Friday, June 5, 2020

A fun beach read...

Here's the thing about writing Happily Ever Afters: it helps if you believe in them.
Here's the thing about me: I did until the day of my father's funeral.


At 29, January Andrews has already written four romantic novels; her fifth is due at the end of the summer, but she's finding it hard to believe in love ever since she found out her parents' happy marriage wasn't as perfect as she once thought. Being at her father's beach house--the one she didn't even know he owned--isn't helping. Especially when she discovers that Augustus Everett, her old college writing nemesis, is living next door. Gus writes serious 'literary' fiction and has always scorned the happy endings in her stories. Only it turns out he's suffering from a bout of writer's block, too. So they make a deal:  January will try her hand at writing something more serious while Gus pens something romantic and happy. Whoever gets their novel published at the end of the summer will be declared the winner. But spending the summer together just might bring them something even better than winning the bet. It just might bring them love.

Things I loved about this novel:

πŸ’š January and Gus are well-developed, three-dimensional characters, not just predictable cliches.

πŸ’™ Their humorous banter.

πŸ’œTheir romantic writing field trips...and the funny mishaps that occur along the way.

πŸ’š Their honest and heartfelt conversations.

πŸ’™ How the awkwardness of their past relationship changes and deepens into friendship and then love over the course of the novel.

πŸ’œ The happy ending. (Of course!)

Things I didn't love:

πŸ˜• Umm...I can't really think of anything.

To Sum Up:
Beach Read by Emily Henry was the perfect summer read for me. It's entertaining. And it never made me roll my eyes in frustration at the characters... or at the bumps in their relationship. It's well-written. It's romantic. And it made me smile. As a fun summer beach read, I'd give this one 4.5/5 stars (even though the beach is hardly ever mentioned). 

Happy Reading!




42 comments:

  1. This one isn't usually one I'd pick up, but you've made it sound like so much fun, I don't think I can resist!

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  2. I just started this last night! Great minds, right? I'll come back and read your thoughts after I finish. :)

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    1. We do connect with books, don't we? :D Can't wait to see what you think!

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    2. Took me a while to get back to this, but once I did I flew through the pages. Loved this one so much! I agree with all your points, Lark! Glad we both loved it! :)

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    3. It was a really fun read, wasn't it? :D

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  3. This does sound like the perfect summer read. A literary rivalry is such a cute way to form a realationship!

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    1. It added a level of uniqueness to your typical romance plot. :)

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  4. This sounds like fun! The mention of them being college writing rivals has me so interested. :)

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    1. Their past definitely added another layer to their relationship. :)

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  5. Really excited to hear you liked this one. I have high hopes that it'll be a fun light-hearted romance. Looking forward to reading it!

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  6. Oh. Oh. I think I will have to go and look this one up as I love the idea of a romance plot with two authors!

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    1. That's what drew me to this one, too. :)

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    2. Grabbed for my Kindle for 99p. Woohoo!

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  7. Sounds like a great read! Thanks for the great review.

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  8. Great review, Lark. It's not something for me, but you made it sound a whole lot more appealing than I dreamed it might be.

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    1. Not your kind of read?! How can that be? ;D

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  9. This looks like a lot of fun. I've seen it around a few times but this is the first actual review I think I've read- sounds really cute! Glad it was good. :)

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    1. A good summer read...light, funny, romantic and fun. :)

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  10. I absolutely love the quote you shared at the top. I am glad you enjoyed this one. I have this one on my wish list and am looking forward to reading it.

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  11. Aw, this sounds like a wonderful read right now.

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  12. Sounds like a great fun read! Will keep this one in mind. :)

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  13. Oh, good, I'm glad this one is as cute as it sounds! I'm definitely going to be reading this one. Sounds like the perfect summer novel.

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    1. It's a humorous, light-hearted romance...so perfect for a summer read. :)

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  14. Sounds like such a fun book!

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  15. Glad you loved this one. It is one I plan on reading as I've only heard good things about it.

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  16. Hi Lark, I enjoy books where a novelist goes on retreat to write their book. This one is unique in that you've got two novelists on retreat and it sounds like they have chemistry as well.

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    1. That's one of the things I liked about this one...that they were both writers, and both trying to get books written. And they did have some nice chemistry. :)

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  17. Every time I think beach, I think about sharks and sea monsters! I think there might be something twisted about me!

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  18. I haven't been feeling the contemporary fiction vibe much recently, but this does sound good!

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