Emily Henry does it again! What a delightful book and an excellent follow to Book Lovers, which I still think is Henry's best work. She is a master at character development and really makes the pages come alive in Happy Place. I loved the relationship dynamics between all of the characters and felt like this was her most relatable book in terms of placing yourself in the story. I love everything Henry does, and Happy Place just reaffirmed my love for her works.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Happy Place.

I discovered Emily Henry's novels last year and devoured all three as fast as I could, so when I saw that she had another book coming out, I couldn't wait to read it. I started 2023 with Happy Place and it was the perfect book to begin the new year.

Lifelong friends since college on an annual trip to their Happy Place, we see the 6 friends dealing with all that comes with being in your 30s. Doubt, fear, change, growing apart, feeling lost and alone. This book resonated with me on so many levels. It also made me cry several times and I still haven't forgiven her for breaking me. Henry did an amazing job of creating realistic dialogue that really made you believe these 6 friends had been through so much together- it made me miss my college friends.

I'm not normally a romcom fan but I love Henry's books- I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance but also- this book is about so much more than that. This book is about friendship and finding yourself when you are feeling lost or uninspired, which I think resonates with a lot of us after the past few years.

Emily Henry remains the gold standard and continues to surprise. A second chance romance. Ensemble cast of long time friends from college. A main character who struggles with avoidance, but finds courage. The most hard won happily ever after in the Henry-verse. The most I’ve ever cried in any of her books. A must read. A love letter to long time love whether it be romantic or friendship.

This has been my FAVORITE of her adult romance books yet, and here are some key features that I loved:

👯‍♀️ a fabulous friend group with depth- each friend feeling so individual & human
🦞 the Maine setting!
❤️‍🩹 a second chance romance with a past that made you break for the characters and root for them at the same time
⏰ dual timeline
✍🏼 Henry’s best writing yet in my personal opinion. I highlighted so much. It was rich, relatable, funny, and propulsive.

5/5!

This book has a variety of emotions throughout for me. It goes through a back and forth timeline and shows the different stages of relationships that the main character (Harriet) has gone through. She's a very likable and has a lot of depth throughout the book. The friendships and relationships forged through this timeline was enjoyable, laughable, and sometimes heartbreaking. There were some things I really didn't care for throughout the book, but then there were heart wrenching times that just really caught me off guard. You loved some of the characters in different ways, and it was fun to see the different friendships grow or be forced to grow in different ways. This wasn't a favorite, but it was a book that I enjoyed and the story left it's mark. I enjoyed the friendships, and how they fought for them, I liked the growth the characters had, and the back and forth through time was interesting and liked how the characters changed over time too. The cover art makes it seem like a much lighter read than it was for me. Overall a nice read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I absolutely devoured this book! Happy Place follows Harriet as she goes on her annual summer trip with her best friends in the aftermath of breaking up with her fiance. However, her friends are not aware of the break up and when her ex-fiance shows up on their trip, the pair need to pretend they are still together for the rest of the trip. As the two navigate the week, secrets come to light and the pair must reckon with the reasons that led to their break up.
This book is so much fun and had me struggling to set it down.

A sparkling romance that explores friendship, miscommunication, and enduring love. You will absolutely fall in love with Harriet, Wyn, and their passel of friends!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of Happy Place.
I am a sucker for Emily Henry! She would write a food menu and i would read it. But this book blew me away. Wynn had my heart from the beginning and I loved Harriets personality. You can feel their want for eachother all throughout the book. There is a spunk and a sexy vibe and their chemistry is undeniable! This is for sure a top favorite read!

I have never met an Emily Henry book I didn’t love, but this one really took me through a rollercoaster of emotions. The main character Harriet is a perpetual people pleaser who avoids conflict at all costs. We see how throughout the book these tendencies partially contribute to the break down of relationships. However, this book was a great reminder for those of us who maybe relate too closely to Harriet, that you are allowed to have the uncomfortable conversations and make choices for yourself despite what others may think of them.

This is my last reading of 2022! I saved best for the last as a die hard Emily Henry. Each year she releases a fantastic novel and each year I give my vote for it at Goodreads choice awards in best romance category because she always creates something the best of the best and in my opinion nobody can compete with her! She not only plays the strings of my heart, she is also soul whisperer by writing the most unforgettable love stories.

After reading this fantastic angsty romance/ self growth/ beautiful friendship story I decided this is my second best favorite book of EH! “Book lovers” is still my all time favorite novel!

I have to admit this book is sexiest, steamiest novel the author has written. Main reason is the couple of the story has already known each other for 10 years and even though they broke up, the flame is still there! No need to rekindle it! It’s obvious they still yearn for each other and the thing between them more than sexual chemistry! They are obviously soul mates! If there were other parallel universes, they would fall for each other at each of them! So what happened to Harriet and Wyn? They dated for nearly a decade, staying as fiancées for 8 years! Why Wyn ended things with 4 minutes long phone call? Is it only long distance? Did one of them cheated? Or is there any crucial, life changing reason that tore them apart?

