Beach Read: A Sweet Summer Romance

“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.” – Beach Read by Emily Henry

The Gist

What do you do when you’ve got a bad case of writer’s block and your family just fell apart? Well, you go to the lake. January Andrews is a romance writer who can’t help but have a happy ending in every book. But this year is different. This year might have just broken all her beliefs in love and HEAs.

Augustus Everett has never been an optimist. Why would he be when his whole life has been one disappointment after another? His serious and dark books definitely reflect his outlook but right now he’s in a writing rut.

These two writers embark in a summer-long writing challenge that will take them to a small-town carnival and a hoe-down saloon and leave them vomiting in trash cans and interviewing members of a backwoods death cult (of course). Get ready for some quirky romance!

Summer Sweetness 

I went into this book with the hopes for something sweet and and maybe a little steamy and that’s exactly what Emily Henry delivered. The writing was great, the character development was spot on, and the plot moved along at a nice pace. I loved the amount of time the author spent on each character’s back story. She definitely put some thought into the growth of these characters and you can really tell. 

The one thing that perturbed me a bit (just a smidge really) was the angst. Ugh on the angst, okay? Twice in this book I pictured January Andrews as a sad teenage girl, sitting on a hill, pulling petals off of a daisy and saying, “He loves me, he loves me not.” I wanted to SHAKE her.

The unnecessary level of angst is the reason this book was docked a star. Overall, I enjoyed it and it was perfect for a sweet summer romance read. If you’re looking for more reviews, click here.