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Extracts

Extract: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Best hardback and paperback books out in April

Best books out in April

What to read next

The best books out this month

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Reading lists

Best romance books for ultimate escapism

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Emily Henry quiz

Quizzes

Quiz: Which Emily Henry character would be your perfect match? 

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The best books about friendships

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Extract: Happy Place by Emily Henry

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What book to read, based on your favourite rom-com

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The book to read based on your favourite Taylor Swift song

An image of Emily Henry's novel Book Lovers against a colourful backdrop.

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‘I’m the one who gets dumped’: an extract from Emily Henry’s Book Lovers

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Emily Henry: How I fell in love with romance novels

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Features

Penguin authors pick their favourite books of 2021

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What it’s like writing that tricky second novel

A shimmering new novel from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Emily Henry

Happy Place

'Hilarious and wise&hellip; Another knockout&rsquo; Taylor Jenkins Reid 
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover 
&lsquo;A must-read book of the year&rsquo; Lauren Asher 
 
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Two exes. One pact. 
Could this holiday change everything? 
 
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. 
 
Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world. 
 
Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone. 
 
But the cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be here together. They can't bear to break their best friends' hearts so they'll fake it for one more week. 
 
But how can you pretend to be in love - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best? 
 
Brimming with characters you can't help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, HAPPY PLACE is Emily Henry doing what she does best! 
 
----- 
 
'Another Emily Henry masterpiece' Hannah Grace, ICEBREAKER 
 
'Heartfelt and hilarious. This book is my happy place!' Lucy Score, THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER 
 
'Smart, sunny, sexy and also a gorgeous story of female friendship' Beth O&rsquo;Leary, THE FLATSHARE 
 
'The master of witty repartee' Daily Mail 
 
'A heart-tugging masterpiece from the queen of romance' Ali Hazelwood, THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS 
 
'One of the current stars of romantic fiction' Independent 
 
'If I could climb inside any book it would be this one' Culturefly 
 
'Emily Henry's books should be prescribed. Not only will they make you happy, her latest may just make you fall in love with falling in love again' Woman's Weekly 
 
'Tender and sexy, bittersweet with Henry's trademark warmth' Bolu Babalola, HONEY &amp; SPICE 
 
Happy Place, Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, May 2023

Emily Henry's books are a gift, the perfect balance between steamy and sweet

Nobody does it quite like Emily Henry

Our generation's answer to Nora Ephron

Emily Henry is the author of the butterfly-inducing romantic comedies Beach Read, You &amp; Me on Vacation and Book Lovers, all of which were New York Times bestsellers, with Book Lovers being a Sunday Times bestseller. She studied creative writing at Hope College and now lives and writes in the American Midwest. Happy Place is her fourth novel.

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world. Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone. 
 
But the cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be here together. They can't bear to break their best friends' hearts so they'll fake it for one more week. 
 
But how can you pretend to be in love - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best?

Book Lovers

One holiday. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming... 
 
-------- 
 
'Her best yet' Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising 
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us 
'Magical, delightful, and utterly one of a kind' Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis 
 
Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books. 
 
Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he's Nora's work nemesis. 
 
Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she's the one men date before finding their happy-ever-after. To prevent another dating dud, Nora's sister has persuaded her to swap her city desk for a month's holiday in Sunshine Falls. 
 
It's a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into...Charlie. 
 
She's no heroine. He's no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book? 
 
Brimming with witty banter, characters you can't help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, BOOK LOVERS is Emily Henry's best novel yet. 
 
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'Emily Henry's books are a gift, the perfect balance between steamy and sweet' V. E Schwab, Gallant 
 
'So smart, so funny, so sexy' Beth O'Leary, The No-Show 
 
'Emily Henry has another hit on her hands' Sophie Cousens, Just Haven't Met You Yet 
 
'A thoroughly modern yet classic romance' Sunday Times 
 
'Heartfelt, funny, and full of joy. (Also, three cheers for Nora's super-relatable bangs journey!)' Tia Williams, Seven Days in June 
 
'The master of witty repartee' Daily Mail 
 
'Super fun, sassy, smart, sexy... Emily Henry is now an auto-buy author for me' Red Magazine 
 
'Book Lovers is Schitt's Creek for book nerds' Casey Mcquiston, One Last Stop 
 
'The most phenomenal portrayal of enemies to lovers I have ever read. . .' Laura Jane Williams, Our Stop 
 
Sunday Times bestseller, May 2022

One of the most enjoyable books you'll read this year

Sizzles on each page. This romcom is perfection

Her characters fizz like good champagne

JOSIE SILVER, author of One Night on the Island

You and Me on Vacation

Two friends. Ten trips. Their last chance to fall in love... 
 
------ 
 
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us 
'A gorgeous romance' Beth O'Leary, The No-Show 
'Loveable characters, hilarious wit and steamy sexual chemistry' Laura Jane Williams, Our Stop 
 
*Also known as People We Meet On Vacation* 
 
12 YEARS AGO: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other, and are pretty confident they'll never speak again. 
 
11 YEARS AGO: They're forced to share a ride home from college and by the end of it a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together. 
 
10 YEARS AGO: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver. 
Poppy holds his hand the whole way. 
 
7 YEARS AGO: They get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans. 
 
2 YEARS AGO: It all goes wrong. 
 
THIS YEAR: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives. 
 
You and Me on Vacation is a New York Times bestselling love story for fans of When Harry Met Sally, One Day and Casey McQuiston. Get ready to travel the world, snort with laughter and - most of all - lose your heart to Poppy and Alex. 
 
