I think I have to break up with Emily Henry. This book simultaneously felt like it was way too long but also too short. Nobody talked to each other for real, most of the book took place in Harriet's head, so much miscommunication, and Harriet and Sabrina and all of their parents need to get their butts to therapy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I don't even know where to begin with this masterpiece of a book.

This book was like sitting through the last ten years' worth of therapy appointments with all of my insecurities and relationship issues laid bare between 400 pages of Harriet and Wyn. I have never had a book hurt so viscerally but also make me feel so uplifted and hopeful. The story itself was wonderfully paced, giving glimpses into the current state of their relationship as well as showing the way they got there.

I think this may have been the best Emily Henry book to date. And that's saying so much because all of her books have been five star reads. This book was just so beautifully written and so personally meaningful that I'm having a hard time coming up with something better.

Even though I don’t read as much romance as I did when I first started blogging, I absolutely adored this wonderful second-chance romance. The Maine setting, the dual timelines, I loved it all. Even the chapter headings!

“Think of your happy place, the cool voice in my ear instructs. Picture it… What can you feel? Sunlight, everywhere. Not just on my bare shoulders or the crown of my head, but inside me too, the irresistible warmth that comes only from being in the exact right place with the exact right people.”

Surprisingly, this book also explores the evolution of friendships and family relationships in a very satisfying way. The story also has an engaging cast of supporting characters that provide depth to Harriet and Wyn’s relationship. There was a lovely sense of longing and nostalgia to this book that I really loved. ”Time doesn’t move the same way when we’re there. Things change, but we stretch and grow and make room for each other.”

The spice level this book was just perfect. Overall another totally addictive read from one of my auto-buy authors!

(𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.)

Sort-of fake dating meets second chance -- Emily Henry does her usual masterful job of plumbing the depths of a relationship gone wrong. Harriet and Wyn met in college and swiftly formed a deep romantic bond. They get engaged...and then life falls hard on them both and they break up and don't tell their "chosen family" of friends. Not a problem, until the friend group's annual trip to the Maine cottage, when Wyn begs off, but then shows up as a "surprise" finagled by Harriet's bestie. Their journey back to a relationship is sweet and profound and explores the depths of all the ways stressful events and mental health and family dynamics can fuck up something amazing. It's a different variety of second-chance romance that doesn't often show up: that of renegotiating a relationship that isn't shiny and new any more.

this, like all of emily henry's books, is so much more than a romance. this is her first story with an extended friend group and their dynamics, and this is the part that i ended up connecting with most. this is perfect for anyone who is experiencing the way that friendship evolves and shifts in adulthood, when everyone is in vastly different stages in life, and the loneliness that can sometimes result from that.

harriet and wyn are two of emily's characters that i felt like i could relate to the most. harriet is practical, empathetic, and hardworking, but she is also indecisive and someone who tries to keep the peace by putting other's needs before her own. wyn is thoughtful, charming, and people are drawn to his energy, but underneath all that, he doesn't believe it about himself, doesn't believe he is special or good enough. their love is so special and it felt undeniable to me. emily writes banter like a pro and their conflict felt so grounded in reality that it hurt to watch it unfold, because that sort of thing can really happen to anyone.

this is a book about change, growing up, grief, and letting go, and those themes are what make this book memorable to me, especially reading it at this specific time of my life. 💖

*thank you to berkley romance & netgalley for the eARC!

I wish that we had been able to get into Wynn’s head some. At times I felt like I was missing something within the friend group, like I just dropped into it but didn’t fully understand everything. It was full of emotions and healing in a lot of ways.

I have enjoyed Emily Henry's books, but for some reason I could not get into this one. I can not pinpoint why, but I would still certainly recommend this to readers that have enjoyed her previous books. Thank you for the ARC!

With witty banter, sweet spice, a charming romance, and a friend group you want to be a part of, Happy Place is the definition of a feel-good read. Highly recommend it to anyone looking to read a character-driven love story with a found family arc.

Unsurprisingly, Emily Henry once again delivers. Like all of her novels, Happy Place has a way of examining the mundane parts of life, while shining a light on how monumental the little things really are. She reminds us that there is something profound in the trivialities of the every day.

As corny as it is to say, Happy Place left a happiness in my heart. It's definitely a story I'll be returning to over the years, especially when I need something to put me in a good mood.

Pain I tell you, absolute PAIN.

Listen, I know what you’re thinking, 3 stars? How is that possible? Well let me tell you.

It’s not that this is a bad book. In fact I know lots of people will love it, but I am not one of those people.

This is not a romance. Not a romantic comedy. Not a happy book (don’t let the title or cover fool you). This is a sad, depressing book. Even the humour in this book is self deprecating and used to cover the pain. It’s a book about grief and friendships. It’s a book where the characters cry and weep and you can’t help but join them while also wanting hold and rock them. I literally cried a billion times because of how sad it was.

My biggest issues is the amount of miscommunication that happens. All of everyone’s problems could have be solved if they just were honest and talked to each other. Everyone was hiding things. It made it hard for me to connect with the characters and root for them (except Harriet). The reason for the breakup wasn’t believable, and the fact even after everything went on they didn’t talk about or explain why it happened (until 80%).

There’s a lot of funny banter filled moments (even if it’s to cover the pain) and the characters were beyond realistic and messy which was refreshing to see. I did like the side characters a lot, and honestly I would’ve wanted to see a book about them. The epilogue was also one of Emily’s best lol and made me feel happy. Emily’s writing captured me from the very beginning and made me stick around till the end. Overall, it’s not a bad book, but it won’t be one I re read or buy a physical copy of.

Fans of People We Meet On Vacation will absolutely love this. This might have been a miss for me, but I’ll still read anything Emily writes.

Thank you so much Berkley Publishing & Romance for this ARC. There are no words to describe how thankful I am that I was given this ARC🫶🏼

𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇. 

It pains me to give bad reviews, especially to authors that I adore so I’ll keep the bashing to a minimum. This wasn’t the book for me.  
 
Harriet and Wyn have been together since college. They started off as roommates and became something so much more to each other. But after years of being engaged and pushing off the wedding, Wyn’s dad passing away suddenly and moving back home to take care of his mother, and Harriet struggling in her surgical residency, they’re unhappy and call it quits. They broke up five months ago and still haven’t told their best friends. So when it’s time for the friend group’s yearly getaway to Maine they lie to protect the group. And not only are they lying to their friends. but they’re lying to each other about how desperately they still want each other. To make matters even worse they find out this is the last week they’ll all have together in there favorite place, because the cottage is being sold. Over the course of the week they struggle with their feelings and fears and come to realize that they aren’t the only ones struggling and keeping secrets.  
 
Honestly there was very little that I enjoyed about it. Most of it stems from disliking Harriet. (💭 dual POVs would have helped). I thought she was spineless and whiny. She’s 100% to blame for the whole situation. I found the beginning of Wyn and Harriet’s relationship to be lackluster. It’s odd to say but it only got better when they were fighting. And I was really hoping the female friendship was going to be the saving grace of the story, but there was very little moments of the three of them just being together and talking…honestly. It felt more like they were growing apart which is just depressing to read about. But hey these are just MY opinion. There are some beautiful and profound moments about family, friendship, work, happiness, and self worth, that might speak to YOU. I’ll end it on this thought: is your happy place about a physical place or more about the people you’re with?  
 
Read if you like: 
- Fake dating an ex 
- Friends from college  
- One bed  
- Second chance  
- Past and present timelines  
- Sad and emo  
- Summer cottage vibes

Harriet and Wyn, Wyn and Harriet. You can’t have one without the other. That is, until they suddenly call it quits. Now it’s been six months and they still haven’t told their friends. When the friends decide to get together for one last time at the Maine cottage before it’s sold, Harriet and Wyn dutifully play their role of the happily engaged couple. How hard can it be to pretend you don’t desperately want the one person who knows you better than anyone?

This was my second Emily Henry book and WOW WOW WOW I don’t know how anything could possibly top this book! I mean first off, can we talk about this setting? Buying my plane ticket to Maine because y’all the vibes were everything 😍 Now I’ve got a craving for lobster and blueberry ice cream! The setting alone makes it the perfect summer read. But let’s get into the romance! Wyn and Harriet are officially at the top of my list of all time favorite book couples. So many good tropes in this one! Second chance romance, fake dating, forced proximity, and only one bed 👀 I loved how the book was told from the past and present so we could see how Wyn and Harriet meet and also find their way back to each other. And what a fantastic cast of side characters! Found family always has a special place in my heart. Thank you so much to @berkleyromance, @emilyhenrywrites, and @netgalley for my gifted e-arc!

Where do I begin when it comes to Wyn and Harriet? ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
They were two very complex characters; their romance something you really only find in the movies. I think what I enjoyed most about their story was how we got to see just how much they each cared for and loved one another - to the point of sacrificing their own needs for each other. The overwhelming love Wyn and Harriet feel for each other is ultimately what pulls them apart - but maybe it's also what they need to come back together.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Wyn and Harriet as characters really intrigued me; I was invested in their individual motivations for their actions, while also intrigued by how well they worked together as a pair.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
The huge lack of communication between Harriet and Wyn obviously grated my nerves quite a lot while reading, but I understand why it was important for the plot. I just- ugh, I hate it.
⁣⁣
Also, I think one of the best parts of this novel is the friend group. Each side character has their own unique personality and so much depth to them, and I just really grew to love every single one of them. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
All in all, another incredible story from Emily Henry! Every single time, she’s gonna knock it right out of the park.

Emily Henry’s books are magical. I have the best time reading everything she writes. It’s so easy to let the world fall away and feel like I’m physically in the stories she tells. I imagine myself being friends with the characters and miss them when the book ends.

Who doesn’t love a good lovers turned enemies turned lovers again trope?! Add in the fake engagement/dating, one bed scenes, and hiding your feelings for each other tropes and man alive was this one good!!

One of my favorites things is when a story has flash backs of a couples relationship when they are no longer together in the current timeline. I just soak it up and can’t get enough. Harriet and Wyn were so dang adorable and I wanted the world for them. I also really want to be in their friend group because the love they all had for each other was strong. Even if time had made it seem otherwise.

This one felt a little different than Henry’s other novels, but in a wonderful way. It’s my favorite of hers now.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the arc in exchange for my honest review. And thank you to @librofm for the audio for when I was driving and couldn’t pick up my kindle 😍

Emily Henry has been crowned the queen of the contemporary romantic comedy or feel good romance over the last couple of years and for good reason. Happy Place is the happy romance feel good that you think you wanted, with the brightest cover to boot. Go look cool reading it at the pool.

Emily Henry captured our hearts with 2020’s Beach Read, and she’s dominated the New York Times Best Seller list ever since with People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers. Now, she’s back with her fourth adult romance, Happy Place, and it may just be her best one yet.

For the eight years since Harriet and Wyn met in college, they have been the perfect couple. At least, that’s what their friends think. Because even though it’s been six months since Harriet and Wyn broke off their engagement, they still haven’t told anyone. And now, on their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends, their secret must be kept. Because with the cottage for sale and an unexpected wedding to plan, they can’t let their friends down. After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week, anyway?

If that premise isn’t enough to convince you, here are all of the reasons why you need to read Happy Place:


The Escapist Setting

Picture it. Summer in Maine, where the mornings call for a sweatshirt and the days are warm enough for a dip in the Atlantic. A week off from work, free of your responsibilities. A cottage on the coast, complete with a pool, an outdoor shower, and a well-stocked wine cellar. A quaint downtown, housing a bookstore called Murder, She Read and a movie theater with only two screens. Locals and tourists all out for the annual Lobster Fest. And most importantly, all of your favorite people right there with you.

Can you see it? That’s Harriet’s happy place. And when you dive into the pages of Emily Henry’s latest, it will become yours, too.


The Ride or Die Friendships

Romance novels are sometimes criticized for having isolated main characters. But you don’t have to worry about that criticism here. Because Happy Place is about the love between friends just as much as it is about the love between romantic partners.

Harriet, Sabrina, and Cleo have been best friends ever since they were matched as roommates their freshman year of college. The three credit the housing committee for bringing them together because on paper, they make no sense. Harriet, used to her parents' tense conversations about not being able to make ends meet, is well on her way to being a doctor. Sabrina has turned her feelings about the fact that her father is on his sixth wife into a successful career as a divorce attorney. Raised by a music producer and an essayist, Cleo majored in art and now runs a successful farm in upstate New York. But despite their differences, one thing has always been true: they have each other’s backs, no matter what.

And that fact has remained true as the group has expanded. First, with party boy Parth, who becomes as successful as a lawyer as his eventual girlfriend, Sabrina. Then, with Wyn, the laid-back charmer. And finally, with Kimmy, the opposite of homebody Cleo in many ways but an equal partner in their life and business. They know they’re an odd group, but they also know they’re the kind of friends who have become each other’s family.


The Expected Tropes—In Unexpected Ways

One of the things that I love the most about Emily Henry’s novels is that I can always find my favorite tropes in them, but I can also always count on her to deliver them in unexpected ways. In Happy Place, we get a second chance romance. But instead of two people reconnecting after not seeing each other for years, we get two people who broke off an engagement so recently that they haven’t even told their friends and family about it yet.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a traditional second chance romance, and Emily Henry still gives us those butterflies-in-our-stomachs, head-over-heels, young-and-in-love feelings by taking us back to when Harriet and Wyn first meet in college. But she also gives us the fresh heartbreak and raw emotions of two people whose relationship ended so recently.

Which brings me to the second trope in Happy Place: forced proximity. We see this trope paired most frequently with enemies-to-lovers. But Harriet and Wyn don’t hate each other. In fact, they’re doing everything they can to ignore how desperately they still want each other. Which makes the best mini-trope, there’s only one bed, all the more exciting.


The Romance, Of Course

Emily Henry’s novels wouldn’t be rom-coms without the romance, of course. And the romance between Harriet and Wyn is one that will have you swooning. There’s the banter in their first conversation, heightened by the fact that Wyn has seen a nude painting of Harriet (done by Cleo, of course). There’s the deepening of their relationship, from something mostly physical they hide from their friends to an emotional connection they couldn’t possibly keep a secret. There’s the challenges of building a life with someone, moving from job to job and city to city. There’s the sexual tension of wine cellars and favorite t-shirts and outdoor showers.

And through it all, there are two people with their own goals and wounds and dreams who must answer one question: are they better together or are they better apart? As you learn more about Harriet’s fears and Wyn’s insecurities, it’s no secret which outcome you’ll be rooting for.


Final Thoughts

You can trust me on this one: no matter how large your TBR list is, Happy Place by Emily Henry needs to be on it. Why? Because I have an overflowing TBR list of my own, and I love it so much I’ve already read it twice.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Emily Henry and Julia Whelan are an author/ narrator combination that I really enjoy. Happy Place gives us a long term couple where each loves the other, maybe more than themself. There is also the insecurity of not being enough for the other person. These feelings are based on both family and personal history. We get some flashbacks to their college days which show how they all became friends, started their yearly getaway and how Harriet and Wyn get together.

Harriet has always been an excellent student and planned to go to medical school. Her parents are not happy in their marriage, having married when they got pregnant with her older sister. The older sister has always been a problem, rebelling and going against her parents wishes. Harriet, on the other hand, has tried so hard to be good to make things easier for her parents who work hard to make sure the two girls have everything, especially things they didn't get to have. Harriet also developed the habit of cleaning to help her parents.

Wyn has a lovely family who support him and his siblings in their choices. Wyn is not a good student and had difficulties in high school and college. His talents lie in other areas than academic. But poor academics make him feel like he is not good enough.

Harriet became life-long best friends with her diverse and talented roommates from college. Parth and Wyn are also part of their friend group and apartment sharing friends from college. Every summer the friends go to a vacation home in Maine which is Harriet's happy place. Now it's going to be sold so this is the last year. Wyn and Harriet broke up six months ago and haven't told any of the others. So they both end up on the holiday.

There is SO much happening here with emotional situations for all of them. The vacation finds them learning their truths and savoring their deep connections. All the friends end up finding support for their changes to take them into the future. I felt this emotional journey.

For the last ten years, since they met in college, Harriet and Wyn have been a couple, but just recently Wyn unexpectedly called off their engagement. Neither found the right time to tell their group of friends, and now they are in Maine for their yearly vacation with besties Sabrina, Cleo, Parth, and Kimmy. After Sabrina announces her father is selling the cottage—their happy place—they decide to keep their breakup secret so they don’t ruin their final—tenth(!)—trip for everyone else.

Maintaining the pretense weighs on them both. As they try to match the affection and closeness of years past, they realize they still have feelings for each other, but even the love they feel for each other isn’t enough to repair the problems in their relationship.

Harriet and Wyn both have trouble articulating their needs, and they must learn how to identify and voice their desires. Harriet, who is extremely conflict-avoidant, also has to learn how to fight in a healthy way, even though she’d rather clean and ignore discord. (My grandma was known to use this avoidance strategy!)

As much as this is a story about Harriet and Wyn, it’s also about the entire group of friends and how they are changing and perhaps growing apart over time as their interests diverge.

HAPPY PLACE is full of Henry’s trademark banter, with a dash of steam, and a winning setting on the Maine coast. The book has an accurate representation of grief and depression, but I felt that the prevalence of patterns developed during childhood was even more spot-on. I liked this almost as much as BEACH READ which is my favorite Emily Henry, and was very satisfied by the ending though I shed some tears before the book was over.

If it doesn't yet exist, there should be a literary review on the importance of place and setting in Emily Henry novels. Maybe I should write it??

Happy Place is Harriet and Wyn's story of a lasting college romance that takes the couple from Vermont to New York to San Francisco to Montana and the hated Midwest where no one ever seems to be happy. But we start in Maine, where a college friend's family vacation house has been a place of bliss for a decade. Wyn and Harry reconnect after a hasty breakup after Wyn's father passed away. But no one knows of their split... because who are they without each other? Does their split alter their friend group? Do they find their way back to the people they were?

This is a story of adulthood - how humans form connections at pivotal points in our lives, but it takes work to keep the solid bonds. I love the book and wish all the characters were as developed as Harriet because this has a lot of potential for other stories. It has enough depth to warrant re-reads, but enough fun to make it a beach read. And it is a touchstone, serving to remind us of our origins, but also consider that maybe what we thought we wanted isn't what we are meant to be.

Wyn and Harriet had the perfect relationship according to their friend group. However, even though the two love each other, they realize they can’t make it work. They decide to go their separate ways, and Harriet is prepared to tell her friends while on vacation to one of their favorite places. She puts a pause on revealing the secret when she discovers that their Happy Place doesn’t have the heart to tell them that they broke up. She agrees to keep the secret a bit longer and pretend they are still happy one last time.

I read this book with such anticipation and emotion. Ms. Henry may be an absolute master at the craft of drawing out the feels. The story alternates between the present and the past, reflecting the beginning of Harriet and Wyn’s long relationship.

This may not read like a traditional romance story which makes it perfect. I don’t know how to describe Ms. Henry’s style, but she takes you on a journey to get to that romantic, sweet spot. While I am a romantic at heart, I enjoyed the flashbacks most because I got to see the friendship between Harriet and her girls through the years. Happy Place is not just about romance it is about friendship, growth, and so much more.

Harriet is such a people pleaser, and she doesn’t realize how much she gives to everyone else. It is so easy to see how she got lost and couldn’t find her way in her relationship. Then there is Wyn. How delicious this character is! He has so much depth and richness to him.

I loved this book so much that I look forward to getting my hands on the audiobook. I wonder if the impact would be the same. The feels of Wyn and Harriet in love just to break up and find it all over again. This romance is such a wild rollercoaster, and I’m glad I got to enjoy the ride. As usual, I love Emily Henry’s books, and this one is no different. This is definitely another winner in my book and holds a special place in the rankings amongst her books.

~ Samantha