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.

Review:

This novel was a selection from my bookclub.  We were searching for something fun, and a bit escapist, given the times we're in.  And this book fit the bill.  This was romantic, fun, and also quite lovely in its exploration of forgiveness and second chances.

What I Liked:

Setting:

I love books set in a small town.  This book had all the elements I love.  There were several fun side characters, people in the community who you'd want to get to know.  I also enjoyed the sense of community you get in a small town.  

Supporting Characters:

The people who inhabited it were supportive, but also had their own struggles and complicated relationships to deal with.  These were fully-formed characters I grew to love.  I especially liked the owner of the bookstore.  She was fun, loving, and ready to arrange book events, and give reading recommendations.

Main Characters:

Gus and January are writers who each have a chip on their shoulder.  They knew each other in college, each secretly attracted to the other.  But their competitive natures stood in the way of them making a substantial connection.

When they meet later in life, January still is seething with professional jealousy and perceived slights from Gus.  Gus is smarting from a breakup. Their relationship builds slowly with plenty of misunderstanding along the way.

Story:

When both writers suffer from writer's block, they challenge each other to write a book in the other's genre.  This was so fun to see how each of the writers approach their research and develop their stories.  As an aspiring writer, I loved the "inside baseball" aspect of the story.

Themes:

The book, aside from a lovely romance, also explores themes of forgiveness and second chances.  January is reeling from the news that her father had a long-term mistress, complete with another house (the one by the lake).  Everything she thought she knew about their parents comes into question.  As she idealized their marriage, it's a shock to realize her parents were complicated, imperfect people. Can she forgive (or at least understand) her father?

Gus had a huge crush on January in college.  She (of course) had no idea.  But before he can jump into a relationship with her, he needs to find a way to trust women again.  His ex cheated on him, and this makes him more reserved than he would normally be.  But January interprets this in the worst way.  Does he really like her or is this just a quick fling?  Gus needs to open up or risk losing January.

What I Was Mixed About:

Cover & Title:

We had a lively discussion in our book club over the title and the cover of this book.  We agreed that both were rather misleading.  This book takes place in a lakeside community.  The characters go to the lake (the beach?) briefly only twice in the book.  I felt it seemed to be a marketing gimmick.  Plus many of the subjects of the book were not light.  I liked this, as it gave the book more weight.  But this is not a fluffy book.  The publisher should have presented a more accurate representation of the novel.

Sex Scenes:

I'm just putting this out there.  Everyone has their own standards for how sexy they want a book to be.  This book lived up to the "Romance" label with several super hot love scenes.  It was just short of "Mommy Porn".  So if you want (what some label) "Clean" romance, this book will not be for you. 

Rating: 

Release Date:  May 19th, 2020

Author:  Emily Henry

Publisher:  Berkely Press

Page Length:  361 Pages

Source:  Bought

Format:  Paperback Book

Recommendation:  This is a fun, romantic book that would be a nice escape from reality.