Emily Giffin is so fun to follow in Instagram and her stories with the Kennedys had me excited to read this book, Cate and Joe are very clearly based on JFK, jr and Carolyn. Cate is a strong woman and the romance was so lovely. It was a fun romance to follow. It was a fun beach read.

I have always enjoy Emily Giffin's books but this one was just not for me. I had a hard time keeping myself focused. It may have been the Covid brain but I think it was just that I didn't like that it seemed to be about the Kennedy's. Or more precise JFK jr and his wife. While I loved him my whole life I didn't want to read about him. I just didn't.

While the story is touching in parts and has a dynamic ending, it just was not one I enjoyed. Not like her earlier and some previous books.

I"m sorry but I just didn't enjoy. That doesn't mean it was not well written in any way. I highly suggest you read this for yourself.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

3.5 stars

Enjoyable romance novel. Hooked me right away. Joe lives a life of power & influence, while Cate came from an abusive household from which she escaped to make a life of her own. A bit predictable, but still enjoyable.

Young, handsome, and wealthy, Joseph S. Kingsley III was mourning the early death of his father and managing the conflicted feelings that came with his legacy of privilege. Joe knew he was expected to do great things, but he was a bit of a rebel, undecided at what his place in history would be.

Cate knew she did not want a life that was anything like her mother’s, finding a series of loser boyfriends and working at unskilled jobs. Cate wanted more, and when she started modeling, she was sure it would lead to the exciting, successful life she’d always wanted. Upon meeting Joe, she knew instantly her life would never be the same.

Well. This was not at all what I had expected. To me, the book seemed flat, that even though the characters had plenty of drama in their lives, it didn’t leap off the pages the way I wanted it to. Based loosely on the relationship of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette, Meant To Be was repetitive in places and the characters never really developed. I’m normally an Emily Giffin fan, but this book just wasn’t a good fit for me.

I keep giving Emily Giffin a chance because her early books were winners with such huge impacts on me. But <i>Meant to Be</i> still didn't make the mark. it was forgettable because of its predictability. Until the end... But even that didn't save me from giving this a better rating.

As always, Emily Giffin hits it out of the park with her stories. A well crafted and complex life story with such depth to the characters. Funny, sweet, poignant and bittersweet at times. Would recommend to any fan,

I didn’t realize this book was fan fiction until it was over. I know very little about JFK jr so I enjoyed this story as is. The story is pretty predictable but Griffin makes you invested in the characters. A great summer romance.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Ms. Giffin's latest and while it does seem to mirror JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bissette's romance, there are definite changes. I'm not a Kennedy devotee, but I obviously knew the highlights of their courtship. I liked Joe and Cate but there were times when I thought Cate sold herself short and that communication with Joe would have lessened the heartbreak.

I felt this book to be a bit predictable but I loved that it was loosely based on the Kennedy family. I thought that the writing was a bit simple and that was due to the characters being young but it kept that way. I didn't like the change of surviving the plane crash since that's not what actually happens for the Kennedys but again its loosely based on them. Overall- a solid read!

Meant to Be is loosely based on the lives of JFK Jr and his wife, Caroline. Meant to Be tells a reimagined story of Cate and Joe. I loved the play on history and the classic story you know but also one you don’t. Giffin takes many liberties with the original. It’s more inspired by true events and less a complete reimagining.

Meant to Be follows Cate and Joe. Cate is headstrong and independent. She wants to make her own way in the world and not be reliant on anyone. Joe has been born into a life of privilege as the heir to the Kingsley family, but also the Kingsley curse. Joe has no idea what he wants to do with his life, but greatness is expected of him.

I loved the romance between Joe and Cate. They meet under unlikely circumstances and seem to keep running into each other. Joe is completely enamored by Cate. Cate has always followed Joe’s family but is hesitant to believe someone like Joe would have anything more than a fleeting interest in her.

If you like reimaginings or if you are fascinated by stories about the Kennedys, I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Not every book is for every reader, and there are, surprisingly, lots of 5 star reviews for this one. As someone who has been obsessed with the Kennedy family my entire life, especially JFK Jr. and his stunning wife Carolyn Bessette, I had high hopes. The cover is so pretty and evocative! Alas, I found the actual plot to be thin and the characters one-dimensional.

Told in alternate points of view, the book is the story of Cate and Joe's relationship. Joe is a member of the famed Kingsley family, modeled on the Kennedys. Cate's story does not exactly mirror Carolyn Bessette's, but I was interested enough in these two to keep reading in the hopes of feeling a deeper connection with the characters.

