I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This fun summer romance novel follows two best friends, Poppy and Alex, who have known each other since they started university. Every summer, they take a holiday together. But for some reason unknown to the reader, they haven't seen each other for a few years until Poppy invites Alex on one last vacation to try and save their friendship. The book is told in alternating chapters between the present day and past trips.

I'll start of by saying that this book was a lot of fun. Both Poppy and Alex are very likable characters and it was fun reading about all the places they have travelled to. This is a classic summer romance novel in my opinion, nothing ground-breaking, but compelling enough to suck you in for a relaxing read. The characters are both obviously pinning after one another which makes a refreshing change and if I had one complaint it would be that it's maybe a bit too long and slow to start. All the juicy stuff happens right at the end. But overall a fun and pleasant romance read that I would definitely recommend.

"You and Me on Vacation" by Emily Henry is a heartwarming and utterly relatable tale of friendship and romance. Henry's writing shines as she takes readers on a journey through the ups and downs of a lifelong friendship between Poppy and Alex. The clever use of alternating timelines, set against the backdrop of dreamy vacation destinations, adds depth to the story.

The characters are beautifully nuanced, making it easy to connect with their joys and struggles. The gradual build-up of romantic tension is both endearing and satisfying. Henry's storytelling is a delightful mix of humor and poignancy, and she delves into themes of self-discovery and the importance of taking chances.

This book is the perfect summer read, filled with laughter, nostalgia, and a reminder that sometimes the best moments happen when you least expect them. "You and Me on Vacation" is a charming and refreshing exploration of the complexities of love and friendship, making it a must-read for anyone in search of a sweet, witty, and touching novel.

Emily Henry never disappoints. As someone who discovered her back in her YA days, it's lovely to see how much of an impact she's now had on the romance genre. I keep thinking she'll end up repeating characters, yet each of them are unique in their own way and find their way to my heart!

Fresh, lovely - and believable! - romantic comedy about two friends who just belong together. Yet, they fight the attraction for a very long 12 summers...

This was my first novel by this authoress and definitely is not the last one! Ms Henry can definitely write this genre. The characters come alive on the pages, you get them, you understand them, their motivations and their scares. They definitely have been made for each other - but you also understand why they are not together (yet?). The believability is the key here and I definitely believe Poppy and Alex here.
The novel is also genuinely very, VERY funny.

So why 3 stars? This might be my pet peeve, but I like the attitude changes to happen - say, less swiftly than they are happening here. One of the characters acts on immaturity here - but the growth process is described quite speedily here, just couple of paragraphs containing realization and resolution and voila, here we go, I am all changed and ready. Uhm, I get the genre and maybe for some readers this very acceptable, but I personally like to see the growth. Also, the novel is a bit clichey and politically correct.
But otherwise - great read! Might be the best romantic comedy I have read this year (so far).

Love Emily Henry’s books and this is no exception. The tension that builds in this will they won’t they have they keeps you turning the page and hoping for a happy ending.

This was entertaining. I enjoyed Alex and Poppy's relationship but it was a little repetitive at points. The plot was fun but I could have happily kept on waiting for the Croatia story because it really wasn't worth the mystery. I did enjoy the ending and I related to a little bit of what was going on outside of their relationship. Now I'm finding myself wishing they'd explored that more.

Although this review won't be live for a few weeks I am going to tell you about the weather. It is hot. Like hot hot. And I am ginger and I don't do well in this heat. However, one thing that has kept me sane during this stupid heatwave is reading You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry. It was boss.

It is the story of Poppy and Alex - the epitome of the perfect will they won't they couple - who are best friends but just cannot seem to take things to the next step where we all know that they belong. Set over many years, fast forwarding and rewinding, we see their love story play out and yes, you, dear reader, will be screaming at these characters to kiss her/him you fool.

Recently, I haven't read a lot of romance books, they have fallen a little out of favour genre wise for me but dammit You and Me on Vacation was a brilliant step back into the romance story.

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry is available now.

For more information regarding Penguin (@PenguinUKBooks) please visit www.penguin.co.uk.

This was my first Emily Henry book and I know they are very popular so I was excited to get started.

