I genuinely just really like the way Emily Henry writes her books. While HAPPY PLACE hasn't eclipsed either of my two favorites of her adult novels, it's still a solid read. One of the standout things about this particular one of Henry's novels is the setting (there is more than one, but there's one that is the central setting of the novel); I felt like I was really there, grounded in a sense of the place, and it honestly made me wish that I could visit. I also really enjoyed getting to know this cast of characters as well, though I didn't quite personally connect as fully with them as I'd have liked. I definitely was invested in seeing this story through to the end, though I also felt like this one immediately gave me those 'this could be a movie' vibes from the start. It was, overall, a good read (and I say this while thinking about how it made my heart swell and my eyes teary towards the end), and another solid addition to Henry's body of work.

Am I surprised I gave another Emily Henry book a 5? No, not at all. She writes these amazing characters and relationships and they are swoony & deep all at the same time.
I related to so many characters in this book. Harriet for fear of letting people down, Sabrina as the organizer and the glue that tries to hold a friendship together.
This book made me want to go to Maine to lobster fest and take a boat ride and fall in love.

Truly Emily Henry can do no wrong. Happy Place, ironically, made me cry A LOT. I fell in love with these characters and the friend group. I was rooting for Harriet and Wyn and yelling at them to just kiss already. I have never read a "second chance" romance before, but I really enjoyed it. Pulls at your heart strings and makes you think of your own past loves and second chances.

This book is all about friends, relationships, and all the messy in-between. It's the perfect Summer read for Emily Henry fans!

The thing about Emily Henry books is that I love them all, but I love them all in very different ways. This is her fourth book, and I've read all four. I've given them all 5 stars, but they are all different 5 star ratings in my head.

This is a wonderful story. For being called Happy Place it was extremely melancholy and a bit sad. I think I struggled with that a little mentally, I don't think maybe I was in a high enough high to be brought down by the mostly sad book. I think it's something to be prepared for, because the cover and the title are very deceiving with this one.

But the story was beautiful. Emily Henry is an incredibly talented writer. She is one of those authors that I will automatically read without question. The characters are real and fleshed out and the world she creates is vast.

Is this my favorite E.H. book? No. But as I said before, they are all five star reads in their own right.

This book! I loved! Happy Place is one of my favorite reads of the year. I knew it wasn't going to be good, because of this author's ability to storytelling - she takes you on a trip that makes you feel connected with the characters. And I mean all the characters, even though this book is about the main characters - Harriet and Wyn, they friends also bring this story to light!

Harriet and Wyn - there was so much love between these two and also so much miscommunication. As you know, they are broken up and just trying to make it through a trip together with their best friends, before they tell everyone. I was rooting for Harriet and Wyn from the beginning.

I am kinda disappointed by this book. It’s definitely not my favorite book from Emily Henry.

What I liked: the dual timeline set up and the friend group

What I didn’t like: the whole plot of the book was based around miscommunication. It was so frustrating at times and just took me out of the story.

It’s kinda similar to PWMOV, two timelines, they know the thing but we don’t yet, trip/vacation. It’s just a bigger cast of characters and second chance instead of friends to lovers.

Not a bad book just not what I had hoped for. Still will read her next book.

Another easy 5 stars for Emily Henry. Happy Place brings us another wonderful read from our favourite author who hit the ground running and has just kept going and going. I love her so much.

I'd like to say Happy Place was exactly what I expected but I actually expected nothing. Emily Henry is an author where I just go in completely unaware of what's to come and I have the BEST time. When I started reading this and realized it was a second-chance romance, I was hooked. I read this bad boy in like two days and I will always regret not pacing myself so it wasn't over so quickly.

Book Lovers was one of my Top 10 Reads of 2022, and while I can't say I loved Happy Place QUITE as much, it's still a fantastic book. Second chance romance is never going to be my first pick, but Emily Henry is such a great writer, I'll read anything she gives. Emily Henry knows how to hit us in the feels, and add a layer of emotional depth you don't find in a lot of romcoms. The rom is less com in this story, and a bit more melancholy and introspective. This is an author who deserves the hype.

How does each Emily Henry book become better then the last? How did I fall in love with yet another one of her main characters? I would give this 10 stars if I could. Charming, funny, and emotional - I love how it wasn’t just a love story and really focused on friendships as well. What a lovely story. I wish I could re read this for the first time again!

Another great Emily Henry novel. I basically inhaled this book, I couldn't put it down! This was as entertaining, emotional and fun as a classic RomCom. I'll likely read it again!

This is easily my favourite Emily Henry book. Not only did I relate very much to the main character Harriet, but the slow burn romance mixed with family, friendship, and all of the feels made for the perfect read.

This book is exactly what I needed right now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emily Henry hit it out of the park again. The only one of her books I didn't love was People We Meet on Vacation, but the two since then, Book Lovers and now Happy Place, have more than made up for it in my mind. I may have even liked this better than Book Lovers? I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this based on the premise - Harriet and Wyn called off their engagement months ago but haven't told their best friends - a tight knit group since college - and now they end up getting shoved together for one last week at the group's happy place - a house in Maine that their friend Sabrina's dad is about to sell. Harriet, Sabrina, and Cleo were college roommates who started going up to Maine regularly before the group expanded to include their long-term partners. I loved the dual timelines going on here - one in the past, letting us get to know Harriet without Wyn, and one in the present while they try to fake their way through a week pretending to still be together while they are both broken-hearted. I'm usually iffy on second chance romance, but there was something unique here that just made it work - maybe the fact that their friends weren't supposed to know this was a second chance? I found Harriet to be really relatable - someone who has always tried to be easy and ultimately not take up too much space or cause too much friction, and who has really lost herself in that. I was rooting for her, even when I felt like she was being a stubborn dummy, and I think that's the mark of a good romance heroine for me. Also, this almost never happens, but I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this, so it really gave me a lot of joy.

