Beach Read sounded interesting even if it isn't my typical choice.

From description: 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.

So, yeah, not much about the beach. At all. Not a fit for me, although I did finish it. The premise has so much potential, but the result was a lackluster experience for me.

NetGalley/Berkley Pub.
Romance? May 19, 2020. Print length: 361 pages.

This book was so much fun! Two writers who seem at odds with each other make a bet to write in each other's genres. Of course, this causes them to spend a lot of time together! I loved how witty the characters were and how real the problems they faced felt. Highly recommend!

Beach Read has the type of cover we have come to equate with a light, fun romance, but there is more depth that are can even imagine. While this book is fun, no doubt, I found myself astounded by the depth of feeling and emotions. The main characters, both writers with a shared past, strike up a deal. Augustus, the literary fiction author who seems to only dwell in the bleak, will write happily ever after and January, the romance writer, will create the next Great American novel. Watch as two people, who have silently yearned for one another for almost a decade, find solace in one another. This book made me laugh out loud as well as shed a few tears. Nothing to underestimate here.

The title says it all. This is the perfect beach read! I’m very grateful I got a copy of this title.

I loved the dialog and slow developing relationship between Gus & January. This will be one that I will recommend to my book clubs and library patrons. Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy.

I loved this one!!! Way more emotional than what I signed up for but I have yet to hate a book that made me cry. The banter was excellent and loved the character and relationship development. A little cheesy at places, which is the only negative I can think about but still beautiful and so well written. Definitely recommended.
Rating : 4.5 stars

I have been excited to read a fun romance and this book delivered. The banter between the main characters is cute and very enjoyable. As a result, this book was a quick read for me. I highly recommend it.

Emily Henry's writing is so spot on and I found myself several times laughing out loud at some of her descriptions and comments. It's sarcastic, smart, and wildly entertaining. The relationships and characters are flesh and bone people, not one-dimensional cutouts. The tension and emotion are real and not contrived in the least.

"I hope I looked very pretty, for an overripe tomato."

"...a bunch of pearl-clutching golf bags."

"Sharyn and Karyn: sitting on their colorful rag rug drinking the nasty-ass bathtub moonshine they were so proud of while they hawked homemade essential oils that smelled great, even if they didn't' actually cure cancer."

Henry's inclusion of the cult sub-storyline was perfection for someone *points at myself* who is fascinated by cults. And by the end of the novel, I wanted to read both January and Gus' stories so badly.

My only complaint: The cover absolutely did not fit the story.

I actually really loved this one. It reminded me a little of a Katherine Center book. There's a lot of romance and fun but also some serious, heavy moments. It deals with death and cancer and divorce and cheating with small doses of abuse and cult life, though none of them in the way I would have thought. There's also a lot of self-discovery and coming to terms with life plans not working out the way you had wanted. The characters were interesting and had tons of chemistry. And while the situations the characters are in are obviously not ones most people would find themselves in, they leave a lot for the reader to think about. Mostly in terms of how well we really know those we love and about being happy with where we are instead of where we thought we'd be.
This isn't a light and fluffy beach romance. This one might very well make you cry. But it'll also make you feel happy. Because regardless of what we've been taught, we can feel more than one emotion at the same time.

I totally see why this novel got such rapturous reviews from romance readers. It actually did have a lot of clever banter and more emotional depth than an average romance novel does. I would call this a romance/women's fiction combo, and I am not using "women's fiction" as a pejorative. For me, this is a very useful indicator of what exactly I am going to get, specifically, a fair amount of family (melo)drama.

But to get back on track, I basically liked the romance part of this book - there were some great jokes and conversations between the two main characters, especially when they roasted each other about their favored genres - romance and literary - and writing in general. And I think Gus and January had a pretty good chemistry. The angsty drama parts was when my attention wavered each time.. Wish there were more of the fun rivalry/camaraderie and less crying and moping. Also, the main concept of story - when Gus and January were supposed to swap their genres - kind of got lost when the inevitable misunderstanding made its appearance.

