Real Rating: 3.5 stars

This story follows 7-8 characters, depending on whether you count one secondary as an MC, all of which are related to the wedding planner business, In Love in New York.

Liv is the owner of the business along with her husband, Eliot, who dies in the prologue. Eliot leaves his half of the business to his mistress, Savannah, which is a shock to all and the spark to this whole story. The heart of the book takes place over the next year and we see four love stories take place with the POV switching between characters and partners. Through this, there's also a lot of relationship development, self-discovery, and finding joy. It Had to Be You has a very "slice of life" sort of feel as we get to know the characters and deep dive into their lives, their relationships, and their hopes and fears.

Fear is a big aspect of these characters' arcs as it manifests differently for each character and relationship - fear of moving forward and moving on, fear of repeating past mistakes, fear of being vulnerable. These feelings were so relatable and human that I couldn't help but love the characters more for what they went through and overcame. This is definitely a book of self-reflection and growth, and I think each arc developed and closed pretty well.

Where this book lost points for me was the slow start (I'm really not an infidelity person, so the beginning felt like a slough), and a few oddly worded lines that stuck out so much to me that I had to pause at times in utter confusion and bafflement. Some things should not be conveyed a certain way and they managed to find the exact way not to word these things. Those weird lines bothered me enough that they pulled me out of the story and I had to take a star for them.

All in all, I loved this story style - the character development was amazing, and the wedding elements were so fun. In the end, I loved getting to see both sides of each of their relationships and how each character finds their joy (whether it's together, alone, or another day).

TW: death of a spouse, infidelity, transphobia (countered), lesbophobia (countered), religious bigotry, alcohol, toxic relationship, gaslighting; mentions HP characters, racism, domestic abuse, and rape (conceptually, not as a past experience)

Rep: Gay MCs, Lesbian secondary, Black MCs

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Atria via Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

A big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Quirky characters, surprising twists, friendships, romance, and drama, all taking place in a New York minute.

Liv wakes up one morning to discover that not only had her dead husband had an affair but he also left his mistress half of their wedding planning business. Who does that?! For the life of her, Liv cannot comprehend why her husband would do that to her.
Savannah, the mistress, young, bright eyed and full of life and hope, made the decision to leave her family and move to the big city to live her dreams. Full of determination, passion and looking for the best in people and in situations, she has her eyes on a goal and does everything in her power to make it happen.
I enjoyed reading their story more than the others written into the book. The author was able to tie in and bring all the stories together as they were all connected to the Liv and the wedding planning business.

Definitely an interesting story, about human connection, redemption, love and the up's and downs of life.

thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada as well as the author Georgia Clark. I sent this review before when it published but for some reason I do not see the review when I went to look on Goodreads but I still wanted to go back and post my review as this was a good read. It was funny and real. It shows how people go through loss and as well how we do not always know all things about people without actual communication. I do not want to give anymore away as I really enjoyed this read and I know this author has a knack for writing.

I read this more than once as I enjoyed the writing style.

Thanks!

I'm honestly surprised I finished this book. For the first 50%, I was kind of interested in the characters stories and adventures, but I think the second half I just finished to see how ridiculous it got. The audio was not good for this one, a few of the narrators were irritating and bad at accents, which really attributed to not wanting to finish this book. All of the characters were insufferable. It truly felt like the author was trying WAY too hard to be inclusive with this book, like she just came up with ideas and ways to add in things as she wrote, without any flow or rhyme or reason.

What I did like was the initial idea of wife and mistress being forced to run a company together, and I also like how all of the characters lives intertwined together in one way or another. That's about it for what I liked. There were way too many characters and point of views to follow, way too many love stories to keep track of. Seems like I'm a minority for not enjoying this book, but you can't win them all!

I've seen so many glowing reviews for this one, and for the most part I agree with them. I thought this book was well written, had an interesting plot and was totally cute.

The main story centered around Liv and Savannah. Liv and her husband Eliot owned their own wedding planning business for years. When he suddenly and unexpectedly dies, he ends up leaving half of the business to Liv and the other half to Savannah, his much younger girlfriend. Talk about scandalous! There were also four other love stories happening throughout the book, each relationship being both lovely and complicated.

That's where things got tricky for me. There were a lot of characters - more than I usually like when reading. And I didn't find myself really loving any of them. They were ok, but nobody really stood out to me. I did like the love stories in general as each relationship was a bit unconventional. And I liked that the characters all mingled together in the story. I just felt at times like there was a lot going on.

