If you find yourself actively scrolling through BookTok, or maybe you‘re a fan of a good friends-to-lovers—or enemies-to-lovers—story, chances are you’re probably familiar with the name Emily Henry.
Emily Henry is a New York Times Bestselling author whose masterfully crafted books explore the complexities of relationships through a rom-com genre. Her books’ iconic, brightly colored covers consistently flood bookstore shelves and appear on BookTok rankings.
Recently, more attention has been placed on the author as her new book, Great Big Beautiful Life, releases on April 22nd. A whirlwind of excitement circulates around Henry, providing an opportunity for curious readers to be turned into dedicated fans. However, due to her massive literary presence, readers may not know where to start or how to prepare themselves for the upcoming release.
No matter if you’re already a dedicated Emily Henry fan or you’re just beginning to dive into her colorful world where summer lasts forever, this guide will help feed that slow-burn romance craving!
Beach Read
Beach Read is the quintessential Emily Henry book, marking the start of her collection of aesthetically pleasing contemporary romance stories. Through her stylish writing, she unveils how she can create a traditional rom-com plot while exploring grief and emotional trauma.
The sleepy, picturesque town of North Bear Shores is the first in a long line of beachside cities and charming getaways that provide the background to Henry’s romantic plots.
Like Great Big Beautiful Life, this book embraces the enemies-to-lovers trope. The literary rivalry of January Andrews and Augustus Everett is full of witty banter and yearning—truly all a romance reader could ask for!
People We Meet on Vacation
Henry’s second book, People We Meet on Vacation, has been trending recently due to the announcement of a movie adaption. The story continues her iconic summertime setting by focusing on the summer vacation tradition between best friends Poppy Wright and Alex Nilsen.
People We Meet on Vacation narratively deviates from most of Henry’s books due to its dual timeline. The story bounces back and forth from the past to the present. This difference provides a glimpse into the history of Poppy and Alex’s friendship while creating a mystery-solving reading experience that has you speeding through the book to figure out what happened on their last summer vacation.
Poppy and Alex are portrayed as if you’ve known them forever, making the friends-to-lovers trope powerful. Their friendship is rich and complex, adding to the aching slow burn that has you yelling at the pages to “just kiss already!”
Book Lovers
Although Henry’s books have more substance than the stereotypical romance story, the complexity of Book Lovers takes it up a notch as it directly combats the clichés of small-town romances through the characters of Nora Stephens and Charlie Lastra.
Sunshine Falls is the perfect summer getaway that becomes an active tool for subverting rom-com expectations. It creates an aesthetic environment for the reader to immerse themselves in while thematically allowing for the complexities of relationships to be memorably explored.
Similar to Beach Read and Great Big Beautiful Life, Book Lovers uses the enemies-to-lovers trope between two writers. This book becomes self-aware about the iconic trope and purposefully creates Nora to be the anti-heroine of a small-town romance, just as Charlie is the opposite of the male love interest. The dynamic makes their chemistry as rivals even more enthralling. If you’re a fan of enemies-to-lovers, I would highly recommend checking this one out first!
Happy Place
Happy Place embodies BookTok’s obsession with coastal New England beach reads. Set against the Maine town of Knott’s Harbor, Henry examines the complexities of friendships as well as relationships through Harriet Kilpatrick and Wyn Conner spending their annual summer trip trying to keep one huge secret away from their friends: that they broke off their engagement.
Henry writes about Knott’s Harbor overflowing with the lobster rolls, lighthouses, rocky shores, and blueberries that all make up the perfect Maine summer. You can practically smell the salt air through the pages!
Introducing the love interests as exes with a pre-established relationship is one of the many things that makes this book unique. Harriet and Wyn are in the fake dating trope, as well as second chance romance, as they convince their friends that they’re still engaged as a way to not ruin their vacation. This inevitably creates a lot of romantic tension between the two that’ll make you want to devour the book in one day.
Funny Story
Published just last year, Henry continues her tradition of subverting rom-com tropes in Funny Story. The book opens with Daphne Vincent and Miles Nowak becoming roommates after their picturesque romances with their exes come to a complete halt, forcing them to live with each other.
Miles shows Daphne all of the idyllic sites in the beautiful town of Waning Bay, emphasizing how the location functions as an essential role in their blossoming relationship.
Funny Story plays with several romance tropes as Daphne and Miles move from fake dating to falling in love, such as opposites attract, friends-to-lovers, and forced proximity. The combination of these tropes allows for their relationship to become more relatable because their romance is so intricate, which makes this book such a binge-worthy read.
Great Big Beautiful Life
The upcoming book follows Alice Scott and Hayden Anderson as they compete for the storytelling rights to heiress Margaret Ives’s biography who lives on Little Crescent Island. Above all, their shared rivalry and dedication to winning lead to heart-racing tension and chemistry, adding an entirely new layer to their goals. The powerful yearning felt by the characters will surely keep you wanting more with each turn of the page.
With spring right around the corner, reading Emily Henry’s books will get you in the perfect mood to roll down your windows and bask in the much-needed return of the warm sun. Her stories embrace all of the binge-worthy romance tropes and provide the perfect escapism that keeps readers coming back for more.
Don’t forget to check out Great Big Beautiful Life, releasing on April 22nd!
