Beach Read by Emily Henry

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a great day.

A long time ago I discussed the first time I read a book for pleasure, it was The Shining, which I picked because of its metallic cover.  Somewhere in my teenage brain I thought I would look smart reading, yet edgy because of the cool cover and, of course, that it was written by Stephen King. Yet, my book was a flop as far as boy attractors go, my rapidly developing chest, on the other hand, was a big hit. I want to make a comment about men here, but since hubby is standing close-by and half the world's population is male, I'll refrain.  Although I didn't go to the beach this year (virus everywhere), I picked up a book that seemed to fit my sandy reading history.

I recently read Beach Read by Emily Henry. This romance follows two authors, Augustus, who writes serious literally fiction, and January, who writes romantic comedies. Both writers find themselves as neighbors at the beach. Unfortunately, they are also having a problem with writers block. They do the only thing to be done, swap genres. 

I feel like this book you would either love or hate. I didn't hate it, let's face it my mom said it's not nice to hate. However, I didn't love this book, but I respect it. Clear as mud, huh? For me, romance novels follow the "formula" which makes them predictable. Oh so often, it's characters are a wealthy man and poor woman. I love that this author did not go that route. She wrote unique and interesting characters, each with their own issues to resolve. I really like the story idea too. This was really a book trying to be a better, smarter romance. A romance novel that has better writing and a more involved plot.  Emily Henry deserves huge credit for that effort, which frankly would make me read a lot more romance novels. The problem for me with this particular book is two fold, the pacing is much too slow and the story gets bogged down in the details making the book seem to drag. In addition, it is too long. So for me, this book was a miss. Am I glad I read it? Yes. In fact, I would buy it again just to see this attempt at a romance with a bigger story. I think I'll keep Emily Henry on my "buy" list as she is definitely on the right track with a more thoughtful romance.