‘She’s a wild child. He wears khakis’

Let me preface this by saying that I have never been more excited for an ARC in my entire life. If you enjoyed Beach Read, you will LOVE People We Meet on Vacation.


This story begins with Poppy, who is a travel writer, realizing that the last time she was truly happy was two years ago on on a trip to Croatia with her best friend, Alex. After an incident in Croatia, they haven’t spoken since. In an attempt to rekindle their friendship, Poppy invites Alex on one final trip to Palm Springs and thankfully, he agrees.

Alternating between past summer trips and their current vacation to Palm Springs, we read about Poppy and Alex’s 12 year friendship, the ‘incident’, and that Poppy is willing to risk it all by putting her feelings and their friendship on the line during this final trip.

I absolutely loved the banter between Poppy, who was extroverted and adventurous and Alex a reserved school teacher. People We Meet on Vacation, is a sweet, emotional, friends to lovers/ opposites attract story. I loved seeing Poppy and Alex’s friendship blossom from an awkward college ride share to best friends.

The Pub Date for this book is on May 11th – which is just in time for you to take this to the pool or beach for a perfect summer read.

Very cute read that had me guessing until the end. This book wasn't what I was expecting from the title but it means so much more now that I have read it. Also, I am super jealous of Poppy's job. I only wish I could travel that much! I absolutely loved the banter especially in the beginning but I was so emotionally invested throughout the middle to the end. I couldn't put it down. This will be a great summer read!
Thank you to NetGalley for a free review copy!

I was SO excited to get my hands on an early copy of this book. I've heard the Emily Henry buzz and I was eager to check it out.

Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. It took me a while to get into the book. And then, for a while, I was into it - but waiting for it to really grab me by the heart. Instead, I hit the 50% mark and found myself frustrated and out of patience.

The alternating between present and flashback wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but there was literally no forward momentum. In fact, when given an opportunity for forward momentum, the storyline continually stalled out. I also am not sure what to make of the characters. Even halfway through the book I feel like I don't have a really good idea of Alex's personality, much less do I feel any real attachment to him. There were moments where there were hints of a spark, enough to keep my hope alive, but eventually I found that I just didn't care anymore.

The writing is smart, and occasionally funny. I think the storytelling may not be my cuppa, however. This was a DNF at 52% for me.

Of course another 5🌟 book from Emily Henry. I adored Beach Read and knew I was going to love this one before I even started. ❤️

‘She’s a wild child. He wears khakis’

PWMOV tells the story of opposites Poppy and Alex’s 10 year friendship told through alternating timelines of their annual summer vacations. It is full of funny vacation fails, bad timing, witty banter, finding one’s self, heartbreak, and eventually love.

I admit, it took me a bit to really get into this one, as I tend to struggle to connect at first with a book with alternating timelines and this one was no different. (But that’s on me, not EH.) Once I got more into it, I fell in love with this book. The banter between Poppy and Alex is hilarious and adorable and exactly what I want with my best friend.

The evolution of Poppy from high school outcast to overcompensating adult is great to experience. And Alex is just such a perfect male lead. Strong, deep, attractive, caring, emotional, fun (well, when with Poppy), khaki type guy that I couldn’t help but fall in love with. Watching these two find each other was an emotional ride in the best way.

If you loved Beach Read (or any other friends to lovers romcom), go preorder this book now! You won’t regret it!!

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for this gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review. ❤️

Feeling unexcited with her job as a travel writer, Poppy realises that the last time that she was truly happy was when she was with her best friend Alex, which was two years ago on their vacation to Catalina before they stopped speaking. Knowing that she must act fast to rekindle their friendship, Poppy desperately reaches out to Alex and they end up planning a nostalgic trip to Palm Springs for Alex’s brother’s wedding. But even though everything on their trip from back spasms to broken air conditioners seems to go wrong, Poppy’s romantic feelings towards Alex become harder to ignore. Just as things are finally starting to go right, Poppy returns home to New York, and Alex to Ohio, to do some major self-reflection and contemplate some major life changes.

The novel is told from Poppy’s perspective with flashbacks to previous trips with Alex placed intermittently throughout. People We Meet on Vacation is a contemporary friends-to-lovers romance novel and would be of great interest to those who enjoy travelling. Considering that most of us are not able to travel right now due, this book is the perfect way to escape reality and take a mental vacation this year, especially since Poppy and Alex do a lot of travelling and end up going on a bunch of fun adventures.

