It felt like a much worse version of Beach Read by Emily Henry. I didn’t like the characters. Especially the guy and how it seemed like he didn’t even like romance books which isn’t endearing.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC book to review! I had high hopes going into this book for a great romance story, but it fell flat. Lots of historical information and facts that I just found to be boring. Also a ton of info people that love literature would appreciate throughout the book (again, just not my cup of tea). There was no relationship development and definitely no spicy scenes. It felt one-dimensional. A lot of focus on the main character’s struggles and trauma from dealing with her difficult jerk hole of a husband. Book also starts with one character love interest then later shifts into a way I like, but we don’t get much out of the final relationship. It also threw me off big time that Alexis was a guy? That seems confusing? Trigger warning for domestic abuse. My big disappointment with this book was the complete lack of romantic development. It left me wanting more. Overall rating: 2/5 stars ⭐️⭐️

This is an extremely problematic book in terms of representation of people with autism or being neurodivergent and conflating the idea that because people may have issues with social cues and socialization they automatically don't no what consent means.

A major character in this book is written as neurodivergent and also an asshole who consistently crosses boundaries and does not respect when another character says no. It's clear the author has never actually spent real time with people on the spectrum or is extremely ableist.

On top of which this feels like cheap and bastardized version of Emily Henry's Beach Read.

I cannot in good faith give this above a one and highly recommend that people do NOT read this.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was an easy read and perfect for my morning commutes.

Hawaiian Candice is working at a coffee shop in Cornwall while looking for answers trying to get her surfing school off the ground. When Alexis walks into their café, Candice’s best friend tries to convince her to go out with him. When Candice learns Alexis is using her for ideas in the romance novel is trying to write, she is furious. Alexis and his publisher, Daniel, bring Candice on board for the writing deal, and she spends the summer showing them around the area, helping write the plot, and wondering if any romance could happen off the page.

The story got a lot better once Daniel came along. This book has very flawed characters, which I believe is intentional, but they do not make good romantic leads. They are all in need to therapy. This book would be better marketed as women’s fiction and focusing on the friendship between Candice, her best friend, and their boss.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

Dnf 25%
Se me hizo pesado de leer, intentaba leer y 5 paginas parecian 20. Ademas empece a leer reseñas para motivarme de leerlo, y me terminaron DESmotivando. Mucha gente lo dejo sin terminar, y la verdad estoy cansada de leer libros q no me gustan por tener la sensación de que les debo algo a los autores jsjsjs asi q hasta aca mi recorrido con Holiday Read, ojala alguno lo disfrute como yo no pude.

I really liked the premise of this book, but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark and I felt it didn't actually do what it said in the blurb. Although I liked most of the characters, I felt the plot wasn't developed fully and additional sub-plots could have been removed because it took away from the actual story. It was just too slow and busy for my liking, the main storyline ended very abruptly, and I was just disappointed because the premise of the story had so much potential.

Thank you again NetGalley, Taylor Cole and Aria & Aries for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review also posted to Goodreads

I am so sorry. I tried to enjoy this book and not compare it to other similar works, but the similarities to Beach Read, one of my all-time favorites, were numerous, but it wasn’t nearly executed as well as Beach Read. I couldn’t connect with the characters, especially Alexis. I wasn’t rooting for him as a love interest. I didn’t get the attraction between the two of them and found the chemistry was lacking.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

This book was not for me. I didn't really like any of the characters and while they did grow on me over time, it didn't happen fast enough for this book to win me over. I also found it really confusing at the start because we had so much filler in the story and not a ton of substance. It took almost 80 pages to get to her meeting Alexis and another 50 before Daniel came on the scene. And I spent most of that time trying to figure out her back story and where the novel is set.

I don't need everything spelled out at the start but by page 50+ I'd like to have a bit more of a firm foothold in the character I'm supposed to be following and not feel like the book is rambling.

In the end, it didn't work for me in so many ways. It did get better, but I do think that it needs to be chopped by a good 100 pages or more, restructured a bit so we know what's what sooner, and that it shouldn't be set up as similar to Emily Henry's Beach Read which it doesn't even remotely resemble.

It's hard to give a bad review to a first novel but for me, this one came pretty close to a DNF and only the fact that it was an ARC made me push through

DNF 15%

First of all tanhk you NetGalley for letting me read this book in advance.

I've given up this book because I have read in some reviews that it has some moments that are a TW for me.

After reading some scathing reviews of Taylor Cole’s Holiday Read, I had lower expectations that I would enjoy this romance. However, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the novel. I would give it 3.5 stars.

I am glad that I didn’t DNF the book like many reviewers did because once I was past the first 1/3 of the book and as the plot twist started to occur, I became invested in the book and had to see how it ends.