All in all, fun in parts, but not something I would revisit.

The title “Beach Read “ I think of a light, funny romance, and Beach Read was funny. Laugh-out-loud funny; parts that made me smile and giggle, but it was a lot more than that. Beach Read had depth and made me think. Made me think about relationships, how complex they are. How they can bring on such a range of emotions, good and bad, highs and sometimes intense lows, yet you’d bear all of that for someone you love.

January, a popular romance writer, is suffering from writer’s block and she needs to finish a book promised to her publisher by the end of the Summer. But she’s been dealt a hard blow. A disillusioned view of romance and happily-ever-afters don’t mix well with her deadline. So out of money and options January retreats to her father’s lake cottage to hunker down and write. Little does she know that she’s moved next door to Augustus Everette, her college nemesis, now an acclaimed literary author working on his own novel. Their writing is polar opposite, and yet Gus share’s January’s problem: writer’s block. So, they strike a bet to help get out of the funk: he’ll write a rom-com, and she’ll write depressing literary fiction without her signature HEA.

This was so much fun and yet full of soul-searching, longing, and lusty encounters! Gus and January have a shared history and yet they knew little of what actually made each other tick back in college. Both held some pre-conceived notions that were off the mark, and I loved it as they discovered the actual truth of both the past and present. Both had some past hurts to get through, and as they do that together they grow closer and closer. January’s afraid to lose her heart to dark, sexy, broody, Gus, and I was a little afraid for her, too! She didn’t need more heartbreak.

Oh, I just loved this story sooo much! The small-town setting of North Bear Shores, Michigan was magical! Just the kind of place I’d love to summer in, and I could picture the quaint cottages (like January and Gus’) lining the shores. There were quirky side characters that made me laugh and want to visit. The writing was gorgeous without being pretentious or slowing the plot down and gave me all the feels!

Beach Read is a total recommend, one of my favorites of the year; one that’ll leave an impression! I’m still thinking of Gus and January’s story.

Meet January, the 29-year-old romance author and hopeless romantic. After losing her dad, she moves to his house on Lake Michigan. She’s broke, heartbroken and struggling with the worst writer’s block of her career. Trying to cope with news of her father’s second life isn’t making anything easy for her, either. Until she realises who her next door neighbour is…

Augustus Everett. A very successful and very popular author, whose bestselling books are everywhere. He was her college nemesis… and her biggest crush. Just when January thought it couldn’t get any worse, they are both invited to the local book club and strike a conversation afterward. They both realise they have a lot in common and eventually settle on a bet.

Whoever publishes a book by the end of the summer, wins. But there’s a catch – they have to swap genres.

“Beach Read” was a very light and enjoyable read. I was expecting more of a typical romance, but this book mixes genres quite skillfully – there’s the contemporary fiction/women’s fiction feel to it and even what I thought were mystery vibes as well. The story touches upon some very serious topics, such as January’s dad’s second life, but there were also some very typical romance bits, and steamy scenes as well! Both January and Gus, as well as the secondary characters like Pete and Shadi are very likeable, I thought they were all quite realistic as well. January’s quick wit and Gus’s retorts made for some hilarious exchanges and made me chuckle often. The two were quite a good pair and they struck it off from the beginning. I also appreciated the friendship between January and Shadi, whose bond went through thick and thin and they supported each other in the toughest of times.

Over the course of the story, we uncover the character’s secrets and back stories. I especially felt for Gus, whose childhood story was quite sad and pulled on my heartstrings. The research he conducted for one of his novels was of quite interesting nature as well, but due to the potential for spoiling the story, I won’t talk about that here!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and will most definitely read more of Henry’s work. Her style is light and enjoyable, and although I don’t think the title and cover reflect this brilliant story very well, I would still recommend this to anyone who wants a quick read with loveable characters!