This was my first time reading a book by Emily Henry and it was really enjoyable! I was hooked right from the start because I wanted to know what happened on the Catalina trip that forced Poppy and Alex to stop talking for two years and whether Alex and Poppy became more than friends. It was great reading about all the previous trips that Poppy went on (with Alex as well as for her job as a travel writer) because they also sounded super cool. As mentioned, this book is a great way to escape, but it would also be an excellent summer read because of all the travelling. 

The are a few minor negatives about this book including that it's slow to start, but once Poppy and Alex got to Palm Springs, the action started to pick up and the book became more engaging. Then there's the regular switching between past and present, which was a bit difficult to keep track of, and it was also frustrating having to wait until towards the end of the book for a flashback of what went wrong between Alex and Poppy during their Catalina trip.

Overall, People We Meet on Vacation was an enjoyable read with a unique plot and quite the satisfying ending! It would be a great read for fans of Talia Hibbert, Jojo Moyes, or Robyn Carr, and this jet-setting novel would be perfect to read during summer while sitting by the beach or pool.

I think I have a new favorite book. “People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry made me feel so many emotions while reading it; happiness, joy, sadness, hope, anxiety, empathy, and most of all, nostalgia. You see, my husband and I couldn’t stand each other when we met, then we became good friends, and then, were both nervous to let the other know how we felt, fearing it would ruin our friendship. We just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary, so I guess you could say that things worked out.
Poppy and Alex met at the beginning of college and the book alternates between “this summer” and each of the summers from when they first met, to the present. I loved this twist on alternating timelines. I have read so many contemporary romances that I didn’t think I’d find anything that felt as fresh and new as this book. While the “should they or shouldn’t they” premise may not be anything new, it felt so inviting and unique with the characters involved.
I won’t give you the details of Poppy and Alex, but this is the type of book that makes you believe in love and will be the hot beach read this year.

This is the second book I have read by Emily Henry, and I had just as many gushy feelings with People We Meet On Vacation as I did with Beach Read. Is it because it feels so familiar with the Midwesterner characters? This time Cincinnati was featured heavily, and it was so much fun spotting local name drops. Also, Ms. Henry’s one-liners are just so much fun. I had a happy book hangover after finishing this. I love friends-to-lovers tropes, and the unrequited love element added another layer of delightful angst. Please, can I just give Alex the biggest hug ever????

✨The People We Meet On Vacation by @emilyhenrywrites
5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release date: May 11, 2021

•This book was so good, and one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. I absolutely loved Beach Read last year, and The People We Meet on Vacation did not disappoint.

•Poppy & Alex are two very unlikely best friends. They meet on orientation day in college, and their friendship definitely wasn’t immediate. Poppy is a little odd, and Alex is very quiet & reserved. But with a shared road trip home, these two unlikely people become best friends.

•This story takes place over their 12 year friendship and literally all around the world. Every year, these two take a summer trip together and I couldn’t wait for each chapter which had a new adventure, or sometimes a misadventure.

•The pure love that these two share made my heart smile throughout the entire story. I loved getting to see the world through their trips, and experience the longing and unsettled feelings. Poppy’s fears of being tied down, and her searching for that feeling of “home” & “contentment” really struck true for me. I think we all experience wanderlust from time to time, and Poppy may be one of my new favorite female main characters.

•Did you have that one friend in college or life that you were completely opposites, but somehow you ended up best friends? I did.. and this book hit me right in my feels because that friend I loved dearly, were always there for each other, passed away 6 years ago, and I still miss him every day. This book made me feel like I had my friend beside me again. If only for a few hours.

✨What to expect with this one
•Friends to lovers
•Forced proximity
•travel/wanderlust
•second chance romance
•a wee little bit of steam
•slowburn romance

✨Thank you to @netgalley @berkleyromance & @emilyhenrywrites for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Poppy and Alex are the unlikeliest of friends - totally opposite personalities, but they become best friends in college. Whereas Alex has a plan to study literature and hopefully become a professor, Poppy isn't sure what she wants to do, so she quits college and starts a blog on traveling for cheap. So begins Poppy and Alex's summer trip tradition. Every summer they go on a trip together, in the beginning it's whatever they can afford, but then Poppy gets a job writing for a travel magazine and their vacations become more luxurious. Unfortunately, two years ago, their trips stopped. Something romantic happened between the two of them and they haven't really spoken since. Now Poppy has everything she has ever wanted, professionally, but she feels like something is missing. She texts Alex and they plan another summer trip, the first after the "incident", in the hopes that seeing him will help her reconcile what is missing from her life.

