Emily Henry does it again, making me think deeply about my own life and desires and hang-ups and relationships through this trope-filled novel (friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, soul mates). I won't say she transcends the tropes or the romance genre because I think that's a backhanded compliment, an insult to the genre. Henry writes within the romance genre with so much warmth, humor, and thoughtfulness that it invited me to consider my own life and choices, and to better understand others - just what I want from any good book. (read less)

Emily Henry does it again, making me think deeply about my own life and desires and hang-ups and relationships through this trope-filled novel (friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, soul mates). I won't say she transcends the tropes or the romance genre because I think that's a backhanded compliment, an insult to the genre. Henry writes within the romance genre with so much warmth, humor, (read more)

Alex and Poppy have been unlikely best friends since they met their first year of university and no matter where they were in their lives, they always met up for their annual summer trip. Until two years ago when poor choices were made and they drifted apart. Now, Poppy is feeling a bit stuck in her life and when a friend asks her about the last time she was truly happy, she realizes it was on all those trips with Alex. On a whim she reaches out and to her surprise he agrees to join her on a one-week trip. Poppy plans to make sure this is the perfect trip to remind Alex of just how great their friendship is so they can go back to how things were. But everything keeps going wrong and the more time Alex and Poppy spend together the more the prospect of how things were dims when up against the potential for them to be so much more. A cute friends to lovers romance with plenty of humour and a dash of wanderlust. In the additional material included in the edition I read, Henry notes that she didn't intentionally write this novel as an homage to When Harry Met Sally but that her love for the Ephron film definitely seeps in. And I can definitely see it as Alex and Poppy are unlikely friends who are somehow the perfect match. I also appreciated how Henry let her characters grow and that part of the final big conflict was waiting for them to grow enough to be prepared for a real relationship. Plus Henry manages to craft an extra happy happy ending that gave me a lot of feels. While it won't nudge my favourite Emily Henry novels out of their current rankings, this was a good time. (read less)

Alex and Poppy have been unlikely best friends since they met their first year of university and no matter where they were in their lives, they always met up for their annual summer trip. Until two years ago when poor choices were made and they drifted apart. Now, Poppy is feeling a bit stuck in her life and when a friend asks her about the last time she was truly happy, she realizes it (read more)