Not your typical steamy beach read Rom Com trope, but has all the feel goods in the end.
I really enjoyed the empowerment of the female electrician role of the main character in Lottie (and who doesn’t love a name of Lottie??) with her sidekick dog of Chewie after Chewbacca from Star Wars. The humor got me right there and with the strong female job in a mans world. Damn.
When Lottie softens up hunky Matt Steele, owner of the local bookstore, and slowly his entire family. I literally pictured the landscape myself by the sea and how the bookstore was laid out… loved it.

This is such a cute romance with plenty of realism, a great storyline, and a relatable cast of characters who each get their chance to shine and grow. It's a friends to lovers with a slow burn. I appreciate that this was written with an honesty that feels real and I love when books are written with a meta/self-awareness without being too over the top.

It's a fantastic beach read, although I'm not sure I'd re-visit it. The narrative was a bit too dry and boring for my taste and felt like it dragged on. Still, it's a great book and definitely something I'd recommend to anybody wanting a believable, relatable romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK / One More Chapter for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having just read Mr Right Across the Street by Kathryn and loving it (as well as forgetting what a great writer she is having read her previous books) I was looking forward to reading another book by her and I wasn't disappointed.
Matt has moved with his Dad and Sister for a fresh start running a book shop following the death of his Mum. Lottie is an electrician who wants to start her own book club. When she meets Matt to return a book there is an attraction but Matt has been hurt in his previous relationship when his Wife had an affair because of the long working hours Matt was doing.
Lottie starts to run her bookclub at the bookshop so has much more contact with Matt and the chemistry is clear.
There are some great supporting characters such as Audrey and Gira and of course Chewie the dog and the side stories were interesting. It was lovely that this books wasn’t just about romance but about friendships, moving on following the death of a loved one and how meeting the one can bring out the best and help you to trust again.
I enjoyed the way that other books were mentioned, some that I have read, and others I will be looking at reading as they sounded interesting!
A feelgood romance which I read in a couple of days as it did keep me wanting to read more.
Thank you to Net Galley, One More chapter (a division of Harper Collins) and Kathryn Freeman for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review, which is completely my own.

A light fun read, ideal for relaxing with on holiday. Somewhat predictable and a little drawn out over the usual misunderstandings and inability to communicate. I actually took to the peripheral characters more than the main characters, Lottie and Matt, who irritated me a little. I loved the references to the books read by the book club, some I've read and some I haven't. A warmhearted development of building friendships within the book club was more interesting than the budding 'romance' at times.

As soon as I saw the title of this book, it jumped and I couldn't wait to read it. Lottie is a energetic bubbly character who is kind hearted and always wants to help everyone. She meets Matt when she asks him if she can use his bookshop for the new book club she is setting up after being made to feel unwelcome in the one she was attending.

I loved the book club with its selection of characters that soon become a solid friendship as you see them help and support eachother.

A light hearted read full of wonderful book recommendations, a touch of romance and brimming with love and friendship.

The concept and structure of the book was really interesting and engaging, unfortunately, I found the central relationship to be quite lackluster. When her book club gets too serious and uptight for her, Lottie decides to form her own club focusing on fun rom coms, or 'beach reads.' Lottie decides to run the book club at a small indie book store. The book store's new owner is a tall, dark, and handsome mans who just moved to this coastal area with his family to run the store together.

I really enjoyed the concept, as well as how the book started off building upon each book club read. The chapters would start off with the club's current book, and their discussion on it before flowing into more plot. I think the author could have integrated it more into the book though. Not every chapter started off with a book, and especially towards the later half, the plot started diverging from the book club structure. I found this to be a missed opportunity where the author could talk about each club read and tie it into the plot with lessons learned, or parallel plots, or something along those lines.

My biggest complaint with this book was that I found there to be no chemistry between Lottie and Matt. Their conversations are e x t r e m e l y awkward, and instead of the spark being shown through their actions/dialogues, we're simply just told they have a literal physical spark-- they feel an electric zap when they touch. But I just found their entire dynamic to be really dry and rife with miscommunication. The book emphasized how well Matt was able to understand her, and yes, maybe on a fundamental personality level, but most of their interactions were Matt and Lottie misinterpreting each others actions and taking the completely wrong message away?? It just seemed like the two were not on the same wavelength at all.

On another note, this book has made me realize that my type is DEFINITELY confident guys. Matt's lack of confidence and his constant belief that he's constantly disappointing others was just too angsty for me. His relationship with his family was also really confusing. I didn't really get why there was tension, and it definitely felt like some arbitrary roadblock put by the author to show 'character development.'

Additionally, Henry is such a dick I don't get why Lottie let him trample over her and why she / other people thought she would even entertain the thought of him?

