I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Convincing her parents to let her attend a real school, albeit a boarding school for privileged teens was a challenge, but Edelweiss wants the true high school experience before college. She may have travelled the world, but making friends, dealing with bullies and coping with boy trouble is completely different. She meets James Parson, the son of her father's friend, and though he's the resident bad boy, he needs to settle down or he loses his place at school, and his future. Coming up with a plan to pretend to date to satisfy their parents, Edel and James soon realise that the friendship they have is blossoming into something more, and they might not be completely happy with a fake relationship.

This was a really sweet YA contemporary romance, perfect to read on a rainy weekend. Edel and James had never met before, but because of their father's friendship, they had someone they could rely on at the school. I loved their first meeting, and the easy going nature of their friendship. They had their ups and downs, and there were some heartfelt familial moments in the book, but the friendships and experiences that Edel had during the book was great! A solid book!

It Had to Be You by Lizzy Charles was a very cute bu very predictable book. Nothing really original but the characters were well-thought of. Some annoying "we're not talking enough" parts but I guess it might just be me who always shares too much of my feelings haha! Quick and cute read. Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook copy.

This book was so much fun! I loved the story and the characters from the very beginning and found myself really loving the relationship angle in the book. Definitely a quick, fun read when you are looking for something romantic!

Even though bits of the plot were predictable, I really enjoyed this book and all the characters! It was a great read that you will fly through in no time!

I would first like to thank Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours for including me in the blog tour for this novel and providing me with a copy of the novel in exchange for a review! Every book that I have read that has been published by Entangled Teen Crush has been so good and so cute, and this book was no exception! I really enjoyed reading about Edel and James, and thought that their story was super adorable and interesting - the prospect of fake relationships is always a plot that ends very interesting. This book was so cute, and I loved how the relationship between Edel and James was able to grow despite what others thought of them. The entire plot twist that I did not see coming was crazy, and I genuinely did not think that they would be able to resolve the problem before it got out of hand. Emma was a great character to hate, especially with what she did to Edel (and her hair!). I am so glad that everything worked out in the end, I will definitely be reading more of Lizzy Charles' books! I highly recommend this to fans of a good contemporary novel and Anna and the French Kiss.

http://thepaperworlds.blogspot.com/2017/05/it-had-to-be-you-by-lizzy-charles.html

I love CRUSH books and was super excited to receive this one. I was also thrilled to see interracial dating as it appeared on the cover. For one reason or another, I just could not buy into the characters or their story. I'm hoping to try again at a later date.

If it's one trope I'm almost always down to read, it's the fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope.

It Had to Be You follows James Parson and Edelweiss Lee as they attend an exclusive boarding school. James is the captain of the football team and the popular guy at school. He pulls a lot of pranks at school and it had been the last straw for James and he must show his father, Colonel Parson, that he is serious about school before he pulls him out. Edelweiss is the daughter of a diplomat and has travelled the world and was homeschooled by her parents. She enrols in boarding school so that she can experience the things normal high schoolers do to prepare for the college life.

This was cute. James and Edelweiss had a lot of chemistry and they were super cute together. It was cheesy, but not in a way that was empty. There was substance and depth to the characters and the situations they were in.

This was however, one of those situations where one of the conflicts arises from not talking to each other. Which, if I think about it, is probably a running theme in the fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope. Had they communicated better, the whole climax of the book probably wouldn’t have happened.

Overall, it was a short and fun read. I enjoyed the characters and their chemistry and that was what kept me drawn into the novel.

** ARC provided in exchange for honest review **

“It Had to Be You” is a sweet YA Romance, which turned into out to be a fairly good read. Charles wrote an intelligent portrayal of teenager characters, both with complexity and depth rather than being stereotyped.

Edelweiss (Admittedly, I had the song from the Sound of Music stuck in my head during the first few chapters) is a home-schooled daughter of a diplomat, what she lacks in typical high school experience, she makes up for with maturity and world-views. Edelweiss convinces her parents to enrol her into an elite boarding school, determined to experience the high school lifestyle to prepare her for college. Edelweiss was a likeable heroine and although innocent and slightly naïve at first, she was certainly an active protagonist within the story. Edelweiss certainly was a great example of a female lead for readers; she had the right mixture of strength and vulnerability.

