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.

This will be a lovely, heartwarming read for many but for me I found it to be kind of boring? I think Beck's story took over and Keaton's story took a backseat to Becks. At around the 150 page mark I made a guess as to what happened to Keaton's grandparents and even though I thought it was going to be wrong, I was spot on. I don't know if that made me disappointed or not but it definitely made it anti-climactic.

I did really like Anderson and felt that he added quite a bit to the story. I also loved Salt.

This is a well written book that many readers will love and I did find it entertaining enough to finish but that is about it.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books and Kristy Woodson Harvey for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Happier Life
Kristy Woodson Harvey
Publishing: 6/25/24
5⭐️

It’s so true that the more you love a book, the harder it is to review. I do not have adequate words to express my love for KWH’s newest novel. While the Peachtree Bluff Series will always have my heart, A Happier Life is most definitely a new favorite.

I absolutely loved every single moment of this book! The writing was Harvey at her absolute best. We get the perfect mixture of family, southern charm, tender romance, history, a little mystery, and it’s all set in the most perfect, quaint seaside town.

KWH gives us an impeccable cast of well developed characters that are utterly charming and packed full of so much depth. I loved them all so much, but I think Anderson actually stole the show for me. I don’t know if I have ever adored a kid character to this extent. So much wit and humor packed into a 10 year old. I also loved Salt as a character. I smiled so hard as soon as I saw him written into this story!

I was so happily immersed into this beautiful story and cast of characters. I felt like I was right there in Beaufort sippin bubbly, trying to solve the Becks and Townsend mystery, and the very last thing I wanted to do was return to reality. It will definitely make you think about where you came from, and where you’re meant to be.

What I Loved;
✨ Beaufort, NC Setting
✨ Multigenerational Story
✨ Single Dad Rowan
✨ Anderson
✨ Salt
✨ The Dames
✨ The Dinner Parties
✨ The Journals
✨ All The Champagne Sippin
✨ Inspired by Actual Events

READ THIS BOOK! I wholeheartedly would recommend.

All the love for Gallery Books and Book Club Favorites for my gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

Can't say enough wonderful things about A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey!

A huge thanks to Gallery for sending me an advanced copy of this book. KWH is my favorite author and this was exactly what I expect from one her her books.

Wonderful characters and I love this this was her love letter to Beaufort!

I can't wait for more people to read this! Definitely add this to your must reads for Summer 2024!

Love me a good Kristy Woodson Harvey book and this one did not disappoint.

After her professional and personal life tanks, Keaton heads to Beaufort, North Carolina to help her mother put her grandparents' house (not touched since the 1970s) on the market. While there, Keaton finds herself, found family, love, and and her "happier life", surrounded by an idyllic setting and great cast of minor characters.

Positives:
mutligenerational story
multiple points of view
loved the setting and description of Beaufort, NC-KWH made me want to visit
tugs at the heartstrings
helpful locals/townspeople trope

Negatives:
The "mystery" was alwasy pretty clear cut and straightforward so not sure if it was really supposed to be a mystery for the reader at all

This will be a terrific summer beach read. I was so happy to get my hands on it early and I will highly recommend it!

Sometimes, the key to a happier life is staring you right in the eye where you least expect it; and no one learns that more quickly than the protagonist Keaton in Kristy Woodson Harvey’s sure fire next bestseller.

In Harvey’s homage to The Notebook; the novel is written in two timelines with journal entries from Keaton’s grandmother Becks; aka Rebecca Saint James, a world class home entertainer, who mysteriously died with her husband Townsend in a presumed car wreck in 1976. In present day, Keaton is down on her luck after both her personal and professional life take a tumble with unexpected news; Keaton’s mom tasks her with returning to Sunset Lane in Beaufort, NC where the home of Becks and Townsend Saint James remains just as the day they left it down to the chargers on the dinner table; to clean the home and restore it to sell. But when Keaton arrives in Beaufort to spend a summer on Sunset Lane, she quickly learns there is so much more to discover about the story of the Saint James family; and there’s a dashing young boy living across the street with his adorable single father Bowen… which provides a beautiful storyline of love and healing. What readers won’t be expecting is some truly gripping emotion that will quite frankly rip your heart in two in the novels final act; Harvey manages to throw a couple twists that even her most loyal readers won’t have seen coming.

A HAPPIER LIFE will tug at your heart strings, and I know it’s one of my go-to sayings, but you will have to break out the big Costco sized box of Kleenex; but it also will put a smile on your face many times throughout the novel, and I believe you will laugh often; because there really is nothing Kristy Woodson Harvey does better than writing conversationally just like you were an old friend at the dinner table: her gift of storytelling is one for the ages, and I hope to see everyone with A HAPPIER LIFE in there beach bags June 25th!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and its unique dual timeline approach. The narrative shifts between the present, where Keaton travels to South Carolina to clean out her grandparents' home after a breakup and leaving her job, and the past, which explores her grandmother Becks' life from meeting her husband to her final summer.

This captivating tale seamlessly blends romance, mystery, historical fiction, and family dynamics, and kept me engaged until the very end.

This is my first book by this author, but it will not be my last! She’s a gifted storyteller with a beautiful writing style.

