My favorite things about Emily Henry's previous books have been the little Ohio/midwest references sprinkled throughout them. This one did have them, but they might have had something better, though... MY GIRL HARRIET ALSO FALLS ASLEEP TO MURDER, SHE WROTE!!!!

Harriet is a surgical resident, and she's very, very stressed and doesn't seem to be thriving in her normal life. When it comes time to retreat to her best friend's family cabin in Maine with her group of friends, Harriet is so thankful for a chance to visit one of her happy places. Unfortunately, when Harriet arrives, she finds that she will be sharing a room with her ex-fiance, Wyn-- and none of her friends know that she and Wyn have been broken up for months. Another bomb is dropped when her friend announces that her father is selling the beach cabin, and this is their last time together in this space that has become so integral in their friendship. They decide to play nice with each other for the sake of their friends. Surely it can't be that hard when they've known

I really enjoyed the structure of this book-- Harriet flips back and forth between her various happy places (and why they became happy places) and real life. I loved seeing the evolution of the friend group from the first three girls into a group of six. Emily Henry has a way of writing her characters so you feel absolutely gut-punched when they do. Seeing the breakdown of Harriet and Wyn's relationship was devastating, the back and forth between them while trying to pull one over on their friends was agonizing, and finally getting to the bottom of why things happened the way they did had me super teary. Just take all of my stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for my thoughts.

3 ⭐️ Disappointed because I wasn’t expecting a sad, angsty Emily Henry book


"Our love is a place we can always come back to, and it will be waiting, the same as it ever was. You belong here."


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ new england beach setting
✨ second chance romance
✨ fake dating (ex fiances pretending to still be engaged)
✨ friends to lovers
✨ one-bed
✨ forced proximity
✨ open door romance with minimum spice
✨ flashbacks / dual timeline
✨ single pov
✨ found family
✨ friend group drama
✨ angst, sadness, heartbreak
✨ miscommunication
✨ omissions of feelings
✨ HEA
✨ tw: breakups, mental health, depression, perfectionism, burnout, high expectation parents, sick parent, death of a parent


My Thoughts:

This is a hard one for me to rate, so I’m settling on 3-stars for now.

Let me preface this review by saying I am a HUGE Emily Henry fan! So much so that I own multiple copies of all her books as hardcovers, paperbacks, and Uk editions. I love her stories and I was so excited to get an ARC. But sadly, I didn’t like this one very much.

On one hand, this was well written, the storyline about friendship was lovely, and there’s a lot of depth to each character.

However, because of the title and fun cover, I went in expecting a fun, heartfelt rom-com. Instead, I got a sad, painful, grief-filled story that feels more like women's fiction than a romance. Any sort of positive experience I had while reading was fleeting and replaced with angst due to the nature of the story. I only felt reprieve during the flashbacks of the main couple when they were happy together. The rest of the time, I anxiously waited to learn what caused the breakup. But they don’t discuss their breakup (which was due to a lack of communication and the MMC making stupid assumptions) or get back together until the last 10% of the story, and even that isn't fully settled till the last few pages. ⁠
⁠
Was this a bad story? No. I think Emily Henry is a talented writer, and this one dove deep into mental health, what it means to find yourself, and how friendships change. But this book was marketed incorrectly, which set the wrong expectations and ultimately made this read a disappointment.

But now that I know what to expect, I'm going to do a re-read to see if my rating/review changes. Stay tuned.

I am a big fan of Emily Henry’s writing, it always makes me feel all the feels; both good and bad. Happy Place made me cry and made me sad for about 90% of the story.

Wyn and Harriet’s story was about loss, grief and second chances. Their story was told in flashes between the past and the present; a present in which they have been broken up for months. Watching them pretend, for the sake of their friends, that they’re still together while broken-hearted over their breakup was painful to read.

I understand the reasons that led to the end of their relationship, but I still didn’t really understand them. Wyn suffered a loss that overwhelmed him emotionally and Harriet, in an effort not to burden him further with her own fears and insecurities, somehow only pushed him away.

Wyn and Harriet’s love for one another was very obvious to me as a reader which made their push and pull all the more frustrating. Their happy ending seemed insufficient in my opinion, I needed a bit more after all the angst. Emily Henry continues to write compelling stories that make me feel a lot and Happy Place definitely made me feel a lot, even if not happy.

I struggled to get this book started. The style and story line were difficult to enjoy (the game like trope can get really frustrating for me). I will try again - sometimes timing is everything in when to read a book.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As always, Henry writes chemistry really well. This title will appeal to the young, contemporary romance reader who is okay with a little formula. Not Henry’s best but enjoyable.

