Beach Read by Emily Henry Published by Berkley on May 19, 2020
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Women's Fiction
Amazon B&N Apple Audible
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They're polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
This book really took me by surprise in the best possible way. I expected Beach Read to simply be a lighthearted romance, perfect for a day of relaxing. While there is humor a plenty, which I gobbled up, it is actually a very touching story.
January Andrews is a disillusioned bestselling romance author suffering from a severe case of writer’s block. With a publishing deadline looming over her, January retreats to a beach house to revive her passion for writing and work out some personal issues.
January’s new neighbor is Gus Everett, a renowned author of “serious” (in his case, introspective and depressing) fiction who has stalled in the middle of writing his next book. The two authors could not be more different in terms of writing styles and personalities. January has always been open, cheerful, and sentimental. Gus is mysterious, pessimistic, and judgmental. Their quasi adversarial relationship evolves after the two strike a deal to swap genres and complete their books by the end of summer.
I was completely enamored by January. She no longer has the ability to care about what others think of her and that really resonated with me. With her razor sharp wit, she could give a TED Talk on trading barbs. Gus is a favorite target of hers, but he keeps up with his end of their flirty banter. It’s January’s transparent vulnerability that truly moved me. She is struggling with a bit of an identity crisis and both characters are grappling with betrayal and loss in various forms. I was rooting for these two every step of the way. Their weekly outings are sometimes whimsical and sometimes emotional.
I really enjoyed January’s relationship with her ride-or-die best friend. Every person needs a friend like Shadi. The quirky townspeople are also a hoot.
Beach Read is a clever, funny, and poignant love story. What a treat to read.
Recommended for fans of:
Beach towns
Opposites attract romances
Happily Ever Afters
Coffee
* I received an early copy of this book from the publisher to voluntarily read. *
About Emily Henry
Emily Henry writes stories about love and family for both teens and adults. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
It was nice you could shift so quickly to the emotional story without being frustrated. I was initially frustrated that this was marketed like a rom-com. I ended up liking it, but I had to walk away from it first.
I loved this book! I’m so glad to see you enjoyed it, too!