This book is my favorite that author Kristy Woodson Harvey has written. It is set in Beaufort, NC and encompasses her love for the historic seaside town and the people who live there. Rebecca Saint James, one of the protagonists and the town’s preeminent hostess, reflects the town’s past. Her granddaughter, Keaton Smith, delightfully intermingles the past and present of her family and town. I highly recommend this book!

Oh, how I dreaded the end of this captivating book by Kristy Woodson Harvey. (We wouldn’t expect anything less from her, would we?) It’s a heartwarming tale of Keaton Smith’s life spiraling out of control. Her job, her relationship, her apartment, and her volunteering—all are falling apart. But that’s the present.

The story also takes us back to 1976, when Rebecca “Becks” Saint James was the epitome of hospitality in North Carolina. However, Becks’s life is about to take a dramatic turn.

Becks was Keaton’s grandmother, who passed away long before Keaton was born. Years ago, a mysterious event occurred that remained hidden from Keaton. When Keaton’s mother asks her to prepare her grandparents’ house for sale, it becomes a daunting task. The house has been abandoned for decades, and Keaton is hesitant to take on the responsibility.

But this might just be the opportunity Keaton needs to uncover the secrets of her grandparents’ past.

While Keaton is in North Carolina, she is thinking about what she will do next in life. Meanwhile, Becks’s story unfolds, revealing her own life and the choices she made. Despite their different paths, the two stories are connected in a way that provides answered that have long been hidden. Dreams and hope intertwine, and the circle of love and connection is complete. This wonderful story came to an even more wonderful ending.

Many thanks to Gallery Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This was a very enjoyable story. I enjoyed the authors writing style and character development. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

The way I squeal every time I read a Kristy Woodson Harvey book. Since I first read the Peachtree Bluff series a few years ago, I look forward to reading her books and savoring them for the perfect beach read each year. I just love the coastal settings, love stories, and all the summer vibes each book brings!

In A Happier Life, the story takes the reader to the historic and small coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina, which I’ve had the chance to visit before. It was so fun to get swept away into Keaton and Beck’s stories.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-multi-generational family
-small coastal town
-romance and women’s fiction
-dual timelines; present day and summer of 1976

🎧The audio performance was great, and I was delighted to find it narrated by a full cast, including Cassandra Campbell, Devon Sorvari, and Fred Saunders.

*many thanks to Gallery Books and Simon audio, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Forgot to send this review in!

This was such a good feel good summer read! This was my first book by the author but won’t be the last. Just got the cover reveal for the next book

I always count down until I can read the next KWH book and ran to read A Happier Life the second I got my hands on it.

Synopsis: After a work disaster, Keaton is in need of a fresh start. She leaves NYC behind and ends up in Beaufort, North Carolina to help put her late grandparent’s house on the market. In the past, we learn about Keaton’s grandmother Becks from her POV and the years leading up to her and her husband’s deaths.

What I loved:
- I always love multigenerational stories and the way KWH weaved together Keaton and Beck’s stories was perfect
-KWH did a great job describing the small NC town, making me feel like I was part of the historic community
-The blend of women’s fiction and romance with a tiny bit of history
-The single dad trope with Keaton’s love interest and his amazing kid!!
-All the townspeople and how they went out of their way to help Keaton while she was putting the house on the market
-The theme of finding where you belong
-How this story was full of so much depth

I love the dual timeline of this story. It was fun to switch from Keaton to Becks and back. I felt like the house was it's own character with both women having history and discovering the history of each other.

The pacing was slower and I had a hard time staying in the story. There also wasn't as much character development in this book as there typically is in Kristy's books. I did love the tribute to her hometown and seeing the cuteness and charm. I did enjoy the recipes in the book though! That was super fun!

A Happier Life by @kristywharvey is a captivating story that effortlessly pulls you in, blending the past and present in a way that keeps you hooked from start to finish. Listening to the audiobook was an incredible experience, thanks to the narrators’ amazing talent in bringing each character to life.

Harvey’s knack for describing her characters makes them feel like real people you might know. Each character is so well-crafted and relatable that you find yourself deeply invested in their lives and stories. The narrators capture these nuances perfectly, making the emotions and personalities of each character stand out.

One of the things I loved most about this book is how smoothly she transitions between different timelines. The way she weaves together past events with the present-day story adds depth and richness, helping you understand the characters on a deeper level. It never feels confusing or jarring – just a beautifully seamless flow.

A line that really struck me was, “Only the truly lucky are given the gift of dying from a broken heart.” This quote captures the emotional intensity of the story and Harvey’s ability to touch on deep, universal truths in such a poignant way. Several times while reading, I was moved to tears.

Overall, A Happier Life is a fantastic read (or listen!). The audiobook narration is top-notch, adding an extra layer of enjoyment to an already great story. Kristy has created a novel that’s both heartwarming and thought-provoking, leaving a lasting impression long after you’ve finished it.

Really like this one a lot, although I enjoyed the past timeline better than the present day. Sometimes I wished we'd been given more action-- much seemed to take place off page, which took me out of the story a bit. The middle wasn't quite as snappy as the beginning and the end, but overall it was an enjoyable family drama with great writing. Looking forward to this author's next work!

The story alternates between present day chapters featuring Keaton, a young woman just hitting her stride in her career when she is blindsided by news from her co-worker/ex-boyfriend, and chapters focused on Rebecca "Becks" St. James - a prominent member of her small coastal North Carolina town and Keaton's grandmother.

