“Beach Read” by Emily Henry, published in 2020, a contemporary romance book, took me on a journey unlike any other I’ve experienced. It pulled at my heartstrings and connected me deeply to January Andrews, the female lead, and Gus Everett, the male lead.

The book takes place in North Bear Shores, Michigan. January and Gus happen to be neighbors with two windows that face each other. This seemed sweet to me because they started writing notes on papers and holding them up to the windows for the others to see. 

I loved how they both wrote books and started as enemies. January wrote Romance books and Gus wrote literary fiction books. They make a bet to switch genres and write a book. I liked that they promised not to fall in love with each other because they definitely didn’t follow that plan..

I personally enjoy books that have romance but don’t completely rely on romance for the story. I like that I got to know January’s personality and learn about her life before the romance started. I feel that this added more depth to the book and helped me understand why she fell so madly in love with Gus. 

While romance unfolds, we get an inside perspective into January and Gus’s personal lives. I enjoyed this because it helped tell the story of falling in love with someone, even while you’re struggling. I also appreciated Emily Henry for having each character help the other through their struggles because it added so much more depth to the Romance.

January taught Gus how to believe in happy endings, which was overall my favorite part of the book. The way that he went from hating the world to loving it because she was “so perfectly his favorite person” encapsulates how beautiful their story is.

At the end of the book, Gus proposes to January in the most perfect way. Her mom, best friend and various others return to Michigan to celebrate with her. 

Beach Read is so perfectly my favorite book.