I think I say this every time, but this is Emily Henry’s best book yet! I squealed with excitement seeing I’d been approved for an advance eARC of of this, and I then devoured it in one day. I hated having to put it down for even a second.

Emily Henry’s writing feels like being enveloped in a warm hug. I wish I could be as witty and smart as the characters in this book; and that I could’ve been part of their trips to Maine.

Within the book we get flashbacks, we have a one bed situation, we have friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, reverse grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, found family and so many more tropes that make my heart sing.

But we also get storylines that make your heart just ache. There’s mental health representation, childhood trauma and the tumultuous pains of growing up.

This is one of those books you’ll remember and think back to long after reading. It’s sweet, with a touch of spice and whole big-gulp size amount of love.

Thank you Penguin Random House for the ARC - you’ve made my month!

Emily Henry never misses. At this point I honestly think I would read her shopping lists if someone published them. Happy Place is another triumph, with authentically drawn characters and heartwrenching entanglements that keep you hooked into the story and rooting for everyone throughout. I loved that this book tackled the subject of a couple being tied to different places and being kept apart, which I think increasingly is something people aged around thirty struggle with when trying to balance a relationship with working on a career, supporting family members and still trying to have a social life. I also thought it was great that the book showed a semi-estranged sibling/sister relationship as that is very rarely seen in fiction without there being some enormous fight or event which distanced them. In Happy Place, the sisters not being close is just a fact of life, it happens sometimes. The only downside to reading this book is that now I'm finished I have to wait ages for the next one! Sparkling with romance, humour and friendship - I loved it.

I'm not a big romance reader, and yet Emily Henry is one of my auto-buy authors, cuz I know I can count on her for brilliant banter, loveable characters, and a happy but not saccharine ending. And she's only gone and done it again.

Happy Place gives you all the goods you expect from Emily Henry, and yet there's something different about this book. It feels more tender, more introspective than her previous books. Harriet is a different type of heroine, and a highly relatable one at that. She's not plucky like Poppy or January, or brash like Nora. Harriet is a gentle soul who does whatever she can to avoid conflict and keep the peace – often to her own detriment. The poignant backstory about her family and her craving for love makes her a softer character than Henry's earlier heroines.

But lest you go thinking this is a serious book – it's not. That delicious banter and wit we love about Emily Henry's writing are there in abundance. And the characters are so beautifully crafted that you fall in love with each and every one of them, even when they're being annoying.

Let me wrap this up by saying that, as a rule, I never give a book 5 stars until I read it a second time and still love it. (Weird, I know, but that's my system.) But, I'm breaking my rule and giving this 5 stars. Do yourself a favour and go pre-order your copy now.

Eternal devotion and gratitude to the wonderful people at Penguin and NetGalley for blessing me with this ARC.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Penguin for approving me for an ARC of this book. I am a huge Emily Henry fan and couldn’t believe my luck when I got a widget of this one!

What can I say about this book? It is fantastic! I inhaled this over the course of a weekend and had I not had to parent or do adult things I probably would have read it in a day. Emily Henry is one of my go to authors and she never seems to disappoint me.

From the start I could see that this was going to be amusing. Can you imagine having to spend a week with your ex fiancée and trying to convince your friends that nothing is wrong? It’s surely going to be a disaster! Whilst Harriet and Wyn started off with the best of intentions they soon started to find ways to trip the other one up, without giving anything away. Whether it’s grinding with each other on the dance floor or teasing these two seem to be experts at putting on a show. Or is it a show?

They skate around the reason they broke up in the first place and we do eventually get there but leading up to it you can’t understand why these two are not together. The chemistry is on point and they clearly have a lot of history so naturally I am egging them on to put things right.

Throughout the story we learn all about Harriet’s happy places. Theses are memories she has, mainly consisting of her and Wyn, that help her remember the times in her life when things were good. I think we could all do with those kind of memories and it made me think about those times I’ve had with friends and family that bring a smile to my face.

Whilst we have the steamy, will they won’t they romance going on we also have the glorious friendship between Harriet, Sabrina and Cleo. These beautiful women found each other and have been the life support each other needed. I can understand why Harriet was resistant to say anything to her two friends and why her break up with Wyn was a discussion she wanted to have in person. Sabrina and Cleo could not be more different from each other but they are the perfect pairing with Harriet. She’s the rock that keeps them all together and seeing how their friendships had changed through the years was not only expected but believable.

