Oh man, there’s something to be said for a book that you’re anticipating so much and it’s even better than expected :) I loved this story.

A little background with me and this book. I read the author’s book Beach Read probably last year and loved it. When I heard about her next book, I pre-ordered it. Then I actually got sent an early ebook edition from NetGalley. I couldn’t believe it! One of the books I was most looking forward to and now I got to read it early. Then I almost felt nervous, what if it’s not as good as I’m expecting it to be? Rest assured, it met and exceeded any expectations I had.

Poppy and Alex met in college. Both were from the same hometown. He loved his hometown, she couldn’t get away fast enough. But both went back home every summer. And on that first trip home, Poppy and Alex rode home from college together. Along the way they got to know each other. They are definitely opposites.

But more time spent together and they decided to take a trip together over a school break. The trip wasn’t perfect but they had so much fun together. They agreed to take a summer trip together every year.
That started 12 years ago. Life has changed in many ways for both of them. They are long out of college and now only get to see each other about once a year. Their trips are sacred. Poppy is never happier than when she’s with Alex every summer and it seems Alex feels the same way.

But something happened on their trip two years ago and they haven’t really talked since. Poppy isn’t happy. She realizes she hasn’t really been happy since she traveled with Alex last. Despite two years of near silence, she knows she must take the risk and she contacts him. Suddenly, the two decide to take another summer trip.

Everything about the trip is going off course. Poppy wants nothing more than for everything to go perfectly so she can have Alex back again.

I really enjoyed this story. It was 4.5 stars for me.
I would definitely recommend picking up a copy. Read it on the beach if you’re lucky or enjoy it on your couch like I did :) enjoy some fun travel with the characters.

5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I adored this book! It was cute, adorable, and heartfelt. I loved seeing the friendship bloom between these two characters and watching that turn into something more. Emily Henry just writes characters so well that I almost immediately feel connected to them. I adored how Alex and Poppy were so different from each other but still were the best of friends, they got along great and their banter had me laughing. I just love Emily Henry's romance books, I highly recommend them and can't wait to see what she comes out with in the future!

Beach Read was one of my favorite reads from last year, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one.

I started this Friday night and had to put it down so i wouldn’t stay up all night

But I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down

I loved loved loved Poppy and Alex. Loved them.

This is the perfect summer read

This book stole my heart. Poppy and Alex met on their first day in college and thought they'd never see one another again. The two are complete opposites. However, circumstances lead them to meet up again at the end of the year to head home for the summer. A friendship is formed and every summer since the two plan a trip together.

There is so much goodness in this book. Poppy is perfectly real and flawed. I think all of us can see a little of ourselves in her. I found myself cheering desperately for her. And Alex is Poppy's subtle champion. The ways in which he quietly supports her, as she does for him, over the years made me swoon.time and again. These two, while polar opposites, somehow are the perfect match and I found myself turning the pages late into the night lost in their banter and friendship and wondering if they would wind up together or not in the end. I laughed out loud multiple times and loved visiting all the places they do. The writing is warm and cozy and has such an ease to it that you lose yourself so completely in the story.

And while, on the surface, the book has a light and fun feel to it, there is deeper meaning to the story of these two that Henry somehow effortlessly conveys. The ideas of who we are and what we want in our truest selves and the notion of home are strong themes and one that most can relate to. All the little bits through the book add up to a fantastic read that I will return to again and again. It's the kind of book that you get pushy about telling everyone to read because of how universally great it is. Henry was already on a must-read list for me after Beach Read but this book cemented her there. Can't wait for more from this author!

4.5 stars!

People We Meet on Vacation jumps in time between the friendship of Alex and Poppy. They are complete and total opposites, one a fuddy duddy and the other a wild child. But as friends, they completely work. Since college they meet up once a year to take a vacation together, that is, until a mistake happened two years ago in Croatia. But Poppy wants her friend back, so she invites Alex on one more vacation to see if they can patch up their friendship.

I was not the biggest fan of Beach Read, Emily Henry’s first book. But, I always give an author more than one chance so I was more than willing to try People We Meet on Vacation. While it was a slow start for me getting into the book, but the end I was racing against the clock so I could finish the book and hopefully get some sleep in the same night (sleep and I compromised this time haha).

There are so many romance tropes in this book! Opposites attract, friends to lovers, and there’s only one bed all crammed into this book! I have to say, friends to lovers normally isn’t my favorite trope, but Henry did a fantastic job with it in this book. It was very well developed and I believe they were truly friends from the beginning. I really like that this book was just developed really well, period. The characters, the story, everything. I was really impressed with how this story turned out. After reading this sophomore novel, I’m excited to see what else Emily Henry has for us in the future.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since freshman year of college. They are polar opposites – Poppy is loud, outgoing, and dresses in crazy outfits, while Alex would rather read a book than go to a theme party, and sees nothing wrong with the khakis Poppy is constantly belittling. Poppy lives to travel and see the world, and drags Alex along on her adventures each summer, until the summer trip to Croatia, when Something Happens that means they don’t speak for two years.

