Tag line: In true Emily Henry fashion, Happy Place broke my heart and then put it back together again.

Full review to come on FreshFiction.com

Ten years after college 6 best friends find themselves at their happy place, for the last time. Sabrina’s Dad is selling his beautiful vacation home in Maine where these roomies have reconnected and reminisced year after year. Some of their most treasured memories happened on this lake and this is where Harriet and Wyn fell in love. Although they initially denied their feelings for the sake of the others, the moment Wyn picked her up at the airport every single thing changed. Now, years later the group meets up at the lake house for their last hurrah. In addition to the infamous lobster fest weekend, Parth and Sabrina announce they are getting married. Harriet and Wyn do not announce what they have hidden for the past 5 months, something no-one could have ever guessed - they have broken up. Wyn has returned to Montana to help care for his mother as Harriet continues to trudge through her grueling surgery residency in San Francisco. Once again, wishing to spare the others any discomfort they decide to wait until after the festivities to break the jarring news. Easier said than done, now that Wyn is in her midst Harriet’s heart is slowly breaking all over again. There is no way she can just be friends with the man who knows her every whim and every secret. The one who promised to love her forever. As they try in vain to “fake it til you make it”, they discover the truth about themselves and the friends they consider family. Fast paced fun, this book has a great mix of laughter, love and the challenges of long lasting friendships.

This one is unlike her other books. There’s a lot of back and forth time frames, and a lot of it is about growing up and growing apart. I was expecting more of a romcom like her other books, but this one was more serious. I rolled my eyes a lot at the ending, but I respect how she did it.

I’ll also be the first to admit that I can’t stand the second chances exes-lovers tropes. This one was well done, but it still isn’t a topic I typically want to read about. So that could affect why I didn’t absolutely love it.

I didn’t completely believe the love story, and I found myself wanting more. More of them, more of their story, and more of the current time line and a lot less of the past. The ending just didn’t work for me.

I also struggle with books about adults that blame all of their problems in life on their parents. And this book does it a TON. While I totally agree, our upbringing makes us who we are. But it doesn’t make us unchangeable and ruin every other relationship in our life because of it. Especially when there wasn’t abuse or anything in her past.

But overall, this is a great book if you don’t mind those tropes. Like always, her writing is flawless!!

Really enjoyed this! Emily always finds a way to write exactly what I need to hear in the moment, and it's why I fall even more in love with her with every new release. Harriet and Wyn had a specific conversation that made me ball my eyes out, and I always enjoy reading about friendships! Really needed this.
I will say this one was kind of different from Emily's other books, and I wanted a bittttt more than what I got. I wasn't super obsessed with the love interests, but I do appreciate their journey and how they were able to find their way back to each other. Not my favorite, unfortunately, but not a miss either!

“Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.”

I’ve really liked all Emily Henry’s books (particularly Book Lovers and A Million Junes) but this is the one that pushed me over the edge.

I’ve purchased the Season’s Pass. From this point on, I will RIDE ALL THE RIDES.

I generally don’t love miscommunication as a trope (it tends to make me want to shake people until their teeth rattle, and scream, “BRENE BROWN, FOR THE LOVE!” into their dumb faces), but this one was done so well that I’m giving it a Mulligan.

I loved the friend group. I loved the setting. I loved the dual timelines. I loved the banter. I loved the drawn out resolution.

I was a little worried, towards the end, that I wouldn’t get an entirely HEA, but, while I did well up several times with several emotions, my main one was “I LOVE LOVE.”

My only complaint (other than that it ended) was that all the friends were already paired off, so there aren’t avenues for book spin-offs.

I’d read the ish out their respective stories.

9/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this lovely ARC.

Happy Place by Emily Henry was such a happy read! I had loved her Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation but this one tops the last two reads!

Harriet is so much like me, who wants to make everyone proud and happy at the expense of living a life she doesn’t want to.

Wyn and Harriet are such an adorable couple even when they are pretending to be after their breakup. Their friendship with their best friends was a joy to experience. I wish I had such a wonderful circle of friends!

Thank you @librofm and @prhaudio for the complimentary audiobook. I am in love with narrator and the book! This most anticipated read of 2023 will be published on April 25, 2023

Happy Place by Emily Henry
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 1 chili
Pub Date: 4/25

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2023, and it did not disappoint! Happy Place is everything I want in a romance and more.

Harriet and Wyn met in college and have been inseparable ever since. Except they broke up six months ago and haven’t told anyone. Not their friends or their families. Now they’re headed to their yearly vacation spot in Maine to visit with their best friends, and because they don’t want to rock the boat, they spend the week pretending they’re still together.

For starters, I used to vacation in Maine every summer with my family, and this book brought on some serious nostalgia for me. It wasn’t a stretch at all to imagine the picturesque locations Harriet and company visited throughout the book.

