This book made me think so much. I absolutely loved it, reading Harriet and Wyn's love story is one that I will never forget. The friend group felt incredibly real and I could feel all of the platonic and romantic love on the page. The conflicts were real and it is a beautiful story of how we all grow and change but love can also love and change with us. While I was instantly hooked by the love story between Harriet and Wyn, the story surrounding Harriet and her job is one that very strongly hit me right in the chest. The book made me question everything that is important to me and my priorities in life. it is also a beautiful story surrounding grief and not feeling like you are enough. I found myself reflected in both Wyn and Harriet and I will carry their story with me for the rest of my life. If you are a fan of musical theater, this is like The Last Five Years but with a twist.

Happy Place by Emily Henry was a hit and my new favorite by this author! I loved all of the complicated, yet heartwarming details of Wyn and Harriet's relationship. The friendships and relationships between all six main characters were so wonderfully described that I felt a connection to each and every character. This one is a hit and sure to be a hand-sell title in our store.

I absolutely loved Emily Henry’s debut novel Beach Read. But you know, sometimes those amazing debut novels don’t always mean the author will be able to replicate that magic in follow up books. Before I decided to make Emily Henry an auto buy author, I decided to give check out her second book, People We Meet on Vacation, a try and see how the sophomore novel went. It was a great second novel and enough to confirm me as a big fan. But it was truly her novel Book Lovers that made Emily Henry an auto buy author for me!

Seeing her latest novel Happy Place was coming out this spring, it was simply a no brainer that I would read it. She is now a confirmed favorite author of mine and I was looking forward to this book so much. Henry has a wonderful voice that is funny, poignant, relatable, and charming. Readers won’t be able to get enough of Henry once they get their hands on any one of her books. Henry’s books have a way of making modern readers feel seen and understood as the characters try to navigate their lives and their romances which are clearly two very different things in Henry’s books.

These books aren’t chick lit or women’s fiction but they have more substance than some traditional romances. They have this great mix of all these genres that could almost make a whole new genre. I love how much there is in each book to sink your teeth into and this book was just another excellent book in a series of excellent books by this author! This will no doubt be THE READ for the summer so make sure you secure a copy for yourself today!

Summary

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry. (Summary from Goodreads)

Review

As I mentioned, Henry’s books incorporate a lot of different things to make a unique book baby. This book is as much about friendships and life as it is about romance. I will say this book was definitely on the steamy side, more than any of her other novels, but I think it worked for this book as the characters had been together before. The steam and chemistry was so on point for this book which begs the question why did Harriet and Wyn break up in the first place? While I enjoyed this book, I don’t know that some of the reasons for the break up held much weight for me. I think the book did a good job highlighting the difficulties and struggles the come from being in relationships with others. There is no doubt love there but sometimes there are things the couple needs to work through relationship wise and I think that Henry does a nice job exploring that. But there was a part of me the struggled with understanding why they weren’t together in the first place etc.

This book was a solid read but I will say I liked Book Lovers and Beach Read better. I had a hard time relating to Harriet, she was more of a people pleaser and hated conflict which was hard for me because I am not those things. But I think as women, there is a pressure to please people by nature so even if I couldn’t relate to her I could understand her. But understanding and relating are two different things and I think that it was a struggle for me as a reader to fully connect with her in the way that was expecting to, but I wouldn’t say she is not relatable if that makes sense. I did like that this novel focuses a lot on friendship and how important that is in any romantic relationship. I think it made the relationship between Harriet and Wyn realistic and an accurate representation of modern characters.

The intensity and love that Harriet and Wyn have shows on each page of this book. I love how well supported and developed the characters are in this book even if I didn’t love Harriet as much as I have loved some of Henry’s other heroines, I still felt like she was fully realized and realistically portrayed. If you love romance with substance and intense characters that ooze feeling, then you don’t want to miss any of Henry’s books. She is an incredible writer and I love connecting with the characters and stories even if some I like better than others. This was a great read that will get readers ready for those summer romances.