Thank you NetGalley and Kristy Woodson Harvey for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Author Kristy Woodson Harvey takes us to her hometown Beaufort, NC through the eyes of Keaton Smith and the grandmother she never knew, Becks St. James. Keaton is at an unexpected crossroads after losing her boyfriend and job at the same time. So, when her mother needs her help in putting a family home, one Keaton didn’t even know about, on the market – Keaton jumps at the opportunity. But once there, the grandparents she never knew come to life through their possessions which have been left untouched and their personal journals. And quickly Keaton realizes, there was more to her grandparents than she’s been told.
Becks St. James was a legend in Beaufort, in her day. An invite to her weekly summer dinner parties was a coveted event. Envied for her perfect life, Becks has a secret and a challenge that no one wants to face.
With the help of the most delightful group of side characters, her handsome and sweet neighbor and his precocious son, can Keaton find healing, friendship and love?
As a huge fan of The Summer of Songbirds, Harvey once again delivers! She is such a unique storyteller. I was immersed in this story and could envision life in Beaufort as if I was there.
Available June 25, 2024, this is a must for your Summer TBR!
Thank you to Kristy Woodson Harvey for my #gifted ebook! I so much appreciate your generosity in sharing this story.

This sweet and tender novel shows a lady who is looking for a lot of things but finds a wonderful home in North Carolina. All of the characters are so easy to like and relate to in this book. This was such a feel good read and ended so happy. A must read for summer 2024.

Keaton finds herself out a job, at the exact same time her mother and uncle have decided to seek their childhood home in North Carolina. Keaton’s grandparents died in a car accident 50 years earlier, and no one has set foot in the home since. Once in the small town, Keaton finds her grandparents’ journals, which open up her mind and heart to the family she never knew.

I love KWH books! She is a newer to me author, but now it is my mission to read everything she writes. I adored the small town setting, the imposing neighbors, the mystery of what happened to Becs and Townsend, the family love & growth, and the small town romance. This book had everything I was looking for and would make a wonderful beach read! I loved the alternating then and now timelines and getting to know both Keaton and Becs throughout the story. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for an engrossing “summery” read!

I enjoyed this book. I loved how it went back and forth between the lives of Keaton and her grandparents. I thought it was romantic and funny. I had tears in my eyes at the end because of the proposal and how the mystery of her grandparents disappearance got solved. I'm grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Keaton's life in New York has been upended and when her mom and uncle ask her to go to Beaufort, NC to help fix up their family's home to sell she gladly agrees.

As I am in the process of creating my own happier life this book spoke to my soul.

Memorable quotes:
"Dearest darling, food is love. Flowers are jewels. No good party is complete without both. Come to think of it, no good life is complete without all four.

"The trick is to be who you are, eat what you like, laugh too loud, have opinions too big, from the very beginning."


This book was so phenomenal. It's Kristy's best work yet and so unlike anything I've ever read. The setting, characters and their struggles and developments were so well done.

You get dual timelines and POVs of Keaton and her amazing grandmother Becks. Becks was the true meaning of a hostess and memory creator for her family. I got such a nostalgia reading about her life and it really made me miss my grandmother.

This wasn't just a story of the two women, it was also a cozy mystery that was inspired by two true events. As the author mentions in the acknowledgements "Truth is stronger than fiction" and it's so true.

The love between Becks and Townsend was so palpable, they gave me total Noah and Allie vibes from the Notebook. Our current day love story was a beautiful slow burn that really uplifted me.

This book had such fun chapter titles which I LOVE. It reminded me that while I love reading all kinds of books the ones like this that give me all the feels and have me blubbering and wanting to hug my kindle are the best types of self-care books.

There was such powerful manifestation in this story and it's something I believe in strongly. Manifesting a visit to Beaufort, NC one day.

I have goosebumps typing this book review and I'm so happy it found its way into my life when it did.

All the stars and then some.

I need more of Becks recipes and party planning tips!!

Kristy Woodson Harvey knocked it out of the park with this book. I was hooked from the early chapters and fell in love with each and every character.

This story flashes back and forth between the grandparents of the main character and present day. As more and more connections are made, I like the characters even more. The town in the story is the one that we all dream of being a part of. Friends who are more like family.

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’ve always dreamed of having big dinners surrounded by friends. I love how this tradition brought so many together in the past and present storyline.

If this book is not made into a move or tv series, I’d be surprised! It’s so so so good!!

Kristy Woodson Harvey creates relatable characters and memorable plots. A Happier Life is historical fiction and about a woman who sells her grandparents home and in the process learns a lot about them. I loved that part of this novel was set in 1976.

This book exudes the charm of the South. Settle in with a sweet tea in hand, you're transported into a story of southern family drama and a touch of romance. I look forward to Kristy Woodson Harvey's summer reads each year! Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A Happier Life is set to be released on June 25th.

Keaton loses her job and goes to her mother’s childhood home to her it ready to sell. Her mother and uncle haven’t been to the house since their parents died 40 years ago. Keaton finds friendship, love and a sense of self while there. You will love Keaton and all the characters in this wonderful story of love and strength.

Saturdays are for staying up “late” to finish Kristy Woodson Harvey’s latest masterpiece!
A huge shoutout to NetGalley for the ARC of one of my favorite writers!
A Happier Life may be Kristy’s best book yet! Little ole Beaufort will be a must visit for readers after they devour this long line of family secrets.
Do yourself a favor and preorder this book RIGHT NOW.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
NetGalley #netgalleyreads #KindleUnlimited #bookstagram #beaufortnc #smalltown #bookreview

I would recommend my patrons to read this pleasant beach read. Good character and plot development. Believable characters that you will root for. Always love Kristy Woodson Harvey’s stories
5stars