I think this book had a lot of potential to become a fun quick read, but unfortunately, it just fell very flat for me.

The Beach Reads Book Club - Kathryn Freeman

Thank you to Net Galley, One More chapter (a division of Harper a Collins) and Kathryn Freeman for my advanced copy of The Beach Reads Book Club; an incredibly sweet, feel good read for all book lovers and rom com readers.

Lottie’s been caught out not reading her book club book - again. But who wants to read what they’re told? stuffed shirt books and even stuffier literary discussions are far from the book club that first made Lottie fall in love with reading many moons ago. So, just like any red blooded extrovert, Lottie starts her own book club where the members can read the books they want to read, talk about what they want to talk about and make some firm friends besides.

Enter Matt Steele, the new proprietor of a Books By The Bay Bookstore and stuffed short in his own right. Lottie asks if she can host her book club at his bookstore / cafe, not realising that the stiff, awkward new bookseller and his family are sorting through their own issues. Can the book club help them find a way back to each other and kindle a little romance besides?

This intoxicating enchantment of a novel will make you want to reach out to your local book club in search of whatever you’re life needs, friendship, courage, inspiration and even love. The cast of characters in this story are people you’d want in your life and the humour is completely uplifting. I loved Audrey, the raunchy grandmother who’s too old for tact but not too old for raunchy sec scenes in her reads; she’s an adorable hoot.

Read this book if you’re looking for a sweet, feel good romance, laced with a really uplifting message; reading is for everyone, you just need to find your tribe!

An unbelievably cute, fun, and steamy book! Fed up with her current stuffy book club, Lottie decides to build out her own with the help of two friends. Who said book clubs have to be high literature? Certainly not them! Beach Reads Book Club seems a bit more like smut reads book club, but no one is complaining there. I absolutely adored the dynamic between the women and how important it is to have friends you can count on. The romance(s) felt a bit secondary for me (though I don't think they're necessarily meant to be) because I loved the friendships so much. I hope to see more from this group in the future.

5/5 Stars
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Beach Reads Book Club is the perfect beach read!

Lottie wants to create her own book club after getting frustrated with the stringent guidelines of her current book club. While looking for a spot to host the book club, she meets Matt, the uptight Books by the Bay shop owner trying to overcome his past.

Throughout the story, there was a full crew of characters that made me laugh-out-loud. There’s a slow-burn between Matt and Lottie, but it made Matt all the more endearing. I loved Lottie and her unapologetic personality. I could see myself on her through the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, One More Chapter, for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This review will also be published on my Instagram account on publication day. You can find me at once_upon_a_bookbabe@instagram.com.

I really enjoyed this book. First off I want to be part of their book club. It seems like so much fun and just what a friendship group should be. I loved all of the characters- main and supporting - and loved thé way Matt got ´looser’ as the book went on!

I read this book really quickly and found myself thinking of it during the day. I’m glad the ex disappeared bc he was annoying! Lol

I loved this!! I felt the difference in reading from each characters perspective and the setting really cemented the world for me. The romance and book talk was so fun to read!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whew this book was a struggle for me. I wanted to DNF at multiple points but forced myself to carry through since it was an ARC and I wanted to provide feedback on the entire book, not just part of it. I do think the book picked up slightly in the last 25%, but that isn't enough to redeem the book for me.

What I didn't like:
-The formatting of this book drove me insane and made it unbearable to read. Granted, it may just be formatted this way because it is an advanced copy not yet completed, but other advanced copies of books I've received have been formatted in the way they end up being published. All this to say take this criticism with a grain of salt because there is a chance the actual book won't read the same way. There were no indents to indicate new paragraphs, no spaces to indicate a new chapter (the chapter would end and the next line on the same page would say "Chapter __"), and most frustratingly, quotes were placed in single quote marks (') instead of the double quotation mark ("). If I came across anything else written this way, I would automatically exit out of the page and never look back. It was so hard to keep focused on what I was reading and my eye never knew where to look, because it all just looked like one big blob.
-The dialogue throughout the book felt stilted and fake. None of it came across as genuine and I don't know a single person in real life who would talk the way these characters did. It was really hard to immerse myself in the story when the dialogue felt so forced and unnatural.
-The pacing of this book didn't really work for me. I was bored for the first 75% of this book and struggled to even get to that point. I'm a really fast reader and typically read romance books in a day, and this one took me days to finish because I kept putting it down out of frustration or boredom. I think it picked up in the last quarter, but it shouldn't take 75% of a book to feel invested in it.
-LOVE TRIANGLE. One of my least favorite tropes of all time. I normally don't read books with that trope because I know I don't like it, so if I had known this book included that trope I probably wouldn't have requested it. However, the short blurb provided made it seem like this would be a cute little friends-to-lovers story, which I love. While the love triangle was very minor and not dragged out, it still existed and still bothered me.