Book Info and Rating

Format 400 pages, Hardcover

Published April 25, 2023 by Berkley

ISBN 9780593441275 (ISBN10: 0593441273)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: romance

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review. This brought me back to the sparkly magic of Emily Henry's first book, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading it. It's the kind of book I feel a lot of people would enjoy-it deals with heartbreak and the expectations we have of ourselves in a very genuine way. The characters and dialogue are spot-on, and you feel like you are in Maine while you're reading this book. Surely this will be another winner for Henry!

I'm a fan of Emily Henry. There I said it. She writes beautiful characters, gorgeous stories, and makes you heartsick when they are finished. A beautiful, slow build of a romance is what you will find in Happy Place. Laughter, the strength of female friendships, and the depths and valleys of human emotions as you age and change are the foundation of a gorgeously told story that will make you regain your faith in family and friendships. Just really a beautiful book, I can't get over it and when I finished I smiled and sighed a wee bit. Bravo!

Emily Henry’s newest novel is a funny, sweet, and at times, heartbreaking novel about love and friendship, that will evoke laughter and tears and have readers hoping against hope that love conquers all.

When Wyn and Harriet get invited to spend a week with a few of their best friends at their Happy Place in Maine, they just can’t say no. The two were a couple for what feels like forever and were even engaged once. Unbeknownst to everyone else, these two recently broke up. So as not to spoil the fun for their besties, they agree to fake it, just for a few days. After all, how hard can it be?

Little did they know, it’s actually torture, especially when they both still care about each other more than they’d like to admit.

Spending time with their best friends from University sounds like just what they need to remember what brought them together in the first place.

A contemporary romance filled with fantastic characters, love, friendship, fun, witty banter, laughs, and a bit of heartbreak.
4.35 Stars

A buddy read with Kaceey that we both enjoyed.

Thanks to Elisha at Berkley Publishing for the arc via NetGalley.

I think I have to break up with Emily Henry. This book simultaneously felt like it was way too long but also too short. Nobody talked to each other for real, most of the book took place in Harriet's head, so much miscommunication, and Harriet and Sabrina and all of their parents need to get their butts to therapy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I don't even know where to begin with this masterpiece of a book.

This book was like sitting through the last ten years' worth of therapy appointments with all of my insecurities and relationship issues laid bare between 400 pages of Harriet and Wyn. I have never had a book hurt so viscerally but also make me feel so uplifted and hopeful. The story itself was wonderfully paced, giving glimpses into the current state of their relationship as well as showing the way they got there.

I think this may have been the best Emily Henry book to date. And that's saying so much because all of her books have been five star reads. This book was just so beautifully written and so personally meaningful that I'm having a hard time coming up with something better.

Even though I don’t read as much romance as I did when I first started blogging, I absolutely adored this wonderful second-chance romance. The Maine setting, the dual timelines, I loved it all. Even the chapter headings!

“Think of your happy place, the cool voice in my ear instructs. Picture it… What can you feel? Sunlight, everywhere. Not just on my bare shoulders or the crown of my head, but inside me too, the irresistible warmth that comes only from being in the exact right place with the exact right people.”

Surprisingly, this book also explores the evolution of friendships and family relationships in a very satisfying way. The story also has an engaging cast of supporting characters that provide depth to Harriet and Wyn’s relationship. There was a lovely sense of longing and nostalgia to this book that I really loved. ”Time doesn’t move the same way when we’re there. Things change, but we stretch and grow and make room for each other.”

The spice level this book was just perfect. Overall another totally addictive read from one of my auto-buy authors!

(𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.)

Sort-of fake dating meets second chance -- Emily Henry does her usual masterful job of plumbing the depths of a relationship gone wrong. Harriet and Wyn met in college and swiftly formed a deep romantic bond. They get engaged...and then life falls hard on them both and they break up and don't tell their "chosen family" of friends. Not a problem, until the friend group's annual trip to the Maine cottage, when Wyn begs off, but then shows up as a "surprise" finagled by Harriet's bestie. Their journey back to a relationship is sweet and profound and explores the depths of all the ways stressful events and mental health and family dynamics can fuck up something amazing. It's a different variety of second-chance romance that doesn't often show up: that of renegotiating a relationship that isn't shiny and new any more.

