This. Book. Killed me. I cried SO MUCH 🥺 I absolutely loved Beach Read but this book was so much more. I have never been a fan of the friends to lovers trope but Henry made it work so masterfully. Their friendship and love is one of the most beautiful relationships I’ve ever read about. I could not put this down since the second I started reading it and tore through it so quickly. HIGHLY recommend!

This book is absolutely hilarious. I ADORED the slow burn friends to lovers romance. I laughed out so many times.

I haven't read Beach Read yet, and I know I need to step to it now that I've finished this one, because holy cannoli did it live up to its hype!

I loved the way the story was set up in summers leading up to present, I loved all of the adventures, and more than anything - just the casual, witty dialogue that rolled off the characters' tongues.

SO, SO good!

Thank you to Netgalley for the gifted copy of this wonderful book!

I have yet to read Beach Read, so I had no idea the wit and sweetness I was in store for!

This book is absolutely hilarious. Poppy and Alex are both so funny, and I loved the slow burn of a friends to lovers trope.

It’s told in summers leading up to a fallout and “this summer” where they’re trying to rekindle their friendship.

Highly recommend this one; you’ll laugh so much!

Emily Henry does an amazing job writing emotional romance novels. Her characters are so easy to connect with and route for. In People We Meet on Vacation, Alex and Poppy have a yearly tradition of going on vacation every year since college. Despite how different the two are, they always keep up their tradition until something causes them to stop speaking. With the alternating timelines of the present and each vacation since the beginning, we learn what caused the split between Alex and Poppy.

Perfect perfect PERFECT! I’ve been recommending this book nonstop since I finished! It was the perfect summer romcom! I had butterflies multiple times as I was reading! I love it!

I just don't think these books are for me. I don't get friends to lovers romances. If the best friend is so hot and so great, what's keeping them apart?

A great summer read very much in the same vein as her Beach Read. The characters are lovable even if they make dumb decisions. I will say I liked Beach Read better, but this one was exactly the easy, fun summer read I was looking for.

Emily Henry wrote one of my favorite books in 2020, and she's on a roll, because "People We Meet on Vacation" is one of my favorite books of 2021. It's smart, funny, heartfelt and full of heart-aching moments. Inspired by the Nora Roberts' classic "When Harry Met Sally," this is a classic in its own right with clear nods to the storyline of its inspiration.

Poppy and Alex are friends. Or, they were. They might just be more. Their love story is told episodically, pinging between This Summer and the 11 that came before it. Two Summers Ago, Poppy and Alex had a falling out, and they haven't spoken since. Even though Poppy has achieved all her career goals and is living in the city of her dreams, she's just as lonely as she was as a picked-on kid in smalltown Ohio. Poppy decides to reach out to Alex and return to their annual Summer Trip, hoping to recapture the happiness she felt with Alex on their budget vacations across the U.S., and eventually the world.

The connection between Alex and Poppy is undeniable, even as they deny their deeper feelings for each other -- that 5% to 15% of What If? It's frustrating at times, because you want to grab them both by the shoulders and shake them until they admit how they really feel. Because it's achingly obvious how in love with each other they are, how deep and true and honest their connection is. They are so perfect for each other, not only because they have a great time together without fail, but because Poppy opens up to Alex about her insecurities the way she has never before. Alex, in turn, allows Poppy to see Naked Alex, without any filtering of emotions.

It's really, really good. The mystery of Two Summers Ago builds (but if you've seen "When Harry Met Sally" you can guess what caused the rift), but so does your investment in Poppy-and-Alex. You want them to take their heads out of the sand and confess their feelings.

Also, Emily Henry once again does a fabulous job capturing the silly nuance of human interaction the same way she did in "Beach Read." Alex's Sad Puppy Face is just as iconic as Gus's Evil Sexy Eyes. I laughed out loud throughout. My throat clenched with emotion throughout. This was a knockout of a book, and I had the added fun of reading it while on vacation.

| I received an ARC, and this is my honest, freely given review. |

I don't think there is anything I can say that hasn't already been covered; just read it. Emily Henry is unparalleled in her craft, if Beach Reads didn't convince you of that, PWMOV certainly will!
Poppy and Alex are perfectly matched polar opposites, neither one of them expected to be best friends until on fateful car ride home bonds them forever and they become inseparable. They are in constant communication when they are apart, and spend every summer on an epic vacation to reconnect in person. That is, until everything falls apart and they are estranged for a few years. In a last ditch effort to mend their relationship, Poppy convinces Alex to go on one last grand adventure. Of course nothing goes the way it should, and they are confronted with a lot more than shitty lodging and bad weather.
Seeing Poppy and Alex heal and come to realize their feelings for each other was an emotional journey I was more than happy to be strapped in for! Henry's voice and her near perfect character work made this book unputdownable. Literally, forget sleep, you don't need it. Your life is now Poppy and Alex and you won't be the least bit disappointed in it.
This is the epitome of laughing through my tears and I've never been more happy to cry over fictional characters.
Thank you so so much to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the digital ARC, it made my life!

