Daydream

Daydream (2024) is an adult romance novel by Hannah Grace. The novel is the third installment in Grace’s Maple Hills series. Written from the protagonists' alternating first-person points of view and set at the fictional University of California, Maple Hills campus, the novel traces the evolution of Halle Jacobs and Henry Turner’s relationship. Halle is a bookish empath who has difficulty prioritizing her needs above the needs of others, while Henry Turner is an attractive hockey player struggling to balance his team captain and academic responsibilities. As Halle and Henry spend more time together during their junior year, they begin to imagine the possibilities of becoming sexually and romantically intimate. The novel has received praise from book reviewers and influencers on BookTok, where Grace has developed her fan base.

This guide uses the 2024 Simon & Schuster paperback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel includes references to substance misuse disorder and brief references to drink-spiking and assault.

Plot Summary

Halle Jacobs is just starting her junior year at Maple Hills when her childhood friend and boyfriend Will Ellington breaks up with her. Will has been Halle’s only friend for as long as she can remember, but she doesn’t feel heartbroken when their relationship ends. As the eldest daughter in her family, Halle has learned to put others’ needs before her own. She’s done the same in her relationship with Will. Their breakup makes her realize it’s time to invest in her own life, relationships, and dreams. She takes a job at a bookstore, starts her own book club, and gets a job at The Huntington Hotel. Meanwhile, she’s living in her late grandmother’s house near campus and trying to make new friends for the first time. She quickly befriends her coworker Campbell Walker, or Cami, and soon gets to know Henry Turner, the attractive captain of the hockey team.

When Henry learns that Halle is a good student, he asks for her help with one of his classes. Halle has tutoring experience from helping her little sister Gigi Scott with her homework and agrees to support Henry academically. While they’re studying together one day, Halle tells Henry that she’s planning to write a romance novel for a writing competition. The winner gets to participate in a summer creative writing course in New York City. The only trouble is that Halle doesn’t have much dating experience and has never had sex. She and Will were together for over a year, but they didn’t sleep together and Will was never romantic with her. Eager to give back to Halle in exchange for her tutoring assistance, Henry suggests that he take Halle on some dates and give her the experiences she needs to write the romance novel she wants to submit to the contest.

Henry and Halle start spending all their time together. They work on schoolwork, bake cookies, take drives, listen to audiobooks, visit the beach, attend parties, and share deep conversations about their families and hobbies. Meanwhile, Halle becomes an active member of Henry’s friend group. She gets to know other young women including Aurora Roberts, Emilia Bennett, Anastasia Allen, and Poppy Walker. Henry also maintains his close friendships with characters including Nate Hawkins and Russ Callaghan.

The closer that Henry and Halle become, the more they start to wonder about becoming sexually and romantically intimate. Henry knows that being with Halle makes him happy but he doesn’t want to pressure her into a relationship the way Will did and fears that romance will threaten their friendship. Meanwhile, Halle knows that she’s attracted to Henry but feels self-conscious over her lack of sexual experience. Confused about what comes next for them, Halle and Henry ask their friends for advice. Cami, Aurora, Anastasia, Nate, Russ, and others all encourage Halle and Henry to communicate about their feelings.

Henry and Halle tell each other how they feel and soon start having sex. Meanwhile, they maintain their close friendship but decide not to label their relationship for fear of undermining its sustainability. Then one weekend, Will, Will’s family, and Halle’s family show up on campus for a hockey game. Will and Halle get into an argument about their past relationship and breakup and Will starts an altercation with Henry in the locker room.

Overwhelmed and upset by these conflicts, Henry retreats to his parents’ house for the next four weeks and stops communicating with Halle. He soon realizes that he’s made a mistake and decides to make an audiobook of Halle’s recently- completed romance novel to make amends. Halle is moved by the gift and cancels her spring vacation with her family to thank Henry for the book and to tell him she loves him. The two agree to be exclusive. A few weeks later, Halle and Henry decide to spend the summer in New York City together, where they’ll respectively take writing and art classes.