by Emily Henry ★★★★☆
As someone who rarely reads romance novels, I don't remember what prompted me to borrow Book Lovers last year. Perhaps it was all of the buzz, or that it landed at #20 on Amazon's "Best Books of the Year" list and sounded intriguing, but I snagged the audio book from the library and my wife and I listened to it while vacationing in Hawaii. And...it was unexpectedly great, landing at #9 on my list of Best Books of 2022.
With each of Henry's books generating tens of thousands of 5-star reviews on Amazon, I had some catching up to do. And since Book Lovers was Henry's 3rd romance novel (after starting her career writing books for teens). I figured I'd start at the start with her first in the genre, Beach Read.
The protagonist of Beach Read is January Andrews, an romance novelist who is finishing the worst year of her life. Her father unexpectedly passed away, and ever since she's been mired in depression and writer's block. She especially can't bring herself to crank out another book about love since learning at her father's funeral that he had not been faithful to her mother. Depressed, she retreats to her father's getaway beach house (where he spent time with his mistress) on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, hopeful that the solitude and the act of cleaning out the house can help purge the negativity from her soul and jumpstart her next book.
In the smallest of "small world" coincidences, it turns out that her neighbor is none other than her nemesis from college, Augustus Everett, who coincidentally has also become a published author, albeit of serious literary fiction. And while January despised him in college, given he mocked her for always writing "fairy tale endings" and seemed to be her harshest critic, she and her BFF refer to Augustus as "Sexy, Evil Gus" (or SEG). There was also "that one night at a frat party"...it doesn't take a detective to see where this one is heading.
Beach Read is a quick read, and even in this, her first romance novel, Henry does a solid job of mixing in relatable social situations and will they/won't they romantic tension. Like in every rom-com, there's always some scenario that pulls the two apart -- typically a misunderstanding, or a revelation. When done well, the scenario is believable and the reader/viewer agrees with the outrage (while also feeling like the instigator of the hurt feelings should be forgiven and rooting for the reunion). In Beach Read, January overacts and creates drama multiple times where there really should be none, and so I was doing more eye rolling at her behavior than sympathetically agreeing with her. Nevertheless, her antics weren't so ridiculous that they were unbelievable, and I stayed along for the ride without too much effort.
Aside from that, there's plenty to like about Beach Read. It's quick, fun, and better than the average offering in this genre. While it's fairly predictable throughout, it was also fun to go back and see where Henry started when writing romance compared to where I was first introduced (on her 3rd book). While it's not as good as Book Lovers, there are glimpses into the more polished romance novelist she'd eventually become by Book 3. If you're determined to only read one Emily Henry novel, choose Book Lovers over this one, but if you're up for multiple, choose Beach Read first so you can enjoy Henry's progression as a romance novelist from the start.