A cute, lighthearted read. Made me laugh a handful of times. Much like Not That Kind of Ever After. I'd read another Luci Adams book.

Daisy is not in a great place. She just lost her job of 13 years, got dumped and is fighting with her sister. In her determination to win her old life back, Daisy learns the importance of embracing life and that there’s more for her out there.

The book started off a little slow, and it took me a while to get into it. I almost DNF’d it but I’m glad I stuck it out. You get bits of information through flashbacks (which I liked), it was just hard to get invested when the firing, dumping and fighting all happened beforehand. Really, it took a bit of time for Daisy to endear herself to me. But once you wade through the beginning you learn she just wants her old life back. She’s lost and lonely and this journey leads her to her new life/purpose.

While I believe this book falls under women’s fiction, with humour, heartwarming moments and life lessons, there is some romance sprinkled in which kept me invested. Archie is special and his daughters, Bailey and Cara, are precious. They are the catalysts to Daisy’s new beginning. And while her story is about finding her footing, why can’t that include a handsome Scot?

Read if you like:
▪️Women’s fiction
▪️Single dads
▪️Closed door romance

In this day of social media, our lives are depicted as either perfect or not-so-perfect. For Daisy, her life has turned upside down in the span of a year, and she uses social media to exploit her so called rise from the bottom. But then she finds herself nannying for the most handsome man ever. She becomes conflicted with wanting her old life back and the new opportunity that lies before her that could change everything.

This was such a cute romance, complete with relatable mishaps and finding love in the strangest of places. The characters are fun and feel like they are a part of your own circle. This is a very clean read, which is rare these days. Not that some steaminess isn't warranted, but a sweet, feel good romance is what we all need sometimes. Luci Adams gives us this in It Must Be True Then.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

In solidarity with the SMP Boycott I will be withholding my review for this title (which I was given prior to the boycott) until SMP acts on the following:

1. Address and denounce the Islamophobic and racist remarks from their employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian influencers, authors and readers, in addition to supporting their BIPOC influencers, authors, and readers.

This is not a reflection of the author personally, nor is it a call to boycott buying this particular book.

"It Must Be True Then" was an adorable - incredibly slow burn - rom com that followed the roller coaster ride of Daisy's personal and professional life.

Luci Adams brings the readers in to the mess that is "figuring out where to go from here" when it all hits the fan for Daisy. It was easy to identify with Daisy and her desire to put on a good face and portray that everything is fine while everything, in fact, was not fine.

The author also includes solid character arcs not only for the protagonist but for many of the supportive characters, as well.

The excessive "reminiscent story telling" and occasional extreme amount of detail for an event/scene felt like they slowed down the momentum of the book's flow; nevertheless, I persisted as I was genuinely intrigued and curious about what would happen to the characters. I absolutely adored and flew through the last tenth of the book as the cadence of events picked up to an enjoyable pace.

In all, this entertaining book will make you grateful that someone else (everyone?) sees you and experiences the same thoughts and discomforts through life's ebbs and flows.

Fans of the novel where a woman hits close to bottom and then finds herself and romance will like this one, Daisy's lost her job, her love interest, she's fighting with her sister and she impulsively takes a job working for Archie, a widower with two kids. Cara (especially Cara) and Bailey shine even when Daisy is really annoying, And Archie is a peach. This is told with flashbacks, which can be disconcerting sometimes, but it gives the reader a look at where Daisy's come from. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

It Must Be True Then was my first Luci Adams book. I was intrigued by the blurb for this book and had high hopes for it, but unfortunately I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would.

Daisy Peterson hit rock bottom and lost everything at the same time, her job, her boyfriend and lost contact with her sister. She ends up getting a job nannying two young girls, which ends up changing her life once again. Will she end up finding what she wants for herself and find a life that will make her happy?

