A review by frombethanysbookshelf
The Beach Reads Book Club by Kathryn Freeman

5.0

Genre: Romance | Romantic Comedy

Release Date: Expected 30th June 2021

Publisher: One More Chapter | Harper Collins

Content Warning: Some sexual imagery, mentions of death, mentions of cheating.



Lottie Watt loves book club - until she has to make a very sudden and not graceful exit for not following the rules. So now she wants to bring the fun back to book club and decides to start her own - where the fun, the cake and the laughter is far more important than rules, where you can read 'books we'd want to take on holiday, and books that take us on holiday.'

And so, The Beach Reads Book Club is born and have their first meeting at Books By The Bay, a very cute bookshop cafe that was reluctantly offered by Matthew Steele, the gorgeous but slightly prickly owner and his family. As far as first meetings go, it's one for the history books.

But as the pages start to turn, Lottie starts to learn that maybe Matt isn't so scary after all, maybe he's just got another story that's waiting for the right person to read it.



Kathryn Freeman always has a way of bringing strong, beautiful women and mouth watering romance together in a winning combination that's always impossible to put down. Right from the beginning, I was sucked in and needed to know more about not just Lottie and Matt, but the whole eclectic cast of the Beach Reads Book Club. From Audrey, a lonely retiree with a skill to always find the best sex scenes, to Sam who's been desperate for adult conversation since they had a baby, to Gira who is convinced her marriage is falling apart around her - each character was so full of life and love that as each chapter went by they felt more like old friends.

Without even knowing it, Lottie was forming a community- not just a club. It was a place all of our characters came together and learned to be better friends, better people, and just have fun.

And while the friendships of this story were absolutely wonderful - of course there's the prospect of romance in the air. But Lottie knows despite how many epic romances she's read, nothing is ever simple when it comes to matters of the heart - there's always baggage, unresolved exes, or a dog who doesn't like you very much getting in the way.

"If you think that's what romance books are all about, you've clearly never read one. They're about hope, about joy. About handling adversity and coming through the other side stronger. Yes, they're also about love, the most powerful emotion you'll ever experience."

I so badly want to be a part of this club, and finding out what they were reading about every month was an absolute delight - I was so happy when they discussed books I'd already read (Love Square was brilliant) and I'll definitely be checking out the rest of their reading list now too. As I've said before, I'm a sucker for books about books, and this one was the gin and the tonic.



RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Kathryn Freeman and One More Chapter for inviting me to read this ARC in return for an honest review.