'Beach Read' Review...

This is a slow burn romance. We read about the main characters and watch them develop a relationship over time. Even though the timeline of the book is rather quick (approximately 2-3 months), their connection builds gradually. Carefully.

Something that I like about this story is the depth of both MC's. Both have some rather heavy histories, making them a little more vulnerable and sensitive. There are many sections of lengthy dialogue/monologues that really bring forth some of these qualities.

Once again, split into 2 sections: UNspoiled and Spoiled

UNspoiled:

This story is written in the MC's POV in present tense. Let's introduce our MC: a 28 year old woman by the name of January Andrews (the name is BEAUTIFUL, never once have I met or known someone by the name 'January')

January is an author, needing to put together another story over the summer months for her publisher. She's hit a slump as her life has seemingly begun falling apart over the last few months. Her father passed away, which in turn, uncovered a shocking secret about him. Her relationship with her mother had become distant and her long-term boyfriend, Jacques, left her.

These events can cause any human to experience dread and downward spirals. However, particular to January, her books and stories always involved romance with "Happy Ever Afters". All of a sudden, her perfect picture frame had cracked.

She moves to the Beach for the summer to tie up some loose ends from her dad's passing and her cranky next-door neighbor ends up being her college nemesis and #1 literary competitor, Augustus Everett (again with the NAMMEEEEE. Obsessed.) They were in the same college program, he always made fun of January's work as his stories ended with tragedy. Both becoming published authors, and Gus' work becoming seemingly popular, January was left with a jealous competitive edge.

One night, after attending a book club for "spy books" (they had no idea about) they made a bet. Since both were struggling with kick starting their latest books, January challenged Gus to make his a "Happy Ever After" Romance, and hers to end "up in flames."

Thus begun the development of their connection along with some of their best work.

SPOILED:

**********************************************

ALRIGHT. Let's get to the main part. (Here comes my boy-crazy side).

I had a hard time picturing what Gus looked like. The main features that stuck out to me were his curly brown hair and naturally lean physique. I literally pictured Adam Brody with a thicker set of locks and rolled with it from there.

We get a taste of their adorable banter after they leave the Book Club.

Also, I died upon their realization that the book club was for Spy Novels. January drinking her wine bottle out of her purse was an excellent touch on how her summer had started. With discovering her father's secret second life after his death and being sent to his secret beach house in the town where he grew up, I think any of us would bode well with a travelling bottle of booze. You know, just in case.

The following excerpt made me grin like a giddy school girl because it gives us a perfect little glimpse of the energy between January and Gus:

"I'll take her," Gus said, stern and unamused.

"I'll Uber," I said.

"Uber?"' Pete repeated. "Not in North Bear Shores, you won't. We've got about one of those, and I doubt he's out driving around after ten o'clock!"

I pretended to look at my phone. "Actually, he's here, so I should go. Thanks again, Pete. Really, it was...extremely interesting."

She patted my arm and I slipped out into the rain, opening the Uber app as I went. Beneath the rain, I heard Gus and Pete exchanging quiet goodbyes on the porch behind me, and then the door shut and I knew he and I were alone in the garden.

So I walked very fast, through the gate and down the length of the fence, as I stared at the blank map on my Uber app. I closed the app and opened it again.

"Let me guess," Gus drawled. "It's exactly as the person who actually lives here says: there aren't any Ubers."

"Four minutes away," I lied. He stared at me. I pulled my hood up and turned away.

"What is it?" he said. "Are you worried it's a slippery slope from getting into my car to going down the Slip 'N Slide on my roof and competing in my heavily publicized Jell-O wrestling matches?"

I folded my arms. "I don't know you."

"Unlike the North Bear Shores Uber driver, with whom you're quite close."

I said nothing, and after a moment, Gus climbed into his car, its engine sputtering awake, but he didn't pull away. I busied myself with my phone. Why wasn't he leaving? I did my best not to look at his car, though it was looking more appealing every moment I stood there in the cold rain.

I checked the app again. Still nothing.

The passenger window rolled down, and Gus leaned across the seat, ducking his head to see me. "January." He sighed.

"Augustus."

"It's been four minutes. No Uber's coming. Would you please get in the car?"

"I'll walk."

"Why?"

"Because I need the exercise," I said.

"Not to mention the pneumonia."

"It's like sixty-five degrees out," I said.

