This was a quick fun read. I really loved the setting of Bali, I love that so many romance books lately have been using different more unique cities and places to set books in rather than the usual places (don’t get me wrong I need all my Christmas books set in New York, so I’m not complaining 😂 but it’s nice to change it up sometimes)

This was a sort of middle of the road one for me, I enjoyed it but wasn’t obsessed with it but I still think it’s definitely worth a read if you love books about books and about bookshops!

Also if you loved Emily Henry’s Book Lovers, I found this like a re-write of that, I thought it was so similar, even the cover, the name etc felt like it!

From the blurb -

One bookshop in paradise. Two bitter rivals. A whole summer to get through...

Clare thought that by now she would have her life figured out. Instead, she's living with her parents, working a job she hates and has absolutely no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

When she sees a viral job advert for a three-month bookseller position on a Bali beach, she jumps at the chance. But it's not until she arrives in Bali that Clare realises she won't be working in the bookshop alone.

Instead she's sharing the bookshop - and a flat - with a handsome but infuriating American man. Jack is Clare's opposite in almost every way, and it's not long before they're driving each other crazy. But fighting with Jack is also the most fun Clare's had in years, and it's only a matter of time before their relationship turns less than professional...

*ARC from Netgalley ✨

This took a while to pick up but it was a nice fun read for the summer! It ticks all the romance book boxes.

I absolutely loved this book, from start to finish I was engrossed and couldn't put it down.
Can we also take a.sexond to talk about this absolutely stunning cover I love it

So is this a real job and if so how do I sign up? Honestly this book was a dream job for me living in paradise running a little book shop on the beach. If jobs like this exist I am emigrating. In this book we meet Jack and Claire two stranger thrown together to run a bookshop in paradise. As they both try to make a go of the little shop and bring it back to life they also have to navigate their different lifestyles and views but are they both wasting their time on the shop. I loved both lost Claire who doesn’t know what to do with her life and opinionated Jack who is using this role as a stop gap before starting a new job. Don’t miss this great beach read that will put a huge smile on your face.

This book and it's plot was an absolute dream come true for book lovers everywhere - seriously, this premise needs to become a reality! I absolutely adored the two lead characters and their light enemies-to-lovers romance. Jack is the perfect book boyfriend and Clare is relatable to most bookworms out there. This is the perfect summer read, one that you will not be able to put down.

This book was a dream. The plot was immaculate. Two opposites not only working at the same bookstore but living together in a small apartment too!!! I read this book in one day and it was just so easy and light and irresistible. I couldn’t put it down because I just wanted to keep reading. Jack was so cute. He helps Clare put on her shoes. Reads the princess diaries because she said she liked it. Annotated a book for her. I was swooning and giggling into my pillow. Was it cheesy at times? Yes.
Did I love it? Yes.
Perfect summer read about books and an adorable romance with the best tropes. Grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity and a slight touch of rivals to lovers. What more could you want?

Clare's life has stagnated. After the death of her dad, she gave up uni and went travelling.
Now the money has ran out, she's back at home with her mum working dead-end jobs and no life plans. Then she sees an advert for a 3 month contact running a beachside bookshop in Bali, seems a silly idea to apply but what has she got to lose?

Now she's in Bali, sharing a shoebox sized flat with corporate robot Jack (who's also on the bookstore contract), trying to sort out her life while enjoying the sun, sea, sand...and Toby the Hemsworth-lookalike.

Overall I enjoyed the book, it's a chill summer read, fairly predictable but nice for it. The characters aren't overly fleshed out but I was fond of them and hoped for the best, Celestina in particular is FABULOUS, I'd love to spend an evening in her company!

It's not hilarious, but it's amusing and sweet and I really enjoyed it. A nice calm break from real life which left me smiling...and a little jealous. I want to run a bookshop on a beach!!!

4 ⭐

Also posted to Goodreads but unable to link account.

