Actual Rating: 4.5, rounded up
People We Meet on Vacation is a friends to lovers contemporary romance following Poppy and Alex. After meeting in college, Poppy and Alex became best friends, even though they were complete opposites. Every year, they go on vacation together, but two years ago something happened and the two haven't spoke since. With the hope of fixing their relationship, Poppy asks Alex to go on one last vacation together.

The story is told in two timelines. One follows current day Poppy and Alex on vacation, working on their friendship after two years of not talking. The second starts with Poppy and Alex first meeting and then takes the reader through their years of vacations together. I found this to be so smart and engaging. Friends to lovers is a trope that can be hard to do well. The author has to convince the reader of an already established relationship and be able to take it to the next level in a convincing way. By telling this story in two timelines, you get to know Poppy and Alex so well and see exactly why they should be together.

I was a little hesitant at the start of the book because I thought reading about so many different vacations was going to get boring and repetitive, but I was wrong. It was fun to watch Poppy and Alex’s relationship grow as they experienced new places and situations. Emily Henry was able to capture the feelings of vacation (both good and bad) in such a truthful, but amusing way. This makes for a perfect summer read, especially for those that haven't been able to travel in a while because of the pandemic.

Poppy and Alex are great characters. Poppy is more outgoing and wild, and Alex is more reserved and serious. They have a great dynamic and their relationship is so sweet. Both character have to work through their own issues and figure out what they want to make their relationship work. I appreciated that Henry was able to write each character to be so complex, but consistent throughout the book. Poppy and Alex's issues are resolved in a mature and thoughtful way, which always makes for a stronger book in my opinion.

People We Meet on Vacation is easily one of my favorite books of the year. It’s a perfect summer read and it has all of Henry’s usual writing full of humor and depth. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Beach Read last year, or anyone looking for a sweet romance that's also funny and adventurous.

Poppy and Alex have been friends since a chance meeting in college. After finding out they are from the same small town in Ohio, they discover they are complete opposites. Alex is more of a homebody and Poppy is eager to see the world. After graduating, they follow separate paths with a caveat, a yearly vacation together as friends. So begins Emily Henry’s new book, People We Meet on Vacation. Through Poppy, social media influencer for Rest + Relaxation Magazine, we experience past vacations and one in the present where Alex and Poppy explore the status of their friendship.
At times, playful and witty and then introspective, this novel is about finding out the home is more than a place on the map or a building, it’s about the people that bring joy to your life and in particular, that one special person you make a life with.
I thought this book started out a bit slow however I love the way it ended and tied up loose ends. Highly recommended.

Was not able to read before the publish date, my library has purchased several copies of this book and it seems to be doing well.

Poppy and Alex met in college and began taking a summer trip together every year, but something happened one year in Croatia that caused the two not to speak for two years. However, after Poppy "accidentally" sends a text to Alex, they end up on one more summer trip together, prior to his brother's wedding in Palm Springs. Will they be able to put the past behind them or will they decide they were better off not speaking?

I really enjoyed Emily Henry's book, People We Meet on Vacation. I liked how we got to know the characters through different time periods. It really helped to understand where they were coming from and made their friendship/relationship seem stronger.

I literally found myself crying different times towards the end of the book. I don't want to give anything away but I enjoyed the ending and found myself wishing it wasn't over!

I LOVED this book and so did the rest of the world... if you haven’t picked up this book yet, there is no better time than now to enjoy this wonderful love story about friends and friendship.

It is also about whether “men and women can really just be friends?” In a story that spans over a decade just like When Harry Met Sally, this one will steal your heart and never let go. I felt all the feels and swoon from the first page to the very last!

This was a fun read and made me smile a lot. I enjoyed the story & the characters. My favorite quote from the book was “It’s fascinating. How so much of love is about who you are with someone.”

Definitely recommend.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION is the second book by Ms. Henry. Having read the first one, BEACH ROAD, I looked forward to reading this one. There are quirky characters throughout, which is fun. Best friends since college, Alex and Poppy need to communicate better. Both are always assuming they know what the other is saying or what they mean, and they couldn’t be more wrong!

The story starts with the prologue from five years before. Then we are either in the present day or on one of their shared vacations from the past twelve years. The adventures Poppy and Alex embark on are often over the top, and there are a few laugh out loud moments. Neither Poppy nor Alex are happy with their lives, but while Alex seems content living in his hometown in Ohio, Poppy couldn’t get away fast enough and ends up in New York City. Both of them date other people they don’t like for each other, which is interesting…

There are many stories being told, and they’re woven together nicely. PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION has a nice flow with many emotional moments. The best are those that they each spend with their families or with each other. There is nice closure with the epilogue and a chance for an unexpected happily ever after, but I was hoping for a little bit more. The cover is playful and colorful and fits the book.

The Behind the Book details by the author add another layer to the story and is insightful, mirroring the impressions I formed while reading the book. The discussion questions are thought provoking and would be great for a book club. I look forward to seeing what Ms. Henry writes next!

People We Meet on Vacation is so hard for me to review. I really enjoyed some parts of it, but wasn’t into other parts. I feel like the suspense that was building up the entire book kind of fell flat for me. However, the story development and getting to know the friends in different areas of their lives was fascinating. I also LOVED Beach Read, so my expectations for this book were a bit higher. This is still such a fun book to take on vacation or to the beach. I have definitely become a fan of Emily Henry and I look forward to reading other books by her.

This was a lovely friends to lovers book. It was my first Emily Henry read, but definitely won't be my last! The conflict didn't feel forced, and you started to care for the characters and became invested in them getting together.

This book was fabulous, and Emily Henry is quickly becoming one of my favorite new authors. People We Meet on Vacation is sweet and hilarious, and I enjoyed how the story was broken into the current summer mixed in with events from past summers. It really highlighted the Poppy's character development and made me love Alex even more. 5 solid stars.

