If you're looking for a cute Rom-Com this is a really great one to read. The banter between the characters is funny and relatable. There are several times I wanted to grab and hug Cat as well as Noah with all that they are going through separately as well as fighting their feelings for each other.

Return to Sunset Harbor with me
in
Beachy Keen by Kasey Stockton

Series: Falling for Summer bk 2
Genre: Sweet Island Rom-Com
Romance Level: Closed-door 1
Audio Release Date: July 6, 2024
Narrators: Rylee Kuberra, John Rogers
Indie Published

My Favorite Parts:
Nerdy Billionaire MMC
Book loving FMC
Meet Cute
Unrequited Love/Crush
Hate to more
Forced proximity
Cooking dinner
Smoothie
Photo shoot for ad
Conversations
Blackberry picking and crumble
At the bar (no drinking)
Taking care of each other
The proposal

Thoughts:
First off, I agree with Cat on Home Alone Movies.

Secondly, I just adored my second trip to Sunset Harbor in Cat's and Noah's story, Beach Keen. Noah is basically my husband, minus the billionaire part. He is a nerd, loving all the things my husband loves: Lord of the Rings, video games, Star Wars, etc. Noah is just a sweetie, who has had a crush on Cat for a VERY long time, and she doesn't know it. In fact it caused problems in hers and his sister's friendship many years ago. I won't say anymore than that though. Noah has some anxiety due to the fact his family has a lot of problems. My heart ached for him. He wants to do nothing, but please and help Cat, which is how my husband is for me. He spoils me rotten!

Poor Cat! She just wants to help her uncle, who has raised her since she was a child. She scrubs and cleans people's homes for extra money, and when that isn't enough, Noah hires her as a personal assistant while he is on the island. She reluctantly agrees and the rest is history. I loved their dynamic. And their kisses are so sizzling and romantic.
I loved this one and Kasey is a new Rom-Com favorite. I look forward to her whole backlist (have only read 2 others of hers).

I can't wait to go back to visit Sunset Harbor in Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel.

Audio:
Rylee and John do another fantastic job at duet dual pov in this audio. I especially liked how you could tell when Noah’s mom and aunt were talking.

I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from Netgalley and Dreamscape Audio. Thank you! All thoughts are my own.

Content Warning: Kisses only

Trigger Warning: Fight with cancer (side character), Family drama/Divorce, Death of family (past), On page Anxiety, Counseling for Anxiety, Bullying

This was an excellent listen on audio. The characters were fun and it was interesting seeing that other characters from the series were mentioned. It kept me guessing trying to figure out how those supplemental characters would play out their own stories. It also intrigued me to check out the other books in the series by the same publisher and prompted me to look for other titles by the author.

Cat Keene needs money or she’ll lose the bed & breakfast that has been in her family for generations. Noah Belacourt is a billionaire. He wants to help Cat, and not just because he’s harbored a crush on her since they were teens. But Cat is stubborn, and she takes some convincing. When Cat agrees to work as Noah’s personal assistant for the summer, she doesn’t realize she’s signing up for a lot more than debt relief.

From the moment they met again when Noah was back in town, Cat tried her hardest to avoid interactions with Noah. After agreeing to come on as his assistant, she soon had to work to deny their mutual attraction. I love that Noah respected the boss-employee boundary despite crushing on her for the longest time.

The friendship they developed somehow broke the ice. They grew closer and comforted each other when difficulties and past hurts needed to be dealt with.

The dual narration on audio was such a treat! This is the first book in the series that I've read and I'm glad it reads well as a standalone. Can't wait to read the rest!

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf at 30 % I think I’m just not the right audience. It felt repetitive and I wasn’t invested in the characters. I liked the anxiety rep loved the island setting. Just wasn’t vibing with it.

Easy, breezy beach read. Perfect for a quick on the go book. I really enjoyed the pov of the fmc, but couldn't get onboard with the mmc. His, as he stated "archaic" thoughts and slight judgments really gave me an ick. Even though he claimed to love her as she is, he continued to have digs about what she was wearing. And, I didn't like that he kept trying to give her money even though she said no. Then, for her to switch and be ok with it if they were getting married threw me a bit. Overall, it was a cute read, it just lacked character development and chemistry for me.

This is an awesome book! I love the banter and relationship building that takes place between Cat and Noah.

The narrators were excellent. They made the story come alive.
I can never get enough Kasey Stockton books! I thoroughly enjoyed this and loved the main characters!

The secret crush aspect was so swoony. I really liked the way the two of them helped each other through their struggles.

Having the MMC be a billionaire was fun! (Oh to have that much money…) These two had so much chemistry! Because of Cat’s extreme dislike of Noah’s sister, she didn’t want anything to do with him. But Cat needed a lot of money fast, so she reluctantly accepted a temporary job as Noah’s assistant. That’s when the sparks began to fly!

Noah was such a sweetheart! I don’t know how Cat resisted him as long as she did. I loved her character arc and how she came to face the past and overcome her prejudices.

This is the sweetest story! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

4.5 ⭐️

I love Stockton's stories for their banter and romantic tension (closed door romances/RomComs). Beachy Keen did not disappoint me. It's the perfect summer binge read on or off the beach. Major bonus: the audiobook is a DUET narration!! The narration was brilliantly entertaining - it really brought the story to the next level.

I enjoyed every minute of this read and read it start to finish in less than 24 hours.

Thank you NetGalley, Kasey Stockton, and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook ARC.

This was a cute billionaire romance and I enjoyed the progression of Cat and Noah’s relationship. They had that forced proximity because of the boss/assistant situation and I loved that he had a crush on her long ago and she always misjudged him. There was great anxiety representation and the island setting of Sunset Harbor was so fun.

