Emily Henry does it again! Dare I say I loved People We Meet on Vacation even MORE than her 2020 hit Beach Read!? Is that even possible!? This is a must add to your summer read list!

📚 Blog Tour + Book Review 📚

Thank you @netgalley + @emilyhenrywrites + @berkleypub! I loved it so much I had to get a copy for my bookshelf from @bookofthemonth 😉

Title: People We Meet On Vacation
Author: Emily Henry
Publisher: Berkley
@berkleypub
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

✅ Meet in College
✅ Friends-to-lovers
✅ Quirky female character
✅ Nerdy male character
✅ Swoon worthy moments
✅ New York City
✅ 10 Vacations

Poppy and Alex. Oh Alex and Poppy. They have absolutely nothing is common. Poppy is quirky and little wild. Alex only wears khakis and has been known to sit at a bar with a book. They meet in college. And somehow end up sharing a ride home on break because they are from the same town and become the very best friends. Poppy decides college isn’t for her and pursues a travel blog that turns into a real job in NYC. Alex finishes college and becomes a teacher. They live apart, but every summer take a vacation together. At first they are cheap vacations when they are students, but then Poppy has work perks and they become much more fancy. Poppy should have everything she wants…

But, she’s stuck in a rut. Everything feels off. When she starts to analyze her life she realizes the only time she is truly happy in when she is on vacation. When she is with Alex. The only problem? They haven’t spoken in two years. So Poppy convinces Alex to come on one last vacation and make it right.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this book so much! I could.not.put.it.down. once I started. Friendship. Love. Traveling. People. Ugh . . . it’s everything! If Beach Read was the comfort read I needed to help get me through the peak of Covid; People We Meet On Vacation is the book I need to help get me out! Now the were vaccinated, traveling and the world is opening up again! Where is the first place you want to travel to?

This book is out today, May 11th! It's a must add to your summer reading list! #netgalley #peoplewemeetonvacation

In this novel, Poppy and Alex have absolutely nothing in common - she is free-spirited and loves adventure, he's conservative and buttoned up. But they become best friends anyway, and take a vacation together every summer - and this book jumps around between the present day (when they haven't seen each other in two years due to a trip gone wrong), and their trips over the past 12 years. If you liked When Harry Met Sally, or the friends-to-lovers or opposites attract tropes, you will like this one. Though be warned it is definitely a slow burn. where you will spend much of the book wanting to shake them to get over themselves and realize/declare their love for each other. But a very enjoyable read with plus sweetly flawed but loveable characters, emotions, and fun vicarious travels. I think it was even better than Emily Henry's previous book "Beach Read."

I’ve decided this is my favorite time of friends to lovers. One that spans years, relationships, heartbreaks, the good and the bad. In this particular case, we’re gifted a beautiful 12 year friendship between Poppy and Alex. One that doesn’t make any sense but at the same time makes all the sense in the world. These two very different people just become their true “naked” selves together. Poppy’s quirkiness and Alex’s seriousness give us the perfect dynamic. I love the way they are together, their silly running jokes and made up personas.

Beware though, if you want a light rom com like the cover implies, this isn’t exactly that. Instead, it’s a heartbreaking, sweeping romance that’ll have you laughing one minute, crying the next, and holding out hope through the journey.

Not only is the slow burn years long friendship exactly what I wanted, we get that travel aspect we would all use right now too. Some trips are cheap and domestic, others are extravagant and international. Either way, I’d go on any of them right now.

At the end of the day, this isn’t even a book about traveling. It’s about finding your home. And if you’re still unsure about how much I loved this book, just know I teared about during the “beyond the book” at the end. I can’t even explain why.

Thank you to netgalley and Berkley Romance for my copy of this book.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC; all opinions provided are my own.

I knew Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation would be a beautifully written way of messing with my heart.

Poppy Wright & Alex Nilsen are opposites attract unlikely best friends who have spent almost every year since college going on one major summer trip together. But two years ago, in Croatia, something happened that caused a divide between them, & they haven’t spoken since.

