What do you do when other people have planed out your life for you? Do you just go with it and never be happy or do you forge your own path and find your own happiness? Follow the lives of two families over forty years and see what the power of family, home, and love can do to a person and the paths they take. This story had me crying, in the end, it was such a great story. I did feel the ending was kind of abrupt and I would have liked an epilogue to wrap up loose ends. However, I did enjoy this story immensely.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy of this book. I enjoyed Ms. Deveraux's book which is multigenerational. I really enjoy these family sagas and this one was no exception. I liked the way the characters throughout the different generations all were entwined and had so much effect on each person. Although the ending was bitter sweet and probably the best way to end the book, I found it a little disappointing. It felt like a very quick wrap up to a great story. The story was extremely enjoyable and was interesting to read books that are set back in earlier days without electronics ruling everyone's life. The characters were all strongly developed and unique. All and all it was a great read.

I have always enjoyed Jude Deveraux's books, but I found this one hard to follow. It is a family saga that spans three generations beginning in 1972 in Kansas. Vera and her sister Kelly are the main characters and they couldn't be more different. Vera is embracing the feminist movement and protesting the war while Kelly is following a more traditional role. Over the years as things change and evolve, they find their paths and in some cases hurting others along the way. I found Vera to be unlikable even though I understood her frustrations about taking care of her mother and wanting to follow the path less traveled. I think I might have enjoyed this more had it not tries to cover so many years.

A multigenerational novel with amazing characters and while it was predictable, I was in it for the journey and I enjoyed it. Written so wonderfully and with such great characters.
Vera and Kelly have had the same boyfriends since elementary school, there was never a question of who they would marry. Vera wants to change the world, Kelly wants to heal it .
Again, I loved the characters and the story. I definitely recommend this book !

This book left me cold. An author that I really look forward to ,reading has let me down. The story was terribly disjointed while covering three or more generations - keeping track of who was who, let alone how they were related was more than I cared to do. While I read it to the end, hoping it would improve it didn't.

This is a saga covering three generation. There were a lot of characters and a lot of bed hopping and at times it was hard to follow. Then we had the second generation and then the third, so, it added to the characters and the family secrets. I did have to continue reading to see how it was all going to work out. I will say that I did not like the ending

A generational family saga set in Kansas. I picked up this book to read because I have ties to both the times and the location and that made this an enjoyable read for me. I felt it was a little choppy, but if you need/want to get lost in a family saga, this will be an enjoyable read for you.

Deveraux wrote an ambitious novel. It spans 3 generations, 40 years, and many horizons. In the beginning, the characters are a bit of a mishmash and playing musical chairs with partners. It’s easy to figure out who belongs with whom, but how will that occur. Deveraux is a master of crafting scenes that work while being outrageous. I loved that the setting was in Kansas, the heartland of America. I loved the initial time setting of the 1970s and a world that was not yet so technologically based. An array of unforgettable characters litter the narrative. The ending is bittersweet.

Meant to Be is a different type of family saga, in my opinion. The depiction of the ties and pull between “duty” to the ones who are loved and “desire” to forge an individual path that differs from expectations is very realistic. This story shows the losses and gains of making the choices to follow the paths “meant to be” both in love and in career. The fine line of balance between the two when they differ follows from one generation into the next, leading to great discussions of the age-old “nature versus nurture” debate. The plot also lends itself to the issue of “selfishness versus selflessness”— Choices have consequences, more positive than negative is the goal. But the leading question in the choices of the main character seems to be: “Who’s happiness is more important?” A deep, thought-provoking read.

A inspiring family saga that spans generations as she tells the story of two sisters. The things that they are bound to and the dreams they wish to go after. I’ve been reading Jude Deveraux for longer than I care to think about. I remember stealing my Mom’s books to read when I was 13. I still get thrilled when I see a new Jude book. This book was a little bit different than Jude’s other titles but I can’t put my finger on why it feels different. It really doesn’t matter what it is because I enjoyed the book very much