Take the plot of one early 2000’s B grade rom com, and add intense emotional stakes and sex, and you have yourself an Emily Henry novel.
Plot: Daphne has a job she loves, just bought her first ever house, which she plans on sharing with her “tv handsome” fiancé who is also loaded, and she is about to recapture the magic of her youth by finally launching an overnight readathon where kids stay overnight at the library reading and raising money for the library she loves. Only she moved to this new town for her fiancé, and given that he’s Mr. Moneybags himself he bought the house, and it turns out he might actually be in love with his super hot, rich and friendly platonic best friend from kindergarten Petra. So she has a week to pack her bags and get out, but she can’t leave town till the end of summer when her stupid readathon happens because she’s worked too damn hard to bail on that idea like Peter bailed on her. Luckily, she has a ready-made roommate in Miles, Petra’s loser ex boyfriend who suddenly needs someone to cover her half of the rent. Shenanigans ensue.
This is probably the most “normal” book of Henry’s. The beats fall much more predictably along your standard rom com progression. They meet, they make wildly inaccurate assumptions about each other that keep them apart for a bit, then they get to know each other, fall for one another, deal with the fallout with Peter and Petra, and find their HEA. That said, it does have the emotional depth Henry’s novels are now well known for, and I certainly enjoyed reading it. If you enjoy stories that are deeply rooted in place, this will absolutely be up your alley as Miles and Daphne play tourists in the fictional town of Waning Bay, Michigan.
Despite the depth of emotion, as ever, Henry books do not rely on sensationalist backstories. That said, there are some content warnings that may be relevant to some readers: parental neglect, parental gaslighting, estrangement from parents, not being estranged from manipulative parents, and things of that nature.