Happy Place (Hardcover)
May 2023 Indie Next List
“Happy Place is absolute magic, bottled up and delivered in the form of saccharine summer days, happiness, teary moments, and newfound longing. Emily Henry is the master of the romance novel and Happy Place is her best one yet!”
— Robin Limeres, Phoenix Books Burlington, Burlington, VT
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
“The beach-read master hooks us again."—People
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by BuzzFeed ∙ Paste Magazine ∙ Elle ∙ Southern Living ∙ SheReads ∙ Culturess ∙ Medium ∙ Her Campus ∙ Readers Digest ∙ Zibby Mag and more!
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 new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
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?
“The beach-read master hooks us again."—People
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by BuzzFeed ∙ Paste Magazine ∙ Elle ∙ Southern Living ∙ SheReads ∙ Culturess ∙ Medium ∙ Her Campus ∙ Readers Digest ∙ Zibby Mag and more!
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 new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
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?
Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @emilyhenrywrites.
"Henry's new novel is a slow-burn romance and an ode to the chosen family we need when everything gets too complicated...The beach-read master hooks us again."
—People
“Blur[s] the lines between women’s and literary-leaning commercial fiction, departing from the fantasy spaces of bodice rippers and misty moors to depict a world that looks a lot more like, well, our own…Henry operates at the top of her—and her readers’—intelligence, telling sophisticated, heartfelt stories that are conscious of the romantic comedy conventions without being overly meta about them…Henry’s dedicated readers know what to expect: wit, charm and heart, satisfying to the last page.”
—The Washington Post
“With tender insight and quick wit, Henry delivers prosecco and sea breezes alongside startling mediations on friendship, loss, and adulthood.”
—Oprah Quarterly
"Just in time for summer, Henry's latest rom-com is a charming, heartwarming read about second-chance romance."
—USA Today
“Here she is at last, a reigning queen of beach reads…Henry returns with another of her surefire-hit romantic comedies this spring, this one about a forced-proximity fake relationship…Expect to see it on vacationers’ Instagram feeds all summer long, and deservedly so.”
—Elle
“For the last couple of years, Emily Henry has been the queen of romance novels, and that is not changing any time soon.”
—Cosmopolitan
“The queen of beach reads."
—The Hollywood Reporter
"Another knock-out from the champ. The woman doesn't miss."
—Taylor Jenkins-Reid
"Emily Henry has done it again! Happy Place is a dazzling, poignant love story about the people and places our hearts call home. Bursting with warmth and wit, this unforgettable romance is one more reason my happy place is an Emily Henry book."
—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake
“This has the makings of a rom-com classic.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This sexy and profoundly romantic novel will satisfy fans of best-selling Henry’s thrilling trademark mix of witty banter and intensely emotional storylines.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Henry's novels are sparkling bestsellers, and her newest will be an immense draw for her fans and every reader looking for a stellar romance.”
—Booklist (starred review)
"As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions. A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.”
—Kirkus
“Happy Place proves that Henry is a writer with “no skips,” her oeuvre as expertly crafted as a perfect summer playlist.”
—Bookpage (starred review)
"If you're looking for a magical second-chance romance that will make your heart ache and read compulsively to find out what happened to the perfect couple (and whether they'll get their happily ever after), then Happy Place is sure to keep you up all night!"
—The Nerd Daily
"...no matter how large your TBR list is, Happy Place by Emily Henry needs to be on it."
—The Everygirl
"Alternating between past and present, Henry crafts a tender, bittersweet story about the bonds that help define us and the inevitability of change."
—The Washington Independent Review of Books
—People
“Blur[s] the lines between women’s and literary-leaning commercial fiction, departing from the fantasy spaces of bodice rippers and misty moors to depict a world that looks a lot more like, well, our own…Henry operates at the top of her—and her readers’—intelligence, telling sophisticated, heartfelt stories that are conscious of the romantic comedy conventions without being overly meta about them…Henry’s dedicated readers know what to expect: wit, charm and heart, satisfying to the last page.”
—The Washington Post
“With tender insight and quick wit, Henry delivers prosecco and sea breezes alongside startling mediations on friendship, loss, and adulthood.”
—Oprah Quarterly
"Just in time for summer, Henry's latest rom-com is a charming, heartwarming read about second-chance romance."
—USA Today
“Here she is at last, a reigning queen of beach reads…Henry returns with another of her surefire-hit romantic comedies this spring, this one about a forced-proximity fake relationship…Expect to see it on vacationers’ Instagram feeds all summer long, and deservedly so.”
—Elle
“For the last couple of years, Emily Henry has been the queen of romance novels, and that is not changing any time soon.”
—Cosmopolitan
“The queen of beach reads."
—The Hollywood Reporter
"Another knock-out from the champ. The woman doesn't miss."
—Taylor Jenkins-Reid
"Emily Henry has done it again! Happy Place is a dazzling, poignant love story about the people and places our hearts call home. Bursting with warmth and wit, this unforgettable romance is one more reason my happy place is an Emily Henry book."
—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake
“This has the makings of a rom-com classic.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This sexy and profoundly romantic novel will satisfy fans of best-selling Henry’s thrilling trademark mix of witty banter and intensely emotional storylines.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Henry's novels are sparkling bestsellers, and her newest will be an immense draw for her fans and every reader looking for a stellar romance.”
—Booklist (starred review)
"As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions. A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.”
—Kirkus
“Happy Place proves that Henry is a writer with “no skips,” her oeuvre as expertly crafted as a perfect summer playlist.”
—Bookpage (starred review)
"If you're looking for a magical second-chance romance that will make your heart ache and read compulsively to find out what happened to the perfect couple (and whether they'll get their happily ever after), then Happy Place is sure to keep you up all night!"
—The Nerd Daily
"...no matter how large your TBR list is, Happy Place by Emily Henry needs to be on it."
—The Everygirl
"Alternating between past and present, Henry crafts a tender, bittersweet story about the bonds that help define us and the inevitability of change."
—The Washington Independent Review of Books