The novel follows Poppy, a travel writer and her best friend Alex who is a teacher. They have been best friends since school and would go on a summer vacation together every year. Two summers ago, something happened that caused them to stop talking but now Poppy has reached out to Alex, inviting him on the summer vacation again to try and reconnect. She realises that the best times of her life have been with him.

This is beautifully written, there is no doubt about that and I totally bought Poppy and Alex's close friendship. I got lost a little with their chemistry and I think it probably would have been deepened if we got chapters from Alex's point of view too. I also think a more linear timeline would have worked better for me, but that is just a personal preference.

Friends to lovers and the miscommunication trope wouldn't be my favourites but this is still a cute and fluffy read!

Not as good a beach read but a pretty decent second book, warm, witty & fun.
The chemistry between the characters was on point, one for the slow burn fans..

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was a real cute journey that made me smile. My only problem with this book was the pacing as I found there were times where I was bored wanting it to hurry up so I could see more of their relationship. It was very cute though and I did love Alex and Poppy together. Would definitely recommend to read it. Excited to try Emily Henry’s other books to see if I’ll love them or like them like this one.

I had very high expectations for this book, as I've heard such good things about all of Emily Henry's books - she's one of, if not the most, popular romance authors at the moment, and now I know why! She's become a firm favourite author in this genre and I'm so happy to say this didn't disappoint at all. I'm not normally the biggest fan of a friends-to-lovers romance over some of the other tropes, but I honestly couldn't have rooted for Alex and Poppy more. The love they had for each other was so strong and unwavering throughout all their years of friendship, and I really enjoyed the swapping between present-day and their friendship from the beginning before joining up together as it provided the context needed to prove just how much they were meant to be together. I though the travel element to their relationship was so fun, and was perfect timing for reading this in the summertime. It's safe to say I'm now a huge fan of Henry and can't wait to go back and read all her other works!

It's been a while since I've felt so connected to characters in a book as I did to this one. I literally could not put it down. I loved everything about this book.

I laughed lots and also cried in equal measure. I absolutely adore it when a book makes you feel so much and this one really did that.

Emily Henry is definitely going to be a new favourite author of mine. I adored everything about the way this story was written. She has a very unique and beautiful way of unravelling a story. I didn't ever feel like I was waiting too long for information but at the same time...I couldn't stop reading because I just couldn't wait to find out more.

Poppy is a modern day imperfect heroine.. I absolutely loved her. Even her faults (and they were not hidden from us!). I thought it was amazing how much her family featured in this and just how much she loved them, quirks and all. There was no choosing between love and family which is a nice relief!

Towards the end it did get frustrating with all the stumbling blocks but that's because we were rooting for these wonderful characters so much.

Just everything about this book is perfection. I absolutely loved every moment I was reading it. I will definitely be reading it again and cannot wait to read other Emily Henry books.

Everyone should read it...its just a beautiful, happy, moving and romantic story.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet summer romance with lovely characters that we follow through different stages of their lives and relationship. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you for the chance to read and review.

A great friends-to-lovers story. I loved that the characters had such a long history together. Also enjoyed the way the chapters switched between past holidays to the present. A great choice for a summer holiday read!

This author has a huge fan base but for me personally I struggle to get into the fluffy tales . I do love a romance the steamier the better , I think the authors later books are better but sadly I had to dnf this as I just lost interest saying that I will purchase and fry book lovers and the happy place

I would like to thank netgalley and Penguin for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first introduction to Henry's work and I couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed Beach Reads and this book was another fun-filled, holiday-themed romantic comedy of a novel. An original story with good characters and a feel-good uplift. Great escapist fiction.

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

A few weeks ago, perhaps early February my best friend asked me to recommend a good read for her. I suggested Book Lovers by Emily Henry even though I hadn’t read it because of how much I’d heard about this book.

She read BL and moved on to read You and Me on Vacation and told me this was a book I should read. I was intrigued she suggested I read YaMoV when BL is the story that everyone talks about. I dove into my ARC of YaMoV immediately and I barely surfaced to take a breath once I started.

