Library patrons will really enjoy this book. With multiple storylines, there will be some that appeal more than others, but there is sure to be something for nearly everyone. I especially enjoyed the bonds formed between the characters. The Liv/Sam storyline was my favorite, although I found something enjoyable in each one (except the movie star storyline). There were some cliches and trite lines. Hearing "just as you are" from a character is straight out of Bridget Jones. However, overall, this is an enjoyable book that should be popular.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so much more than I imagined. Honestly, the synopsis doesn’t do it justice! I imagined I’d be following the lives of Liv and Savannah, thrown together in the most awkward of circumstances. Instead, we bounce around to the major players within Liv and Savannah’s wedding planning business.

I loved Clark’s writing style, making this book and fun, fast paced read. We go back and forth a lot between the characters, but the transitions are seamless. I loved the diversity portrayed throughout. Bi-racial relationships, same sex relationships, divorced-single-parents relationships...this book truly had it all!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I look forward to checking out her other work! 4.5 stars!

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for my copy of It Had To Be You, by Georgia Clark! This book is out on May 4th. You can find the full synopsis in the comments section.

Y’all, the structure of this book really rubbed me the wrong way. It starts out with a wedding gone wrong, then we find out that the husband in the relationship (who just died) left half of the business he runs with his wife to his mistress, and we have their first meeting. Then, we start to delve into the lives of people who work with them in a Love Actually-esque format. And, I did not enjoy it! I was very interested in the initial story of the two women working together and how that would play out, and was not invested at all in the other characters. I would’ve preferred that either we lose the other characters entirely or they take smaller roles, or that we meet them earlier in the book.

In the end, this book would make a better movie than book, but with an earlier introduction of the supporting characters.

Sadly this book was a DNF for me. I reread the first 15% twice. I thought maybe the first time I picked it up I wasn’t in the right mood for it, so I gave it another chance and started over. Instead, I disliked it even more the second time. It had a “we should already know who these characters are” feeling when introducing new people, and I questioned if I had accidentally switched books on my Kindle. I had no clue how the new characters connected to the old, and the writing style was not compelling enough for me to continue.

If you love ensemble rom coms, you will LOVE "It Had To Be You." An actual ensemble romantic comedy in book form, it follows 5 interconnected stories, with all of the character searching for love, but ultimately, themselves. It's all at once a coming of age story, a story of discovery of self, and just an absolutely delightful book that will leave you truly caring about each of these characters. Everyone will be able to find someone to relate to, and I dare you not to cry!

Liv is a wedding planner who now shares her business with Savannah, the mistress of her dead ex-husband. Yes, you read that correctly. They each struggle to move on in the wake of Eli's death, while trying to get their business off the ground again. Add in employees of the business, friends of Liv and Savannah, and a movie star, and you've got an excellent, fast moving read that left me totally satisfied. It's for all of us who need to believe in the good moments in life again. Highly recommend!

Big thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Georgia Clark for making this available!

This was such a fun, light rom-com with a diverse group of characters, intersecting storylines, and multiple POVs. The book started off a bit slow, but it didn’t take long to be invested in these characters.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

It’s more character driven than plot driven and it was fun to see these flawed people working through their life struggles and imperfect relationships. It gave me Love Actually (one of my fave movies🤩) vibes with all of the characters and their messy lives that were all connected to one another.

This was a feel-good book with happy endings for all! Thank you @netgalley and @atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! Be on the lookout- pub date of 05.04.21!

Y’all. This was the cutest little read.

IT HAD TO BE YOU by Georgia Clark starts with Liv, a wedding planner, learning her husband has died of a heart attack…during one of her client’s weddings. Afterwards, we get five romances, a badass female friendship, and such a cute story. You truly have it all in this one: multiple narrators; queer representation; fake relationship; strangers to lovers; and so much more.

It reminded me of those ensemble rom coms - like Valentine’s Day (but way way better) or He’s Just Not That Into You. You get a wonderful, connected cast of characters who all get to shine in their own stories and relationships.

Also, there is minimal to no steam, for those that prefer closed door romance.

IT HAD TO BE YOU is out on May 4th; thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the eARC to review!

Not for me. I really wanted to like this book. The cover is gorgeous and I was very intrigued by the storyline, but the execution fell flat for me. Maybe wrong place, wrong time? I hope to someday give it another try.

Cute love story following five romances (which was definitely one too many—Gorman and Henry’s story was barely fleshed out), and the opening premise is that a recently widowed woman discovers her husband left his half of their company to his mistress. This turned out to be a very small part of the plot and I still don’t know why he changed his will right before he died. It wasn’t super satisfying in that regard. The romances were satisfyingly predictable and very Hollywood rom-com.
While the writing was enjoyable and the characters developed, I didn’t see a connecting thread to show why all these stories would be good together. There was potentially a theme of self-discovery, but it also felt like the author was trying to cover a diverse range of love stories without leaving anyone out.
There’s not a lot of steam but occasionally discussion of sex that honestly grossed me out. I prefer romance and passion and not bodily fluids or crude language.
If you’re looking for a rom-com escape read, this will check the box!

