Funny Story by Emily Henry 
Published by Berkley Romance on April 23, 2024
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
A fun, sweet romance.
Daphne Vincent is finalizing wedding plans when her fiancé Peter Collins returns from his bachelor party along with his BFF, the stunningly gorgeous Petra Comer. It appears that their “it’s completely platonic” friendship has morphed over the weekend into “something unexpected.” This leaves Daphne not only alone but homeless as Peter and Petra returned home to mostly let Daphne know she needs to clear out of Peter’s house.
Daphne moved across the country to Peter’s hometown to start their life together and with no where else to go, she ends up moving into Miles Nowak’s extra bedroom since his (now former) girlfriend Petra has moved out. Miles and Daphne bond over their shared betrayal but Daphne is certain if she hears Miles Bridget watching Bridget Jones’s Diary one more time, she might prefer to move in under her desk in the corner of the children’s library.
Everything Daphne has done since moving across the country involved Peter with the exception of her job at the local library. Taking over the children’s library program was something Daphne was proud of. She fought for the upcoming overnight program this summer and plans to at least stay to see that through. Miles wants Daphne to remain in Waning Bay so his plan is to show her all their small town secrets that she wasn’t aware of; which isn’t hard in Daphne’s case since she and Peter only went to the grocery store, the gym and a few of his favorite hang outs. After a year and a half in town, so much of what was around her was unexplored by Daphne.
Most shocking and enraging is the fact that Daphne and Miles have been invited to Peter and Petra’s upcoming wedding. When Peter calls to let Daphne know she isn’t obligated to come to his wedding all alone, Daphne insists that she will have a date since she and Miles are now dating. All she has to do it let Miles know that he is suddenly, desperately in love with her before he hears it from someone else, like Petra.
What started out as Miles and Daphne bonding over their shared heartbreak might suddenly be the best thing that happened to either of them as they now know what it’s like to be with someone who accepts them for themselves, flaws and all.
THOUGHTS:
We learn as Daphne recounts her relationship with Peter that she loses herself in that relationship and turns herself into an accessory to Peter’s life. Peter goes to the gym and doesn’t eat carb so Daphne goes to the gym and doesn’t eat carbs. All his favorite places to go, are Daphne’s. All Peter’s friends, are Daphne’s friends. She worked hard to become accepted as part of Peter’s crowd and they all stayed with Peter in the breakup, even Sadie who was Daphne’s friend long before she started dating Peter’s friend Cooper, but after the breakup, Sadie/Cooper stuck with Peter and Petra. I hate when we see characters (and people) recreate themselves to become “perfect” for someone else, wiping out their own personality or desires.
Post-breakup, Daphne starts hanging out with co-worker, Ashleigh, who notes that Daphne is a “we” meaning Daphne doesn’t feel complete unless she is part of a couple. And while many of us want to achieve that special level of couplehood, it is so important to still enjoy the things that make you happy, even if your “we” isn’t excited about it. It is as hard to read a story where one party doesn’t even realize that they have made themselves an accessory in someone else’s life.
Poor Miles was unfairly treated by Peter, whether that was jealously of Miles relationship with Petra or the fact that Miles didn’t fall in line with the way Peter lived his life. Miles is a sweetheart. He is kind and friendly to everyone he meets. As he brings Daphne on his tour of their town, everyone just loves Miles. The only one who had a problem with Miles was Peter and he spewed his hate in Daphne’s ears for so long that she was confused that Miles had a real job and wasn’t living off Petra, etc.
Miles and Daphne deserved each other and make a wonderful couple. As often times happens, we need a “conflict” to overcome and this one felt a little forced and I will accept it as simply as a stretch for literacy purposes only. Apparently I am the only one who is happy with just a sweet story of two nice people who find each other and make a HEA.
Favorite Scene:
“So where are we going,” I ask.
“Shopping.”
“Really?” I turn toward him, the wind whipping my hair across my face. I catch a fistful and push it out of my eyes, pinning it to my forehead. “Are we doing a makeover montage?”
He looks down at himself. “Are you trying to tell me something here?”
“I mean, when you showed up at Story Hour yesterday, I caught Mrs. Dekuyper looking between you and the Big Bad Wolf picture book, like she was trying to spot the difference.”
“Yeah, right,” he says, “she thought I was hot.”
“You don’t even know which one Mrs. Dekuyper was,” I point out.
“They all thought I was hot,” he says. “Women of a certain age love me.”
“You must remind them of when they were young,” I say, “and Abraham Lincoln was People’s Sexiest Man Alive.”
He unlocks the passenger door of his truck and hauls it open with one hand, while he scratches his bearded jaw with the other. “You think I should shave it?”
“I think you should do whatever you want.” I climb onto the ripped seat.
“But you think the beard is bad.” He closes the door, the window rolled down between us.
“I think the beard is sheer chaos,” I say. “But not inherently bad. It’s your face, Miles. All that matters is how you feel about it.”
He sets his forearms atop the door. “Well, Daphne, I’m less sure how I feel about it since that snarky Big Bad Wolf comment.”
“Don’t take my opinion too seriously,” I say. “You already know I have terrible taste in men.” And honestly, the beard’s growing on me. Chaos suits him. “Where are we going shopping? Family Fare?”
“Better.” He pushes the lock down, then rounds the truck and gets in.
“Tom’s Food Market?” I say.
“Better,” he repeats.
“Oh, I know!” I cry. “Meijer.”
He looks over, the engine starting with a sputtering cough. “Do me a favor,” he says lightly, “and unlock your door.”
“Why?”
“So I can push you out as I peel out of this parking lot,” he says.
“You would never,” I say.
“I would never,” he admits, and pulls onto the road.
I’m not a fan of the obligatory third act breakup either. These days I mainly gravitate toward sweet, low conflict romances. I just DNF’ed one that I thought was going to be a fun romantic comedy and instead turned quite angsty. I’m just not in the mood for all that turmoil and conflict. I don’t think we are alone though, I’ve seen some descriptions lately that specifically say there is no third act breakup!