Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley and Eliza Jane Brazier for a digital ARC of It Had to Be You in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Good Rich People by Brazier and apparently completely missed Girls and Their Horses from last year (already added to my TBR!), so I was thrilled to be able to have an early read of It Had to Be You.

Jonathan & Eva are contract killers, each hired to take the other out, who end up falling for each other.

This kind of made me think of the movie Mr. Right - not EXACTLY the same, but definitely had some similar aspects.

Jonathan & Eva meet by chance the first time, where they immediately feel a strong spark and maybe have a little lusty hookup, but 6 months later, their meeting is anything but chance. With each hired to take the other out, how will their growing lust and attraction come into play?

But when they both realize they are in danger from something far worse than each other, they've got to figure out how to make it out of this whole ordeal with their hearts still beating.

This book was fast-paced and completely unputdownable. Each page was filled with another surprise and the spice level was OFF THE CHARTS! I LOVE spicy books and honestly didn't expect that from this author as the previous book that I read by her didn't have anything even close to resembling spice.

So far this is one of my favorite reads of this young 2024 year. 4.5-Stars rounded to 5-Stars and I will happily recommend it on my IG closer to release. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy this stellar novel!

While I've seen several assassin(s) falling in love movies (Mr. and Mrs. Smith or the sublime Mr. Right) this was my first assassins falling in love book and WHAT a wild ride! Was this was an action thriller disguised as a romance, or a romance disguised as an action thriller? Whatever it was, it was FUN. I could not put this one down. I cared about both characters - damaged but not psychopaths, while the descriptions of various European locales made me feel like I was there and the angst was palpable. Highly recommend.

What I really loved about this is that Brazier shows their mastery and maintains that status by not overdramatising elements which keeps the tension and suspense without descending into melodramatics. Plus, it has got just the right balance of mystery, suspense and I liked characters as well.