When I heard about Beach Read, I thought it’s just like any other romance novel. But I really loved it! This is probably the best romance book I’ve ever read.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
The chemistry between January and Gus was magnetic. I never get tired of the enemies-to-lovers trope and this was no exception. January was a romance writer and overall had a romantic outlook on life and relationships, while Gus wrote literary fiction and was not afraid of staring tough issues down. I loved watching them warm up to each other.
Not only did they had great chemistry, I also thought that the two MCs were so compatible with each other because of their contrasting views on life. They were opposites and they complemented each other well and taught each other to see things differently.
Family played a strong role in this novel which truly was a breath of fresh air in the romance genre. In fact, this novel was as much about January’s relationship with her mom and dad as it is about her relationship Gus. And I loved it so much.
This novel is literally about writing, which related to me SO MUCH. The blank word doc, the word count goals, all the pacing ’round the living room—I wanted to scream “I get it!”
January and Gus grew out of their tropes and became human. January was a bright-eyed romantic but she was broken, and Gus was the act-tough-but-has-gentle-heart-and-dark-past type, but he became real too. I loved that both of these characters were more than who they seemed.
I really enjoyed the overall theme of the novel which was that beautiful things come out of the hardest of times.
The only thing that bugged me a bit was that this romance novel, like the others in this genre, still perpetuated existing gender roles and stereotypes. January was the chipper, optimistic one who “softened” up the more jaded Gus. It worked and I totally shipped them, and they eventually became more than their tropes, but still I wish to see a gender-reversed version of this.
4/5 fishies!
I was absolutely addicted to this book because of the chemistry, and more importantly, compatibility between January and Gus. Absolutely recommended if you love romance.
SOPHIE LI 
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