"You're literally shivering."

"Maybe I'm trembling with the anticipation of an exhilarating walk home."

"Maybe your body temperature is plummeting and your blood pressure and heart rate are dropping and your skin tissue is breaking up as it freezes."

"Are you kidding? My heart is positively racing. I just sat in on a three-hour-long book club meeting about spy novels. I need to run some of this adrenaline off." I started down the sidewalk.

"Wrong way," Gus called.

Emily Henry, Beach Read, pgs. 58-59

I loved this exchange a lot. It made my heart skip a beat. And it wasn't hot and heavy, it was witty and both characters clearly intelligently stubborn.

I loved the story line of doing "research" by having Gus organize an event for them to do on Fridays and January would have Saturdays. Gus' plans would lean towards the tragic part, which in this case was him meeting up with ex-members of a cult and interviewing them and January's would be rom-cam magic. Carnival. Line dancing. Drive in movie.

The drive-in movie scene was great because it's the first time they break the tension and have their first kiss. Which very quickly turned into a steamy make out session in the car, followed by being kicked out of the theatre.

Learning about Gus was intriguing. Him being the "two week long relationship" type of guy in college to having end up married and divorced shortly after was shocking! However, the fact that he was in love with January since college was the best trope that I always fall for every time! When the guy has always loved her, it's just something that makes me weak in the knees.

A huge chunk of this story is January's relationship with her father. Her feeling betrayed after finding out about his secret second life with a woman by the name of Sonya. Her dad wrote her a letter before he passed, which January chose to ignore for the larger part of the summer. It's mentioned at the beginning so I knew this letter was going to have some significance.

When January finally read it, which gives her the code to a safe that contains all the letters her father wrote on her birthday every year, it crushed me. Him having a sailboat, named "January", and her reading his letters under the starry night sky. I was wrecked. I read that section out loud and fought tears with each word.

It was beautiful in the sense that, even though her parent's relationship wasn't her exact "happy ending" or "perfect romance", it stood that he was always proud to be January's father. He lived in the beach house with his mystery woman and still wanted everything to go to his daughter. It was a kind of love that was unmatched. This then lead to her reigniting her relationship with her mother.

I was a blubbering idiot through these few chapters.

One other thing I really loved about this novel is the connection between January and her best friend, Shadi.

January resided in New York, Shadi in Chicago. From the get go, the way January talks about Shadi is loving and there is a desperation between them. The "I can't do this without you" best friend codependency that I utterly love. Shadi doesn't come to visit January until later in the summer, and it was upon January summoning her in the middle of the night. With a simple text of "I need you." And Shadi responding with "First train out."

Their friendship lead to one of my favourite passages in the book:

"I think it was time."

"What was?" I asked.

"I think it was time for you to fall in love," she said. "All this time I've known you and I've never gotten to see it. I think it was time."

"You knew me before Jacques. You watched that happen."

"Yeah." Shadi gave a shrug. "I know you loved Jacques. And maybe in the end, it's the same thing you wind up with, but with him, you never fell, Janie. You marched straight in."

"So falling's the part that hurts?" I asked with a humorless laugh. "And if you wind up in love without it hurting, then there's no falling?"

"No," Shadi said seriously. "Falling's the part that takes your breath away. It's the part when you can't believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It's supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are."

Tears clouded my vision. I did feel that with Gus, but I'd felt it once before.

"You're wrong that you never saw that with me," I said, and Shadi cocked her head thoughtfully. "That's how I felt when I found you."

A smile broke across her face, and she tossed one of the couch cushions at me. "I love you, Janie," she told me.

"I love you more."

Emily Henry, Beach Read, pg. 338

True to January's literary styling, her and Gus end up professing their love and commitment to each other......in the rain. With Gus blasting music in the background (Nothing Compares 2 U). Paying true homage to his new education on writing Romance. Straight out of cinema!

I thought the ending was perfect with beautiful closure for both characters.

This novel was intriguing with how the relationship was developing, but I was also left wondering how each character would grow and what they would learn about themselves during this journey and "bet".

I would give this one a solid 4 stars. Emily Henry's writing is beautifully smooth and enjoyable to read. Her descriptions are mesmerizing and I think she did a fantastic job at setting each scene.

If you're still here, I'm so thankful you are!

Thank you for listening to my fluff.

J.J. Monique