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January Andrews recently has suffered a string of losses and disappointments — her father’s death, the breakup of her longtime relationship, and the need to find a new place to live after said breakup (while being pretty much broke). She’s written several novels and has to get a new manuscript to her publisher, so she leaves New York City and goes to her father’s hometown in Michigan, to deal with the latest of the devastating revelations. Her father had a mistress, they had a house together on the beach there, and now she owns that house. She decides she’ll clean it out and work on her novel, which might be tough because she usually writes romances with happily-ever-afters, and she is not in an HEA mood.
Next door, as it so happens, is another novelist: Augustus Everett, who writes literary fiction that is acclaimed and serious and features very little in the way of HEAs. Oh, and January knew him in college and found him particularly annoying. It just keeps getting better.
As one thing leads to another, they end up betting each other to write the other’s genre. This bet comes complete with outings each week to help the other get better inspired: Gus takes her to do interviews with people who were affected by a nearby cult that left dozens dead; January takes Gus to locations perfect for meet-cutes.
They also promise each other not to fall in love.
I’ve adored Emily Henry’s young adult books (except Hello Girls, which she co-wrote with another author that had a definitely different feel), so I bought this novel for adult readers on Kindle as soon as it was published, mainly because I wouldn’t be able to get a hard copy at the library (thank you, pandemic shutdowns). It’s not just a feel-good, lighthearted rom-com; it digs deep into these two characters’ lives, into the losses they’ve experienced and the coping mechanisms and walls they’ve put in place. There were sweet and poignant moments and some fun spots, and definitely some sizzling romantic scenes, but it was definitely heavier than the Goodreads and Amazon descriptions let on. Even though it may not be the perfect pick for a quick and light beach read, it’s still highly recommended.
Rated: High, for about 20 instances of strong language and more instances of milder/moderate profanity, and sexual content including two sex scenes, one several pages long and pretty detailed and the other not as long but still detailed. There are other scenes of intense kissing and some talk of sex between the main character and a friend and between the two main characters. This definitely feels more of an adult book than Henry’s young adult romances.
