It had to be you is a lighthearted standalone rom-com by Georgia Clark.

For two decades Liv Goldenhorn had been managing a successful wedding planner business in Brooklyn, New York until her husband suddenly passes away and leaves his half to his younger girlfriend. What ensues is a cute and sweet “Love Actually” kind of story.

As this is not a single couple storyline, we meet diverse people going through life, seeking love, comfort and friendship who meet, develop friendships that grow to more. Their stories are cute and enjoyable with lots of laughs. As the story progresses it does have a “Love Actually” feel to it.

The book is well written and charming, although it felt to be spread too thin making it difficult to get fully invested and then getting a too sweet ending.

This is a wonderful rom con. It's a very nice, cute and beautiful story. Starting wit the cover! I thought it had more heat, but it was just the perfect amount.

“It Had to Be You” is a rom-com with an ensemble cast. Think “Love Actually” or “Valentine’s Day.”

It was a cute rom com but I do wish there was more heat to it.

"It Had to Be You" is a sweet romance with a large cast of characters. It's cute, but it just wasn't my jam. I loved the idea of many characters falling in love and overlapping - "Love Actually" is a classic! - but there were too many plot lines. I think I would have enjoyed "It Had to Be You" more if it focused on one couple at a time with sequels for the rest of the pairings. With that being said, Georgia Clark weaved in the various romance tropes in a fun way and I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

Thanks to Atria Books for the arc!

One sentence review: I loved this story with interweaving romances centered a wedding business going through tough times.

My thoughts:

- There is just something about this story that really resonated with me.
- I loved how the author tells the stories of the individual employees and contractors that make up the wedding business. The interweaving of their tales allows for such a diverse range of stories that I really loved everything about it.
- I love how each person faced their own personal struggles. The stories aren't always pretty but I liked that element of grit.
- This story is definitely a slow building, character driven romance/women's lit book. There is also a lot going on in the book but the relationships that occur in the book are definitely a slow burn.

Synopsis: Liv & Eliot Goldenhorn run In Love in New York, a successful wedding planning business. All was going well until the unexpected death of Eliot...and a surprise twist in his will. Eliot has left his share of the business to his much younger event planner mistress Savannah Shipley. If this wasn’t shocking enough, Liv soon learns Savannah wants to be a present & active business partner; she’s not going anywhere. Savannah is Liv’s complete opposite: the essential optimist, full of hope & sorely inexperienced.

While Liv tries to juggle single motherhood, being a widow & a struggling business, she finds herself actually warming up to Savannah. Can Liv navigate through it all & find her own happy ending in New York?

Multiple love stories are highlighted in this multi-narrator rom-com about a group of friends/coworkers who find their own love story while helping make others’ magical wedding day dreams come true. Follow the love stories of Liv, Savannah, Zia, Gorman, Henry, Zach & Darlene in this fun & quirky read.

Review: I enjoyed this read. It was fun, flirty & full of the drama we all love to see in a rom-com! The characters really drew me into the story; they were full of life, love, and fulfilling stories that made me feel invested in their eventual outcome. I also felt a personal affinity to Liv. As a widow myself, I saw just a small part of me in those first few months when she was deep in ‘widowhood’ and all the emotional turmoil that comes with it, especially finding your new role as single parent. It’s a rarity to find such a deep personal connection to a character outside of the romantic framework in a rom-com; that speaks volumes to Clark’s writing style & ability to draw the reader into the world she envisioned.

While the book could have used a bit more juicer moments, (albeit there was some great ‘will they, won’t they’ tension) I enjoyed the unique concept of the book; think Valentine’s Day, the 2010 movie, but in book form. In all, I’d recommend it if you want that rom-com feel, but with something a touch different from the norm.

A big thanks to the author, Georgia Clark, for sending me a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a sweet rom com with so many fun characters! I loved reading about their wedding business. It was like a book version of Valentine's Day or Love Actually. Very fun.

I really enjoyed how there are so many sub-plots within this overall story. The diversity of the characters kept me entertained and engaged in all that was going on. It was light, fun, easy to understand and thoroughly entertaining! This is just the perfect book to read in an enjoyable time and not have to stress and overthink! Definitely recommend.

