Beach Read by Emily Henry

About the book:

Two writers, One Holiday. A Romcom Waiting to Happen!

He doesn't believe in happy endings. She's lost her faith that they exist. But could they find one together?

January is a hopeless romantic who likes narrating her life as if she's the heroine in a blockbuster movie. Augustus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.
January and Augustus are not going to get on. But they actually have more in common than you'd think:
They're both broke. They've got crippling writer's block. They need to write bestsellers before the end of the summer.
The result? A bet to see who can get their book published first. The catch? They have to swap genres. The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...

Publication Dates:

Kindle Edition - 18th May 2020

Paperback - 20th August 2020

My Thoughts:

For the last few months, I've been seeing reviews about this book everywhere. On instagram, goodreads, twitter and even some facebook groups I'm in! So when I saw there was going to be a heatwave, I thought it would be the perfect time to read this book. 

From reading reviews, I knew it wouldn't be a cute fluffy book to read on holiday which I found quite refreshing! 

For the first 30% I didn't enjoy this book and wondered why so many people loved this so much and I just couldn't stand the hype but after the chapters at the movie drive thru 😉 I began to love both characters and soon after that I couldn't put the book down and wanted to find out what happened next. 

I loved the small parts where they go to each other planned days/nights out for their book research and the bits where they was sitting at the desks writing each other notes!

I also find it clever for the author to write a storyline/book where the main character is also planning a story but this book had two stories to make up and I kept wondering how complicated I'd find that!

Anyone if you haven't read this book yet, it's currently 99p and for only a limited time!  Amazon

I never normally think abut the questions at the end of the book but I thought I'd answer some of them. I'd love to hear your answers too!

1. What traditional romance tropes do you see used in Beach Read? Past lovers, neighbours and frenemies to lovers 
2. If you could visit one setting from the book, with one of the characters, whom and where would you choose? I think I'd have to go Augustus's house overlooking the lake and of course it would have to be Gus with me!
3. Have you ever felt 'book shamed' for liking a particular genre? Quite often! I've only recently starting romantic comedy books but I normally read books which are based around a character moving to a new town and opening up a: cafe, restaurant, farm or any kind of business at a certain area: seaside, country, on the pier! But I enjoy reading them so who cares!
4. Do you believe in the idea of Happily Ever After? What would your HEA look like i real life? I'd like to believe that there is a HEA for everyone and that I would get a chance of one. As I mentioned above about the books I read, I would love to move to the seaside and open up a little cafe or an ice cream shop! Maybe I could settle down there with my HEA Love maybe meeting him after I set up my shop? 
5. Do you read books with a certain kind of ending? Yes! form my cute little reads, to thrillers and friends to lovers/ fake relationship books (what's the genre again?)
6. What is your perfect beach read? I haven't found my perfect beach read for this year but I't would most probably be a book by Heidi Swain or a thriller based at a seaside!
7. If there was a sequel, what do you reckon comes next for them? I'd love for them to write a book together and could possibly be a different genre all together? Or maybe they could travel the country together and go to scary and cute places together!

Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre

Synopsis:

Billie fled her Yorkshire upbringing to pursue her dreams of finding a cure for the the illness which killed her mother, yet when her father gets sick, she must return home to save the farm.  But the transition from city girl to country lass isn’t easy, not least because leaving London means leaving her relationship with Joely Chevalier, French pharmaceutical femme fatale, just as it was heating up. And when she gets to Yorkshire, Billie’s shocked to discover the family dairy farm is in dire straits. Battling misogyny, homophobia and the economic turmoil of a dairy crisis can Billie find a way to save the farm, save the cows and save herself?”

Publication Dates: 

EBook - 25th June 2020

Paperback: 3rd September 2020

My Review/ Thoughts:

Today is my turn on the blog tour for this interesting book, my review is short and sweet and I don't really want to write to much to give away any spoilers. But let me just say I loved the bit with the bikinis and the march! 

This was my first LGBTQ+ book and it's perfect time to post my review during pride month!  I really enjoyed it, if I be honest it wasn’t much of a different storyline to the normal books read. The only difference was that the love interested was grumpy female vet rather than a grumpy male vet!

I loved every chapter (especially chapter titles) and the plot of Billie trying to keep the farm going whilst her dad is in hospital and is trying to remember everything she has been taught by him many years ago. 

Not only has Billie got he struggles of managing the farm, she also has to deal with the homophobia of the village residents. Especially the comments from the farm helper and the local bakery owner!

