ABOUT BEACH READ:
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.
My Review:
“Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.”
AAHH! My new favorite romance! Don’t let the sunny, summery, fun cover fool you – this is an adult contemporary romance dealing with real-life issues such as family dysfunction, illness, death and relationship issues. But it IS funny and it is SO much more than just a light romance! Very rarely do hyped-up books live up to the buzz for me, but ‘Beach Read’ did all that and more. I have a serious book hangover after reading this.
‘Beach Read’ is one of my top favorite books so far this year. I have started and stopped tons of books since coronavirus lock-down started but very few hold my attention. I am happy to say that ‘Beach Read’ was perfect for me right now: intelligent banter, steamy scenes and a story about writers that was just fascinating!
Yes this book provides a great escape but the main protagonists January and Gus were also fully-developed characters with depth, wit, serious issues and most of all, intelligence. I often find romance novels to be filled with cliches and tired old story lines but Emily Henry has really created something fresh and new here. This also fits nicely into the women’s fiction category for all you fans of that genre.
I mean how catchy is the premise? A romance writer and a literary fiction author swapping genres for the summer on a bet? To read a behind-the-scenes peek into how writers flesh out their stories and their characters was fantastic. And I always give props to authors who name their chapters. Love it!
For any reader who has ever defended their love of romance novels, this book is for you. Emily Henry is a huge talent and I cannot wait to read her next adult novel. ‘Beach Read’ is a sweet, sexy, intelligent story that I could not put down. Make this your next Summer 2020 read! You’ll love it.
(Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced copy via NetGalley.)
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