A Happier Life is a sweet story following two generations of a family, told from multiple POVs. The mystery element kept me hooked as Keaton tries to unravel the mysterious disappearance of her grandparents. Getting to know the grandparents through Rebecca’s chapters made me that much more invested in finding out the truth. The characters are well rounded and easy to like. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC read of this great story.

Every time I read a KWH, it just feels like a gigantic hug and this was no exception. I loved the dual timelines, the sweet coastal setting, the characters of each time period and most of all the love stories. Becks and Towns were such a beautiful representation of love and I wish they were real characters that I could meet. Down to the very last moments together, they yank on your heart and have you craving another glimpse of that purity and dedication to each other. I adored Bowen, Anderson, Salt, Keaton and the whole town crew. They were quirky and fun. It was such a sweet story and I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity to read it.

I was familiar with Kristy Woodson Harvey and found her to be quite charming, but I hadn't delved into any of her works. I'm not usually drawn to Southern authors, as their style doesn't typically resonate with me. However, I found this book to be a pleasant surprise. While it may not be the most groundbreaking read I've encountered, it was undeniably enjoyable, and I would definitely suggest it to others.

I loved this book about 2 generations of women in a family. In present day is Keaton Smith who quits her job over romantic entanglements and finding herself adrift - she agrees to help her mother and uncle by preparing their parent's beach home in North Carolina for easale. The house has been sitting empty since the owners died in a mysterious car accident in the 1970s. When Keaton enters the house she finds it trapped in time - dishes left out, papers sitting out, just as her grandparents left it. As she begins the huge task she meets the ladies of the town - women her mother's age and older who knew her grandmother Becks. She also meets the handsome single father who lives next door.

The chapters on Keaton contrast with the flashbacks to happy homemaker Becks, her grandmother. We learn about her life and reputation and what really happened when she disappeared.

This book was perfect for me - just the right blend of mystery, possible romance, history and beach location! Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it early!

When things at work take a seriously bad turn, Keaton quits. Lucky for her, her mom and uncle need someone to go and clean out and list her grandparents house down in North Carolina. She arrives a bit broken, but the mystery of her grandparents has been one her mom has always avoided discussing and Keaton quickly. Meanwhile in 1976 Becks and Townsend are planning their final summer dinner party. Becks has some secrets she doesn’t want to share, but as the summer comes to a close she knows she has to.

Ahhh can Kristy Woodson Harvey do any wrong? No. The answer is no my friends. Seriously this woman is practically perfect in every way! I loved Keaton so much, and the crew of neighbors she met when moving into her Grandparents home was beyond fabulous. This book had a little bit of everything, love, heartbreak, mystery, grief, illness, and friendship. I just adored every second of this book. It made me want to move into the neighborhood and join the crazy crew! It’s so hard to write a synopsis or review for this one because the story is so much more than a quick paragraph, but I highly recommend picking it up when it comes out June 25th!

Keaton Smith was jolted by her boyfriend who had been married to her boss and they apparently got back together without Keaton’s
knowledge and a baby was on the way. Keaton didn’t take the “happy “ news any too well and ended up quitting her job and had no where to live. After begging her brother to come stay with him her mother called and asked if she would go to Beaufort NC to clean out her grandparents house and get it ready to put on the market to sell. Growing up her grandparents were never discussed and Keaton knew they had passed away in a tragic car accident.
When she entered the town of Beaufort Keaton stepped back in time 50 years into her grandparents lives. Learning the truth about how they really died and the wonderful rich life they lived.
I can say this is an all time favorite story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery books for ARC of A Happier Life.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is truly earning the title of the queen of the east coast beach read, and her latest beachy beauty, A Happier Life, will easily solidify her spot at the top. A Happier Life brilliantly combines present day with revisiting the past through journals and letters, creating a lovely story of family love and coming to terms with grief, all set in Ms. Woodson Harvey’s gorgeous hometown, Beaufort, NC, If you're a fan of great summertime stories with engaging characters and a thoughtful storyline, you will love this book.