Emily Henry is an author who is always consistent with her romances. In addition to making an entire list of Emily Henry books, you can find a few of her books on our Ultimate List of Romance Books.

Harriet and Wyn have been together for years until they broke up 5 months ago. The only problem is that they still haven’t told their best friends and now they will be sharing a room during their yearly vacation with their friends. How hard can it be to keep up the facade of a happy couple?

There is something special in every one of Emily Henry’s romances and this newest book is no exception. It is also a perfect beach read!

This was simply amazing. This is not a new revelation but I feel like it has to be reiterated: this author is one of my all-time favorite authors. I can’t get over how much I loved this! It was so so so good and lived up to every incredibly high expectation I’ve placed on her books.
Right after I read the first line, I thought to myself, “I know I’m going to love this book”. I loved it all: the vibes, the friend group, the setting, the past and present timelines, the fake dating/second chance romance. Her writing is just so good. It’s an extremely readable and enjoyable style that’s so easy to fall into.
The character dynamics were incredible, from the romance between Wyn and Harriet to the friendship between Sabrina, Cleo and Harriet. I loved how important the friendships felt to the framework of this romance. Each character learned so much about themselves and each other along the way. It was so satisfying to see the growth and vulnerability this whole friend group demonstrated.
There was so much angst and tension and it‘s so believable, like the conflict made total sense and felt real. I found myself asking how this book could possibly have a happy ending with the way things were shaping up. Though, in true fashion of this author, she pulled it out in the most gratifying and heartwarming way.
I loved this book so much and will forever crave the feelings it gave me in everything I read in the future.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley and the author for an early copy of this book!

"Someone sedate me." - me, after finishing Happy Place.

I just feeeeel so much reading. Emily Henry writes SO WELL like this is why I’m here and keep coming back to her stories, her characters, and her settings (Maine, I need to be in Maine). For my emotional well-being: send help. Wyn omfg and Harriet, they made me cry DAMNIT. I love second-chance romances, I loved this time loop, I loved the present day, and I loved watching them FALL in love throughout it. This book is definitely a little sad but I think if you’ve read second chance romance, it’s kind of an expectation with it. Also if you’ve read Emily Henry before, she does do sad romances. So going in with the right expectations!

The friendships, I adore so much like that should’ve been the first note here!! Sabrina, Cleo, Parth, and Kimmy. Thank you for allowing me into your friend group while experiencing your story. The plot of why Harriet and Wyn ended their engagement? How did they end up there?! Had me EATING IT UP. I think the story has so much more than romance (which we all knew) but the discovery of yourself and growth, the mental health. Reading that along with Wyn & Harriet.

Okay I said Charlie’s love language is physical touch (from Book Lovers, ahem) but I AM SORRY WYN IS THE KING OF IT and quiet love 😭 LIKE I SAID SEDATE ME. He is an ADDICT for Harriet and how he always just says her name. I AM SIMPLY AN ADDICT FOR HIM. I'm sorry I'm using caps but yes, I am yelling in this review, I suppose.

I haven’t felt this way in a long time reading a book but the way Emily Henry writes relationships, it’s so realistic, and I want it SO BAD. The banter, the feelings, how expressive they are for what they want and what they say. Like Emily gives me WANT from her stories. A wanting. Then she goes off and says things like this in her books:"Want is a kind of thief. It’s a door in your heart, and once you know it’s there, you’ll spend your life longing for whatever is behind it."

Do you want to know how many times I cried reading this book??? A lot. I think the most out of all her books. I cried when Wyn and Harriet were high on the ferris wheel then I cried when they were explaining the Mandela effect.“In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you.”

“Our love is a place we can always come back to you, and it will be waiting, the same as it ever was. You belong here.”

Harriet is our mirror ball girly. She wants everyone around her to be happy that she’s suffering her own happiness for it. I had so much HOPE for them in this book.“I’m not going to stop loving you.” Harriet keeps saying if I’m good, then everything will be okay, everyone will be okay, it’ll be better…and I couldn’t resonate more with this. How I used to be growing up. How I still kind of am right now. Want everyone to be HAPPY. The BANTER please & thank you bury me here forever, laugh-out-loud moments always expected from Emily Henry and for this, I bow down. “Happy Birthday, wicked pissah”

The way friend groups change and we change — it’s been how I’ve been feeling where we relive the past, but you can’t bring it back. Especially with growing up and friends with their life changes, when you're trying to adapt to it. Her friend group reminded me so much of those I'm surrounded with. “Everything is changing. It has to. You can’t stop time.”

