“What do we love?”
“Your fake relationship,” Ashleigh says.
“Well, I don’t,” I say. “Now there’s no good way to get out of it. I mean, when we ‘break up,’ Peter will get to feel smug and superior about that.
“That’s no problem,” Miles says, pouring a taste of white wine for each of us. “All we have to do is get married, and then stay together until they split up. And if they have kids, just have one more than them. If they get a dog, we get a cuter dog. If they buy a new house, we get a mansion.”
“A perfect plan,” I say. “Why didn’t I think of it?”
Okay, I have loved and/or liked every Emily Henry book that I have read, but I haven’t felt The Emotions at the end of one of her books since Beach Read (that one made me cry). They are different emotions here! But still. There were a lot of them. I feel—as one does with all one’s true favorite books—that this was written just for me.
In fact, I love this book so much that I DO NOT WANT TO REVIEW IT, but I will say a few things, anyway.
This is a book about two people who have just been crushingly and humiliatingly dumped by their exes so that the two exes could be together. So our main character, Daphne, and her ex-fiance’s new fiance’s ex-boyfriend are now roommates. And one night after get thrillingly drunk they RSVP ‘yes’ to the wedding, which leads to Daphne panic-confessing to her ex the next morning that she and Miles are dating YES THEY ARE. The fake dating in this is pretty tame, and mostly in the background, but it provides an impetus for our two knuckleheads to get out of their doldrums, get to know one another, and fall in love. Which they do. AND IT IS SO GOOD.
I will also tell you that Miles is one of the best people I have ever heard of before, and I love him, and I will be taking no questions at this time. Also, there is a subplot in here about making friends as an adult, and the friendship that results made my heart grow three sizes, I loved it so much.
The CONVERSATIONS THESE TWO HAVE TOGETHER. And their cute tourism thing as Miles tries to convince Daphne not to move away from Waning Bay! And the thematic resonances and shit!!! Oh my god I just loved it so much, and yes I’m totally on a book high and might regret this in the future, but also I MIGHT NOT.
To finish this out, here is my personal ranking of EmHen’s (this is what we are calling her now, yes?) adult books:
1. Funny Story – 5 STARS
2. Beach Read – 5 STARS
3. Book Lovers – 5 STARS
4. People We Meet On Vacation – 4.5 STARS
5. Happy Place – 4 STARS