Many thanks to netgalley and bookouture for the opportunity to review this book.

It's a really good chick lit. Funny (laugh out loud at times), easy reading. Although it's quite easy to predict, it's so well written, the 'guessing the end' doesn't spoil it.

If you fancy a funny, easy read, this is for you!

Still waiting to laugh. Even to myself if not out loud. Gave up reading half way through. Pitiful Bea, has a reoccurring dream for years of her dream man, how she meets him and how he will act. She finally forces to meet a man at the location in her dream. Then forces herself to overlook her feeling. Pitiful.

Highly recommended to all who love classic romantic comedy, adorable characters and Being Happy!

Really enjoyed this sweet romance about growing up and learning the difference between the man of your dreams and the man who is actually right for you.

This book is 'read in one sitting' type of a book.
It's not too long and easy to read in front of a fire on a dark winter day.
It's funny but also romantic which is my type of a mix.

This was a sweet, enjoyable story about a woman who tries to force the idea of Mr. Right to fit her romantic dreams. It's a cute story, if a little predictable, and I connected with Bea and rooted for her to find her happy end.

Ok. So if you're looking for a lighthearted read, with a romantic twist, I can think of several other books with a stronger and better developed plot and characters. There was nothing inherently wrong with "It Had to be You" - except that everything took too long to develop AND then nothing really happened.

If you read the blurb on the back of the book, you know that Bea thinks she's met her dream guy (he literally has been in her recurring dream) in her local park and that they are meant to be. But things aren't all that they seem, and he turns out to not be the right guy ... does she stay with him just because he was in her dream???

The thing is ... Bea meets him (Dan) and he isn't horrible, or off-putting. He doesn't treat her poorly or abuse her. They simply aren't a match. No sexual chemistry... and it takes her forever to admit to it ... meanwhile the plot becomes more about her roommates, her step-father and mother's relationship and the dream.

It's a lot of pages for not very much to happen - and while it didn't have me cringing, it certainly didn't keep me turning the pages with a mad urge to find out what Bea decides to do.

I was hoping for more of a Big Sexy Love or Who’s That Girl? - both of which made me laugh and get into the whole romantic comedy mood, but this one just fell flat.

It had to be you- Keris Stainton-4*
Bea has met the man of her dreams. Yes really. For years she has had almost the same dream nightly where she meets this man in the park, almost knows his name and what he is wearing and then one day she turns around and he is there- for real. She works in a nearby bookshop with her friend Henry who is also her landlord in their shared flat with two others. Is Dan all that she thinks he is or are friendships even more important?How come we don’t always see what is right under our noses that we take for granted and should be cherished. An interesting read. I am not normally into romance books but this one is that little bit different as it is more about life and characters. You can’t help but take to Bea and Henry. We could all do with a Henry in our lives- a stable , reliable trustworthy friend to have a laugh with and be able to lean on when necessary (and of course he can too). An uplifting read

This was a cozy, rom-com, that was predictable yet fun to go through. Bea the protagonist is a book lover that is a hardcore hopeless romantic. She falls for a guy that she deems is the one because... she's been having this one recurring dream for the past 10 years about meeting a guy in the park. Now her dream came through and she's pinning everything on him, but later she wonder's if he's the right one for her. Overall I found this to be a fun, light read. It felt like I was reading about a friends story. The secondary characters, her friends, and family, really shape the book along with Bea's character. Sure, some parts were predictable but sometimes predictability is good.

*I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

DNF @12%

I requested this book because of the concept. Bea is 25 (WOW she's around my age!) and she meets the man of her dreams... literally. That right there is pretty catching. Throw in a 'oh well maybe he isn't the right man' aspect and I totally wanted to know where this was going.

Unfortunately, 5% in, I was already pretty sure I wouldn't be able to finish it. Partly, this is my own personal fault. The writing is very British. Usually I'm down with it and I like reading different phrases or insults, but these were just weird to me. The scene at night with the roommates having loud sex and the phrases they said really threw me off, like-- really?

By the time we meet Dan (yes I stuck in 'til then), I also was starting to dislike Bea and reading the writing was becoming a chore. There was no humor yet-- or if there was I was cringing and groaning instead :/ If the book could have made me laugh I would have stuck with it at least a bit longer.

So, I totally think most of my problems are with myself and might not apply to everyone, so take my review with a grain of salt.

You might remember I raved about Keris Stainton in my review for If you Could See Me Now (review here ) and said I had to had to had to get back to her other books. After reading this I totally stand by that comment!

It is the story of Bea, who has decided that a guy she meets, Dan, is actually the man of her dreams. There's a bit more to this than meets the eye but it may make my review a spoiler if I say what the full premise of the book is, given that it's not in the blurb, so I'll skip on by! Bea is that chick lit character that you have to love, she's odd and properly quirky, with a running commentary in her head as she goes around (loved it!).

We meet her lovely (lovely!) workmate, Henry (they work in a bookshop, which was excellent and gives rise to loads of actually hilarious incidents). I smiled from very early on in the book and settled in quickly, totally savouring every-single-word. I adored the conversations Bea and Henry had on couples entering the bookshop, trying to decode every movement, every word to see if they thought they were long term or not and loved then how these thoughts seeped into her own dating life. My only beef would be that there's a lot of characters in it, which I'm normally a huge fan of, but to be honest at times I found there to be too many people in her friend circle and I got confused.