I first read this author last summer and fell in love with her story-telling, and particularly her use of multiple timelines and POVs. I enjoyed the premise of this book: a young woman whose life has kind of come off the rails gets roped into cleaning out an old family home that is basically a time capsule stuck in 1976. But for me, my favorite part of the story is the people in both timelines. The hunky single dad neighbor, the cute and HELPFUL kid, the group of women who descend on our FMC, Keaton, and become her best friends, and of course, Keaton's family, past and present. There's a splash of romance, some family drama, and the mysterious circumstances of Keaton's grandparent's deaths. TW: end of life themes, cancer, dementia. 4.5 stars

I enjoy Kristy Woodson Harvey's books, and I did enjoy this one. However, I found it to be unnecessarily long at over four hundred pages. I enjoyed that the chapters switched viewpoints like her books tend to do, and they left me hanging enough to continue reading. I did feel like there were too many issues among the characters that some of the problems were not resolved.

Overall, I think it is a good read, but it is not my favorite by her.

Kristy Woodson Harvey has become an author that I always anticipate reading.. I have to begin by saying, this book does not disappoint. In fact, it is now my favorite KWH book that I’ve read.

I was instantly hooked from the prologue told from the point of view from the house. Such a fresh start that left me intrigued to find out more about this family. I also loved the multigenerational stories told from alternating timelines that were perfectly woven together. The characters immediately feel like they are old friends.

“A Happier Life” is a wonderful Southern love story with a hint of mystery and a nod to the beauty of small town life. A special thanks to NetGalley, Kristy Woodson Harvey and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book hits the shelves in June and I encourage you to preorder now. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh, wow! So..I'll start this off by saying this book was emotional! Without giving anything away, I will say that my grandparents suffered from the same medical issues. So it was super emotional for me.
That being said, at the end of the day it's 2 beautiful love stories, a story about finding oneself and everlasting love. 10/10 despite the tears. I could not put it down!

The prologue of A Happier Life is from the viewpoint of a centuries old Beaufort, NC, family home which I found to be unexpected, compelling, and uniquely intriguing. That alone captured my attention and made me want to devour it in one sitting. This dual time line novel highlights the authors love of the area as well as the pain involved in learning the truth about family you never met. It is full of family secrets, relationships, love, mystery, self-awareness, understanding, and healing,

Keaton St. James Smith a young professional whose work and personal lives are in turmoil. She longs for a fresh start so when her mother asks her to ready her late grandparents family home in Beaufort for sale she agrees, expecting to make a quick trip, gather the commission her uncle promised her, and be back in NYC quickly. When she enter the front door of a home she didn't even know existed until a few days prior, Keaton feels as though she is in a 1970s time capsule as her grandparents home is exactly the way it was when they disappeared 50 years earlier!

While Keaton is making her way through her overwhelming task, she comes to know the grandparents she never met by reading their journals and meeting their friends. This also brings healing to her mother and uncle as they learn, through Keaton, the truth behind their parents mysterious disappearance.

Dare I say this is my favorite Kristy Woodson Harvey book yet? I loved the connections to Beaufort, NC and seeing the connection between different generations of women. Keaton goes to Beaufort to get her grandparents house ready to sell not knowing that the house has basically been untouched since her grandparents passed. She digs into so much family and town history and starts to feel a connection to her grandparents that she has never felt before. Her grandmother was the queen of dinner parties and Keaton reads all of her notes about how to be the perfect host and starts having her own dinner parties with the women that are her mothers age. I loved the dual timeline and getting to see Becks and Townsend's relationship and life. The romance for Keaton was a great addition and I loved the ending. I am very confident that this will be one of the best selling books this summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I love, love Kristy Woodson Harvey and this one did not disappoint. Like most dual timeline stories, I enjoyed one timeline more than the other, but I loved the multi generational story and of course the setting.

A Happier Life is Kristy Woodson Harvey’s love letter to the town of Beaufort, NC, family and friends, and old traditions presented in a dual time period novel that will warm your heart, break it, and put it back together. New Yorker, Keaton is sent to Beaufort by her mother to get her grandparents’ house ready to sell. The fact that neither her mother nor her uncle has ever indicated that their childhood home was still in the family is the first clue in a family mystery that will only get more complicated. This is book that begs to be read in one sitting as Keaton gets to know her grandmother, Becks, through the journal entries she wrote for her daughter. What happened so that neither of Beck’s children returned home after their parents died together? Kristy Woodson Harvey is a writer whose works should not be missed! I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

5 stars

I love me some Kristy Woodson Harvey! I appreciate that her books aren't cookie cutter, one size fits all. For example, The Wedding Veil was part women's fiction, part historical fiction. The Summer of Songbirds was a mix of romance and women's fiction. A Happier Life is a little bit romance, a little bit women's fiction, with a splash of mystery. Well done!

