OMG I loved this book.
I haven’t read Emily Giffin in forever! She is a truly talented writer. In the authors note, she mentioned that this story was inspired by the Kennedy’s.
This is solely and truly a romance story. Her characters were so real and I fell in love with both Cate and Joe.
What was incredible is you learn the full backstory of these characters. The author did an amazing job of showcasing the childhood angst and drive that made the characters the way they were. I think this perspective made the romance even more real and relatable.

I was worried Emily Giffin was going to break my heart, but she concluded this story spectacularly.

This jewel of a novel is inspired by the glamorous and tragic love story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, so lovers of the Kennedys - you need it immediately!!! 😍 I also recommend to anyone who loves American Royals because it definitely gives similar vibes in the best way! This is a beautiful imagining of a relationship that captivated and mystified the nation and a stunning exploration of what could have been. The characters are warm and complex and Joe and Cate’s relationship is one you root for so hard! I adored all the references to New York hot spots of the 90s and all of the delicious 90s minimalist fashion moments. I am such a sucker for any sort of celebrity/normal person romance and this was such a good one! Overall a fabulous and immensely enjoyable read!!

I love Emily Giffin. And I LOVED Meant to Be. Like many people, I've always been fascinated by America's royalty, The Kennedy Family. And I didn't even realize when I picked it up that Meant to Be was a thinly veiled version of JFK Jr. and Caroline Besset's romance. Yes, there are many differences between their true life story and those of Joseph and Cate in the book, but I just found the book to be so satisfying and so much fun to read.

Joseph and Cate are very different. One grew up in extreme privilege. Another grew up in a dysfunctional and abusive household. And then there's Berry, Joseph's best friend who was orphaned and kind of adopted by Josephs' mom. The only thing all three have in common is that they all lost a parent at a young age.

Meant to Be will give you all the feels. I still look back on that fateful plane crash and think about the "Kennedy Curse." Yes, America lost two sweethearts that night. But they also lost a potential leader. Someone who could have made a difference. That still feels heavy to me. Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now!

Thank you to Ballantine for an early copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

I'm sad to say (as someone who loves books about the Kennedys and books by Emily Giffin) that this one was just okay for me. I think part of the problem was this book was being marketed as a "What If" story based on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, when really it read more like a fictionalized retelling of their lives. Any deviations into what could have been came at the very end of the book. The dual POV also felt a bit clunky, especially because the characters kept recapping things that had just happened in the previous chapter.

All those misgivings aside, this book was an easy read, and I found the story of Joe Kingsley and Cate Cooper interesting. The settings were fun (I love a New England summer) and I enjoyed the glamour of it all. I could see this being a good beach read or book to read with your mom.

Cate has grown up in a household where her mother has gone from man to man, finally marrying one who appears to be a good man. He is a police officer and when she finds out it’s all a façade, it’s not possible for her to get away. Cate is determined to get out of the household as soon as possible to make a safe life for herself. Joe has grown up in a famous, privileged political family. With many tragedies in the family, he is being groomed for a big political future. Sadly, this future is not the one he wants and battles with his mother all the way. Cate becomes a famous model, but never feels as if she belongs. When they meet, there is an instant attraction between the two. Cate wants to keep their relationship out of the spotlight, but will that even be possible?

Also reviewed on B&N under 1IrishEyes430 and Kobo under IrishEyes430

This story is loosely based on the Kennedy's and it was an interesting spin on their story! I enjoyed this book a lot

Thank you #Netgalley for an early read of #MeantToBe

Emily Giffin is finally back! This might be her best yet. This is a story loosely based on JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette. It was a quick read and very well written.

Although I enjoyed the JFK Jr. connections, it was the only thing I really enjoyed about this book. The storyline was interesting, but the plane crash was rushed and the rest of it dragged on. The characters were a bit one dimensional and I needed more depth.

A fast summer read. Knowing this authors love of the Kennedy family I immediately felt like I was reading a fictionalized story of John Kennedy Jr. (even before I read the authors note). The ending to this story obviously is different than the real story, but overall I felt like I was reading a recap of his life and tragic death.

