A review by xabbeylongx
Beach Rivals by Georgie Tilney

funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Spoilers Ahead
I thought this book was really cute. Unfortunately, it was a lot like the plot of a lot of romance books I read, which is why it didn't rate as highly, as I think I needed a bit of something extra to really connect with it, but it was still a good book. 
We follow Clare as her other worries about her. She dropped out of university, no longer wanting to study there, and has been flitting through jobs ever since, always getting fired and never feeling content in what she's doing. When she sees an ad about looking after a bookshop for 3 months in Bali, she scoffs at it, until her best friend convinces her to go, and that's how she finds herself in Bali. 
She is put in a house with Jack, the other guy on the job. He seems extremely pretentious, and he keeps to himself. When they get to the bookshop, they find it in a complete state, and Clare sets off trying to attract more people, whilst Jack deals with the admin side of things. 
As they start to grow the bookshop back to the status it used to be, Clare and Jack get closer, and they even start to become friends. Clare meets a guy on the beach who's only there for a holiday, so she knows it's going to only be a thing, but Jack doesn't seem to like him. And when they find out that the owner of the bookshop thinks it's a lost cause, they are distraught, and try to convince him that they can fix it. 
After a night of lots of drinks, in which Clare's best friend and Jack's brother come and stay with them, and they get really drunk. There is chemistry between them, and every one of them can sense it. Eventually, they end up kissing, and Clare thinks she's made it awkward, but Jack was also into it. 
When the time comes for them to leave Bali, the bookshop owner offers them a job to reinstate bookshops all over the world. This is Clare's dream job, staying with Jack and travelling to set up bookshops to make people happy. She's devastated, however, when they are both offered the job and Jack declines. He says that he needs to get back to his stable job, and he knew that if she knew he'd said no, she would say no too. 
The time comes for him to leave, and they say goodbye. Clare runs after him though, meeting him at the airport, only for him to say he was coming back anyway, and that he would take the job. Happy story, the end. 
As I said, I really liked the story. It was supposed to be an enemies to lovers type book, but I wasn't really seeing the enemies side of things to be honest, I think they always had chemistry and it's visible right from the beginning. However, I really liked both of their personalities, and I liked their flaws and their raw emotions. I also loved the trans representation within the book, it was a really touching addition to the story, which I really liked, so I would definitely recommend this book.