this, like all of emily henry's books, is so much more than a romance. this is her first story with an extended friend group and their dynamics, and this is the part that i ended up connecting with most. this is perfect for anyone who is experiencing the way that friendship evolves and shifts in adulthood, when everyone is in vastly different stages in life, and the loneliness that can sometimes result from that.

harriet and wyn are two of emily's characters that i felt like i could relate to the most. harriet is practical, empathetic, and hardworking, but she is also indecisive and someone who tries to keep the peace by putting other's needs before her own. wyn is thoughtful, charming, and people are drawn to his energy, but underneath all that, he doesn't believe it about himself, doesn't believe he is special or good enough. their love is so special and it felt undeniable to me. emily writes banter like a pro and their conflict felt so grounded in reality that it hurt to watch it unfold, because that sort of thing can really happen to anyone.

this is a book about change, growing up, grief, and letting go, and those themes are what make this book memorable to me, especially reading it at this specific time of my life. 💖

*thank you to berkley romance & netgalley for the eARC!

I wish that we had been able to get into Wynn’s head some. At times I felt like I was missing something within the friend group, like I just dropped into it but didn’t fully understand everything. It was full of emotions and healing in a lot of ways.

I have enjoyed Emily Henry's books, but for some reason I could not get into this one. I can not pinpoint why, but I would still certainly recommend this to readers that have enjoyed her previous books. Thank you for the ARC!

With witty banter, sweet spice, a charming romance, and a friend group you want to be a part of, Happy Place is the definition of a feel-good read. Highly recommend it to anyone looking to read a character-driven love story with a found family arc.

Unsurprisingly, Emily Henry once again delivers. Like all of her novels, Happy Place has a way of examining the mundane parts of life, while shining a light on how monumental the little things really are. She reminds us that there is something profound in the trivialities of the every day.

As corny as it is to say, Happy Place left a happiness in my heart. It's definitely a story I'll be returning to over the years, especially when I need something to put me in a good mood.

Pain I tell you, absolute PAIN.

Listen, I know what you’re thinking, 3 stars? How is that possible? Well let me tell you.

It’s not that this is a bad book. In fact I know lots of people will love it, but I am not one of those people.

This is not a romance. Not a romantic comedy. Not a happy book (don’t let the title or cover fool you). This is a sad, depressing book. Even the humour in this book is self deprecating and used to cover the pain. It’s a book about grief and friendships. It’s a book where the characters cry and weep and you can’t help but join them while also wanting hold and rock them. I literally cried a billion times because of how sad it was.

My biggest issues is the amount of miscommunication that happens. All of everyone’s problems could have be solved if they just were honest and talked to each other. Everyone was hiding things. It made it hard for me to connect with the characters and root for them (except Harriet). The reason for the breakup wasn’t believable, and the fact even after everything went on they didn’t talk about or explain why it happened (until 80%).

There’s a lot of funny banter filled moments (even if it’s to cover the pain) and the characters were beyond realistic and messy which was refreshing to see. I did like the side characters a lot, and honestly I would’ve wanted to see a book about them. The epilogue was also one of Emily’s best lol and made me feel happy. Emily’s writing captured me from the very beginning and made me stick around till the end. Overall, it’s not a bad book, but it won’t be one I re read or buy a physical copy of.

Fans of People We Meet On Vacation will absolutely love this. This might have been a miss for me, but I’ll still read anything Emily writes.

Thank you so much Berkley Publishing & Romance for this ARC. There are no words to describe how thankful I am that I was given this ARC🫶🏼

𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇. 

It pains me to give bad reviews, especially to authors that I adore so I’ll keep the bashing to a minimum. This wasn’t the book for me.  
 
Harriet and Wyn have been together since college. They started off as roommates and became something so much more to each other. But after years of being engaged and pushing off the wedding, Wyn’s dad passing away suddenly and moving back home to take care of his mother, and Harriet struggling in her surgical residency, they’re unhappy and call it quits. They broke up five months ago and still haven’t told their best friends. So when it’s time for the friend group’s yearly getaway to Maine they lie to protect the group. And not only are they lying to their friends. but they’re lying to each other about how desperately they still want each other. To make matters even worse they find out this is the last week they’ll all have together in there favorite place, because the cottage is being sold. Over the course of the week they struggle with their feelings and fears and come to realize that they aren’t the only ones struggling and keeping secrets.  
 
