Beach Read by Emily Henry

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Romance author January Andrews has had a rough year. She used to believe in Happily Ever Afters, but her father died and then her live-in boyfriend dumped her. Her father dying shattered January’s image of the perfect family she had always thought they were when she found out that he not only had a mistress, he had a secret beach house in North Bear Shores, Michigan. Dad left the house to January, and since she has the biggest case of writer’s block ever, an almost non-existent bank account, and a deadline rapidly approaching, she decides to go live in this house for the summer and hammer out a manuscript while simultaneously getting the house ready to sell.

Like I said, it’s been a rough year.

When January arrives at the house on the shore of Lake Michigan, she immediately discovers she has a grumpy male neighbor whose deck is mere feet from her own. Of course he couldn’t just be some random man, but her college rival, also a published author who wouldn’t know a happy ending if it bit him on the…well, never mind.  Augustus Everett is more the type of author who isn’t happy unless all his characters either die or go through so much angst that they might be better off dead.

January’s agent Anya is pressuring her for a new manuscript by the end of the summer. Problem is, those Happily Ever Afters are difficult to write when your world has been crushed. After a bit of sparring with her nemesis neighbor Gus, January agrees to a challenge to get her creative juices flowing: January will attempt a more serious literary fiction work and Gus will write a romantic comedy. Whoever finishes their book and sells it first (with a pseudonym if needed) is the winner.

Joint research trips ensue as Gus walks January through his process of taking real tragedies (doomsday cult, anyone?) and fictionalizing them into serious works. In turn, January plans meet-cute scenarios so that Gus can see how a little hope for happiness never hurt anyone.

Beach Read was fairly predictable, but a lot of fun. My main complaint was that the title and cover were very misleading. January may have moved to a lakeside house but very little time was actually spent on the beach. More time was spent at laptops in the neighboring houses with occasional excursions out to the local coffee shop/bookstore owned by Gus’ aunt Pete, (who was a rather entertaining character too). A book club, a drive-in movie, and even the aforementioned doomsday cult site also take January and Gus away from their laptops for a few hours. There is the usual build-up of romantic tension as January and Gus figure out if they hate each other or are ready to jump into bed together. Also the second guessing of feelings and self-doubt as each work through their past family and relationship issues was a little predictable, but acceptable.

If you enjoy modern romantic comedies with a dark brooding love interest who might be open to something new (like writing a romance himself) then I highly recommend this book.

Note:  Another staff member also reviewed Beach Read.  For Christy's take, click here.