Happy place

Six months ago, when Harriet Kilpatrick and Wyn Connor broke up after being together for 10 years, they came up with a plan. From now on, only one of them would attend any future events hosted by their tight-knit circle of friends. So Harriet is more than bit surprised when she arrives in Knot's Harbor, Maine, for a vacation with her old college friends and finds Wyn there. But before Harriet can send him packing, he informs her that two of their friends, Sabrina and Parth, plan on getting married that week. Rather than ruin everything for them, Harriet and Wyn agree to pretend to still be together. What they both soon discover is that, while circumstances may necessitate a change to their plan, one thing that hasn't changed is their love for each other. Once again, Henry (Book Lovers, 2022) dazzles and delights by brilliantly deploying her considerable skills in comic timing and crafting characters with relatable, realistically messy lives. Effortlessly toggling between the present-day fauxmance playing out between her protagonists and the origins of their love a decade earlier, Happy Place is a romance that delivers on both style and substance.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Henry's novels are sparkling bestsellers, and her newest will be an immense draw for her fans and every reader looking for a stellar romance.

Exes must pretend they're still together in this delightful Summery rom-com from bestseller Henry (Book Lovers). Burned out surgical resident Harriet Kilpatrick is eager for a relaxing weeklong getaway with her tight-knit friend group at the remote Maine beach cottage they've frequented. Then she arrives and discovers that Wyn Connor will also be there for the week. Wyn and Harriet were the perfect couple in college, and then the perfect fiancés, but they broke up six months ago and have yet to tell their friends. With the cottage up for sale, Harriet is determined not to ruin the gang's last summer getaway, meaning she and Wyn must pretend to be happily in love. It's awkward at first--compounded by the fact that, of course, there's only one bed for the two of them--but soon they fall back into a familiar dynamic and old flames reignite. The chemistry between Wyn and Harriet is addictive, and both display some refreshing vulnerability. The lovable friend group, unusual but welcome in a Henry novel, help push the narrative forward and provide plenty of wit. This has the makings of a rom-com classic. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Apr.)

Heartbroken and exhausted, Harriet is excited to escape her life for a week and go to her happy place, an annual summer trip to Maine with her college besties. This will be the first trip without her ex-fiancé Wyn, and she is nervous about telling their close-knit friends about the breakup and the effect it may have on the group. Things get tricky when she arrives--Wyn is there, and owing to unforeseen circumstances, they must pretend they're still together. Henry (Book Lovers) is back with another layered romance that explores the transition from one's carefree early twenties into adulthood. Well-versed in Henry's worlds, narrator Julia Whelan perfectly encapsulates Harriet and Wyn and skillfully builds tension through her portrayal of their complicated feelings toward each other. A seasoned narrator, Whelan slips expertly into each side character with just the slightest adjustment to her tone, leaving listeners entranced. VERDICT Henry's fans will be pleased with this tale of friendship, found family, grief, and growing up. A superb collaboration between a writer and narrator, both at the top of their game.--Laura Hammond

Exes pretend they're still together for the sake of their friends on their annual summer vacation. Wyn Connor and Harriet Kilpatrick were the perfect couple--until Wyn dumped Harriet for reasons she still doesn't fully understand. They've been part of the same boisterous friend group since college, and they know that their breakup will devastate the others and make things more than a little awkward. So they keep it a secret from their friends and families--in fact, Harriet barely even admits it to herself, focusing instead on her grueling hours as a surgical resident. She's ready for a vacation at her happy place--the Maine cottage she and her friends visit every summer. But (surprise!) Wyn is there too, and he and Harriet have to share a (very romantic) room and a bed. Telling the truth about their breakup is out of the question, because the cottage is up for sale, and this is the group's last hurrah. Determined to make sure everyone has the perfect last trip, Harriet and Wyn resolve to fake their relationship for the week. The problem with this plan, of course, is that Harriet still has major feelings for Wyn--feelings that only get stronger as they pretend to be blissfully in love. As always, Henry's dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet's relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions. A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Six months ago, when Harriet Kilpatrick and Wyn Connor broke up after being together for 10 years, they came up with a plan. From now on, only one of them would attend any future events hosted by their tight-knit circle of friends. So Harriet is more than bit surprised when she arrives in Knot's Harbor, Maine, for a vacation with her old college friends and finds Wyn there. But before Harriet can send him packing, he informs her that two of their friends, Sabrina and Parth, plan on getting married that week. Rather than ruin everything for them, Harriet and Wyn agree to pretend to still be together. What they both soon discover is that, while circumstances may necessitate a change to their plan, one thing that hasn't changed is their love for each other. Once again, Henry (Book Lovers, 2022) dazzles and delights by brilliantly deploying her considerable skills in comic timing and crafting characters with relatable, realistically messy lives. Effortlessly toggling between the present-day fauxmance playing out between her protagonists and the origins of their love a decade earlier, Happy Place is a romance that delivers on both style and substance.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Henry's novels are sparkling bestsellers, and her newest will be an immense draw for her fans and every reader looking for a stellar romance. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

