Ready for a summer romance in 2021? I might have just the thing…
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
Genre: Contemporary/ Romance
Publisher: Penguin (Viking)
Date Published: 8th July 2021 (Paperback)
Print length: 384 pages
Blurb
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
My Thoughts
When I saw there was a chance to get involved with this blog tour, I jumped at it. I haven’t read Henry’s debut novel, Beach Read (mainly because I’m waiting – rather impatiently – to read it on an actual beach), but I love the gorgeous pink cover and – as hard as I try to – I simply can’t resist a book involving the friends-to-lovers trope.
Admittedly, this one was a bit of a stop-start for me. I started it ages ago, with time to spare before my blog tour spot, and then – as the joys of lockdown limbo (i.e. bars and being able to sit somewhere other than my desk) took hold – I lost my way. Thankfully, I used a rare day full of British sunshine to sit outside, tan (read: burn) and get stuck into this one. Let’s just say, I’m glad I did.
The book follows Poppy and Alex. They may be different but – after one trip after they meet at university – they are united in their sense of wanderlust. Though the book is told from Poppy’s point of view, Henry gives a perfect insight into each character so you never feel as though something is missing. I liked the fact that these characters balanced each other out and the moments between them were sweet, tender and sometimes very hot.
It’s safe to say that holidays — at least not outside of the U.K. – feel a mile off but Henry absolutely nails how it feels to be away. It was mad how easily I was swept away from where I was and taken elsewhere through the rich, sometimes emotive descriptions throughout. Poppy and Alex get up to all sorts on their holiday and some moments were so good they had me laughing out loud (sorry neighbours!).
I think Henry does a brilliant job of creating characters you root for and a romance you can believe in. Despite the fact that the chance of a holiday – or any – romance is quite slim where I’m concerned, I lapped this one up. It was a slow burn – which usually annoys me – but I loved seeing the obstacles they faced and how they get around them.
My only slight problem was the time hopping. I didn’t mind the going back and forth between past and present (I’d say that made the story great) but sometimes it made the flow of the story a little difficult.
Regardless, I think this is a book that everyone should add to their summer reading list (like, right now!). It was sweet, tender but also fiery and passionate— it’ll leave you sweating and swooning by the end 😂.
You can follow Emily Henry on Instagram and visit her website.
You can purchase the book here.
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So that’s my stop on the blog tour done ✔️. Don’t forget to check out the post on my Instagram and be sure to check out the other posts as part of the tour.
Also I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Penguin (Viking) and Emily Henry for my copy of the book and Georgia over at Penguin General for my spot on the tour.
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