People We Meet On Vacation

Poppy and Alex, best friends since college, are a living example of the adage “opposites attract.” Alex is a creature of habit, with dreams for the most normal of futures. Volatile Poppy is happiest when she’s traveling, surrounded by strangers and facing one unpredictable situation after another. The friends have a tradition: every summer, they take a vacation together. Poppy knows she can always count on Alex–until a disastrous vacation in Croatia results in two years of them not speaking. When we meet Poppy, she’s floundering and unhappy, and she knows that her rift with Alex is at the root of her sadness. She plans a vacation, and Alex agrees to go with her. Poppy has one last chance to save their friendship–and take the wildest romantic risk of her life.

Like Henry’s novel Beach Read, People We Meet is a delicious, big-hearted examination of two people who maddeningly overlook the perfect partner who’s been right in front of them all along. This is a contemporary romance, light by design, but Henry doesn’t make it easy for her characters; she gives them real flaws and allows them to cause harm and make mistakes. The happy ending, always assumed, is wholly earned. This is a perfect beach read.