The chapters alternate between present day, where Poppy lives in New York and works at a travel magazine as a writer, and has travelled the world, both with and without Alex, who is a teacher at the same small town high school Poppy attended. At the start of the novel we know that Something has happened between she and Alex, and the alternating chapters flash back to summers past, moving toward the Something.

The story is told from Poppy’s first person point of view, so while we get glimpses of how she really feels about Alex, his feelings aren’t really clear until later on.

While the dialog is way too witty to be realistic, I related to the in-jokes that develop on each trip they take, and loved how they took care of each other in their times of need. They both have issues from their past that get in the way of them giving in and admitting their feelings.

Content warning – there is one somewhat steamy scene, and a few others that are less so. I wouldn’t exactly call it an open door romance, but it’s not really closed either. Maybe ajar?

I really loved People We Meet On Vacation and recommend it to anyone who likes romance, travel to both little- and well-known locations, and characters who are fun to read about.

Loved this book so much! I enjoyed the depth of emotions behind each character, the closed door romance style, and the back and forth timeline between past trips and the present one. Emily Henry is quickly becoming a favorite of mine! I read this one in two sittings! Full review to come soon.

I really liked this story. I really enjoyed the two timelines and how they built the relationship between Poppy and Alex. They are an opposites attract pairing and I just love that trope. This is fluffy for the most part, but I enjoyed that there is a heaviness to their relationship and that they both recognize that they have issues they need to work on. Yay for the therapy rep! Definitely worth picking up.

I absolutely adored Beach Read so I could not pass up the chance to read People We Meet on Vacation. This book was great, it was interesting and kept you on your toes as you hop between different vacation locales and follow this blossoming friendship turned romantic partnership of will-they, won't-they. I absolutely recommend this to fans of rom-coms and those that enjoy reading unrequited love stories and friendships turned partners. This would be fantastic to read on a beach, on vacation, in the warm summer air!

This was an incredibly fun read. This will be a perfect summer read whether you are able to travel or wish you could travel. It's a story of friendship and family and love set all over the world. I really enjoyed Emily Henry's Beach Read released last year and this is another fun one but I think I liked it even more. You have interesting characters who aren't perfect but aren't so flawed that you don't like them. Definitely pick this one up for a summer read.

Poppy and Alex are the best of friends and total opposites. They take a ‘summer trip’ every year regardless of what’s going on in their lives. Though everything changed two years ago on their trip to Croatia and nothing has been the same since. Poppy realizes she hasn’t been genuinely happy since they had their falling out and she reaches out to Alex to make amends. They plan another summer trip to Palm Springs where Poppy hopes they can make things normal and she can get her best friend back.

I never read Beach Read last summer but man did I see it everywhere, so I jumped at the chance to read this one and I was not disappointed! Poppy and Alex were such loveable characters and their banter had me laughing out loud in parts (slow loris hands set me off in particular). Poppy was so herself and vibrant and Alex just seemed like a total sweetheart...sigh. I loved their quirks and the flashbacks to their summer trips over the last 10 years made me feel like I was travelling again, which was so welcome given the pandemic we have all been living through. I found the fight at the end to be a bit silly, but overall this one is a great escape and summer read.

I loved this book so much! I don't think I've ever been more invested in a fictional relationship wondering will they ever be more than friends? It touched my heart in a way that very few books have. The majority off this book is teasing back and forth conversations between the main characters, Poppy and Alex, who are each other's favorite person in the world. It kinda reminds me of an 80's John Hughes movie. It probably will appeal more to a younger person; a lot of millennial references, social media influencers, emojis, acronyms, etc. While I am definitely not a millennial, I still appreciated the clever, witty banter so much and would highly recommend this book if you are looking for a fun (but lovely at the same time) read.

After not being able to travel for a year, this was the book I needed! Two friends drift apart after a vacation gone wrong...or right.