This is a wonderful book, well written, with a unique premise. It’s a fictional version of the lives of JFK Jr. and his wife, Caroline Bessett. They died in a small plane crash on the way to a family wedding in 1999, and they are still talked about today.
The book covers their lives from childhood into adulthood, through characters whose lives are slightly different than the lives of the real John and Caroline. They wanted a quiet private life, but the press followed them relentlessly. I don’t know how many of the details in their fictional characters stories are true, but it all made for a riveting read.
The beauty of fiction is that the writer can create alternatives to reality for the couple. At the end, I wondered “what if?” I love a book that makes me think and feel, and this one definitely delivers.
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:
The Kingsley family is practically American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. When Joseph S. Kingsley III is born in 1960, he inherits the weight of that legacy. Growing up with all the Kingsley looks and charisma, Joe should have no problem taking up the mantle after his father’s untimely death. But he is also a little bit reckless, and can’t seem to figure out how to channel the expectations of an entire country.

No one ever expected anything of Cate, on the other hand. She, too, grew up in a single-parent household—just her and her mom scraping by in their small apartment. As a teenager, though, Cate is discovered for her looks. Modeling may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. Before too long, her face is everywhere, though she is always aware that she’d be a pariah in her social circles if anyone knew her true story.

When Joe and Cate’s paths cross, their connection is instant. What remains to be seen is whether their relationship will survive the glare of the spotlight that follows Joe everywhere. And just as they find themselves in the make-or-break moment, the tragedy that seems to run in Joe’s family right alongside all that privilege will repeat itself.

In a beautifully written novel that recaptures a gilded moment in American history, Emily Giffin tells a story of a love that may or may not have the power to transcend circumstances that seem arrayed against it... and the difficulty of finding your way to the place you belong

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

Meant to Be is about Joe and Cate. Joe is American Royalty because of his family. Cate is someone who left home to become a model in part because of her step father who was abusive to her mom and mentally abusive to her. She is discovered at sixteen and makes a name for herself, This story follows how Joe and Cate meet and their love story. I enjoyed Meant to Be very much. You will root for Joe and Cate to defy the odds that are thrown their way. This story is loosely based on JFK Jr and Carolyn’s romance but with a better ending, Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for the E-ARC. This my own opinion.

I assumed I would enjoy this book since I like all the other books by Emily Giffin, and I was correct. This is a great summer read, a contemporary romance with relatable relationship struggles. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know both Joe and Cate throughout the book…their past selves and current ones. They were both likable and easy to invest in. I definitely recommend this one!

Fictionalized story based loosely on JFK Jr/Carolyn Bessette. The story is new enough and familiar enough to keep you reading. All the characters are well written, with strong voices lending well to the story. A nice escape down memory lane while longing for what was Meant To Be. Another win for this accomplished author.

Thanks to Ms. Giffin, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This book was such a pleasant surprise. I do love a good homage to Camelot and this reimagining of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bissette was a great summer read.

I wish the characters would have had a bit more depth to them, but I still found myself rooting for them. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed this as much if I didn’t already have a love for the Kennedys.

Pick this one up if you’re looking for a beach read, or interested in the Kennedy family.

With a title like Meant to Be, you would expect the romance in this book to be epic and Giffin delivers nicely. Joseph Kingsley Jr., scion of a famous family whose father was an astronaut has a lot to live up to, and his mother and his best friend, Berry are going to see that he does just that. Cate, on the other hand, comes from a lot less illustrious background. She didn't even finish high school but escaped from an abusive home as soon as she was able to start a career in fashion. Years of living with her stepfather's constant verbal abuse left her frequently doubting her own worth, however. These two don't seem like they belong together, but they truly make a sweet and amazing couple and the romance between them is off the charts adorable. This is clearly Giffin's take on the Kennedy legend and the story does bear a lot of similarities to John Kennedy Jr's life although it is not strictly his story. However, any similarities to the late beloved icon and his life story only add to the enthrall of this charming story. Both together and apart Joe and Cate are truly likable characters that you can't help rooting for. In fact, there aren't any truly unlikeable characters in the book at all except for Cate's stepfather. All the rest have redeeming factors even if they start out not that likable. All in all, it's a very satisfying read.

Emily Giffin's latest book, Meant to Be, was inspired by the lives of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, whose lives ended tragically in July 1999 when the Piper Saratoga light aircraft Kennedy was piloting en route to Martha's Vineyard plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing the couple and Bessette's sister, Lauren. Giffin says she "began to obsess over the personal component of their very public lives and deaths." She pondered both the pressure Kennedy must have endured as the world watched him grow up and expected him to follow in his father's footsteps, as well as how challenging it must have been for Bessette to find her place in the Kennedy family. She found herself returning to the "unfulfilled promise" and unanswerable questions about what might have been had they lived. She was motivated to create an "entirely fictional work" in which the real lives of John Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette serve merely as the underlying "framework." In Meant to Be, a story about the most eligible bachelor in America and a girl with a troubled past, Giffin considers the proverbial question, "Can love conquer all?"