In this Emily Henry novel we have a couple that broke up but didn’t tell their friends so they end up having to go to their annual vacation and pretend they are still together. Fake dating, yes count me in, but unfortunately the novel didn’t work out for me the way it will for Emily Henry fans. The miscommunication was ok at first but it continued to worsen. No one cared to talk to each other about any feelings or anything at all. The miscommunication was between everyone! So that was one thing but the other thing that didn’t work for me was that all the characters were so immature. Unfortunately, this is just another Emily Henry book that was okay for me but will be great for people who enjoy her books, It is the same thing as her other novels.

Kindly eff off Emily Henry. This book ripped my heart out, pooped on it, and then acted like I WAS THE ONE THAT NEEDED THERAPY. I want to bleach my brain to read this again for the first time. No notes.
Let’s talk about the things that I loved.
First. The names. Harriet? Iconic. Wyn? Even more iconic. The side characters being full ass developed people? I fucking love it here. The first chapter about how college felt like home & how they would sit on the front porch when it was raining. Made me want to call my college roommates & plan a summer trip.
Now. The premise. Never has there been a better premise. Fake dating your ex fiancé bc you haven’t told anyone you broke up but they both still love each other so deeply but they think they’re hurting each other. I have literally never felt a love as deep & so believable as Wyn & Harriet. Their banter. Their deep emotional connection. I just. I know I will never read a better romance book & I am not being silly. This is it for me.
I also loved the found family of it all. It makes me yearn for plans to make it out of the group chat. Because while they all still had flaws, they loved each other & supported each other even when their families weren’t great.
Idk. The vibes on this book are off the charts. I predict this to be her best selling book. Ever. I literally could not have dreamed up a better book. I am not exaggerating when I say that I will buy every edition of this book ever made just so I can be surrounded by its words in so many ways.
No. Notes.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC! Emily Henry's latest is a fake dating, second chance romance, friendship extravaganza! We follow Harriet as she journeys across the country to Maine for a vacation in the sun with her best friends. She also plans to break the news that she and her fiancee, Wyn, have split up, except once she gets there, complications arise that keep her from confessing the truth. Not only that, she must now pretend that her feelings for Wyn are as strong as ever (and they just might be). While I found myself frustrated with Harriet and her lack of communication, I do know how hard it can be to be honest with your loved ones, and I found her relationships authentic (as well as the wide cast of characters). While I feel that the tone of Happy Place is different from Henry's literary romances more melancholic, the relationships and love story are sure to please fans.

Harriett and Wyn have loved each other it seems forever, As they finish college and Wyn moved to be with Harriett as she studies to be a surgeon their life starts off sweet but as times go by the toil of her intense hours and Wyn trying to stay afloat with somewhat mediocre jobs and dealing with several family tragedies brings Wyn to break up with her and not at all in good way. So begins this novel as the ex couple who broke up five months ago is drawn back together by their friends for one last summer excursion in Sabrina family summer home. Unbeknownst to the rest of their friends no one not even their family knows they are broken up. Both end up at the vacation home with their friends pretended to still be together. As they navigate and try not to pretend with their friends we find out backstory of both individuals of how they ended up broken up and what truly is their happy place.

Emily Henry is basically an author you can count on to write a story full of people you like and a plot you feel good about to the very end. At my library we no longer discuss it, when she has a new book, it gets ordered without question.

My favorite author knocks out of the park with a sweet romance between best friends in HAPPY PLACE. Every year a tight-knit group of friends meet at a lodge in Maine. Only this year there are some drastic changes. What happens?

Harriet and Wyn who are engaged have broken up. Their best friends haven't a clue and they intend to keep it that way. However, Wyn and Harriet are constantly thrown together. Is it fate telling them that they are perfect for each other?

Wyn and Harriet are magnetically drawn to one another, so it's not hard putting on a front for their friends. They learn that the cottage is up for sale. Where will they all meet next year?

HAPPY PLACE is a shining example of the true bonds of friendship. Ms. Henry is a master of witty quips, irresistible characters, emotional bonds and real struggles. When a group of best friends meet at their favorite cabin for a retreat, major changes are ahead. Wyn and Harriet aren't together anymore, but the rest of the group doesn't know. Also, their favorite meeting place is up for sale. Is this the end of an era? Ms. Henry's stories are charming, complex and very satisfying. This is a soul warming novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't know how people can still turn their noses up at romance as a genre when Emily Henry is sitting right there.

Happy Place emptied my cup filled it back up, and then some. Emily Henry must be a such keen observer because otherwise, I can't explain how she manages to create such real characters and settings. I loved all of her previous books - each one has something special, but Happy Place takes it to another level. You can feel yourself in Knott's Harbor and you can picture each essential piece of this friend group like you're there making s'mores with them.

This book has such a melancholy feel, but in a good way, if that means anything. It encapsulates the feeling you get when you leave summer camp - intense, and sad but completely changed in the best way. That's a poor analogy, but it's the best I've got because my head is still with Harriet and Wyn. Do yourself the biggest favor this year, and read Happy Place.