I really can't tell you too much about it all, there's plenty of brilliant humour, some gorgeous romance and settings that are so vivid you're there with Bea as she muddles along in a manner so realistic that you're cringing, empathizing and getting mad as if it were you or someone you knew! All in all a great book, and at the moment only £0.99, so I'd go get to be honest!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this book in return for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5

This is such an imaginative premise for a book: a long dreamed dream becomes a reality. Bea has had the same dream for years about meeting the perfect mate in a park. She molds her life around it by working and living near the central location in the dream. She thinks it is her future so she ignores anything not related to the dream, including a great guy, Henry that she works with. When her dream actually happens, she struggle with the reality of it, slowing coming to terms with the truth of dreams vs. reality.
Throw in some crazy roommates and you have a funny book on your hands.

This is a charming romance, a quick easy read, perfect for the holidays. It tells the story of Bea and how she is fixated on finding the man of her dreams, literally, the stranger in the park that she dreams about every night. But when she does find him, she realises that she's got it all wrong.

This is a very simple story, and the ending is obvious right from a few pages in. However, it's written in a light, easy style and is a perfect antidote to stress and psychological thrillers! It is in no way deep, although there are some lovely little insights dotted all the way through and the ending is quietly satisfying. I'm probably out of the target age range for this book and feel it would probably resonate better with a younger audience.

At 25 Be a seems to have most of her life in order. She lives in a house full of people that she likes, has a job she enjoys and a family she loves. The only thing lacking is that her romance shelf is pretty much empty. After moving to London to meet the man she's been dreaming about for years, finally everything seems to be falling in to place when on her way to get milk one day she seems him... In Real Life. Is this the start of her happily ever after?

This was a sweet story with loveable characters that were really brought to life. I feel as if I've lived in the house with the whole gang and gone to work with Henry each day. There are a few twists throughout that keep us on our toes, and an ending that will bring a smile to your face. Having enjoyed 'If You Could See Me Now' by Keris Stainton I was excited to give this one a read as well and it didn't disappoint. I look forward to the next one!

It Had to Be You tells the story of Bea, a hopeless romantic who works in a library. She’s had a recurring dream about a man for years, how she will meet him in a park, where he will be sitting, the entire thing.
When it finally happens, she cannot believe it but since he’s literally the man of her dreams, she does everything to make a relationship work.

I really did not like Bea, she drove me insane, I could not relate to her at all, despite her love of books. She, basically, was everything I am not.
The story was predictable and I guessed how it would end about 20% in. It was all way too cheesy for me…

Based on the reviews, I expected this book to be a lot better. It was a good, uplifting story but I felt it was very predictable which I didn't enjoy.

This is the second book written by Keris Stainton that I have read. The first one ‘If You Could See Me Now’ was released earlier this year and became an instant bestseller. I know that I really enjoyed the first book and so I had high hopes for her second. I was not to be disappointed. I really enjoyed it but more about that later.

I took to Bea’s character from the start. It becomes clear that she has certain issues regarding her family. She shares a flat with some friends, who have become her ‘family’ so to speak. Bea has my dream job- she works in a book shop!!! Bea works with her best friend Henry and they make a fantastic team. Bea gets on well with her housemates, who are all quirky in their own sweet way. I had to chuckle out loud more than once at the antics of the couple who share the flat with Bea and the others. The couple aren’t exactly quiet when they ‘get it on’ and the walls are horrendously thin, so Bea either puts her headphones on or stuffs a pillow over her head so she can’t hear them. It so reminded me of when I lived in Halls Of Residence at university, where you could hear everything that was going on in the flats around you. Bea has had the same dream for the last few years. The dream is that she is going to meet somebody called ‘Dan’ in the park and he is going to be the one. Well guess what? She does meet a Dan in the park and she starts seeing him, although he is quite different from how she imagined him to be. She also starts comparing Dan to Henry. Is Dan ‘the one’ or is her dream man a bit closer to home? Well for the answer to that question you are just going to have to read the book to find out.

I must admit that it took me a little while to get into this book, as I felt that the story was a bit slow to start with. However, when I started to meet Bea’s housemates and other characters were introduced, the story got a bit quicker. The descriptions of the housemates were so realistic that I started to think that I really knew them and I began to think of them as friends. In fact I felt as though I was an ‘invisible’ housemate watching everything happened around me. There were certain times when I felt as though I needed to jump into the pages of this book to give Bea a slap with a wet flip flop or a shake by the shoulders. As I mentioned before I did laugh out loud at some of the shenanigans that went on both in Bea’s life, her housemates’ lives and at some of the bizarre customers that the book shop attracted.

In short, I did really enjoy reading ‘It Had To Be You’ and I would recommend it to those people, who enjoy reading light hearted, romantic comedies. The score on the Ginger Book Geek scoreboard is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

I adored this book. It's the perfect book for curling up under a blanket with. It is warm and charming, and so brilliantly funny. I found that Bea, the main character, was a breath of fresh air - she hasn't got it all sorted, she's hesitant at times and so so easy to identify with. I loved that she doesn't have that sense of confidence and life experience that so many main characters seem to have, here was a character that was so like me and I loved her all the more for it. I loved the supporting characters too, if my house share experiences had been more like Bea's then they would have been amazing. A truly wonderful read!