Happy Place
Emily Henry, 2023
Three college friends, one Maine cottage, and a narrator carrying a secret through the happiest week of the year. Warm, witty and a little wistful, it moves at an easy summer pace while friendship and longing hum underneath.
Feels like wonder and longing. About friendship, love and time.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy contemporary romance centered on a tight friend group and a shared Maine cottage. The narrator carries a secret through the week, so if you want it disclosed early, the withholding may feel slow.
Why read it
It gives you a warm, witty story about friendship and love, with a Maine cottage setting that makes for an easy escape.
A page from the book
How a friendship quietly becomes the person you can't unlove.
He’s become my best friend the way the others did. Bit by bit, sand passing through an hour glass so slowly, it’s impossible to pin down the moment it happens. When suddenly, more of my heart belongs to him than doesn’t, and I know I’ll never get a single grain back. Emily Henry.Happy Place debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list; Henry wrote several YA novels before her adult romances.
Books that feel like this
More by Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry, 2021
Two best friends who vacation together every summer have one last trip to fix what went wrong between them—and decide what they are.
Beach Read
Emily Henry, 2020
A romance novelist who has stopped believing in love inherits a lakeside cottage, a literary rival next door, and one summer to write a book she doesn't want to.
Funny Story
Emily Henry, 2024
When her fiancé leaves her for his childhood best friend, a librarian moves in with the other person left behind and tries to rebuild.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Happy Place for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy contemporary romance centered on a tight friend group and a shared Maine cottage. The narrator carries a secret through the week, so if you want it disclosed early, the withholding may feel slow.
- What is Happy Place like?
- Warm, witty and a little wistful, it moves at an easy summer pace while friendship and longing hum underneath. Feels like wonder and longing. About friendship, love and time.
- What should I read after Happy Place?
- If you liked Happy Place, try House of Flame and Shadow (Sarah J. Maas), The Summer of Broken Rules (K.L. Walther) and The Mistake (Elle Kennedy).
A taste of the feed
What would you promise if this life were not the last one?
I love you. I fell in love with you in the depths of my soul, and it’s my soul that will find yours again in the next life.
House of Flame and Shadow · Sarah J. Maas
What you say when a perfect week is almost over.
Let’s pretend that time doesn’t exist. Let’s pretend that this week isn’t ending. Let’s pretend that we will always be us—happy, sunburnt, and tangled up together.
The Summer of Broken Rules · K.L. Walther
When someone’s timing is both reckless and perfect.
What are you doing?” I whisper. “Well, you were looking at me like you wanted me to kiss you.” His blue eyes become heavy-lidded. “So I was thinking I might do that.
The Mistake · Elle Kennedy
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