This was a sweet book about how two completely different characters in two completely different places in their lives learn to live and love alongside each other. Quite sweet and an enjoyable read!

CAN I GIVE THIS BOOK 6 STARS!?! Fans of the movie Love Actually and NY city, plan to devour this book quickly! Absolutely loved the story that Clark has woven - and each character's voice was so rich and unique, I felt attached to them all. AT first, the circumstances that Liv and Savannah meet are CRAZY. To have your dead husband's affair and show up on your doorstep, eager to be your business partner is just INSANE. But then the story takes off and each character grows so much, and has to really figure out what is best and what their heart is telling them what to do. I absolutely loved Sam and how he balanced Liv out so much. The wedding business aspect was fun to read about to and all of the little details that go into planning an event. I loved all the different aspects of love that each character was dealing with, not only with themselves but with others. This is a must read that anyone that enjoys romcom, relationships, interwoven stories, and let's be honest - fabulous descriptions of food and drinks in NY! :)

Thanks to Atria Books + NetGalley for the e-review copy of "It Had to Be You" by Georgia Clark.

Compulsively readable, characters you'll want to stay with, and so much packed into each page. This is a book that has so much for a variety of readers - definitely recommend.

A good "happily ever after" book that doesn't feel implausible or pushed. I will be recommending It Had to Be You to friends and library patrons who prefer books that aren't too sexy nor too heavy of a read.

It Had to Be You is a fun ensemble romance centered around the employees of a wedding planning company in NYC. It helps that the company is co-owned by a woman and her deceased husband's lover after he left his half to her in his will. From post-divorce romance to bi-curious romance, all the way to a secret relationship with a movie star, this book had a little something for everyone.

If you liked watching Love Actually, you'll like reading It Had to Be You.

Beautiful read that started with a bang! Wow that beginning is what pulled me in but it’s all the charming characters that made me stay!

You don’t get one beautiful love story you get many! I loved getting to see inside the life and love of a group of “friends” to see how they pulled together and made it through.

The one downside is I would’ve loved more time with each! Going through their stories and feeling all the feels! Some of the stories seemed only surface level and quickly resolved. I wanted a little more on each but overall I loved the characters and loved that love won the day!

Liv and her husband Eliot have been some of the best wedding planners in New York for 20 years. The wedding that ruins the company however, also happens to be the wedding Eliot never shows up for. Now Liv has a young woman on her porch with an updated will in hand saying Eliot left half the company to her, his mistress. While Liv wants nothing to do with Savannah, working together and rebuilding the brand after one scathing review is starting to be a bit….fun?

This was such a beautiful book about love, heartbreak, second chances, and new beginnings. At first I wasn’t sure about all the different storylines and how they were going to fit together, but I ended up falling in love with each and every one of them. I truly felt the frustration, excitement, and renewal in each of the relationships and it just warmed my heart. This is the perfect light, fun, and romantic read!

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book! This book follows at least 8 different characters, about 5 love stories, so it was a lot, as you can imagine. Going in, I thought the book would only follow Savannah and Liv's point of views, they were brought together by the death of Eliot, Liv's husband and Savannah's lover. An odd match up, Savannah and Liv now have to work together to save Liv and Eliot's wedding planning company from perishing. Along the way, we meet Zia, Darlene, Zach, Gorman, Henry and Sam, others who work with the two women. We follow each of their stories through love and heartbreak in New York City.
I enjoyed this story! It is so unique, interesting and funny at times. I was entertained and a bit hooked, it definitely kept me reading. I admire how the author added so many different aspects into this story, there is a presence of LGBTQ+, exceptionalities, diversity and more. It truly follows modern day love stories. However, this is also I think the weakness of this story. Savannah and Liv's stories were my favourite. I would've been OK reading only those. I did enjoy the others, but in a sense it was a bit too much. I felt some of the other stories couldn't be delved into too deeply because the book was already long and it was too much. In the end, it worked!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

I have started this review a dozen times and am still at a loss for words.

It Had to Be You is a dazzling, intoxicating novel that I never wanted to end. I can say, without a doubt, that if this book is not my number one book of the year, then it will certainly be in my top five, and I say that only two months into the year. There’s still a lot to read, but the bar has been set and I can say, is that it will be near impossible to surpass.

Georgia Clark is one of the most incredible writers I have ever had the privilege of reading. She not only creates authentic, relatable characters, but the way she sets a scene, I feel like I’m in the room. I can picture every thing in extreme detail and I lust over her prose. I found myself retreading the first paragraph in chapter 8 several times, because I was so drawn in. In another instance, I had started preparing dinner and picked up the book for read while my food simmered on the stove. This was a huge mistake as I became so wrapped up in the prologue that I burned dinner. There were countless other times though out the novel, where I was stopped in my tracks.

I adore novels told from multiple POV and found myself loving all of these characters, as deeply flawed as they were. Zia was my personal favorite, though I have a soft spot in my heart for them all.

A friend in the Bookstagram community and I have spent hours discussing this book and how much we love it. I had high expectations going in, and Clark surpassed them all. By the time I had finished the second chapter, I preordered the paperback, because I need to have a physical copy so I can revisit these characters time and again. They feel like family and now that the story is done, I miss them all and plan to revisit them very soon.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for sharing this incredible ARC galley with me. Thank you!

A fun and light-hearted story of an unlikely pairing helping New York fall in love.

Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn are the married partners of ‘Love In New York’ a very successful Wedding Planning company. However, while trying to put out fires on the wedding from “hell”, Liv is stunned to get a call that her husband has passed away – from his girlfriend, Savannah. To add insult to injury, Eliot willed his half of the business to Savannah. Does this partnership have a prayer to succeed?

