Every one of Emily Henry's books captivates me in different ways, and Great Big Beautiful Life was just simply amazing!
There is Grumpy/Sunshine in the mix, but so, SO much more in the story.
Alice is a journalist who has finally been given a chance to stretch her writing muscles on a story that is close to her heart.
Hayden is a Pulitzer prize willing writer looking to fill the gap he's feeling after writing a biography that took his whole being to write.
She's full of the light of life, finding the silver linings in all situations.
He's - well - grump. Unapproachable, gruff, rude. And hot.
The story finds both of them competing in a month-long interview to see who will be granted permission to write the biography for Margaret Ives, the infamous, reclusive heiress to the tabloid conglomerate built by the Ives family.
The story is mostly told from Alice's POV, with a subtle dual timeline that takes us back to Margaret's past. We learn so much about all three main characters, and in between, the simmering chemistry between Alice and Hayden bubbles along in true Henry style.
There is love, loss, grief, tragedy, scandal, and an unexpected twist at the end, which brings about pain and healing all at once.
I LOVED this book.
I think this might be her best, yet, and my favourite Emily Henry read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC.

Every time I sit down with a new Emily Henry book, I ask myself "can this one really be even better than the last?" And the answer is always, no matter what, yes. With a Great Big Beautiful Life, she has certainly done it again. This is a story about love, what it means to love and to be loved, whether familial or romantic, and what really matters in our little time here on the planet. It's about lies, but mostly truth, and about how those things don't always even matter as much as you think they do.
It is not just a five star read, but ten or a hundred. It's my heart, hurting and still mending.

4.9 Stars

Alice + Hayden

Alice is a journalist. Writing articles for a magazine. But she wants to write something amazing ...something her mom could be proud of.
That's where the legendary Ives family comes into the picture. The super famous and glamorous last living Ives - Margaret - has been hiding away from the public for over 20 years. And Alice found her! Living on a small island in Georgia.
Margaret agrees to being interviewed for a book. Only problem... Alice is not the only one who wants the job.
Grumpy hot Pulitzer winner Hayden is here too and they have a month to convince Margaret to pick the right Author.
Let the fun times begin...

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Adorable!

I loved this!

Alice has been a fan of Margaret and her late rock star husband since she was a little girl. Her dad was a fan and she grew up listening to the music and the stories.
And now she finally has the chance to write something meaningful and super exclusive. But there's this annoying other guy - who we of course find very attractive and interesting.
I loved them together. He's so adorably grumpy and she is so the opposite.
I usually don't like it when a side story is told in my books. I want to concentrate on my romance and my two darlings. But this book has just enough about Margaret Ives' life that we want even more. More of her, but of course also more about Alice and Hayden. It was the perfect mix of all the stories and I still wanted more! It was all so interesting and exciting and heartbreaking and mysterious and you just have to know how it all ends - Margaret, Alice and Hayden.
I loved reading this. Amazing cast, amazing location. Well, almost - I could've done without the super humid summer heat - I was sweating just reading about it!

I need to see this as a movie one day!

► GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE was such a sweet and sparky and heartbreaking and mysterious and exciting love and life story. Run to your nearest book dealer for your own Hayden - he'll be sold out in no time!

Emily Henry just keeps getting better.

Great Big Beautiful Life is her most ambitious romance yet, with a dual timeline that spans generations, and twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. Although the memoir element was something different for Emily Henry, it slotted perfectly into the romance alongside Alice and Hayden’s incredible chemistry.

This is a book about the importance of writing and telling stories, written by someone who’s clearly so passionate about writing and telling stories. I would recommend for everyone, but especially fans of Beach Read.

This is very different from everything Emily Henry's ever written...

Great Big Beautiful Life centres around Alice, a journalist who follows a lead and finds Margaret Ives, the heiress of a very important family and a tabloid princess in her youth, hidden away in a small town. Margaret wants to write a book telling her and her family's story and offers a month-long trial to Alice and Hayden, a Pulitzer-winning journalist who is also in town vying for the job. During this month, the two alternate days interviewing Margaret and getting to know each other.

Great Big Beautiful Life caught me by surprise. It's a big departure from Emily Henry's other books; it feels like a Taylor Jenkins Read-esque novel. I adored Alice and Hayden's connection and love; their relationship grew through so much trust and dialogue and it was amazing to watch it develop. However, I have to say Margaret's story didn't really catch my attention; I kept pushing through her story to get back to the moments between the couple, as it was not my favourite part of the book. It felt like there wasn't space to connect with Margaret; her story felt distant.

