“I’ve never met someone who is so perfectly my favorite person.”
Emily Henry’s Beach Read is a heartwarming summer romance read. A New York Times bestseller, it follows the story of two acclaimed writers and their literary challenge that upends everything they thought they knew about happily ever afters. January Andrews is a romance writer who no longer believes in love, whilst Augustus Everett is a literary novelist stuck in a rut. Spending the next three months living next to each other in neighbouring beach houses, they decide to switch genres as a way of finding some creative inspiration. Join us at What We Reading as we dive into the most heartfelt and hilarious romance books like Beach Read!
Who Wrote Beach Read?
Emily Henry is the American author best known for her bestselling romance novels Book Lovers, Happy Place and Beach Read. Having completed a creative writing scholarship, she published her first young adult novel, The Love That Split the World, in 2016. Beach Read was published in 2020 and became a New York Times bestseller. Henry is a full-time novelist and proofreader currently residing in Cincinnati.
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People We Meet On Vacation – Emily Henry
Kicking off our list of the best romance books like Beach Read is another one of Henry’s most famous works, People We Meet on Vacation. Poppy and Alex have been best friends since childhood and, despite sharing plenty of differences, have maintained a tradition of going on holiday once a year together. Until two years ago when an argument led to them going their separate ways.
Poppy decides to invite Alex on one final vacation, a two-week trip designed to retrace the adventures of their childhood. Alternating between flashbacks of the past and their growing relationship in the present, People We Meet on Vacation is the perfect summer romance follow-up for those readers who loved Beach Read’s combination of travel, humour and transitions from friendships to something more.
The Flatshare (The Flatshare #1) – Beth O’Leary
Nominated for Best Romance in the Goodreads Choice Awards, Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare is a unique and heartwarming tale of two roommates and their unique living situation. Tiffy Moore needs a cheap place to stay, and Leon Twomey needs the cash. The pair have shared a flat, share a bed, but have never met due to their wildly different work schedules.
The pair communicate mainly through notes, but the situation works perfectly for them. But, with obsessive ex-partners, wrongly imprisoned brothers and the fact that they are still yet to meet face-to-face, both Tiffy and Leon discover that, to build the perfect home, they may have to ditch the rulebook. The Flatshare is one of the best books like Beach Read with its quirky alternating perspectives and fluffy characters that readers can’t help but want to succeed.
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The Unhoneymooners (Unhoneymooners #1) – Christina Lauren
Bestselling romance novelists Christina Lauren tell another rivals-to-something-else vacation story like Beach Read in The Unhoneymooners. Olive has always been unlucky in love and the rest of her life. What’s worse is that her identical twin sister is probably the luckiest person in the world, having financed the wedding of her dreams solely through internet competitions.
But, when food poisoning strikes all the guests an all-expenses-paid honeymoon to Hawaii becomes available to Olive. The only problem? The other person coming along for the trip is the best man Ethan, her sworn enemy. The pair jet off for paradise, determined to steer well clear of each other. However, an encounter with her future boss leads to a white lie that means she and Ethan have to pretend to be newlyweds madly in love. The weird thing for Olive is that, the more she pretends, the more she seems to be enjoying things. In fact, for the first time, she begins to feel lucky.
The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) – Jasmine Guillory
Another Goodreads-nominated romance story, Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Party picks up with Maddie and Theo, two people who have two things in common – Alexa is their best friend, and they both hate each other.
An accidental kiss has meant that neither of them can stop thinking about the other. Alexa’s wedding is fast approaching, and they both have bridal responsibilities to take care of. Responsibilities that require interactions that neither of them are too comfortable having. Underneath the sharp barbs and retorts they throw one another’s way is a connection that soon becomes undeniable, and unbearable. With their friendship with Alexa and the success of her wedding in play, the stakes for this tricky game couldn’t be higher. They must stick to the one rule involved with an engagement with a nemesis: don’t fall in love.