Emily Henry’s writing is honest. She takes relationships and dissects them to their fullest, giving us characters that we can recognise ourselves in, relationships we want to see put back on track and friendships to warm our souls. Her characters are not perfect, they have flaws and they make choices we can’t understand but that it what makes her books perfect.

This book was given to me as an eARC by the publisher

Warning: this book is for all the people pleasing middle children out there who alway tried to be the glue of the family. So if that is you then what are you waiting for? Go and preorder right now.


I don’t know where to start. This is the second book I’ve read by Emily Henry and I just truly love it. Not in the way that it was exiting and adventures but in that that it was warm, healing.

Harriet was such a nuanced character. She was deep but not Boeing and she was realistic in the best way possible. I related to her character so so much and it felt healing seeing her grow and learn.

At the same time I loved all the other characters. I loved their friendships and how they all learned and grew together.

I don’t really know if it counts as a spoiler but anyway.
<spoiler> The love that Wyn and Harriet had for each other was so beautiful. And they had me waiting until the last moment to see if they would let each other go or if they would end up together. And for The first time I didn’t mind if they didn’t because they truly loved each other and wished the other happiness. But at the end, thank God that they did end up together. </spoiler>

All the deep and emotional development did not make it boring or take away from the fact that this book was also fun, lighthearted and at the same time angsty. The tension and angst was ✨chefs kiss✨ and I loved every moment of it.

Happy place has definitely become one of my favourites.

I was so incredibly lucky enough to receive an early copy of Emily Henry's next novel being published next year. Needless to say, my TBR got thrown aside and I jumped straight into it!

I went into this book thinking it would be a light-hearted romance, which at times it is, but boy this one hurt my heart.

We follow Harriet as she visits her friends beach house for the final time before it's sold. A time for reminiscing and a much needed catch up with her best friends, takes a turn when her ex-fiance, Wyn, arrives for the same reason.

Harriet and Wyn are yet to tell their friends they have separated, so begins a week of faking it - but are they, indeed, faking it?

I loved back tracking to the beginning of Harriet and Wyn's story, and learning what eventually broke their relationship. Their connection is so strong, and it's hard to believe they would end up apart. Their banter and electric energy is written so well, Emily Henry knows how to make you connect to a character.

I loved the present day storyline just as much. The pain in Harriet's heart feels so real, my own heart was feeling heavy as I followed her impossible situation. That feeling of knowing 'goodbye' was coming, yet I really didn't know how it was going to end. When it did, it was exactly what I had hoped for.

Another book by Emily Henry I will definitely be recommending. I can't wait for you all to read it 💗💗💗

Harriet works hard to make everyone happy and for life to be as perfect as she can manage it. Pleasing her parents, pleasing her fiancé and pleasing her friends. Her own happy place is a house by the sea owned by her best friend's family where she and her friends have been going every summer for a decade. It's the place she dreams of when she isn't so happy. This year things are different. Her friends Sabrina and Parth drop a bombshell when she arrives at the cottage and then Wyn, her fiancé arrives, which should be perfect except that Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago, but haven't told the others. Now they must spend a week sharing a room in the perfect place in the least perfect situation Harriet can think of.

This seems a little darker and more serious than Henry's other books. It still has a huge, feel good factor and obviously buckets of charm and romance, but there is less light relief here than normal. I think this is a good thing. Henry is very clever at delivering what looks to be light and fluffy, but actually has some serious points to make. She is a talented writer and this has depth and timbre that I really enjoyed.

"I will always love you. That's the point, Harriet. It's the only thing that's ever come naturally to me. The thing I don't have to work at. I loved you all the way across the f***ing country and at my darkest, on my worst days, I still love you more than I've ever loved anything else."

The vibes:
- Second chance with past flashbacks
- Fake engaged (like fake dating with a twist)
- Set over one summer week in Maine (you'll feel like you're there with them ❤️).
- Found family trope (the group of friends was an integral part of the story).
- A slow burn with a lot of tension
- Emily's magical writing ✨
- Finding your happy place & finding the same everlasting love in every universe.

Happy Place follows Harriet, a surgical resident who's back in her favourite place with her favourite people for one week this summer. The catch is that she has to pretend to still be engaged to her ex, Wyn, as none of their friends knows they broke up a few months earlier.

So, I lived for the past flashbacks. They really help you learn and understand their history and also allow you to truly feel their connection and chemistry. I felt like I got to know Wyn even though the book was told entirely from Harriet's perspective.