What I liked:
-The spice scenes were well written and I enjoyed them
-The main characters had some nice chemistry moments and I really was routing for them throughout, despite my other issues with the story.
-I liked the different books within a book that were mentioned and discussed, especially because I've actually read a few of them myself. It was like a bookish inception moment, where characters in a book were discussing another book I have already read and enjoyed. I thought that was a cute part of the story.
-I enjoyed the friendships between the book club members. I liked hearing about each of their individual struggles and seeing how the other book club members lifted them up and helped them was nice.

Overall opinion:
This book wasn't for me. The formatting and writing style really made it a struggle to get through. I was not overly invested in the characters, though they weren't bad. I could have DNF'd early on and been ok with that decision. Please don't take this review as saying you shouldn't read this book. Everyone has different taste and just because this one didn't work for me does not mean it won't work for you. I'm sure someone out there will look at my list of things I disliked and think to themselves they love all those things!

****Coming Out June 30, 2021****

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley, I was chosen as an early reviewer!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Have you ever been in a book club where it became monotonous and it loses it’s fun due to the expectations? This is exactly what happened to to Lottie when she couldn’t meet the obligations of Eve’s book club. Heidi and Gira also felt the same, so the three of them decide it’s time to form their own book club that reads fun, light, sexy beach reads. This book will having you turning the pages as Lottie and the Beach Reads Book Club sip Gun discussing their sexy, funny and light reads at their local bookstore.

This book will resonate with anyone who has ever been apart of a book club. A perfect book for your book or pool bag!

I loved how the author put the titles of the books read and discussed by the book club on the chapters the book club met. Such a nice touch in case you want to put them on your own TBR list.

This book was MAGNIFICENT. It gave me alllllll the feels and I don’t even know where to start with this review because it was just so, so good.

Matt Steele leaves his life and his job in London behind after tragedy struck. He moves to this quaint, little seaside town to run a book-shop and mend fences with his father and his sister, start anew. Lottie Watt loves reading, but the book club she’s a member of feels more like school than fun. She decides to start her own book club: a community where light, easy reads are involved and where drinking gin and eating cake sometimes takes precedence over discussing the books. She goes to ask the handsome, uptight, new book-shop owner if she can hold the “Beach Reads Book Club” meetings there, and thus the romance starts.

Matt and Lottie couldn’t be more different: Lottie is light to Matt’s dark, laughter to his serious, open to his closed, warm to his cold. But that’s exactly why they belong together. Yet, despite their undeniable, mutual attraction, they both have some issues to work through first. I loved that we get to read both of their POVs, and I really wanted to give Matt a hug for most of the book. The way is so far gone about Lottie, the care he has for her, the way he pushes himself to be more open, to give her all that she needs… it melt me! Both MCs are layered, complex, and their romance feels so real and authentic, a by-the-book slow-burn, with lovely increasing heat – it’s all I could want in a love story, and more.

But this book is more than just the romance between Lottie and Matt: it’s a story about opening up and letting people in, about taking a chance, and finding friendship and support where you didn’t expect it. The whole supporting cast is GLORIOUS, the dialogues are bubbly, and there’s just the right mix of humor and seriousness. Also, did I mention that Lottie’s book club picks are ROMANCES? And that we get to see them discussing them? I genuinely squealed when I saw that April’s pick was “Beautiful Player” by Christina Lauren!

In conclusion, this book was absolutely brilliant! It made me happy and it swept me off my feet – I can see it staying with me for a long time. I don’t know if I could do it justice with my review, but if I did even a bit, I definitely recommend picking it up!

Lottie is part of a book club but she hasn't read the last two books, the choices are a bit heavy for her. This inspires her to start a new book club focused on romance books, otherwise known as beach reads. With the help of two members of the previous club, her best friend and a recruit from her job, the book club is formed.

Matt is the new owner of the local bookstore, he wanted a change in his life and he decided to move to a small town near the beach along with his father and sister. He didn't expect his store to be the place where a group of people meet to discuss books over gin and cake but here he is.

The book club members are an unexpected group, united by their love for romance books. I like that actually book titles were used for the book discussions.

Lottie is a people's person, always happy to chat about anything and everything. Matt is closed off and serious he needed a push to open up to new people, which Lottie was happy to give.

The romance was sweet, I can understand why they were both hesitant to define their relationship considering their past. There is a bit of a drama as the romance goes, which involved a conflict I dislike in general.

It was a lovely story with many likelable characters.

*I received an ARC from One More Chapter through Netgalley.

A lively summer read. Perfect for fans of light romance in a bookish setting. With thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an early copy.,

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

This is the first Kathryn Freeman book I have read and certainly won't be my last!!

