Emily Giffin never disappoints and her latest, Meant to Be is SO good. I loved the storyline, loved the characters, and loved the similarities to the Kennedy's. I could not put this one down from the first page until the last. highly recommend!
Thank you to net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

3.5 stars

I received a complimentary Kindle book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Emily Giffin, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I really wanted to love this book, but I liked it instead. It was a sort of riff on the John Jr/Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy love story. At the beginning of the book, I quickly figured that it was a retelling of the tragic lives cut too short. Unfortunately, it just didn't ring completely true to me.

This was a nice story, but it wasn't fresh and new, unfortunately!

Recommend

Loosely based on the life of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, this book hooked me from page one and didn't let go until I finished it. Joe and Cate are from very different backgrounds, yet somehow manage to meet and fall in love. Of course, things don't always go smoothly though but they are meant to be. Totally loved this one- highly recommend.

Another beautiful Emily Griffen I could not pit it down.Cate& Joes relationship was so involving for me kept turning pages to find out what was happening now.I will be recommending Meant To Be as I do all the authors books.#netgalley #randomhouse

I devoured this book! I loved the dual narrators and plot arc. The characters were lovable and relatable, and the setting was wonderful, too. I stayed up way too late to find out what happened… I wasn’t disappointed!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. (I will post a review on Instagram closer to the publication date as requested.)

Let me say at the outset that I love Emily Giffen’s work. This one, told from the perspectives of the protagonists In turn, both celebrates and rewrites history in a very obvious homage to an iconic American dynasty. No surprises here in the large picture, but character detail and backstory add depth and compassion in a wonderful way.. Sometimes because the main characters are so thinly veiled, I felt like I was rereading actual known facts. But the writing is so good, the dialogue rings true, the scenery is rendered beautifully, etc., This is a love story that will touch every reader in one way or another. I grew to love the characters and felt invested in the outcome. And, many people may not recognize or remember the details of the story of this family unless they are of a certain age, and that will make this a truly fascinating and wonderful read,,

Thank you to Ballentine Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this!

Emily Griffin knows how to write great characters and get you so invested in them. “Something Borrowed” is one of the all-time greats. This time she takes a fictionalized version of JFK Jr’s romance with Carolyn Bessette. I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure how this would work, but I decided to give it a chance. I remember JFK Jr’s very famous single days in NYC and he was quite the celebrity. I think she captured the aura and enigma of him very well. The female character who is loosely based on Carolyn is really well done. You definitely begin rooting for both of these two individuals. I know how the real-life story ended but I like Giffin’s ending a bit better. I enjoyed this more than I expected and now I want to go back and revisit the JFK Jr. wedding photos! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC for an honest review.

LOVED this book. It is a wonderful imagining of the what if's of JFK Jr and his wife. I couldnt put this down.

It has been a little bit since I have read an Emily Giffin novel, this one absolutely did not disappoint. It was like catching up with childhood friends, you just pick up where you left off. I love the story line and even the characters, I truly believe we all will be able to relate to most of them. We all have the one overprotective friend, crazy mother, or are just ashamed of one of our family members. I could not put this book down, I absolutely devoured it in a two nights. And the ending, well it is just perfect, or almost.
This book will be recommended to anyone looking for a nice beach and/or vacation read.

Meant To Be may be my new favorite Emily Giffiin novel! I loved everything about it. It was fast paced, which made it easy to read. The love story between Cate and Joe was filled with flaws and insecurities but they powered through when push came to shove. I would highly recommend Meant To Be!

Emily Griffin knows how to write a book that will pull at your emotions; Meant to Be is exactly that! This book tells the story of 2 characters with completely different backgrounds meeting and their journey together. It’s heartbreaking, beautiful and made me cry on many occasions. I devoured this story, and even though I finished it a couple days ago, I can’t stop thinking about it! I highly recommend reading Meant to Be and will be telling everyone about it!

While I am a fan of Emily Giffin, I am also a fan of authors who will challenge themselves with each book, staying fresh rather than formulaic. The author has done that here, with an interesting book that gives us a fictional retelling of what "might have been," in the John Kennedy Jr. life story. Kennedy = Kingsley in this tale. I found myself drawn in by the characters as their own "people," but would also keep veering my mind back to those days of John Kennedy, Jr and Carolyn Bessette. A highly recommended book, whether for a summer beach read or any time of the year. