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  • Beach Read

  • Written by: Emily Henry
  • Narrated by: Julia Whelan
  • Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (651 ratings)

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Beach Read cover art

Beach Read

Written by: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
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Publisher's Summary

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION AND BOOK LOVERS!

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes best-selling 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.

©2020 Emily Henry (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

One of...

The New York Times Book Review's Summer Romance Reads

Entertainment Weekly’s Hottest Summer Reads of 2020

Oprah Magazine's Best Beach Reads of Summer 2020

Betches’ 20 Books to Read in 2020

SheReads’ Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020

Goodreads' Big Books of Spring

Popsugar's 25 Exciting New Books Coming Out in May

Bustle's Most Anticipated May Titles

Shondaland's Five Books to Read in May

TheSkimm's 11 Buzzy Books for Your Imaginary Beach Bag

Good Morning America's 25 Novels You'll Want to Read this Summer

The New York Post's Required Reading

Good Housekeeping's 25 Best Beach Reads

Huffington Post's Best Books to Read during Quarantine

CNN's Perfect Summer Reads

LitHub's Ultimate Summer 2020 Reading List

BookRiot's 6 Captivating New Books

“Once I started Beach Read I legit did not put it down.”—Betches

“Reader, I swooned! Beach Read is a breath of fresh air. My heart ached for January, and Gus is to die for—a steamy, smart and perceptive romance. I was engrossed!”—Josie Silver, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December

“This is a touching and heartfelt book about love, betrayal, grief, failure, and learning how to love again. I adored going along on Gus and January’s journey, and I closed this book with a satisfied sigh.”—Jasmine Guillory, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Proposal

Featured Article: Best Romantic Audiobooks to Fall in Love With


There's hardly a genre better suited for audio than romance books. Whether it's a tender story of first love, or a passionate affair, listening to narrators at the top of their game carefully unspooling the threads of a love story is our favourite way to consume these enchanting stories. You'll find sexy tropes, diverse and distinct characters ready to fall in love, and great, innovative rom-com audio recordings with standout performances in this list. These are the best romance books, from classic tales to contemporary romance via erotica and fairy tale love. Happily ever after? No spoilers here, thank you very much.

What listeners say about Beach Read

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing

I loved the book. it was amazing !!! I really love this author. yay

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Quick listen

I found the main characters not totally likable. The dialogue between the main characters was very repetitive. I did not enjoy the narrator’s impression of male voices. I finished the book because I wanted to know how the story unfolds, hoping the story would get better.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • MC
  • 2020-07-13

Book marketing is misleading

I expected this book to be lighter based on the description, cover, name, etc. The beginning is what I expected, but then the book took a turn and became a more serious exploration of the relationship (and cults - what?) which was anything but light. Honestly, the two main characters and their dramas wore me down. Quality writing but not what I expected based on marketing. I lost interest in the story and did not listen to the last 2 hours.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sexy summer read. .

I loved this book. Very sexy, funny and sweet. First time reading Emily Henry and I absolutely love the way she writes. I will definitely be exploring her other writings. Good narration too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect mix of 'romance' and 'real life'

I loved this book! I am a devourer of literary fiction with a secret penchant for 'contemporary women's fiction', which helps me to take a break break from the heavy topics I write about for my work. What I loved about this book was that, while refusing to fit neatly into any genre, it showcased the best of these two very different literary styles, and how they can each show us different facets of the same complex character . The characters were real, their struggles relatable and their love story poignant. Plus, I laughed out loud multiple times. Highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Listen

It was an enjoyable listen- at times so emotional it made me cry, at times hilarious it made me laugh out loud. Deep story with real characters! Highly recommended 💯❤️

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Audiobook of 2020

This has book is definitely my favourite of 2020. It seemed a perfect book during a world pandemic where the characters had all the feelings of devastation and the found renewed hope in each other and themselves. What a great performance by Julia Whelan. What fantastic words by Emily Henry. I will re-read and re-listen to this again and again.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Wasn’t a fan

Narrator was good but the story was severely lacking. Main character got annoying very quickly.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The protagonists angsty whining gets a bit much in the end

The book starts well enough, and progresses ok, but by about chapter 20 the main character’s insecure whining and angst starts to grate. By the final chapter I was pressing the skip-forward-30s button regularly while muttering “o dear g…, can you just shut up and finish already”.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read!

I really enjoyed the story and the performance. Got through it super quick!
All the characters were interesting and enjoyable.

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