The story is told in past and present format, where we become immersed in Wyn and Harriet’s present situation and then taken back to how they first met. Their attraction was immediate, and they formed a sweet bond that I swooned over. The chemistry between them is still palpable, despite the fact they’re not together anymore. The forced proximity added a marriage-in-crisis vibe, which is a trope that I always enjoy.

While this is a love story focused on Wyn and Harriet, it’s also a love letter to friendship.
Harriet, Wyn, Chloe, Sabrina, Parth, and Kim have been friends for years, but time and distance are altering their relationships, and it scares them. They’re all nostalgic for their past as they grow apart and try to find their way back to one another.

I went back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook, and I loved both formats! Julia Whelan narrates this one, and she is just so talented. I’m convinced there isn’t anything she can’t do.

I loved everything about this fast-paced contemporary romance! The banter, the conflict, the romance, and the characters all come together to make up one of my favorite reads of 2023. I laughed, I cried, and I gave myself a book hangover.

Read if you like:
*Second chance,
*Friends-to-lovers-to-exes
*Found family
*Dual timeline
*All the feels

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley, PRH Audio, and libro.fm for the gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emily Henry has knocked it out of the park with Happy Place. For clarity, I've been on the Emily Henry journey for awhile now. I loved Beach Read, felt People We Meet On Vacation was for me in a different time in my life, and Book Lovers reeled me fully back in. Happy Place is my new favorite title from Emily Henry.

To be transparent, I thought about waiting to read this novel until I was in my Happy Place in Good Hart Michigan, but the draw to know what was between the cover of this book was too strong. I am so glad I cracked it open jumped in with both feet. The story holds so much nostalgia. I felt my heart break, be put back together again, reconstructed, and ultimately, it landed somewhere in between. There is true pain within the pages of this book. There is sadness. There is also a lot of joy.

The characters all needed to be full body embraced and reminded of their value as individuals, partners, and as a group. Gah! It was such a good book. Read it. You won't regret it!

Thank you very much to @berkleyromance for providing me access to the e-book via @netgalley!!

I have read and/or listened to all of Emily Henry's books and Happy Place is the perfect kickoff to spring/summer reading!
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I really enjoyed the characters of Harriet and Wyn and their struggles as a couple and as individuals. The friend and chosen family dynamic worked so well for this storyline.
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Emily's books always put you in a great mood!

Another AMAZING story. I am a past/present junkie and this was everything. You get all the good, the bad, and the in between moments. omg the banter! It was perfect. The friend group was so much fun to read about. So much healing and discovery in this book. Emily Henry will forever be in my top 5 favorite writers. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early. I can’t wait to get my finished copy!

emily henry tends to divert from typical romcom arrangements, and this one was no different. if i’m being honest, this is probably furthest from a romcom.

this was riddled with melancholy, and dreaming of what used to be.

emily tends to write characters that i connect with, and harriet was no different. while our personalities were different, i believe that our anxieties mirrored each other.

it rivaled beach read in terms of romance. the characters felt destined to be together, and you could see their love with every word.

the cast of characters were a beautiful addition, and i hope it’s something that emily keeps up with in the future.

i do enjoy past and present books, and this one was really well written. they balanced each other out, and i didn’t feel like one lacked more than the other.

i did get a little bored toward the beginning, i find it hard to get into this authors books, but once you’re in - you’re in.

definitely recommend! hope to see this one brought to life as well.

I loved this one. Emily Henry is always a fav, but this is her best book yet. It's heartwarming, yet sad. I was expecting the HEA, but this one had my thinking maybe it wouldn't come after all, which is rare in romance books. I loved the setting and the characters, particularly the exploration of friendship and "true love" that is the focal point of the novel.

I like the friend group dynamic in this one, it's a new angle. The idea that people change over time, and with that, friendships have to evolve is something we rarely confront as adults. But maturity says that people should have realistic expectations of each other and understand that they can't fulfill every desire for friendship you have. Adult friendships have to mold around reality.
Multiple open door scenes.

I'm going to hang my head and admit that this wasn't my new FAVORITE Emily Henry book. I still really liked it, and I will return to this author as often as she wants to write books. I'll blame part of it on listening to the audiobook vs reading it in print since I can be hot and cold on Julia Whelan's narrations (sometimes she really works for me and others she just doesn't, and this one didn't hit for me). But another part of it was that it REALLY felt impossible that Harriet and Wyn were going to be able to make it work, and I just needed them to be honest and vulnerable a little earlier than they were (it's a romance, people, it's not a spoiler). What saved this for me was the tight friendship circle and found family aspect.

Y’all - the miscommunication trope was real with this one, lol! Leave it to Emily Henry to write a novel full of miscommunication but still make it endearing and pull at your heart strings. Don’t let the cheery bright cover fool you - HAPPY PLACE is an emotional, deep read that examines relationships between friends and lovers, your purpose in life, and finding who and what brings you joy; it’s about finding your happy place.