I loved Candice and her two supportive friends. The small Cornish town in which the book is set was charming and beautifully described. I totally wanted to visit the town, see the sights and hang out at Demigorgon. Maybe I would even take surf lessons from Candice.

Yes, other reviewers are correct that Alexis is a total chauvinistic pig and awful— but when juxtaposed with the other warm and respectful male characters in the book, Alexis seems like a miserable, horrible, unlikeable, and lonely human being.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aries for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was gifted this to read by NetGalley for a real and honest review.

The cover of this book is very misleading. It feels like they are trying to cash in on the popularity of Emily Henry’s books but this book is not like an Emily Henry book at all nor is it even connected to a Holiday Read

Mild spoilers ahead


I know a lot of other reviewers DNF’d this book because they found the male lead character hard to connect with. His reasons for wanting to write a romance novel were shallow and almost felt like he was shaming people who read romance novels and considering who the audience is for this book that seemed like an odd plot choice. However, I persevered and realised he is not the male lead character and he is supposed to be horrible and misogynistic and unlikeable. I get why a lot of people bailed early on this one, I nearly did too but I’m glad I hung around to discover that the one I thought was the lead wasn’t.
Other than that, I did find the story confusing at times. Too many subplots and characters which was confusing at times and after reading it I still feel the cover is misleading and giving off Emily Henry vibes when it is not in that same space.

I felt like this was a long winded book with many different story lines that came to a crash ending. There were many different stories going on behind the main story - Candice looking for her father, who also writes a book as a co-author, dates the agent and has a busy hectic life writing books and trying to live out her dreams. I get that it is supposed to be set in Cornwall with a great setting for a book, yet I don't feel these places were described as well as they could be as the characters were making more of an appearance and this book could have been set anywhere. I pushed on with the book, but was left feeling confused. I wanted to read this until the end hoping that it would get better but it never did.

A fun and uplifting book, funny and romantic and a great beach read. The characters in the story are great, I loved the location and the storyline is fun and laugh out loud funny too.

SPOILERS

i am a big fan of emily henry books so the comparison drew me in, but unfortunately it didn't quite live up to it. that's not to say that i didn't like the book! I really liked Candice's found family and the character of Daniel (helping people? big green flag). i just felt like Alexis was portrayed as the romantic lead, and even while ~doing the things he did~ i wasn't quite sure that Candice was gonna end up with Daniel instead of Alexis. i understood why she didn't choose Alexis, but even though he was a great person, i didn't get the romantic vibes between Candice and Daniel.

This one was rough… I think this book was a really great idea with poor execution. I was dragging myself through the book. There were too many stories going on that sort of came together at the end but not cohesively and it felt really forced into a tidy wrap up. I felt like there were many things well researched and understood but I could not tell you what this book was about other than surfing because there were so many stories and substories. I think this could make a great mini series show but it did not make a great book. The plot twists felt like plot holes and there were so many niche rabbit trails of information that I felt like they took away from the story instead of fueling it. The lead character fell flat for me but then would react explosively with great rooted values and character that were shown nowhere else in the book. It was unclear what she wanted in this book so in the end when it felt like she got some things, it wasn’t satisfying because it was set up so choppy. I wanted to like this book because I love found family but this felt like an unpolished draft. Also the title and cover do not reflect the book and though covers aren't everything, they matter quite a bit to readers. I would like to petition for the cover to be of the ocean and her van as that intrigues me and feels like it reflects the book. I would also like the title to be changed to “Writing the Waves” because I think that is also intriguing and more in line with what the story is. This story is not just a romance, it has so many other pieces and is long enough and webbed enough that it really needs a title and cover that show that. This book is for you if you love surfing, if you love Cornwall and/or Hawaii, if you are looking for a little escape to another town, if you love found family, and if you read it in a single weekend so you can keep up with all the side stories.

I couldn’t finish reading this book…I kept thinking I was reading beach read by Emily Henry. I felt like I couldn’t connect with the main characters. Something with the writing I couldn’t connect with.

I just tried so hard to enjoy this book and I couldn’t connect with each of the main characters. The familiarities with Beach Read were glaringly obvious! A hidden marriage, hidden plans, unappealing main leads. Do not recommend at all.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Aria for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read! A romance with just the right amount of mystery mixed in. There were many supporting characters that added to the story, enough that you could hope for spin-off stories in the future! The ending did leave me wondering more about her husband, do they get divorced before the money for her joint novel starts coming in or will she have to split that 50/50 with him?!

I really liked this book because it reminded me of Emily Henry’s Beach Read. Even the cover is similar.

I was really excited to read this and I absolutely loved this book. The character development was great and it was a great little read during the winter. It reminds me of the beach.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc.