I adored this book. Imagine reading an emotionally complex contemporary romance that doubles as a love letter to "When Harry Met Sally." Imagine that book also happens to be masterfully plotted. Emily Henry simultaneously tied in flashbacks from a decade of vacations past with increasing tension on a vacation in the present day. The entire novel I was screaming at my screen "WHAT HAPPENED IN CROATIA?"

Friends to lovers is one of my all-time favorite tropes, and this novel is a fantastic addition to the canon. Emily Henry was on my radar after "Beach Read," but this new novel knocks that one out of the park. I cannot recommend it enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. It was well read.

I loved everything about this book! Not only did it fill the void I’ve experienced from not being able to travel due to Covid but I also loved the characters! I loved the way the author told the story and I can’t wait to recommend this title to friends and family!

People We Meet on Vacation is a funny, sexy, zesty romance! Beautifully written and made me laugh out loud. Brava!

Emily Henry's story of Poppy and Alex is so warmly familiar, but so genuisly original. I fell immediately into their storyline and rooted for their romance more than any others. The writing is well done, the story is sweet. Absolutely loved this book, and now I'm going to read any Henry I can get my hands on.

I really really enjoyed this book and it had me smiling and laughing throughout. It was exactly what I needed after a few heavier reads. It’s a friends-to-lovers romance (which is a trope I love) that has just enough emotional heft to make me invested in the characters, but also the lightness and joy of a romance.

Our characters are Poppy and Alex. They meet by chance in college, become best friends, but drift to different parts of the country after college. The exception being one summer trip they take with each other every year. They are seemingly mismatched as best friends, one is spontaneous and messy and the other stoic and straight-laced, but they just kind of get each other the way best friends do and bring out something in each other that no one else does.

We learn through Poppy’s POV about their friendship in dual timelines. In the present we learn Poppy and Alex have not really spoken in two years after a trip to Croatia where something happened. In intervening chapters then, get a glimpse of the beginning of their friends and each subsequent summer trip up until they stopped talking.

I love stories with dual timelines where the reader is in the present, but slowly unravels the past simultaneously. I will say in this particular story, I enjoyed the present timeline much more than the past timeline. I think there was just a lot of tension built into the present and it was that tension that really sold this story for me. In the present there are the possible romantic feelings brewing between Poppy and Alex, but there’s also the tension inherent in a friendship that you’re trying to rebuild after a falling out and maneuvering the pitfalls of not saying the wrong thing that could make it worse. That same tension just wasn’t there as much for me in the past timeline, but I did enjoy seeing their friendship grow.

I just really enjoyed the stakes in the story; it felt relatable. The thing that drives me crazy in romance is when simply saying one thing would avoid all conflict, but in this case not saying something is a choice. Poppy knows she could say something, but the friendship means so much to her that chooses to ignore those feelings just to have the friendship remain intact. There is, of course, still miscommunication, but it felt like a real choice someone may make to choose not being honest about feelings in order to not lose your best friend.

Emily Henry is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I was worried that this one wouldn't live up to Beach Read, but my fears were unfounded. Great characters, and a terrific storyline.

I loved Emily Henry's Beach Read from last summer but People We Meet on Vacation was on a whole new level. New Adult contemporary, friends to lovers romance with wanderlust, gorgeous scene setting across the globe, and told in alternating past/present chapters, People We Meet on Vacation sparkled. 5 stars!

A fun, quick read, I thoroughly enjoyed Poppy and Alex's journey both metaphorically and otherwise. I truly did root for them.

I loved beach read by Emily Henry so I had high expectations going into this book. I really enjoyed the characters and the story. The people we meet on vacation is about two friends who used to take an annual summer travel and after a two year break they go on vacation together again. I really enjoyed the friends to lovers trope.
I would recommend this book.
Thank your for the advanced opportunity to read this amazing book.

