the characters run with it. None of it felt cliched at all, which could have so easily happened especially in the bits where they live out typical romcom experiences. The dialogue is fantastic, the character development a complete delight.

I read this over the course of one night and one morning just wrapped up in my duvet, completely invested in Gus and January's story. They're both such wonderful, messy, human, lovable characters, and they fizz with genuine warmth. I couldn't tell you which character I loved more, but love that I got to live them both for a while.

Emily, you are fabulous.

A nice easy read perfect for chick lit lovers and a perfect companion for the beech. A fairly predictable story but a nice simple read.

Two people who are totally different. January, such a romantic, trying desperatley to finish her next book, publisher waiting in the wings.
Gus, a very serious writer, not into fairytale romance at all.
Both are suffering from 'writers block'. Neither know how to start again.....until they make a bet. They are going to swap writing genres, Gus to write romance and January to write a hard book.
It's a witty and clever book and I enjoyed reading the many ideas that the two came up with.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.

Chalk And Cheese Or Cheese And Chutney....?
January and Augustus. Chalk and cheese? Or cheese and chutney? It turns out that these two seemingly opposites have way more common ground than either think. A delightful, romantic, amusing and well written tale which will have you smiling and egging the protagonists on to the end. A wholly satisfying read.

Beach Read is a romance full of sparkling dialogue and a cast of great characters.
January and Gus were in college ten years previously where they were in the same creative writing class. January always felt Gus looked down on her style of writing and felt himself to be a more serious writer. Fast forward and January is an author of popular romances and Gus of more serious fiction.
They reconnect when they find they are neighbours in a small lakeside town. January has been left devastated after the death of her father after she discovers he had a mistress and secret life living in the house he has left her.
Gus has had a childhood of abuse and poor relationships, both now have writers block so they they challenge each other to change their writing style, Gus has to write a HEA romance and January a book that has a completely different style and finale.
Gradually they become closer, as their feelings develop we are entertained with their witty banter and charm. At times this is a deep book which delves very much into people’s emotions and the reader is taken on their journey of discovery seamlessly with them.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

When I say I want to read romance, this is what I mean. This book. This exact book.

Oh, that cover is a beautiful lie. It conjures feelings of a light flirty summer romance in which both main characters fall head of heels for each other and have a happily ever after.

The story of January and Gus is not a light flirty summer romance. It is not a happily ever after. It is the book my heart always wanted to read but didn’t know until now. Both January and Augustus (Gus for anyone who knew him before his books were published) are flawed. They are both broken. The walls are pretty much crumbling around them.

Their story started long before this book began. A decade ago in college. In the same creative writing programme.

‘Let me guess: everyone live happily ever after. Again’

Moving in to house she didn’t know existed until her fathers death, January is mostly shattered. Meeting a dismissive, grumpy neighbour in the early hours of the morning - sitting on his deck while a party raged inside his house - only to find out that he’s her college rival the next day, only heightens the emotions currently battling their way through her,

Her life used to be a fairy tale. The parents who loved each other completely, faced trials and came out on top. They adored her and showed her that happy ends are real. She had the heart of a romantic which made each day seem to shine. Until it didn’t.

This book delighted me. It was messy and slightly dark and everything i could ever want in a romance. Two people who are broken and hurting but managed to be a little bit less when they were with each other. A rivalry, which turned into not friends exactly, a mutual bet and then companions. An odd slop of getting to know someone in the now but not really their past or what has driven them to have changed so much. A beautiful unravelling. A happy for now.

Beach Read by Emily Henry is the best book I've read this year so far, and easily a top 10 on my all-time favorites list.

Beautifully written, this book tells the story of January Andrews, a romance writer that fiercely believes in happy endings. That is until the fake perfection of her life comes crashing down. A year later and she is utterly broke, avoiding her agent and trying desperately to write some new material, while provisionally moving into her late father's secret love nest on Lake Michigan.

There, while she is trying to make sense of her life without rose-tinted glasses she crosses paths with her former college enemy, famous literary fiction writer Augustus ''Gus'' Everett, now turned next-door neighbor. Gus is the classic pessimist and January used to be the most optimistic of all. More than enemies or friends to lovers and more than an opposites-attract, Emily Henry creates a mutual understanding between both characters, telling us that is ok to be a little bit of both.

“See,” Gus said. “It’s shit like this that makes it impossible for me to believe in happy endings. You never get the paper umbrellas you were promised in this world.” “Gus,” I said. “You must be the paper umbrellas you wish to see in this world.” “Gandhi was a wise man.” “Actually, I was quoting my favorite poet, Jewel.”

“People were complicated. They weren’t math problems; they were collections of feelings and decisions and dumb luck. The world was complicated too, not a beautifully hazy French film, but a disastrous, horrible mess, speckled with brilliance and love and meaning.”

Emily Henry's writing is masterful in Beach Read, crafting each conversation carefully, making every phrase stand out as witty, interesting and utterly enjoyable. All the while, sending us in a layered voyage, where no one is truly right or wrong. Where the journey is the beautiful broken part of life that should always be appreciated.

”Happy endings don’t matter if the getting there sucks.”

This is a book that will stay with me for a very long time. It made me laugh, cry, and swoon. It made me conflicted and curious.... but definitely made me addicted to the author's storytelling and I'll probably want to read everything she's ever written now.