{"id":3925,"date":"2021-08-06T01:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T01:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karyngood.com\/blog\/?p=3925"},"modified":"2021-08-05T01:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T01:30:00","slug":"book-talk-friday-beach-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karyngood.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/book-talk-friday-beach-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Talk Friday: Beach Read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where I talk about books that I’ve read and enjoyed because life is better with books. And summer is definitely better with books!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beach Read by Emily Henry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Published: Berkley, May 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Length: 384 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Categories: Women’s Fiction \/ Romance \/ Humour \/ Contemporary Romance <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blurb:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.<\/strong>

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\u2019re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they\u2019re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer\u2019s 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\u2019ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he\u2019ll 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.SEE LESS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Thoughts:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

January Andrews is suffering from writer\u2019s block. She’s also broke. Grieving the loss of the father she thought she knew, she ends up in the last place she wants to be, the beach house her father left her. Even worse, she finds herself living next door to her college nemesis, Augustus Everett. Turns out he\u2019s also suffering from writer\u2019s block. When avoiding each other doesn\u2019t work, they strike a deal. She\u2019ll write a literary novel. And he\u2019ll write a romance. And they\u2019ll help each other through the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I worry when writers, who are not romance writers, write romance. I worry it won\u2019t be a romance at all but an attempt to \u2018elevate\u2019 the genre. I also shy away from romances written in 1st<\/sup> person perspective. Just not my favourite perspective when it comes to romance. So, why did this book work for me? The chemistry between January and Gus is immediate. The dialogue is witty and funny and surprising. The writing is clever. January\u2019s grief and sense of betrayal is heart wrenching. So, is Gus\u2019s. Gus is delightfully swoon worthy in a guy-next-door kind of way. And January is quirky and real and just the right amount of over the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, this was an audio read for me and I have to say the narrator is amazing. Julia Whelan does a fantastic job. I can\u2019t say enough about the great job she does. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve haven\u2019t cringed when a narrator switches from a female to male character or vice a versa. I enjoyed her narration as much as I enjoyed Emily Henry\u2019s writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book is a great look at what happens when our egos fail us and the necessity of grieving. And what it looks like to find your way back and forward. Definitely recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interview | Emily Henry on ‘Beach Read’ and Writing Romance<\/a><\/blockquote>