This is one of the deeper love connections Emily Henry has ever written to me, personally, due to what Wyn and Harriet have gone through and their longevity together. Because it’s a second chance, where they’ve loved each other for so long and have built this love. You were hurting for them and wanted so much for them to be together. And the friendships? Unmatched. I wanted the best for all of them.

Wyn’s emotions are on his sleeve and how he communicates and what he battles, the self-deprecation 😩 I want to fix him, I want to love him, yet he’s perfect to me. We all want what's best for him. His quiet love. I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere. My thoughts with Wyn and Harriet and their sphere, their circles. Okay so not only is Harriet Mirrorball but Folklore is HAPPY PLACE to me.

Beach Read will always be my #1, my safe space, my love, but wow...Happy Place is really up there for me. I hope others will resonate with this book! It resonated with me deeply and maybe it was the timing of the book and when I read it. I also think a lot of people who relate to this book are end of their 20’s/in their 30’s too (purely my thoughts lol). I'm thankful for that! It's one of my favorites.

“I couldn’t leave you alone. I’ve never been able to.”

"If it was possible to stop loving you, I would've managed it in that first year of desperately trying to.”

“I knew who you were before we even met. Like I could get drunk on the sound of you. Or hungover whenever I go too long without you.”

"And then I met you, and I didn't feel so lost or aimless. Because even if there was nothing else for me, it felt like loving you was what I was made for.

“They belong to you before I ever saw you. They belong to you in every universe we’re in, Harriet.”

“And it doesn't get boring, just the two of us. Every bit of Wyn he gives me is something to treasure, to examine from every angle. The last words I hear every night are I love you so much. Sometimes he gets to say it last, but sometimes I do too.”

Triggers: depression, grief, mental health, family trauma.*

Thank you to @berkleyromance for the advanced reader copy!

The best Emily Henry since Beach Read tbh! I loved this book and how there was just as much focus on the friendships as on Harriet and Wyn's relationship. I am fast becoming a huge second chance romance fan and I thought this one was done particularly well - the forced proximity and quasi-fake dating aspects were fun and I thought their respective emotional journeys were handled well. This is also the first Emily Henry backstory "secret" reveal that I thought was good; PWMOV and Book Lovers both had wicked underwhelming reveals. I did guess a certain friend's plot point early on but I felt vindicated rather than cheated by that reveal. Overall a really excellent book!

Happy Place actually takes the reader to some not so happy places as we spend a week with Harriet and Wyn and their best friends on their annual getaway to Maine. Harriet and Wyn broke up months ago, for reasons we, and they, don’t yet know…and they haven’t told anyone. They weren’t planning on spending the week together, but their friends had big news that got them both there together. The week is looking to be an uncomfortable one which lets the readers into Harriet and Wyn’s love, and then shows the deterioration of their relationship.
This is Emily Henry on the top of her game…a book about love that makes you feel the love not only between the protagonists, but between all of the characters, and ties with Book Lovers for my favorite of her novels.
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

How does she do it? How does everything Emily Henry writes leave me with my chest aching and a smile on my face? How are characters that are nothing like me so deeply relatable? How do I find little details that feel like they were left <i>just for me</i> in every single chapter?

I wanted to savor this… to draw out my enjoyment of these new characters, but instead I couldn’t bring myself to stop flying through it. In such a short time, I lived an entire decade of Harriet’s life, I was thrown into her beautiful found family, and I added another happy place to my own personal list of happy places I can no longer return to. (Except, technically I CAN return to this happy place, even if Harriet and Co. cannot, because I plan on rereading this book many times over.) It all felt so real; so immersive. It was engrossing in a different way from Emily Henry’s other books.

For context, I’ve been a fan of Henry’s since I read “Love That Split the World” in one sitting and accidentally ruined a family reunion by being antisocial. Her settings feel familiar and I know to expect that her characters will be witty and wonderful and deeply human. And while those staples of her writing are absolutely present in “Happy Place”, I was quick to compare the characters to those in Henry’s other recent novels, and I kept drawing mental parallels to the multiple timelines in “People We Meet on Vacation” and the utter yearning in “Book Lovers” when this one is unique. The ensemble of this friend group gives this book an entirely different vibe. Like her other novels, “Happy Place” wasn’t just about the romance, and so this wonderful glimpse into a changing and growing <i>family</i> is really a book about friendship and growing up and growing into who you truly want to be. The romance is just an added, heartbreakingly beautiful bonus.

