Emily Henry Books in Order (2026): Every Novel, Plus the Movie Adaptations
If you’re looking for Emily Henry books in order, here’s the complete, up-to-date list: all six of her adult romances, the seventh she just announced, her young adult novels and her co-written book, plus where every movie adaptation stands right now. Her adult romances are standalones, so you can start anywhere. Reading them in publication order is still the most satisfying way to watch her voice sharpen, and with one adaptation already streaming and several more in the works, it’s a good moment to catch up.
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Emily Henry Books in Order: The Quick List
- Beach Read (2020)
- People We Meet on Vacation (2021)
- Book Lovers (2022)
- Happy Place (2023)
- Funny Story (2024)
- Great Big Beautiful Life (2025)
- Modern Classic (announced for April 6, 2027)
- Young adult: The Love That Split the World (2016), A Million Junes (2017), When the Sky Fell on Splendor (2019)
- Co-written: Hello Girls, with Brittany Cavallaro (2019)
Emily Henry’s Adult Romances in Publication Order
These are the books that made her a household name: sharp banter with real grief underneath, settings that feel like a third main character, and a brand-new couple every time.
1. Beach Read (2020)
Her adult debut, and still the purest dose of the formula. January is a romance novelist who has stopped believing in happy endings; Gus is the literary-fiction rival she knew in college. Living in neighboring beach houses for one summer, they dare each other to swap genres, and grief and family secrets keep the bet from ever feeling slight. If it’s your favorite, our Books Like Beach Read list picks up the rivals-to-lovers thread.
2. People We Meet on Vacation (2021)
Poppy is restless and impulsive; Alex is a homebody who loves his routines. For years they took one trip together every summer, until something went wrong and they stopped speaking. Then Poppy talks him into one last vacation to fix it. The then-and-now structure makes this the definitive friends-to-lovers slow burn in her catalog, and it was the first Henry novel to reach the screen. For more of that ache, see Books Like People We Meet on Vacation.
See People We Meet on Vacation on Amazon →
3. Book Lovers (2022)
Nora Stephens is a cutthroat literary agent who knows she’s the city girlfriend who gets dumped for the small-town sweetheart in other people’s novels. Then a trip to a tiny town keeps throwing her into the path of Charlie Lastra, a brooding editor she already clashed with in New York. It’s Henry’s sharpest workplace banter, and it flips the small-town-romance script on purpose. Next stop: Books Like Book Lovers.
4. Happy Place (2023)
Harriet and Wyn were the couple their friend group built its world around, and they broke up months ago without telling anyone. When the friends gather for one final week at a beloved Maine cottage before it’s sold, the exes agree to keep pretending, in a shared bedroom. Second chance, fake dating and found family in one book; it’s the Henry most likely to make you cry. Keep going with Books Like Happy Place.
5. Funny Story (2024)
When Daphne’s fiancé leaves her for his best friend Petra, Daphne ends up sharing an apartment with the other person left behind: Petra’s ex, Miles. Two collateral-damage exes, one lease and a revenge-flavored fake relationship that turns into the realest thing either of them has. It’s warm, funny and quietly devastating about starting over. For the same mix, try Books Like Funny Story.
6. Great Big Beautiful Life (2025)
Two writers, Alice and Hayden, compete for the chance to tell the life story of a reclusive woman from a famously glamorous family, and spend a summer on an island trading interviews, secrets and suspicion. It’s slower and more layered than her earlier books, part romance and part family saga. More like it: Books Like Great Big Beautiful Life.
See Great Big Beautiful Life on Amazon →
Coming April 6, 2027: Modern Classic
Henry’s seventh adult novel has a title and a date: Modern Classic arrives April 6, 2027. It’s already listed at major retailers, so preordering now is the easiest way to have it waiting on release morning.
See Modern Classic on Amazon →
Emily Henry’s YA and Co-Written Books
Before Beach Read, Henry published young adult novels with a magical, slightly uncanny edge. They’re quieter and stranger than the rom-coms, and well worth it if you love her sentences as much as her couples.
The Love That Split the World (2016)
Her debut novel: a YA love story that bends time and plays with the idea of other worlds running alongside our own.
See The Love That Split the World on Amazon →
A Million Junes (2017)
A magical-realist novel about grief, family legend and a first love that complicates both.
See A Million Junes on Amazon →
When the Sky Fell on Splendor (2019)
Her most genre-bending YA: a close-knit group of friends in a small town called Splendor, a night when something comes down from the sky, and everything that changes afterward.
See When the Sky Fell on Splendor on Amazon →
Hello Girls (2019), with Brittany Cavallaro
Co-written with Brittany Cavallaro, this is a fast, fierce YA friendship story about two girls who decide they’re done with the lives they’ve been handed.
Emily Henry Movie Adaptations: Where Each One Stands
Hollywood has gone all in on Emily Henry. Here’s where each adaptation stands as of this writing.
- People We Meet on Vacation: streaming now. Netflix released the film in January 2026, with Emily Bader as Poppy and Tom Blyth as Alex.