While it helped to have the tidbits about what happened in Daisy's past, I feel like the way those parts of the story were told could have been told in a more streamlined way. I felt like the story wasn't as smooth as it could have been and it felt like it jumped around a lot as we got the flashbacks. Daisy was also a very stubborn character, which I can appreciate, but it got to be a little much at times and sometimes things were just a little too over the top. I really enjoyed both Cara and Bailey. They were adorable!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

I loved the whole premise of this book and each supporting character within it - especially the girls, Cara and Bailey. However, I will admit that it felt as though there were multiple plots going on at once and I did not like the main character, Daisy, at all. While I did enjoy seeing Daisy grow throughout the story and evolve into a woman with more self-worth and independence, I felt as though it took a long time to get there and found that the story a whole dragged a little in the middle because of it. It was an overall decent read, but I think my dislike toward the MC and the slower pace brought the rating down for me.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a #gifted eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled with this sophomore novel by Luci Adams. It definitely had the humor and airiness I expected after loving her debut, but the formatting and pacing were off.

Daisy loses her job and her boyfriend in the same day, and she quickly hits a rock bottom place of despair. The job hunt isn’t going well, and on a whim she decides to apply for a nanny position for two girls she met at the grocery store. A relationship with their father slowly blooms as Daisy finds herself.

The story takes multiple time jumps to show things that have happened in Daisy’s past, and none of that feels seamless. The transitions between those and the present day needed to be smoothed out a bit. Daisy has faced plenty of hard things, and those turned the tone somber at times rather than remaining in rom com mode.

I did adore the two little girls and find them to be well written, they were my favorite part! I had so much secondhand embarrassment for the ridiculous things Daisy does that it was tough to read at times. The main character reminded me of a Sophie Kinsella character with the crazy events and circumstances, but pushed slightly over the top into more of a caricature than a character.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the arc. All opinions are my own.

This book turned out just to be an okay read for me. Mainly because the flashbacks were a little confusing and the character of Daisy was not particularly loveable.
I did find Cara to be the most adorable character. She was well written and interesting. Archie and Bailey were also easily likeable characters.

While a little difficult to get into, I enjoyed this book and the progression and growth of Daisy Peterson. At first I found Daisy to be unlikeable as she was stubborn and had a one track mind especially after being fired from her job of 13 years. However, she meets Archie in unexpected ways and being around him and his daughters, Bailey and Cara, helped Daisy open up and be her authentic self. Daisy served as a reminder that what we see on social media is only a piece of the whole picture. I didn’t love the flashbacks being thrown in, but they did help get a better picture of what Daisy had gone through. I wish we could have seen more of the progression and relationship between Daisy, Archie and the girls and less of Daisy and her slump. Overall I enjoyed this book and the characters!

This is a fun and cute story about Daisy, and her life choices, what she wants, what she needs, I really liked the evolution of the character and although she frustrates me in some parts I really enjoyed the story, more than a Romance is a story about the evolution of character and family.

I love unexpected love stories and Archie and Daisy are so perfect together. Bailey and Cara stole my heart and they so obviously needed someone they could trust to guide them besides their father, even though he is an excellent father. I enjoyed seeing Daisy find her footing and figure out what she wants and deserves in life. It was also nice to see her heal her relationship with her sister. It's a love story, but also a sweet story of family, both biological and found.

Daisy needs to figure out who she is first!

Daisy Peterson had hit rock bottom between losing her job, her boyfriend and loosing contact with her sister but trying to figure out what she needed to change might be the hardest thing to do. Daisy thought that taking a short break might help but she never expected to meet two young girls in her local Sainsbury and have her life turned upside down when she got a job as their nanny.

It Must Be True Then by Luci Adams has so many moving parts between Daisy getting fired from her data marketing job and trying to find a new job, the information about her sort of boyfriend that had the mark out time for her on his calendar and reconnecting with her family.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

IT MUST BE TRUE THEN – Luci Adams
St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN: 978-1250842220
March 12, 2024
Romantic Comedy

London, England – Present Day

For thirteen years Daisy poured herself into her data analyst job, but one disagreement—with a client!!!—led to her dismissal. Now Daisy is unemployed, lost her boyfriend (he worked at the same company), and is estranged from her only sister, Mia. Life looks bleak and Daisy certainly has a reason to be depressed but that doesn’t pay the bills. So she drags herself out of her flat to the nearest grocery store for a meal. She runs into a curious little girl named Cara—and then Cara’s sister Bailey shows up. The two girls are cute even as they bicker. But where is their mother? A woman shows up and it appears that she is the mother as she leaves with them (they weren’t supposed to be there). Before they leave, the woman posts a want-ad on the board. It is for a nanny position.

