Sachant que l'autrice allait être prochainement publiée en France, j'avais envie de découvrir sa plume avec son prochain titre VO. Malheureusement pour moi, je n'ai pas réussi à me plonger dans cette histoire et à m'attacher aux personnages.

Harriet Kilpatrick est notre héroïne et depuis cinq mois, elle s'est séparée de son compagnon. Elle ne l'a dit à personne et elle va se retrouver dans une situation délicate car ses amies l'ont invité pour leur ultime retrouvaille dans cette maison où elle a vécu plein de moments heureux. Après une annonce romantique et inattendue de Sabrina, elle n'aura donc pas d'autres choix que de s'enfoncer dans le mensonge et les fausses apparences. Si au départ les flashbacks nous permettent d'en savoir plus sur la naissance de leur histoire, j'ai trouvé qu'ils alourdissaient le récit et je me suis donc par moments ennuyée. Les tensions seront donc là mais toute l'alchimie n'est pas morte. On va finir par comprendre pourquoi ils se sont séparés mais même à ce moment là, je n'ai rien ressenti.

Les amies de notre héroïne sont donc Sabrina qui va épouser Parth et à qui appartenait cette maison aux superbes souvenirs. Elle est clairement le ciment entre nos trois héroïnes et j'ai vu qu'elle était souvent à l'origine des appels, des rencontres et donc de ce dernier moment ensemble. Elle est un exemple d'amour heureux et cela pourrait donc être un cinglant rappel de ce qu'elle a perdu mais jamais Sabrina n'est mesquine ou enfonce le couteau dans la plaie. Quant à Cléo, elle est en couple avec Kimmy et elle semble plus discrète. Pourtant, elle saura hausser le ton quand il le faudra.

Wyn Connor est donc le héros et on sent très vite qu'il a besoin de s'expliquer avec Harry. Ils ont laissé les choses en suspens et n'ont pas encore tourné la page. Il y aura pas mal de non dits et un manque de communication. Wyn est un héros que j'ai bien aimé mais qui n'a pas non plus été transcendant. En effet, pourquoi attendre aussi longtemps et accepter de rentrer dans le jeu de cette rencontre surprise s'il n'a pas encore des sentiments;

Bref, vous l'avez compris, j'ai lu ce livre mais il ne m'a pas emportée. Je laisserai toutefois sa chance à l'autrice en découvrant d'autres titres avant de porter un jugement définitif sur une plume qui pourrait ne pas me plaire.

I don't read a whole lot of contemporary romance, and apart from Emily Henry the only other author whose novels appeal to me from the genre is Mhairi McFarlane. So it was a no-brainer to request Henry's latest offering... but I am sad to report that it was my least favourite of her novels so far.

I loved Beach Read for its believable romance narrative and fun plot and setting. Book Lovers was probably my next favourite as I enjoyed the premise and book-themed plot. You and Me on Vacation was admittedly not the best (I almost always hate the friends-to-enemies-to-lovers plot in a novel), but I found things to enjoy in the book. So what went wrong with Happy Place?

The "cast of friends reliving their youth" narrative felt a bit tired and it was honestly flat out boring to read about a load of friends getting drunk (repeatedly) before they could be honest about their feelings. The fact that a few things in the plot (no spoilers!) were based on people lying so as not to upset other people in the friendship group felt totally contrived too. The romance arc was also just a bit dull.

It's a shame that this didn't work for me, but if you've enjoyed Henry's other recent romance offerings I'd still suggest picking it up - you might find something that works for you here. I'd still pick up her next book, but am just left feeling a bit bummed that this didn't work for me or take me to my "happy place" (sorry!).

This is a very different take on the ‘fake dating’ trope. Harry and Wyn broke up six months ago, but they haven’t told their close knit group of college friends yet. Now, they’re going on their annual trip to the cottage, where they will see their friends, and each other, for the first time since the break up. Harry intends on gathering them together and telling them, but soon after they arrive Sabrina announces that her father is selling the cottage, making this their last time staying at their ‘happy place’. She has decided that her and boyfriend Parth will get married there at the end of the week, with only their four best friends as witnesses. How can Harry and Wyn spring their devastating news on them now? They decide to stick the week out, pretending that they are still a couple, so as not to put a damper on the celebrations. It’s harder than they thought it would be though. (Pun very much intended)...