A decent friends to lovers romance with a relatable main character for any millenial struggling to figure out their place in the world both at work and in love. Giving it three stars because I do feel as though if this were a real life friendship and I knew these two people, their exclusivity and selfishness would be unbearable. I loved Beach Read and felt just okay about this one so I'll definitely be picking up any future books by this author!

Emily Henry never disappoints. I adored this second chance romance and thought it was so well done. Perfect follow up to Beach Read and highly recommend.

THIS BOOK WAS SOOO GOOD! Emily Henry breaths an insane amount of life into any story, any character. It was so vivid. I could see these places and these characters and feel their feelings. And the flow of her writing is so FUNNY and clever! I really couldn't put the book down for the second half of it. People We Meet on Vacation is the quintessential vacation book and I'm addicted to this traveling on a tight budget trope thing it has going on. Poppy and Alex are so raw and flawed and I fell so in love with them. They ARE so different, and yet so similar and it just works. Their love story works. I'm obsessed. More please. Thank you.

Alex and Poppy meet in college but couldn’t feel more different. Poppy is free-spirited and chaotic, and Alex is reserved and ordered. You’d never put these two together and yet they bond on a drive back to their shared hometown. They strike up an unlikely friendship spanning over a decade. Despite their differences, they just click, get each other like no one else does. Two puzzle pieces that snap together and fit snug. However, two years ago on their yearly Summer vacation emotions run high and they have a falling out. Alex and Poppy haven’t talked since and it’s like an aching hole in Poppy’s chest. Poppy’s so miserable in life she decides to just bite the bullet and contact Alex, propose a Summer vacation to get back what they’ve lost.

Right away it’s apparent that Poppy and Alex always had a connection beyond friends and my heart hurt from the palpable longing between them! One moment, I just wanted to shove the characters together to put everyone out of their misery, and the next I was laughing my head off over all the hilarity on the page! Poppy and Alex’s friendship beyond the attraction was quirky, and fun. Their conversations just so random. The story was seriously sooo funny at times! I have so many bookmarks!

People We Meet on Vacation was a perfect balance of heart-achy romance, clever humor, and sexy buildup! Oh-my-heart, when they finally figure it all out! Swoon! Total recommend!

If you liked Beach Read, you will adore this!
Emily Henry has done it again. I didn’t think it was possible to top Beach Read, but here we are. Alex and Poppy meet by chance on their first day of college. They are convinced they will never see each other again, until they do. Poppy needs a ride home from school and groans when she sees who is driving her, but surprisingly she has a good time. Ironically, they are from the same home turn. They are complete opposites.
This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Each summer Poppy and Alex travel to an exotic destination as “friends “, until one summer they stop speaking. Fast forward to the present and Poppy texts Alex out of the blue. You may wonder why, but you’ll have to read to find out.
The book is told through Poppy’s POV in the past and present. I loved reading the history of Poppy and Alex. They never realized that they were perfect for each other. They were always dating other people. What will become of the two? Read to find out.

4.5/5 stars ✨ ✨⁣
2/5 steam scale 🔥 ⁣
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This was a really cute book! Alex is quite possibly the most endearing and lovable love interest of any book I’ve ever read. Super cheesy, but his level of genuine sweetness reminded me of my husband and made me nearly cry. This book was the perfect summer read. I’m sure it would have been five stars if I hadn’t read it in the middle of my super tired, funky May slump. The jumps from past to present and back again were a little hard for me when I wasn’t able to read big chunks at a time. But otherwise, really enjoyed it! ⁣

I absolutely loved Beach Read when I read it last year, and couldn't wait to dive into another Emily Henry book! Though romance isn't a genre I pick up often, there are a few romance authors whose books I look forward to and consistently enjoy. I'm happy to say that Emily Henry is quickly becoming one of them! This was such a fun story. I was afraid a story focused on travel (and a tense vacation) might feel too 'rich people problems' for me to enjoy, but I am happy to say that's not the direction this took at all. I loved all the things Poppy and Alex did in the name of budget vacations, and their banter was SO much fun. Wonderful book!

Thank you Berkley Romance for sending a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars!

Full disclosure, I absolutely loved Henry’s previous book Beach Read. This one.. I liked but sadly not another favorite as I had expected. I loved the fun travel aspect to it especially because I was reading this on the plane. As for the plot itself, I found it immensely cheesy and dramatic. Poppy and Alex are cute, I liked their backstory and how their romance progresses but I couldn’t get past the cheesiness. I still liked it and it’s a cute read that is perfect for the summer!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Berkley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since freshman year of college. They're presented as kind of a Dharma and Greg type couple, with Poppy being a free-spirited travel writer and Alex as a buttoned-up, serious, PhD holding teacher who went back to their hometown. They are both very obviously in love with each other but keep it in the friend zone for years until they accidentally share a drunken kiss on one of their annual summer trips together, and it seems to ruin everything. A few years later, Poppy is feeling stuck, having met all of her career goals and seemingly plateaued in most areas of her life. She decides to convince Alex to take a summer trip for the first time since the kiss incident, and they end up having a pretty terrible vacation in Palm Springs. This follows the friends to lovers trope in a pretty standard way, but I really liked these characters and enjoyed the alternating times - chapters from past trips in between chapters from the present.

Emily Henry is officially an auto-buy author. I received this arc awhile back, but I know how good it was going to be, so I saved it for a "rainy day."

This feels like "When Harry Met Sally" for millennials, but a lot cuter and a lot sexier. There's something so heartfelt and pure about this book I couldn't put it down. Henry's gift for dialogue and strong characterization is exquisite here.