The duet audiobook narration took a little bit to get used to, but I thought it was well done.

Content: kissing

This book is light and fluffy and full of romance novel tropes. If you’re in the mood for a quick, easy beach read it will definitely hit the spot. The end is satisfying, despite being totally predictable. This book left me feeling light and airy. A cute and wholesome summer read. Exactly as advertised.

3.7 rounded up to 4.

Such a fun book! Right from the beginning, I was drawn in by the fun meet cute. Although Cat and Noah know each other from their childhood, it’s been years since they last saw each other because Cat avoids the Belacourt family as much as she can.
🏝️
Forced proximity, workplace romance, trip, family drama, sickness, a touch fake dating and friends to lovers. So many of my favorite tropes! Plus I love Kasey’s books and this series is set up fantastically with interconnected stories and characters. It makes it fun to read familiar characters or places and where they’re all at on the 4th or the storm.
🏝️
The audiobook is so immersive with the dual narration and even having them do their own voice in the other chapter POV. Like if it’s Noah’s POV chapter and he’s talking to Cat, the narrator for Cat will actually speak. That’s not usually done in audiobooks and you’re stuck with a man trying to speak like a woman for that part or a woman speaking like a man.
🏝️
The audiobook released this week. Thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for the alc. These are my own thoughts and opinions. I can’t wait to read/listen to the rest of the series. 🎉

Loved it! I had already read the book so this audio was a reread for me and I loved the story just as much! The narrators did a wonderful job and I just love Cat and Noah! Such a great book and I have loved this whole series! I would definitely recommend this one!

ADORABLE!!! I could not stop listening to the audiobook. A new to me author, it was a light funny read with lots of heartfelt moments. I will try to read the rest of the books in the series, this is the second I’ve read and also loved.

‘Beachy Keen’ is a summery NA billionaire small town romance. It is part of a series written by multiple authors. As this was my first read from this series, I have not quite figured out if there is a specific reading order. You can follow this book without a problem without having read any of the other books. It is hinted that there are other love stories, though, and I think some characters are reoccurring.

This book focuses on Cat and Noah that are enemies; at least if you’d ask Cat: She does not like Noah or his family, because Noah’s sister bullied her in high school and his family is so rich and snobbish that they even have their own reality TV show. Noah has a different perspective: He has been crushing on Cat since high school and when he figures out that Cat has some money issues, he offers her a job as his part-time personal assistant, in hopes of helping her out and getting closer to her. While it’s a good reason to be a bit apprehensive, Cat's animosity towards Noah in the beginning was a little misplaced in my opinion. Because they go from enemies (kind of) to friends to lovers, I would categorize this as a slow burn romance with the trope ‘he falls first’ which I adore. There is also a fair amount of miscommunication, which is less ideal.

I did like the story and this couple; I was just missing some more chemistry. I just didn’t swoon for them for some reason, which is why this was a 3-star read for me. I will watch out for other books in this series, though, because I did enjoy the setting and the overall premise of interacting stories.
I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the duel narration. Both of the narrators did excellent jobs, but why does female narrator not know how to pronounce Bagel? (it kind of reminded me of the TV show community).

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me this ALC of the audiobook to review. All opinions are my own. I was not paid to leave this review.

If you like a billionaire romance, long time crush with employer/employee issues thrown into the mix this is the summer read for you!
This is the first book that I have read/listened to by Kasey Stockton and I loved it (I listened to the audio book version) and after listening to it I learned that it is part of a 'Falling for Summer' series of books by seven different authors which is new to be but definitely intrigues me enough to check out the other books in the series.

The male and female narrators were both great and added to my enjoyment of listening to this books.

A highly recommended summer read. 5 stars from me!

It was my first duet style narration, where the male and female read their own lines. It took me a minute to get used to this new style, but the narrators, were so fun and perfect for Cat and Noah.
This was my first foray into billionaire romance. Turns out, dating a billionaire (vicariously through a book, of course) isn't all yachts and champagne flutes. This guy wasn't just rich; he was the cutest, most humble person... with runner's abs to boot.
What really melted my heart, though, was how the book tackled some heavier issues-therapy, anxiety, panic attacks. Cat and Noah not only fell in love but also became each other's support systems, encouraging personal growth and helping each other confront their fears.
This gem is the second book in the "Falling for Summer" series, and if the others are anything as adorbs as this one, my summer reading list is a whole lot sweeter.
Here's one more swoony quote to convince you... "I don't want anything in the world right now as much as I want to kiss him. But he is my boss, and not interested, and Olive's brother, and disgustingly rich, and so so so hot."

Okay okay this was pretty darn cute. The MMX was swoon worthy and the FMC was sweet too. I recommend it!

He’s a billionaire on an anxiety induced forced break from work. She’s busy running the family B&B with her uncle, and scraping every penny together to keep things going.

Cat doesn’t have time for anything more. Until an unfortunate run-in with Noah. She can’t stand him and his family, but he’s offered her a job she can’t turn down. A job that will force Cat to have to spend a lot of time with Noah- something he very much wants.

Can Cat move past the hurts of her childhood and let her feelings for Noah exist?

This duet narration by Rylee Kuberra and John Rogers is absolutely perfect for the story. It made all the banter and nicknames so much more fun.

Listen to this audiobook if you want to laugh out loud and love sweet, sassy main characters.

Beachy Keen was a fun summer audiobook! This felt like listening to a hallmark movie in the best way!

Absolutely loved the audiobook. The narrators were perfect and made me love the characters. It’s such a cute romance which makes it the perfect summer read! Thank you NetGalley no Dreamscape Media for the arc!