Happy Place
by Emily Henry
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world.
Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone.
But the cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be here together. They can't bear to break their best friends' hearts so they'll fake it for one more week.
But how can you pretend to be in love - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best?
Author Biography
Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 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. - Penguin Random House
Booklist
Six months ago, when Harriet Kilpatrick and Wyn Connor broke up after being together for 10 years, they came up with a plan. From now on, only one of them would attend any future events hosted by their tight-knit circle of friends. So Harriet is more than bit surprised when she arrives in Knot's Harbor, Maine, for a vacation with her old college friends and finds Wyn there. But before Harriet can send him packing, he informs her that two of their friends, Sabrina and Parth, plan on getting married that week. Rather than ruin everything for them, Harriet and Wyn agree to pretend to still be together. What they both soon discover is that, while circumstances may necessitate a change to their plan, one thing that hasn't changed is their love for each other. Once again, Henry (Book Lovers, 2022) dazzles and delights by brilliantly deploying her considerable skills in comic timing and crafting characters with relatable, realistically messy lives. Effortlessly toggling between the present-day fauxmance playing out between her protagonists and the origins of their love a decade earlier, Happy Place is a romance that delivers on both style and substance.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: 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.
Publisher's Weekly
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. (Apr.)
Library Journal
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-fiancé 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
Kirkus
Exes pretend they're still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation. Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple--until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn't fully understand. They've been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families--in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. She's ready for a vacation at her happy place--the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group's last hurrah. Determined to make sure everyone has the perfect last trip, Harriet and Wyn resolve to fake their relationship for the week. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Harriet still has major feelings for Wyn--feelings that only get stronger as they pretend to be blissfully in love. 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. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Funny You Should Ask
by Elissa Sussman
Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned.
Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so...she says yes.
It Happened One Summer
by Tessa Bailey
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.
Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.
The Bromance Book Club
by Lyssa Kay Adams
The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