To relate their stories, Giffin employs dual first-person narratives from Joe and Cate. The technique proves highly effective because Giffin takes readers into the minds and hearts of her protagonists in this character study. Joe Kingsley explains his storied family's history and the death of his famous father, who left the U.S. Senate to join NASA and perished when Joe was just three years old. (Giffin places him inside the Command Module of the Apollo 1 that burst into fire in January 1967 killing astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.) In the aftermath, a grieving nation questions what might have happened if only things had gone differently that day and Joe grows up in the shadow of a great man taken too soon. He has never known life without privilege and wealth, as well as "the heavy weight of so many expectations." His own mother, with whom he has a difficult relationship, regularly compares him to her deceased husband. Fortunately, Joe enjoys a close relationship with his grandmother.

Cate is a few years younger than Joe. Like him, she grows up with the knowledge that her father was killed in a motor vehicle accident when she was three years old. Cate's mother, a waitress, is fixated on finding a new husband. Along with money, a husband is, for her, a prerequisite to happiness. Money is tight, but Cate is a happy child except when her mother finds a new boyfriend, sometimes leaving her with an elderly babysitter for days at a time. Eventually, her mother finds Chip, a police officer, who physically and verbally abuses her mother.

Joe has the benefit of a first-class education and the unwavering friendship of Berry Wainwright, a new student that he is asked by the headmaster to "shepherd" when she moves to New York from London after her parents die. She becomes the gatekeeper to Joe, providing advice about which girls he should date and trying to dissuade Joe from reckless pursuits. Cate and her mother finally achieve middle class status, but Chip's presence in the household convinces Cate that boys and men cannot be trusted, and nothing good can come from romance. Her childhood experiences inform her determination and inner strength. Still, she is well aware of handsome and charming Joe Kingsley, and even has a poster of him on the wall of her bedroom because, like most girls her age, she is a bit obsessed with the closest thing America has to a prince and his royal family.

Cate is discovered as a teenager and begins earning money as a model. Her career is far more important to her than school because it is her ticket out of her mother's house as soon as she turns eighteen. As she finds herself becoming increasingly famous and financially secure, she also suffers from "imposter syndrome," convinced that if the truth about her background comes to light, her career will come to an end. and she'll find herself back in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Joe just wants to be the best version of himself, not a carbon copy of his father. After passing the Bar Exam on his third try, he becomes a Deputy District Attorney in New York, but his heart is often not in the fight to convict, especially when the defendant is charged with low level or drug offenses. He dates a woman that his family and Berry approve of, and he genuinely cares about. But one day he happens upon a photo shoot featuring "a gorgeous blond" who seems vaguely familiar -- "the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen . . ." He doesn't believe in love at first sight, but his chemical reaction to Cate is undeniable. "A little explosion in my chest."

Having established her characters' histories and emotional struggles, Giffin deftly portrays their meeting and the development of their relationship. When they meet, Cate is dating another man and reluctant to get into any serious relationship. Giffin believably depicts her conflicting feelings, the basis for them, and the slow, hesitant way in which she acknowledges that her attraction to Joe is growing. Cate is still harboring secrets about her background, including her failure to finish high school and Chip's ongoing abuse of her mother, who steadfastly refuses Cate's offers of help to extricate herself from the marriage. Cate is painfully aware that her life has been far different from Joe's and wants to avoid the media frenzy that will inevitably ensue if it becomes known that they are dating, even though she segues from modeling to fashion styling and sales, giving her a lower public profile. She is also desperately afraid that if the truth about her childhood and how she achieved career success comes to light, Joe will succumb to pressure from his mother, Berry, and others to align himself with a more suitable woman, especially in light of a shocking revelation that further complicates and threatens their relationship. After all, as the only surviving son, it falls to Joe to tangibly carry on his family's legacy. Does he love Cate enough and is he strong enough in his convictions to withstand the stressors that jeopardize their future?