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this romance between exes, but Emily Henry has surprised me again. ‘Book Lovers’ is still superior for me. The chemistry between those characters was off the charts. This is still a great read though. There is one part that will always stick with me (and it’s not a steamy bit). Near the end of the book Wyn compares depression to asthma, and (I won’t quote it here) it was one of the best descriptions of what depression and discovering anti-depressants can feel like. I had to screenshot.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have tears in my eyes because that ending was just beautiful perfection. The whole book actually. As much as I wanted to get to the hea part I also wanted to burrow into this book and never leave. It’s apart of my soul now.

Swapping from past to present helped make things seem not so heart breaking. I loved seeing Wyn and Harriet’s love build, and how they reconcile made my heart all warm and feel the feels. They were gut wrenchingly perfect for each other.

This wasn’t just about their love though but their found family’s love too. And I loved all the ups and downs and how real it was.

I loved everything about this book. I don’t know what else to say beyond that except that I’m super sad it’s over. It was everything that I never realised I needed.

A lovely beach read for me with characters you really root for. I loved the friendship here between the three main female characters. The main couple are the will they/won’t they pair, and you really want to knock their heads together. This feeling is total proof of how invested you are in a story! The setting is amazing, I would love to go to Maine and try a lobster roll.

Spring. Happy Place reminds me of Spring. Stick with me here — I’ll make the point, I promise.

You wouldn’t believe it, by looking at the date of this review, that Happy Place was my first read of the year. I read it right at the beginning of January. It has taken me four months (four!) to try and put in to my words my feelings about this book, and yet I still don’t feel I’m able to do it properly.

I love this book, wholeheartedly: from the top of my head, to the tips of my toes.

This book made me feel seen, it came at such the right time in my life when I needed it, and I think, for that, this book will always hold great meaning. I imagine, as well, as I get older this book will continue to impress me and find things for me to resonate with. Timeless.

Let’s just start off with saying: the title is deceptive. I spent most of this book not happy. But that’s not to say there isn’t happiness in this book, just that it was well earned and well placed. This book just has a wonderful mixture of banter, angst and love.

There’s also just so much yearning (clenches fist), heartbreak and grief. It’s a book about loss, about growing up and growing apart. It explores grief, all types: loss of a parent, loss of a romantic relationship, loss of a friendship, loss of a sense of self.

We find these characters in a time of their life where there is just so much change. They’re forced to confront mortality, and their futures in a way they never had to before when they were young. Forced to confront each other in ways they never had to. Because this is the reality, life hurts — it pulls and it picks at you, but in the words of the great Dr. Taylor Swift, if you never bleed you’re never going to grow.

Happy Place handles this all well — the showing of growing pains of people moving in to their next phase of their life. And this looks different to everyone: for some, it’s starting a family with children, for others it’s a marriage. Sometimes, your life may look exactly the same, but it’s you that feels totally different — out of place with yourself and those around you. It’s hard, but again, it’s so real.

I like how this book showed how friendships grow and change and snap and heal with time. How growing older can mean growing apart, people are in different parts of their lives, and that’s okay. But it’s reckoning with that, mourning that loss of how things used to be that’s hard. But this book shows that just because one thing ends, doesn’t mean it can’t be a new beginning of something else. You can still mourn and grieve for something in the past, it’s a massive change/loss, but you can look forward to the future.

I think that really captures the experience of growing up. So much changes, we change, our relationships change, the way we view them changes. And there’s also a sense of loss and grief, looking back at the “good times” and missing how things how used to be. It’s an experience many of us go through. Again, I like how this book presented that these relationships take on new life, but I appreciate how it didn’t try to solve this, or give an answer that’s like “well you just got to get over it!” If anything, this book said: feel your feelings, I’ll be right there beside you feeling them too.