The main storyline revolves around Harriet, a promising surgical resident, and her laid-back carpenter / woodworker ex-fiance, Wyn. They join their best friends for their annual seaside Maine getaway, except there is one problem - their friends don’t know they split up. Not wanting to upset their friends, they both agree to keep up with a ruse that they are still together. However, the vacay, forces them to finally communicate and express all their feelings and fears. They both realize that they still love each other, but they could not be more opposite and are on different paths in life. Are Harriet and Wyn able to meet in the middle? Can they find a way to make it work?

There’s no doubt that Emily has a way with words; she masterfully develops her characters in a way that make them super realistic and relatable. Her writing really resonates with me and always hits me on a deeper level. Most of HAPPY PLACE takes on a serious tone, but Emily knows exactly when to inject some levity in the story to lighten the mood.

The one real lesson that I took away from this book is that, it’s ok to not know what your purpose is in life; to not have your shit together. You may have had your life mapped out, but it’s ok to take a detour. Life is too short to do something that doesn’t bring you joy.

Lastly, I have to give Emily props for bringing mental health front and center. I loved that Harriet and Wyn had a discussion about it. Mental health is so important to me and it makes me so happy when it’s included as an important topic in books. 4⭐️

Thank you to @berkleypub for the gifted book, and @prhaudio and @librofm for the complementary audiobook! HAPPY PLACE comes out on April 25!💕

I really liked this twist on fake dating. Emily Henry write wonderful characters, including her supporting characters and this book is no exception. Each character has their own distinct personality and voice. Friendship and found family play as big a role in this novel as the romance does, and it is heartwarming and thought provoking as always.

3.5 stars/rounded up! Happy Place is the newest release from Emily Henry. I’ve read her previous 3 books: Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers, so I was so excited to get an ARC of Happy Place! This story follows ex-fiancés pretending to still be together for the sake of an annual friend-vacation. But it’s also about finding what, and who, in life makes you happy.

Harriett and Wyn were together for 8 years before their engagement broke off. When they split up, they didn’t tell anyone so now it’s months later and they find themselves having to pretend to still be together for the sake of their friends. Harriett, Wyn, and their mutual friends have been coming to the same Maine cottage for vacations since college. Now the owner of the cottage (one of the friend group’s fathers) is about to sell and the friends want to have one last hurrah together! So Harriett and Wyn suck it up and pretend to be together still to enjoy this last weekend with everyone, but of course sharing the room and being around one another is leading to some unresolved feelings…

“But it doesn’t feel like I’m moving backward. It feels like the first step toward someplace new.”

This started off kind of slow for me, I wasn’t as immediately pulled in like I have been for other EH books in the past. I do think Harriett and Wyn are very typical of other couples she’s written before, so if you like her previous couples you’ll probably enjoy them as well. We do get flashbacks as well of when the friends first met, when Harriett & Wyn first met, their relationship, falling out, etc. The flashback chapters and time spent with the friends didn’t work for me, I just wanted to stay in the present day wrapped up with Harriett and Wyn only. The moments we get with them was so sweet and tender and achy, and I just wanted to stay in those and have more. The last half of the story did pull me in more, which is why I rounded up. I enjoyed Wyn a lot more than Harriett, but I did really like Harriett’s realization of what makes her happy.

Thank you to the publisher (Berkley Romance) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. Happy Place is out April 25, 2023!

I laughed, I cried, and I contemplated my entire life. Emily Henry knows exactly how to tear out my heart and put it back together again.

One week every summer in the crisp blue of Knott’s Harbor, Maine. Friendships that have stood the test of time. Lobster festivals and a familiar sticky bar, with the people they love most for one final trip to their “happy place”.

Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple. Now they’ve secretly broken their engagement and have to spend the entire week surrounded by their best friends, pretending. When they’re forced to act like things are still rosy, they also begin to question their own lives and, maybe, their futures. But change is hard. Will the changes they’ve made be enough to make them happy?

Happy Place is a poignant, moving love story about finding yourself and your happiness. We see so much character growth, from well developed side characters you can’t help but fall in love with and profound storylines that really dive into understanding grief and mental health. Henry’s sense of humor (and affinity for epic happily-ever-afters) perfectly balances these deep themes to make Happy Place an all around success. This is definitely one of my Top 5 reads for 2023, and maybe forever.

Emily Henry does not miss! Her books bring me so much joy and happiness - I love that this plot featured chosen family tropes and a second chance at true love.

This book took me on an emotional journey, as expected when reading a book from this author. The genius of her writing is how realistic she is able to portray her characters and situations. These are your friends, you are falling in love with this person, and as their heart breaks so does yours. Following the two MC's and their growth as friends to lovers, then heartbroken exes. The dual timelines worked well to heighten the emotions between what was, the loss of it, and the possibility of more. At its core this was a love story, not in the traditional romance sense, but in all types of love; family, friends, partners, and the evolution of those types of love. It was heartbreakingly beautiful and had me entranced from start to finish.

This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review.