James, the male lead and a combination of hot jock and computer genius was the second narrator. At risk of being pulled out of boarding school, James and Edelweiss agree to a fake relationship – for James, this would help prove that he is serious about his studies and for Edelweiss, this would allow her to be harassed by guys and adjust to her new school. James was a fairly rounded character, his history was quite difficult to piece together – there were so many twists and revaluations – and despite his flirtatious and cocky exterior, there were vulnerabilities he had.

The relationship between James and Edelweiss was pretty refreshing; it progressed from a genuine friendship into romantic feelings. The only real issue between them was communication, which became quite tedious for me as a reader. When they both realised they were falling for each other, neither can actually build the courage to have the confidence to bring it up. This became somewhat infuriating as there was no real conflict arising until the end, the silence and their inner monologues of the “what ifs” held them back – hopefully their communication will improve in the sequel. What I truly loved about this relationship was that it was interracial and that was not an issue whatsoever – Edelweiss was white and James was black (mixed-raced to be exact) and their racial differences was never brought up or a source of conflict. I definitely feel like more authors should take note, writing a cast of racially diverse cast and making them more complex and humane needs to be seen more in YA literature.

Another aspect of this novel that stuck out for me was how brilliantly written the female characters were – specifically Edelweiss and her group of friends. It was energising to read a book with a group of young women who were genuine friends, had their own issues and still had each other’s backs. Edelweiss was not a lone woman surrounded by male admirers and cynical of other girls around her – which sadly, this is seen a lot within NA and YA literature – and instead we see her throughout the novel with three good friends, enjoying their company and lifting each other up when they’re down. Even Emma (who is the antagonist and bitter ex-girlfriend of James) feels like a character that could be further developed, originally introduced as a bitchy mean girl, she has a much darker vindictive side – I am hoping that Charles develops Emma’s character further to see different sides of her.

Overall, this was a good read and was very well developed with a rich cast of characters and a decent narrative.

I really enjoyed the book, it has everything I love in a novel from start to finish. I can’t wait to read what the author has planned next!

Edel wants the whole high school experience after being home schooled all her life. James just wants to make it to graduation without his father ripping him out of school for another prank gone wrong. Together they team up to help the other out. What neither expected was for feelings to develop and blur the lines between fictitious and reality. Will they be able to pull this relationship off? Or will one of them be sent packing?

I absolutely love reading books that revolve around a fake something or another. Especially fake boyfriend/girlfriend. There is so much good that could come from this circumstance and so much that could go wrong with it as well. Charles did a great job playing on all the wrongs and rights that seemed to explode from such a little white lie. I happily devoured every ounce of this read. I couldn’t get enough.

There were some parts concerning a few characters and how they all tie together that seemed too convenient for the plot, almost like the author was reaching in those areas to make it work. I sort of wished the author had left it out because it made the story come off as unbelievable. At least to me. That seemed to be my only fault with the book.

IT HAD TO BE YOU was such a cute, quick read that held my attention the whole time. I would love to see if there would be more stories to emerge from some of the other cast of characters. 4 Stars!

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were quirky and easy to love. The story itself had me laughing over and over, while still feeling for the characters and invested in what would happen to them and how things would turn out. Looking forward to reading more Lizzy Charles books!

This was one fun fluffy YA contemporary romance I real;y enjoyed reading. Some YA cliches are there, such as one parent having passed away, however the author mixed it up by being the male protagonist's mother instead, and of course, the mean queen bee. But YA cliches aside, I really liked that this book features some teachers/ headmistress which are easy to approach and easy to talk to, have a connection with the students, and enjoy their job. I also really liked the female protagonist, Edelweiss's upbringing- she has an ambassador father and her parents take her all over the world, yet, she had a grounded upbringing. Her parents instill in her a humble yet courageous attitude and encourage her to experience life, to reach for educational achievements, but without losing focus on things that truly bring you happiness in life. Edelweiss and James are great for each other. They defend and stand up for each other and are honest. I really liked this book.

Leaving review on Goodreads and Amazon

Rating: 4/5 Penguins

Quick Reasons: super cute, endearing romance; absolutely love the "fake to real" relationship trope; not sure I buy that they "love" each other after such a short amount of time, but I'm willing to overlook this; Edel's character arc is well-rounded and entertaining

Huge thanks to Lizzy Charles, Entangled Teen Crush, Chapter by Chapter Book Tours, and Netgalley for sending me a free digital galley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.


---"I'll never get elected to the student council if we're caught like this."

He pauses, whipping his head around. "Student council? You're joking, right? I'd have pegged you for a cheerleader."