Harriet is invited to her Happy Place where she’s been spending her most meaningful, unforgettable, sentimental minutes with her best friends Sabrina: hotshot lawyer and Cleo:aspiring farmer! Sabrina started dating with their long time friend/ party boy Parth and Cleo is happily farming and dating with her hyperactive, extrovert lover Kimmie! Normally their group turned into party of five!
Even though Harriet broke up with Wyn 5 months ago, they didn’t come clean with their friends. Harriet is adamant to tell them at their special union in Happy Place but she realizes Sabrina already invited Wyn to their cottage and Wyn acts like they’re still together.

Harriet finds out Sabrina’s father will sell Happy Place and that’s their last time together! An era of their lives is about to end! She also gives another shocking news. Harriet is a person who doesn’t know how to fight, hating conflicts, trying to please everyone around her! She doesn’t want to create disturbance by announcing their break up. Wyn seems on the same page.

They should act like a couple for a week and they will eventually come clean when their holiday is over! How hard it could be to stay at the same room, touching and kissing your ex in front of others when you are still harboring your unresolved feelings?

Overall: this is inspirational novel about self growth, friendship, growing up, changing, grief, mental illness! I returned back to read some chapters over and over again! Harriet and Wyn might be my favorite couple EH created!

Millions of thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing 2023’s the most anticipated book’s digital copy with me in exchange my honest review!

This book is going to be the death of all of the Emily Henry girlies. I'm not sure what kind of drug Henry injects into her books, but she upped the ante on this one.

I will say, I've read two of Henry's previous books and liked them. But I <i>loved</i> this one. Maybe its the time of year that I read this (the abyss between Christmas and New Years) or maybe it just spoke to something in my soul, but I haven't cried while reading a book in a long time. And there were several separate points that I cried while reading this.

What makes this book, dare I say, BETTER, than the previous books I've read, is that while, yes it is a love story between Harriet and her ex-fiance, Wyn, its also a love story between friends. And Henry really places a premium on that kind of familial love in this novel. There's no real conceit here, except for a little bit of "fake dating" in order to get through a vacation without their friends knowing they've broken up. There's no enemies to lovers or opposites attract. The love story has already happened, and through this week of vacation, and a brilliantly laid out plot device, learning how we got here.

Again, the love here isn't just romantic. I'd argue that this book is on the less spicy side than what Henry has written in the past. The love here is between this core group of friends. Its about understanding that people grow up and change, but that doesn't mean you're losing them. Its about understanding that YOU deserve to be happy, simply because something makes you happy.

There is a lot of ancillary stories in this book about examples of love, of examples of working relationships, how we're taught how to love and fight and forgive from the people who raised us. And that those examples are not always the best examples, or the healthiest. And that's okay. This book poses the question of what if you take those experiences and learn from them and then forge your own path with the knowledge you've gained from the folks that went before?

I think readers will see a lot of themselves in this book, probably pieces in each of the characters, in many of the situations. Its a book that also creates a very nostalgic feel since part of how we meet and get to know our core characters is through the forced intimacy of college. but its a nice pain, that nostalgia.

I read Book Lovers earlier this year and quite liked it. I ready Beach Read last year and laughed and cried my way through it (though not like with this book) and both I would relegate to my mental shelf of easy breezy beach reads. But this book hits something different. Its still a breeze to read, but it hits something a little deeper. And I wouldnt' read it in public because you never know when the tears are just going to start falling. Seriously.

I love all of Emily Henry's books, I never delved into the Rom Com genre of books before Beach Read, since I read Beach Read I've read all of Emily Henry's forthcoming books as well as a smattering of other Rom Coms. Nothing has ever come close to the enjoyment of an Emily Henry novel. Happy Place is no exception although it gave a few surprises that were very welcome.

Happy Place is first and foremost about growing up, it really resonated for me and my experiences between late 20's and early 30's. When your career is growing, relationships are changing, and you have to do a lot of self-discovery to understand where you fit into your life and the people who are important to you. Do you abandon relationships that feel like they have changed and cling to nostalgia, or do you accept change and hold love for the old and the new?

The rom-com trope is exes getting back together, I've found that I prefer the trope of enemies to lovers or at least new/fresh relationships, or some kind of gameplay. The story of Wyn and our main protagonist Harriet was good, I got the game-play aspect but the best part of this whole book was the relationships between long-time friends and the dynamics between family members. I related to Harriet so much it was uncanny when she talked about her family, how she seeks validation through education/career success, and her kind of anxious/avoidant attachment style. I think MANY millennials will connect to Harriet, the book was therapeutic in that I have never read a character that was so similar to how I am and how I am processing the many relationships in my own life. (Also, I don't like getting touched by strangers either even though a massage would probably help with a lot of tension! lol). Within her family and friend group - nothing very dramatic happened but the description of perceptions of expectations and how much that can interfere with relationships was dead on and so realistic.