The Beach Reads Book Club is the story of Lottie - an electrician who starts her own Book Club after being kicked out of her old one and Matt the new owner of the local bookstore with a troubled past. When Matt's book store starts hosting Lottie's book club sparks begin to fly!

I absolutely love love loved the Book club members!!!!! The camaraderie, fun and hilarity of book discussions was a real high for me! Audrey's character was just hilarious and I loved that you really never knew what would come out of her mouth but that whatever it was was going to be about sex - not bad for an 80 year old. The other book club characters stories were all well written and I enjoyed that they were all supported with their issues by the entire club. Lottie was a wonderful character and I really felt for her. Matt was an ok character for the most part but I think he could have been a little more confident. The writing was fabulous and the descriptions were detailed but didn't take time away from the story.

Things I didn't like.

The Matt backstory of being the workaholic with a wife that cheated got a little old pretty quickly. I also didn't really feel that there was a resolution of issues between Matt, his dad and sister. Henry was also annoying and I couldn't work out why he was given so much time in the story.

Can't wait to read more from Kathryn.

The Beach Reads Book Club is a charming story that follows bookstore owner Matthew Steele and book club organizer Lottie Watt. When Lottie is thrown out of a stuffy book club, she decides to create her own with fun books and like-minded readers. Lottie asks the owner of a local bookstore if she can hold the meetings there, and her life is irrevocably changed. Matthew, the handsome and brooding bookstore owner, is a distraction Lottie didn’t anticipate, and as her book club takes off, so do her feelings for Matt. However, Matt sends mixed signals, and Lottie isn’t ready for a long-term commitment. Will Lottie and Matt find their happily-ever-after?

Lottie has such a positive impact on those she meets. Selfless, helpful, and observant, Lottie understands people and intrinsically knows what they need. She is funny and supportive and vibrant, and people are drawn to her. From the book club members to Matt and his family, Lottie changes people’s lives for the better and, ever humble, doesn’t even realize she is doing it. This is especially true with Matt.

At the start of the story, Matt is so withdrawn and emotionally closed off. Wounds and regrets from the past define his present. However, the more time he spends with Lottie, the more he sees what he really wants in life. He grows so much throughout the story, and his relationships and sense of self are improved because of it. Matt’s such a fantastic character and the perfect match for Lottie.

The love story between Lottie and Matt is the perfect balance of sweet and steamy. Two people who are still healing from past relationships, neither Lottie nor Matt are ready for a serious relationship, but they find it difficult to resist their growing feelings. I like how they learn from each other and step out of their comfort zones as they get to know each other. These opposites have a wonderful romance, and their chemistry is off the charts, much to the delight of the book club.

The members of the Beach Reads Book Club are fantastic! This group of women has a shared love of beach reads, and I can totally relate. I love a swoon-worthy romance and would love to join a book club like this. They are so fun and funny, and they become so much more than a book club. There is a found family dynamic in the club, and in extension the bookstore, that is heart-warming and hysterical.

I also love the chapter titles, which are the titles of the books the club plans to read. The titles often reflect what is happening in the story and are also a great way to introduce the readers to other beach reads as well as the main events and feelings of the chapter. This is a great book for readers who like heartwarming and fun contemporary romance or rom-coms with great messages, well-developed and relatable characters, and a fantastic love story. It’s a charming summer read with a little bit of steam and a lot of fun!

FINALLY!! A book that is fun, believable and perfect for the summer! I loved Lottie as a character and her wanting to make her own book club that is fun and inclusive. I actually did take notes on the different books mentioned in her book club so I can read them in the future. I wish this kind of book club was close to me, I would definitely join and be a member! And do not even get me started on Matthew, oh my gahh, the chemistry between Lottie and Matthew!!! Did she finally meet her man?

So much to recommend and enjoy with this book! Why have I not heard of Kathryn Frreeman until now? Hope her next book is as good as this one. A much needed summer beach read!

Thanks to Netgalley, Kathryn Freeman and Harper Collins UK 1 More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/30/21

A sweet, funny & romantic story about books, past mistakes, new friends and second chances.
I loved how it was focused on a new book club with characters that were varied ages & backgrounds and that the sections of the book are themed around the books the club members are reading. I was chuckling at the antics of certain members of the book club, I'll let you read the book to guess who, and my heart also went out to some of the sadder stories that emerged, and the sweet protectiveness of Chewie, Lottie's rescue pup. I would love to be a member of this fabulous book club!
Of course, there's a love story too. Matt is the bookshop owner who seems very stuffy and serious initially, the polar opposite to Lottie, yet as time goes on they both discover there's more they have in common than they think, plus there's that fizzing chemistry...
If you're looking for great characters, a good giggle and a lot of simmering tension then this is the book for you!