This book was a very unique read. The main characters Liv and Savanah are left working together after Liv’s husband passes and discovers that Savannah was having an affair with her husband. He left both Liv and Savannah the wedding planning business and they both can’t understand why. Together, they plan other people’s weddings, while mourning the loss of their loved one and trying to navigate partnership with someone brought together by betrayal and heartbreak. As they take over the wedding planning circuit, we meet new characters along the way and explore many different relationships. This story is filled with heartbreak, love, second chances, forgiveness, and friendship. The relationship between Liv and Savanah was the story line I found myself most interested in. The complexity between spending time with your dead husband’s mistress is not something that I would have handled well, and Liv handled it with grace. Of course, she was hurt, and she wanted answers, but to see their relationship grow and strengthen was very heart warming. The other relationships in this story I had a hard time connecting with, and sometimes made the overall story a bit confusing, however I enjoyed the overall themes in this book. The themes were well thought out and represented in each story line by the different characters. Overall, It Had to be You was a cute book of love stories, that exemplified growth and forgiveness.

Modern, heartwarming, and featuring a cast of characters trying to find their way through all sorts of romantic drama, this story is an entertaining contemporary romance with real-world elements. I enjoyed the multitude of relationships explored throughout the novel, each faceted and presenting a different perspective on love, life, and vulnerability.

📕: It Had To Be You
✍️: Georgia Clark
🌟: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

📝Synopsis:
What if you ran a successful business then your husband died suddenly. Then after when you read the will you found out his mistress now owned half your company?

✅📚Check Out This Book if you like:
•Multiple POVs
•Books about weddings
•Very diverse cast
•Young love, old love, new love and all the kinds of love you could think of.
•Happily ever afters always!

💁🏻‍♀️💬 My Thoughts:
While there are many POVs, are main gals are Liv the widow and Savannah the mistress. Liv and Savannah now have to work together after Eliot’s untimely death. They also find out so much about each other along the way. There are 5 weddings and 5 different parts of the story, with a great diverse cast to fill in all the things you could want. I really enjoyed this one and how the author really wrapped up everyone’s story and all in different ways. Maybe they got married, maybe they didn’t. But everyone was able to find themselves and something that made them happy.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me - I found the plot was a little too slow for my taste. I also didn't really vibe with any of the characters - I kept waiting for them to feel redeemable / relatable, but it just never really happened. I never felt invested in their stories. I also just didn't love the sheer number of storylines.

OKay I LOVED this book so much. I know that we are told in the synopsis about the affair, but I was still so surprised. Everything that came after - I. Was. Invested. I love stories were all of the characters intertwine, even in the smallest ways and this really did that for me! Plus, even though i'm already married, I love reading about weddings and behind the scenes of how a wedding works so that was a plus for me! Definitely recommending this one to friends!!!

This book had way too many main characters. The description made it seem like it was about Liv and Savannah, but each chapter felt like it was about a different couple, and it seemed very disjointed. I liked the writing, but I think it lacked some focus. I did like the ending though.

This was a book that I ended up not finishing due to lack of interest in content. For that reason I was unable to rate more than one star.

This sounds like such a cute romance story for summer, but I never got to it! Please don't let this score deter you. It is a low score because I chose other books over this one, but I did not read this!

Great romance read. I enjoyed the characters and the book. I like how the stories intertwined and were linked. I wish more books did this! Plus, the cover is beautiful! This would make a cute movie.

I love when authors find unique ways to tell their stories. We’ve probably all read a ton of rom com and modern group dynamics BUT, It Had to be You by Georgia Clark had it all. She created characters with depth in such a way that you could feel what the characters felt. I really loved the dynamic between Liv & Savannah and each of their challenges as they grow to the women they were meant to be. I also appreciated queer characters just existing, living and loving. All around a wonderful read. I read on my kindle and did part on audio. There was one narrator that I couldn’t stand but glad it was done by a full cast. Well done, Georgia!

It Had to Be You is a Love Actually-style rom-com that released earlier this summer and it follows a set of characters as they navigate life and love in New York City! It’s a perfect read for wedding season!

I love Love Actually and other movies like it (He’s Just Not That Into You and Valentine’s Day) that spotlights on the stories of many different characters that are all connected in some way or another. This story began with a wedding and a funeral and I was immediately intrigued from that point forward! It Had to Be You is all about weddings and love in every way, shape, and form. There were so many representations featured and were some of the most modern love stories I’ve ever read! I was here for it! It did take a while to get to know all of the characters which made the first half of the story kinda slow, but I enjoyed the second half much more as everything started to come together.

If you are looking for a different type of rom-com, I recommend you give this one a try!

Thank you so much to Atria Books and Netgalley for my gifted copies! All opinions are my own.

The perfect summer read! Read this book on vacation and couldn't put it down, would highly recommend.