Now, who DOESN'T love a friends-to-lovers tale? Right from the beginning, I was in love with Alex. The way he sacrifices himself for the ones he cares about, including his father, his siblings, and most of all, his best friend Poppy. I love how Poppy also learns that running away from her problems does not solve anything: she has to face them head-on in order to move past them. Her loyalty, however, to her family, despite their hoarding issues and being "abnormal" compared to other parents, is shown clearly, as she defends any boy that thinks negatively of her family. But of course, Poppy's family loves Alex. THERE were SO MANY SIGNS showcasing the love between Alex and Poppy, but they kept pushing as friends to keep their friendship. Definitely made me frustrated at times, but that FRUSTRATION is what kept me GOING with the book HAHAAAA. Really loved this book :)

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I thought it would be a funny, entertaining love story. Maybe that was the vibe the author was going for, but it didn't really work. Poppy is a travel journalist. She was bullied at her school in Ohio and couldn't wait to leave and re-invent herself somewhere else. Alex lived across town, but because they went to different schools, they didn't meet until they attended the same college. They quickly formed a friendship and started a tradition of going on a vacation together every summer. Since they started out as poor students, their trips were very basic in the beginning. After Poppy moved to New York City and got a job at a travel magazine which paid travel expenses, their trips became more luxurious. Over the years, both Poppy and Alex have other romantic partners: Poppy dates various men while Alex has an on-again off-again relationship with a fellow teacher at the high school Poppy attended back in Ohio. While Poppy couldn't wait to leave Ohio, Alex felt tied down there by obligations to his widowed father and younger brothers.

The story alternates between long, drawn-out descriptions of various trips the two took over the years, with chapters devoted to a current trip they are on now. Apparently, something really awful and earth-shattering happened on their last trip together, two years ago in Croatia (teased throughout the story, but not much of a shocker when finally revealed). They haven't spoken since, so when Poppy impulsively reaches out to Alex by text, she's stunned when he responds. Even more surprising, they arrange to travel to Palm Springs together to attend the wedding of Alex's brother.

So back and forth and around and around we go. It's obvious that Poppy and Alex have feelings for each other, but my gosh! They're just so different! I mean Alex is quiet while Poppy is an extrovert, Alex is in Ohio while Poppy never wants to go back there . . . how could this relationship possibly work? Honestly, I really had a hard time trying to work up enough enthusiasm to finish the book. It's much, much too long and, for all the travel, not a lot happens. Not my cup of tea!

OMG I AM SWOOOOOOOOONING!
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Wow. Okay. I was honestly skeptical going into this book, I worried it would be way over-hyped. I'm already such a snobby snob when it comes to romance and am way over-critical (I admit it) but the truth is, I am in LOVE with this book. Truly, fully, irrevocably in love! And honestly, I've loved all of Emily Henry's novels so I don't know why I had any doubt?
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People We Meet on Vacation has ALL the When Harry Met Sally Vibes which is one of my favorite movies, ever, so loving this book is inevitable. Henry does a great job capturing those vibes, but not re-writing the original; PWMOV has its own flair, witty banter, and scintillating love scenes. IT ALSO HAS ALL THE FEELS and if you know anything about me, you know I love me some feels!
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I loved the vacation element of the story and getting to travel with Poppy and Alex. I also loved the self-discovery each went through, navigating the world and finding what it is that makes them happy.
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MUST READ! YOU ALL MUST READ! NOW!

People We Meet on Vacation is a novel about a wanderer and a homebody, and how their friendship changes through a dozen years of summer trips.

Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college, despite being an odd couple pairing. Poppy wears loud clothes and desires adventure, and Alex is a sweet grump who has PTA-dad vibes. Despite their notable differences, they share an intimate friendship, unsullied by romantic intentions - ninety-five percent of the time.

Every summer, Alex and Poppy have taken trips together, at first on a shoestring budget. Then, Poppy is hired by R+R, a travel magazine, and their vacations change. But Poppy knows their friendship never will, and she anticipates every getaway, looking forward to time spent in Alex’s company and the fun they have together. Then something happens. And Poppy and Alex don’t speak for two years.

Burned out and feeling lost, Poppy is caught off guard when a friend asks her when she was last happy. The answer is two years earlier, on her last trip with Alex. She doesn’t know if they can recapture the magic of their friendship, but she’s willing to try. Can one more vacation fix what happened between them, or will her most important relationship remain fractured?

I love, love, love Alex. He’s such a sweetie; kind, generous, and has a huge heart. Following a family tragedy, he had to mature at a young age and be a parental figure to his younger brothers. He’s a teacher, a cat dad, and wants to be husband and father; he feels real, and his actions and feelings feel true to his character at every turn. I would recommend this book for Alex alone!  There’s a strong ring of authenticity to Poppy as well - even though at times she can seem like something of a millennial stereotype - and her family and her feelings toward them have a lot of weight and really add to the reader’s understanding of her.  In fact, all the characters are incredibly strong, even the ones we meet only briefly. The story lends itself to a large cast, and each voice feels authentic, each character fully-formed. Character relationships are also very well-developed; Poppy and Alex have a really raw, emotional connection. There’s also the fact that the chemistry between them is PALPABLE and very sexy. Their relationship is a tender, aching love that is slowly revealed throughout the story and events from the past, and present.