I am truly grateful to NetGalley and Berkley for my advanced copy.

Was so excited for this book but knew I was going to be let down when 50+ pages in, I was really having to make a concerted effort to keep going. The book is about a group of friends founded in college but are struggling to keep the magic alive well into their adult years. The friend group is fractured by time and place, but every year they do a big New England trip to remind themselves how much they love each other. This year’s trip is different because the main character Harriet and her fiancé Wyn have broken up without telling any of their friends. They both show up for their weeklong vacation and have to pretend they’re just fine and still together.

Through Harriet and Wyn, Henry examines the way our parents' relationship with each other shapes the way we think and act in our own relationships. As Harriet’s relationship with Wyn starts to fracture, she falls back on unhealthy coping skills that can be traced back to her parents. There’s also a big spotlight on the way mental health can affect the way we treat our loved ones. While I enjoyed this approach to examining their relationship, I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters in this story, especially reading it as a romance book. I think this book works much better as a piece of women's fiction instead of a romance book, but overall I felt the the book was overly sentimental for my taste.

Really wanted to enjoy this one more! Book Lovers is still my favorite Emily Henry book.

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRHA for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review.

It's no surprise, Emily Henry has done it again! The story is told from Harriet's POV as she is still processing her breakup with Wyn. They broke up 6 months ago and they didn't tell their friends. Now, Harriet and Wyn and their group of friends are on their last annual summer vacation together and Harriet and Wyn must fake being together for one week in fear they might ruin the group's last trip together.

HAPPY PLACE has Emily Henry's signature witty humor that we all know and love. HAPPY PLACE is for the people who are closer with their friends than with their family. People are either going to love or hate Harriet. I personally loved her and felt seen through Harriet's anxiety, Like all of EH's main characters, Harriet is emotionally layered and genuinely feels like a real person. Harriet struggles to communicate her feelings because she is a people pleaser and constantly trying to make everyone around her happy. Harriet has always suffered in silence but now everything has been made worse since Harriet and Wyn are no longer together and they have to fake it in front of their friends.

Yes, HAPPY PLACE is a second chance romance. But in typical Emily Henry fashion, Harriet's character development is prioritized which I love. It makes Harriet's relationship with Wyn more believable. Not to mention that Julia Whelan's performance of the audiobook made Harriet feel even more human. Honestly, anything Julia Whelan narrates is gold!

One reason some may not like this book is because it relies heavily on miscommunication. If you hate the miscommunication trope, I wouldn't write this book off right away. Give it a shot and let Emily Henry guide you through. I promise it's worth it.

HAPPY PLACE is NOT a happy book. Harriet struggles a lot. She has never felt like she was enough and is constantly trying to make everyone around her proud. I saw a lot of myself in her and I will always love Emily Henry for writing such relatable heroines. I can't wait for y'all to read this in April!

4.5/5 stars

My favorite Emily Henry book to date (and I've loved them all). I love how friendships were at the heart of this book but we also got a great love story. This book has a lot of depth and I loved all the characters.

No notes, Emily Henry is a master of romance and giving us impossible romantic standards!

Book Lovers still remains my favorite book she’s ever written, but this is my #2 from her! Anyone who loves romance and/or romantic comedies, and second chance romance needs to check out Happy Place. It’s a fun time while also showing the reader grief, mental illness, and the importance of self-growth.

Harriet and Wyn are just perfect for each other. 10/10 would recommend Happy Place and any of Emily’s books in general. Like I said she is a master of romance.

I had received an ARC for "Book Lovers" before and was not disappointed so i was excited to receive Happy Place ahead of its publication date.

I think this is better than "Book Lovers," in terms of storyline and plot. Harriet and Wyn have to put up a front for their friends as they get together for their annual Maine retreat. Unbeknownst to their friends, they had actually broken up, but now they have to put on happy smiles and pretend to be a couple still. But as they confront each other again, the past catches up and they can no longer run from their issues. Will they make it through the summer outing unscathed or will they need to lick their wounds when they each go back to their individual lives?

I liked that it was still a romcom so it was still light, but I also liked the friends factor where the story deals with a group of friends who remained friends after college, and they deal with distance and differing interests. It is a great look-back on our own social groups from high school and college and the inclusion of this, I felt, really made the story "meatier".

I will be honest and say that the one downside for me is the weed-induced scenes. I didn't feel they were necessary and did not add anything to the storyline, I did feel it was a bit of a stretch and maybe the author wanted to include this audience but may turn off others instead. The story could have gone VERY WELL without these. Just my humble opinion.