When Keaton finds herself needing a new place to stay and space to consider her future, her mom offers her an odd opportunity, but one that might be just what she needs. Keaton leaves NYC to travel by car to North Carolina to her mother's childhood home that was essentially abandoned more than 40 years ago. Keaton's mom and uncle want to prepare the house for sale after all these years.

While in NC, Keaton starts to learn more and more about the grandparents she never met, who died in an assumed car wreck.

In the chapters from the POV of Becks, readers piece together the actions and activities that led to the grand old home being left behind.

The intertwined stories beautifully build on each other to reveal a touching family saga. Along the way Keaton makes several new friends and a possible new love interest.

Woodson Harvey does a great job of developing Keaton and Becks as main characters, and also a great supporting cast in the small town of Beaufort, NC. This was a lovely story with a beautiful backdrop and a little bit of mystery.

One of my favorite books of the summer. The character development and descriptions are so above board it’s truly a literary transportive experience. Loved the alternating timelines too and this is a book you won’t forget. Becks Saint James truly is an phenom!! I went into A Happier Life blind and it was a real treat. It’s a keeper for the shelf and now KWH is auto buy author for me!

I have always enjoyed Kristy Woodson Harvey's books- they all have an underlying theme of southern life with the beach mixed in but each book is always uniquely done. In A Happier Life, her gorgeous writing of small town life mixed in with family saga is the chef's kiss! Beautiful job with the mystery- I honestly could not have guessed how it would wrap up. Perfect for the beach or just the next time you want to "escape"! Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have never come across a Kristy Woodson Harvey book that I didn’t absolutely love! I think this one might have been my favorite! I loved the old house, the family mystery and the duel perspectives.

A bittersweet story of love, grief, and mystery. Harvey’s reputation for sweet southern stories doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it was pleasantly surprising to have a bit of added substance by way of life advice.

Keaton finds herself in desperate need of escaping NYC and her present life when her mother randomly says she needs someone to head down to Beaufort, NC to put her childhood home on the market. Keaton takes up the offer to flee the city and head to a past she has never known much about as her grandparents passed away before she was born. What starts as a quick way to distract herself from her life ends up becoming a thirst for knowledge about the family she had but never had the chance to know, including the matriarch that reigned over the sleepy southern beach town of Beaufort. A Happier Life had me yearning for traditions that have gone amiss in modern times while also turning the pages to see how the women of yesteryear and today were going to handle the day's dilemmas. Always with grace, poise, and dignity, no doubt of that.

Kristy Woodson Harvey has done it again by writing a wonderfully poignant but refreshing novel about living your life to the very fullest every single day. 5 stars all the way!

This novel is a great recommendation for those who love small town charm, hidden family secrets and just a touch of drama. Woodson Harvey writes characters that I want to meet in real life and sets her novels in picture perfect areas, meant to be explored by your imagination.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this novel.

Oh this was so wonderful. The characters were so great and the relationship was so relatable. The idea for this book was great. Highly recommend this one.

I was so excited when a friend said she saw a review of this book and wanted to read it for our book club. Kristy Woodson Harvey has such a sweet presence on Instagram, I’m always happy to support her work.

We had book club this week (see the second picture for our sunset, ocean view during our meeting!). We all really enjoyed this book. We loved the multiple points of view and alternating timelines. Family mystery, drama, romance, friendship - this book had a little something for everyone. There’s a big cast of support characters and I loved them all - in both timelines.

Some of us were troubled with the grandparent situation. We were sad that the next generation missed sharing the legacy of their parents but it led to a really great, thoughtful conversation. I love when books challenge you to consider what you’d do in similar situations. And I love when we spend more time than usual discussing the book!

I keep thinking that one day KWH will write a book that i will not be fond of and every year her books get better and reach parts of my heart that only some books/authors can. KWH manages to paint the most beautiful stories and put you right in the middle of them with the smallest details that she shares. This story doesn’t fall behind, it was absolutely beautiful and Keaton’s story, the bond she shares with a set of grandparents that she never got to know and the relationship that evolves with Bowen was so well written and put together that KWH manages to write another 5 star read!!

Thank you so much to Gallery Books for a copy of this!

This was my first Kristy Woodson Harvey book and I will say I likely would read her again! This was such a moving story told between the past (her grandmother & grandfather) and the present. You really got a sense of each of the characters and what they were going through at that time in their life. There were elements of the book that were predictable but I still was enjoying the ride. I absolutely loved Beck's point of view! She seemed like she was a fire of a woman who stood up for what she felt was right. Her relationship with Townsend was so sweet and you could really sense the love between them. Another favorite character of mine was Keaton's neighbor Anderson down in North Carolina! He took a liking to Keaton right away and I enjoyed seeing their friendship grow. And of course where there is a cute kid there's an equally cute single dad. Bowen was a little bit more reserved as there is this stranger now living in this old abandoned house but quickly he became smitten with Keaton. Although we did not get to see much of the life Keaton had while in New York (only through past reflection and storytelling), I felt that she really belonged in the south. She adapted so well to the environment and the town folks.

We got to learn about Beck's home life growing up and how challenging that was for her. And how even more challenging it was to face the later half of her life when things just were not the same as it was. Hearing from Townsend's point of view was a nice bridge to Beck's stories and seeing his point of view especially in the later years. Those letters & diary entries he wrote were a key to past that his children and grandchildren needed in the present timeline. I love family mysteries like this and how it truly does bring families together. I did find it a little weird that Keaton and Harris mom and uncle never went back to the house after their parents died. They simply just up and left and hired people to take care of the house for the last 50 years.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great book to read towards the end of the summer. It had all the elements of a beach read - mystery, family drama (nothing too dramatic), friendship & romance.

4.5