Love this! My favourite setting Cornwall by the sea.

Candice, a romance fanatic works at her own struggling surf school in Newquay, meets Alexis, a writer, thinks he’s her happy ever after but no, he wants help writing and publishing a hit romance novel.
I love the 2 friends Candice has and the emotional side to her and then she meets Daniel, Alexis agent, things change then, hopefully for the better….

Candice goes abroad to escape her marriage. She opens a surf school, lives in her van, and waitresses in a local cafe. While there, she meets a hot author on holiday. There are several mysteries: what happened in Candice’s marriage? Why did she flee from Hawaii to Cornwall-–is it really just the surf scene? The characters were not particularly likeable but I found myself curious as to how it would all play out.

Thank you to Aria & Aries as well as Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance!

𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 follows Candice who's escaped to Newquay for a vacation but is is instead met with the chaos of a love triangle.

- ~ -

Hmm... It would seem my opinion is the same as that of others... It is indeed copied off of Emily Henry's Beach Read and that too a little poorly.

Alexis was misogynistic, discriminatory, ignorant, intolerant and a hypocritic piece of s***. He's an author who wants to venture into the romance genre which he doesn't enjoy himself and often ridicules but is well aware of the profits it generates. So basically he's an obnoxious know-it-all and a big creep who's after the money. And the fact he wasn't dropped off the story before the 77% mark, making us doubt who the love interest really is, speaks volumes about the kind of book this is.

Other than that, there were wayyy too many subplots and sub-storylines with not much follow up that cause too much confusion.

Overall, this book absolutely annihilated my expectations, in a bad way, because I was hoping for a sweet, summery read but was instead met with this chaos.

- ~ -

2.01/5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Read if you like:
🏖️ Vacation Vibes
💛 Romance
📙 Book Writing Process

This book was one I had high hopes for and it just missed the mark for me personally. I felt the plot wasn’t as well fleshed out as it could have been and the characters lacked a bit of depth for me to really enjoy and be bought into their story.

However it is a quick beachy read and I’d recommend for someone wanting to read a summery romance.

Thank you to Aria for my ARC in exchange for my review.

This book caught my eye and I thought it would probably make a good beach read, so I dove in. The cover was cute and set at the beach.

The Description:
The ultimate sexy and escapist rom com for book and beach lovers. Will delight fans of Emily Henry and Josie Silver. 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. When Alexis offers to bring her in on the deal if Candice helps him deliver a winning book to his publisher, she accepts, and along with Alexis' agent Daniel, they embark on a very unusual summer of love, as Candice tries to teach the men the recipe for a successful romance. But you can't have a great love story, without a great romantic hero. Will Candice find hers before the summer is over?

My thoughts:
The Cornish setting seemed like a nice place right on the beach. I liked Candice's entrepreneural spirit in starting her surf school on the side while she worked at the cafe. Alexis was deceptive and seemed nice at first, but I didn't really like him after reading a while. Candice seemed like an open person and wanted so badly to have a nice romantic partner. I felt sorry for her. I didn't really get invested emotionally in this book as there wasn't a lot of depth to the characters. I think they could have been fleshed out more. The book did read well and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to Aria & Aries through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on May 11, 2023.

I am so.sorry but I dnfed this book at 40 %. Just not a book for me. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

So I read a few reviews before I started reading this, and most compared it to Beach Read by Emily Henry, so I was nervous to read it, given that Beach Read is one of my favorite books.

While this isn't exactly like it, the premise of "girl leaves home to find herself in a small beach town and meets numerous boys for a love triangle" is definitely there.

Candice leaves Hawaii after a tumultuous marriage goes wrong (but she doesn't get a divorce?) and finds herself in a small British town meeting Alexis, a writer who is trying to make his way into the romance genre. Candice learns that Alexis is really just using her and has to figure out where to go from there.

Side note: this book has a lot of references to diet culture and intermittent fasting, which is something that I don't care to read about (promoting unhealthy eating and starvation), so that immediately turned me off on this story. None of the guys were any sort of likable. I did actually like Candice, which is a surprise, considering how much she references her "husband" she wants nothing to do with, but refuses to divorce (still confused on this part).
Overall, not the worst book I've read but definitely not my favorite, unfortunately.
Thank you to #NetGalley, and Aria & Aries for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this fun and engaging book!

Set in Newquay, Cornwall, Candice is trying to keep her surf school business going when she meets romance writer, Alexis.
I thought the scene where they first have a conversation about romance novels is hilarious, and there are lots of other funny moments in the story.
The characters are quirky, the storyline is fun and zips along. I can easily see this as a holiday read like its title.

Thanks to NetGalley, Taylor Cole and Aria for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

The synopsis of this suggested that it was going to be. Cute easy read for the summer, and while I can completely see how it fits that brief, this was not for me. I found it incredibly difficult to get into and really did not connect with the characters. The storyline felt a little all over the place and like there were just too many things thrown in to try and create plot twists that just weren’t necessary, at points I wasn’t even sure what the storyline actually was. It overall felt slow and I just wasn’t rooting for the main characters at all.

Thank you to the author, Aria and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was... A LOT. Marketed as a feel-good romcom, there are glimmers of what it could be, e.g. the love of surfing (never done it, but the descriptions really made me want to try), the friendships between the female protagonist and her two close female friends. However, the overarching theme is a misogynistic hellscape with a male protagonist that exhibits a lot of completely unacceptable behavior, and that can only be immensely triggering for a lot of readers. Overall, this does not work, and I cannot recommend.