Giffin's affinity for her characters is evident throughout the tale. She compassionately portrays their doubts and fears, along with the joy they experience when they are together. Joe explains that before he met Cate, "I had believed that passion came with a price. That you had to choose between being madly in love and being at peace. With Cate, I had both and it was magic." She believably explores the judgment Joe is subjected to by family and friends, as well as his personal growth as he journeys toward becoming the kind of many he really wants to be and focusing on what matters most to him. Because her characters are fully formed and deeply sympathetic, Giffin inspires readers to care deeply about them and their well-being. This is particularly true of Cate who, as the story progresses, embodies internal strength, resolve, and power, largely because she has had to take care of herself. Giffin expertly enhances the story's tension, accelerating the pace of the narratives, as Joe's reckless nature again surfaces. Will Joe and Cate's story end tragically? Or can Joe overcome the "Kingsley curse" so that he and Cate can enjoy the future they have envisioned together -- madly in love and at peace? Giffin provides a somewhat surprising and thoroughly satisfying conclusion to the story.

Giffin says she believes in "the magic and beauty of fiction -- we can take a sad story and transform it into something completely different." In Meant to Be she invites readers to ponder what it would be like to confront the challenges that Joe and Cate face: how different life would be under the crushing weight of others' expectations, how much courage it would require to defy those expectations in favor of designing a meaningful life, and how difficult it would be to risk privilege, wealth, comfort, and the alluring aspects of fame in order to spend your life with the one person who truly makes you happy.

Is Joe and Cate's romance meant to be . . . and meant to end happily or, like their real-life inspirations, tragically? Meant to Be is meant to be read on a beach or by a pool in order to find out.

Meant To Be
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/31/22
Author: Emily Giffin
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 368
Goodreads Rating: 4.19

TW ⚠️: Emotional Abuse, domestic violence, and single parent household

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a digital advanced readers copy of the book for me to read for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: The Kingsley family is the Kennedy family, Joe should have no problem taking up the mantle after his father’s untimely death. But he is also a little bit reckless, and can’t seem to figure out how to channel the expectations of an entire country. Cate’s Modeling may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. When Joe and Cate’s paths cross, their connection is instant. What remains to be seen is whether their relationship will survive the glare of the spotlight that follows Joe everywhere. Will they be able to beat the odds stacked against them?

My Thoughts: WOW, this was AMAZING, like really amazing. It is the best contemporary romance I have EVER read. The story is narrated by Joe and Cate, alternating, in their perspectives. The characters are well developed, had depth, had immediate chemistry, they were charismatic, and just meant for each other. The authors writing was brilliant, complex, beautiful, and engaging. While reading this story, I was happy, I was sad, I cried, and there was times of frustration. I absolutely loved this book and the author has become an auto buy author for me. It was a rollercoaster of emotions reading this book. Towards the end, I could not put down and had to find out how it ended. I HIGHLY recommend this book! Stop and go buy this book!

Meant to Be by Emily Giffin is about a restless guy named Joseph Kingsley III and the woman he fell in love with, Cate Cooper. Cate grew up with her mom and was told that her father died in an automobile accident. Her mother re-married, and she had gotten into modeling to escape her abusive stepfather. The Kingsleys are practically American royalty; his father and grandfather were
military heroes, and Joseph is expected to follow in his prestigious footsteps since his father's passing. "People expect a lot from you. And remember, Joseph, from he to whom much is given... Much is expected."

Meant to be is loosely based on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. It gives me an alternate history vibe about what could have been, if only.

While reading this story, it brought back memories of JFK Jr. But What If? What if they lived? Would they have children? Would they still be together?

"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one being shining moment, that was known as Camelot."

I believe that Emily Giffin has done an excellent job in writing this tale, and it made me think about all the things that I had forgotten and wished that JFK Jr. had survived that tragic event.

This is the re-imagining of JFK Jr and Caroline Bessett's love story that you never knew you needed. Meant to Be by Emily Giffin is such a fun and engaging novel that pulls the curtains back on Camelot in the late 90's. Joe Kingsley meets Cate on a beach modeling shoot in the Hamptons and can't get her out of his head. His persistence leads to a whirlwind romance with obstacles left and right.

I still remember when JFK Jr's plane went down and the televised search for John, Caroline and her sister. All of the hopes and dreams for the future of Camelot went down with that plane and still makes my heart ache for the families. However, this fictional re-imagining has a completely different ending while still give the reader all of the excitement and fun of watching the love affair unfold.

Emily Giffin is a must read author for me and should be for you too. Go pick this one up. It is perfect for the summer on the beach or by the pool. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you to Netgalley!!

I have read all of Emily Giffin's books and this was an enjoyable addition to her growing list of novels. Here she takes a fictionalized version of JFK Jr. and puts him with the girl he was "meant to be" with. I would have preferred a bit more plot or repercussions from Cate's family's antics, but it was still an enjoyable read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.