People We Meet On vacation was simply the best romance book that I have read all summer. one of my favorite quotes from this book was "I'll never belong anywhere like I belong to you" AH IM CRYING ALL OVER AGAIN. I don't read friend's to lovers often, but this convinced me to read more of it. Alex and poppy are best friends who always take a summer trip together. I loved the mutual pining, the inside jokes and the chemistry was electric. The tension between poppy and Alex was so well written and I haven't been able to think about anything else since. This was beautiful and made my heart so happy.

I would to thank PRH Global for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my personal opinion.

Score: 4.5 / 5

Similar to the movie When Harry Met Sally, I had a hard time getting into the movie just as I did with this book.

I couldn't in my life see how Poppy and Alex are compatible lovers let alone friendly acquaintances. The present-past alternating chapters sometimes threw me off. I struggled with the first five chapters as I did with the first 15 minutes of the movie. However after that I really got into, I could see why people like this book so much. It touches on wonderful elements of friendship and love; literally this book made want a friends to lovers romance story.

Alex is a gem. and Poppy is a sweetheart. These are two people who cared about each other so much they never comprehended when did it start to turn into love. It was never about the vacations and places you go to just as much as who shares it with you.

After absolutely loving Beach Read, I couldn’t wait for more romances from Emily Henry! When I heard People We Meet on Vacation had the friends to lovers trope, I knew it would be perfect for me. One of my favorite tropes combined with Emily Henry’s style of writing and humor? SOLD. And to no one’s surprise, I fell head over heels for People We Meet on Vacation. Once again, another Emily Henry book is going on my ‘best of the year’ list!

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since they first met during freshman orientation at college. They couldn’t be more opposite – Poppy is wild, impulsive, has wanderlust, and travels the world for a living. Alex is a homebody: he’s stable, level-headed, is living in the same town he grew up in, and works at the high school he attended. They have nothing in common, but they connect, and every summer since they met, they’ve gone on vacation together.

I’m usually not a fan of unrequited love… unless both sides are feeling it. Which is exactly what Alex and Poppy go through. They both love each other but put the sake of their friendship ahead of that love, which makes that friendship work, until two years ago when everything was ruined. They haven’t spoken to each other in those two years, but now Poppy has one last chance, one last vacation, to save their relationship and maybe, possibly take it to the next level.

Poppy and Alex are ADORABLE. I had so much fun reading about them, especially during the ‘before’ chapters that would take place during each vacation they went on. If you’re not a fan of alternating chapters and switching timelines, this book might not be for you, but the way Emily Henry set it up was perfect for me. I was legitimately smiling and giggling during their hilarious conversations. Poppy’s quirky sense of humor and Alex’s deadpan meshed so well together. And I even loved their vacations too, both the good ones and the bad. Just a fair warning, this book will make you want to travel.

I loved this friends to lovers romance. It had the perfect amount the humor and angst. I can only hope Emily Henry continues to write more contemporary romances because I’ve become an even bigger fan since Beach Read!

I won’t act like I didn’t enjoy this book, because I truly and thoroughly did. But I will say that People We Meet on Vacation is nowhere near as wonderful as Beach Read. Both have super similar elements, and both are incredible summer reads. But Vacation hit a little different, though not necessarily in a bad way. Where Beach Read is an enemies to lovers trope, Vacation is a friends to lovers trope, which obviously changes the dynamics throughout the entire book. I know I shouldn’t compare the two. They’re not in a series, or have any true relation other than the author, but it’s difficult truly finding that separation when I’m categorizing them together in my own head.

Poppy and Alex are best friends, and there’s obviously some sexual and romantic feelings between them. But this book is such a slow burn and the sexual tension between them is not truly unbearable. So by the time anything happens (it’s not a spoiler, this is romance, it was bound to happen), it’s fine but it’s not that “holy crap, thank god, I’ve been waiting forever” moment that makes novels like these so wonderful.

"Then again, sometimes when you guess about people, you end up very wrong."