This is why Happy Place reminds me so much of Spring. It’s a time where things renew, new life flourishes in the face of the old. It’s a cycle. And to me, Happy Place reflects that.

Overall, I loved this book. I loved how it was written, with the past and present narratives. I loved the characters, even — no, especially — when they annoyed me. These characters were perfect because they weren’t perfect, they were flawed and complicated and messed up and had stuff to apologise for, and a lot to not apologise for and I loved it. They were human. Every time I cried or I laughed I really felt it.

And, of course, I loved the romance. Like I said above, I loved the banter and the angst and I enjoyed how this story ended.

This is 5/5 stars, obviously. How could I give it any less?

Oh, Em... I was waiting for this book for so long and it was truly a masterpiece!

How to describe it? Simple. Fake it till make it. Harriet and Wyn broke up 6 months ago. They havent told anyone - friends and family have used to seeing them toghether despite their differences than they rather expected an engagement news than information about breaking up.

But, there is a small problem... They have invitation from their friends to spend holiday together. Sooo, they decided to just go, pretend that nothing happend and just enjoy themselves in place they both love. Sounds ridiciouls, right?

But still, I love it! I adore the spark between them, the emotions hidden deep, small rituals that keeps going no matter what they're trying to do or hide. Emotions does not disappear, they are changing, but sometimes we just need time to realise it.

I adore Emily and especially her two latest books. She's definitely heading into the right direction.

Okay. So. I read this book in a day. I started, I was hooked, and I cried at some scenes. Now, my problem is the ending, it is something that happens to me with this second chance trope. I can promise you that I try because I do enjoy everything about this trope, except the ending.

Now, it does not mean it is a bad book. It is my favourite of the author, I do think this is her best work so far regarding the characters, tension, setting, themes. It is simply that the way these stories end is just not for me. I will not talk about this specific ending because spoilers, but I will try to explain why it does not work for me.

There are two possible outcomes: either they solve their problems (either going back together or not) or not being able to solve it. Now, the issues are usually big enough to justify breaking up, so it has to be hard to solve it throughout the book for them to be together at the end. Sometimes, one of them has to give something up, which is a trope that I hate. It feels toxic to me, because love is not about giving things up for another person, it is about sharing those things and finding ways of doing it without having to give things up. Is it just me that feels this way?

Now, if they do not solve their problems is not as bad, it is life after all. But I have been reading a book that is trying to sell this relationship, the idea that there is something there, for nothing? I mean, all of this tension, romantic gestures, stolen looks and so much more, for this to just go nowhere. I don't like it. I just don't.

Which is why I like to read this trope: I'm looking for an ending that could work for me, because I love everything else about this trope, I really do.

Now, this book. I loved it, it was amazing. It talks about mental health, female friendship, family, communication. It has diversity: they do not have to suffer at any point about their sexuality, nor they have a tragic ending (thank you for this, it's so good). So, yes, it is a great book. Easy to read, easy to enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing me with an ARC.

Wow, Emily Henry has done it again and I think her writing could be getting even better!

I think I said the same when I read Book Lovers but man I am so obsessed with Emily Henry's writing. She just knows how to create these characters that you just can't help but fall in love with. Harriet and Wyn were no exception and I loved Harriet from the first page. I just love while of course the book focuses on our protagonist, Harriet, we also get to know her friends and grow with them too. This book covered the romance exceptionally well - loved getting to flash back to Harriet and Wyn meeting and watching their relationship progress- we meet them in a very different time in their relationship. But it also covered her friendships so well that you get a chance to know and love these side characters too. Henry does this so well that it doesn't distract from the main story and characters, it just elevates the story even more.

I made the huge mistake of reading this on a weekday and not saving it for the weekend. I am one sleepy librarian today after staying up late to finish this book! Totally worth it!!

Can't wait to see what Emily writes next and I think it's time to go back and re-read to keep my fix going.