"I don't jump."---


There's just something about contemporaries that, recently, have me falling head over feet to get through. I don't know if it's that I can "turn off my brain" and just enjoy the journey, or something else entirely...either way, contemporaries have been calling my name a LOT lately. It's a good thing I've got a ton of them on standby for such occasions, I suppose?

Regardless--this was SUCH a cute, entertaining contemporary. I sat down expecting it to be just like all the rest...and instead found myself sucked straight into the story. There's something adorable about Edel that I couldn't look past, and something searingly steamy about the "fake to real" relationship.


---"Great job out there," Edelweiss says when I reach her.

"You still have no clue what I'm doing on the field, do you?"

"You catch the football and run. What else is there to know?"---


The character arcs are also entertaining and enlightening. I really enjoyed that we got front seats to both James' and Edels' changes over the course of just a few short months. Many of the side characters also step into their own, and I loved seeing how they each brought something new and unique to the table. Learning the intricacies of familial relationships--the the rules of boarding school--right next to Edel was a great way to bridge the gap between characters and readers, in my opinion. The fact we got to watch her interact with and react to the varying situations that crop up only helped to more vibrantly paint her across the page. This was, in fact, true of all the characters; due to this, they all were bright sparks of personality woven into the pages.

In the end, I had a ton of fun (as I usually do!) stepping out of the chaos of my own life and into the chaos of someone else's for a little while. Lizzy Charles wrote these characters with intricate, vibrant personalities--and made me care for each of them as individuals. The plot, while not inundated with action, was fast-paced and entertaining all the same, and I cannot wait to pick up another Lizzy Charles novel in the future! I definitely recommend this to lovers of boarding school settings, bad boys struggling to change, and "fake to real" relationships. Care to redefine relationships? Pick up this book!

Edel and James's story was somewhat predictable, but still a whole lot of fun to read. They each had interesting characters, with growth over the course of the story, and the secondary characters were important to the plot as a whole. Very enjoyable YA novel.

Let me start with this, what a stinking cute story. I have to admit that I was hooked from the beginning. I'll be honest when I started this book I had a little bit of a hard time connecting with Edel, mostly because all I could think was she was this pretentious rich girl. Thankfully as the book went on I came to realize she was just a normal teen, and I also realized that I was judging her just like a normal teenager and I felt kind of bad for that. She's starting a brand new school, which she's never even been to school in the fist place! She just wants to have that normal teenage experience and this is basically her last chance before being thrown in to College Life and trying to adapt to that.

Also can we talk about the "meet cute". I am a sucker for a good meet cute whether it be in a book, on a show, or in a movie. Granted I would have been pretty upset had I been in Edel's position, but I think James saved it. I felt like I knew a little bit about how things were going to go with this, but then again I was pretty surprised with things that were happening. The whole time I was questioning things but I still kept wanting to read and keep figuring things out.

Yes, this book is extra cheesy, but isn't that what makes contemporary's what we love? I know personally that I really love cheesy contemporary books because it just makes me fall in love with the characters even more and gives me that butterfly feeling in my stomach. That is how I know I've found a good contemporary novel. Sometimes things seemed a bit convenient when twists happened, but I never lost that butterfly feeling with this book and I just felt that it was so cute I couldn't stop reading it.

If you are an avid contemporary reader I would suggest this from you. It is such a fun and easy read that just pulls you in and makes you want to continue to read it. It really is hard to put it down until you realize that it's over. I am so excited to know that this is technically a first book so I'm excited to see how the next novel will go and what will happen!

Only people who have lived the 90s will know what I mean when I say: This book kind of reminded me of that movie "My Date with the President's Daughter". Just because James starts dating the daughter of a diplomat. I don't know the connection, but that's what I thought of. This is a quick, light-hearted read. I was able to read it in a few hours (in between life and watching rowdy brothers). Lizzy Charles has done a great job to bring a new, different story to the world. I highly recommend you pick it up. :)

I tend to love stories about people who are pretending to be a couple for some reason actually end up falling for each other but I have to admit that this story wasn’t exactly my favorite. It just all felt a little flat. A lot of the characters fit into clichés. Popular guy who is also the class joker who needs a girlfriend to show that he is mature. The innocent and beautiful new girl. The mean ex who will bully anyone who her ex-flame is seen with. And the I felt like Edelweiss was a little more naïve than she should have been, it kind of reminded me of the movie Mean Girls in a way. Also I just wanted to yell at them that they should just talk to each other…if they were really getting that close they should have felt comfortable enough talking about their feelings, although I understand why the fear of being shutdown would be there. The pros of this book, I really enjoyed some of the little twists the author had thrown in there. I also loved the dual POV as I love hearing romance stories from the guy’s perspective sometimes and not just always from the girls. That being said I will most likely read the next book in this series as I am interested in getting to know some of their friends even better.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

It Had To Be You is a cute contemporary romance featuring Edelweiss and James. Edel, who is home schooled, wants to experience high school before she goes off to college. So, her parents enroll her into this one boarding school. She meets James, who is, of course, the most popular boy in school and they quickly start a fake relationship so that they can both find advantage out of it.

