For the first time since 2020’s “Beach Read,” romance author Emily Henry did not release a new book this year.
But book lovers, never fear: She’s working on her next book and planning to release it in the summer of 2027.
“Taking a year off was really interesting, because getting back into writing my next book, which should be out next summer, it was really — I was shocked how nervous I felt,” Henry told Jenna Bush Hager on the June 11 episode of the TODAY co-host’s “Open Book” podcast. “I felt so scared to get back into it.”
Now back into the “writing cave,” as she calls it, Henry is sparing with further details, calling the yet-to-be-announced next title a “very traditional romantic comedy.”
“Oh, I know what I can say,” Henry said. “It is not a holiday book, but it kind of feels a little bit like my take on ‘The Holiday’ in a very small way,” she tells Jenna.
Listen to the new episode of “Open Book with Jenna.”
The 2006 rom-com “The Holiday” famously follows two women, played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, who switch homes for Christmas, each finding love — with Jude Law and Jack Black, respectively — in brand new settings.
Henry is no stranger to drawing inspiration from beloved films. Her 2021 novel “People We Meet on Vacation” is an homage to “When Harry Met Sally …,” and she told Jenna that “Book Lovers” was “my take on ‘You’ve Got Mail,’” even if no one else picked up on it.
“No one else will see it,” Henry said of her next book’s “Holiday” inspiration. “It’s like, I can feel it.”
She also called her next book, “the book that you would write after taking a year off.”
“And it’s very much that. It might make everyone want to take a year off,” Henry said. “The person needed a break and gets a break.”
As for future stories, Henry said she wants to continue alternating between “straightforward” rom-coms and stories that “side step” the genre. This pattern started with “A Great Big Beautiful Life,” which she’s long described as “something a little bit different.”
“For this one, this is another one that’s a pretty straightforward romantic comedy,” Henry said. “My hope is that for my next book after that, I’ll kind of explore something else a little bit. Still keep it romance, but I’m kind of trying to alternate between exploring new territory and just like serving the readers what I think they’ve come to expect.”
Henry is the author of nine books — including the smash hits “Beach Read,” “People We Meet on Vacation,” “Book Lovers,” “Happy Place,” “Funny Story” and most recently, “A Great Big Beautiful Life,” almost all of which are set for screen adaptations.
Before her yearlong hiatus, which started after the publication of “A Great Big Beautiful Life” in April 2025, Henry recalled feeling “afraid to get off that carousel.”
“I do ultimately think it was really good for me to just go live my life and have new things to say, new things to write about, but it also is kind of scary,” she said.
She’s currently editing her next novel — “pretty deep, immersive editing.”
“It feels like you’re in this little tunnel and you can’t really see anything beyond your little fire pit and what it catches,” she said.
“It sounds probably terrible to a lot of people, but for a lot of writers this is like the happiest time of your year, is when you are kind of alone with your little world,” she added.