A fun and cosy feel-good romance set in a sleepy corner of Bali. We've all dreamed of doing a bookshop holiday, but getting to experience it through Clare and Jack is almost good enough! A pure delight, and the relationship between Clare and Jack evolved so naturally. Clare's tenacity and unwillingness to back down was so charming, I'm still thinking about this book weeks later. Georgie Tilney has certainly become an auto-buy for me!

Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher and Georgia Tilney for this ARC!

This was such a sweet, easy summer read! Absolutely perfect for sitting on the beach and reading or cozying up in bed as it will most definitely bring a smile to your face!

This really cute HEA romance was so good and I will definitely be recommending!

Thank you so much to the author/publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this to read and review

I enjoyed my experience reading this book, it was fun and fast and who doesn’t love a bookshop setting?

The problems I had thought were obviously in part the believability but also that I just couldn’t envisage the setting at all. I think if you are someoen that’s been to Bali maybe you will see this clearly but I just couldn’t imagine what this bookshop looked like and where it was.

The other problem I had was that I truly did not feel an ounce of chemistry between the two characters: and they both felt sooo one dimensional and plain. Unlike so many other romances I read I wasn’t cheering when they got together or on the edge of my seat with anticipation. In fact: I was almost a little bored.

I think maybe a little more tension and flirty mess would be good as it seems these characters went from indifferent to lovers overnight.

Overall: not a bad book by any means I just wish a few things were different.

Oh and another side note: I just read a book at the beginning of the year with this exact plot and it feels a little unoriginal.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

The premise sounded so great and while there wasn't anything wrong with the story, I just didn't feel the pull of it. I loved the location but Claire and Jack was boring as characters. Nothing really happened.

Beach Rivals is a great choice for a holiday escapism read. Packed with tropical, idyllic beach settings and a love story with a few twists and turns. Clare and Jack turn up to a bookshop in paradise that over the years has become neglected. They find themselves approaching their three month job as the new booksellers in totally opposite styles. Over time, they end up complimenting each other as they try to turn around the luck of the bookshop.

I haven't really heard anyone talking about this book, but I thought the premise of an enemies-to-lovers romance set in an island bookshop sounded ideal, and I definitely enjoyed it! I wasn't convinced by Jack as a love interest in the beginning, as I didn't find him charming at all, and actually just felt he was unnecessarily rude, but this did change as he warmed up to Clare and her ideas for the bookshop. Even then, I did find their romance to come somewhat out of the blue if I hadn't been anticipating it from the start. The actual plot concerning the revival of the bookshop and the community that grew through their efforts was sweet, and the whole 3-month timeframe did allow momentum to build up throughout the course of the book. I enjoyed Adam and Celestina as secondary characters, and I wish they were utilised a bit more, especially Adam, as I felt his sudden involvement towards the end was a bit unexpected. Overall a perfectly decent summer read!

Clare realises she needs to sort her life out, drifting aimlessly from one bad job to another.. A 3 month stay in Bali, working in a book shop seems a good opportunity to relax and sort her life out, but she doesn't realise how passionate she will become in saving the bookshop from closure. Will the relationship between herself and Jack become more amenable? A perfect holiday read.

If you love a good slow-burn romance, this story is the one for you! It will also give you ALL the summer vibes and if you live anywhere near me where it has been raining non-stop since the beginning of July, this book will transport you to a place of sunshine, beaches and all the summer you want.

This is gorgeous summer read with the perfect setting - a bookshop on the beach in Bali! I loved the premise - two strangers having to work and live together for 3 months, which obviously leads to a delicious slow burn romance. I even loved all the side characters and storylines, revolving around saving the bookshop. And the romance film ending was just too lovely 🥰. 5/10 epilogue though - give me mooooore.

I’m not entirely sure why it’s called Beach Rivals though?! There wasn’t necessarily a rivalry between Clare and Jack?