Better than Beach Read, and I really enjoyed Beach Read, but Poppy may be my new favourite fictional female. She is colourful yet relatable and absolutely laugh out loud hilarious. Her banter with Alex is what made this book for me - the box of condoms, the "call me Ed", I was howling at some of the things she said, and Alex always has the perfect retort for her or explanation for those that don't understand her humour. The travel, the romance, the comedy, even the quiet moments when Poppy reflects on her happiness and their relationship, it all came together to make what I would consider the perfect romantic comedy.
People We Meet on Vacation could have been just a run of the mill story about opposites attract, but instead there is this killer chemistry and slow burn romance alongside these amazing adventures and lots of comedy. If you're looking for a book that will have you laughing out loud on one page and swooning on the next, look no further, I would highly recommend.

I loved this book. I appreciate everything Emily Henry does as an author. This book was the perfect vacation to take while I’m stuck at home. I wanted these characters to come off the page and be my friends in real life.

The whole time I was reading I kept thinking this has major When Harry Met Sally vibes! She mentions her love of the movie in the author’s notes at the end.

If you loved Beach Read you’ll absolutely love this book. The character development is amazing and the banter is perfection! Poppy and Alex are everything.

And I can’t wait to travel again! I loved reading about all their amazing summer vacations.

Pub day - May 11th!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Very sweet, book that doesn't an excellent job of weaving a present day storyline with a complicated back story without ever feeling bogged down.

I DNF'ed this book at 47%, I won't post anything on goodreads/insta yet in case I come back to it in a few weeks but right now I am not jiving with it.

I read Emily Henry's novel "Beach Read" last summer and I was instantly hooked. I was thrilled to get an opportunity to read her upcoming novel "People We Meet on Vacation."

In this story we meet Poppy and Alex who have been best friends since college, but only friends. They refuse to acknowledge their growing feelings and attraction to one another because they are afraid of ruining their friendship. Each summer they take a trip together, except "something" happened two years ago and they have not spoken since. Poppy, whose career is thriving, still feels as though something is missing and it does not take her long to figure out that the something is Alex.

She invites him on a trip to Palm Springs and they embark on the adventure that forces them to finally deal with all of the pent-up emotions they've been carrying around for twelve years.

In reading "People We Meet on Vacation" we get to witness the lingering effects of childhood trauma and how they feed into our insecurities as adults. Alex, lost his mother as a young child, and became the emotional rock that kept his family together after his father had a difficult time coping with the loss of his wife.

Poppy never felt like she fit in - at school or in her small town - people hurt her and she could not wait to leave Ohio for bigger and better things. She needed to move away from all that caused her pain and all those who made her doubt herself and prove to herself that she was worthy.

In college she meets Alex, who attended a sister school in Ohio and had a generally good experience at school - something that Poppy cannot fathom. They quickly become friends, even though they are complete opposites and have entirely different hopes for the future.

Twelve stubborn years of being best friends and refusing to admit that there might be something more finally come to a head when they must confront their true feelings. To get to this point Alex and Poppy first have to let go of all their hang-ups and deal with their past insecurities.

Poppy has to learn to stop being afraid of Ohio and everything it represents and Alex has to learn to allow himself to feel - even when it can result in potential heartbreak.

I cried my way through the last few chapters and sighed happily through the entire epilogue. "People We Meet on Vacation" was perfect and Alex and Poppy's story will stay with me for a long time.

Emily Henry is truly a gifted author and I cannot wait to see what's next.

This book is exactly what I needed right now. Not only was the story fresh and cute but I LIVED for all the trips I got to experience while reading this. I mean can I just speak for everyone when I say “I miss traveling so much!!!!!” Even the annoying parts made me nostalgic for past trips gone wrong. I can’t wait to get stuck in an airport later this year....