Overall though, this was a good read that I enjoyed. If you enjoy all the typical romance tropes, this book has them all!

OMG you guys, this book!!! If you are a fan of Love Actually, you are gonna love this one.

Liv Goldenhorn, owner of In Love In New York, a boutique wedding planning service has just lost her husband Eliot. As if that wasn’t bad enough, young Savannah Shipley shows up at her door claiming to be Eliot’s girlfriend and the new half-owner of her company. Wait, what? That’s right, her late husband willed half their company to his secret girlfriend just two weeks before he died. As Liv and Savannah uncover the details, they will have to decide if they can pull it together and carry on with the business.

Although this story starts with Liv and Savannah, there is a whole colourful cast of characters and many romantic plotlines to get into. The story is really held together by the business In Love In New York with each character being tied to the company somehow. The florists Gorman and Henry, the musician Darlene and DJ Zach, the sexy chef Sam, and a server Zia. These stories are all woven together into a Love Actually style tale that I found thoroughly satisfying. There are secrets, mysteries, celebrities and ordinary people just living their lives.

I loved Liv’s character. Smart and quirky she is intensely likable and relatable (to me anyway). I was a little worried for the first bit that Savannah would grate my nerves but hang in there, before long you will be loving on her too. It is fun to watch Savannah grow up and grow into her own throughout the book, all against a glorious backdrop of New York.

One of the things I liked best about this book was the diversity of characters and relationship styles. From casual to open to monogamous and everything in between it is refreshing not to be served a singular narrative. I love when books reflect more of what I actually see in the world. There is more out there than cis-gendered straight relationships and Georgia Clark has nailed it with this celebration of love in all its forms. This book features characters that are gay, trans, cis-gendered and straight and even someone who might be gay but isn’t quite sure. It’s like a portrait of New York itself – multi-faceted, layered and beautiful. I couldn’t put it down.

Run, don’t walk and buy this book!

Liv Goldenhorn has run a wedding planning business with her husband Eliot for twenty years. At the start of the novel we see Liv trying to put out fires at a wedding that seems destined to go off the rails. Liv is desperately trying to get in touch with Eliot for his much needed “fire fighting” skills. Instead Liv gets a phone call telling her Eliot has died suddenly. Reeling from the news Liv soon discovers Eliot was having an affair and has left his share of their wedding planning business to his young girlfriend Savannah.
Savannah is determined to team up with Liv to revive the now struggling wedding planning business. Liv wants no part of this new partnership forced on her by her late husband. Both women bring different skill sets to the business. Liv has years of experience and Savannah has a keen sense of how to use social media and modern technology to their advantage. The question is whether or not the two women can work together despite their differences.
Once I accepted the premise of how these two women were drawn together I found IT HAD TO BE YOU an enjoyable read. IT HAD TO BE YOU would be a good recommendation for readers who enjoy a modern day romance.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early e-edition of IT HAD TO BE YOU.

I really loved this super sweet book. The lives and loves of a group of characters all intertwine (think Love Actually vibes) in New York. I really enjoyed each of the storylines individually and when they all pulled together it was just the icing on the cake. Likeable, interesting characters and some heart warming love stories made this a definite thumbs up from me!

Absolutely the most darling book I’ve read this year.
I loved every character. I ADORED how there were multiple love stories to follow, but everyone was connected.
It had heart and soul and made me sit deep in my feelings. And it also made me laugh, which I so appreciate in a romance.

A funny, charming story about two women (the wife and the mistress) who inherit and wedding business in New York and the series of couples whose weddings they help plan. Perfect for fans of movies like Love, actually and Valentine's Day. This was a feel-good story that I sped through. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

Cute book, but there were a few too many story lines in this one. I wanted more of the main story between Liv and Savannah. Also, due to the number of story lines, I felt this one wrapped up a bit too quick and neat.

This is a story about second chances in life and finding the right person who suits your personality (even though it is not who you thought it would be). I enjoyed reading this story about the healing power of love.

4.5 Stars. Sometimes all I want to read is a sweet rom-com with a happy ending to escape from reality and Georgia Clark delivers that with her new novel It Had To Be You which is coming out May 2021!

Liv and her husband Eliot have been running a successful wedding planning company called In Love in New York for the past 20 years when he dies suddenly of a heart attack. Liv is shocked to learn that he has left half of the business to Savannah, a much younger woman with whom he was having a secret affair. Liv now must learn to navigate life without Eliot while trying to work with Savannah to get In Love in New York back on track.

