This book is a good holiday read, but a bit predictable, a bit silly, and I I didn’t particularly take to any of the characters.

This was an enjoyable early summer read with some great moments.

The premise was quite original, in that the book is about two authors writing books in each other's style. The structure is interesting and so are the contrasting world views of the two protagonists. The underlying love story was slightly more predictable which, in a way, I wasn't expecting given the uniqueness of the plot otherwise. That said, there was plenty of substance to keep me entertained!

Thanks so much to Georgia at Penguin Random House and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

I picked up this book as a way to escape from work and lockdown and was not disappointed.

The 2 main characters are both scared and flawed by experience, and the developing love story between them is a treat to read. It is a bit slow to start, but I would persevere as the humor and chemistry between Gus and January is well written and I loved the cheeky banter.

This sounded like a light cute read that I needed. Although Gus and January do have some serious things from their past still effecting them. I still hoped for a light read.

The atmosphere would just between a light fluffy cute read to being darker. Especially when Gus organized the research “date”. Which I was confused a little about. They were probably my least favourite parts of the book. I just didn’t care.

Gus did fell like a somewhat stereotypical hurt guy. Someone who was hurt in the past so now he doesn’t believe in love and nothing and no one will be able to change his mind. This was a little annoying at times for me. Gus definitely has issues he needs to work through and not just by dating someone.

January and Gus were cute together, even if Gus annoyed me at times. But I also found that I didn’t care too much if they ended up together or not.

Overall this was a pretty decent book. But not what I expected. I expected a light fluffy cute read. Which a large portion of this was. But the added cult research part and January dad past was unexpected and I don’t think was needed

I got approved for this on Netgalley and immediately started reading it because I have heard a lot of buzz around this already. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a lot of fun but I loved that it touched on some serious aspects of the character's pasts. I also really enjoyed the cult aspect of the novel which is not something I ever gravitate towards in novels but in this book, it was really well done. It was definitely a very small sub plot which is probably why I enjoyed it but it was still really intriguing. I thought both of the characters were great and their romance was a lot of fun to read about. If you like adult romances, you will enjoy this book.

I loved this! It was a bit different to other contemporary fiction, and the romance between the two of engrossing and lovely.

If you're expecting a book that's lighthearted and funny then this probably isn't for you. Fortunately, it's pretty good in its own right with insights into two characters' lives that aren't quite working out the way they're supposed to.

January is a romance novel writer, and her publisher is expecting her next book soon. The only trouble is, her somewhat perfect life has been turned upside down, and all of her happy ending inspiration has been a lie. TW for family death and affairs.

Ending up in a small town far away after her long-term boyfriend breaks up with her, January is a bit lost and confused. But it turns out, living on the same street is her college rival Gus. Gus always seemed to look down on happy endings and romance - instead writing literary fiction that rarely ends well. The pair challenge each other to write a book in the other's genre, and the first to sell wins.

January takes him on romantic field trips, and Gus takes her to interview people as research for his book (TW Cults)

Honestly, it broke my heart in places. But the romance was adorably cute, and I loved the college rivals turned lovers aspect. Definitely worth a read but don't expect it to be light-hearted!

Beach read is about two writers, January a romance writing and Augustus a writer of literary fiction, starting a bet with each other after becoming neighbours. The bet is write a book within the others genre. The reason this bet comes around it because they are both struggling with personal issues leaving them with writers block.

This book was super cute romance. This book is told only from January's point of view. I felt this worked well as it means like the protagonist you cannot be sure what the love interest is thinking or feeling and can discover this as she does.

Overall an enjoyable read.

As readers the phrase never judge a book by its cover is one we hear very often, but then as humans, we still do it. Between the title and the gorgeous cover I thought this book would be exactly that: A compelling, light, fun read. The kinda of book you go into to relax and dream of summertime. I enjoy those books quite a lot and they are exactly what you need in certain times (global pandemic might apply as one of those times). But this book? It was a completely different animal.

This book is a book you go back to time and time again.
This book has these imperfectly real characters which you can relate with in so many ways.
This book is about a girl and her grief, and her relationship with her dad, and how her world view shifts violently and how she cant get herself to do the one thing that she used to be able to fall into: write.

I highlighted a good portion of this book. Sometimes because it was funny, sometimes because she was mentioning my favorite series (I'm looking at you VMars), sometimes because it made me contemplate a personal belief from a different point of view. Sometimes because it just made common sense to want to keep little pieces of this story with me.

This book is also about writers, and how people can be considered writers and bring entirely different things to the table. I guess it makes sense considering we always bring what we are to whatever we do.

Gus was so mysterious so closed off for so much of this, and then when the reasons starting showing up little by little it just made me love him more. Love them more. There's no greater love story that one where imperfect beings come together to be a better version of who they were before they met. Also who doesn't want to read the story of a cynic falling for a hopeless romantic? That's one of the solid foundations of romance as we know it.

All give 5 easy stars to this heartfelt and multi dimensional story, that reminded me that you can miss, hate and love people for all the different things that they are. That conflicting feelings are simply a portion of the human experience. And a love story that was refreshing and perfectly what I needed to read.

"Its June in January because I'm in love"

I'm sorry I just could not click with this book. I read as far as 41%, but I had no interest in reading on. From what I did read, the characters were fun but I just couldn't connect or feel attached to them. It may just have been the wrong book for me at this moment in time, and I might enjoy it more at a future date.