Stevie‘s review of Beach Read by Emily Henry
Contemporary Romantic Comedy published by Berkley 19 May 20

I’m quite ambivalent when it comes to books with authors as protagonists, but I was in need of something light to read, and a comedy about two people forcing each other to write outside their respective comfort zones seemed like it might actually work for me. I should really have also considered the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedy tropes, certain British authors being the exception.

January Andrews has a deadline looming, and she hasn’t even started her next book yet. She’s been unable to come up with any romance plots since her father died unexpectedly, and she found out that his happy marriage to her mother had been a sham. In her eyes anyway. We never properly get to hear her mother’s point of view, so maybe she was perfectly okay that her husband had another relationship, because it gave her the space to do her own thing too. But January is all caught up in the ‘woe is me’ stage of mourning – more for her changed memories than for her father, it seems to me – and takes herself off to the beach house she just inherited, in order to clear it out and sell it. January figures that a change of scene will help her get her writing mojo back, and that her new living arrangement will work out cheaper than trying to find a new apartment in the city, now that she’s just split up from her long-term boyfriend. What January doesn’t factor into all this is the possibility she might have neighbours in her new life.


January’s closest neighbour turns out to be her rival and crush from her college creative writing classes, Augustus Everett, although it takes a couple of encounters for her to figure that one out. Personally, if I’d been obsessed with someone to that extent, I’d probably recognise their voice years later – at least enough to suspect it was them – even if I couldn’t see them for various plot reasons. Anyway, January and Gus eventually figure things out through a series of supposedly amusing incidents, and then decide that since neither of them is getting very far with the book they’re supposed to be working on, it might be interesting to write in each other’s genres for the summer. I feel for their respective literary agents at this point, since neither of them seems to have passed on this useful piece of business information to anyone else that might be affected by it.

To help each other write in their new genres January and Gus take each other on a series of research trips. Gus had already been in the process of setting up interviews as research for his next book anyway. These came across as too serious for the genre of book I thought I was reading, even with the occasional mishap for our protagonists along the way. My biggest issue overall, however, was my failure to connect with any of the characters – even Gus’ aunt and her wife failed to be compelling – and my consequent lack of interest in what happened to them all as the book worked its way towards its inevitable romantic comedy trope ending. Not necessarily a bad book, just not the right book for me, I’m afraid.

Grade: C

This book was a lovely surprise. From reading the blurb I thought this would be a breezy romance but it was so much more. An engrossing story about love, loss, and forgiveness, "Beach Read" tackles some heavy topics (death of a parent, infidelity, abuse, and even cults) as it explores the connection between the two leads. The chemistry January and Gus have for one another is palpable, and Henry does a great job of pacing the slow-burn romance, with some enemies-to-lovers thrown in, alongside the heavier topics. Their burgeoning relationship and the way they learned from each other felt authentic, and I loved the small-town Lake Michigan backdrop--I didn't imagine the midwest to be so romantic! Will definitely be recommending this one, and I'm looking forward to more books by Henry!

I had been saving Beach Read by @emilyhenrywrites for a few days of sun and rest, and it was worth the wait!! I unexpectedly adored this book!! I knew it was a summer love story, but I didn’t know that the two protagonists are both novelists struggling with writer’s block... I loved the romance (swoon), the bookish plot, the quirky New England beach town (and its people), and the deeper messages about family, secrets, grief, and healing. (Also, did anyone else picture @pennbadgley as Gus?!? I would LOVE that miniseries!) I always feel silly giving “beach reads” five stars, but that’s not fair... Any book that gives me butterflies, makes me cry, AND has me sneaking off and staying up late to read (not to mention making me seriously want to write a novel) is more than deserving. 🥰 🏖 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Thanks to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this Advanced Reader Copy

It is summer and I want books that I can fly through. Beach Read by Emily Henry is aptly titled, as it does take place in a lake town, it is easy to fly through, and wow was I invested. It truly is a perfect beach read. Or, in my case, a perfect beach listen as I read the audiobook version. By the way, I absolutely recommend you check out the audiobook version if you are so inclined.