Honestly there was very little that I enjoyed about it. Most of it stems from disliking Harriet. (💭 dual POVs would have helped). I thought she was spineless and whiny. She’s 100% to blame for the whole situation. I found the beginning of Wyn and Harriet’s relationship to be lackluster. It’s odd to say but it only got better when they were fighting. And I was really hoping the female friendship was going to be the saving grace of the story, but there was very little moments of the three of them just being together and talking…honestly. It felt more like they were growing apart which is just depressing to read about. But hey these are just MY opinion. There are some beautiful and profound moments about family, friendship, work, happiness, and self worth, that might speak to YOU. I’ll end it on this thought: is your happy place about a physical place or more about the people you’re with?  
 
Read if you like: 
- Fake dating an ex 
- Friends from college  
- One bed  
- Second chance  
- Past and present timelines  
- Sad and emo  
- Summer cottage vibes

Harriet and Wyn, Wyn and Harriet. You can’t have one without the other. That is, until they suddenly call it quits. Now it’s been six months and they still haven’t told their friends. When the friends decide to get together for one last time at the Maine cottage before it’s sold, Harriet and Wyn dutifully play their role of the happily engaged couple. How hard can it be to pretend you don’t desperately want the one person who knows you better than anyone?

This was my second Emily Henry book and WOW WOW WOW I don’t know how anything could possibly top this book! I mean first off, can we talk about this setting? Buying my plane ticket to Maine because y’all the vibes were everything 😍 Now I’ve got a craving for lobster and blueberry ice cream! The setting alone makes it the perfect summer read. But let’s get into the romance! Wyn and Harriet are officially at the top of my list of all time favorite book couples. So many good tropes in this one! Second chance romance, fake dating, forced proximity, and only one bed 👀 I loved how the book was told from the past and present so we could see how Wyn and Harriet meet and also find their way back to each other. And what a fantastic cast of side characters! Found family always has a special place in my heart. Thank you so much to @berkleyromance, @emilyhenrywrites, and @netgalley for my gifted e-arc!

Where do I begin when it comes to Wyn and Harriet? ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
They were two very complex characters; their romance something you really only find in the movies. I think what I enjoyed most about their story was how we got to see just how much they each cared for and loved one another - to the point of sacrificing their own needs for each other. The overwhelming love Wyn and Harriet feel for each other is ultimately what pulls them apart - but maybe it's also what they need to come back together.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Wyn and Harriet as characters really intrigued me; I was invested in their individual motivations for their actions, while also intrigued by how well they worked together as a pair.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
The huge lack of communication between Harriet and Wyn obviously grated my nerves quite a lot while reading, but I understand why it was important for the plot. I just- ugh, I hate it.
⁣⁣
Also, I think one of the best parts of this novel is the friend group. Each side character has their own unique personality and so much depth to them, and I just really grew to love every single one of them. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
All in all, another incredible story from Emily Henry! Every single time, she’s gonna knock it right out of the park.

Emily Henry’s books are magical. I have the best time reading everything she writes. It’s so easy to let the world fall away and feel like I’m physically in the stories she tells. I imagine myself being friends with the characters and miss them when the book ends.

Who doesn’t love a good lovers turned enemies turned lovers again trope?! Add in the fake engagement/dating, one bed scenes, and hiding your feelings for each other tropes and man alive was this one good!!

One of my favorites things is when a story has flash backs of a couples relationship when they are no longer together in the current timeline. I just soak it up and can’t get enough. Harriet and Wyn were so dang adorable and I wanted the world for them. I also really want to be in their friend group because the love they all had for each other was strong. Even if time had made it seem otherwise.

This one felt a little different than Henry’s other novels, but in a wonderful way. It’s my favorite of hers now.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the arc in exchange for my honest review. And thank you to @librofm for the audio for when I was driving and couldn’t pick up my kindle 😍