Emily Henry is one of my instant-read authors, I always enjoy her writing style, the humour and quirky, yet relatable and likable characters!

I have love/hate feelings about this book. I loved the prose and emotive and descriptive language used. Its well paced and seamlessly transitions from past to present. However the whole premise of this book is based on the flimsiest miscommunication trope and unrealistic HEA.

I loved the tension that came from the one bed/forced proximity. The chemistry between Harriet and Wynn is palpable, in a why did they break up way. I do love the hi-jinx that can come from fake dating, especially when fake-dating an ex in front of all your friends. Wynn did frustrate me as it felt like he never once fought for Harriet, even during their relationship. The entire first half of the book is them both pining after each other after Wynn pulled the plug for the smallest miscommunication and "I know bet" attitude he seems to have.

The pacing is great and you keep turning pages to find out what happens. The prose is lyrical and emotive. It makes it really easy to picture the scenes. Most of the characters oozed authenticity,

I love that there was a HEA but it felt very forced that Harriet just suddenly quits being a surgical resident to follow her pottery passion. I feel there was a less extreme compromise like becoming a GP (small towns really need those), with a pottery business on the side.

This one just didn't work for me unfortunately? I have loved many of Emily Henry's previous books, but for whatever reason I just never really felt like I clicked with either of the characters. I kept reading and hoping that it would just work in my brain at some point, but I ended up kind of not wanting to pick this one up. I DNF'd at about the halfway point, but I think this will still work for other people, and still like Emily Henry's writing style. Maybe the next one!

Every single one of Emily Henry's books I've enjoyed, this didn't reach the heights of Book Lovers but I loved it still. I always like how she balances the romance elements of her books with personal growth for her FMC's. This was a lot more emotional than I think Henry's other works have been and I am always worried about a 2nd chance romance because the miscommunication trope is often done wrong. However, in this instance, it works. Because of the characterisation of our main couple, the reasons they broke up in the first place felt understandable if misguided. This is also the case with the confrontation between the friends as well, it was a moving and honest depiction of a friend group moving from Young adulthood to full. Henry sometimes lacks in her background characters because she is so focused on developing a wonderful believable romance, however this cast of characters were truly the best she's ever created. Flawed, real and with a banter that felt like a group that had known each other for years.

I really liked this one, it is a fun twist on the romance genre as we start with the couple breaking up. I liked getting to know Harry and Wyn's relationship and I enjoyed seeing them reconnect. I'm glad that they both accepted they needed to change and grow to reboot their relationship, although I'd have also been happy with it ending with them not actually back together.
I felt that the friends were really horrible- Parth and Sabrina were really unlikable- especially with their actions at the end. And this did lower my enjoyment as I feel like we were supposed to like all the friends.

I loved the banter of this group of friends, I laughed out loud at times as well as cried at certain sections. I loved the dual timeline of the present and the happy place and felt it added depth to the characters and relationships we were seeing in the present.

Although romance is not a favourite genre Emily Henry has become an auto buy author for how much I enjoy the writing style and characters.

🩷fake dating
🩷second chance romance
🩷dual timeline

📖Harriet & Wyn were the perfect couple but they broke up six months ago and haven’t told their best friends yet. So when Wyn turns up at the groups annual getaway they have to fake being an engaged couple again!

I LOVED:

🩷Harriet- a FMC I actually like!! She had so many great one liners that had me laughing and just really enjoyed her character.

🩷I love a dual time line, finding out more about a characters past relationship is so fascinating to me, and it was so sad to see what actually tore the couple apart

🩷the second chance!!! One of my favourite tropes…we all love a rekindled romance & the angst in this was 😮‍💨

🩷but the best bit for me was the moral of this book. You have to be happy in what you are doing to be happy in your life. You can’t do something just to please others, true happiness relies on being happy within yourself 🫶🏻

This book was brilliant. I loved every minute of it. Emily Henry never fails to make me feel every emotion🥺🥰😭

It’s hard to put into words how much I adored this book. Emily Henry never fails to write a story that has you relating and understanding the characters on a personal level. I saw myself in Harriet and Wyn. This book felt like she managed to capture my inner thoughts.

It felt relatable in the best and worst ways. Happy Place makes you feel the nostalgia of remembering your glory days, the fear of growing up and growing apart from your friends, the fear of moving away, of not being enough or being too much, the struggle between choosing to live for yourself or live for the people you love, the fear of navigating new chances and feeling lost and rediscovering what you want and discovering that what you thought you wanted doesn’t fit with who you are anymore

The writing style of this book reminded me a lot of You and Me on Vacation which really made me love the story more. The flashbacks add to the backstory and history between Harriet and Wyn; every look at their history had me more obsessed with them. They are imperfectly perfect. I loved the side characters, I couldn’t pick a favorite. They were all relatable and loveable and I adored the bonds and friendships between the characters.

Read this if you like:

Fake Dating
Only One Bed
Second Chance Romance
Forced Proximity
Found Family
Dual Timelines/Flashbacks

There’s something special about an Emily Henry book! Even if you’re not a huge romance reader (like me) there’s always something to keep you invested.
In Happy Place, we’re following a second chance romance and a complex friend group. I really love how the author makes her characters human - they’re all flawed but somehow we still root for them. I don’t know that this is my favourite romance from her but I loved everything else that was happening in the book. She never disappoints, I’ll be waiting for her next release!

