A romance novel set in Cornwall written about two characters, Alexis and Candice, who each want to write their own romance novels.

Candice is originally from Cornwall but moved to Hawaii when she was very young, but after the death of her mother and the breakdown of her marriage to Joseph, she decides to move back to Cornwall in the hopes of finding her birth father - a man her mother spent an afternoon (while unhappily married), and ending up pregnant with Candice. On moving to Cornwall, Candice is taken under the wings of Demi, an older woman and maternal figure, and Makayla, slightly younger and very outgoing. They work together at Demigorgons cafe (owned by Demi) and she parks the van she lives in, in Demi's backyard.

Candice starts a surf school as that is what she was doing back in Hawaii, but her heart isn't really in it and what she really wants to do is become and author but she sells herself short. She's also emotionally fragile after being in an abusive marriage to Joseph who then cheated on her with her best friend, getting her pregnant while Candice was grieving the death of her mother.

Alexis is already an established author and thinks he can write a romance novel even though it is clear throughout the story that he really has no idea what romance is and bases his assumptions on what he's seen on "Bridgerton." It's clear he's read some of the romance classics, like the Jane Austen books but he basically sees everything in Austen's books as code for sex and doesn't see the romance angle at all.

Alexis is good looking, arrogant and self-involved, he really couldn't care less about anyone else but himself and is more than happy to use people to get what he wants - and this is exactly what he does to Candice. First he manipulates Candice by flirting with her and leading her to believe he genuinely cares about her, before they end up naked together in his rental property, though it doesn't go as far as sex when Candice decides she needs the bathroom and gets up to find it, accidentally stumbling on Alexis's office and his notebook - full of notes about Candice, her mannerisms, her body, things she's said and his own thoughts about how he can work these into his female protagonist. Candice is horrified and storms out.

Alexis's literary agent, Daniel, comes to Cornwall in what seems like an attempt to win Candice around to Alexis but she's not interested in him in a romantic level at that point. However, she does agree to co-write the book with Alexis, writing the voice of the female protagonist. Alexis being who he is, was happy to take what he could get from Candice while being quite demeaning at the same time and if it wasn't for Daniel fighting for Candice, Alexis would have published the novel without giving her any recognition whatsoever.

From this point it all becomes a bit of a happy every after, the flirting between Daniel and Candice becomes a relationship and she pitches him her novel idea and with his help, she finds an agent to represent her.

I enjoyed the book and I felt that Candice was a character that I could connect with. She was a strong person but due to the emotional abuse she had suffered from her ex-husband, she lacked self-confidence. Living in a small beachside village in Cornwall where she had people in her life, helped her gain a lot of that back. While Alexis was an unlikeable character, he also gave Candice the opportunity to stop herself from ending up in a similar situation to the one she had left behind and stand up for what she wanted, she refused to kowtow to his apologies and allow herself to be drawn back in by him.

I thought the story was well written and while I can see some similarities between this and Emily Henry's "Beach Read," I didn't feel like it was a rip off of the same story.

DNF

I was really not a fan of this book.

From the way it was marketed, I was expecting a 'Beach Read' -esque book and instead I was uncomfortable and unable to finish this book.

I thought the MMC wasn't likable at all and gave off a creepy vibe. All the misogynist quotes really felt unnecessary and that the author was just trying to take the opportunity to degrade women.

From what little I read, this book was just entirely dated and offensive.

I personally do not like DNFing books or leaving negative reviews, but with this book, I had to.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really tried to like this book, but it wasn't a match for me. I loved Beach Read by Emily Henry and this appeared to be a very mediocre execution of a similar plot. I didn't really enjoy either of the leads and in fact HATED the male lead, Alexis. I wish I had DNF'd this book earlier, but kept going in hopes of it getting better. I would not recommend this book.

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but from around 30% in I just had to force myself through the rest.

I really do not understand all the negative reviews about this book. There’s plenty to enjoy and learning about Cornwall was fascinating. Candice is building her found family and standing on her own feet after an abusive marriage. An author researching his next book starts a new adventure and career path for her. His agent joins in the endeavor and a positive, strong relationship develops. There’s no spice but plenty of longing looks and thoughts. Demi and Makayla are a hoot and Cole does a wonderful job absorbing you into the setting. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

I had to stop reading this one around 30%. It was just absolutely terrible. I was expecting an Emily Henry knock off of Beach Read considering the description, name of the book, and cover. There was nothing redeeming about what I read and quite frankly, I was disgusted with the MMC.

Once I checked out other reviews, I saw a bunch of people agreeing and DNFing too so it's time to end this misery.

Thanks Netgalley and Aria & Aries for an ARC.

First, I would like to thank Netgalley and Aria & Aries for letting me read this book early! Overall, I enjoyed this story! I thought it was insightful and fun. I definitely wasn’t super sucked in, it was a little drawn out at some parts but, I do think it was worth it toward the end. It was definitely a slowwwww burn and a light burn as well. I really liked the journey of the MC and her found family dynamic. When I was about 30% through the book I read a few awful reviews for this book but decided to finish anyway and I am glad. I don’t think this story is for everyone but I can say that I did enjoy it!