Wyn and Harriet were soulmates, it's as simple as that. "He's become my best friend, the way the others did, bit by bit, sand passing through an hourglass... When suddenly more of my heart belongs to him than doesn't and I know I'll never get a single grain back."

The flashbacks also give readers context about Harriet's complicated family dynamics and how that feeling of not being good enough led to the end of their relationship. In their own ways, they both felt like they weren't good enough for each other. But ultimately, they were perfect for each other and through Wyn, Harriet finally found her happy place. I really enjoyed her character growth and seeing her realise what she wanted in life and love.

"I can't bring myself to say it, to admit that the rest of my life, everything I've worked for, has started to feel like set dressing. Like loving him is the only essential and everything else is the garnish."

Do you want to know what else I loved? Emily's writing = pure magic! The found family trope and the amazing group of friends! The Maine setting makes me want to move there next summer!

I'm calling it now: this will be the book of summer 2023 and I will be eternally grateful to Penguin Books UK and the author for allowing me to read an early copy.

I wish I could just write 'this book was EVERYTHING'.

Honestly though, I could not put it down. I stayed up until 1am so I could read it in a day and then I ended up laying in bed sobbing towards the end.

Harriet and Wyn are exes, forced into an impossible situation when an annual trip with friends turns into a nightmare.... because no one knows they've broken up. The book is told from various different points in time, from when Harriet and Wyn met, to later in their relationship and also to the trip they are on.

I loved getting to know all of the characters, and not just Harriet and Wyn. They all really add something to the story, fleshing out what's around the broken relationship.

There was SO much tension and sexual chemistry between Harriet and Wyn and I could not get enough of it. It's funny, tense and so incredible hot, all at the same time.

Happy Place needs to be on your pre-order list!

A love story that will be deeply and uniquely personal to each reader, instigating an interesting and timely debate about escapism, happiness, and what it means to live our best lives.

In just a few years, Emily Henry has become one of the most influential romance writers we have ever seen. Her success has a lot of factors, one of them being, of course, her superb writing skills. But, her books always have that something extra. What makes them stand out is usually a combination of relatability, a complex cast of characters and/or locations that bring her story to life, and a promise of well-developed storylines.

Happy place is her debut in a trope that can be very tricky - a second-chance romance. The beauty of this trope is that it is not about a couple falling in love, but rediscovering a love that was lost. It’s usually complicated and messy and full of angst and longing.

And the romance is indeed spectacular. We meet Harriet and Wyn, and are taken on a journey that crisscrosses from their first meeting to their first years of dating, then living together and getting engaged, to the ultimate fallout of their relationship. All while moving backward and forward to the present time, where they share a bedroom together in a friend’s cottage and pretend to still be together.

And although this is very much their story, it also about growing up, about understanding that dreams change, that plans are interchangeable, that you can grow apart from people you love, that it’s difficult to live up to expectations, that is painful to find yourself and to please people as you understand more and more about yourself.

Happy place is raw. A book millennials will definitely see themselves in, but that can also reach across generations, tugging at a space we all carry in our hearts.

To summarize, if you are a romance fan, do not miss this book. But also, if you are a fan of refreshing, well-plotted, hilarious, and authentic stories, this will be the book for you.

Expect to see a lot more about Happy Place in the media, and making top charts on all sorts of lists.

Emily, keep at it. I can’t wait to see what you will bring into the world next.

Another stunning read from Emily Henry!! Very grateful to be sent the advance copy in time for my 4hr flight, and I smashed out most of it! I love the character development, and how unique and intricate they are - and I loved every second of the journey!