The story begins when January meets up again with Gus, whom she had known at college. Both are novelists, suffering writers block, and there is sizzling chemistry between them, although many arguments and disagreements at first.

January has moved to the beach house, which had been left to her by her father when he passed away. Unknown to her, her father had been living at the house with another woman while married to her mother. This has devastated January who had not known about the affair.

January’s editor is pushing for her next book, yet in order to win a bet with Gus, she takes time to attempt to write a novel in a genre of which she is unfamiliar. Which seems inconceivable to me, surely she would want to get started on a book she knows will sell?

Although there is a humorous tone to the book and characters, the humour is over-the-top, with too much swearing and American phrases I am unfamiliar with. There is little depth to the characters, who seemed stereotyped, and I found it difficult to empathise with them or the story. A character such as January – who loved her father, would not want to spend time in the house he had been sharing with another woman. It didn’t ring true.

Gus’s difficult past is the main focus of the story, but January’s past is only fully explored in the final chapters of the book. I found the book to be slow and drawn out, and not enjoyable.

A lovely light read about two authors who end up living next to each other for the summer and decide to see if they can each write in the style of the other. A perfect read, dare I say, for the beach?

Dealing with the death of her father and the new knowledge of an affair, published author January, moves into the beach house he has left to her, deciding she must clear it and sell it at the same time as trying to complete her next novel to which the deadline is drawing closer. Her neighbour is an old college nearly flame and so ensues a passionate, emotional acquaintance.

January is having a hard time coming to terms with the death of her father and moves to the beach house he left her to try and write her next novel. Augustus, a fellow author, has been January’s competition since college and is now her next door neighbour. The pair make a bet to try and beat their writers block, they will swap genres and see who sells a book first. Oh, and they promise they definitely won’t fall in love...
If I could have written my perfect romance book then this would have been it. I genuinely couldn’t have asked for anything more. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes. I fell hard for these characters who try to prove that they’re polar opposites only to realise they might be the same after all. Watching them get to know each other through their writing and work through problems in their past was so great. January is smart-mouthed, emotional and fiesty whereas Augustus is moody, closed-off with a dry sense of humour.
I’m fighting the urge to go and read this again straight away. The best romance I’ve read this year and one I won’t be forgetting for a long time.
✨Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC ✨

I didn't enjoy this book. The characters didn't grab me, the storyline was weak, and I was really just skimming the pages to see what happened. It may be a good holiday read (it is certainly very undemanding) but it really wasn't for me.

Well, I must admit it took me a little time to get into the book but once I did I was so interested in the history of the reationship between Gus and January. Once into it, I devoured the rest of the book. On/off romance between them, hampered by Gus's estranged wife and January's disappointment in her father.

Stick with the story, you will enjoy it! I give it 5 stars and wait for Emily's next book.

I really enjoyed this book, it was such a lovely read. It was a debut novel which always interests me as I love to read new authors as they have worked so hard to write a book and I feel I must give them a chance by reading their work.
This was a pleasure so I found I read it extremely quickly also having more time on my hands due to the situation at the moment I find I’m reading more and finding lots of enjoyable books to read to escape the misery of not seeing families except by video calls.
I do hope that this author writes more like this as I will be interested to read what she writes.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Really disappointing, I'm afraid. I thought this was gonna be a 5* read for sure but it fell quite flat. The tone of the book never really made sense and I didn't like the love interest, so I wasn't invested in their romance (not good for ... a romance novel). For a book about writers swapping genres, there was very little writing, and a lot more angst and miscommunication and flat secondary characters.

I have nothing to say about this book except that I loved every page. The setting, the characters, the romance, the banter, the steam – all of it was perfect. I loved the growth from both of these characters. It really bugs me when, in order for a contemporary romance to reach its resolution, the author throws in a conflict that doesn’t really fit with the characters, or which could so easily be overcome if they would just TALK TO EACH OTHER. But Henry does it so, so well in this book. The conflict felt right, the journey the characters take to overcome their various setbacks was so genuine and the resolution between them at the end is oh so worth it. It was emotional and heartfelt and had me laughing and swooning and left me with a big sappy grin on my face. I LOVED it.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thanks as always to Netgalley for sending this to me.

Beach Read is a book which caught me completely by surprise. Reading the blurb, I already saw a lot of myself in this story. As someone who’s just finishing up her BA in English Lit and Creative Writing and has spent the last three years writing literary fiction only to discover that my real calling is romance, I already felt a connection with these characters from the onset. I had no idea how much I was going to connect with this story.

Beach Read follows January, a disillusioned romance writer who has just discovered that her parents’ idyllic marriage was a lie, and Gus, a cynic lit fic writer who never really believed in romance in the first place. These characters have a long history, and when they reunite in a small town and challenge one another to essentially swap genres, sparks begin to fly.

It’s hard to describe how much I adored this. We meet these characters at such a vulnerable time in their lives, when both are struggling and too proud to admit it. There was such a wonderful connection between them. Sometimes when reading a romance, you know that in the real world there’s no way the couple would stay together – this wasn’t one of those. I felt like I could see their future mapped out for years to come. It was filled with tender moments that took my breath away. And their communication! Oh, it was glorious. Miscommunication is the enemy in many romances, and it can be so frustrating to see characters refusing to just TALK to one another, so in this book, watching these characters have frank and open conversations about their issues was just… *chef’s kiss.* Iconic. We love to see it.

This book was fun, fluffy and sweet, the perfect diversion from real life. I adored Gus and January, and I’m so happy that this story exists.