Summer is coming to an end (I’m honestly relieved because it gets WAY too hot in summer lol), but I decided to share some “beach reads” I tried. Who knows, maybe they’ll help you summer-lovers extend the season in your hearts or something but some of these actually fit the pumpkin spice season just fine.
The term “beach read” can mean a lot of different things, but in general I think people tend to use it to describe an easy read. An easy, quick read. An easy, quick, addictive read. An easy, quick, addictive, feel-good read. Yeah, I think that last one sums it up. With that criteria, what’s more perfect than a RomCom, right? I enjoy Hallmark (mainly because I’m like those grumpy old men Muppets and it’s fun to laugh at how cringy they are. EXCEPT FOR GOOD WITCH. I LOVE THAT SHOW. The movies are fun too, but the show is where it’s at for me haha), but it’s tough to strike that balance between simple, happy, love story and something that doesn’t make you roll your eyes or fall asleep. Some of these I think nailed it. Others…not so much. But hey, maybe you’ll find something on my list regardless of my review that calls to you! Only way to know is to keep reading this post… 😉
Note: The following books are all categorized as adult fiction.
The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks
by Shauna Robinson
2022
Blurb
When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend’s struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn’t easy. Bell River’s literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat. …
Review
Perfect for book lovers and small town romance lovers alike. Not only was the main character relatable, but it made me love indie bookstores even more even though this one is just fictional lol. It’s the kind of book that’s cute and fun and light and makes me wish I could visit this small town (particularly the bookshop, if that wasn’t obvious haha). It has Hallmark bones, but more substance and snark built on top plus an unexpected air of mystery. All in all, quite fun though the racism inserts felt a bit forced at times like part of the author’s checklist. I will also say though, for a romance, the romance was the least interesting part to me. I’m not saying it was bad, but the bookstore was far more interesting.
Book Lovers
by Emily Henry
2022
Blurb
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. […]
In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away […] instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. …
Review
This was Hallmark but done with excellence. Very cute, the banter was EVERYTHING ♡, edged in realism but with a heart of romance…I’m a total fan of this. It was both packed full of Hallmark tropes and openly made fun of said Hallmark tropes, it was both a classic predictable Hallmark story while simultaneously being very self aware, it followed the rules and broke the rules, and the only guarantee was a happy ending. I think this is a good book for people wanting to try a romantic comedy or light romance but don’t want something too sugar-sweet.
Romantic Comedy
by Curtis Sittenfeld
2023
Blurb
A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. […] Sally Milz is a sketch writer for “The Night Owls,” the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday […] when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the “Danny Horst Rule,” poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman. Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. …
Review
Neither funny nor particularly romantic (okay, a bit romantic, but boring). Mostly taking place on the sets and in the offices of Saturday Night Live (except in this book it goes by a different name for, ya know, either “originality” or legal reasons lol), it was about the same level of rush-work comedy as you’ll find on the real SNL except in this case none of it was funny. Might some of it be funny if watched instead of read? I’ll allow the possibility, but you really can’t sink any lower than potty humor and that’s its go-to. I do like the concept, but I think I only cracked a smile once and for a book boldly titled “Romantic Comedy” it created expectations and did not meet them (for me). But hey, it was a New York Times Bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon book club pick so what do I know?
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon
by Sarah Hawley
2023
Blurb
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain. […] Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. …
Review
Hallmark gets witchy and preachy. Very fun concept and it was cute, but too often inserted the FMC’s tirades about environmental rights, women’s rights, etc. etc. and it just didn’t flow somehow? Somehow it made me want to cross my arms grumpily like the demon/MMC and stand far away from their protest signs lol. The world was pretty interesting though, like Hallmark but packed with magic and supernatural realms and beings. This book was close to being on pitch, but fell just a half-step short.
pooled ink 