Really enjoyed this story Candice getting over her failed marriage fly's across the word to the British Countryside. While there she meets a struggling romance writer and begins to think she has feelings for him until she realizes he's using her for inspiration. She decides to help him as friends work on the book because she loves romance novels and comes to realize she enjoys writing them as well and she begins to find inspiration herself in the form of literary agent Daniel. I really liked all the characters in this book they all had a good chemistry together and I liked the behind the scenes talk of writing a novel and all that goes into it. If I had one complaint it felt a little longer than necessary and there some added side stories that didn't feel entirely essential to the novel. This was 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for me. I want to thank NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Holiday read

The premise of this book is very similar to Emily Henry’s “Beach Read” with an English beach and a quest of self discovery and belonging. Though there is an Austen style longing love interest it doesn’t become a focal part of the book till towards the end. This was a decent read with a strong and empowering message meant to inspire others and most definitely had me inspired to start writing powerfully inspirationally messages. This is a book I would recommend for a casual read but not as a summer must read.

If you're looking for a story you just wanna keep reading & characters you wanna become best friends with, then Holiday Read is Not it. The characters were hard to connect with & the storyline wasn't horrible, just hard to follow. The drive to find one's calling in life & knowing your self worth came out well in this story, but unfortunately it was overall lacking in being an amazing story. I'm not opposed to reading other stories from Taylor Cole, but I hope she focuses more on the quality of her characters then the quantities of so many that it was hard to remember who fits into the story & where.

Cover and blurb made me think this was a cutesy romance novel like Emily Henry's books. Clear marketing mistake. Granted I have only read an eARC of the book and some of the issues I have with the pacing and writing style, as well as subplots and their resolution, might have been left on the editing floor by the time this hits the shelves. Though, lack of editing aside, this still wasn't the enemies to lovers beach read rom-com I had been expecting.

I didn't connect with any of the characters. The plot and backstories were all over the place. There seemed to have been no chemistry between the characters. They weren't even real enemies, just two people who couldn't stand each other due to misread social cues.

Anyway, I drew the line and DNF'd when a drunken 'willingness' to make out was taken as consent for sex. Absolute no-go for me. Not in this time and age.

Firstly, thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in return for an honest review. I DNF'ed this book at around 30%. I just couldn't make myself carry on reading. I didn't feel engaged in the story, and didn't like the characters at all.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

I requested this title since it gave me good romance vibes and I was looking forward to a real holiday read. Instead I got a MC that tries to write a romance but really loathe the genre and it's readers. If there's something I really don't like with a book, it's when the author makes the male MC a misyogynistic pig and think it's a great idea to make the female MC fall for him. That's an insult against women and romance readers.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

I requested this title since it gave me good romance vibes and I was looking forward to a real holiday read. Instead I got a MC that tries to write a romance but really loathe the genre and it's readers. If there's something I really don't like with a book, it's when the author makes the male MC a misyogynistic pig and think it's a great idea to make the female MC fall for him. That's an insult against women and romance readers.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

DNF @40%. The cover and blurb really gave the wrong impression of the tone of this book. I expected a fun rom-com. This book (at least up to the point where I stopped reading) was dreary and depressing. The main characters (especially Alexis) are not particularly likeable. Even at 40% through the book almost nothing has really happened plot-wise. I didn’t make it to the point where Daniel was introduced and maybe that would have improved things, but I don’t want to feel depressed reading a romance.
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

it is indeed perfect for beach read fans! i found myself grinning and swooning a lot while reading this. a cute summer read 100%! the main couple had an interesting dynamic and interesting conversations which is exactly what i look for in books like this.

Oh no! This had so much potential, the premise was great, though many bookfriends reminded me of its resemblance to Beach Read by Emily Henry. Duh, romantic stories can be similar, but still be different. So, I went into the reading without listening to the prejudices, but the story would simply not deliver! Taylor Cole, I will keep on reading from you. I know we´ll have a great time over your next story!

Based on the title, this was not quite what I expected. It seemed a poor attempt at essentially retelling/copying another recent book and it didn't work. There were aspects that made me hopeful, but overall this one flopped for me.

I adored the setting of Newquay, the surfing element and the descriptive details of locations helped me to visualise the summer setting whilst reading in dreary February. There are some fantastic characters within the book: Demi, Makayla, Daniel and Candice -the female protagonist- who has significant growth after fleeing from Hawaii to the UK after the breakdown of her marriage. Personally, for me, apart from the love triangle between Candice, Daniel and Alexis there weren’t enough romantic elements for this book to be classed as a romantic comedy. There were many subplots within the story that I found confusing for the reader and stopped any sort of romantic plot from happening. I won’t even discuss my hatred for Alexis who is a misogynist. For me it is more women’s fiction than romantic comedy.