Happy Place

Emily Henry's latest, Happy Place, is another book that could be considered a beach read. (The meat of the novel doesn't crop up until nearly the end of the novel.) As such, I started to listen to this one at the beach. It was a great novel to listen to as I was at my happy place.

Harriet's story is told from "real life" and her "happy place," with her happy place being mostly an over-the-top beach "cabin" on the coast in Maine where Harriet and her two college roommates have spent a week every summer. for over 10 years  Over the years, romantic partners are included. The "cabin" is owned by Sabrina's father. His wife #3 (or was it wife #4) thinks it's time that he sells the "cabin" so this is the last summer trip the college roommates will be able to enjoy.

Harriet's happy place becomes a bit less happy (understatement) when she spots her former fiancé, Wyn, at the cabin. What is he doing there? Harriet hasn't told anyone that she and Wyn have broken up. Because this will be the final week at the cabin, the couple decides to pretend that they are still together, as to not ruin the weekend.

The first 90% of the novel is pure fluff, some of it a bit repetitive. And you start to wonder how someone who was able to make it through medical school (Harriet is in a residency in her quest to become a brain surgeon) is so flighty and wishy-washy. For me, the end of the novel, when we really figure out what's going on with Harriet and Wyn, that's where there's some real substance with an important message. A message that gave me satisfaction to hear.

If you like Emily Henry, you should enjoy her latest.

 

Book Lovers

How could a book lover who also loves Hallmark movies not love Emily Henry's latest, Book Lovers?

After my last finish (The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle), I needed a book that was going to captivate me and that I'd be able to tear through. Book Lovers was that book. 

Emily Henry starts the novel with her character talking about Hallmark movies. I was hooked! And truly, the plot of the novel could easily be a Hallmark movie. Nora is an intense book agent in NYC. She's very cutthroat, her clients love her for what she can achieve, but they call her "the shark" behind her back. The only relationship she is able to hold on to is with her younger sister, Libby, and her sister's family.

She approaches Charlie, a NYC editor, to see if he'd be interested in a novel by one of her hot authors. Charlie is not interested in that at all. He thought the author's last novel was terrible. And their meeting did not go well at all.

Story then jumps ahead a few years. Libby is pregnant with her 3rd child and needs a little break before the baby comes. She invites - coerces - Nora to accompany her to Sunshine Falls, NC, the setting of one of the novels that Nora represented. The one that Charlie seemed to hate. Libby has a list of things that Nora needs to accomplish on this month-long getaway. Silly things like wearing a flannel shirt, dating a local, riding a horse. Silly things like that.

It's Nora and Libby's first morning in NC. Libby is being a pregnant slug so Nora walks into town and who does she spy in the coffee shop but a guy who looks exactly like Charlie. What do you know? It IS Charlie! They get thrown together repeatedly. The banter between these two main characters is what makes the book so enjoyable. It is just such smart, witty banter. And they can read each other like a book!

I really enjoyed Beach Read. Enjoyed People You Meet on Vacation even more. I loved Book Lovers. If I need a little break from heavier reading and Emily Henry has a new romance novel out, that is what I will choose to read. Highly recommend.

 

Vacation Read 1: People We Meet on Vacation

Doesn't People We Meet on Vacation sound like a great book to read on vacation? It was, even if Emily Henry's newest novel, People We Meet on Vacation, wasn't as much as the people that you meet on vacation. More about  the people you go on vacation with.

Poppy and Alex meet on the first day of college. They're coincidentally from the same small town. The two of them couldn't have been more opposite. Then... on the last day of freshman year, the driver that Poppy was sharing a ride home with was none other than Alex. They connected on the ride home and spent time over the summer vacation together.

Poppy has never felt at home in their small town which probably contributed to her strong sense of wanderlust. She convinces Alex to go on vacation with her. And that starts a new tradition. Every summer after, the two of them go on vacation together. They travel on the cheap until Poppy gets her dream job as a travel writer. She actually gets paid to "go on vacation." Then she's able to treat Alex to a great trip on her job. For a few more years. Until things get weird between the two of them and the summer vacations end.

She's got her dream job, living in her dream city, but she's just not happy. Her best friend, Rachel, asks her what she felt was missing in her life that used to make her happy. She realizes that without the possibility of a summer vacation with Alex, that's what she is lacking. Out of the blue, she texts him and asks him if he's free to go away for a few days. I'll spare you the rest of the story.

I loved reading about some of the adventures that Poppy and Alex had on their trips. There's a loose reference to the title when Poppy is able to be whomever she wants to be while on vacation. Almost like a character. And as much as she loves seeing new places, she loves the interactions that she has with people while she's traveling. I'm not much of a romance novel reader so this whole creating a new persona to interact with people you're going to meet was my favorite part of the novel.

I read Henry's novel, Beach Read, in October. Of the two, I preferred People We Meet on Vacation.
 

Okay, let me get this off my chest straightaway. Beach Read, the title, the cover, totally misleading! I knew from reading the summaries that Emily Henry's Beach Read was about two writers, each suffering from writer's block. That's why I picked up the book. I thought the fact that the setting was a beach was going to be a bonus. I love the beach. I love reading about the beach. This novel had so few references to the beach and almost no scenes that took place on the beach. Like I said, totally misleading.

I'm not a romance reader, typically, unless the romance is between a divorced mother of three or an older woman. But Beach Read was the right book for  the right time for me. Just how many tell all political books can one person read in a row. I enjoyed the snarking repartee between January and Augustus. I enjoyed the friendship between January and Shadi. I wouldn't say I really cared about the characters, but I was curious about them and how they ended up where they were at the start of the story. This was an easy, comfortable read.

Now I can get back to reading something a bit more serious.