After prompting, Poppy realizes she can trace her “last” happy moment to being w/ him, so she reconnects & asks him to go on a trip to Palm Springs. She hopes that she’ll be able to find her lost travel-journalist mojo & rekindle a beloved friendship she’s missed.

But of course even when he says yes it’s all more complicated than that.

There’s so much to love about PWM: Alex is really nice & dependable & wear khakis & is also a secret weirdo, but only around Poppy. Their relationship is built on inside jokes & moments when they’re only themselves around each other. On tenderness & respect & the more than 1, less than 15% of Poppy’s feelings that are romantic in nature. Yeah right . It’s an ache & a tenderness to see all of the ways they’ve been in love for so long.

Their HEA, told from present day & a series of flashbacks, is hard won, & Henry really builds up that tension, showing how they both wanted (want??) different lives. But maybe there’s some overlap. I read each chapter with bated breath, frequently checking how long the chapters were because I wanted to move ahead in the present day story & get them to kissing .

By the end, I felt assured that they really knew each other, that figuring things out might not be the easiest thing in the world but the only thing for people who love each other so much.

Funny, emotionally lovely & also difficult for someone like me , this book is poignant & as beautiful as I thought it would be. I hope that Alex & Poppy are enjoying a (vaccinated) summer trip soon.

5 ⭐️. Out today!

CW:

Poppy was bullied in high school; classmates lied about her sexual history & gave her the name Porny Poppy.

In 2020 Emily Henry released a little book called Beach Read. I say little book because it blew up. It was everywhere and people loved it and talked it up. I personally found it delightful. It was solid and enjoyable, but I wasn’t at the gush level like everyone else. I mean don’t get me wrong, I really really liked it (I gave it 4 stars) but the definitely not to the level people were talking about it. So going into People We Meet on Vacation I was not sure how I would feel. I went in without the hype level of Beach Read and let me tell you, it was utterly magical. I can’t stop thinking about it and I’m not sure I ever will.

People We Meet on Vacation is a story of Poppy and Alex, two best friends that are complete opposites. They met while in college, finding out their home towns were near each other, and slowly formed a bond. And that bond lead them to taking a vacation together every summer for a decade. Even living apart (Poppy in NYC, traveling to exotic places for work, and Alex a teacher in their hometown), they have made the effort to take this one vacation. That is until 2 years ago when something happened that changed their friendship and their comfort with one another. And when Poppy is ready to make one last shot, to go on vacation with Alex again, the two of them can finally have the chance to fix what is broken and get back to the why they were, or maybe even something better.

It’s hard for me to describe why I loved People We Meet on Vacation so much. The relationship between Poppy and Alex was easy yet it complex. There was so much more between them than friendship but it was not a line that was crossed. It made things complicated with them. But that ease was always there. And that was one of the things I loved about them and their connection. And Henry wrote them in the most memorable of ways. And don’t even get me started on their travels. Those trips were some of the best parts of the book. 1) Because I have barely left my house in 14 months. And 2) Those trips were what made their relationship what it was. It was the foundation of Poppy and Alex and it filled my heart with love.

People We Meet on Vacation is probably the hardest review I have written in a while. Why is that? Because I loved it so so much. It’s a book that stays with you and makes you wish you didn’t read it so you can read it again. It is the kind of book you want to tell everyone you know to read it. It’s the kind of book you want to hug. It’s the kind of book you need to buy. So do yourself a favor and buy it now!

Review: PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry https://wp.me/p3d0RZ-bMW
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna
Rated: 4 Stars

I enjoyed this quirky light romance. The quick and lighthearted banter was a joy to read. I am not a fan of continual time jumps to the past, but in this case, it served to show their deep friendship, camaraderie, and love rather than just tell me about it. I’m glad the author had the time switching clearly indicated and woven into what was currently going on.