- Beach Read: in theaters May 2027. 20th Century Studios announced the film in 2023 with Yulin Kuang attached to direct. Phoebe Dynevor and Patrick Schwarzenegger lead as January and Gus, with Andie MacDowell, Kevin Bacon, Kristin Davis and Tig Notaro also in the cast.
- Happy Place: a Netflix movie. It was first developed as a TV series, then moved to Netflix as a feature film in January 2026, with Henry adapting it herself.
- Funny Story: a Netflix movie. Announced alongside Happy Place in January 2026. We haven’t seen a cast or release date announced yet.
- Book Lovers: in development. The film was announced in 2023 with Tango, the production company behind Aftersun. We haven’t seen an official cast or release date yet.
- Great Big Beautiful Life: no production announced. Henry has said she wrote a screenplay for it herself, but there’s no official production news so far.
Where to Start With Emily Henry (By Mood)
- Rivals with real grief underneath: Beach Read, then Books Like Beach Read.
- A friends-to-lovers slow burn: People We Meet on Vacation, then Books Like People We Meet on Vacation.
- Workplace banter: Book Lovers, then Books Like Book Lovers.
- A second chance that hurts (in a good way): Happy Place, then Books Like Happy Place.
- Fake dating and a fresh start: Funny Story, then Books Like Funny Story.
- A slow, layered mystery of a life: Great Big Beautiful Life, then Books Like Great Big Beautiful Life.
- Something a little magical: A Million Junes.
- The same banter with more heat: Books Like Emily Henry, But With Way More Spice.
Emily Henry Banter With the Door Open
Henry keeps the heat measured; the tension and the feelings do most of the work. If you love her friends-to-lovers ache, her fake dates and her vacations but want the door wide open, these four Fractal Enigma books hit the same notes at full heat. All four are sapphic (FF), and every book page has a free first chapter.
Sailing Past Straight — Riley Kendra
If People We Meet on Vacation is your comfort read, start here. Megan Hartwell travels with color-coded packing cubes, a divorce that ended a little too politely and a promotion she hasn’t let herself open. Ten days on a sailboat in the Greek islands was her sister’s plan, not hers, and every contingency she packed falls apart once she meets the woman captaining the boat. A late-bloomer awakening with sun, salt water and nowhere to hide. Available at all major retailers.
Tropes: Bisexual Awakening, Late Bloomer, Vacation Romance, Forced Proximity, One Bed, Opposites Attract · Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Start reading Sailing Past Straight →
The Plus-One Problem — Riley Kendra
For the Funny Story and Happy Place crowd: a fake relationship staged to survive a family event. Tamsin Halloran has one goal for her cousin’s Napa wedding, which is not to be the family tragedy, because her boyfriend of seven years just got engaged to someone else. So she invents a girlfriend, then makes the mistake of saying a real woman’s name. Seven rules, one weekend, one bed and a vineyard wedding that tests every one of them. Available at all major retailers.
Tropes: Fake Dating, One Bed, Bisexual Awakening, Second Chance, Destination Wedding, Vineyard Romance · Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Start reading The Plus-One Problem →
Bi Now, Cry Later — Aurora North
Calla Mercer manufactures perfect weddings for a living, including a career-defining campaign built around her own walk down the aisle. Six weeks before the ceremony, her fiancé cancels and admits he’s been cheating. Her best friend, wedding photographer Greer Halden, has shot enough ceremonies to be skeptical about forever. Best friends to lovers, a bisexual awakening and one bed: the Henry-style heartbreak-into-fresh-start arc, turned all the way up. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Tropes: Best Friends to Lovers, Bisexual Awakening, One Bed, Forced Proximity, Secret Relationship, Friends with Benefits · Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Start reading Bi Now, Cry Later →
The Girlfriend Tutorial — Blair Lennox
After finally admitting she wants women, relentlessly romantic event florist Tilly Vane asks her lesbian best friend, Greer Halston, to be her practice girlfriend: fake dates, flirting lessons and a crash course in what it feels like to be with a woman. She wanted practice. She did not plan for the falling-in-love part. It’s the long-simmering friends-to-lovers pull of People We Meet on Vacation with a fake-dating twist, minus Henry’s restraint. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Tropes: Best Friends to Lovers, Bisexual Awakening, Practice Girlfriend, Nine Years of Pining, Fake Dating, First Time with a Woman · Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Start reading The Girlfriend Tutorial →
Emily Henry FAQ
Do you need to read Emily Henry’s books in order?
No. Each adult romance is a standalone with a new couple, so start with whichever premise grabs you. Publication order is a nice way to watch her style evolve, and it keeps you caught up for the adaptations.
What is Emily Henry’s newest book?
Great Big Beautiful Life (2025) is her latest release. Her next novel, Modern Classic, is announced for April 6, 2027.
Which Emily Henry books are becoming movies?
People We Meet on Vacation is on Netflix now, and Beach Read is due in theaters in May 2027. Happy Place and Funny Story are in the works as Netflix films, and Book Lovers is in development.
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