The book is full of cliches – from the naive, new girl in school to the popular boy and their fake relationship turning to a real one to the bitchy ex that the boy has. This book has it all and then some.

What I really liked about this is that it was a quick read. I was done in some two hours and that’s great for my TBR! I like that the characters, though cliche, were endearing and I couldn’t help but like them and their story. Of course, they do stupid stuff, but hey! They’re teenagers. As a whole though, Edel and James both seem wise beyond their ages. Their relationship, though, was really cute and I found myself rooting for them from the beginning. They’re so cute and adorable together and their relationship is healthy. I like it.

I like how James isn’t a bad boy, bad boy, but just a boy who made some bad decisions, as people his age tend to do. He’s scared of horror movies and he’s a literature nerd! So, there. I love that.

I also loved how this book has diversity. So, bonus points for that!

What I didn’t like was all the lack of communication in the book. Like, so much of the conflict could have easily been resolved if people just TALKED TO EACH OTHER. Plus, the bitchy ex was a little too bitchy and I am not okay with it. Like, girl, let go. You do not need to do all this shit just to prove a point. You’re good just the way you are!

Also, too much drama!

All in all, an okay read that I enjoyed! It was definitely better than I expected, but could have been made better in a few more aspects!

I got this book at just the right time! Last week as part of my Top 5 Wednesday post, I talked about what kind of Summer time reads I was looking forward to and I spotlighted contemporary novels. While this book doesn't take place in the summer, I think it's just the right kind of lighthearted fare to read during the hot months ahead (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere like me, though you should totally still read this if it isn't summer).

Edelweiss and James are two students at Brockmore Academy, a boarding school that I wouldn't be out of place comparing to Chilton from the television show Gilmore Girls. In fact, Edelweiss and her roommate Tuti talk about binge-watching this show and whose team they're on more than once in the course of the book.

Edelweiss (shortened to Edel) and James are at Brockmore for different reasons and both want to stay there. Through a slightly complicated series of events, they come up with an arrangement: pretend to be dating to show that James is serious to his father and so Edel can have the normal high school experience after being home schooled by her diplomat parents.

This was a fast read that had all the hallmarks of a high school drama. It was a lot of fun to read and I didn't find any slow points. I think there are some parts that could have been fleshed out a bit more, such as the friendships that Edel formed between herself and her roommate and some of the other girls in her dorm, or some of the smaller chats that she and James must have had that lead to them falling in real love.

There are some cliches in the book, such as the high school Mean Girl who we don't learn too much about other than the cursory things (she's James's ex, she's jealous of Edel, etc.). Maybe it's because I don't read too many of these books, but this didn't bother me too much even though I know it's happened a lot before. I am curious if we'll learn more about her, though, her inner workings, that sort of thing.

The secondary characters introduced had the potential to be really great: Tuti, the YouTube celebrity that pays her bills by promoting her channel supremely well; Ainsley, the foster kid with a head for computers; Charlotte, Grant, Procter, and more. I learned just enough about each of them to be able to keep them separate in my head, but I wish I knew more. This book, however, was mostly true to Edel and James, so I understand in the end why we might not have heard as much as I'd have liked about the others.

I think this is only Brockmore Academy book #1, so there will hopefully be more adventures for all involved.. James still has half a year left as a senior at the school and Edel has her own senior year before the advent of college. Who knows what lays in store for these two? Will Emma, the school's Mean Girl and James's ex, come back with a vengeance? Will Ainsley, one of the friends Edel has made this year, find a resolution to her own familial questions? Lizzy Charles has authored a brilliant little book here and I hope to read more soon.

And, for the record, I'm with Edel on this Gilmore Girls opinion: #TeamLogan all the way!

It Had to Be You by Lizzy Charles.....This story is a cute fun story about a fake relationship in high school. James and Edelweiss were cute together with some drama and fun to watch this story unfold. This is my first book by this author and it won't be my last. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book from publisher via NetGalley.