Things are not going well for Daisy in the hilarious IT MUST BE TRUE THEN. Her sister does show up but as always, the two end up arguing. Mia only comes to Daisy when she breaks up with her latest boyfriend and needs money. Mia leaves in a huff and it puts Daisy in an even more depressing mood. The two sisters had been abandoned by their mother to live with a grandparent and Daisy always felt unwanted. Now she doesn’t have a sister. She ends up talking to a man she inadvertently meets—first as a handyman and then as a bartender. He gives her some advice, so she decides to take the advice and goes to the address of the nanny job. Oops…turns out that her handyman/bartender is the father to the girls she met in the store, and he isn’t looking for a nanny. The woman who posted it is—or now was—his girlfriend.

While IT MUST BE TRUE THEN is classified as a romance, there is not a lot of romance in it. Instead, we get Daisy’s journey from being on top of the world and loving her life to now being unemployed and watching her realize that she needs to change herself. Cara and Bailey are a fresh breath of air for Daisy, but she isn’t looking for love, especially one that involves being a parent. Along the way, she soon learns that her ex-boyfriend had other girlfriends. Oh, the humiliation. Add in that it is hard to explain to potential employers as to why she got canned, it’s no wonder that Daisy isn’t sure what or where to go in her life. IT MUST BE TRUE THEN reads more like Women’s Fiction, but with the added bonus of a potential love interest.

By the end of this tale, hopefully, all the what-ifs are answered, and things just may end up happily ever after for Daisy. What about her feelings for Archie, the father of the girls? Can she look past the fact that he has children, even though she loves Cara and Bailey? Pick up a copy of IT MUST BE TRUE THEN to find out the answers.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

There were some really interesting reveals in this book using a roundabout way of storytelling here and there. I don't want to ruin any of them but the best one was the job interview scene. At first I was thrown off by this but after a bit, I found myself enjoying these flashbacks or surprise reveals.

The main character, Daisy, can definitely be a bit frustrating at times with her rigid thinking and at times it felt like it was only to create tension or drama not how someone would actually act at that time. The whole social media angle was definitely something I think will resonate with most readers. Comparison and creating a narrative to please followers or attract someone is something I think most people do and the overall message that comes in the end was quite true and something to remind ourselves of.

Archie was swoon worthy and the slow build of the relationship was perfection. I love that he was such a loving father and devoted to his family. I also loved his daughters especially Cara with her loud, love it or leave it attitude even at such a young age. She was delightfully precocious and made for many laughable moments. I also loved the idea of their house and how wonderfully decorated it was and personalized to them.

Overall, this was a funny yet touching story that I think readers will enjoy. It has life lessons and family drama as well as a tender (closed door) romance that will bring a smile to your face and maybe a tear to your eye.

I received an advanced (ebook) reader copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I DNFed this book at 46 percent. I really enjoyed Daisy and Archie but Jackson really was off-putting. The continuous flashbacks with him made it really hard to stay involved in the story.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book was quite enjoyable. It questioned a lot of life choices, work, children, relationships (romantic and familial).
I guess I was hoping Daisy would get over her ex a bit sooner, but everyone is different.
There were some over the top scenes but they all came together in the end, to make the final points the main character was emphasising.
It's definitely a romance without spice, but a lot of heart.

I really loved Bailey and Cara. Their banter and interaction made me want to read on.
The story is about family.
Overall, a ok romcom.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Not That Kind of Ever After, it didn't quite click for me, but It Must Be True Then sounded interesting, so I gave Luci Adams another shot, and I'm glad I did because this one worked out so much better for me. The writing was a little snappier and the characters a bit more engaging - especially Bailey and Cara - and Daisy's mishaps are a bit more entertaining rather than cringy. The part of the story where Daisy is still trying to win back her toxic ex and the job that made her a scapegoat was a little hard to swallow but seeing her growth from those things and acceptance at their loss, while starting to see more clearly the things that matter in life.