I could not finish this book. The writing was so awkward, as were the characters, and not in a quirky/silly/funny way. So many phrases or sentences were thrown in for no reason that made me go "what??". For example: Female MC sees male MC across the beach watching some birds, and the author writes that the baby birds are "waiting for [their mom] to throw up their lunch." Why can't he just be watching the birds?? This, sadly, was the tip of the iceberg. It's clear that female MC wants to keep their relationship professional and help him with his book, but it's clear he won't settle for that, and questions of sexual consent arise (NOT OKAY!! Literally what year is this??). The two characters, at least by 35% of the book, had absolutely no chemistry. This "romance" novel was like a sketch drawing that hasn't been painted yet. It was following the plot points of a romance novel without any of the fluff that gives you butterflies as you wait for them to get together. Overall very disappointing and just weird.

Here's a British novel by an author I've never read before. Taylor Cole brings adventure and romance to intertwine in her book, Holiday Read. Candice has escaped to Cornwall after some marital issues and the sad death of her mother. Candice is trying a new life out for herself with her love of surfing on a minimal budget.

She meets a mysterious customer at the cafe she works at for some regular wages who turns out to be an author. He shares what his next novel is supposed to be, a romance, but he's struggling. Candice finds herself assisting him with the novel as well as briefly having some feelings for him. Until...his literary agent comes to town to make sure the author is doing what he's promised.

Daniel is mysterious and kind and Candice starts to fall for him in a weird and awkward way. The story had me definietly wanting more but I felt like it fell a little flat. The romance was a little disappointing and boring. I often had to guess who Candice had feelings for, if she had any. My rating of this one was a 4-star; I liked the story, but felt like it could have used a little energy booster in there and a little more touchy feely, direct romance in there.

It comes out on May 11th, so if this sounds like its up your alley, pre-order it now!

#NetGalley #HolidayRead

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity of reading this book in exchange of an honest review.

I guess this book might be a chill summer read for some people, but it took me a couple of months to actually get to it, it just wasn't for me. I strongly believe that both the title and the cover are too much alike "Beach Read" by Emily Henry, and I don't think that is the best marketing option here.

I was excited to read this particularly by the cover and the title so couldn’t wait to get started.

However, I did find the storyline a little slow to start with but once it got going, found it to be a rather enjoyable read.

It was lighthearted in parts but with more serious themes threaded through and the characters were relatable.

Overall, it was a pleasant summer read.

The story of Holiday Read follows Candice and her friends, Demi and Makayla. I really enjoyed this trio. They are in a small beach town called Cornwall. Cornwall is full of cafes and surf shops.

It also followed Alexis who is also known as “Laptop Guy”. Alexis is a well-known author. I liked Alexis' character in the beginning. I even felt bad for him during some early parts of the story. Unfortunately, as the story went on he seemed to become a bigger jerk who just used people.

Then Daniel is thrown into the mix. Daniel is Alexis' agent and it seems like Candice didn’t like him at all. There were parts when you can see they were trying to make Daniel win her over but it just felt forced.

The storyline started off well but then seemed to jump a little all over the place making this a tough one to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for an eARC in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed Candace and Alexis! Their story had great tension and I loved the banter. I love books set on the beach and this one was so much fun. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

1.5⭐️

Holiday Read unfortunately did not hit the way I was hoping it would.

I did not connect to the characters or the storyline. I can see why people DNF this by 30-50% in; it was extremely difficult to see where the book was going and why the reader should continue with it.

SLIGHT SPOILER: I read the book till the end, and the main character, Candice, does not actually end up with Alexis (the first man introduced whom all the reviews are rightfully shitting on).

I remained confused as to who the romance was supposed to be about, and was shocked that at 75% in, I was still with my doubts as to who Candice would end up with. This also didn't work for me, as this clearly meant that the chemistry and emotional connection between the couple did not shine through at all (or even exist).

Also, this is such an irrelevant point, but the most unrealistic part of this was when Candice called soccer/football 'soccer', and NEITHER of the two English men she was speaking to corrected her to football.

Looking back, there was also an issue with dubious consent in the beginning surrounding drinking, and Alexis was overall an ass in general for attempting to make money writing a romance book while simultaneously being condescending toward the genre.

I rounded this up to the two stars due to Candice not ending up with who I originally thought she would, and for the strong female friendships and bonds she had throughout the book. Her friends were very sweet!

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria and Aries for the eARC, in exchange for an honest review of the book!

This book really did drag until at least 60% through, just because the characters felt under developed, and to be honest, they didn't actually do anything. A Cornish surfing school, which is what grabbed my attention, wasn't really a surfing school. The love interest (spoiler) wasn't really a love interest and he was just an absolute idiot. Which, given the last 40%, made sense but still. You could really just read the first few pages and then skip to the last three-quarters of the book.
That was the interesting part, the part that actually grabbed my attention and made me want to carry on- action, tension, confusion, all of which was lacking before. The fmc's friends became a lot less stereotypical best friends and started developing their own personalities! This was really the saving grace.

If you're an extremely patient person, I would absolutely suggest this book and if you're like me, I'd still suggest it, just ignore the middle, for your own sanity.

Couldn’t even get past 15%… it’s a no from me. Main characters were so unlikeable, it was hard to read and honestly seemed very similar to a lot of other books I’ve read.

It did start promising and giving off Emily Henry’s “Beach Read” vibe, which I loved very much. But then you read and read and read and nothing happens. It is just talk and not really much of action or romance or plot. And when the “plot twist” comes and a family mystery gets solved, you already forgot there was one.

Very underwhelming.