The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Henry, Emily. Beach Read. Penguin Random House, LLC, 2020. Kindle Edition.

As the narrative opens, January, a twenty-nine year old author of romance novels, is reluctantly moving into the cottage her father bequeathed her. Despite it being a beautiful place, she is not happy to be there because of its history. It turns out that her father had a mistress named Sonya, and they spent time there together. January learned about the affair at her father’s funeral when Sonya, who was not supposed attend it, appeared and confronted January. She gave January the key to the cottage and a letter from her father that was for her birthday. The revelation destroys January‘s view of love and shatters the perfect life that she had created for herself.

Prior to the revelation, January saw herself as having two loving parents, a dream boyfriend, and a good job writing romance novels. Now, her father is dead, and she wonders if she ever really knew him. She has a strained relationship with her mother because her mother knew about the affair and did not tell her about it. Additionally, January’s boyfriend broke up with her. She has writer’s block, and she is broke.

The one constant remaining in January’s life is her best friend Shadi. Shadi calls January soon after January’s arrival at the cottage and promises to visit her on the Fourth of July. During the conversation, January and Shadi make jokes about what Shadi must do to get time off. Then, January realizes that she is not alone. There is a man sitting on the deck of the neighboring house. Worried that he overheard the conversation, she goes to talk to him. He did overhear her. She cannot see his face, but they exchange words. His behavior causes her to call him the Grump.

Not long afterward, January discovers that the Grump is Augustus Everett, a fellow writer with whom she attended college. Back then, she viewed him as her rival. She also had a secret crush on him. Now he is a famous writer of literary novels. She still views him as a rival, and she still thinks that he is sexy.

Initially, when they unexpectedly see each other in the presence of other people, the two writers trade barbs with each other However, when circumstances cause them to spend time alone with each other, they begin to hold a more honest discussion. January admits that she has writer’s block. Gus is also struggling as he tries to write his next book. To move forward in the process of writing their respective manuscripts and for January to prove that she can write as well as Gus while also showing him that rom-coms are not easy to write, they decide to make a bet. January will write the type of literary narrative that Gus writes, and Gus will write the type of romance narrative that January writes. On Fridays, Gus will give January a lesson in his research process. On Saturdays, January will give Gus a lesson in her research process.

The bet causes Gus and January to interact with each other as they spend time together teaching each other their methods and motivating each other to write. It is not long before the attraction they both feel towards each other begins to manifest itself. As they move forward in writing their books and in their romance, they also move forward in life as they as deal with issues that have caused a blockage in their respective personal lives.

By the end of the narrative, the two writers have written books of which they are proud, and they have sold the books to publishers. Their romance has survived a series of trials and tribulations, and they emerge as mature adults capable of living a life of love and fulfillment.