Though I was initially skeptical about the switching between time periods which forms the novel’s basic structure, it really works for the story and it feels organic to the narrative as it unfolds. It also increases tension for the reader as the history of the characters unwinds and small details come into focus.

The tone of the book took me a little by surprise, as it was quite heavy at times. I kind of expected some light angst, but the book has a really deep emotional core. It still has some wonderfully funny moments, but I was definitely a little taken aback by how intense it is. I also found the pacing to be a little off as the story enters its third act. The resolution doesn’t feel as final as I’d like, either, with some of the roadblocks seemingly remaining unresolved.

People We Meet on Vacation surprised me in a lot of ways, and while I had some issues with it, I would still definitely recommend it. Some of my favorite tropes are at work in this book - opposites attract and friends to lovers, just to name two. It’s a great read, and will definitely satisfy anyone who loves a good getaway.

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Rating: 4.5
I love how the author alternated the chapters between the present setting and flashbacks of past vacations that Poppy and Alex had. It may sound confusing, but really, the flashbacks help you understand the inside jokes that the characters would mention later in the book. This slow-burn friends-to-lovers’ story is like a mash up of my all-time favorite romcom movies. The banter, jokes, and the way their friendship and chemistry mix perfectly well despite them having opposites personalities, are just too cute. What I love most about this book is that Poppy and Alex’s relationship vibrates love and acceptance which makes any reader feel comfortable and right at home. I cannot count the times when my heart ached or when I absent-mindedly smiled while reading this novel. The story pacing and how the author wrapped up the ending was perfectly satisfying. This book was so good that it did not take me long to finish because I could not put it down even if I needed to.

This book had been on my anticipated reads list and Emily Henry did not disappoint! Now that I am done reading this, I wish I could turn back the clock and relive the spark, adventure, and heart aches again for the first time. I recommend this book💛 especially for people who enjoy the movies “Love, Rosie” and “When Harry Met Sally”, you would enjoy this one. Thank you so much for gifting me this E-ARC @prhinternational and @berkleyromance @berkleypub @netgalley #partner

Emily Henry’s novel Beach Read was one of my favorite books of 2020. It was a five-star read for me and I adored everything about it. I therefore had very high expectations going into her new novel, People We Meet on Vacation. I’m thrilled to report that Henry not only met my expectations, but she really hit it out of the park.

People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex. Poppy and Alex both come from a small town in Ohio and that, aside from the fact that they attended the same college, which is where they met and became best friends, is pretty much the only thing they have in common. Poppy is a travel writer and a quirky extrovert, while Alex is a high school teacher and a highly reserved introvert. They are truly the most unlikely of friends, but as the old saying goes, opposites attract and their friendship just works. They have not only stayed friends long after graduating from college, but every year they get together and take an epic vacation. That is, until two years ago when something happened to completely derail their friendship to the point where they stopped speaking to each other. Poppy desperately wants her best friend back and reaches out to Alex with an offer she hopes he won’t refuse.

I fell in love with both Poppy and Alex right away. Henry has the story unfold through a dual timeline where in the present, we watch Poppy and Alex take a trip together to try to rekindle their friendship and move forward, while in the past, we get lots of flashbacks of Poppy and Alex’s first meeting, their friendship growing, scenes from those amazing yearly vacations, etc. I loved watching the two of them interact because 1) the banter is hilarious, 2) it’s clear they have intense chemistry, and 3) they really bring out the best in each other. I was utterly heartbroken to learn that something had happened to fracture their relationship and I shared Poppy’s desperation to fix it. I was also shipping them so hard to become more than friends because they were truly just adorable together in the flashback scenes.

I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m just going to say if I had to compare this book to any other book, I’d say it has a similar vibe to Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. If you enjoy a good friends-to-lovers story filled with lovable characters and hilarious banter, you are in for a treat with People We Meet on Vacation. This one left me with a full heart and happy tears in my eyes.

This was a net galley read that I picked up strictly based on the blurb and have found a new author that I want to read more from!

People we Meet on Vacation is told strictly from Poppy’s point of view, but Author Henry does an excellent job of pulling us into Alex’s head as well. We see these two unlikely friends over a period of 12 years, alternating between current event and previous summers that they have spent together.

This was a well written and emotional story. Both Poppy and Alex have things they have struggled with and the bond they have in their friendship is one that definitely gives the warm and fuzzies. These are characters that I truly enjoyed and found myself rooting for them to figure out what they need from each other and life.

I appreciated that Ms Henry allowed both Alex and Poppy to be vulnerable as they experienced their growing friendship and then the ups and downs as they navigate relationships, distance, honesty, and more. I will definitely be looking to read more from this author.