Includes a lot to love:

- opposites attract
- forced proximity
- exotic setting
- some LGBTQ rep
- slow burn
- light spice

Aimless Londoner Clare, and brusque American businessman, Jack, find themselves working together to save a neglected beachside bookstore in this light and fun contemporary romance novel by Georgie Tilney.

A three-month long working holiday as a bookseller by the beach seems like a dream way to spend the summer (offers welcome) so the premise of Beach Rivals was immediately appealing. To be honest though, it was the setting that caught my attention while browsing. Bali, an island in Indonesia, has been a popular holiday destination for Australians for decades, yet I haven’t ever read a book set there.

If you favour a particular romance trope, Tilney combines elements of several in Beach Rivals. As well as ‘opposites attract’, there is a grumpy-sunshine vibe to the pairing of Clare and Jack, and given that they share both a workplace and a tiny flat, forced proximity is at play too. Though the spark of physical attraction is almost immediate, the romance is a slow burn which I thought the author paced well, though it could have been enhanced with a little more tension.

There was just enough character growth to satisfy me. I enjoyed Clare’s enthusiasm to rejuvenate Seashore Books, which is as much to prove something to herself, as it is to prove Jack wrong. The store owner Adam, and his glamorous wife Celestina are wonderful support characters, and I quite liked Toby as a distraction for Clare. I do think Tilney missed an opportunity to involve a Balinese character in the story, which might have given the novel a stronger grounding in place.

A charming and entertaining novel, Beach Rivals is an enjoyable, escapist read.

An easy and enjoyable perfect holiday read!
The setting could not be more perfect, a bookshop nestled on a beach in Bali – I could practically feel the sand beneath my toes and the smell of the old books filling my nose.
The bookshop is beautifully described I really felt as though I’d been transported amongst the dusty shelves.
However, more descriptions of Bali itself would have been nice, for example the scenery, cuisine and culture but alas I enjoyed the story nonetheless.

Jack and Clare are strangers and are polar opposites, they find themselves living together in a very small and cramped flat and also working together in Seashore books in beautiful Bali.
They don’t get off to the best of starts and try to avoid each other as much as possible.
But slowly and surely their attraction begins to ramp up.
I was really rooting for these two and also hoping they would manage to turn this struggling bookshop around. Their character development was good and they both grew in confidence as the story progressed.

The perfect beach read, a feel good romance which is an easy to follow and a lot of fun to read.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, a big thank you to Random House UK, Transworld and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book.

This was an easy read – one that had an easy to follow storyline, a small amount of characters, and a happy ending. An ideal book to pop in your bag for a holiday (or one to read in your garden when the suns out).
All of the characters were well crafted; they didn’t feel flat or 2D. I’m a sucker for a book that shows a bookshop being brought back to life, and I feel like this journey was documented and described well.

Personally, I wish that the story was written in first person with dual perspectives. It would have been interesting to know more about each characters thoughts and feelings, and I think I would have felt more connected to the characters if it was written this way. But the story was still enjoyable in third person nonetheless.

Setting wise, there was a lack of anything that made it feel like we were in Bali. For all I knew, we were in any kind of holiday location. I feel like Bali is such a beautiful location and it could have been utilised so much more than it was.

For a book titled ‘Beach Rivals’, I expected a lot more tension between the characters. I think the enemies to lovers trope could have been amped up a bit.

If you’re looking for an easy to read romance, then this book is perfect for you. But if you want something with a bit more complexity, then unfortunately, this book doesn’t exactly hit the mark.

A lovely holiday read. Clare and Jack find themselves running a run down bookshop together in idyllic Bali. Also forced to share a miniscule apartment things begin awkwardly with two very different people. Of course as time passes and they get to know each other, and Clare's enthusiasm for turning the shop around rubs off on Jack, they become closer. Add into the mix, shop owner and his colourful wife, Celestine and we have a fab cast of characters in a wonderful setting. A lovely read - I can't think of a better job. #netgalley #beachrivals