In perennial New York Times best-selling Deveraux's My Heart Will Find You, a young woman stranded in Kansas City by the pandemic agrees to serve as caretaker for an isolated older man and finds a book in his library that leads to vibrant dreams of a life and love in the 1870s that could be real (125,000-copy first printing). Gray's Life and Other Love Songs, which tracks a Black family from the Great Migration to 1990s New York, opens with Ozro Armstead taking a walk on his 37th birthday when he inexplicably vanishes; following the LibraryReads pick The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls (60,000-copy first printing). Henry features the couple Harriet and Wyn, who aren't in a Happy Place; they have reluctantly broken up but agree to the pretense that they are still together for their annual getaway with best friends (750,000-copy first printing). Caterer Emma Jansen returns to the bulldozer-ready Long Island estate where she grew up as the estate manager's daughter and encounters both the family's grandson, whom she loved, and chauffeur's son Leo, her best buddy; just like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, hence Janowitz's title, The Audrey Hepburn Estate (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). Beloved author McCall Smith set out to solve The Enigma of Garlic as he revisits the residents of 44 Scotland Street, Edinburgh, with shenanigans set off by excitement over Big Lou and Fat Bob's wedding. Novak convenes three friends at The Seaside Library 20 years after a tragedy altered their lives—but not, it seems, their rediscovered commitment to one another (100,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). Susan Patterson (Big Words for Little Geniuses) and lyricist/librettist DiLallo are joined by mega-best-selling James Patterson with Things I Wish I Told My Mother, the story of a mother and daughter opening up to each other on a Paris vacation (150,000-copy first printing). Celebrated Southern author Smith returns with Silver Alert, featuring a curmudgeonly older man who refuses to let his life dim, instead setting off on a last glorious journey up the Florida Keys with a younger friend bearing secrets of her own (40,000-copy first printing). After the beloved best sellers Kitchens of the Great Midwest and The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Stradal stays Midwestern culinary with Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, featuring husband-and-wife Ned and Mariel Praeger and the crises they face regarding the Minnesota family restaurant businesses each has inherited (100,000-copy first printing).

Harriet is supposed to be in her happy place—she should be enjoying the annual trip to Maine with her beloved college friends. Instead, she's in a funk after her fiancé Wyn broke up with her with no explanation. He's an integral part of the friend group and the trip, so Harriet and Wyn decide to keep their news secret in order to not upset their friends. The vacation home they always stay at is for sale, so this may be their last summer there together, and the pressure is on to have one last perfect trip. Harriet and Wyn agree that to get through this vacation, they need to pretend the breakup never happened, and afterward they can go their separate ways. But their enduring love for each other keeps finding its way to the surface. Via alternating flashback and present-day chapters, readers get the full buildup of Wyn and Harriet's love story over years, making their relationship one to root for. VERDICT This sexy and profoundly romantic novel will satisfy fans of best-selling Henry's (Book Lovers) thrilling trademark mix of witty banter and intensely emotional storylines.—Migdalia Jimenez

Exes must pretend they're still together in this delightful Summery rom-com from bestseller Henry (Book Lovers). Burned out surgical resident Harriet Kilpatrick is eager for a relaxing weeklong getaway with her tight-knit friend group at the remote Maine beach cottage they've frequented. Then she arrives and discovers that Wyn Connor will also be there for the week. Wyn and Harriet were the perfect couple in college, and then the perfect fiancés, but they broke up six months ago and have yet to tell their friends. With the cottage up for sale, Harriet is determined not to ruin the gang's last summer getaway, meaning she and Wyn must pretend to be happily in love. It's awkward at first—compounded by the fact that, of course, there's only one bed for the two of them—but soon they fall back into a familiar dynamic and old flames reignite. The chemistry between Wyn and Harriet is addictive, and both display some refreshing vulnerability. The lovable friend group, unusual but welcome in a Henry novel, help push the narrative forward and provide plenty of wit. This has the makings of a rom-com classic. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Apr.)