While Lottie and Mathew were the main characters, I found myself more invested in the side characters like Audrey, the 80-year-old club member who always brings the gin, or Matthew's sister, who is a bit bratty but trying to find her way in the world. This book was a perfect, light-hearted read that would make a great companion for any beach day you may have coming up. After all, sometimes you just need a little romance in your life!

This story introduces us to Matt and Lottie. Matt has moved with his dad and sister after his mom’s death to run a bookstore by the sea. He meets Lottie who has recently started a book club after being kicked out of her other one. She has decided to form a book club focused on lighter beach reads for people with busy lives like herself. She begins a relationship with Matt and we follow their journey as they both work through their pasts. The writing is great and the characters, including in the club, are wonderfully fleshed out. Definitely recommend, and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

I enjoyed this read, as the title suggests it’s the perfect holiday read and I’ll be suggesting it to patrons in the library that want something to entertain them but not too heavy. Really enjoy Kathryn Freeman as a writer.

Emotionally unavailable book shop owner. Do I have to say more?

The Beach Reads Book Club is a romance full of books and book-lovers. A lovely summer read!

Lottie was part of a very serious book club, and it was not working well for her. She wanted to share her love for escapist reads with like-minded readers—the pleasure of reading as a way to a better place and time.

I could totally relate to Lottie. Like her, I read to relax and feel happy, preferably falling a little in love along the way.

Through the book club Lottie starts, she finds friendship, companionship, and love. It was so awesome to see the fictional characters reading several books I have enjoyed myself.

I love the fact that Lottie was an electrician. There are several possible ways of succeeding in life, and it was refreshing to see Lottie finding hers outside the university degree/ high prestige job box.

Matt was the perfect hero! He was sweet, caring, honorable, a little shy, and, most of all, a bookworm.

His relationship with Lottie was light, fun, and endearing. There was an ex-boyfriend in the picture, but he never stood a chance, lol!

I've read several books by Kathryn Freeman, and she always brings a lovely romance to the pages. I love all her books, but Matt is definitively my favorite of her heroes.

The Beach Reads Book Club is a lovely, light, and uplifting summer read!

Highly recommended!

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

*This review will be posted on https://lureviewsbooks.com on 08/09/2021 as part of the book's blog tour*

"The Beach Reads Book Club" is the kind of book that hits all the right notes: funny, light, romantic, serious, thought provoking, and enjoyable. What starts out as a rebellion against the serious book club in town becomes life changing for everyone involved. Lottie and a few others start a bookclub to get back to reading books they enjoy, and the books become a gateway to sharing their lives, their problems, and their successes. Matt is trying to start a new life by moving with his father and sister to the small seaside British town and taking over the local bookshop. He's trying to reinvent himself but having minimal success until Lottie comes in asking if her new bookclub can meet in his shop. The whole family is slowly changed by the friendly and outgoing club members and Matt and Lottie discover special chemistry between them that might lead to something as explosive as in the pages of any romance novel.

This book is a love letter to the romance genre. It celebrates how the books are about more than what their detractors think: sex. Friendship, support, humor, and discovering one's own sense of worth are at the heart of any romance, and "The Beach Reads Book Club" has all of this in spades. All of the secondary characters get their moments, balanced nicely and propelling forward the main plot and main characters. Lottie and Matt are both lacking in self-confidence, though for different reasons, and doing a great job of not showing it to the world. Matt in particular fools even his family. It's heartbreaking to see how they think he's reacting versus how he is internally reacting and I love how Lottie helps bridge the distance between Matt and his family. Lottie and Matt get great emotional journeys and internal struggles, and while each can support the other, author Kathryn Freeman does a brilliant job of showing how we each have to make the decision to change and confront our problems before they can be fixed.

Full of British humor and slang, sweet moments between friends and sparkling ones between lovers, this is a beach read you'll want to pick up even when its snowing outside.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

What a gorgeous gorgeous book! I really loved Lottie as a main character. She is a headstrong and fiercely independent woman who runs her own business as an electrician. I loved the “reversal” of stereotypical gender careers in this book with Lottie being an electrician and Matthew being a bookshop/cafe owner. I wish we read this more in books and especially in romcoms where they can be very stereotypical! Time to clear your schedule for the afternoon, coffee pot on and phone turned off - you won’t want to put this one down.

This lighthearted story with some lovely characters is ideal for this time of year, either sitting by a pool or beach or out in your garden, it is charming and I’d Definetly love to be able to join this book club by the sea. Lottie is a delight and I enjoyed getting to know Jake and his history, a definet recommend for some light and sometimes sexy escapism. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this proof.

Loved this book! I was drawn in to the details of the characters lives and enjoyed watching it unfold. Thank you for the chance to read this ARC. I will be looking for other works by this author.