Getting this advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review made my day!
At this point in time, Emily Henry can do no wrong, I loved everything I read by her and this one is no exception.
Harriet and Wynn broke up 6 months ago, but they haven't told anyone, especially not their closest friends. And now, they don't want to ruin their annual vacation with their best friends, so they decide to pretend they're still together.
There are unspoken truths between them and feelings they are trying to ignore.
I loved the friends relationships and the found family aspect of this story. I wished I was among this group of people, soaking up the coastal air.
I appreciated both Harriet and Wynn's individual journey to find their own internal happiness and their journey as a couple.
This story made me emotional, it made me laugh and cry, it made me happy. I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for reaching out and offering me this advance copy. They clearly knew from my previous reviews that I have loved all of Emily Henry’s previous books. So when that email popped up in my mailbox, I hit the download link straight away & couldn’t wait to get stuck in!
Harriet & Wyn split up 5 months ago but haven’t had the guts to tell their friendship group in fear that it will change everything. So when they both get invited for one last trip in the groups sacred Happy Place, they are to keep up appearances for their friends until the end of the week - not without a few ground rules of course.
Ex-lovers, one bedroom & one week of fake romance had me expecting the usual steamy scenes were used to, however I am extremely sad to say I did not get what I was expecting. And having read a lot of the comments on Goodreads of peoples anticipation for this book next year, I’m sad to say I think many will be disappointed.
That’s not to say it’s not a good book, it was a lovely story and you really feel for Harriet and Wyn as they so do love each other but are in very different places (literally), however you’re still rooting for them the whole time. The characters each have their own personalities & all have their roles in their little friendship group.
It’s just this is a very different book to Emily’s previous and I feel a lot of fans are going to be missing the flirty, steamy, teasing chapters were used to.
🌟🌟🌟

In Emily Henry's upcoming novel we follow ex fiancés who have yet to tell their mutual friendship group that they have broken up so when stuck together for a friend's holiday, they decide to keep up the ruse that they are still together. This book also explores long terms friendships and the consequences of growing up or growing apart. As is common in Henry's books, there is also a family element.

This is the second of Henry's books to make me tear up while reading. While there was at least one trope that was not my favourite, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience overall and it had enough of an emotional impact on me by the end that I guess I still kinda loved it.

first of all I AM SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE READ THIS EARLY. THANK YOU TO EMILY HENRY + TEAM AT PENGUIN FOR THIS.

i am going to be bold and argue that this is emily henry's best book to DATE. it was absolutely stunning and i literally did not put it down from the moment i started reading it. the characters were so insanely well written, and so VIVID? harriet was so relatable and loveable that i cried for her so many times. i just wanted to reach through the book and give her a massive hug because so much of what she was going through and how she coped with the things in her life were exactly the same for me. her relationship with her friends warmed my heart so much and literally made me YEARN for a group of friends who love and support each other like this. massive shout out to sabrina for being an absolute icon, i was so obsessed with her.

WYN!!! WYNNNN !!! ): WYN <3. i loved wyn so much. so so much. i literally closed the book and immediately decided that yes, he is what i want. i have never read such a sensitive, beautiful, GENTLE man in all my life i literally weeped for him. and HIM AND HARRIET. THE DEFINITION OF SOULMATES. from the moment they were in the room together i immediately needed them to be together. like the YEARNING WAS INSANE. i would get emotional from the love i could feel that they had for each other. and namely in the little things. and that is testament to what an absolutely fantastic writer emily henry is. nobody writes romance like she does. the way her books make you feel is unlike anything i can explain.

the themes of friendship and growth within friendship was done so well, and in such a way that felt so relatable to someone coming out of university and feeling uncertain on how to maintain relationships. i thought a really fantastically done part were the conversations around conflict and how our family really teaches us how to deal with arguments (i admit, i am a harriet when it comes to this. and i need a wyn in my life like her). the found family dynamic of this book was gorgeous and i didn't expect to love absolutely everyone, and root for them all too.

i really thought book lovers was going to be my favourite romance book of this year, but no. it is this. by a mile. i love it so much and it's for sure a book i know i will come back to again and again. there were so many hard hitting quotes that i literally gasped at reading. emily henry you are wonderful. and this book is perfect.

I was so excited when I saw an email to let me know this book was available for me to read and review. This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and I am so happy to have the opportunity to read an early copy. I have loved all of Emily Henry's books and this one is no exception. There is just something so magical and captivating about Emily Henry's writing that translates so well into contemporary fiction. The characters had great chemistry and banter which I think is always present and so well done in Emily Henrys books. I loved the extended friendship group and the found family aspect to this story as well. This book focuses on Harriet and Wyn's relationship but also excellently tackles the topic of friendship and how both platonic and romantic relationships evolve over time. There is so much love and emotion in this book and I honestly could not put it down. Emily Henry has quickly become one of my favourite authors and I cannot wait to read whatever she writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House and of course Emily Henry for giving the opportunity to read this book early.

You guys, I’m literally speechless. This was better then anything I could have expected after reading the synopsis. Harriet and Wyn dated for years and even got engaged, the perfect couple. Until they broke up. Now they’re forced to spend a week with their college friends and decided to hide the news of the breakup from them.