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book - I did. It just didn’t have those moments I look for in books like these and it all felt too slow for my tastes. What I did love is the characters themselves. They’re both so sweet and wonderful, flaws and all. They’re well developed which was absolutely critical since this story takes place over ten years. I loved getting to know them both. Their quirks, their families, their friendship. It’s all so weird and wonderful and made me happy. I felt like I was in the story and I felt really connected with both characters.

So I love the characters and the book really, the pacing was just off for me. But overall, really great summer read!

This was my pick for book club for July, and I’m so glad I chose it! This was funny, sweet, and reading it felt like taking a vacation. One of the main characters, Alex, is *perfection* and I wish I was friends with him TBH. Lol. Would highly recommend this for anyone in a reading funk or feeling like they need a pick me up! LOVED IT!

4.5 stars.

Delightful, & full of heart, this was a perfectly engrossing, perfectly lovely Summer read. I laughed, I cried, I got butterflies in my stomach. Exactly what i needed!

Great characters, and the travel focus was really compelling. I also genuinely enjoyed going back and forth in time.

This just might be my favorite rom-com ever. I loved the slow burn, friends-to-lovers storyline. The chemistry and banter between Poppy and Alex was A++. It was just the right amount of steam for me. Emily Henry is now an auto-buy author for me.

A perfect summer slow-burn romance that takes you on an escape to read endless possibilities and heartfelt banter. This book has sexual tension, lovable characters and natural dialogue. Now I must read all of Henry’s books!

The author says (ish) in her dedication “I wrote the last one for me, and this one’s for you.” And I really felt that to be true. Beach Read definitely felt personal, and this one felt more universal.⁣
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I loved that this book focused so much on travel (as this is the hero and heroines “thing,” - they go on a summer vacation every year), and it made for a perfect “coming out of a pandemic” read. Not being able to travel has been so tough on all of us, so this might just be the catharsis you need.
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The mutual pining in this one was amazing, and made for great sexual tension and chemistry, and the slow burn made the coming together so worth it for our perfect HEA. Makes me think I might like Mariana Zapata romances since I clearly love a slow burn!

QOTD: tell us a short and fun or funny vacation story

I’ll go first. This past week my youngest daughter pulled her diaper off and proceeded to cover herself and her pack n play in poop 🤦‍♀️ we had to run out to the store and buy her a new bed, and she’s been in backward snap pajamas every night since 😆

On THAT NOTE, thanks to @reeder_reads hosting her first readathon, I finally hustled through the rest of @emilyhenrywrites’ People We Meet on Vacation.

Mini review:
I LOVED it. Emily can do no wrong, imo. Even the parts I didn’t like I didn’t dwell on, because it was written with such levity and humor. The romance was such a drawn out slow burn, but the characters made me smile the whole way through. For me, that’s what matters with these types of reads.

Also, @emilyhenrywrites I need to know more about the faith aspect of Alex (and ultimately you)! The way you wrote him and his family resonated so much with my own story (and I notice you also went to a Christian Liberal Arts school 👀). Please be my friend 😂

#emilyhenry #peoplewemeetonvacation #summerread #summerreading #beachread #beachreads #poolsidereading #readingbythepool #readingoutside #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksleeve #bookish #booksgram #bookgram #instabook #instabooks #instabookstagram #instareads #instaread #instareading #readathon #readwithreederreadathon #readbooks #readmorebooks #readmore #femaleauthors #womenauthors #romcombooks #romancereads

Friends, now this is how you write a friends-to-lovers romance. It has the perfect balance of unrequited love (but not really), missed opportunities, and will-they-won’t-they anticipation that you want in a friendship romance. Emily Henry nailed it how complicated it can be to slowly realize you are in love with your best friend but not wanting to change the friendship in fear of losing the person. She also made the relationship Poppy and Alex had with other people feel relatable and realistic too. I loved these two so much.

People We Meet On Vacation was also just a fun read that had me smiling in so many moments. I loved the way Henry showed us the many adventures Poppy and Alex experienced during their summer vacation trips. The alternating chapters of a past summer with “this summer” slowly revealed just how close and in love these two are with each other even if they aren’t able to recognize or admit it to themselves.

I was a big fan of Beach Read, but that one was a bit heavier. This story definitely has a similar level of complexity where both characters have personal issues they need to explore and overcome but it felt much lighter. I also loved that therapy is mentioned and how it made a difference in helping both characters become more self-aware of their not-so-healthy perspectives and behavior patterns. It made them stronger in the end and better for each other.

This may be one of the best books I’ve read this year and I highly recommend if you love romance and the friends-and-lovers trope (and one-bed trope).