People We Meet on Vacation

Henry’s latest rom-com lacks the spark of 2020’s Beach Read, but still offers plenty of lighthearted summertime fun. Poppy Wright met Alex Nilsen 12 years ago on the first day of college orientation, and they never got along—until a road trip from Chicago back to their neighboring Ohio towns, which sparked a deep friendship and a tradition of taking a yearly sumer vacation together. But Poppy and Alex haven’t spoken much since a disastrous trip two summers ago, and the details of what triggered their falling out are teased maddeningly slowly. When Poppy realizes that what she wants most in the world is to have Alex back in her life, she arranges a shoestring-budget vacation to Palm Springs that she hopes will fix everything. Flashbacks to each past summer trip make for fun travelogues that highlight both characters’ understandable but frustrating refusal to discuss their feelings. Watching them dance around the inevitable grows tiresome as things drag on, but Henry’s skills with sensory detail and lovable characters shine through. This is a strong choice for readers looking for a vicarious summer vacation of their own. [em]Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (May) [/em]