Poppy is a quirky and very outgoing woman who admittedly has her flaws. Alex is an uptight, rather boring introvert with flaws of his own. He seems to find freedom to feel when he is with her, while he grounds her. Complete opposites, but somehow it all works. Warning, it is a slow building friends-to-lovers story…so much so, that I thought it would never happen. The ending made it worth the wait.

*Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~*~*~*~

Kindle https://amzn.to/3vYhX5r

What I Liked?
🌻 the dual timeline. I liked the back and forth between the current summer and the 12 summers prior.
🌻 the different locations. I liked that each summer was a different destination. I also loved that the current summer was in Palm Springs. Such a random but fun location.
🌻 Alex. The whole part in New York when he was taking care of Poppy... swoon worthy.

All in all, I had such high hopes for this one. I absolutely loved Beach Read but this one just seemed to drag on for me. I was ready for some action. Honestly though, I just don’t think I was in the mood for a slow burn. I needed something fast paced and extra steamy to hold my attention.

If you liked Beach Read and love a slow burn, you’ll like this one!

This book had me laughing until I cried and crying until I was laughing... and all of the emotions in between! This takes one of the sports for best books of the year, for sure!

Poppy is this wonderfully alive young woman, who is un-apologetically herself. She is a care-free free- spirit with a quit wit all wrapped up in a tiny package. So, when she meets the quiet and closed off Alex in their freshman year of college, there is no reason at all for them to become friends. They have absolutely nothing in common, aside from them coming from basically the same hometown. When they decide to share a ride back home at the end of the school year, the unlikely friendship that forms, creates the most beautiful, unbreakable bond.

Through the years of their lives, they mostly live apart from one another, but always come together for their annual "Summer Trip" where they vacation in some different place every year. And we get to be hand-held along those years as we see the routes their friendship takes. We get to see the ups and the downs, the hilarious banter and the uncomfortable moments. And, all the while we can see what is truly happening between these two friends, waiting with bated breath to see if they will wake up and discover that those insecurities they feel are mirrored in one another and so are those "unrequited" feelings of real, shameless love.

This book was everything I needed it to be. It was one of those rare reading experiences that I just did not want to end. I remember being like 20% into the digital arc, thinking giddily that I still had so much left of the book. I didn't want it to be over. There is so much pure love in these pages and I cherished every moment of this book. Through the countless laughs and the heart wrenching painful moments, this book was absolute perfection!

Poppy and Alex are best friends, but are opposites. Poppy wants to travel the world and Alex is content staying in their home town. Every year for 10 years they go on vacation together and it's the perfect week, until two years ago, everything changed. Poppy realizes that she misses Alex more than she could have ever imagined so she talks him into one last vacation so she can get out all that needs to be said.
I can see why people love this book. Poppy is fun and traveling around for all these vacations seeing the tension between the two is really cute. After Beach Read, I knew that this book would have more to it than just fun and friendship and I was looking forward to the angst.
This book alternates between past vacations and this summer. While I could see the love these two shared, the lack of communication between two best friends is unnerving. There are so many issues that could have been avoided if they would have just talked to each other, and that is sad. I found myself really frustrated with Alex and how scared he was, up until the end he was running away from his feelings. I could have forgiven him a little more if he didn't hurt other people in the process.
The conflict at the end of the book felt a little flat to me, again, basically because Alex runs off scared, using Poppy as an excuse for his fears. I do think it might have been just the time I read this and friends to lovers isn't my favored trope, so I encourage you to read this book if you love a good friends to lovers book. 3.5 stars for me.
Thank you to Emily Henry, Netgalley and Berkley for an early copy of this book.

Alex and Poppy met in college and struck up a unique friendship. Nothing alike, they balanced each other out and became a support system that they each needed. As they grew older and life moved them further apart they kept up the tradition they started in college of taking a summer vacation together. Summer’s that were the bright spot of their year until something happened two years ago and they haven’t spoken since. Until one night when Poppy texted a message, “Hey”.

