Happy Place

 Book 30 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read on March 15

Happy Place by Emily Henry

published 2023

Summary (via the book jacket)

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college - they 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 from of those who know you best?

My Opinion

4 stars

I added this book to my 'to-read' list after seeing it in Booklist.  Pulling the bright pink book off the shelf at the library and deciding to read it on a rainy day was a perfect diversion.  I read it in a few hours.

I haven't been anti-romance/"chick lit" (ugh, the term) novels but I definitely wasn't drawn to them as much as I have been lately.  Similar to short stories getting me through the beginning of the pandemic, there is something comforting and soothing about getting lost in a story with a fairly guaranteed outcome.

But that's not discounting the journey.  I loved the characters and their dynamic, and the setting  (getting together for one last week before the place is sold and not wanting to rock the boat) was plausible enough.  All in all, a fun read.