A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
Date of Publication: May 19, 2020
Date Read: April 05, 2020
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
No. of Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Setting: North Bears Shore, Michigan
Get Your Copy Here: Amazon | Book Depository| Book Of The Month
A new favorite romance for 2020!
Long time no review! I haven’t been giving full reviews since the year started, but this book deserves a full one! Beach Read is now included in my favorite books list. Best believe this will be one of the books that will come up on one of our conversations. Beach Read is so much more than what its gorgeous cover lets on. It is just everything I wanted in a book: 1) book about writers ; ) playful and funny banters; 3) characters that are relatable and realistic (not the God-like, drop-dead gorgeous with ripped abs characters often described in romance books); 4) great family dynamic; 5) depth and character development and 6) lastly amazing plot line.
This book isn’t just your ordinary summer read. While it has the quality of a feel good book (something we desperately need during this uncertain time) it also gives off maturity and depth, focusing on dealing with grief and coming to terms with it while also discovering one’s self in the process. Beach Read offers its readers an escape from their own heads while imparting a lesson or two. I love that in a book, the way that it is not just a book but a depiction, an understanding, a realization. It deals with different kinds of grief but contain universal pain. I love how a book speaks in volumes.
January Andrews and Augustus Everett (gossssh I love their names!!!) are characters I have been longing to read for quite sometime. Who would pass up on a story about a romance writer and a literary fiction author? The premise alone holds so much promise and it definitely held up its part of the bargain, definitely exceeded my expectations.. January and Augustus have solid characteristics with amazing character development. Their characters represent two kinds of different people, one with a happier outlook and the other with seriousness, bleakness and some sense of intensity – looking at the world not with pessimism but with realistic eyes. I loved how their characters compliment each other and how their deal came about, how they each learn the value of the other’s work.
I loved how this book highlighted the notions on women’s fiction and how it should be valued just as much as any kind of literature. Oh gosh I love their rom-com trips, my fave was the drive-in, I am such a sucker for that! The author was able to highlight so much about the process of writing (makes me want to write my own book haha). Augustus and January’s banters and palpable sexual tension gave this book so much color. I laughed on more than one occasion. I love how easy their conversations are and how it doesn’t feel forced. Beach Read is the kind of book that really was able to sell the relationship of the characters, they are easily lovable and you just can’t help but root for them. The slow burn romance was played out well. While there are times that I would like Augustus and January’s relationship to move on to the next level and a few times got frustrated by their “almosts”, like I just want them to make out already and be a happy happy couple haha. But when everything unfolded and ran its course, it was just perfect and definitely worth the wait. The romance was just made right, and that’s what I love most about it.
I can confidently say that Beach Read will be loved by many. It’s fun, sweet, tug at your heartstrings, with relatable characters and have an awesome setting. Honestly, what’s not to love?
Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.
— Emily Henry; Beach Read
Nerdy Talks 
Definitely adding this to my TBR! Great review!
Thank you so much! Hope you can grab a copy as soon as its out!
such a great and detailed review. I actually did not enjoy this book much. But I might not be the right person to judge it because I don’t read romances that much. But I feel like the backstories of Gus and January were not explored enough and I think that would have given the book more depth
Great review! ❤ I loved it too. Though I found the book to be a bit depressing, or maybe that's just me! 🙂