I’d recommend this book to readers who like contemporary romance fiction and modern romance

Link to buy it is an ebook: Amazon

The Player Next Door by K.A Tucker

Book Synopsis:

Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls, convinced that twelve years away is long enough to shed her humiliating childhood identity as the town harlot’s daughter. With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he’s Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won’t allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she’s wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.And maybe this time she’s the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness

Pages: 367

Publication Dates:

Ebook - 16th June 2020 - it's also on kindle unlimited!

My Thoughts:

I'm so thankful to K.A Tucker and valentine PR for choosing me to read this book in return for a honest review. I'm now off to read all the others on kindle unlimited and save some money so I can get The Simple Wild & Wild at Heart! 

This is my 5 star ebook read of this month.  And before I go into my main review I would just like to say this would be a great read this summer and there is defo no social distancing going on in this book!

Now onto my main thoughts without giving away too many thoughts and spoilers! 

When Scarlet moves back to her old town teaching back in the school where she was bullied and had one loved up summer. She buys the house she always dreamed of owning when's he was a teenager. 

Returning back to her home town shouldn't be too hard as long as she can avoid two people: her mother who seems to sleep with all of the men in Polson Falls no matter if they're married or the same age as her daughter! and also the person who broke her heart all them years ago is none other than Shane, the quarter back from back in the high school who had a romance in the last summer before senior year. But as luck is clearly not on Scarlet's side as her new neighbour only happens to be Shane but now 12 years later, he's a fire-fighter, a dad and a whole lot hotter!

Hands up, I'm a person who judges book by their covers and if I was browsing on Amazon and came across this. I'm not going to lie, I would not choose this for myself to read but oh my I loved it! 

The friendship between Scarlet & Justine, the strained relationship between Scarlet & Dottie (her mum), the new ally in Becca who didn't stand up for her all them years ago and naturally the growing friendship/ blossoming romance of Scarlet and Shane (who doesn't love a friends to lovers trope!?)  which was such a delight in reading. I most loved the parts where the friendship was developing and Shane was round (walked over the little picket fence) every weekend to help Scarlet with her house!

I would just like to note that everyone should go and read this book as it's such a great read and makes you want to read it all in a day (I did two) but is just a perfect kind of read at the moment!

Thank you for reading x

Link to buy the book  or to get it on kindle unlimited: Amazon

About K.A Tucker:

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge. 
She is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 books, including the Causal Enchantment, Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, and The Simple Wild. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, First for Women, and Publisher's Weekly. She has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance 2013 for TEN TINY BREATHS and Best Romance 2018 for THE SIMPLE WILD. Her novels have been translated into 16 languages.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her family.

 

The Staycation by Michele Gorman

Two families. One cancelled flight. And a last minute house swap...

Things get desperate for strangers Harriet and Sophie when they become stranded with their families in Heathrow's Terminal 5. Each woman has her own reason for really really really needing the family holiday they've anticipated for months. But Iceland's volcano has other plans for them. When their flights are cancelled, the families swap houses and discover that sometimes the best things in life happen close to home. This ash cloud has a silver lining, even if no one can quite see it yet.

Pages: 336 

Publication Dates:

Kindle Edition: 1st of June 2020

Paperback: 23rd of July 2020

Star Rating:  4

My Thoughts:

I requested this book on Netgalley as it sounded a great holiday read and then my holiday was cancelled so I decided to have my own staycation by renting a hot tub and plenty of milkshake deliveries! Right now to my review of the book!

i love the start of the book, two families stressing out at the airport and after searching for somewhere to sit, they ending up chatting.  The two ladies may be wearing the same dress and are completely different but they both needed this holiday so when their flight is cancelled, the deiced to house swap (to be honest, if someone offers this option to me in the airport, I would defo be saying no!) 

Whilst I was reading the book, I kept jotting down my thoughts and some of them was actually correct! 

Harriet's husband James seems to be hiding something, as Sophie found him back into the village up to something - I so wasn't expecting what was being arranged!

Harriets daughter - always on the phone (but who isn't these days?) is something more going on? 

If this was a thriller, I would be betting on Sophie's husband being dodgy. Sophie is poorly, is there something more sinister going on?

The only thing I'm jealous about Sophie's holiday is the daily spa treatment!

Overall, I did really enjoy this book but I kept thinking something more interesting was going to happen, but I was slightly disappointed at the ending! 

I would still recommend people buying this book, as it's a great summer read. Especially  for everyone who can't go on holiday this year!

Buy Ebook

About the Author:

Michele writes comedies packed with lots of heart, best friends and girl power. She is both a Sunday Times and a USA Today bestselling author, raised in the US and living with her husband in London. Michele also writes cosy comedies under the pen-name Lilly Bartlett. Lilly’s books are full of warmth, quirky characters and guaranteed happily-ever-afters.