Such a good summer read,

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A charming story that follows our main character Harriet and her college friends spending a week at a holiday cottage for the last time together before it is sold. Everything is perfect until Harriet arrives and comes face-to-face with her ex-fiancee Wyn - they have broken up 6 months prior to the holiday and have yet to tell their friends 😬

Of course you can rely on the one bed and fake dating tropes to spice things up while jumping from past flashbacks to present storylines throughout. Tbh I wasn’t convinced when I initially read that the story was essentially a second chance romance kind of storyline, but it worked and I actually ended up really enjoying it. It’s predictable, as with every rom-com, but you’ll love it 😌 It’s a nice quick easy read and I really enjoyed it!

I was going to say Emily Henry has done it again, bringing us another beautifully charming and emotional story, but in reality she just keeps getting better!

Happy Place follows Harriet, her college friends, and her (unbeknownst to the others) ex-fiance Wyn, through two timelines - the past, A.K.A. Harry's Happy Place, and the present, also known as Real Life, where everything seems to be falling apart. Over a week of kept secrets, forced proximity and second chances, our two timelines eventually converge to form a happy reality - though not necessarily in the way Harry expects.

This was an easy 4.5 star read for me!

Thankyou to Netgally and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC (as well as the physical copy I received through work)

Adored this book. Thank you!
(There was some formatting weirdness with the proof still having line numbers on it when reading on Kindle but I managed to ignore this)

Wow, this was an emotional roller coaster. I think it started out a bit slow, but when we got to the 25% mark the story really got going and I was hooked. I cried, I laughed, I got frustrated and I got some very warm fuzzy feelings in my stomach. Thank you for letting me read this book!

Some of the tropes in this book:

* One bed
* Close proximity
* Miscommunication
* Found family
* Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers

Emily Henry know what the girlies want and she continues to deliver. Happy Place, is I suppose a second chance romance, with a bit fake dating and dare I say guy falls harder.

Exhibit A of why I loved this book - Wyn:
Quote 1: “In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it not me for you.”
Quote 2: “You are my periodic table.”
Quote 3: “There was noting bigger than you. Not to me. Not ever.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be written by Emily Henry if the characters weren’t so relatable and immersive. Every single character made you fall in love with them; made you root for them. From Cleo and Kimmy, to Sabrina and Parth, no side character was unimportant or overtly prominent, there’s a perfect balance between the main relationship and the relationships of and with the characters around them. I also loved the representation of mental health, lesbian relationships and parental pressure, and doing something you want to do, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

Happy Place gave me Sweet Home Alabama vibes where you know that two people belong together and Wyn and Harriet belong together.

I can’t even say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything but please read this book, you won’t be disappointed

Thank you to Emily Henry, Penguin and Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book #345 of 2022

Started off really good, then dipped for me.
In the beginning it was witty, funny, the start of a great romcom. Unfortunately it just was people not communicating with eachother at all costs after that.
Harriet and Wyn were cute in the flashbacks at first but after one too many paragraphs about how in love they were with eachother but could not be together I kind of stopped caring. And when they were about to communicate about what actually went wrong in their relationship, they just started hooking up instead because they loved eachother sooo much. Pls just talk for once!!!!
The friends were mostly fine, but I didnt really feel the 'omg they are my bestest bestest friends' part. Sabrina was annoying from the start and what she did was fucked up in my opinion so she really didn't deserve the quick redemption at the end.
Cleo and Kimmy seemed like the only reasonable people.

I do appreciate Henry giving the characters complex problems, the banter was great at the start, and it was a quick read.

2.5 stars

This romance begins with our couple (Harriet and Wyn) pretending, on vacation with a group of friends, that they haven't actually been separated for several months.
With intelligent humor and well-developed characters, Happy Place is a delightful novel about the family we find in friends, with the quality that Emily Henry has come to accustom us.


Since Book Lovers, quite rightly, Emily Henry has become an unavoidable name in the romance genre. Decidedly one of my favorite authors.

