Romance: Everyone Needs a Vacation Buddy

People We Meet on Vacation

by Emily Henry

I love reading romance novels. For me, it’s all about the characters who are perfect for each other and just don’t see it. I thrive on the frustration of mixed signals, bad timing, uncertainty, and the presence of another man or woman that never fails to amp up the tension. And this book, People We Meet on Vacation, checked all of my boxes.

Alex and Poppy are opposites. Quiet and studious Alex is a teacher in Ohio while Poppy is a vintage-loving travel writer living in New York City. Yet they are the perfect match for vacationing together.

The story follows these two as they experience the fun of traveling with the perfect companion and the heartache of falling in love with someone who is totally wrong for them… or so they think. Every summer for almost a decade they’d go off for a week together as best friends for an amazing “Summer Trip.” And then, during the visit to Croatia, something happened that drove a wedge between their friendship. Now, two years later, Poppy is determined to fix things with Alex and recapture the happiness she’d felt while spending time with her bestie. She reaches out and convinces him to take another trip with her. And that’s when everything really starts to go wrong.

Traveling with these two is heartwarming, funny, sad, and jubilant as we experience their past and present trips. An imperfect romance was never so perfect!

(A Jove Book, published 2021)