With that as the starting point, Clark then deftly weaves together five interconnecting stories of modern love in New York City with couples that have some connection to Liv and In Love in New York. Five separate couples and a story told from multiple perspectives might seem like a lot to keep track of but the stories flow together quite well and I was equally invested in all five - rooting for everyone to get their own happily ever after.

I loved the inclusion of diverse couples in It Had To Be You - there's middle-aged, same-sex and inter-racial couples - which is refreshing.

It Had To Be You is a charming romance being marketed as similar to Love Actually and is perfect for anyone craving a sweet, feel-good escape.

Recommended on my website in 29 of the Best Summer Beach Reads in 2021 - https://www.gonewiththefamily.com/2021/06/best-summer-reads.html


I received a digital ARC from NetGalley.

A cute contemporary fiction read with several couples and diverse range of characters. It is said to resemble Love Actually, overall a cute read but confusing to keep up with all the situations/characters.

This book was just too silly for me. The characters were one dimensional and I just didn't care about their problems. Maybe just not the genre for me, but I found it hard to become invested in the story and everything was too much surface level for me, it didn't dig into the characters at all.

Going into this, I wasn’t quite sure I was going to like it. It just seemed like there were way too many perspectives that were collectively going nowhere. It took until about the 75–100-page mark for me to get really invested. As I started to get further into each character’s story, this book became quite good! The ending (and the beginning) fell a little bit flat, but the stuff in between wasn’t all bad!

Rating: 3*

This well loved book got off to a slow start for me. This book is told in chapters generally by two characters a chapter. All of the characters do intermingle so it is a cohesive story. I was more invested in the characters of Darlene and Zack initially but grew to want to see what would happen with all the other characters. This book pulls on the heartstrings at times and there is humour, romance friendship, and ultimately the characters find their true personality and path in life. Overall I really enjoyed this book and the characters and I was sad to see it end. Perfect for summer reading.

I was on the hunt for a light, fun read and It Had To Be You was the perfect fit! It has a strong Love Actually vibe as readers follow the trials and tribulations of five couples whose lives and relationships entwine.

This was a fun read, but I'd say there's a bit more Rom than Com - although the verbal banter was quite spot on at times. There is a slew of entertaining romantic tropes (I particularly liked the fake dating couple) and some relevant issues which included racism, toxic relationships, loss and second chances. Those are some deeper themes but overall, the story had a positive, upbeat feel to it.

The ensemble cast is made up of a wonderfully diverse group of characters living in New York City. The reader jumps between the POV of five couples, each with their own issues and short story arc. I had my favourites of the bunch and enjoyed the positive vibe, but there's a little too much going on at times, leaving me wanting a bit more connection to some of the characters as they search for their happily-ever-afters.

Overall, this was an entertaining escapist read with some Rom and a dash of Com that totally hit the spot.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for my complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

It Had to Be You by Georgia Clark

If you’re in the mood for a sweet read, It Had to Be You is pretty much the quintessential cheery contemporary romance. Suggested for fans of the movies Love Actually and Valentine’s Day, this novel features five interconnected stories of diverse couples. It’s a book that celebrates love, recognizing all love stories don’t look the same.

If you like this genre, you’ll enjoy this. I also really enjoyed it. My only minor issue is that it reads sort of like a screenplay. There’s 5 different couples the book bounces between, and even though there are threads connecting them, we are getting glimpses of each story and they change quite often. There was somewhere near 80 chapters if I was noticing that correctly. There are happily ever afters galore, revealed in an epilogue style that felt like it would have worked better on the screen.

I still enjoyed it for what it was, and I think if you are in the mood for a charming story with some happy endings you would like this. While some of the relationship stories were fun and far-fetched (A-list movie star boyfriend anyone?), lots of realistic relationship problems were explored, both familial and within couples. The stories felt fresh with relationships that were different from one another.

Overall, I liked it and I would 100% like to see this made into a movie on @netflix for a Friday night eating candy.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for free access to an e-arc of this fun novel in exchange for an honest review. It is available now!

I love multiple POVs, however I wish with the chapter number it would also state the character who that chapter is about, especially with there being more than 2 characters with POVs. At the beginning it was a little confusing when getting to know all of these characters.

This book has major love actually vibes. I found myself skimming through Zach/Darlene’s chapters, but overall really enjoyed everyone’s journey! It was nice to experience so many walks of life in one book.

3.5/5