As a recovering people pleaser myself, the characters in these stories really resonated with me.

Harriet and Wyn are both so relatable! Their anxieties and doubts in themselves and people pleasing tendencies were so well written and I felt SEEN! I also really appreciated Emily Henry’s exploration of male anxiety as well. Anxiety and depression do not discriminate! Happy Place is wonderful.

Drowning Erin by Elizabeth O’Roark

A secret you keep to yourself festers and grows until it begins to seem monstrous in your eyes. But now, in one fell swoop, it isn’t something quite so poisonous, something I can barely stand to acknowledge. It isn’t pretty, and it isn’t admirable, but it isn’t quite as ugly as it seemed when I kept it to myself.-  Erin, from Drowning Erin

I love O'Roark's writing style, it reminds me of Elsie Silver where you get pulled in to the story. I liked this one better than Waking Olivia! The whole 'he hates me' but he obviously is into her trope tends to annoy me but I found Erin likable and relatable so that won out. I understood Brendan more when they delved into his backstory but still thought Erin deserved better.

“It’s comforting and distracting. I’m alive, but am I really living? Or have I just been scuttling along, putting everyone else first?” - Summer from Flawless by Elsie Silver

I don’t care about rodeos but I care about Summer and Rhett.

The Honeymoon Cottage is the most wholesome book ever! The side characters are lovely and they save a dog?! Sign me up for more. Yardley is so lovable and her journey to finding her own boundaries while also remaining kind was heartwarming.