I work as a bookseller and for months, I’ve been watching Emily Henry’s novels fly off the shelves and I’ve been given enthusiastic recommendations from customers. I don’t often read in the romance genre, which is Henry’s wheelhouse, but I was curious to see why so many people love her books. I took my recent vacation to Hawaii, as an opportunity to theme my reading with a copy of Henry’s Beach Read. Her novel is not set in the islands, it is set in a small lake town in Michigan, nevertheless, it is full of summer vibes.

January is a struggling romance writer who has just received shocking news about her recently deceased father. Her father had been having a long-time affair, spending large chunks of his time in a secret lakeside cabin. After the funeral, January has been handed both the news and keys to the cabin, which she is reluctantly visiting to clean out in preparation to sell. She is equally annoyed and charmed by her mysterious next-door neighbor, whom she doesn’t physically see until a run-in at a local book store. She realizes it’s Gus, January’s arch-nemesis from her MFA program. Gus was January’s rival for best student and although they were academically competitive, they also were flirtatious, and had one drunk party fling.

January is mortified and tries to hide from Gus, but he keeps popping up as she navigates the small town. They end up making a bet: they will each write a novel in the other person’s chosen genre and the first person to sell their book, will get bragging rights and a cover blurb from the loser. The cynical Gus must write a romance and the optimistic January, must attempt literary fiction. As they write, they spy on each other through neighboring windows and decks, fueling both their creative energy and their romantic chemistry.

Beach Read was not the book I thought it would be, it is much better. Half of the story is a sweet, light-hearted comedy that follows conventions of the romance genre. Gus and January have an awkward and comical “meet cute” via a chance run-in at the bookstore. The setting is an impossible perfect small town with quirky locals. They have a series of storybook dates based on the premise that January needs to teach Gus how to experience romance to help inform his writing. Naturally, these dates have implications beyond writing research. These sweet elements attracted me to Henry’s novel, in the same way that I love shows like Gilmore Girls. Sometimes you just need a little happy fluff.

However, Beach Read is not simply fluff. It deals with heavy themes, such as January’s fractured ideas of her father and her inability to confront him. Complicating these emotions are January’s memories of her mother’s cancer treatment. Her mother survived, but January now realizes that her father was having the affair during this time. Gus is also very complex and Henry explores the reasons that Gus is drawn to heavier subjects in his writing. Beach Read has depth.

I really enjoyed Beach Read and may have even developed a crush on Gus. January is a lovable protagonist and I hope that Henry considers continuing with these characters in a future novel. I wasn’t done with them at the end of Beach Read. I’d love to see a film adaptation.