Happy Place by Emily Henry (audiobook)

 genre: contemporary romance

Harriett's Happy Place is a beach house on the coast of Maine.  But it's not the house itself that's the magic - it's the people in it and the time they spend together.  With her beloved Wyn, her two best friends and their significant others, Harriett's happiness is complete - or rather, it was.  Because now Wyn has broken up with her.  And she is so brokenhearted she can't even bring herself to talk to anyone about it.  And when their week at the beach house arrives, it is all Harriett can do to be in Wyn's presence and keeping it a secret from their friends becomes important to both of them when it's clear that sharing their unhappy news will spoil the week for everyone.  

HOW can Harriett spend this week with Wyn and keep her smile on? 

Emily Henry is just good at what she does.  Yes, it's a spicy-ish romance novel.  BUT.  It is deep.  It is actual relationships that are complicated and messy and realistic.  I really appreciate that her characters has faults and flaws and traumas that impact how they show up in the world and the decisions they make. I like that there is real mental health stuff going on here, not stated as such but as someone who has spent a lot of time in therapy over the last several years, I can SEE it and I like how it is normalizing being aware of ourselves.  I could get picky about a few loose threads but I don't want to.  The banter was on-point, the atmosphere of summertime Maine worked so well as a backdrop and even the back and forth in time worked for me.  As always, Julia Whelan narrated the heck out of it.  This sort of book isn't everyone's cup of tea but if you enjoy contemporary romance, this one was a good time.