Last year’s Beach Read was in my Top 5 best books of the year so I had really high expectations for People We Meet on Vacation. While it didn’t touch the right note that Beach Read hit (right time to read, right mood, etc.) it was still an outstandingly good book and will again be placed in my Top 10 at least so far this year. The awkward nerdy-hot Alex, and the retro-dressed outgoing yet insecure Poppy were both from the same home town and although they didn’t know each other growing up immediately clicked on a long drive home for winter break. Their friendship came fast and solid. Alex was non judgmental about her unique family and she jokingly picked and prodded Alex out of his multiple comfort zones. They had different goals in life and supported each others dreams, to the detriment of their own feelings. When their summer vacation went awry two years ago causing a rift the reader see’s through Poppy’s perspective and feels how deeply disturbed she’s been despite not knowing exactly what happened. By the time she typed ‘Hey’ I was all in on their relationship becoming something more secure and felt the desperation Poppy was feeling that kept me on the emotional edge of my seat wishing for their happiness.

The clever use of flashbacks of Poppy and Alex’s vacations means that we knew Alex just as well by the time that fateful text was made. I was caught hook, line, and sinker and there was no way I wasn’t going to finish this story, needing to know where Poppy and Alex stood at the end. As we lived through what might be their last summer vacation together (after all life moves forward despite our relationships and feelings) I teetered between tears and laughter, caught in their emotional drama. Emily Henry really knows how to craft friendship novels fraught with emotional crisis.

People We Meet on Vacation was just as good as last year’s Beach Read so why did I score it a half rating less? I really think it was the fact that in Beach Read the characters lives before their story started together had the drama whereas in this novel the drama was created by these two characters. It’s a very small detail and truthfully it was used very effectively. I just liked how I felt while reading Beach Read much better than I did while reading People We Meet on Vacation. Reading is all about your own perspective being stamped upon the story you are reading. I was a half rating short of being in the perfect mood to read this book. That’s it. No other reason, it was really just as good. In fact, I’ll probably pick it up in audio to live through their relationship again. If my feelings change about the rating, I’ll let you know!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this ARC through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest!

This delightful rom-com may seem like a typical friends-to-lovers story but it is author Emily Henry’s clever and insightful writing that makes this book so good. The dialogue is often very funny and the people Poppy and Alex meet during their vacations are very entertaining. The story will also tug at your heart as Poppy and Alex come to terms with their own pains and struggles.

If this sounds a bit like the movie When Harry Met Sally, the author notes that People We Meet on Vacation is an homage to one of her favorite romantic comedies.

People We Meet On Vacation was the perfect book for me to read right now, because I am stressed and cold and I could really use a vacation. Who's with me?

I liked the story right off the bat because of how it is told. Part of the story takes place in the past and explains how Poppy and Alex met, as well as how their friendship great over the years as they take their annual vacation every time Summer rolls around.

The other part is in the present. There was a rift between the two friends when they were in Croatia (two years ago) and they've barely spoken to each other since. Poppy thinks that if they reunite for another vacation, they'll be able to work things out and get back to their normal friendship.

But what exactly happened in Croatia? And why has their friendship been pretty much nonexistent since?

I loved reading about Poppy and Alex's past trips. Whether they're in Colorado or California, or a country halfway across the world, the two of them have an awesome time and memorable adventures. They have the kind of trips that I dream of going on, where they do whatever they want to do and meet interesting people and make memories.

Part of what made this story so enjoyable is the writing! Emily Henry has a great way of writing dialogue and the jokes between Poppy and Alex flowed so well. I loved their conversations and it especially made me smile when they first started texting again after their long dry spell. It was sweet reading about the two of them feeling each other out and trying to figure out what was what, or if the other one was mad.

