Beach Read

I was pulled in right away and flew through this book! I love Henry’s writing style and characters, with this being the second book I’ve read from her she’s firmly put herself on my auto buy author list!

I absolutely adored the Michigan references!! I also felt like there was a subtle nod to a Hope College staple but I could be reading too much into it. I enjoyed the banter and the slow burn for the romance.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much reading a romance book! Also I wouldn’t classify this as having a third act breakup which made me so happy! Without getting too spoiler-y, for me a third act break up means the characters separate for more than 1 week or even months and this wasn’t the case.

A beautiful novel about love, loss, grief, and new beginnings. I adored (almost) everything about this book; the characters are well written and had great developments along the way, the writing held my attention, the chemistry was amazing, well written dialogue to make you feel all the emotions, and the setting was so clearly written that I felt nostalgic for my home state where I’ve spent many childhoods at Lake Michigan 💙

My one very minor “negative” is the ending. I liked it well enough (I read the US edition for reference) but after finding out what the UK ending is, I would’ve preferred that one. It was a good ending but didn’t make much sense for Gus and January, and felt a bit rushed.


Spice level: 1.5/3
Tropes: rivals to lovers, forced proximity