I was captivated by this story from the first sentence. The author tells a story that is reminiscent of the Kennedy family. It is about a scion of a prominent family and. his relationship with a women who is from a completely different background. Both characters are sympathetic and you can't help but root for them. I highly recommend this intriguing tale. I couldn't put it down until it was finished.

Emily Giffin does it once again with characters you can relate to. Loosely based on the Kennedy family you get a little glimpse into what could have beens and what ifs of JFK Jr and Carolyn. Great read!

The latest by Emily Giffin crosses social classes as two people Joe & Cate, both raised in very different single parent homes, explore if their differences can unite them. Told in alternating viewpoint this story appeals to anyone who has admired a celebrity from afar while wondering if their paths ever crossed could they have a future together. A quick read that at times finds the reader encouraging Cate or Joe to push on and resolve challenges to the relationship. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

I was not well versed (or much at all versed) in the life of JFK Jr. or Carolyn Bessette before reading this novel. From what I can tell, there are plenty of differences between real life and fiction that make this enjoyable whether or not you are familiar with them.

I did enjoy this story and the untraditional pacing. Much of the story is devoted to how main characters Cate and Joe got together, with the main conflict and resolution at the very end. It was easy to read, although I did think there was a bit too much repetition in the dual narrators.

While this wasn’t much of a memorable or impactful read for me, I did enjoy that it was a change of pace from a typical romance or historical fiction book.

Another great read by Emily Giffin! Her writing continues to evolve compared to the Something Borrowed series I read years and years ago. This was very reminiscent of the Kennedy family and I liked the comparison between the two.

Basically a retelling of the Kennedy story, Meant to Be just did not capture my attention. It is told in two perspectives, both Cate and Joe, with each person's viewpoint given. This means that the story is very repetitive at times, going over the same situations and circumstances. It took me a long time to finish and is not a book that I would recommend to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Meant to Be by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review. I love Emily Giffin, and this one was no exception. Loved the Kennedy vibes!

Joe and Cate meet one day. There is a small similarity in how they grew up. But mostly, they have lived two different lifestyles. At two vastly different spectrums. Although they find themselves attracted to each other, are they meant to be together. I enjoyed the characters and their stories.

Sometimes I pick up books read the synopsis but then don't actually read the book until weeks later, so I go into it completely blind. This was the case when I started reading this book.
Star crossed lovers are probably my favorite thing to read.. well one of them so this book was right up my alley. I actually was not aware that this was based of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette but when they started talking about a famous political family, its hard not to think of the Kennedys.

I liked that we get both sides of the story, Joe's and Cate, but instead of seeing the continuation of an event we actually get to see both sides of the situation. Like the first time they meet, I though this was well done because even though yes I'm kind of reading the same thing all over, both characters had their own individual voice that made it different. I actually also got the chance to listen to the audio and I think I enjoyed that a bit more. The characters weren't remarkable, there were times when they were a bit predictable but they were also real and it was hard not to feel for them and to feel like they were real people which now i know they kind of were. Cate coming from a bad home situation and Joe struggling with family expectations. I love character driven stories and this one was exactly that.
I didn't figure out that they were based of real people until I was more than half way done with the book so once I knew that I understood why the author created the character how she did. it feels like we know them and understand their problems because of how public they were but at the same time we don't know them or could understand what they felt at the time, and that is what made me enjoy the book more. I did google JFK Jr and Carolyn, I figured that I would understand the story more. I saw people say it was loosely based off them and yes I can agree although at times it felt very very very similar to actual events.
I think that the story impacted me more because I knew that some of the events actually happened and knowing that JKF Jr. and Carolyn Bassette did not get the happy ending they should have gotten. But it was nice to see that Joe and Cate were able to survive the accident and we get that what if they had survived, that made me cry. 
I liked that we get to see both characters grow from teenagers to adults, we see how they change an mature and how their life growing up affects the relationships that they have as adults.

I really enjoyed this book, from start to finish and could not put it down. It was also my first book by this author but probably wont be the last one that I pick up

thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the ARC

What another great book from Emily Giffin! I’ve read previous books from this author and really enjoyed them. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was just as good as those. I enjoyed the story and the characters were very well written.

A wonderful re-imagining of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessett.

I loved this story but have to admit, I was fascinated by JFK Jr. back in the 90's. Emily Giffin is a favorite author of mine and this book did not disappoint.

This book was. quick read for me - I loved the way the story paralleled the story of the life of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette while being different enough so that you didn't know exactly what would happen as the book progressed. Definitely recommend!

I love all the books, Emily Giffin writes & this is no exception. This book is loosely based on John f. Kennedy, Jr and was sensitive to the situation. Thank you for my advanced copy of the story.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Fiction, but they took a lot of plot and story line from the Kennedy family, which just made it kind of weird and copycat feeling while not being enough of a history. Not a favorite for me.

Date made up. I feel behind on reviews.

I loved this book so much! Her writing is always spot on and this was no different! Such a great story and strong characters

A wooden story with no substance. Felt like a cash grab without much thought put into it. Will not read this author again.

I love Emily Giffin, but I wasn't sure about this one. I follow her on IG and know how much she loves the royal family and the Kennedys though, so I figured she couldn't definitely do this kind of story justice - and she did! It was sweet and charming!

If you love reading about the US Kennedy family, you will probably love this book. In the book the author fashions a young man who, like the Kennedy males, is an icon in US culture, with everything and anything a person might want at his fingertips. However, with all this comes the responsibility of the position, always cognizant of the public watching your every move and thought. The woman in the story is a young girl from a working class family, who escapes her dowdy existence and abusive step-father, to become a model. After a few years of that, she on to working for a well-known fashion designer. About this time is when she meets up with Joe Kingsley, the cultural icon every woman fantasizes about. Both begin a long, and not-quite-so public relationship (because he is so well known and thus the focus of the press who relentless dig out any news or stories about him). This was an interesting though not so fascinating read. If anyone is familiar with the Kennedy’s and their very public lives, the story will be very familiar. The author definitely knows and loves the Kennedy stories, as seen in the book. However, she has not really created characters with very much depth. In fact, there is not as much believability about it all. For starters, Cate, once a well-known model, hates going public with her relationship with Joe, because, as she indicates, she hates the publicity. I found it difficult to believe a model would dislike publicity, as that is what drives their careers. Also, Joe is not against publicity of their relationship, when, as far as I know, people in similar positions as the ones who shy away from any media mention of their lives. There was definitely a lot of good chemistry between the pair, but I am not sure it made up for all the angst. The book moved along as fast as it could, but I was ready and waiting for the ending long before it came. I just knew the story so well. This is the first book I have read by the author. I suspect and hope that others are better, based on the reviews I have read. I will try another. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

I think this was too close to JFK Jr.'s life that it felt like it should have been historical fiction, yet read like a romance. I don't know, this just wasn't for me.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I love this author but this novel fell a little flat to me. I loved the nod to the kennedy family but besides that, the character development felt very one sided. I felt like I knew so much more about Cate than joe. I did like the way it ended but the whole story felt a bit cheesy. That being said, I finished it in one day!