🥰🥰 ALL THE STARS to this one! I adore Emily Henry’s books and so happy I could read an advance copy from NetGalley. The characters are complex, realistic and all too relatable. Dialogue was *chefs kiss* and it was another perfect pandemic palate cleanser.

My god I loved this book. The way that Emily Henry writes is a gift to me and I will read anything and everything she provides me with.

Seriously, the way I feel like my heart is in my throat at the end of her books is simultaneously the worst and best thing about reading. I just cried (this is by no means a sad book) for 20 minutes over the ending and I just... sometimes you read a book that makes you hold your breath a few times. I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time I read this.

If you have never picked up an Emily Henry book, please do. Do yourself a favour. I need to dip into the YA books next but I'll pace myself here.

Super good over all. I have some tiny quibbles with the emotional conflict at the end, but the structure plus chemistry of this book is extremely winning.

This was a sweet story about best friends. Poppy and Alex have two very different interests and personalities, but they are best friends that enjoy an annual trip together. After about ten years something happens on vacation that ends this tradition. I highly recommend this Rom Com. Their banter together is filled with sharp fun humor, and it’s worth finding how this book ends.

I really liked this book. I had read a Emily Henry’s previous book and really liked it, and I enjoyed this one as well. I love vacation and getting to read about the trips these two best friends go on and how it helps anchor their relationship was really good. The characters all were interesting and I liked what both characters learned about themselves by the end of the book.

This story about a travel writer and a longtime.college friend who travel together for a week each summer was a quick satisfying read. The flashbacks through past vacations bring the reader to understand the current relationship between Alex and Poppy. It’s certainly a very slow burn, as romances go. But it showcases two very well-developed, likable characters and their enviable friendship. Would that everyone could find such a soulmate! Excellent book.

This was so much fun! I was so excited when I read the author's note (first) and saw that this was a riff on When Harry Met Sally—and I'm relieved to say that though that sent my expectations zooming, they were not disappointed! I adored tagging along with Alex and Poppy on ten different vacations, and particularly appreciated the way Henry's jumping timeline built tension and aroused my readerly curiosity. This story would make for fun and fruitful book club discussion, and I look forward to recommending it to my readers.

This book was so much fun! It's a contemporary friends to lovers romance with great character development and an engaging plot. I binged this in just 2 sittings. The main characters have amazing chemistry. A must read for fans of contemporary romance!

While the friends to lovers trope isn’t my favorite, Emily Henry is such a delightful author I throughly enjoyed this one! The story is framed around summer vacation trips, which makes for lovely escapism given the current state of the world. Would recommend.

I really enjoy Emily Henry's writing style. She is able to bring the story alive through her words. Whereas I enjoyed the story during the "This Summer" chapters, I didn't enjoy it as much when she flashed back to previous summers. Sometimes it just felt like a travel log, and I wanted to see their current story, and not their past. But overall, very enjoyable.

Poppy and Alex have been friends since college, when they were broke and opposites. They're still opposites: Poppy is a college drop-out, wild child who writes for a travel magazine and Alex is the Oldest Child, high school English teacher (with a doctorate) who never has a hair out of place or a wrinkle in his khakis. And they're still broke. Nevertheless, they decide to rekindle their 15-year friendship after a two-year hiatus with a Summer Trip, just like they did every year until the Croatia Trip. Poppy needs it to go perfectly because she doesn't not want to have Alex in her life, but anything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Until the decade-and-a-half-long sexual tension is broken with sex in the rain. But will this change the friendship they both cherish so much? Will it break them?

I was so worried that this follow-up to Beach Read, which I LOVED, wouldn't stack up. But it does! The sexual tension is there without being overwhelming, and the true (platonic) love Poppy and Alex have for one another is what /I/ want in a relationship! *grabby hands* The meaning behind the title doesn't get explained until /the/ very last chapter, and it doesn't necessarily seem like the best title, but the reveal ends up being super sweet, so I'll give it a pass. This is a must-purchase for public libraries!