THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION!“Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling.”—Sally Thorne, author of The Hating GameA 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.… 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.
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This was a fun, light read! I like the haters to lovers romance trope, so this one was a good fit for me. I do wish we had been given more about the books they were writing. I was thrown off a bit by the cult storyline and why Gus was so obsessed. I thought it was going to be related to his mom somehow. I’m also a bit confused about the title of the book, as it doesn’t take place at a traditional beach and at no time is there a scene like on the cover of the book. Overall it was an enjoyable, if not overly memorable, read.
I couldn’t gobble up Beach Reach quickly enough. It was like a breath of fresh air. Witty, sexy, and completely engaging, with well fleshed-out characters who had realistic motivations. There weren’t any contrived conflicts for the sake of conflicts–just flawed people trying their best while looking for love. Loved it!
January is a top selling romance author who is suffering from writer’s block. She needs to meet an already extended deadline from her editor and focus on nothing but finishing her story. She has recently inherited a house by the beach, and she is hoping it will present the perfect environment to get her creativity flowing through her fingers and onto her keyboard.
Augustus lives in the beach house next door and he too is an author suffering from writer’s block. He writes fiction with a bit more grit and there is usually no happy ending in sight, let alone romance. He extensively researches the details in his plots and this can often take months. He likes to dig as deep as he can and have the most accurate content in his finished work.
They could not be more different writers but they do strike up a friendship of sorts and having a bit of friendly company over summer is better than being completely alone. When they both realise they are suffering from the same writing affliction they come up with a plan. Augustus will write a romance story, a genre he loathes after his own experience of a failed happy ever after, and January will write something a bit dark and real. It may not be what their editors want but it seems to stir something in them both and the block seems to fade away with this renewed sense of enthusiasm.
‘You make beautiful things, because you love the world, and maybe the world doesn’t always look how it does in your books, but… I think putting them out there, that changes the world a little bit. And the world can’t afford to lose that.’
There is an interesting backstory about how this beach house came to belong to January and it takes her on a very emotional journey into her past. Augustus has his own personal things going on but the story focuses more on January’s family. There is a slow building romance simmering between them that actually started many years ago, unbeknownst to January. I loved the hilarious banter these two had how comfortable they were with each other.
This story was a refreshing break from my usual romance trope choices and I’m glad I took the time to enjoy something different from a new to me author.
‘The only promise you ever had in life was the one moment you were living. And I was. Happy for now. I could live with that. I could learn to live with that.’
Beach Read was a wonderful blend of light and fun aspects you would expect to find in a rom com as well deep and meaningful ones that come when people are dealing with loss, grief and heartache.
This story was everything I didn’t even know I was craving and so much more. It had a stong frenemies lovers vibe with a competitive edge. January and Gus we’re constantly butting heads and daring each other to step out their comfort zones in their profession lives as well as dealing with their personal ones. Being a story about two writers who have hit a bit of a mind block with their current projects I loved how this seamlessly wove in both their thoughts as writers as well as conveying how readers feel when enjoying a book. This story was about opening yourself up to new possibilities, dealing with hardships and finding ways to forgive as well as understand and opening yourself back up to all the things you once closed off.
Once I started reading this book I found I just could not put it down amd flew through it. I found it so easy to read. I swooned, laughed, cried and swooned some more.
I think I saw this book on a What to Read this Summer list, because I’d never heard of the author before. I’d been struggling with what to read, starting a book and not getting very far before putting it down. When this book came in at the library, I decided to read it and was hooked right away with the story and the characters. I’ve always loved a couple with a complicated history! I also liked that it was set in Michigan, and all the U of M references.
I didn’t love the ending, but that happens sometimes. Didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. I’d read this author again.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I volunteered to leave an unbiased review.
