Happy Place: The must-read romance for 2024 from the Sunday Times bestselling...

Happy Place follows Harriet, who’s living in San Francisco and training to become a doctor, but spending the next week in her favourite place, in a holiday home in Maine with her best friends. Little does she know that she’ll also be spending the week with her ex-fiancé, Wyn, and she’ll have to pretend they’re still together because neither of them told their friends they broke up. My favourite character was all of them. Harriet was a wonderful narrator but Wyn, Sabrina, Cleo, Parth, and Kimmy were also wonderful characters. My least favourite character was none of them. Emily Henry has a way of making even the worst characters seem relatable and understandable. I recommend this book because I thought it was going to be a silly little rom-com but I was so, so wrong. This was a beautiful story of love and loss and life and friendship. It was an emotional rollercoaster and I am now an emotional wreck. ‘So much of life is waiting for more of him, and even that torture is bliss.’

Emily Henry is one of my all time favourite authors so to say I was excited to read this book would be a huge understatement! I literally cried when it arrived in the mail 🥲 And it didn’t disappoint, I loved this book so much! And it is still living rent free in my mind after finishing it over a week ago 🤭 I am a sucker for second chance romances and so I was hooked pretty quickly onto Harriet’s and Wyn’s story from the beginning! They’re whole backstory gave me chills and I loved how they were pretending to their friends that they were still together while pretending to each other that they didn’t care. Ahh it was just amazing!! I was tabbing and highlighting like crazy! Aside from Harriet’s and Wyn’s love story, I loved reading all the before scenes of the girls’ friendship - that clueless reference had me in stitches 🤣 and made me reminisce about my college besties. I really didn’t like Sabrina through most of the book but that changed during the church scene, I cried during that 😢 I empathised with Sabrina so much. I think that scene was so beautifully written! The airport scene! OMG!! Hands down my favourite grand gesture scene ever! I was in absolute bits!! It was really dragged out to the point where I thought there wouldn’t be a HEA! I mean it only happens on page 370!! Luckily I was wrong about that 🤣Swipe for some of my fav parts in it. I also loved how Harriet takes a closer look at what her actual happy place is. I think so many of us end up doing what we think we should do and not what makes us happy. This really resonated with me - especially since I’m going through some personal issues right now that had made me reevaluate what my happy place is. It crazy how much I needed to read this book right now in my life. Overall, this book was a masterpiece! So if you are looking for a cozy, second chance, fake dating romance where you will swoon, laugh and cry sometimes all in the one chapter - READ THIS!!

I’ve read a few of this author’s novels now and whilst this was my least favourite, it’s still a nice read. The things I really enjoyed about the story was the strong bond between Harriet and her friends that has lasted long after their school days. It’s nice to have a friendship that can carry on with people taking different paths and not seeing as much of each other. Every time they come together though it’s like they have never been apart. I also loved the Happy Place. A gorgeous cottage that is a huge part of Harriet and her friends lives where they spent time together whilst growing up and somewhere they come every year to meet up and relieve their younger years. It felt very much like when you go on holiday and you fall in love with the weather, the people, the sights and sounds. You know it can’t last and that you have to go back to reality but that time away, it can do so much for your soul and the author captured that perfectly. I’m sure we all have a happy place where the weight of the world lifts off your shoulders when there. The story focuses on Wyn and Harriet’s relationship which has hit a stumbling block. We have alternating chapters with present day and in the past when the two get together and and their relationship is at that full intensity stage. In fact their whole relationship is quite an intense one. Maybe I am just an old cynic and I know that this is a romance novel but it was slightly over the top for me. Does all consuming love really exist? I felt at times it was overpowering. Don’t get me wrong, some parts are really sweet and I did like all the characters and whilst I love a good romance, I mean who doesn’t, this was just a bit too sickly for me. Happy Place overall is a nice read which will have you reminiscing about your first love as well as friendships you had back at school. I think depending on whether you look back at that time fondly or not will depend on how much you enjoy this novel. The setting is wonderful and I could easily see why it’s so special to the characters. Everyone needs a happy place in their lives. This was definitely a bitter sweet read for me as yes it’s cute but the romance aspect was just too much which is down to personal preference and I know many others have loved it.

Most authors either burn out after their first great novel or two, or start out tentatively and get better with experience. I began with Emily's last book (to date) 'Great Big Beautiful Life' which was excellent so I kinda assumed that her earlier books would be her finding her feet as a writer and wasn't expecting anything special as I started going back through her bibliography. 'Funny Story' was very good (rather than excellent) so it looked like she might match the pattern. I'm happy to report that I was wrong. 'Happy Place' is a masterpiece. Reviewers describe it as hilarious and, while I wouldn't go so far, it is crammed full of witty dialogue - even during the tenderest moments. The basic premise is not unusual, people making decisions based on the best possible motives, then deceiving the ones they love in the mistaken belief that that will protect them from those decisions. Rarely does that end well, but this is fiction and Emily handles the resolution with aplomb. It will be interesting to see if 'Book Lovers' is in the same, distinguished, class.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are very likeable and the book has an entertaining narrative. It’s easy to read.