The story is told in alternating viewpoints and timelines - Keaton in the present, and her late grandmother, Becks, in the 1970s. Keaton is a modern career girl surviving on takeout. The grandmother she never met was a stereotypical Southern doctor's wife, renknowned for her impeccable hostess skills. They could not be more different, it would seem.

Becks and her husband Townsend died in a car wreck when Keaton's mom was a young woman. Their bodies were never found. Their waterfront home in Beaufort, North Carolina has sat untouched ever since - over 40 years! When Keaton needs some time to clear her head after a personal and career crisis, her mom and uncle dispatch her to finally clean out the family home and get it ready for sale.

Through journals left behind by her grandparents, Keaton gets a chance to know and admire the grandparents she never met. Is there more to their deaths than meets the eye? Along the way, she falls in love with the town, the people, and hmmm, is there a hot but grumpy single dad next door?

This story kept me guessing. I literally woke up during the night to try to fit together the puzzle pieces. (I got some of them, but not all!)

This was a delight to read. There were a few "Easter eggs" for followers of KWH's social media (Salt the dog) and readers of her recent books (Camp Rock Springs). I'm a teacher on Spring Break and this was the read for an Adirondack chair on the porch, with my dog on my lap!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

'A tender and touching novel about a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina.'

I really enjoyed the alternating POV's and past and present timelines in this. All around, a great feel-good read! I love K. Harvey!

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for this opportunity!

Kristy Woodson Harvey's books are always my favorite, and A Happier Life is no exception. After a series of life changing events, Keaton is going back to Beaufort to clean out her grandparents house so that it can be sold. While cleaning out the house, she begins to realize that her grandparents may not have died as she once thought. She finds herself a newfound family in Beaufort, but without a stable job or a place to stay once the house sells, how can she choose a happier life for herself?
Rebecca Saint James loves her life and is the perfect hostess. When she receives shocking news about her health, how will she cope with her future? This book is told from Rebecca(grandmother) and Keaton(granddaughters) points of view on a dual timeline. The way that KWH is able to pull together family history, a mystery and romance always makes for a delightful story and it was impossible to put this book down. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Happier Life is the first Kristy Woodson Harvey book that I have read, and I must admit I have mixed feelings about it. I was immediately hooked during the prologue, then almost DNF’d in the first chapter. I’m really glad I kept going though because for the most part I really liked it a lot. Here are some jumbled thoughts:

What I loved:
- Townsend and Rebecca Saint James were lovely characters. I loved their marriage.
- Rebecca’s tips at the beginning of each chapter. She was a true southern lady! I should write some of them down!
- The setting in quaint Beaufort, SC.
- The mystery of what happened to Townsend and Rebecca.
- Keaton’s relationship with her brother

What I didn’t:
- I think contemporary fiction is hard for me sometimes. I don’t like seeing things like texting and instagram in books. Modern language is also so much less elegant. It’s interesting how much more I enjoyed the past storyline in this one than the present day!
- The resolution to the mystery - sorry it would be a spoiler to elaborate.
Overall I would recommend this book, and I do hope to read some of Harvey’s others! It was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read for me.

A Happier Life releases on June 25, which is perfect timing for this seaside read. Thank you so much to Kristy Woodson Harvey and NetGalley for this eARC!

I was excited to begin reading this book by an author I really like. The characters are realistic, and they mesh together in a way that keeps the story moving. That being said, there were too many characters to remember. I had a difficult time keeping the voices straight also. The time periods, of which I am not a fan of more than one, were not problematic. Reading about Becks' life...reading about Keaton's...that part worked. The major characters, of which there were several, and the numerous minor characters kept me wondering what was going on. The fact that there is a mystery woven into the plot was intriguing. Becks and her husband...I kept trying to discern what happened to them and the red herrings kept me guessing. Keaton and her family and friends...the house...how could anyone leave a house empty for so many years? This author has written an intriguing novel with realistic characters in a setting of the past and the present. When that past meets that present, fireworks...Thanks Netgalley.