I put this off a long time. But the hype just didn’t die down. So I lept into it. And I REALLY enjoyed it. The daddy issues were a both a bit much and a little on the nose for me (I have them and they are bad) but this was a whole lot of fun. My first read by this author and I’d recommend this for sure, especially to people who are dipping their toes into the woman’s fiction/light romance genre. Gus and January were a lot of fun and at first I wished for a couple of chapters in Gus’s POV, but now I’ve finished, I’m kinda glad I didn’t get them.
I really enjoyed this “Beach Read,” though, sadly, I didn’t get to read it at the beach. Good for the reader, though, it’s a great story that makes you feel like you’re at the beach even if you can’t be. It’s a classic love story, but involves two writers with “writer’s block” (as Henry puts it) that switch genres. They end up living next door to each other and are both stuck, having a difficult time writing their next book. The two former college classmates, with a bit of history, embark on an adventure to help each other, and the adventurous romance goes from there! This is a sweet, fun, quick read that helped distract me from my anxiety.
Fantastic story that drew me in from the beginning thanks to the “voice” of the characters. The writing was splendid, with imagery created by brilliant turns of phrase I often wanted to pause and savor before continuing to read.
I loved Beach Read. It’s pretty much that simple. I had no idea what it was about when I started it – I knew it was one of those “must read summer books!” so I bought it. Based on the cover and the title, I thought it would be a frothy rom-com set at the beach but it was so much more than that.
January Andrews is a romance book writer whose perfect life is shattered when her father dies and she learns he’d been having an affair. Soon her relationship is over, she’s broke and has writer’s block so she heads to the lake house her father left her which happens to be right next door to the home of Augustus Everett, a highly-acclaimed writer of literary fiction and January’s nemesis from college. I could tell you more but you can see where this is going, right?
Books about writing are always favorites of mine and I love the fun Emily Henry has with the tropes of the different genres. Like January tells Gus “Happy endings don’t matter if the getting there sucks” and the getting there in this novel does anything but. Both January and Gus are grappling with issues that feel authentic and play out with emotional twists I really didn’t see coming. Their witty banter made me laugh out loud several times and while it may seem over-the-top to some people, I believed two smart writers would talk that way. Henry’s pop culture references are also a hoot – “So far, this was the third worst day of my life, and that January was probably buried wherever they put the old Taylor Swift” slayed me – but the story also has a lot of heart and the characters are introspective in a way I don’t come to expect from a “beach read” like when January talks about her ex – “He fit so perfectly into the love story I’d imagined for myself that I mistook him for the love of my life.”
Don’t judge this book by its cover (or its title) – if you’re looking for a light, meet-cute, this may not be the summer read for you. But if you want a meet-cute that’s smart and some substance, you’ll love Beach Read as much as I did.
4.5 stars
So, so very good! I laughed, I smiled and I tears welled up. You can picture this story as a movie.
This was a totally different story than expected. I thought it would be a light hearted beach read but it was so much more and in such a good way! The characters were flawed and hurting with a backstory that supported the characters. I look forward to reading more of her stories!
Beach Read is an absolute delight! Astute observations about author life, great mix of light and profound, plus top notch banter & chemistry between the love interests. I read it in a few hours and now I can’t wait for what Emily Henry writes next.
I loved this book. REALLY loved it, so much so that I consumed it in a day. The story revolves around two old college classmates, at one time writing rivals, now “adult” authors suffering from writer’s block. Fate brings them together when the girl moves into the Beach House her dead father bequeathed to her (along with a burden of secrets she knows nothing about until the day of the funeral. Her former nemesis, with baggage of his own, lives in the beach house next door. They don’t meet (again) cute. But they decide to make a bet to swap genres so they can unblock the writers’ block. You can guess how the story unfolds.
Warning that this is not a fluffy “beach read”. It is very witty with classic banter and sparkling dialogue but it also reveals a dark side to the story very quickly. Character depth and development, and an author’s ability to make a reader empathize with the leads, are the primary reasons I commit to and care about a book, and the author succeeded for me in this case.