Light romcom, always enjoyable. A great summer read.

My enjoyment of Emily Henry's novels is hardly a secret and so I was excited to receive the opportunity to read her new novel 'Happy Place', coming out April 2023. Get ready to fall for Harriet and Wyn, a couple who have been together since college, initially brought together by their shared tight knit friendship group. The narrative follows the group as they spend the week together at a holiday cottage in Maine, one last hurrah before the cottage they have loved for many years is sold. There is just one small problem with this plan - perfect couple Harriet and Wyn have actually been broken up for 6 months and neglected to tell their friends. Trust Emily Henry to take the fake dating trope to another level with the messy complex history these two share and the spiralling lies. The dual narrative of this novel, exposing the history of Harriet and Wyn alongside the present day, help us to develop an attachment to the central couple and their group of friends. Sabrina, Cleo and Harriet used to be inseparable but the miles between them and adult responsibilities mean that the 'happy place' of the annual trip to the cottage is incredibly valuable to the group. The reality of 'real life' is drawn in a relatable way and it is easy to see why Harriet and Wyn feel like maintaining the façade of happiness is the right thing to do, even if it seems like an absurd premise. The tension between preserving the past/tradition and moving forward to new experiences is well explored, as well as the extent to which someone should compromise within their relationship. There is plenty to relate to in this story which is replete with Henry's absorbing writing style and characters you want to root for. Overall, 'Beach Read' and 'Book Lovers' are still my reigning favourites of Henry's but this a worthy addition to your romance collection. Get ready to feel love, nostalgia and a keen desire to phone your best friend for a long overdue catch up. 4 stars.

Bought this for my wife after she loved Emily Henry's other books and she absolutely flew through it. She said the chemistry between the two main characters was brilliant and that the whole fake relationship setup had her gripped from the start. The Maine cottage setting sounded gorgeous and she kept reading bits out to me which is always a good sign. She finished it in about three days which for someone who only really reads before bed says a lot. The writing style is warm and funny without being too cheesy, and apparently the emotional parts hit hard too. She's already passed it on to her friend at work. If you enjoy a good romance with proper characters and clever dialogue, this one seems to be a winner. It's now sitting on the shelf next to Beach Read and Book Lovers.

Good book

This book was simultaneously gut-wrenching and heart warming. I adored reading a love story about two people who had loved each other so wholly for such a long time. I did NOT adore the pain and anguish of feeling Harriet wonder how she'd lost it. Add to that beautiful, complex friendships, the constant banter and the very relatable theme of not knowing who the f*** you actually are... Wow. This book really scratched an itch in my brain that I didn't even know was there.

Toll geschrieben, gutes Englisch

✨ In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you. ✨ Somehow, Emily Henry has the ability to absolutely and completely destroy me in the best possible way. Happy Place is everything. I cried. I sobbed. I love Harriet and Wyn so much. My heart broke and my heart healed. I put this off for the longest time because I knew it was second chance as they’d broken up (and apparently I have an aversion to that). But Happy Place was everything and more, and my heart couldn’t take it. To say I adore Emily Henry’s writing would not even begin to capture just how much her stories and characters mean to me. There is so much depth to Harriet and Wyn. They are characters who are so flawed but it’s so them, and they are fuelled by who they are and their insecurities, which is something I love most about Emily’s characters—they’re real, they’re relatable, they’re authentic. I love real characters, who have their flaws, their hangups, and these elements are the foundation of who these characters are, what motivates them, drives them, fuels them. And while I get that some people might not like their characters having flaws, but no one is perfect, we are all unique and have our own histories and personalities that come out as we live, and this is the beautiful case for Harriet and Wyn. But one thing is clear, and that is how impossible it is for Harriet and Wyn not to be together. Again, Emily’s writing captivates you, transporting you into her world where you live amongst her characters and in their lives. I think that’s the power of Emily’s writing, it’s so beautiful, so stunning, you can’t help but be a part of the narrative, and it’s safe to say that this is a story I’ll never forget. A gorgeous second chance romance that will stay on my mind forever. But Happy Place is a story of love and loss and friendships and massive life events. I connected so deeply to Happy Place and Harriet and that’s so special to me.

It was delivered very fast and in perfect condition