''Beach Read'' is a 2020

contemporary romance Contemporary romance is a subgenre of romance novels, generally set contemporaneously with the time of its writing. The largest of the romance novel subgenres, contemporary romance novels usually reflect the mores of their time. Heroines in the c ...

novel by

Emily Henry Emily Henry is an American author who is best known for her ''New York Times'' bestselling romance novels '' Beach Read'', '' People We Meet on Vacation'', ''Book Lovers'', and '' Happy Place''. Biography Henry attended high school in Cincinnati ...

. An audiobook was released by Penguin Random House Audio.

Synopsis

January Andrews is a successful romance novel writer who is struggling after the death of her father and the discovery that he was having an affair. While living in his old beach house to prepare to sell it, she runs into Augustus Everett, her former rival in college and now an acclaimed literary fiction author. They reconnect and bond over struggling with

writer’s block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or t ...

; they challenge each other to spend the summer writing a novel in each other’s genres.

Reception

''Beach Read'' was a ''New York Times'' Bestseller. It was listed in the Indie Next List for June 2020 and chosen as one of ''

The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

’s'' 38 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020. PopSugar named it the Best Romance Book of 2020. The novel was nominated for the

Goodreads Choice Award The Goodreads Choice Awards is a yearly award program, first launched on Goodreads in 2009. Winners are determined by users voting on books that Goodreads has nominated or books of their choosing, released in the given year. Most books that Good ...

for Best Romance, coming in second place. Kirkus Reviews called ''Beach Read'' a "heartfelt look at taking second chances, in life and in love." A

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

review said "Readers are sure to fall hard for this meta, heartfelt take on the romance genre." In April 2023, it was announced that ''Beach Read'' is being adapted into a feature film for

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. Yulin Kuang is set to direct the film.20th Century Adapting Emily Henry’s ‘Beach Read’ With Yulin Kuang Set To Direct
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References

{{reflist 2020 American novels American romance novels Contemporary romance novels Berkley Books books