BUT I am rating it 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4, because it just got a tad too predictable, and my attention started to wane, in the last quarter of the book. I can’t give a 5 star review for a book where my mind starts to wander and the character progression at the end feels a touch contrived. Still, if you’re looking for a funny, sharply written “romance” of the non- Harlequin sort, but with 5-alarm chemistry between the leads that practically leaps off the page, read this ASAP!
This book is awesome! I always think of at least 5 books every year that stand out for me, this one is definitely one of the 5! Emily Henry is a new author to me. She wrote an outstanding novel! The characters are real, emotional, funny, and a little quirky. All are lovable!
This is a story about two writers who basically have writer’s block. Or so you think, but it turns into so much more. January Andrews writes romance novels, and isn’t so sure true love really exists anymore. Augustus Everett writes literary fiction, and is having a hard time coming up with his next great novel. They are definitely opposites in many ways, or not….
They meet and decide to write a book in each other’s genre, and from there the real story begins. This book was so enjoyable! I laughed and felt a tear or two, but completely fell in love with these two characters. Emily definitely has a great talent for writing and creating lovable realistic characters. The audible narration was spot on and awesome! I highly recommend this book and would give it a 5+ star rating!
I freaking LOVED this book! It was so not what I was expecting which makes me love it even more. If I had it in physical form, I would’ve warmly clutched it to my chest with a sigh when I finished (bit hard to do with an iPad but the feeling was there). I felt ALL the feels. I loved that the main characters were not perfect. I loved the way the author demonstrated that love is hard and life is shitty sometimes. It felt like a slow burn. It took a few chapters to reaaaalllly suck me in but once It happened I galloped through it. Yes, yes, yes!
I’m going off now to hunt down other Emily Henry books….
As the name implies, this is the PERFECT beach read. But you don’t have to be at the beach to enjoy it. This book is funny and poignant and full of love. I could not put it down.
“The only promise you ever had in life was the one moment you were living.”
This has to be one of my favorite books of all time. It touched me in so many ways and, while it deals with some heavy topics, the message of appreciating and living in the moment…finding those pockets of joy….was something I appreciated so much and needed to hear. The characters made me laugh and cry and I loved watching them grow, both individually and together. The setting of Lake Michigan is a favorite of mine so I enjoyed the small mentions about the area. Beach Read is one of the books that would be so easy to call a simple romance…a beach read if you will…but is truly so much more than that. It will be a definite re-read for me in years to come.
This was the book that I needed to read!! It’s got it all – fun, witty banter, swoon-worthy moments and heartbreaking tenderness, plus a couple (both writers! Love that!) that you can’t help but root for. I wish I wrote this book but so very glad I read it!
This one caught my attention because the heroine is a romance novelist, so of course, I needed to read that. What was a cute set up turned out to be a more poignant story than the cover would have you believe, but I love that. I write those kinds of books—ones that are romantic but also contain darker emotions and backstories. Though I can enjoy the lighter, lower conflict romances, my sweet spot is ones that have more angst. So I really enjoyed this read.
When January Andrews finds that her recently deceased father has left her a secret beach house via his “mistress” her world view falls apart. She has always believed in the “happily ever after” ending that she included in her romance books, but now she doesn’t know that the world really works that way. Being newly separated from her long time boyfriend, estranged from her mother, broke and owing her publisher another book she heads to the beach house to try to end her case of writer’s block. There she reconnects with Augustus Everette, Gus, an old college acquaintance, nemeses and fellow author who happens to be her new next door neighbor. Gus does not believe in happy endings and writes about the dark side of human nature. They embark on a challenge to write a book in the
other’s preferred genre. In the process January learns a lot about her father’s secret life and the truth behind this brooding man next door.
The Beach Read is thoroughly enjoyable. A good book to become absorbed in and not too predictable. You can read it and see if Gus is right and there is no “happy ending” required or if January is right and all ends on a happy note.