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.
Christy's Review
Beach Read was my first Emily Henry book and I was blown away. Don't let the cover fool you, this isn't some light and fun chick lit story. It's a beautiful romance that has a lot of depth and emotion and I couldn't have loved it more.
January and Gus are both published authors in neighboring beach homes. January just got to her late father's beach house and has a lot of questions. Her recent life events have put her in a bit of a funk when it comes to writing the romance she normally writes. Gus writes more serious literary fiction and they decide to switch genres as a bet to see who can write and sell a book first. To do this, they end up spending a lot of time together and go on adventures to help each other out.
I loved the friendship January and Gus developed. Watching it change and grow was one of my favorite parts of this book. I loved how these two could be open and honest with each other and they challenged each other in the best ways.
I was too much of a romantic for anything to stay casual, and even if we were totally incompatible, I was already in deeper with Gus than a purely physical attraction. And it seemed like neither of us could stop pushing the boundaries.
Beach Read is witty, swoony, and hella romantic. It has a grumpy hero which I love and I seriously couldn't get enough of January and Gus together. Their 'dates' left me with the biggest smile on my face and their chemistry and back and forth was the best. These characters and their story were complex. And it captivated me from the start and never let go. They were both realistic and smart and relatable.
I haven't had a ton of five star reads in 2020, but the ones I have had have been epic. This had the perfect banter, a slow burn romance, and gave me so many feels. I mean, really... what more could I ask for? it was the perfect kind of romance for a reader like me and I highly recommend it!
"When I watch you sleep," he said shakily, "I feel overwhelmed that you exist."
Author bio:
Emily Henry writes stories about love and family for both teens and adults. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