In my personal opinion exes are exes for a reason, you shouldn’t go back there. So I was skeptical whether this could work. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just say that the way Harriet and Wyn ended things wasn’t to ugly for a second chance to feel icky in anyway. Life as an adult can get complicated. Tbh I kind of think the familiarity and history between the two made the book even better. It’s hot, I’ll leave it at that.

I loved the dual timeline between present and past, back from the start of their romance. If you’ve read any of Henry’s other books I would say this is most similar to how People we meet on vacation is structured. Even though the contents are very different.

Aside from the romance the rest of the storylines are also really interesting. Life, friendship, communication. I really enjoyed how it all came together in the end. Everything is done with purpose.

Other things I loved, the friend group is just to fun, the vacation vibes and the message it sends. Do things that make you happy, keyword - YOU. We all know this but it’s a nice reminder. I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you so much to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I was both (over)excited and scared to be so lucky to receive an ARC for Happy Place by the beloved Emily Henry. I loved Book Lovers, which made me laugh out loud and happy and all kind of feels, so I was caught in the middle of desperately wanting a similar reading experience and wishing to be surprised and blown away by a total different novel.

Well, I can now say in all honesty to NEVER be careful for what you wish for, because I ended up having it all. Happy Place is totally different from Book Lovers but in the best sense of being different PLUS I laughed, I cried, I was happy, sad, and everything in between PLUS astonished and surprised and blown away PLUS really happy in the end.

Happy Place is a character driven second chance, angsty, slow burn and I loved every minute of it. The main characters Wyn and Harriet (‘Harry’ for friends) couldn’t make it work, despite loving each other so dearly. As the story unfolds, we get to see how they fell in love and how deeply they loved each other ever since. Still, loving each other wasn’t enough to be happy. And now they need to pretend to still be together (and happy! And engaged!) for a whole full week.

I really liked how Emily Henry took some romance tropes and turned Happy Place into a meaningful romance. I mean, the one bed trope, fake dating, forced proximity and whatnots were all there - but Emily Henry deployed them in such an unpredictable way, it made me smile all the time.

Another winner for me!

The more novels by Emily Henry I read, the more she cements her spot as my new favourite author. After loving her previous three books, I was THRILLED to be offered the chance to read Happy Place six months before it is released to the world! Life was busy this week and I was slow to start, spending nearly a week reading the first half but I have just spent my Sunday morning in bed sobbing through the last quarter! Emily has managed to write an epic story about love, friendship and most importantly, being happy. As soon as this is released, I can guarantee I will be buying this for everyone I know!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

On a dreary Sunday I sat down to read Happy Place (big thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for sending this book). I did not put it down til I'd read the very last page. Sob!

It was a bit of a challenge as the format I received has numbers on every second line and is a bit distracting, BUT it didn't deter me form getting through this wonderful book, If it's not one of the releases of the year for 2034 I don't know what will be.

I am always a little shy with things dubbed a "tikTok sensation' I have to say, as I've been bitten before and found they weren't for me, but I do think Emily Henry's books just keep getting better and better. There's a maturity of characters and emotions, that are just right I think, and Happy Place is no exception.

Across time lines spanning the past and present, Happy Place chronicles the lives of three college (and unlikely on first meeting) friends who holiday at one of the girls' summer homes periodically during their college years, and at junctures since their graduation. This time they plan to meet with their respective "others" two of whom are already a part of the group. Harriet and Wyn are the primary couple this book focuses on, and they have a predicament in that they split up months before the get-together but don't know how to break it to the friendship group. They think they have it figured out with Wyn supposedly not going to attend, but when Harriet arrives - ta da! Wyn is (apologetically) present and accounted for. So, fake togetherness abounds and makes for a potentially disastrous holiday, namely because Harriet doesn't even know why they aren't together anymore - they just aren't.

"This is killing me. Every second of every day. I feel like I'm living with a piece of me torn out, and I didn't even see it happen. I have this gaping wound, and no idea how it got there".

Happy Place isn't all about the happy. It's a powerful look a parent-child alienation, loss and grief, mental health, fertility, abandonment, and so much more. It's about families, and the ties that bind with biological families and the family you choose. It's also about life choices, and what shapes us to become the people we are.

"Want is a kind of thief. It's a door in your heart, and once you know it's there, you'll spend your life longing for whatever's behind it"

Loved it, loved it, loved it.