Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Two years ago, I read my first Emily Henry novel, Book Lovers. I very much enjoyed the book. As many people do, I loved the humor between the two love interests and the dance of attraction. I remember thinking, "Yes, I will read more of her books."

I didn't until now. I took my mom to Barnes & Noble for Mother's Day. Due to health issues, she hadn't set foot in a bookstore for well over a year, so this was a much-looked-forward-to trip. We love to wander bookstores and egg each other on to buy a book. Almost always, we check with the other to see if it interests them as well—if so, it's a shoo-in for purchase.

This was one of the five she bought on that trip. It was the first of those five she read. She raved about it while she was reading; I was anxious to read it since we have very similar tastes.

This is one of the few times our love for a story didn't align.

Great Big Beautiful Life is a contemporary romance story of two journalists competing for the privilege of writing the biography of Margaret Ives, a scandalous and now reclusive socialite from a very wealthy and famous family. It is set on a fictitious island off the coast of Georgia. For Alice Scott, an entertainment journalist and the female protagonist, it is a job of a lifetime and has special meaning to her as her deceased father was a huge fan of Margaret's husband, Cosmo Sinclair, who was a precursor to Elvis. For Hayden Anderson, the male protagonist, this competition is unexpected and annoying - to be fair, he already won a Pulitzer Prize for writing the biography of a famous musician, so this feels a bit beneath him.

The novel has humor and sexual tension between the main characters, which Henry is well known for. The sunshine/grumpy trope is present. But I felt like I was waiting for this story to begin for about two-thirds of the way through the read. I was interested but not drawn. Margaret's story was more interesting. Henry uses maintaining professional boundaries as a way to elevate the attraction tension between Alice and Hayden. While Hayden and Alice share the experience of coming from unusual upbringings and having a family member who struggled with a significant health issue, I felt Henry did a better job presenting how Hayden's family experience shaped his character. The last third of the novel was where the real meat of the story lived.

Great Big Beautiful Life dives into how storytelling shapes our identities, the many layers of love, and the search for a fulfilling life. By weaving together the personal stories of its characters, the story shows that life is really just a collection of stories, each adding to the picture of who we are and who we want to be. Hopefully readers walk away thinking about their own life stories and how they shape their identities and relationships.

Companion Song: Florence + The Machines "Dog Days Are Over"

Author Authentic: besides romance, Emily Henry likes to read science fiction! (from Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club podcast, episode 1, 6/24)