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?

Book Type:

Romantic Comedy

Review: Happy Place

Ex-fiancés pretend to be together during their annual vacation with their best friends—in Emily Henry’s HAPPY PLACE.

Ever since they met in college, Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple—until recently, when Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she stills struggles to understand. With fears the news will forever alter their group dynamic, they’ve kept it secret for months. Harriet is determined to break the news during their annual vacation to Maine—her happy place brimming with memories of times past. But when she arrives, Wyn is there too, and other surprises upend everything she’d planned.

What’s clear is that Harriet and Wyn can’t say a word, even if they must share a bedroom and pretend to be together.  The dynamic between friends feels fraught with fragility, heavy with words unsaid, and emotions kept hidden from each other. It’s more important than ever that this week together be perfect, despite how painful it is for Harriet to be with the man she still loves.

As days tick by, that fragility buckles under the weight of intensifying uncomfortable moments, revealing just how estranged they’ve all become, and just how much they’ve all been keeping from each other. Harriet and Wyn can’t help but be drawn to each other, rousing more questions on the reasons for their breakup, and more importantly their future.

HAPPY PLACE imparts a heartwarming and relatable story about friends and lovers, and the growing pains that challenge the longevity of those relationships. Rich with whip-smart banter, emotion, and nostalgia, Emily Henry once again delivers an unputdownable story told in her brilliantly singular way. It’s wonderful.

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