A lighthearted enjoyable read, just like the books in the book club. Perfect for a summer read on the beach or by the pool. The title is therefore very apt.
Having recently read some heavy books with disagreeable characters it was a pleasure to refresh my reading with this book. The characters were well described, likeable and believable, the storyline flowed with just enough conflict to give it a slight bite and save it from being bland without causing the reader too much angst.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Kathryn Freeman for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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QOTD: Are you part of a book club?
My A: Nope, never! I think the idea of a book club is super fun but I’m more of a solo reader and I enjoy getting to pick up and put down whatever book I choose to without feeling the pressure to read a certain book.
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A fun and flirty, slow to steam romance featuring a great group of characters, that will leave you with all the warm and fuzzy feelings, The Beach Reads Book Club is the perfect poolside companion this summer! As a strictly romance reader and reviewer, I related to Lottie and her friends. A big reason I’m not in a book club myself are the books that I’ve seen chosen. They’re either not topics I’m interested in reading, or I’ve already read the books. Lottie was such a fun lead character to read! She’s fun and energetic without seeming fake or flat. While she was always optimistic, she wasn’t unrealistic. While the pacing on this one is on the slower side and I did have a little bit of a harder time getting into the story at the very beginning, things picked up and I quickly got sucked in!
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Lottie Watt quits her book club... or was kicked out, and decides starting her own book club is the best way to lick her wounds. After all, it’s not that she didn’t enjoy the idea of a club, it was the club itself. Instead of slow paced, clean books that lead to slow paced, clean conversations in the meetings, Lotties wants sun, fun and flirting in her books! And steam. Bring on the steam! Two of her friends leave their book club to join hers, and soon they’re hunting for the perfect place to host it. Enter Matthew Steele, bookshop and cafe owner who happens to be all tall, dark and handsome. As things heat up in the book club, the chemistry between Lottie and Matthew is already white hot.

A charming story of opposites finding love, set in a bookshop by the sea. Pure comfort in a book and perfect if you are looking for some escapism.

This was a really enjoyable story. Mainly lighthearted and supportive but with hidden depths. Good, well developed characters and a true to life story which gave me a lift.. Loved It!

What I Loved:

The Female Friendships. When Lottie first starts her book club for the “misfit” women who want to read fun, sexy beach reads instead of serious literature, no one expected the women to become a tight knit group of friend that will help each other out with every facet of their lives. From Aubrey and Heidi, both older and lacking purpose before the book club, to Gira the unhappy wife, to Lottie’s relationship whirlwind and insecurities about not being “intellectual” enough, each of the women have strong personalities and stand by each other through thick and thin. Their conversations are at times raunchy, at times poignant, and at all times exactly what I cherish from my female friend group.

The Romance. I appear to maybe be in the minority on this one, but I loved Matt and Lottie together! They have a mature relationship barring some shitty miscommunication, and it blossoms organically. Too many romance novels have characters that are way too immature for their age just to push the corny romance narrative, but I really felt like it was well handled here. I love the brooding Matt and the spunky electrician Lottie, and how each of them pushes the other’s boundaries.

The Book Club. Not to point out the obvious, but the Beach Reads Book Club is a delight. I would kill for a book club that mainly reads light, airy romances. With a stressful job and a crazy world we live in, sometimes light romance “beach reads” are all I want to read, and a book club that supports that would be great.

What Didn’t Work as Well:

Matt’s Obsession with Dieting. Lottie eats whatever he wants, and Matt is a pain in the butt when it comes down to everything food. I see this too often in cozies, and didn’t think it would be prevalent in romance, but it was frustrating to see here. Matt’s preoccupation with healthy food is annoying to the point of distraction, and it can stray dangerously close to food shaming.

The Forced Love Triangle. I get it to a certain extent – Beach Reads didn’t have that much conflict, Matt and Lottie were doing well, and drama is generally needed. However, bringing Lottie’s ex into the equation felt forced and random. We meet Henry and there is basically nothing likeable about him, particularly when you stack him up to Matt. I wish that the author had made the conflict something else other than a triangle, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

If a;; book clubs were as lovely ass this one everyone would be rushing to join in and have fun while reading books. Characters came alive and made me feel relaxed. Lovely read on a summers day either in the garden or on a beach. 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

What a brilliant summer read book. Exactly like the ones the book club was reading. The members made me smile, they came alive from the page with their quirks and personalities.
The floundering romance between Lottie and Matt does not run smoothly but it hits your emotions.
I definitely enjoyed the book and wished I had picked it up from my tbr pile sooner. I will be looking out for more books by Kathryn Freeman.

A good book to read on the beach! Lottie starts her own book club in the bookshop owned by Matt. Heis good looking, serious and recovering from a divorce, she is recovering from the end of a long term relationship. Will their mutual attraction lead to anything, or will Chewie the dog get between them?

The Beach Reads Bookclub

‘Books we’d want to take on holiday with us and books that take us on holiday’. This book definitely fit the definition of a beach read and I truly enjoyed seeing references to other books I have previously read. While the romance took center stage, the growth in the friendships and family dynamic stole my heart the most. The cheeky British humor and banter between the characters was lighthearted and added just the right touch of comedy. This layered romance novel left me inspired for my own book clubs and I am looking forward to reading more from Kathryn Freeman.

Can I join a book club like this one? Gin and heartwarming books - what more could one want?!

A lovely romantic read with believable characters and full of warmth.

This was a fun, light read with enjoyable characters. The main character, Lottie, starts her own book club in a local bookshop and cafe, owned by Michael Steele. Both have been hurt in previous relationships and not looking for a current one. But the attraction between the two is strong, although it takes awhile to build into a romance. Lottie is very outgoing and loves to help others. But she has a hard time accepting help. I loved the group that she started the book club with. They added a lot of interest and fun to the storyline. Overall, an enjoyable read that I would recommend when you are looking for a lighthearted, no drama, escape. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

What a delightful summer book with all of the perfect elements! I really enjoyed reading The Beach Reads Book Club by Kathryn Freeman as she created a cast of well-developed characters, a solid plot, and a story that revolves around a book club. Nothing could be better! I loved Lottie's spunky personality, Audrey's bawdy one and Matt's ability to step up to the challenge of helping his grieving family and allowing a little love for himself, as well. Thank you to Ms. Freeman, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.