If Beach Read by Emily Henry had an origin story, it would be this spicy enemies-to-lovers romance between academic rivals in NYU’s creative writing program. From the first page, I was hooked on their witty back and forth and the chemistry between them.
Romance writer Rosie had my whole heart with her optimism and love for her friends and family. As an aspiring writer who has always dreamed of living in New York, she’s living my fantasy and I loved how New York was a character itself full of vivacity and history. Following Rosie through her reluctant writing partnership with Aiden as they got to know each other better by exploring the city was so much fun and gave me lots of things to add to my bucket list.
Aiden as a book boyfriend, truly was a man written by a woman, and the definition of if he wanted to he would. I agree with Rosie; I love a man in a peacoat, and the fact that he was so controlled and put together instantly attracted me to him. His grand romantic gestures and caring words had me swooning, I just love a man who knows how to plan.
While the banter between Aiden and Rosie often had me laughing in stitches, there were a few times when I thought they went too far or vicious. It often rang strangely to see them being romantic and loving toward each other when they were so careless and unbridled in their insults. Their arguments in the middle of their workshop class also gave me the worst second-hand embarrassment, but I guess that was kind of the point.
I listened to part of this book on Libby, and I really struggled with how the story is formatted for the audiobook. There aren’t recognisable differences between the chapters and the excerpts between each one which often made following the story confusing while listening so I would recommend reading the physical book instead of listening to the audio.
Five out of five stars!
Paging Kait 