Poppy and Alex's trip in current day (Palm Springs for a couple of days before his brother's wedding) made me cringe so bad. I could practically feel the heat as they suffered through their terrible stay at a man named Nikolai's apartment building (lol). But the thing about Alex and Poppy is that they really are true friends. Because while they had a few small fights (who wouldn't in such miserable, hot weather?) they never gave up an each other.

And I think that is the sign of a real, true friend.

This book… speaks to me.

I mean, just WOW. Emily Henry is my favorite romance author and after discovering and loving her first book last year, my expectations for People We Meet on Vacation were HIGH.

I laughed and cried happy tears, and fell in love with this complicated, messy, laugh until you pee, real-life When Harry Met Sally kind-of-love story about soulmates.

This book spans 12 years of friendship and although I flew through this book, I feel like I experienced a lifetime’s worth of Alex and Poppy’s inside jokes, sticky situations, embarrassments, loving glances, tender embraces, and moments that say, “I’ve always been your person.”

This book captured the euphoria of traveling with friends when you experience a moment that shouldn’t be funny, beautiful, or momentous but somehow it still is. Maybe your motel AC doesn’t work, or you’re stuck in the pouring rain and you start to dance, or you find yourself meeting the oddest strangers on the road who you end up sharing a ride, a meal or a bonfire with later—this book is about the people in our lives that make those otherwise inconsequential moments so wonderful, carefree and happy.

I loved that Poppy is the sole POV. I loved the buildup of tension, the cat-and-mouse highs and lows of relationship building and the hilarious humor throughout the storyline.

This could be my favorite book of the year. All I can say is, it's the one to beat.

My Rating: 5 Stars!
Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for my #gifted ARC!

*My reviews on Instagram ( @EdibleReads ), Goodreads, Amazon and B&N will be posted tomorrow (May 11 - PUB Day). I'll include links to those reviews once they go live.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college. They’re such different people, living very different lives, but they’re drawn together like magnets. For years they scrape together enough cash to go on one summer trip together each year, even when they live in different cities.

Two years ago, in Croatia, everything changed and they haven’t spoken since. Poppy feels Alex’s absence like a missing limb and ends up reaching out to him and going with him to Palm Springs for his brother’s wedding. At first, things are strained and weird between them after such a long time apart, but as we dip into chapters set in previous years’ trips we get to know the two of them better and it feels like they get to know each other again too.

I related to this story in so many ways—for starters the last trip I took (before Covid shut the world down) was to Palm Springs. I stayed in a little Air BnB apartment that was decorated in an over-the-top tiki theme and the air conditioning didn’t work. I’ve been to all the places Poppy and Alex visited, or tried to visit, and thanks to Emily’s fantastic writing I felt like I was there all over again. And while I visited in late February, it felt hotter than hell in that apartment come mid-afternoon, so I was sweating along with the two of them while I read the book.

That’s all my long-winded way of telling you that this book had me laughing, crying, and turning the pages with fervor. It’s one you’ll definitely want to pick up this summer.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this is my love story. I wondered if I met Emily somewhere and told her my story because, OMG, this book is how I want my love story to be told.⁣
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Two completely different people met and clicked as best friends; Poppy is free-spirited, adventurous, and loves to have fun, while Alex is laid back and contented in reading a book everywhere (not a big deal, I’m the same lol). They do not have anything in common, but hey, it’s that one person you never thought you would get along with who will become your best friend in the long run. I am fascinated by their “platonic” friendship and the week-long vacation they have every year for like a decade. Both characters are so charming and lovely written. The story goes between past and present, and I fall in love repeatedly with Poppy and Alex. I adore the quirkiness, the flirty conversations, the cute and romantic moments, the friendship, the love, and everything else in between. The friends-to-lovers trope is very relatable to me as I literally went through the same thing. I love everything about this book, the way the story was told, the emotions, feelings, laughter-out-loud moments and the it’s now or never attitude. Seriously EVERYTHING is so perfect! I super recommend this book!!!!!!⁣
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Thank you so much, @berkleypub, for my e-arc!!!!⁣

“I'm on vacation. Vacations always end. It's the very fact that it's finite that makes traveling special. You could move to any one of those destinations you loved in small doses, and it wouldn't be the spellbinding, life-altering seven days you spend there as a guest, letting a place into your heart fully, letting it change you.”

