Let me start by pointing out that, contrary to most of the DNF reviews, this book was actually nothing like Emily Henry's Beach Read; I was quite disappointed to see so many erroneous reviews from readers who made assumptions and never gave this book a proper chance.

That said, I found the premise and the characters to be really unique and interesting. I absolutely loved learning about the surf culture in Cornwall. However, I really didn't like the writing. I found the dialogue to be very stilted. It seemed like the characters were reading from various Wikipedia pages to each other rather than participating in normal flows of conversation. I also found many scenes to be confusing, almost like the author was purposefully leading the reader on a wild goose chase. Unfortunately, wasted scenes only made the story confusing and frustrating.

I really wanted to like this story; I felt like it had such great potential, but it just really missed the mark.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

*thank you to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I ended up DNFing around 30% because I couldn't connect with any of the characters and the writing did not keep me interested in the story. The enemies-to-lovers trope fell flat for me. There was a lot of internal dialogue, and it seemed a little chaotic. I didn't feel invested in either of the MCs to push myself to finish the book.

DNF @ 47%

Despite the numerous negative reviews of this book, I wanted to give it a fair shot. Unfortunately, I, like many others, had to DNF it.

I've seen some concerns that this book is a rip-off of Beach Read by Emily Henry, but aside from the cover and title being similar, the story itself actually shares no similarities with Henry's book (aside from the love interest, Alexis, being an author).

Candice, the main character, is supposed to be American, Hawaiian to be exact, yet she speaks exactly like her British counterparts, even though she hasn't been in this town for long. It's a small detail, but it did bother me.

My bigger concern was that Alexis, the man who's supposed to be the love interest, is so unlikeable. He is the epitome of every pretentious male writer I've ever met. He somehow manages to look down on romance novels while also trying to write one. He tries to get into a relationship with Candice just so he can base his main character on her, and he only comes clean about that because Candice finds a creepy notebook he's been keeping about her (including, but not limited to how her nipples look when she's wearing her work t-shirt).

I also was bothered to discover, at the 38% mark, that the real reason Candice is in this town in the first place is to find her father. And that revelation is only dropped in passing.

In between it all, we see flashbacks to Candice's relationship with her husband, who is part of the reason she left Hawaii. She still wears her wedding ring, and even though he was clearly emotionally abusive, she is definitely still hung up on him. I'm not sure where her relationship with Alexis is going to go, but I can't say I'm interested enough in finding out to stick with this book.

Even though it's not actually similar, if you find yourself intrigued by the premise of this book, just read Beach Read instead.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was given the chance by NetGalley and Aria and Aries to read an advance copy of Holiday Read in exchange for an honest review.
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I always hate reviewing a book that I didn’t enjoy, but this book just happened to be one of those books. I couldn’t get into it, and just found myself bored. The authors best friend while writing this was probably a thesaurus. It was filled with flowery language and long descriptions but no real meat. It felt like work to read, not enjoyment.
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Now, this book is being marketed for fans of Emily Henry and her book Beach Read, that’s because this is a copy of that book. They are too similar, and frankly this was is the lesser one. I would pick up Emily Henry’s book instead of someone trying to replicate what she did. I’m sure the author would be a great writer if she had a fresh idea. This book just wasn’t for me

I tried really hard to enjoy and connect with this book but I just couldn’t. Characters felt shallow and the storyline just didn’t feel fresh. I felt zero chemistry between Alexis and Candace and questioned why she even became attracted to him. He had very few charming moments. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I hate to DNF eARCs as I know so much work went into this book but unfortunately it just wasn’t the right book for me. I’m not going to post a review to my social media platforms as I don’t typically like to call out DNFs.

DNF at 13%. I wanted to push through and read more but from the first page the character development was confusing and stilted.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for honest review.

⭐️: 2.5/5

Candice loves reading romance books, even if her life is nothing like the lives she reads about. Living in Cornwall after her marriage back in Hawaii went south, she’s searching for the one thing that will hopefully make her feel whole again. Instead, she meets Alexis, a writer who’s stressed about the romance book he promised to his publisher, and Daniel, Alexis’s agent who is determined to help Alexis. She makes a deal to help both of them write the perfect romance, but she can’t help but wonder who will be her great romantic hero.

Much like the main character of Candice, this book seemed to just not know where it was going next. The story felt unfocused and unmoored, relying on heavy dialogue and banter between all the characters instead of any real plot intrigue. I wasn’t sold by the description of the building relationship between Candice and either Daniel or Alexis, which made it had to get invested in the romance aspect of the story. I was also a little turned off by how uncomfortable Candice was talking about sex, and how many cringey euphemisms were used. Like, she’s supposed to be an adult who has been married, it feels a little unrealistic. Speaking of unrealistic, I think this was supposed to be a deconstructed rom com, kind of picking fun at a lot of aspects of the genre while also playing into them, but it came off as just rampantly unrealistic plot lines and unforgivably naïve characters. I know that some suspension of reality is necessary for rom coms to be enjoyable, since real life never ties up in the neat little bows that books do, but this was too much for me, and I couldn’t get past it. It was overall a disconnected plot that didn’t have that necessary ~spark~ to drive it forward. I persevered, hoping it would get better and the characters would get more likable, but ultimately, I didn’t really enjoy this one.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher Aria & Aries for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

