I really loved this! It was a lot of fun, well written and the characters were well developed! I highly recommend this for others!! This was an important read and I found the book to be so great!

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

I did not like this book, I want to give my honest feedback but not be too harsh but in all honesty, this book was not for me. It fell into the same category as all similar books and I found it tiresome and struggled to go to the next page at times. I think it has potential to appeal to some people however it was just a bit too predictable for me. Apologies.

Overall opinion of the book:

In all honesty, this wasn't my favourite Chick-Lit, and I didn't fully enjoy the content until over halfway through the book. The latter end of the book I did enjoy however. Overall the book fell slightly flat as I struggled to relate to the main character Bea. Being of a similar age I thought, "yes! Finally a book that's going to rep my age group", but I felt Bea's character acted a lot younger than 25. Her character seems worlds apart to the reality of being in your mid 20's, as she seemed to reflect a character who would typically be between 18-20. I understand that everyone's life experiences vary greatly, but for her age she definitely did seem a little too naive and immature. 


As the synopses explains, Bea's recurring dreams of her "perfect boyfriend" come into fruition. *Slight spoiler* Readers later discover that Bea moved to London in order to find this man she's been dreaming of *spoiler ends*. It was a little too cliche for me and as a result I struggled to become fully invested in the plot. I have previously read books with a similar premise, such as Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher so I'm not opposed to the plot idea, I just think it may have worked a little better if it was approached in a slightly more realistic way. As the novel progresses, so does Bae's character and I enjoyed seeing her grow and mature. She became quite endearing and her conversations with Dan and her friends flowed well and were natural.


It Had to Be You, discusses many different types of relationships, emphasising that some are not positive and in fact toxic. The book also emphasises the importance of not judging other people's relationships. Every relationship is different and what may work for some couples may not for others. Just because a relationship may seem flawed to others and not perfect on the outside, doesn't meant it's the same behind closed doors.


My favourite part of the book was Bea's relationship with her flatmates. Stainton has written these parts so well and the friendships seem so genuine and lovely. They're definitely the kind of flatmates I'd like to love with if I went to university or lived in London when I was younger! I particularly liked Bea's friend Freya, she was honest and at times hilarious. She's a lesbian, and it was great to see LGBT+ rep in this book. Bea's friendship with Henry was also endearing and he seems like a genuine and kind character.



Final Thoughts:

Overall, this was an enjoyable read but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. This doesn't mean you won't love it however. The characters were interesting and I enjoyed seeing Bea grow and mature as the novel progressed but I do think of her age was between 18-20 then this would have suited the content in then novel a little better.

Keris's books are the ultimate comfort reads - cosy, witty and full of snappy one-liners. It Had To Be You is no exception as it follows bookseller Bea's pursuit of her dream (literal dream) man. As ever the characters are hilarious - I particularly loved housemate Freya - and I was so sad when the book was over as I wanted more, more, more!

Every once in a while, I like to read a sweet women's fiction, and this book delivered! I really enjoyed the characters and thought it was delightful.

3.5 stars

Ok so Bea has had this life long dream of the perfect guy all the way down to where she is going to meet him and how it happens. She ends up moving to this place so she can one day meet this perfect guy. Yep that’s right she basically lets this dream run her life. My first issue with this book is this. I mean who makes important life decisions based on a dream? Bea also comes off more as a teenager than an adult.

So I mentioned the dreams she has. She has them pretty frequently and at the beginning of every chapter (I think it was every chapter but don’t quote me on that because its been so long I can’t really remember) we get a snippet of the dreams and each time a little something gets added to the dream. The problem with this is that it became very repetitive and annoying to have to read about the whole dream.

Other than those issues I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was funny and cute and yes predictable but that was ok with me because I was really happy with what happened.

It Had To Be You by Keris Stainton was enjoyable. Although, I thought the main character was annoying with her indecisiveness. I guessed the ending almost from the beginning, that’s always a bummer. It was a good read anyway, funny and with good writing.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the free ebook copy in exchange of my honest opinion.

Bea is dating the perfect man...on paper at least. They don't have the chemistry that most couples do, but after the disaster of her last relationship, she's not being too picky. When her feelings for her best friend start to develop, she has to decide if she should follow her heart and take a risk, or play it safe. LOVED this story! A wonderful, witty romance.

Today I am pleased to be part of Bookouture's Blog Tour to celebrate the publication of Keris Stainton's new release, It Had To Be You. Keris is an author who has written a number of books for both children, young adults and adults.

It Had To Be You is a laugh out loud novel with characters who everyone can relate to and care about. The storyline is also relatable to many readers, two people meeting, having a relationship but finding that there is something missing and not being sure, or brave enough, to do something about it.

I really enjoy Keris' style of writing. I have read a number of her previous novels and always find them to be well written, comedic and great story lines. They are easy to pick up and get lost in and have great casts of characters.

I recommend everyone to pick up It Had To Be You this Christmas time for a great, easy to read, comedic story, which everyone can relate to.

Thank you to the publishers, Bookouture, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for giving me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

It Had To Be You may not be as fun as If You Could See Me Now, but it surely got its own charm. It is sweet and amusing and consists of some adorable and funny characters. Bea is living with a few other people in an apartment and despite the differences in personality, they all get along so well. And it is those friends that added extra entertainment to the story. The banters between them are witty and the challenges they are going through are realistic enough that made them all relatable. Although, Bea as the main character is not as interesting as some of her housemates. Despite being so predictable and a somewhat rushed ending, I still find it as an enjoyable read. There’s not a toe-curling romance but it is still kinda sweet. In all, an easy and uncomplicated love story.

I think I have a new favorite writer! I loved en enjoyed this book a lot!

It has all the elements a funny story needs (in my opninion): love, jokes, humor, feelgood and the story is not too heavy to read. It's perfect to read when you are busy or feel like ' dont want to read' . This is a book which gets you out of your reading slump.

I put her other book already on my want-to-read list (If you could see me now).

A great feelgood book. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend to all my friends. It was fun & I liked all of the characters. I would read another from Keris without hesitation.

I read this book in just under a week. I loved it so much! I loved the dream that Bea does every night, meeting the man of her dreams in a park. Every night she has this recurrent dream and one day she actually does meet a nice man in this park. She starts dating him and is pretty sure that Dan, is the man of her dreams. But is Dan really the man of her dreams?
I loved the way this book was written, the characters, the plot, the settings, the romance (especially in the last pages... soo good!), I loved everything about this book! I give it a 5 stars out of 5! First book of 2018 that is perfect in every way for me!

I think this book had some nice moments and I loved the fact that the main character worked in a bookstore. The relationship between the friends was nice and there was some entertaining dialogue.

I just didn’t connect with the characters though I liked be idea of meeting the man of your dreams (literally)

Sorry just found this one hard to get in to, I found it hard to relate the characters

Fun, and funny romance novel that will make you laugh out loud. Great characters, twits and story.

A good romance book that made me laugh out loud in places. The characters were all likeable, a good read if you want an easy going book.

Easy to read romance. Likeable characters and a few laughs thrown in. I liked the writing style and the ending. Predictable but still a good read.