I am always disappointed when an author uses all caps in dialogue. And this book has several all-caps moments. I kept waiting for there to be something to sink my teeth into. I do love the author's Instagram, and her in-depth discussions of the famous wedding photo of JFK Jr. and Carolyn, taken by close family friend and relative-by-marriage, Dennis Reggie. I think she has lot to offer and to her credit, I did finish this book. Since this was my first Emily Giffin book, I am going to definitely try some of her other books which seem to be beloved by readers. 'Meant to Be' was just not for me.

(Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.)

When I read this I did not know the author had been inspired by the John Kennedy Jr’s life. But is was obvious and I was a bit taken aback. When I read the final author’s note that she had taken her inspiration from his love story I felt better about the book. It is basically a nice romance.

My friends have come to expect me to tell them the great love stories of our parents' time, regaling them with tales of Marilyn's drama, Reagan's love letters, and JFK Jr.'s plane crash with his wife and sister-in-law. I truly believe I was born at the wrong time and finding myself living the JFK Jr. story through Emily Giffin's imaginative Meant to Be is a feeling I cannot describe. I was only a few pages in when the first tears hit, realizing that Giffin had taken a story, famed in pop culture, and brought it to life in a fiction novel. Sure, it's based on a true story and those true pieces are easy to pull from the pages, but the way she fictionalizes the rest and fills in the blank truly is amazing. We can't know what truly went on behind closed doors in the Kennedy home, but this imagining feels accurate and just the right amount of true.

Meant to Be is the story of Joe Kingsley and Cate, two individuals who do not know one another, whose lives are taking two very distinct paths, but who will find those paths crossing in unimaginable ways. While Joe is the boy in the poster on every girls' wall, Cate is the girl with the poster. Where Joe is raised with family money and a family name, Cate's been raised in the chaos of a single-mother home and a stepfather who she wish she didn't have. Each is on their own, creating their life and figuring out who they are, and Meant to Be is Giffin's story of their adolescence and young adult hood, from the perspective of each character. While Joe is going to school and dating beauties, Cate is finding her footing on her own as a model. Neither could predict their paths would cross and certainly they did not see their relationship becoming what it does.

As far as fictionalized retellings go, Meant to Be is a great one. It's younger in writing style and character voice, but I think that will grab readers around my age and younger who have only heard the JFK stories in passing. It's a romantic, what-if story, the kind romance readers like me will love and that equally historic fans will find joy in. It's heartwarming and well-written, told like many other Emily Giffin novels, and just as fun to read for someone who knows the real story as it would be for someone it is totally new to. This one was a win for me.

Like Ms. Giffin I am fascinated and intrigued by the royal American family, the Kennedy’s.
It took me a while to read this because I wasn’t sure about a book that somehow told a fictional story about a family with so much tragedy. I had so many emotions but ultimately I loved it. 4 stars

Meant to Be
Emily Griffin

Emily Griffin is a master storyteller that knows how to create characters that will stay with you long after you have read them. The stories are emotionally grounded, tugs at your heartstrings, and transcends multi-generational family stories.
The story of Joe and cate and their opposite backgrounds – with Joe in his privileged upbringing and Cate’s struggling family, sets up in this very emotional story that I adored. Loosely based on JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette, this story re-imagines the what-ifs on this well loved couple.
This is the perfect read you can take on a vacation by the beach and enjoy the story for hours being transported to another place and time by the queen of romance, Emily Griffin.

I have always been a fan of Emily Giffin and am so happy to have read Meant to Be. This was a great imagining of the story of a young couple that captured the fascination of so many Americans. I think all of us of a certain age can remember the day that there plane crashed as well as the days that followed. I know I certainly can. What if they had survived and went on to live fulling lives? This book helps us to imagine that, and loved it!

Emily Giffin has done it again. How does she do it? Sweet story, easy read. Loosely based on JFK Jr and Caroline Bessette. Living in Massachusetts, the Kennedy's are a big deal here. I can say that this is LOOSELY based on them. If I didn't know any better I wouldn't know it was them.

A fabulous read, Giffin's best yet! A compelling story of what might have been in Camelot. I love Giffin's storytelling, characters, all that she does is dripping in Kennedy-esque gilt!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book

I have a friend that is a big Emily Giffin fan, and so she recommended several of her books to me. I really enjoyed all of the books that I have read by her so far. I was really excited when I saw this book come up, so I requested it.

This was another great book by Emily Giffin. I haven't really found a book by her yet that I didn't enjoy. This one is another one to add to the list. This book was just a fun easy read for me. I always like Emily Giffin's characters too.


This is just a fun and enjoyable easy book to read. I can't wait for her next one.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the second book that I have read of the author’s. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the last because it seemed far more over the top. While I generally enjoyed the story, I thought some of the characters were Just too unrealistic. I liked the concept of the story told by both main characters. I thought that kept it interesting. There were a couple surprises I didn’t expect.