Tools Of Engagement (Hot & Hammered #3) – Tessa Bailey
In Tessa Bailey’s rom-com, Tools of Engagement, readers are introduced to two enemies who team up to flip a house. Their passion for the project may burn the place down or ignite a passion they can’t ignore. Similar to a book like Beach Read, it has all the ingredients of a creative enemies-to-lovers tale that romance fans are sure to love.
Wes Daniels is the last person in the world Bethany Daniels wants to work with. But after being invited on the home renovation show ‘Flip Off’, the new guy in town is the only person who is willing to help her compete against her brother. As filming gets underway, Wes indeed drives Bethany crazy – in more ways than one. Threatening to tear up the independent life she has created for herself, the barbs and bitter banter exchanged between them gradually lead to sparks flying between the pair. As it turns out, Wes Daniels may be the exact thing Bethany needs.
The Hating Game – Sally Thorne
Sally Thorne’s bestselling debut novel, The Hating Game, is another book similar to Beach Read that follows two driven professionals and how their competitive nature strips away their defences, revealing a chemistry they could have never expected to feel.
As executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company, Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Lucy cannot understand Joshua’s joyless and uptight approach to his work, whilst he cannot get his head around her bright clothes and irrepressible optimism. Their rivalry is taken to new heights when a new promotion becomes available. But, as the tension between the pair reaches boiling point, Lucy begins to realise that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua quite as much as she thought she did. And maybe he doesn’t hate her. Or maybe this is another game they are both playing with the other.
Shipped – Angie Hockman
Lauded as The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game, Angie Hockman’s Shipped is a witty and swoon-worthy romance read that any fan of Emily Henry is sure to love! The story follows Henley Evans and Graeme Crawford-Collins, two professionals at a cruise line company who have never met, but whose rivalry with one another has become the stuff of office legend. When their boss pits them against one another for a promotion, the pair are whisked on a company cruise to the Galapagos Islands together.
Only, upon meeting him, Henley quickly discovers that Graeme isn’t anything like what she imagined. The line between liking and loathing soon becomes thinner than a postcard. With a growing attraction to the competition, Henley has to weigh up what her career prospects are worth against a life open to love. Like Beach Read, Shipped touches on the beauty of second chances, competition and new beginnings to make for one of the most enchanting romance books around.
Happy Place – Emily Henry
Another sun-soaked summer read from Emily Henry, Happy Place is one of the best 2023 romance books where one relationship isn’t as it appears on the surface. Harriet and Wyn used to be the perfect couple but broke up six months ago. The problem? They still haven’t told their friends about it.
For the past decade, Harriet and Wyn’s friendship group have organised a week-long getaway vacation to a small cottage in Maine. It’s an opportunity to escape the city, soak in the sea breeze and consume far too much cheese, wine and seafood, which is why the pair have agreed to fake their relationship in front of their friends for the opportunity of keeping the tradition going. But, after years of being the poster couple, how well will they be able to hide the truth from those who know them best? And what happens when old feelings are brought up as a result of playing pretend?
The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) – Graeme Simsion
Over a decade on from its initial release, Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project is still an international sensation. A moving and hilarious novel about going after love and life even in the face of challenges, it is the story of a socially, but loveable, genetics professor and his quest to discover if he is capable of true love.
Don Tillman is the type of man who can count the number of friends he has on one hand, who doesn’t get invited on second dates, and who finds social rituals confusing. Yet, as a man of science, he knows that the laws of probability mean there has to be someone out there he is compatible with. Using all of his logic, he embarks on The Wife Project, aiming to discover his perfect partner. On the surface, Rosie Jarman looks to be the polar opposite of what he is after. She is fiery, intelligent and on a quest of her. As an unlikely relationship blossoms between the pair, the scientifically-driven Don is forced to confront his feelings about the whirlwind that is Rosie, and how love doesn’t always look good on paper.
Check Out The Best Romance Books Like Love And Other Words
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