Beach Read is about January Andrews who is facing writer’s block. Her father died and so she is spending time at his beach house going through his items. As it turns out, everything she believed about the romance between her parents was a lie. Her dad had this long affair with a woman who lives in the town with the beach house. In fact, he had this double life shacking up with her. Next door is Augustus Everett who is this literary writer and also January’s college rival. He is also facing writer’s block. The two get into an argument and end up making a bet. They switch genres, January will write a literary fiction book and Augustus will write a romance book. Whoever sells the book first wins.

The chemistry between January and Augustus is palpable. Like, you can just tell they have a thing for each other and a long history. Beach Read has a romance that is slow burn, enemy to lovers, and proximity all in one. The combination of tropes is extremely satisfying. I loved seeing January and Gus become friends. I loved seeing them heal from their respective pasts (not with each other by the way). They grow as writers. It’s beautiful to read and listen to. When I pick up a romance book, something similar to Beach Read is what I want.

The audiobook is narrated by the extremely talented Julia Whelan. I’ve listened to a ton of Whelan narrated books and so knew what to expect. Beach Read delivered on my audiobook expectations – with both strong writing and a superb narrator. The audiobook is 10 hours and 13 minutes long. It’s an engaging and absorbing listen. Worth your Libro.fm or Audible credit for sure.

Beach Read was a true delight! January and Gus were dynamic characters that felt relatable and authentic. The book was the right balance of real emotional issues and fun romance. I devoured this book and would recommend it to any friend and patron of the library.

Yes, I'm rating this as a two star read. In other words...it was okay.
Looking around at my friends that love it...…….


It was such a cute concept. A woman goes to a lake house to recover from her dad's death and starts googly eyeing the hot author guy next door.

The thing is? I didn't like her for most of the book.


She got some stuff going on.


And then she really started getting on my nerves!


The money issues made me cringe for her. She almost at times seemed like she was waiting on hot dude to pick up the bill. So much for independent women.

I probably wrong read the heck outta this one. Don't worry I have a history of it.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

This book is exactly what you want to read if you're craving some romance. The build up of the relationship was fun, the banter was so enjoyable to follow, and the payoff was super hot! Such and enjoyable, fun, read.

I really expected to love Beach Read . Granted, I go into every book I read for pleasure expecting to enjoy it and sometimes it just doesn’t pan out. However, the blurb lead me to expect a bright, fluffy, and fun beach romance with bickering and interesting characters. That’s not what this book is, so if the blurb and the cover are what make you want to read this, you might want to reconsider.

Taking Beach Read (do they ever even get to the beach?) for what it is – a story of a woman recovering from the death of a parent and having her worldview shattered by secrets that have been revealed – it still wasn’t a book I could get through. It’s not horrible and Emily Henry’s writing itself is fine, but it’s something much more annoying to me: aggressively bland. I couldn’t get into the story, never grew attached to January, and didn’t feel any chemistry between January and Gus. I liked Gus, thought he was an interesting character who I’d like to learn more about. But Beach Read is January’s book and she’s…annoying. I like a flawed heroine but was kind of expecting January to grow from the purse wine-loving, self-pity champ she started out to be. By the halfway point she was slightly better, but I grew irritated with her inner dialogue, her immaturity, and how self-centered her viewpoint had become. She’s not a horrible person, but I simply didn’t care about her and dear heaven this book dragged because of that. I finally had to give up because I simply didn’t care. Not about January, not about her father’s secret, not about the cult she and Gus were investigating, and not about the love story. I felt like the book would never end and when I hit the halfway point I was so depressed about having to continue slogging through it that I finally quit.

I do want to highlight the parts of the book that really stood out in a good way, which were the times when January and Gus were discussing writing. Those all-too-brief moments were what kept me going through the first half of the book and Ms. Henry’s writing shines in those passages.

Beach Read just wasn’t the book for me. However, I’m in a very small minority at this point so take that for what it’s worth.