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Happy place
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2023
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Happy Place
Rating:0 stars
Publication date:2023

Description:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
“The beach-read master hooks us again."—People
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?
Reviews:

Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from January 16, 2023
Exes must pretend they’re still together in this delightful Summery rom-com from bestseller Henry (Book Lovers). Burned out surgical resident Harriet Kilpatrick is eager for a relaxing weeklong getaway with her tight-knit friend group at the remote Maine beach cottage they’ve frequented. Then she arrives and discovers that Wyn Connor will also be there for the week. Wyn and Harriet were the perfect couple in college, and then the perfect fiancés, but they broke up six months ago and have yet to tell their friends. With the cottage up for sale, Harriet is determined not to ruin the gang’s last summer getaway, meaning she and Wyn must pretend to be happily in love. It’s awkward at first—compounded by the fact that, of course, there’s only one bed for the two of them—but soon they fall back into a familiar dynamic and old flames reignite. The chemistry between Wyn and Harriet is addictive, and both display some refreshing vulnerability. The lovable friend group, unusual but welcome in a Henry novel, help push the narrative forward and provide plenty of wit. This has the makings of a rom-com classic. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary.

AudioFile Magazine
Narrator Julia Whelan's nuanced performance complements this heartfelt story. Every year a group of friends has vacationed together at a cottage in Maine. Now the couples are moving into big life decisions--except for Harriet and Wyn. They broke up months ago, but they can't bear to tell the others on the last trip before the cottage is sold, so they pretend they're still together. For every fun, nostalgic activity, there's a tremendous amount of emotion and tension that make their pretense heartbreaking. Whelan gives a distinct voice to each person, enhancing the affectionate banter among the witty pals. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Library Journal

June 1, 2023

Heartbroken and exhausted, Harriet is excited to escape her life for a week and go to her happy place, an annual summer trip to Maine with her college besties. This will be the first trip without her ex-fianc� Wyn, and she is nervous about telling their close-knit friends about the breakup and the effect it may have on the group. Things get tricky when she arrives--Wyn is there, and owing to unforeseen circumstances, they must pretend they're still together. Henry (Book Lovers) is back with another layered romance that explores the transition from one's carefree early twenties into adulthood. Well-versed in Henry's worlds, narrator Julia Whelan perfectly encapsulates Harriet and Wyn and skillfully builds tension through her portrayal of their complicated feelings toward each other. A seasoned narrator, Whelan slips expertly into each side character with just the slightest adjustment to her tone, leaving listeners entranced. VERDICT Henry's fans will be pleased with this tale of friendship, found family, grief, and growing up. A superb collaboration between a writer and narrator, both at the top of their game.--Laura Hammond

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Good Reading Magazine
If you love novels where unresolved sexual tension drives the plot, Emily Henry’s new book, Happy Place, will sate your appetite. Take two people with enough mutual chemistry to blow up a laboratory, confront them with escalating dilemmas, and hang on for the ride. Henry, a New York Times bestselling author, has parlayed the thwarted love formula into a string of three previously wildly successful books. Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since college, the envy of everyone. Six months ago, for undisclosed reasons, they broke up, but haven’t told a soul. Especially not the close-knit group of friends with whom, for the past decade, they’ve enjoyed a week’s party-fest in a quaint Maine cottage. But the cottage has been sold and this year will be the last hurrah. Determined not to put a dampener on proceedings, Harriet and Wyn agree to fake it, pretending togetherness while inwardly seething. Uncoupled they may be, but their hearts and bodies say otherwise, so when they’re allocated the honeymoon suite, complete with double shower, the game becomes a test of nerves and hormones. The style is clever and contemporary, the characters witty, pretty and engaging and the setting enviably gorgeous. But it’s not all froth. Henry probes psyches as well as libidos, showing how the woes of the lovelorn are often provoked by cuts and thrusts first sustained in the crucible of childhood. Emily Henry shows us that mastering love depends as much on conquering fear, anxiety and self-doubt, as it does on being clever, beautiful and witty. Happy endings are non-negotiable in Henry novels, but predictability doesn’t dampen the sizzle. Reviewed by Anne Green ABOUT THE AUTHOR Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites. Visit Emily Henry's website
BookPage
In Happy Place, New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry returns with a tender contemporary romance full of vulnerability, growth and love. Every year for the last decade, college sweethearts-turned-engaged couple Harriet and Wyn have joined their friends at a cottage in Maine for a weeklong getaway. It’s something they’ve always looked forward to—but not this year. Because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago, and they haven’t told their friends yet. Uncertain of how the group will take the news, they don’t want a cloud hanging over their very last trip to the cottage, which is going up for sale. For a whole week, Harriet and Wyn must play the part of a couple in love to preserve their ruse, including sharing the cozy master bedroom. As the vacation plays out, Harriet and Wyn get over their initial nervousness and fall back into sweet little routines and playful banter as their passion for each other resurfaces. The trip might be just what Harriet and Wyn need to find each other again. Happy Place feels very much like the Henry that fans have come to adore through rom-coms such as People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers, but this time with the added complexity of a larger cast. Harriet and Wyn’s coupledom is one of the foundations of their close-knit friend group, and Henry illustrates the benefits and challenges of being in a relationship that’s also a vital part of a community. Happy Place also makes room to explore one of Henry’s perennial concerns: how women internalize misogyny and societal pressures. Harriet is an overworked surgical resident, and her aversion to causing waves and speaking up about her own wants, needs and limits has pushed her to a breaking point. Her placative nature leads her to stew in her own stress, constantly pushing things down and never relieving her simmering anxiety. In addition to regaining her connection with Wyn, the week at the cottage teaches Harriet that her problems—whether romantic, professional or emotional—don’t have to be shouldered alone. Harriet and Wyn’s chemistry is effervescent, bubbling up each time they remember how and why they fell in love in the first place. They’re the perfect combination of sweet, sexy and silly, and it’s obvious why everyone (including, eventually and undoubtedly, the reader) is rooting for their happily ever after. Happy Place proves that Henry is a writer with “no skips,” her oeuvre as expertly crafted as a perfect summer playlist.
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