Fans of Emily Henry's novels might be surprised by this one, but if you also like Taylor Jenkins Read's novels, especially The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, this might be a good one for you.

Thank you very much to Viking UK and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

Something about Emily Henry's books always gives me a sense of déjà vu. It's this almost nostalgic feeling of reading a new-to-you book that feels so familiar. It makes for a really comforting reading experience.

It's hard to explain, but Great Big Beautiful Life gave me that feeling and at the same time kept me on the edge of my seat. It's very different from Emily Henry's other romances, because there's more of a plot outside of the romance. We delve into a famous family's secret-filled history, and the more we unravel, the more compelling the story becomes.

The way Emily Henry combines her signature romance that we've come to know and love with all these unravelling family secrets that keep your eyes glued to the page is so impressive to me. Both the romance and the family history get all the attention and depth they deserve. This is still very clearly a romance novel, and such a good one too, and I felt absolutely consumed by the romance and how much I loved Hayden. But the family history adds so much to this story, it all just clicks together in a way that makes so much sense.

Emily Henry has done it again! Absolutely adored this story and the writing. She has become an auto-buy author for me since I read Beach Read a few years ago, and while I’ve loved all her books, none of them have surpassed that first read as my favourite of hers - until now. I devoured this book within 24 hours - it made me feel, laugh and cry. The storyline was paced really well and kept me engaged throughout. The romance of it all was a highlight but didn’t overly dominate or feel unrealistic. I was truly rooting for Alice and Hayden and enjoyed getting to know them both. I loved the overall plot and the elements of mystery which came from Margaret’s story. The way it was depicted worked really well in the book and I thought helped everything unfold perfectly. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m so glad to say it deserves all the stars, highly recommend!

Margrete Ives, a tragic heiress, tabloid princess and daughter of one of the most storied families of the 20th century. She’s ready to tell her story but needs help putting it into words. That’s where Alice and Hayden come into the picture. Margret is a tough nut to crack but she has a month to figure out what she’s hiding. So the only thing standing between Alice getting her big break is big break is Hayden. Giving into their attraction isn’t an option.

Emily Henry is an incredible author and I’m sure this book will be loved by many readers. But I’m not one of them this time around. Hear me out.

The story centers around the mcs competing for the opportunity to write a biography. They sign NDAs which makes it difficult for them to open up and get to know one another. And the other thing I struggled with was the change between present and Martha’s story.

That aside there are plenty of things I liked too. The setting is lovely, the mcs reconnecting with their families (especially Alice and her mother) and the mystery that is Martha Ives. She’s a memorable character with an interesting story to tell. Even though it’s not as interesting as Evelyn Hugo’s, if you know you know.

My expectations were high and unfortunately I didn’t end up loving this one. Although I encourage everyone to create their own opinion and look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks about it.

Read this if you like
📖Workplace romance
🔥Slow burn
🧡Rivals to lovers
🏝️Small town

Another smash from Emily Henry… How does she keep doing it?! I loved this book from beginning to end. The theme of truth and deception threaded throughout, with some sections of the book written in third person, was new and different for this author - but it worked brilliantly, almost turning this novel into a romance-slash-mystery. Twistier than EmHen’s usual fare, this book contained a couple of surprises. One, I saw coming, while the other I did NOT see coming! Overall, another smart, sexy, sure-to-be hit that I’ll heartily recommend.

The first thing that is immediately noticeable with Great Big Beautiful Life is that it's different from Henry's previous works. This story leans equally into women's fiction, and romance - the romance between Alice and Hayden exists in parallel to the compelling and prominent Ives family saga.
There is no lack of depiction of love in GBBL. Through the family saga of Margaret Ives, we witness the kinds of love (and lack of) that span multiple generations of a family, and outside of that, we see how Alice and Hayden gravitate towards each other, linked through this biography they are competing to write.
And in signature Emily Henry manner, the love story between Alice and Hayden packs a punch: those pages are filled with conversations that are ripe with tension, and yearning for a love that's absolutely undeniable.
I loved both parts of this story: the Ives family story which made me feel transported, and the romance that naturally unfurled between Alice and Hayden.
Sidenote: the love confession made me tear up. Hayden, especially, because he was so very much his no-nonsense, blunt, honest self, that I melted.

Thank you to Viking Books UK for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

An interesting read, Alice and Hayden are drawn together as the are both given the chance to write the story of Margaret Ives a reclusive heiress but which one will she choose and is she really telling them the truth. I love novels like these where they go back and you learn the history there are so many layers to uncover and this one doesn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it