How to Navigate Emily Henry’s Romance Novel Universe
If you’re new to the author’s books—soon to become Hollywood adaptations—here’s the best place to start.
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In our age of discontent, Emily Henry really does believe love can save all. If the zealousness of her readership is any indication, so do millions of her fans. “Every book I write is getting back to the point of, ‘No, the feeling of love is worth it,’” the author told ELLE.com in 2024. “Love is not just a silly story. It might be a funny story, but it’s not silly and superfluous. It’s the reason.” Her bestselling romance novels have the kind of cartoon-art covers the uninitiated might write off as frothy, but any true EmHen fan will tell you the author’s built her empire on something real.
Starting with 2020’s beloved Beach Read, Henry has transformed herself into one of the stalwarts of the romance genre, pushing out a book a year through 2024: Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place, Funny Story, and, most recently, Great Big Beautiful Life. Like all romance novels, her books have tropes—forced proximity, fake engagement, rivals to lovers—but those tropes are the set dressing, rarely the scaffolding, of her work. “I am never intentionally putting [tropes] in,” Henry says. “It’s usually happening because the characters have certain traits or certain behaviors, and eventually, that fits into dynamics we’ve seen in the past.” She continues, “Romance can get a bad rap because of the acknowledgement of tropes. But we are not the only genre with tropes.”
If you’re new to the growing Emily Henry universe—soon to become not only a book universe, but a cinematic one, too—here’s a handy guide on how to read her novels in order of publication, and how to select the one most attuned to your tastes.
Beach Read by Emily Henry (2020)
Summary: Romance novelist January Andrews arrives at her father’s beach house, heavy with grief and anger over his secret double life. Only then does she realize the beach house neighboring her father’s belongs to Augustus “Gus” Everett, a celebrated fiction author. Former college rivals, January and Gus now embody diametrically opposed philosophies. They strike a deal: Over the course of the summer, they’ll swap roles to see who’s got the right idea. Gus will write something with a Happily Ever After. January will attempt to finish a Great American Novel. Road trips and bizarre encounters with a death cult ensue, as well as—maybe, just maybe—a Happily Ever After of their own.
You’ll like it if you like: convincing your friends that, yes, romance novels are great; dysfunctional families; beach houses; battles of wits; cults.
What tropes are involved? Rivals to lovers; opposites attract; small-town setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Yes, the movie is in the works, adapted and directed by Yulin Kuang.
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (2021)
Summary: Alex and Poppy are complete opposites, and also BFFs. Or, rather, they used to be; they haven’t spoken in two years. Once upon a time, they’d meet up annually for a weeklong vacation, but their last trip to Croatia ended in disaster. In an attempt to fix everything wrong between them, Poppy invites Alex on one more trip, and Alex agrees. But with only a week to reconcile (or confess their attraction), there’s a lot of drama lurking in Palm Springs.
You’ll like it if you like: your beach reads served with an actual beach; a solid slow burn; flashbacks; travel montages.
What tropes are involved? Second-chance romance; friends to lovers; opposites attract; forced proximity; vacation setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Yes, the movie is in the works, adapted by Yulin Kuang and directed by Brett Haley.
Summary: Relentless literary agent Nora Stephens lands in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, with the intention of focusing on herself and her adored little sister, Libby. But book editor Charlie Lastra is also in town, and his run-ins with Nora back in New York have never been, shall we say, pleasant. But if the writer of their story insists on throwing them together again and again in Sunshine Falls, then perhaps it’s time they started paying attention to the narrative... and perhaps even enjoying it.
You’ll like it if you like: publishing drama; deep sibling relationships; in Henry’s words, “accidental Roy Kent energy”; ambitious women; your books a bit meta.
What tropes are involved? Rivals to lovers; small-town setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Yes, the movie has been picked up by the production company Tango. Girls’ Sarah Hayward will write the script.
Summary: Harriet and her friends have long considered a little Maine cottage their home away from home. She and her partner, Wyn, used to visit the cottage together every year for a decade. But times are changing: The house is for sale; their friends are getting married; and, uh, Harriet and Wyn broke up months ago. They just haven’t told anyone yet. So they decide to pretend they’re still together; they don’t want to ruin anyone’s final vacation in their happy place. Nothing wrong with that plan, right?
You’ll like it if you like: bittersweet love stories; ensemble casts; yearning; nostalgia; old friends; extensive wine collections.
What tropes are involved? Second-chance romance; fake engagement; forced proximity; vacation setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Yes. Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions has optioned the book and plans to adapt it into a television series for Netflix.
Summary: Daphne is stuck in Waning Bay, Michigan, after her supposedly dreamboat fiancé, Peter, dumped her for his long-time best friend. Now Daphne, in desperate need of somewhere to stay, has moved in with her her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex, Miles. Despite their polar-opposite personalities, their shared heartbreak makes them fast friends. But as the end of the summer approaches, and Daphne prepares to escape Waning Bay—and Peter—for good, she realizes there might be someone else worth sticking around for.
You’ll like it if you like: shoreside towns; dramatic breakup sagas; a scruffy romantic lead; jokes about weed; libraries; Twin Peaks and Teen Titans references.
What tropes are involved? Opposites attract; fake dating; forced proximity; small-town setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Yes. Henry herself is adapting Funny Story into a film.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (2025)
Summary: Alice Scott and Hayden Anderson are both journalists, but only Hayden is the Pulitzer-winning writer of a recent major biography. When they find out they’re vying for a chance to write the life story of the octogenarian (and tabloid legend) Margaret Ives, they’re put into immediate competition with each other. Still, there’s something about Hayden that Alice finds familiar, and something about Alice that Hayden finds irresistible. As, together, they unravel the mystery of Margaret, they find themselves growing irrevocably closer.
You’ll like it if you like: old Hollywood; multi-generational sagas; biographies and memoirs; eternal optimism; reading the newspaper; diners; Georgia peaches; Taylor Swift’s “the last great american dynasty.”
What tropes are involved? Rivals to lovers; opposites attract; forced proximity; island setting.
Is there a movie or TV show in the works? Not yet, but stay tuned.
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