When I read Beach Read by Emily Henry last year, I knew I would read anything written by this author! True enough, I enjoyed every page of People We Meet on Vacation! I just love Poppy and Alex — their personalities are so opposing but they fit so perfectly! Their sense of humor and overall chemistry made me fall in love with them. With the pandemic and travel restrictions, I miss exploring new places but reading about their summer vacations sure helped me travel albeit virtually in my imagination. I also enjoyed getting to know their respective families. Poppy’s family reminded me of Louisa Clark’s in Me Before You. Alex on the other hand is the ideal partner! Swooooon!!!!! This lovely book will make you laugh and cry and appreciate the people around you. Ultimately, this is not only a love story, but a story about finally coming home and finding where you truly belong. 💖

I loved Beach Read when I read it last year so People We Meet On Vacation was an anticipated release for me! I’m happy to say that I LOVED it! Poppy and Alex were so well written and I truly believed in their relationship from the beginning. I loved their friendship dynamic and it was great seeing that blossom into something more by the end. I haven’t always loved the friends to lovers trope but this book made me rethink that. Also the Ohio references in this book were 10/10 (they even mentioned my college a few times) but like Poppy I aspire to get out of my hometown and move to a big city far away.

I also loved all the traveling! Something about reading a book that involves traveling during a time when most people can’t travel really worked for me. I think everyone could find something about this book that they love even if you’re not big on romance! This is one of my favorite books of the year so far and I’m definitely interested to see what Emily Henry writes next!

Thanks Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to review early in exchange for an honest review!

College best friends (and complete opposites) Poppy and Alex have spent the past 10 years reuniting for a week-long vacation together every summer … until two years ago when something major happened and they no longer speak. Unhappy with her life and missing her former travel partner in crime, Poppy convinces Alex to take one last vacation together to reconcile their friendship and finally address what went wrong.

Like Emily Henry’s most recent book Beach Reach, this is another perfect summer story, as it jumps between present day and former vacations while we watch Poppy and Alex grow from friends to something more. Emily Henry has such a unique and enjoyable style of writing, and aside from the sweet (and believable!) relationship between the main characters, the best part of this story is the reminder that even the most chaotic trips can be made better when you’re with the right people.

People We Meet on Vacation follows Alex and Poppy, best friends from college who traditionally take a trip every summer with each other - except the last two years when something horrible happened, and they haven't spoken since. Poppy is feeling stagnant in life without Alex, so she wants to restart the trips but isn't sure if Alex will want to hear from her. Told in alternating time lines, we read past vacations Poppy & Alex took along with how the present day trip goes.

What I really liked about this book was the characters, especially Alex. In terms of trope, this definitely fits the grumpy/sunshine trope for characters, which is a favorite of mine. I liked reading about the start of their friendship in college and how different they were, but how they built the long lasting friendship. Even their families were complete opposites but in a fun way.

However, I had a hard time with the pacing of the book with the alternating timeline. I kept getting disconnected from the story and pulled away from it. I also wasn't a huge fan of the ending, though I respect why it was chosen to end that way. It just doesn't fit the mold of a romance book that I prefer, and that's okay! It's not a reason not to read this book by any means.

If you read Beach Read, definitely check out this next one from Emily Henry.

**Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

This was a charming, funny rom-com inspired by the "When Harry Met Sally" premise that you don't always fall in love with the one you plan to fall in love with. Sometimes it's the last person you ever expect. Not that we readers didn't see the fall coming from page 1. But that was the fun of the novel. I laughed out loud several times. These characters were not hopeless messes, but they did take their sweet time and considerable spans of the book coming to realize who they were and who they most wanted to share themselves with.

[Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion.]