Happy Place is exactly the feel good book I needed to read ! I couldn't put it down and read it in almost one sitting - and throughout the book I only had one thought : Emily Henry never disappoints, it's like each book is better than the last one !! I can't wait to read her next one !!

This is the cosiest Emily Henry book yet. But it is also her slowest burning. She has mastered the art of romantic tension, which makes Happy Place completely immersive and impossible to put down. Each sentence leaves the reader yearning for more. Her characters are varied but lovable, each with distinct personalities that never fade into the background. It grounds the book and paints a fuller picture of a friends' trip with easy banter and gripping conversation. The development of each of the characters, not just the protagonists, is a highlight for me. Additionally, her choice of location, as always, is perfect for a love story.

Choosing my favourite Emily Henry book is an insurmountable challenge. But if I were to pick one to start reading from the beginning the minute I reach the end, it would be Happy Place.

I don't think Emily Henry knows how to write a non-hitter. Every time I have the pleasure of reading her books, I'm almost certain that I'll enjoy them. And this one was no different.

Emily Henry pulled at our heartstrings with an amazing story about love and friendship. I loved the enemies to lovers trope that tied seamlessly into the second chance romance. I loved not only Harriet and Wyn, but the whole crew. I loved watching them navigate the intricacies of adult friendships and chosen families.

Unlike Henry's other books, I read this one slowly. Not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I wanted to take it all in and feel all the feelings.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Harriet has headed to Maine for her annual getaway with her college besties, Sabrina and Cleo, and their partners. She is surprised to find her ex Wyn there too and now they are sharing a bedroom. Because Harriet and Wyn haven’t told their friends that they broke up months ago, and that their engagement is off.
Everyone just thinks that Wyn has been back in Montana caring for his mother who has Parkinson’s and Harriet has been hectic with her surgical residency at a San Franciscan hospital.
Now with her family’s summer cottage being sold, Sabrina plans to mark the occasion by getting married there first. So Harriet doesn’t want to ruin the moment by announcing her own separation. So can Harriet and Wyn act like they are still together?
The present story is punctuated with episodes where Harriet recalls some of her happy places, shared with her friends and Wyn. It was a nifty way to reveal how the main characters fell in love and the trajectory of their relationship. I initially found the back and forth a bit disjointed but stick with it for a melancholic romance. For those who find reading an Emily Henry book is their happy place, I’m sure you’ll love it.

A fun novel that brought in friendship and family as well as romance. The main characters are placed in a sticky situation that needs to be resolved without breaking anyone's hearts in the process and Emily Henry is a good writer who you know will keep things working OK. Depth is provided by the flashbacks between Harriet's happy place and real life, and you hope the two will eventually come together again.

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Except, now they don't.

Now they are placed in a really difficult situation as they spend a week with their closest friends who don't know that they've split up. I am a huge fan of Emily Henry books and this book was a happy place to spend some hours devouring.

Yikes, for a while there I really thought I wasn't going to like a story from a favourite author of mine!

There was so much non-communication from both the romantic leads and the bigger friendship group that is was frustrating to read. Plus the behaviour from all the characters read like they were all still in university.

Eventually though the partying stopped and the secrets started to come out and this is where the story shined. Insecurites from family dynamics, depression, and grief were topics that were handled thoughtfully and with heart. I found myself tearing up a few times.

Once everyone started communicating this finally became the Emily Henry I know and love, but it was a little too late for me to truly love the book.

Loved it! Read it over 2 nights because it is just so easy to read. It's got a lot of the classic romantic tropes thrown in and it has that same witty banter that makes Emily Henry books so bingeable. I found myself smiling stupidly at my kindle at times. The two lead characters are cute, and yes the lack of communication at times was stressful for me, I mean for the love of God people, just talk to each other, I get that that is what creates the drama in a romance book, and so I can turn a blind eye and read on.

This one also has a great friend group, that I'm not sure was in the other 2 of hers that I've read. Think the cast of Friends or How I Met Your Mother (although maybe not that iconic). I loved them - the shared holiday in their Happy Place and the acknowledgement of the importance of communication and honesty between our friends as well as our lovers.