This was such a lovely, comforting read. Three best friends come together to celebrate the end of an era, but one of them - Harriet - has recently gone through a breakup, and hasn’t told any of the others. Chaos ensues.

As with all other Emily Henry’s, I loved this and found it an excellent book for the Christmas period. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher!

Loved this book. Its a real feel good read with some great characters. At the centre are a couple who in their own way have each decided that they would be better for each other if they were apart. It's obvious from the start that they are meant for each other but it takes a series of events and the scheming of friends to make them realise that.

Along the way, they and their friends come to realise exactly what is important to each of them. They also begin to understand how it is better to persue your dreams and not just go along with what others think us best for you. Well l worth reading.

Emily Henry does it again—this was so beautifully written and delightful to read. Her books never fail to make me emotional.
5/5 stars.

Engaging, sweet, likable. Emily Henry fans will love this! Personally I prefer Book Lovers and Beach Read, and I found the middle part of this book a little bit dull but that’s just me not that into a second chance trope.

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.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book I read by Emily Henry but this book was a miss for me.

The banter and witty remarks between the friends were good but I just felt like actual communication was a major issue for the characters. It's actually a very good book for highlighting how people end up miserable because they don't actually talk to each other or speak up for what they actually want.
I was left feeling frustrated by the goings on.

This was such an enjoyable read. Harry and Wynn have broken up, but haven’t gotten around to telling their friends. Now they’re forced to pretend all is fine so as not to ruin their friends’ wedding. The chemistry between them is great, the relationship is believable, the hero is very crushworthy. It’s so smoothly written it’s a delight.

This book was indeed a happy place for me. Fantastic characters and a plot that moved well - definitely one to get you in the mood for the summer!

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Three friends and their partners holiday together for the last time. They reminisce about how they met and their friendship over the years, meeting their partners and many other happy times at the holiday cottage. But all is not what it seems and sooner or later the secrets they are hiding are revealed.

WOW! Emily Henry smashes it again - I've loved everything she's written and this is no exception. I can't think of any other author who does witty, flirty banter so well. At the same time there is real emotional depth to her characters and storylines - Happy Place has this in spades. Loved the story of the friendship, Harriet and Wyn's relationship, the families of the characters, the partners, the setting... just absolutely everything really! Very, VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I’m a huge Emily Henry fan and Happy Place did not disappoint. It’s a heartfelt story about love, friendship and found-family.

Harriet is an exhausted surgical resident who is looking forward to a break at the same holiday cottage she has visited with her friends for years. The only problem is that her ex-fiance Wyn (who was NOT supposed to be there) has been convinced to stay by their mutual friend Sabrina. And that’s not the only shock, Sabrina tells the group of six friends that her father is selling the holiday cottage and that this trip will be their last in the same place. Harriet is reeling but pulls herself together for the sake of her friend’s happiness. Instead of her and Wyn telling her friends that they’ve ended things, they decide to fake it for their week-long stay. Unfortunately, it’s not easy because Harriet loves Wyn with every fibre of her being, and it’s clear that he’s not over her either. As the week progresses we learn about the beginning, middle and end of Harriet and Wyn’s relationship in flashbacks to her “happy places.” The past and present combine to show the power of the unbreakable friendships and love she has for everyone at the cottage.

The depictions of love in this novel had me crying, they were so beautiful and raw. At times it felt like I was falling for Wyn alongside Harriet. The flashbacks showed how their love evolved and how little by little it began to disintegrate. Emily Henry describes the fear that so often comes hand in hand with love. The fear that we aren’t good enough for our spouses, that they are settling for us, that we’re holding them back and stopping them from being happy.

Her friendships with Cleo and Sabrina are also a focus of the novel and their bond is undeniable, even when their perfect vacation starts to fall apart.

A 5 star read for me and definitely one I would recommend to romance lovers.

My happy place: an Emily Henry romance! Always so reliably good, characters you fall in love with and totally addictive.

Emily Henry does it again, with an amazing steamy romance but with a rich world of friendships and additional story lines.

Her best book yet, I’ll be shouting about this one for a while.