YaMoV is the kind of book that makes you feel like you have someone special waiting at home for you. I fell in love with this book the way the characters fall in love with one another: each word at a time. Every single page in the book has been highlighted and adored and I need to share that love. So, this review is going to be peppered with quotes everywhere because why not?

From the very first page of the book, I was chuckling. The introduction to the characters was so..new. The book was a breath of fresh air, the characters so vividly crafted and now etched into my heart.

Poppy and Alex are unlikely friends that really work. Do you ever meet someone you don’t think for the life of you you’d ever have anything in common with? You’re right.. but you’re also wrong. They’re so different from you and you from them, that the relationship somehow works.

Poppy is loud. Perhaps not with her voice but quite a bit in her personality. She’s tries to live loud, she dresses loud, she tries to make loud choices. Whereas Alex is quiet. He lives quietly, he dresses quietly and he certainly loves quietly. The story is about these two finding space in one another’s lives as friends… and maybe more?

The book jumps back and forth and initially I worried I needed to keep track of the whens and the whats but I found I just needed to watch the flow of the book and not keep a check on it. That worked so much better and I suggest you read the same way if you’re choosing to pick it up.

Every line in this book had some poignant effect on me. I’m not sure there’s a more precious and warm feeling in my heart than the one I have when I think of this book.

The book is filled with so very many events and experiences and happenings and happiness and loneliness and pain. They’re all there, neither outweighing the other, and somehow work. Usually a book with so much in it can be overwhelming, but Emily makes it work somehow. I can’t tell if it’s her writing that makes it all worth it, or her characters, or her vision? Or just all of that together.

The only place I felt the book stutters a littttttttle is the climax. It felt a little like the tune of the book lost key for a minute before it settled again. But honestly I don’t mind even a little about that, given the experience of the rest of the book. I also of sorts understood why that may have happened. Facing your demons and taking the chance to live your dream which is somehow entwined with your worst nightmare is the hardest most important decision in your life. I’m sure you’re allowed a minute to decide. Heck, even more.

Either way, I’ve never been more prouder for having requested for this ARC. Proof I make fantastic decisions even with little to no input. A billion heartfelt starts. Highly highly highly recommend. Check trigger warnings as always!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is love.png
This was my first Emily Henry book and although I can understand what the hype is about there was also some issues that I had with it. The dual perspective was great, and the travel aspects of the books were fun to read about. It is a friend to lovers with whit and close near misses with the protagonists and where there relationship lies at the end of it all.

“I still have a lot to figure out, but the one thing I know is, wherever you are, that’s where I belong. I’ll never belong anywhere like I belong with you.”

You and Me on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex. Twelve years ago, they met, and they hate each other convinced that they will never speak again and after eleven after he offers her a lift home forming a long friendship. Then two years ago everything goes wrong. This year Poppy offers Alex one last vacation to try and fix everything they do wrong. Showing their relationship as it develops throughout the years and the highs and lows of friendship, family and love.

My favourite part of this book was definitely the dual timeline. It was so interesting seeing different snippets of their lives. It left you wondering the whole way through the book about what happened with Poppy and Alex and how it all led to this point. Although they’re complete opposites with Poppy being a complete extrovert whilst Alex loves spending time alone as with every classic rom com, they soon overcome their differences and find that friendship. So, seeing these two come together was really interesting to read about. I love the opposite attracts trope, so this was really fun.

“Sometimes it feels like I didn't even exist before that. Like you invented me.”

I loved reading about the vacations as well. From Tuscany to San Francisco as well as New Orleans I loved travelling through the pages of a book. The settings of the book are described so beautifully and made me feel as though I was actually there. Emily Henry has such a way with words and the settings as well as the side stories along the way filled me with a warm feeling as though I was on holiday myself.

The only issue I had with this book was the miscommunication. Miscommunication is my least favourite trope All the conflict in this book could have been solved with a simple phone call or conversation. The big lead up to the reveal left me wondering why this issue was not solved years before it was and was not as bad as I expected it to be.

Overall, this book was a perfect summer read and I recommend it for anyone looking for something to read on this beach this summer. The characters were fun to read about and even if you are not going on holiday, you feel like you’re on one. I am looking forward to getting to Emily Henry’s other works eventually.