Sarah's Reviews > Funny Story

Emily Henry's novels are a ray of sunshine delivered to my door each summer, and this one was no exception. The fact that I happened to unknowingly bring this book on my northwestern Michigan vacation only to find that the book is actually set there only added to my delightful reading experience. I turned the pages of the novel while relaxing on Oval Beach and taking in the clear waters of Lake Michigan only to read about Daphne and Miles exploring places I had just seen.

The set up for this adult contemporary romance is that Daphne is all set to marry Peter, having uprooted her life to move in with him, she is now working as a children's librarian at the local library. With their big day very quickly approaching, Daphne is in for a huge shock when Peter comes back from his bachelor party to inform her he is leaving her for his "platonic" best friend he has known since childhood. Petra is said best friend who is leaving her boyfriend Miles in shock to move in with Peter.

This leaves Daphne with a broken engagement, no place to live, and in a town she only moved to for Peter's sake. Finding herself short on options, she asks to move in with Miles until she figures things out. When they both receive an invitation to Peter and Petra's wedding, Daphne decides to save face and get some revenge by pretending that she and Miles are dating. Well...this is a romance novel, so you can guess where that leads.

This was such a lovely slow-burn romance with the usual significant side-plots which Henry weaves into her romance novels. In this case, we learn of the complicated dynamics Daphne and Miles each have with their parents and how those have impacted the relationship choices they have made as adults. The setting and appreciation of the natural beauty of Michigan was used to great advantage, and I found myself wanting to visit several of the fictional locations Henry used for the story. I liked the way Daphne's job as a children's librarian was woven so well into the book. It wasn't just mentioned and forgotten but was used as an important part of Daphne's day to day life, and I find that is strangely uncommon in many books. Overall, this book may not have made as big of an emotional impact on me as some previous Henry novels, but I completely enjoyed my time with it and was eager to jump back into the pages every chance I had.