Read a while ago now but loved the characters and the premise. Seeing how the friends interacted with each other after so many years and how they remined friends was beautiful, even if there are a few arguments. Emily really is a master of the romance and building the tension.

Loved loved loved this latest from Emily Henry. The miscommunication and yearning between Harriet and Wyn was so tangible, it made me cringe in places. Emily Henry is a master of character development and this was perhaps her most accomplished book yet. They just keep getting better and better!

I was slightly disappointed with this book as I’m such a big fan of Emily Henry but this just fell slightly flat for me.

loved the emphasis on finding yourself throughout this book, and this was definitely shown with flashbacks etc.

This book had been sitting on my shelf for a year before I finally picked it up. I was nervous for it because I had loved Emily Henry’s previous book. It didn’t end up surpassing Book Lovers, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless.

Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple. Except, they had broken up. For six months. None of their friends knew, which was why when the group had a get-together at their Happy Place, they ended up sharing one bedroom. It was a glorious summer, and the last holiday they’d have at the cottage as it would be sold soon. If only they didn’t have to pretend to still be in love with each other!

Aww, I knew Harriet would have her heart broken just by her definition of the Happy Place. IMHO, she was placing too much expectation on her ‘perfect’ group of friends and the cottage. Her rose-tinted glasses didn’t help her facing reality and her struggles.

The plot in this one was quite predictable, and the miscommunication trope wasn’t to my taste. Luckily, my favourite thing about Emily’s writing was the dialogues - the inner monologues and the banters - which I still got in abundance in this. So I had a great experience with the book.

Honestly thought I’d already given feedback on this one!! I took a break from NetGalley and reviewing and was surprised to see this still waiting a review! (Sorry)

I did really enjoy it. The characters felt real with real adult problems which was refreshing.

The best book I have read in 2023!

I was so obcessed while reading it1 The writing is beautiful and the story brings us such an unique reflection.

I want to live inside this book, thank you.

Emily Henry does it again! Fab read as always. She always manages to create the most believable and relatable characters and I cannot wait to to read her next book.

I was hesitant going into Happy Place because of the second chance trope - it's not one I've encountered much before and I wasn't sure it was my kind of thing but I should have just trusted Emily Henry from the outset because boy oh boy did she pull it out the hat. What I love most about Henry's books is there isn't just a focus on the central romance, there is always something more and Harriet's relationships with her strong friendship circle and the found family vibes really hit home for me. As with all Henry books so far, I sat down to begin it and didn't sleep until I finished.

I have to say I was not a fan of the dual timelines - I had similar issues with People We Meet on Vacation and I was also desperately in need of a dual POV instead. It was incredibly difficult to understand Wyn's actions for the vast majority of the book, which is not actually the best position to be in with the ML (at least in my humble opinion).

So now that I've gotten my grievances off my chest, I can say that I actually really enjoyed this book, but not as a romance. I found the romance between Wyn and Harriet to be the least interesting thing about the entire thing to be honest. But the navigation of childhood upbringing, the trauma of parental mistakes and how that affects the family we create for ourselves through friends was truly beautiful and touching.

Emily Henry is an amazing writer, and the way she brought to life the very real found family we can see in this group of friends is something I truly appreciate. The only thing that would have made this book a 5-star for me is if it focused more closely on the friendship group instead of being bogged down by Wyn and Harriet's romance.

I do think that I would have been interested to delve more deeply into the relationships of the other two pairs. I think Wyn and Harriet had the most interesting relationship to use as a premise for the book - but I feel we wasted so much potential by not doing a deeper dive into the other relationships.

For those reasons it's a 3.5 star read rouned up to 4

I'm so sad, but I really didn't like this at all. Beach Read is one of my favourites, along with Book Lovers, but this didn't come anywhere near them for me. It was similar in structure as People we meet on vacation, which I also did not like, so if you like that for the structure, you may like this. The level of miscommunication/lack of communication was also way too much for me and the whole book felt very juvenile, so much about getting drunk, taking drugs etc and I didn't feel any of the relationships, either romantic or platonic. A sad two stars.

"Happy Place" by Emily Henry is an enchanting and humorous exploration of love, friendship, and the complexities of human relationships. The novel masterfully combines wit, warmth, and genuine emotion to create a captivating and heartfelt story.

Harriet and Wyn, our endearing protagonists, were once the perfect couple. They are inseparable, just like all great pairs, or so it seems. Their annual holiday with their closest friends serves as a backdrop for their bittersweet charade. Harriet and Wyn have been living a lie for six months, keeping their breakup a secret to spare their friends' feelings.

Henry's narrative unfolds with humor and heart as Harriet and Wyn pretend to be in love, all the while questioning whether they've made the right decision. The cottage, a symbol of their shared past, is up for sale, making this their last chance to be with their beloved friends in the same setting. The novel takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of emotions as they grapple with the complexities of their situation.

The story's core lies in the portrayal of friendship, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to protect the ones they love. Harriet and Wyn's dilemma is relatable, and readers can't help but become emotionally invested in their journey. The characters are richly developed, and their interactions are both humorous and heartwarming.

"Happy Place" is a testament to the power of human connection and the lengths to which we go for our loved ones. The book celebrates the art of pretending, the healing power of laughter, and the authenticity of true friendship. Emily Henry's storytelling is a delightful blend of humor and wisdom, making it an absolute page-turner.