Beach Read by Emily Henry (audiobook)

genre: contemporary romance

January grew up a fervent believer in love, even so deeply that she chose writing romantic books as a career. Life has thrown her a huge curve ball, though, and when the longevity of love no longer feels as solid as it used to, January’s ability to write love stories is broken. When she arrives at the lakefront house she’s now responsible for, she’s got a horrible case of writers’s block. But when she sees who her new neighbor is - fellow writer and former rival Augustus - they come up with a challenge to stretch their creative boundaries and complete an entire manuscript over the summer.

I have been in such a book slump!  I'm so glad I got this one from the library Beach Read is exactly the brain candy I needed right now as I move houses. This story in my ear made the hours fly by as I listened to January process her grief as she falls for Augustus. I loved the small town feel and the slow burn pace of the romance was spot on (reader beware of open door scenes if that’s not your jam). I love that Emily Henry’s characters come to their stories with realistically hard stuff to work through, it’s not JUST about the love story, it’s about how they figure out to how manage their baggage AND make room to love people in the way they need to be loved. Sometimes the descriptions got a bit repetitive but the banter is witty and overall this one just checked the boxes.  Bonus: Julia Whelan narrates.