This book was everything I had hoped it would be.

This book had me hooked from the first page - the friendships, the love story, the setting and the characters are all exactly what I would expect from Emily Henry.

My heart was on a rollercoaster with every page -- everything from the lowest lows of feeling the pain and confusion and frustration not on Harriet and Wyn were experiencing but everyone else too!

Just pure happiness at the very end!

Thank you for the early copy - I've already preordered a copy for my bookshelf!

Happy Place follows a group of six friends who vacation together every year in Maine. This year is a little different because Harriet and Wyn, once engaged, are no longer together. They choose to hide it from the group for the week to make thing easier. It's told with flashbacks that slowly explain Harriet and Wyn's relationship and why they broke up.

While the writing is amazing and I was kept in the story all the way through, this wasn't my favorite from miss Henry. I enjoyed the friendship dynamics. We get to see a lot of different relationships, friends, good parents, bad parents, happy couples, unhappy couples. As well as a whole bunch of hobbies andifestyles, college, grad school, pottery, surgeons, table making, farmers....it was almost too much.

The miscommunication went on for so long and it took 90 percent of the book to finally figure what the heck is the deal with these two, bickering and eye fucking each other every chance they get, by the time the story ended I was so sick of these two I didn't care of they ever got back together. Overall didn't enjoy this one, but I can see why a lot of other people would and I would still happily recommend it

Oh Emily Henry, you beautiful genius, you. You've done it again!

To begin--I am a huge fan of Emily Henry. People We Meet on Vacation is one of my go-to romance recommendations for people. Her writing is always so witty, smart, layered, etc. Though her books are romance novels, they aren't shallow, formulaic, generic stories that anyone could write. You can really see how smart she is in her writing--especially her dialogue.

And I'm happy to announce, Happy Place lives up to all the expectations I've come to have of an Emily Henry novel! As usual, I am shocked by how distinct her characters are from one another--Happy Place focuses on a friend group of six people who have come together throughout a course of a decade and become lifelong friends, and each person feels so real and different. I usually find that romance writers have the same protagonists with different names in each novel they write, but Harriet and Wyn are so distinct from, say, Poppy and Alex from People We Meet on Vacation, or even either of the other couples featured in Happy Place.

All in all, I absolutely adored this book. I can't believe the rest of the world has to wait five months to fall in love with Harriet and Wyn!


SPOILER UPCOMING!!! YOU ARE WARNED!!!!

The only teeny-tiny thing I found odd was how Harriet went from being a surgical resident to working at a pottery place. Not only did it feel like a huge jump (when it usually seems like career-switching trope character's new career at least has some sort of tie to what they were doing before), but we didn't really see Harriet searching for other things she loved or trying much beyond that. It kind of felt like she pointed at a random hobby and decided to make it her career instead of taking time to discover different things she loves. But take this with a grain of salt--you can tell she really loves it and is a different person when she's throwing. I just wish we had seen more of her branching out and trying new things.

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for providing an advanced copy of Emily Henry's second-chance lovers romcom Happy Place. I DEVOURED it! It has a charming setting, characters that are both fun and complex, and themes that go beyond a will they/won't they romance to include navigating relationships and discovering your passions as an adult. I loved it!

I have read and loved all of Emily Henry's novels, but this is my new favorite! I loved everything about Happy Place - the characters, the setting, the emotions, the switching between the present and the past, the family issues, the friendships...all of it! I think a lot of readers will relate to Harriet's struggle with finding what truly makes her happy and not following the expectations of her family and friends.
I adored the friendship group in this novel immensely, and Henry does a great job of exploring how tight knit friendship groups can change over time.
The "will they/won't they" aspect of Harriet and Wyn's relationship had me riveted and hanging on to every word. I have never rooted for a relationship more!
I absolutely inhaled this book and think this will be a big hit for Emily Henry. Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley Publishing for the e-galley.

Absolutely lovely — my heart feels near to bursting from all the feels. Happy Place is an enchanting story about enduring love, found family, and the courage of pursuing happiness. Emily Henry has a way of cleaving into the breastbone of human experience with her prose, holding your heart in her hands, and making you feel utterly safe, seen, and hopeful from start to finish. Quite possibly my favorite Emily Henry book to date and easily one of my favorite books of the year — I’m fully in love with Harriet, Wyn, and co.

Well, this book was adorable. I am super grateful that I was able to read Happy Place before its publication since I have loved all of Emily Henry's previous books. However, this title is definitely my new favorite. With the majority of the book set in Northern New England (Maine & Vermont), I felt super connected to the story. There is a certain charm to my home region and Henry definitely brought that to this title. The witty banter that readers expect from Henry's protagonists is present in this story and I have no doubt that this book will be a hit once it is published. Also, there is a small call-back moment to her book Beach Read that true Emily Henry fans will catch and be excited about. I can't wait until Happy Place is released into the wild in April 2023.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this eARC.

I loved this so much. I always love a book at a vacation home (this was a very good read just after <i>Every Summer After</i>, also mostly at a vacation home), and this one is a PERFECT version of this kind of book. I loved the Maine setting and each of the characters who are part of a found family that has some shit to work out. This was angstier than the pink cover suggests, but, like, a healing angst. In other words, I did cry more than once. I DID think that the central couple was apart for a little too long, maybe, but I absolutely cared just as much (or more) about the friendships here as the central romance. So really, that extra time didn't impact my enjoyment of the book. Thanks for this book, Emily Henry, and GOD do I want to go to Maine.

Love love love. I usually don’t like a lot of conflict but I’ll accept it for this one. I do wish they were together more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The friendships were so real and the struggle to make unhappy parents happy was very relatable. Finding the strength to do what is good for yourself vs what you think is best for everyone else is time honored tradition for most families. Kudos for bringing it to life with humor and heart.

I cried and I laughed. Emily Henry does it again. Harriett is one of those protagonists I can really identify with and I think she’s going to stick with me for awhile.