So this is a best friends(ish) to lovers romcom that spans a little over a decade. I loved how every other chapter covered a different trip from the past - it was so fun to read about settings all over the world. But just like Beach Read, what I loved most where the characters. Emily Henry creates some of the most unique yet incredibly real characters that I can’t help but love. And she writes the BEST banter out there - it's the perfect mix of witty and flirty and I just can’t help but smile while reading all the dialogue.

If you enjoyed Beach Read, this is a bit lighter but equally enjoyable. It is the perfect Summer book!

Alex and Poppy have nothing in common, she is wild and free spirited while he is calm and collected however they have been best friends since college. Though adulthood and their careers keep them apart most of the year every summer they take a summer vacation to somewhere new until two summers ago when everything changes. Now as Poppy begins to realize though she has all she wants professionally she is still unhappy she vows to get back to taking her beloved vacations with Alex in hopes to get her life back on track. During their one week trip Poppy is determined to get back to how they used to be but the one problem between them just won’t seem to go away.

I absolutely loved Beach Reads so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this one. Emily Henry is such a great author and her characters are so relatable. The book switch’s back and forth between present day and summers past and I loved the dual time lines. The banter between these two was so fun. Of course many part were predictable but I still loved it!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkeley for my ARC!

First of all for my 100th book of the year read I’m so thrilled that it is this book! I could not love this book more. I absolutely adored #BeachRead and this absolutely did not disappointed. This will for sure be high up on my list for 2021.
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What happens when the life you expected is exactly you pictured yet, something doesn’t feel right? Poppy has the exact life she imagine but she feels untethered. She hasn’t felt right since she hasn’t talked to her best friend in two years. Prior to their big fight the one constant in her life was Alex, her complete opposite and best friend.
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Friends since college, Alex and Poppy bonded even if they are nothing alike. Their one constant is their summer trip they take together every year.
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Told in dual timelines in current times and past vacations we see how Poppy and Alex came to a breaking point in their relationship and are now ready to repair it.
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I adore their banter and hearing about their trips. I love how Alex is high strung and straight laced but with Poppy and with Poppy only he lets his hair down and truly allows himself to have fun. Henry writes with heart but also her trademark wit and humor that makes her books utterly relatable and purely charming. This is going to be the absolute perfect summer beach read!
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Thank you so much to #NetGalley and #Berkleypub for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
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This book is available May 11th! Just in time for your summer vacation plans!

A year into the pandemic and the hope of someday being able to travel safely creeping up on the distant horizon, this was the perfect book for me starting off my spring break! Poppy was an outsider growing up and is taken completely by wanderlust in her 20s. Alex is the human equivalent of the khaki pants he wears, and when the two meet in college, they eventually hit it off the second time they meet. Over the next decade they go on vacations each summer, until things happen and then it's radio silence for two years. This story was full of realistic and authentic feelings that grabbed at my heartstrings and made me even more upset that I'm still on dating apps. I loved Henry's first book, Beach Read, and she did not have a sophomore slump with this one!

Ok I think Emily Henry is slowly becoming a fave author of mine. Beach Read was the first book I’ve read of hers and I loved it so so much. When we got this ARC I got REAL excited. But I was also hesitant to start People we Meet on Vacation because, what if Beach Read was a one off? I’ve been in this position before and have disappointed many times. Books really have a way of toying with your emotions don’t they? Anywaaayysss, I started it and could not stop. It was soooo good. Like, read in a day good. I think Alex might be one of my fave male leads in a long time. He is nerdy and shy, but so supportive of Poppy and hilarious too! Poppy has a level of confidence that I could only dream of having and I loved how Henry chose to write this character. I’ve learned that I really enjoy reading the rapport between 2 characters, and Poppy and Alex did not disappoint. More than that, this book really made me want to travel!! This global panny needs to wrap things up so I get get on a plane already!! I only really have one critique which has to do with this “sad puppy dog face” that Alex would use on Poppy to get her to laugh. It was a little repetitive for me and I thought it could have been used a little less. That being said, if you love rom-coms, you’re gonna love this book!! I gave it a 4.5 star rating so I rounded up on here.

A stellar new novel by Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation explores the "friend zone' relationship through a new lens. Henry slowly reveals the character's true personalities by juxtaposing their "vacation-life" with their "real-life." Highly recommended.