Overall, a fun, easy, enjoyable read. I think I need to read Book Lovers soon.

By now, Emily Henry has become a must read author for me, so I was beyond excited when back in December 2022 I was given the opportunity to get an ARC of “Happy Place”, one of my most anticipated 2023 releases 🥹

The way Emily Henry never fails (well, for me it failed once, but I choose to ignore that one) to give us a romance that goes beyond the romantic relationship and always tackles different subjects that we all in a way or another have or will experience throughout our lives, never ceases to amaze me. With “Happy Place” I felt that Henry was trying to answer the age old question of how relationships evolve over time, and how those relationship (wether romantic, friendship, family) can impact you and others around you. Comparing it to her previous books, this one is not a rom-com. “Happy Place” is a more mature, melancholy and at times even angsty story, that focus equally on romance, self-growth and friendship - it’s like she merged “Book Lovers” with “Beach Read”.

The story alternates between chapters called “Happy place” (the past) and “Real life” (the present), and we follow our MC, Harriet, throughout the past and present until the two narratives merge. I usually don’t appreciate going back and forward in time, because I get confused very easily, but in this book this was so beautifully made and it really helps you get things in perspective and to evolve and grow alongside Harriet. Don’t be fooled by the title, because this is not a happy fluffy romance book, but it’s a transformative and blossoming story of so many relationships, which to me it’s just the perfect book for spring time!

I’d like to profusely thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing a copy with me in exchange for my honest review 🖤

I did not actually enjoy this one as much as the previous book I'd read by this author. I think that's mostly down to personal taste, however, given I can't really imagine myself getting back together with someone who has broken up with me in the past.

Harriet is basically a wreck when we meet her. Six months ago, Wyn broke her heart in a four minute conversation over the phone. She hasn't spoken to him since, not even when he posted her stuff back to her without a note. And she hasn't told their mutual group of friends that they've had since college.

Then Sabrina invites them all on a trip. Harriet just thinks that it's her and their other best friend Cleo, but all the partners are invited and then, when they arrive, surprise! It's a wedding celebration for Sabrina and her partner.

Within this holiday, we see the only one bed trope, a whole lot of pining, a little bit of arguing and the flashbacks that Emily Henry seems to favour so much in her writing. We come to understand why they broke up and also the vastly different home lives they each come from.

There was an aspect of mental health and Wyn being on anti depressants that I really liked being included in the story for rep, but it also didn't take up a whole bunch of room. Within the romance, there was also the conversation of potential friendship break ups as these guys have all known each other such a long time and with time also comes the possibility of people growing apart.

I think, had I liked the premise of this romance more, I would definitely have given it a higher rating.

Okay so, I should preface this by saying that I haven’t read any other Emily Henry books so I had no idea what to expect when NetGalley kindly sent this through to me as an ARC to read. Having seen very mixed reviews of the author online, I was a little nervous to start it if I’m honest…

But OKAY. so, I cried for the vast majority of this book. Not always actual tears, but my eyes were pretty much constantly welling. I can’t imagine how sad this situation would be in real life so when I say my heart ACHED, it’s no exaggeration.

Harriet is invited to her “happy place” with her best friends for a summer trip. This is the place she made memories, met the love of her life (Wyn) and finally found somewhere that felt like home to her. The difficult thing about this trip is that, unknown to her friends, her fiancé Wyn had actually broken up with her several months ago. So when her friends surprise her by invite the guy that they believe is her fiancé, it’s not necessarily a good thing for her. How will this trip go? Will they reconcile? Will they finally tell their friends that they are over?

I could feel the love that they shared for each other with every page that I consumed. The tension between them had so many layers to it - yes of course there was sexual tension, but you just knew that there was more to the story than first meets the eye. The narrative flicks from past to present, telling the reader of Harriet’s life and then her life and love with Wyn, eventually culminating to right then and there when they have to make a decision. What will they do?

Beautifully written and broke my heart in ways I didn’t know it could. I’m actually really excited to read more of her books now.