<i>Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy.<i>

It Had to Be You is my first book by Georgia Clark and I was excited to start it. The blurb sounded so great and I was excited to go along with Savannah and Liv in their journey of wedding planning. But it wasn't just Savannah and Liv. It was Savannah, Liv, Henry, Gorman, Sam, Darlene, Zach, Zia, Clay, and there might even be more I'm forgetting...

If you like large casts of characters (think Love Actually or Valentines Day) this will be a perfect book for you. Ms Clark's writing was captivating and the story was well written. I especially liked Zach and Darlene's story, and Liv's chapters. I liked this one, but it had a lot of (almost too many-at least for me) couples. I couldn't get fully invested in any one story because there were so many.

Liv runs In Love In New York, a wedding planning business, with her husband. And then she gets the call that he died and left his portion of the business to a young woman he had an affair with.

I have always loved TV shows with a big ensemble cast with many interlocking stories. This book felt similar. There are a bunch of characters and plots, each tied in some way to the wedding planning. Each was introduced so well that I didn't have any difficulty keeping track of the people or stories. And each character was well described with a mix of good qualities and flaws.

The book includes so many different images of what love looks like. Parts were predictable, and I liked some of the love stories more than others. Overall, I was most excited to see the ways in which the stories wove together and to hope for happy endings for each.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an early copy of the book. These thoughts are my own.

TW: abusive relationship

3.5 rounded up

I really enjoyed this book thoroughly and loved the characters! There were many side stories which you also fall in love with too! Lots of depth dealing with more than just a romance, but topics of race and sexual identity too!! A very powerful story, and one you don't want to miss!

It's not often that you have a corpse in the opening chapter of a romance book. I don't think I can recall a plot where a dead man forces his widow to work with his mistress, but that's what we have here. In It Had to Be You, wedding planner Liv Goldenhorn is trying to stave off disaster, while waiting for her husband Eliot to arrive at their latest client's wedding. Everything falls apart when Liv finds out that Eliot has died, of a heart attack, while with his young mistress. Then she finds out that Eliot left his half of the business to the mistress, Savannah, and the young girl doesn't have the sense to just leave Liv alone. Instead, she moves to New York and commits herself to rebuilding Eliot and Liv's wedding planning business, In Love in New York.

The book isn't just about Liv and Savannah and the wedding business, though. They do each have their romance, but we also meet Zia, a waitress for the caterer and her love interest. Then, there's Henry and Gorman, the gay florists, and Darlene and Zach, the wedding musicians. ALL of these characters have their own romance arcs. It wasn't bad, but I think maybe if it was narrowed down a bit, I might have felt more for the characters. Also, there was hardly any steam here. Not even 15 minute shower steam. I may be old, but I'm not dead! I prefer some hot and heavy in my romance. There was maybe a sprinkle here, a tease, really. No dice. Next, I would have loved for more focus on the friendship aspects in the book. Those moments were some of the sweetest and most tender. I did really enjoy the dry humor in the book, and at times it moved to bawdy and raucous. I loved that the main romance focus was on a mature couple, since Liv was in her late 40's. I'm in my early 40's, and it pleases me to read about someone similar to myself. Altogether, this book was pretty good. Maybe pare down a couple or two, pump some spice into the main couple, put more focus on the friendships.... and you'd have a gold medal winner. Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Netgalley for the chance to review this advance copy.

Once I started reading this fantastic book, I could hardly put it down! It Had to Be You is a witty, sharp, sexy, poignant rom-com which revolves around 5 diverse couples. I truly felt for each of the couples in this book, and I could never pick a favorite as each of them moved me in a certain way. This book reminds me of the movie Love, Actually, with the messy relationships and the plethora of feelings stirred up by them all. There were scenes that made me laugh, others that made me sad, and every one of them made me FEEL.

It Had To Be You is an excellent read. Part rom-com, part ensemble drama, wholey enjoyable. Liv and her husband Elliot run "In Love in New York," a very successful wedding planning business. In the midst of one of their only disasters, Liv finds out that her husband Elliott had dropped dead and left his half of the business to his you g mistress, Savannah. Now while trying to work through her grief and dismay while caring for her young son, Liv has to work with Savannah or risk losing it all. Savannah is a much younger Southern girl with lots of makeup and surprisingly good ideas. Liv and Savannah are joined by a cast of caterers ,performers, musicians, and other staff whose intermingling relationships and self-discovery make for a novel that's as much fun to read as it is to visualize. This would make a fabulous movie! Georgia Clark has written a novel that would make a great Beach read, but would actually be a lot of fun anytime you want a great escape and great characters. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

It Had To Be You by Georgia Clark, the author combines Romantic Comedy with Women’s Fiction and creates a story that is as engaging as it is entertaining.

Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have been married and run a wedding planning business in Brooklyn for the past twenty years. When Eliot dies unexpectedly and leaves his half of the business to his much younger secret girlfriend, Savannah, Liv is devastated. However, what starts as something of a bad dream turns into something very different for each of these women. Additionally, there are several other couples with links to Liv whose relationships are also shared in this book.

I really enjoyed this book which is told from multiple POV. While this was a little distracting for me at first, I was able to quickly get into the story. The characters are well developed and likeable. The story flowed easily and naturally. I love the strength of the characters coming together to help and support one another - a good example of friendships that seem more like family. I found the reveal of Eliot’s story to be both surprising and emotional. What I appreciated the most in this book, however, is that it celebrates diversity, love, and friendship.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

Overall It had to Be You was a charming, heartwarming rom-com. It was the perfect holiday, vacation, or rainy day read. The plot is super original, unlike any romance novel I've read, making it super fun and intriguing.

The characters were so adorably flawed that I couldn't help but laugh at them and root for them. I also loved that the side characters, primarily Darlene and Zia, had a fully flesh-out storyline as well. The book felt very layered with various love stories happening at the same time which I loved. I felt overwhelmed with love and happiness at the end which is definitely what you want in a rom-com.

I would recommend this to all romance reads and fans of movies like "Love Actually, "The Holiday," and "Crazy, Stupid, Love."

Thank you to NetGalley, Georgia Clark, and Atria Books for the ARC.

4.5/5 stars

I had two main concerns when I started this novel:

Did I really want to read a story centred around two women who become friends after discovering the husband of one was the boyfriend of the other…
The story is billed as a Love Actually styled drama where several stories of intersecting characters are told at the same time. Would I really be interested in all…
I don’t know why I wasted any time worrying and, really, I should have just jumped in from the first moment I requested the book!

Yes, the main storyline revolves around Liv and Savannah and the fact that Eliot cheated on Liv with Savannah, who thought she was dating a man already separated from his wife. However, I really enjoyed how at the opening of the book, I was all set to dislike Savannah with her presumptive ways but soon found myself cheering her on and wanting Liv to give her chance. The nuances of their relationship evolve as the story progresses and readers really get a good look at how they change as individuals and how they come to respect and care for each other.

Another issue I was concerned about was the jumping from perspective to perspective; storyline to storyline. Another wasted worry as the author handled that super well. For me, the reader gets enough of each character to recognise the many layers and see how the characters’ journeys shape and mould them.

There really are quite a few couples for us to observe. There is Liv’s bestie Gorman and his boyfriend, Henry, who would like to get married. Then we have, Zia, a hardworking world saver, who gets entangled with privacy-paranoid-moviestar, Clay. My favourite couple, though, has to be Darlene, the overachieving Princeton grad who wants to be a professional musician. She’s paired off with Zach, the British playboy with insane musical talent but limited ambition. And then we still have love interests for Liv and Savannah. Really… Darlene and Zach could have their own book. There’s so much juice there!

Despite this varied cast, each one gets ample attention to draw the reader into their world and to be fully invested in how their dreams can be achieved. The switching from perspective to perspective also allows for a bit of suspense to be built up as the reader is wanting to know what happens next with one person but is forced to re-enter another character’s world.

The novel is set in New York City and the characters reflect a cultural hodgepodge. I quite liked those dips in and out of the various characters’ lives and the challenges they may face or the cultural trappings of their pasts. We get even more diversity out of the weddings Liv and Savannah coordinate and some insight into what it takes to be in the wedding industry in Manhattan.

Overall, It Had To Be You is a feel-good story that pulls the reader into the lives and hearts of a cross-section of vibrant characters.

I fell in love with this book because it had so much character and characters.

This story was one that had so many wonderful stories to tell not just the min one. It was a story of love, healing, discovery and it was so well written to the point I could see it as a movie or even a miniseries on Lifetime. The subject the author tackles were so now. She tackles tough issues like race, sexual identity, and even gender identity. I found myself turning the page to see what would happen next.

From first to the last page this story really touched my heart and I am so blessed I got to read it. It was a fun, witty, and powerful story.

It Had to Be You was more heartwarming than I expected it to be! I found myself rooting for Liv and far more invested than I expected to be when I started this book. If you want a feel good story, It Had to Be You is for you.