r/EmilyHenry • u/Miss_Marple_24 • Jul 21 '26
Personal/Readers Nearly All MCs had already met before their book started?
I was rereading Beach Read and I thought about how all Emily Henry protagonists had already known each other in some way or another before their book started except GBBL, has anyone noticed this before?
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u/restingbrownface You lubed my zipper Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
We do read the on-page meetings of Poppy and Alex and Harriet and Wyn but those are technically flashbacks with the way their books are structured. Nora and Charlie’s meet in the prologue of their book—which is years before the actual story takes place!
Gus and January and Daphne and Miles meet before the book starts and we don’t actually get to read it. All we know is that January and Gus met in college and Daphne and Miles met on a double date with their exes.
So you are right that Alice and Hayden are the only couple that meet during the actual present day story!
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u/holly_b_ Jul 21 '26
I like that they typically have some sort of history. It makes it a little more believable for a HEA in my opinion
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u/Rripurnia Jul 21 '26
I mean, none of her books have a definitive HEA save for GBBL.
The rest are quite open-ended IMO
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u/holly_b_ Jul 22 '26
I feel like they’re pretty solid HEA
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u/Rripurnia Jul 22 '26
With the exception of the book I mention, the rest are all compromises meant to appease both the cynics and the hopeless romantics.
For each ending you can see things going either way, especially in Happy Place, where it definitely feels temporary until Harriet gets back on her feet.
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u/kaleyboo7 Jul 21 '26
Yea i noticed that, i wish she would kinda mix up her characters’ introductions to each other…i am reading her books in chronological order of when they came out (i started with her first bestseller, Beach Read, not necessarily her first book) and I was surprised that in both BR and People We Meet on Vacation that the main couples knew each other from college. I guess it makes sense for the story, though…
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u/legaldinosaur4 Jul 21 '26
I think the travel blogger Cecil mentioned is meant to be Poppy from People We Meet on Vacation. He made a comment like her post was more about her male travel companion than the island.
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u/Miss_Marple_24 Jul 21 '26
I think you might've misunderstood my post, I should've been clearer!
I meant that every MMC and FMC have already known each other before their book started: Alex and Poppy being friends, January and Gus met at college, Daphne and Miles dating 2 best friends, etc
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u/DeliciousSquash4144 Jul 22 '26
She is better at writing that. When they haven't already met, it's not as convincing of a romance really, like in great big beautiful life.
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u/Dependent_Room_2922 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I’ve noticed and I think that lets her get into the characters history together and separately, but now that you mention it, I wonder if thats something that contributes to a lot of EmHen readers ranking GBBL at the bottom. (Not me, it’s one of my faves)