Isn't It Romantic?

Beach Read
Emily Henry
Age/Genre: Women's Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Every romance January has ever written was based on her parents. She thought they were the embodiment of the HEA, but she learns a hard truth after her father's death, and it shatters her world. Looking to recapture her writing magic, she moves into the beach house, her father's OTHER home. Once there, she finds her neighbor to be none other than her college rival, Gus. Challenges are made, and sparks fly, as these two try to untangle their personal issues, and hope to overcome them.

Wow! This book really hit me in the feels. I couldn't imagine being in January's shoes, being forced to deal with so much loss at one time. It wasn't just the loss of people and tangible things, but the loss of things she believed in, which once served as her foundation. This was quite a moving journey, and I am happy to say, it culminated in so many wonderful things.

The Premise

I loved the idea of January's neighbor being someone from her past. And, not only some rando from her past, but someone who had motivated her to be her best, and was also a romantic "almost". That bit of history was utilized so well by Henry. Their competitive nature led to the challenge, that they would write a book in the other's genre. Ha! Easy peasy. Or, so they thought.

Multiple delights resulted from this challenge. I loved learning about their process, and getting peeks at their works in progress. Being inside the mind of a writer was quite interesting and enlightening, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I won't lie, the weekend research excursions were some of my favorite parts. The rom-com trips were pretty much pure fun, and though the literary fiction outings often had a bit more serious tone, I was impressed with how they fit with the overall themes of this story.

The Characters

I was captivated by both January and Gus. They were complex and complicated. They were so layered, and I loved discovering each new facet of their being. Both were suffering some serious wounds. They were sort of down, but not out. Needless to say, the exchanges between these two was stupendous. Nothing like two celebrated authors bantering with each other. The whip smart dialog between these two made me forget time even existed, and also made me sad every time it ended. I just wanted to sit out on the porch, and listen to them all day.

The Romance

I did classify this as women's fiction, because for me, January's life and her issues seemed to dominate the story. But, make no mistake, there was a strong romantic element in this book. I am a sucker for seeing people getting their second chance at love. With these two, it was a missed opportunity, and now, they were both sort of jaded, when it came to love. Seeing them become friends, and expose their hurts to one another was quite beautiful, but it was even better to see them give in to their attraction. Lots of fun and cute romantic moments were shared between them, which left me elated, and yeah, they were pretty much fire together, as well.

The Ending

There were emotional moments for me throughout this book, but from the 87% mark on, I was shedding some sort of tears. Happy, sad, joyful - name the tears, I probably shed them. I was so taken by the beauty of the times Henry shared, and her approach to this part of the story was brilliant. Shoot! I'm crying right now, as I relive reading those pages. By the very end, I was on my feet applauding the magnificence of that ending. My heart may have actually exploded as my face cracked in half from the HUGE smile I was wearing. In a word, it was PERFECTION.

Overall, I absolutely loved Henry's adult debut. She has dazzled me with her YA stories, and now again, with this fantastic book.

Ghosting: A Love Story
Tash Skilton
Age/Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Rom-Com
Publisher: Kensington
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Leave it to the experts—to break all the rules.

Online Dating Ghostwriting Rules to Live by

MILES
Dumped by his fiancée, not only is Miles couch-surfing across New York City, but downsizing has forced him to set up shop at a café. Also, he no longer believes in love. Not a good look in his line of work . . .

Do not present a “perfect” image. No one will trust it. Nor should they.

ZOEY
Zoey’s eccentric L.A. boss sent her packing to New York to “grow.” But beneath her chill Cali demeanor, Zoey’s terrified to venture beyond the café across the street . . .

Think of your quirks—such as cosplaying B-movies from the 1980s—as a “Future Honesty.” Save these as a reward only for those who prove worthy.

The only thing Miles and Zoey share is their daily battle for Café Crudite’s last day-old biscotti. They don’t know they’re both ghostwriting “authentic” client profiles for rival online dating services. Nope, they have absolutely nothing in common. . .

Until they meet anonymously online, texting on the clock . . .

Never remind the client you’re their Cyrano. Once you’ve attracted a good match, let the client take over ASAP.

Soon, with their clients headed for dating disaster, both Miles and Zoey's jobs are at stake. And once they find out their lines have crossed, will their love connection be the real thing—or vanish into the ether?

Both Zoey and Miles work as ghostwriters. Not for novelists, but for dating services. Unbeknownst to the other, they are having a sort of online relationship with each other, while IRL, they are nemeses battling daily for the big table at the cafe across the street. Slowly, the competition goes from cutthroat to friendly, and some real feelings begin to emerge. But, will their connection thrive offline?

So. Much. Fun! More often than not, when I pick up a "rom-com", it's not quite what I was expecting. This however lived up to its rom-com label, and had me laughing loudly and often.

Here are five things I really Loved about Ghosting: A Love Story:

1. I thought the premise was brilliant! What are the chances of two people with matched online profiles BOTH using ghost writers to help them get a date? Probably slim to none, but it made for a really fantastic storyline. I liked the way Zoey and Miles interacted with both their clients and each other. The meetings, the chats, the dates provided many opportunities for comedic moments, and the authors utilized them well. Just wait until you get to delight in their banter, and bear witness to some of their antics! 
2. It's a bit of two-fer romance. While we watch Zoey and Miles slowly fall for each other, we also get to see a relationship form between their clients. I really enjoyed all of these characters, and especially loved having two couples to root for. 
3. Cheese! Yes, there was a lot of cheese talked about and consumed over the course of this book, and I was down for it. I kind of wish that Cheese pop-up restaurant was a real place, because I would make it my first post-quarantine stop. 
4. Miles' parents were the best! There actually aren't many scenes, where his parent appear on page, but Miles speaks of them fondly. He was this heart-on-his-sleeve romantic, because he was so inspired by his parents' own love story, and it's a good one. I am getting all mushy over here just thinking about it. 
5. Mary for the win! Mary was Zoey's former boss back in LA. She was a one-time actress with a cult following, and now a writer and script doctor. My goodness! She was hilarious! Every time she phoned, texted, or emailed, I couldn't help but giggle. She was so over the top, but so wonderful too. I loved, who she was for Zoey, but also the way she acted like her fairy godmother, even if it was not apparent from the start. 

Sarvenaz Tash called this her and Skilton's love letter to Nora Ephron, and it definitely reads that way. The book had the signature humor, banter, and feels of a Nora Ephron rom-com, while still being  fresh, new, and uniquely their own.

**ARCs received in exchange for honest reviews.

Which do you prefer:
HEA romance or literary fiction?
Let us know in the comments!