Kathryn Freeman

Welcome to the Beach Reads Book Club. Where love is just a page away... ‘I would run through fire to be part of this kind of bookclub, with books that make us smile and cry and laugh. Never have I seen my view of rom com and beach reads better expressed than in this wonderful book’ Genevieve, reader review

The Beach Reads Book Club (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 5)

Crystal L

An unbelievably cute, fun, and steamy book! Fed up with her current stuffy book club, Lottie decides to build out her own with the help of two friends. Who said book clubs have to be high literature? Certainly not them! Beach Reads Book Club seems a bit more like smut reads book club, but no one is complaining there. I absolutely adored the dynamic between the women and how important it is to have friends you can count on. The romance(s) felt a bit secondary for me (though I don't think they're necessarily meant to be) because I loved the friendships so much. I hope to see more from this group in the future. 

5/5 Stars
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer mitchell

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whew this book was a struggle for me. I wanted to DNF at multiple points but forced myself to carry through since it was an ARC and I wanted to provide feedback on the entire book, not just part of it. I do think the book picked up slightly in the last 25%, but that isn't enough to redeem the book for me.

What I didn't like:
-The formatting of this book drove me insane and made it unbearable to read. Granted, it may just be formatted this way because it is an advanced copy not yet completed, but other advanced copies of books I've received have been formatted in the way they end up being published. All this to say take this criticism with a grain of salt because there is a chance the actual book won't read the same way. There were no indents to indicate new paragraphs, no spaces to indicate a new chapter (the chapter would end and the next line on the same page would say "Chapter __"), and most frustratingly, quotes were placed in single quote marks (') instead of the double quotation mark ("). If I came across anything else written this way, I would automatically exit out of the page and never look back. It was so hard to keep focused on what I was reading and my eye never knew where to look, because it all just looked like one big blob. 
-The dialogue throughout the book felt stilted and fake. None of it came across as genuine and I don't know a single person in real life who would talk the way these characters did. It was really hard to immerse myself in the story when the dialogue felt so forced and unnatural.
-The pacing of this book didn't really work for me. I was bored for the first 75% of this book and struggled to even get to that point. I'm a really fast reader and typically read romance books in a day, and this one took me days to finish because I kept putting it down out of frustration or boredom. I think it picked up in the last quarter, but it shouldn't take 75% of a book to feel invested in it.
-LOVE TRIANGLE. One of my least favorite tropes of all time. I normally don't read books with that trope because I know I don't like it, so if I had known this book included that trope I probably wouldn't have requested it. However, the short blurb provided made it seem like this would be a cute little friends-to-lovers story, which I love. While the love triangle was very minor and not dragged out, it still existed and still bothered me.

What I liked:
-The spice scenes were well written and I enjoyed them
-The main characters had some nice chemistry moments and I really was routing for them throughout, despite my other issues with the story.
-I liked the different books within a book that were mentioned and discussed, especially because I've actually read a few of them myself. It was like a bookish inception moment, where characters in a book were discussing another book I have already read and enjoyed. I thought that was a cute part of the story.
-I enjoyed the friendships between the book club members. I liked hearing about each of their individual struggles and seeing how the other book club members lifted them up and helped them was nice.

Overall opinion:
This book wasn't for me. The formatting and writing style really made it a struggle to get through. I was not overly invested in the characters, though they weren't bad. I could have DNF'd early on and been ok with that decision. Please don't take this review as saying you shouldn't read this book. Everyone has different taste and just because this one didn't work for me does not mean it won't work for you. I'm sure someone out there will look at my list of things I disliked and think to themselves they love all those things!

Sofie

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for the eARC for review!

When Lottie Watt decides to start her own book club for light, fun reads, she thinks her favourite book store is the perfect place to have it - if she can get the steely owner to agree. 

This is a fun read. In fact, it's probably the very same kind of book that The Beach Reads Book Club would pick up, though some of the characters might complain about the tameness of the sex scenes. It's fluffy, easy, light on the drama and full of likeable characters I'd like to share a drink with.

Lottie was a great protagonist - easy-going, forgiving, kind, generous, but strong and stubborn in her own way. Matt, in turn, was a great foil - rigid and standoffish, at least at first, witty, smart, and adoring. The lovers really balanced each other out, and they're chemistry was palpable.

All that said, I found the story a little.. simple. There's not much going on plot wise except for our two lovebirds flitting around their feelings for the other, until an old flame comes into the mix. Even when the romance does start to come to fruition, the beginning felt a bit lacklustre. In romance novels, I'm used to those first moments being charged, unstoppable, passionate. Here, it was simple. I know Matt is clearly very methodical and serious, but there’s something so sexy about a guy like that finally giving up control for a moment. Even after, the steamy scenes were fairly short and straighforward. This happened. Then this. Then we both did this. Not the sort of drawn out-lyrical, long-awaited scene you find in most romances.

Maybe I’m just not used to reading about a mature adult relationship. Matt and Lottie communicated so well, but I’m craving a bit more messiness. (That said, I love Matt's gentleman-ness, and how consent was always emphasized, especially in the beginning).

I wasn't a fan of Matt's attitude toward food. While he never made Lottie feel bad about her diet, the inner dialogue about carbs and calories and clogging arteries and jogging to work off a meal felt superfluous. It would have been enough to have one mention of his diet, where it was the only thing he felt he could control growing up, but Freeman talks about it again and again. It just came across a bit judgey and pretentious, which I know is the farthest thing from Matt's true characterization.

This is really nitpicking, but there were a few times when "OMG" is written in the dialogue, not the full “oh my god”. People in their 30s and 40s don't say this in real speech.

Finally, during the chapter where the book club is discussing The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, one of the characters starts to describe the book by saying the main character has Aspergers. This is an outdated and very harmful name for someone on the spectrum, as the syndrome was named after Hans Asperger, a n*zi collaborator who experimented on kids with autism. 

All that aside, as mentioned, this was a definitely a Beach Read. I wish we got a little more drama and a little more steam, but the book definitely succeeding in what it set out to do!

The Beach Reads Book Club (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 5)

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