Nevertheless, fans of Emily Henry will not be disappointed in this well-written and well-thought out plot.

4.5 stars. This book wrung me out. Longtime couple Harriet and Wyn have been hiding from their friends that they broke up several months ago, but now they’re stuck together at the weeklong vacation from hell, pretending they’re still engaged so they don’t ruin the trip for everyone else. (And there’s only one bed.)

This is a romance, but it’s more a novel about friendship. The intense bonds that can form at a young age, but also how much work it takes to keep them strong as you grow up and change.

The half-star off is because I found the narrative a little choppy. I don’t mind books with past/present time jumps, but you’ve got to give readers a clue where you are, especially when coming back to the present. Sometimes after a long flashback, it took me a couple of pages to remember that we were outside a movie theater bathroom and not at the vacation cottage. It was a bit jarring.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

After a 10 year relationship, Wyn ends his engagement to Harriet and returns home to Minnesota to be with his sick mom. Five months later, Harriet is still devastated and going through the motions at her surgery residency. The two are forced back together when they take an annual trip with their best friends and having not told anyone of their breakup, they don't want to put a damper on the trip. They decide to pretend everything between them is fine, despite both of them being miserable.

I really wanted to love this one but honestly, it was kind of a bummer. I'm used to Emily Henry writing rom-com's so I went into this thinking it was just that, but there was nothing funny about it! Probably my fault since I go in blind, but still! What a sad story! It was about two miserable people who desperately want to be together but don't think they can in the long run. Henry clearly is able to write a heart wrenching love story and I was able to relate to them since I experienced similar feelings in a prior relationship but still... can we throw in some comedic release? I feel like I enjoyed Henry's prior books more because of how original and witty they were and some of that hilarious banter would have been welcome here.

I think I would have been more invested had I known why they broke up sooner - it took a very long time for the full story to come out so I spent the majority of the book not even knowing if I wanted them to work it out or go their separate ways. Since I wasn't 100% rooting for them, it made it hard for me to be fully invested. There were no miscommunications which was good, just a lack of communication altogether, which was a little annoying in itself. Just talk it out! The book did cover some heavy mental health topics though and I do like how that was all handled.

Overall it was ok, not amazing for me and at one point I just kind of wanted it to end because it was really bringing me down. I knew where the train was headed and wanted it to arrive to the destination sooner.

*I did really love the found family aspect of the book though! See! It wasn't all negative!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I'm giving this four stars instead of my usual Emily Henry five. I didn't love this one like I have loved all the rest of hers. Second chance romance is not my thing and the miscommunication issues just got my anxiety going. That said, she nailed the banter and friend dynamics like she always does! Far and away better than most romances I've read--this one was just not my favorite of hers.

A nostalgic, yet impressively fresh romance that is so much more!

Happy Place follows Harriet as she embarks on the annual summer trip to their Happy Place, a rustic cottage in Maine, with her best friends. The problem is no one knows that she's broken up with her fiancé, Wyn, who is also a part of their friend group and at the last minute decides to come on the trip. After only a 4 minute break up call and having not laid eyes on him for 5 months, Harriet can't stand to be around Wyn but when their friends decide to drop some life changing news, Harriet and Wyn must play the part of the loving, engaged couple their friends think they are.

After not loving People We Meet On Vacation or Book Lovers, I'm SO HAPPY I gave Happy Place a chance.
This book was so realistically messy. I loved every minute of it. The characters. The romance. The banter. *Chefs kiss*

I was immediately drawn toward the characters and could immediately understand the conflict. I do think it's weird that we don't truly understand why Wyn and Harriet broke up for the majority of the book as it's not explicitly said until around 75% BUTTT the journey is well worth it.

I fell in love with Harriet and Wyn. They both felt so grounded and relatable. Harriet is tough yet easily affected and it's easy to empathize with her and the way she morphs herself for the happiness of others. And she's also unassumingly funny!? Wyn is the self deprecating, former prom king who really stands out in a good way and shows so much heart. He made me cry TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. Peak book boyfriend. I felt their love. I felt their love story. I was rooting for them from start to finish.

And their friend group? Some of the best side characters. Distinct personalities and back stories, relatable AND funny! I loved each of them just as much as Harriet and Wyn if not more.

Happy Place felt immediately relatable and accessible. Found family. Self Sabotage. Grief. Mental Illness. Generational unhappiness. Perfectionism. This book has it all. It is not just another rom com, IT IS MORE.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.