Highly recommend and I kind of love how Emily Henry seems to rotate the tropes. I wouldn't mind another enemies to lovers or similar next time!

Emily Henry can do no wrong when it comes to romance. Happy Place is a second chance romance about Wyn and Harriet who broke off their engagement five months ago but are forced to pretend they’re still together on their yearly vacation to Maine with friends who don’t they broke up. Emily Henry created a great cast of characters for this novel, and the balance between showing off their personalities and focusing in on just Harriet and Wyn is good. The way the chapters are written also keep readers interested; one chapter will occur in the present while the next switches to Harriet’s past “happy places.” This was a great read that readers won’t want to put down, but they’ll also want more when it’s over. Fans of Emily Henry should absolutely read this one, and fans of character- driven family drama should also read this one. This book is so much more than a romance; it’s about friendship, family, fun, and what it means to truly be happy.

This is my first read by this author and I was not disappointed. Her voice is very unique for a romance. The chemistry and relationship was very believable and there wasn’t ever this feeling of “forced drama” as often happens in romance. I did enjoy this book a lot

Emily Henry has become one of my favorite writers of all time. I just can't put down her books, and am devastated when I finish them. Each one is such a new take on romance, with just enough drama and emotion to make them so heartfelt and relatable. Happy Place was just a gem of a book. Henry knocks it out of the park once again.

as someone who finds i difficult to enjoy contemporary romance books this book blew away my expectations. i don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get on the emily henry train but if this book is like any of her others than i’m very excited to read the rest. emily was able to incorporate so many different kinds of relationships while crafting a story that made me both laugh and cry, but the friendships at the heart of the story were what made the book for me.
thank you berkley and netgalley for the arc!!

This is my first time reading any work by Emily Henry! AND I AM IN LOVE!
normally I don’t read a lot of romance because of the lack of trope but boy this book just made me feel so many million things through out. I wanted to keep dragging the read because I didn’t want it to end!
My heart was full reading the whole friendship dynamic between the group and how everything was changing as they became older! As someone who’s more on the lonely side while being in college my eyes were sweaty most of the time because it was so well written! I’d probably sell my left kidney for my own Sab and Cleo!
And most of all I tend to dislike most female main characters but Harriet just hit the spot. She was not the most perfect but her flaws made me sad and understanding rather than finding her annoying!(which I most do almost all the time) just got to give to Emily Henry writing the relationship dynamics of a couple who starts dating so young and go through all life changes so realistically because most of the moments of Harry and Wyn, I’ve been there and done that, word by word!
I think I can keep going on and on but overall I absolutely loved this and I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of her books and also staff pick this as soon as it gets released in my Indigo store!!
4.5 stars all the way!!
And thank you netgalley for providing me this amazing ARC!

Love this author. It took a while for me to get into this one, but I'll chalk that up to the holiday distraction. The characters are well drawn. The relationship between the main female and male protagonists is real and believable. The male protagonist came off as a little insecure, but the mental health reveal helped explain that to some extent. I didn't love this one like Book Lovers, but it's a strong title. Library patrons are going to like this one.

I have a bold claim. Happy Place has moved into first place on my official Emily Henry ranking. WOW!

Happy Place follows Harriet and her 5 closest friends in a dual timeline through college and early adulthood. The way they navigate these relationships as their lives ebb and flow was so deeply relatable. The bonds of friendship you form in college is unlike any thing else. Harry and her friend turned lover Wyn soon find that the real world isn't the happy place they began their relationship all those years ago.

While there is absolutely a central love story I would never classify this as a 'romance'. It's so much more. The evolution of the friendship between the three girls as they grow up is so beautiful. I think we all have those friends who defy the label of friend to become more. A sister. A limb. A lifeline.

I also really connected to Harriet's internal struggle over her career. Her academic drive that got her through college and then left her feeling lost once she left those hallowed halls is something I see time and time again amongst the most gifted and focused students. Myself included!

Even if you haven't historically been an Emily Henry fan this book might change your mind. It's for sure her most emotional book that she's ever put out. When I say I started tearing up at 6% in I'm not being hyperbolic. Have some tissues on hand!

I didn't find this story to be a particularly Happy Place. There were too many anxious characters with too many issues and I had a hard time liking any of them. I struggled with sticking with this book but I did finish it and the ending was somewhat satisfying. I usually like Emily Henry stories (Book Lovers was fantastic) but I just couldn't really appreciate this one. Thank you Net Galley for letting me review this book.