I was quickly drawn into the story as Liv tries to come to terms with her husband’s misdeeds and to overcome her anger. I was also drawn to Savannah and her bubbling charm and drive. Adding to the Liv and Savannah, are a great cast of characters who have their story told as well. There’s Gorman and Henry, the florists who have worked closely with Liv. Zach and Darlene, the wedding singers, Sam the talented chef, and beautiful Zia who has been working as a server for Love In New York. Even with so many intwined love stories, I didn’t feel anything was rushed and I enjoyed the conclusion immensely.

Planning weddings is easy, peasy... right? The book opens with the wedding planner's scenario from hell and spirals from there. I loved this side of the wedding magic and loved the characters - their thoughts and feelings as they went about finding a new norm after losing one of their teammates. Liv is sweet and dedicated.

Plenty of laughs to go around with this one. It's a bit long, but it made me smile so that was okay!

I really wanted to like this book and I did enjoy the Liv/Savannah storyline however, it was all the other storylines/characters that didn’t appeal to me.

I really do love romance set in New York. There is just something about it that makes me swoon. Maybe it's that even in a busy city with so many people connections are still made. People find their one in a million loves in the concrete and hustle.

Told in the vein of "Love Actually" we met so many people that turn into couples. I did need a few post-it notes to keep them all straight, but it was a joy to see where they were all going to end up.

It Had To Be You is a fun read that proves love blooms when you least expect it.

~Tanja

Who has seen the movie Valentine’s Day or New Years Eve with all of the amazing actors and actresses?! ⁣
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Well, It Had to Be You reminded me of those movies and I adored it. This was a sweet, heartwarming, feel good story amongst multiple stories and characters.⁣
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At first I worried that there were going to be too many characters to follow but once I realized we were following multiple characters, blooming relationships, new relationships, and friendships that intertwined to make this sweet story; I dove right in, and let this play out like a movie in my head. ⁣
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There was such a lovely mix of different relationships and love in this story- love after loss, friendship with the enemy, love after abuse, family love, interracial love, celebrity secret affairs, learning about love and embracing a different sexuality than expected, age gap gay love, and open relationships. ⁣
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And you know what, every single one was beautiful, each character was flawed and real and grew so much throughout the story. I loved reading about all of them, and loved how they all were tied to each other in some way.⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
Thank you @simonbooks and @netgalley for an ARC for my honest review.⁣
#bookstagram #books #romance #romcom #ithadtobeyou #netgalley

I am honestly so sad that this book is over. I felt like each character was a friend and I’m going to miss them all so much. Georgia Clark masterfully created multiple intertwined love stories and I found myself rooting for all of them equally. The character progression she is able to create when writing multiple characters’ stories is frankly amazing! Reading this lovely book you will find yourself falling in love with each character and each love story.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like it. I did enjoy the main storyline and the character development. But slogging through the subplots that just name drop various buzz topics felt disingenuous and trite. Alpha male that is secretly the sub in BDSM? Gay couple that can’t agree on marriage? Pretty young woman that feels a spark towards same sex attraction now that she’s escaped the South? Emphasis on interracial couples? Name drop green energy charities in developing nations? Climate change urgency? Transwoman that can’t get approval from her military father? Wage gap with racial differences? Black woman saying that she’s not here to be a personal African American studies professor?

It reads like the author was just going down a list and checking off tropes. We get it, the author is woke and shouldn’t be canceled. There were so many buzz points that it detracted and distracted from the storyline. It read like performative allyship and not natural details to move the plot forward.

The book description is focusing on the dynamic between Liv and Savannah, but we barely see that played out when the rest of the book is weighed down by unexpected subplots.

4.5 stars

‘It Had to Be You’ is a heartwarming, humorous, and beautiful novel featuring a series of interconnected love stories that revolve around a widowed wedding planner and her coworkers.

Liv Goldenhorn and her husband have been the ultimate alternative wedding planners for the better part of two decades. When his sudden death reveals he was having an affair, and that he left his mistress, Savannah (who had no idea he was still married), half of their company, Liv is ready to throw in the towel. But Liv’s unexpected partnership with Savannah transforms into something neither of them could have imagined.

This novel is a breath of fresh air; it’s also begging to be made into a movie or miniseries. All the characters in the story are so compelling, each bringing their own unique life experiences and, in some cases, their trauma to the table. I loved the breadth of human experience that is portrayed on page. There’s love, there’s pain, there’s healing, there’s self-awareness. There’s diverse cast of characters whose lives address issues of class, race, gender identity, and sexuality in ways that feel not only appropriate, but vital. It was just the sort of thing I needed to read at this particular moment in time, and is a book that I can see myself returning to again and again.

If you’re looking for a story that will make you feel all of the feelings and then leave you with a huge smile on your face, this is the one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun one!

I’m not usually a romance reader, but I loved the concept of the twining of different stories to create one whole narrative in the same vein as Love, Actually and Valentine’s Day! Would definitely recommend to new and seasoned romance readers.

This book was absolutely delightful! A collection of love stories weaved together through common friends and colleagues. The comparison to Love, Actually is a good one. It Had to Be You was so wonderfully inclusive and was an all-around feel good book! As a single woman approaching 50, I was particularly appreciative of Liv and Sam's storyline, but they all had me equally engaged. I loved Savannah discovering herself, the surprising twist with Henry and Gorman, the delicious angst between Zach and Darlene. This is my favorite novel so far by Georgia Clark and I'm already excited to see what she brings us next.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It reminded me of the movie "Valentine's Day" where all of the stories are interconnected in some way. The beginning way a little slow and I was ready for a Savannah and Liv rivalry to be the entire story, but then I was pleasantly surprised by how their story unfolded. This book has a little bit of everything - enemies to lovers, second chance, LGBT+, diverse love - but I never felt like it was too much. I can't wait to read more from Georgia Clark!