------ 
 
'Our generation's answer to Nora Ephron' Sophie Cousens, This Time Next Year 
 
'So warm and funny' Paige Toon, The Minute I Saw You 
 
'The hottest book of the summer - the pages simply sizzle!' Josie Silver, One Night on the Island 
 
'Emily Henry is my newest automatic-buy author . . . a heartfelt, funny, tender escape that you wish could last forever' Jodi Picoult, Wish You Were Here 
 
'A compulsively readable book full of sparkling wit, dazzling prose and a romance that grabbed me by the heart and wouldn't let me go' Abby Jiminez, Part of Your World 
 
'Funny, and seriously sizzling' BEST 
 
'If whipcrack banter and sexual tension is your catnip, you'll adore this book' Sally Thorne, The Hating Game 
 
'What an absolute flipping triumph of a novel!!! I LOVED it ' Emma Cooper, It Was Always You 
 
Emily Henry, Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, May 2023

Emily Henry is my newest automatic-buy author . . . the perfect getaway: a heartfelt, funny, tender escape that you wish could last forever

A gorgeous romance, full of sexual tension and tantalizing possibility. I fell head over heels for Alex and Poppy, and loved travelling all over the world with them both

The hottest book of the summer - the pages simply sizzle!

The ideal getaway for those who wish to travel without leaving the house!

A funny, quirky and addictive read - if you loved When Harry Met Sally, you're going to fall for these two. We did!

A gorgeous page-turner of a novel that provided the perfect escapist romp

Funny, and seriously sizzling

Clever and funny, this is a tender love story

This sizzling love story had us on the edge of our deckchairs!

Exuberant wit, hilarious badinage and enough sexual tension to cause the vicar to unbutton her dog collar

The epitome of a summer novel... perfect for these long, (mostly) sunny days

Full of vacation magic underpinned with the importance of home

Emily Henry's writing is succulent and addictive, making this a novel that is sweetly charming from start to finish, filled with yearning and tension. Above all though Henry allows space for authenticity, the characters have very real struggles and challenges to undergo - Poppy is at a roadblock in her career. It is this that makes the novel so engaging, as it feels immensely real and immediate. This is the perfect summer read and we can't recommend it enough

This author writes such fabulous romcoms

Emily Henry is the author of the butterfly-inducing romantic comedies Beach Read, You & Me on Vacation and Book Lovers, all of which were New York Times bestsellers, with Book Lovers being a Sunday Times bestseller. She studied creative writing at Hope College and now lives and writes in the American Midwest. Happy Place is her fourth novel.

Beach Read

Two writers. One holiday. A romcom waiting to happen... 
 
------- 
 
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us 
'A great love story' Jodi Picoult, Wish You Were Here 
'The perfect escapist romp' Laura Jane Williams, One Night With You 
 
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she's the lead in a blockbuster movie. 
 
Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale. 
 
But January and Gus have more in common than you'd think: 
 
They're both broke. 
They've got crippling writer's block. 
And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends. 
 
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first. 
The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely... 
 
Set over one sizzling summer, Beach Read is a witty love story that will make you laugh a lot, cry a little and fall head over heels. For fans of The Flat Share and If I Never Met You. 
 
------- 
 
'My heart ached for January, and Gus is to die for - a steamy, smart and perceptive romance' Josie Silver, One Night on the Island 
 
'Full of banter, heat, and sexual tension, I felt the thrill of falling in love right alongside January and Gus. A gorgeous page-turner of a novel' Laura Jane Williams, One Night With You 
 
'Funny, and seriously sizzling' Best 
 
'If whipcrack banter and sexual tension is your catnip, you'll adore this book' Sally Thorne, The Hating Game 
 
'Touching and heartfelt . . . I closed this book with a satisfied sigh' Jasmine Guillory, While We Were Dating 
 
'Clever and funny, this is a tender love story' Woman & Home 
 
Emily Henry, Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, May 2023

Beach Read is exactly the witty, charming and swoony novel we always want; it also happens to be the unexpected wallop of emotional wisdom and sly social commentary we need right now. I adored it

A smart, witty, warm, sexy novel ... Perfect escapism. I loved this book from the first page and can't wait to read more from Emily Henry

A great escapist beach read but so much more as well. Emily writes beautifully, almost poetically in places and I will certainly look out for her work in the future. 5 stars!

Julie Houston, author of 'A Village Affair'

A clever and witty novel that will make your nerve-endings sigh with happiness

Debbie Viggiano, author of 'Willow's Wedding Vows'

I would say this book is so much more than "just a beach read" but to do so would completely miss the point! As January reminds the reader and the perfectly-painted Gus alike, romantic comedies take skill, heart and guts to traverse the depths of what it means to fall in love - and Emily Henry makes sure this book has it all

Elizabeth Neep, author of 'The Spare Bedroom'

Beach Read has everything the title promises - a romping plot, family secrets, and the thrill of falling in love. I cannot wait to read what Henry writes next

Amy E. Reichert, author of 'The Optimist’s Guide to Letting Go'

What a fantastic read! An absolute page turner, full of love, laughter and romance

Katie Ginger, author of 'Spring Tides at Swallowtail Bay'

He doesn't believe in happy endings. She's lost her faith that they exist. But could they find one together? 
 
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she's the lead in a blockbuster movie. Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale. 
 
But January and Gus have more in common than you'd think: 
They're both broke. They've got crippling writer's block. And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends. 
 
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first. 
The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...

Emily Henry

Funny Story

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