A winding tale of community, friendship and opening yourself up to love at the beautiful Cornish coast - full of sandy beaches, country roads and small town vibes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite its lack of romance. It was Candice’s tale primarily, her escape and self-discovery, as she left her difficult past behind and learned what she wanted from life and who she wanted to travel that path with her. She has amazing friends in Makayla and Demi, their vibrant conversation often making me smile. They’re all at different stages in their lives but form a strong family within their wider community.
Candice’s search for her father seemed a little superfluous to the story and whilst the resolution was sweet it was brief and felt more of an afterthought, as did Candice’s brother - an occasional presence in the story that doesn’t seem necessary. However, Alexis’ character was interesting and it would have been interesting to better understand this off-putting, quirky man. He features so prominently but I felt that I never knew him - although with that behaviour perhaps I shouldn’t want to!
Overall this was a solid contemporary read that left me nostalgic for childhood trips to Cornwall!
I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

I wanted to love this book because I thought it would remind me of beach read and be reminiscent. but it did not. the leads were not fun to read about, I dont understand why anyone would write about romance if they dont like it. it just wasnt for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This book feels like the best struggle. So satisfying and raw. There’s a balance of mysticism and realism that sits just right. It’s beautiful!

Thank you to NetGally for this early copy.

I wanted to enjoy this book so much, I thought the premise was promising however the execution was not there. You have the beautiful Cornish setting, which was done well, and then our two main protagonists, Candice and Alexis. Candice is trying to rebuild herself after leaving her abusive husband. Alexis is another story. He sleeps with Candice, writes about it, ogles her nipples and calls it ‘research’, and so many other things that were just unacceptable. There are consent issues in this book, one particular scene he plies Candice with alcohol to the point where she is inebriated. He then kisses her and I honestly don’t believe the suddenly interested excuse.

I think this book tried to be a version of Beach Read but with the smut level of Bridgerton. I’ve seen positive reviews of this book and I can maybe understand why people like it, I honestly think so much of the behaviour just went unchecked and doesn’t really belong in a romance book.

This book has an adorable premise in theory but unfortunately it did not connect with me and fell flat. I DNF very early on. So many books, so little time! But thank you to netgalley for the early copy. I always appreciate the opportunity!

This is an amazing book, just buy it, and sit back and enjoy the ride. A massive five shiny stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Holiday Read had one too many similiarities with Beach Read to even be a coincidence. I get it, it's a bit hard to be completely original in the romance genre, but this one was giving too much of copycat vibes.
The main characters fell flat and were quite unlikeable, the plot and tropes used seemed as a foolery of the romance genre. Yeah, it is supposedly giving you what a romance book would but without the essence of even a badly written romance book. It was very weak and disappointing.
I basically felt like reading a book, written by someone wanting to make quick money with just a 5-minute research on the genre. Would not reccomend.

This one was pretty good! I was a little nervous because the good reads ratings were in the 2’s, but I ended up liking it quite a bit! It’s not spicy but it’s sweet, and there is good tension and some strong female friendships represented. And a happy ending!

I was drawn in by the colourful cover and requested this as it sounded similar to Emily Henry's Beach Read which I love - though I was worried it might have been based on too similar a concept.

I was happily impressed with this book - I enjoyed the writing style and really liked the characters.

An easy escapist read with a true romance at the heart

Sorry not sorry to say I DNF-ed this one. I tried.
I read 38% (up to chapter Thirteen) and gave up on Holiday Read.

It read as if the author had (badly) Frankensteined a romance novel by picking parts and tropes from already popular books in the genre and gluing them together with copious pop culture references in hopes that readers would pick up Holiday Read and the author could cash in on the romance trend.

For me it already didn't start off too well, the first few pages didn't draw me into the story so throughout the first chapter I found myself skimming some of the exposition and focusing on the dialogue, but even that felt forced between the characters.
And the fact that the word _tit-limpeting_ is thrust upon us 10 times within the first few paragraphs (yes, I counted) doesn't help the book either.

Unfortunately, it didn't really get any better, and then it got to the point where I knew no matter how this book ends, it just reads like an insult to the romance genre. So I stopped and didn't want to continue reading Holiday Read.

-[..] ‘[...]I’m aiming for a book that will make women readers want to sleep with their husbands. That night. That’s basically the whole raison d’être of the book. It’s in the official proposal.’ [..]-
Oh, come on. No. Just no.

People often try to imply that authors of romance novels are injecting their own autobiographical views, hopes and experiances into their stories. Let me tell you that the quote above and several other passages in the book read not only like the premise of Alexis's (the male protagonist's) book, but also like the intent of the author of Holiday Read herself. Making the book read as if these were the author's autobiographical contributions.

-[..] [Alexis]‘God, I’m a prick sometimes.’
‘Only sometimes,’ I[Candice] say, smiling. ‘For the other ten percent of the time, you’re doing just great.’
He looks at me differently and, for the first time since we met, I can see a flicker of desire. [..]-

It's sad to write such a harsh review!

tldr: please don't bother.

I really wanted to like this but the story just was not meant for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters and was not a fan of the writing. Hoping this book finds its desired audience.

The cover gave Beach Reads vibes (one of my faves), so I was really hoping Holiday Read wasn't going to be exactly the same and would give me something similar but different... In some ways it did, but mostly it's a Great Value knock off of the real thing.

Described as: the ultimate sexy and escapist rom com for book and beach lovers. When romance-fanatic Candice meets writer Alexis, she thinks her happy ending is finally on its way. He walks into her struggling Cornish surf school, and they hit it off straight away. Until she discovers that Alexis has been using their courtship as inspiration for the romantic novel he's struggling to write.
This is a cute little rom com that doesn't really have anything to do with the holidays (or even going on a holiday, except it's in a beach town).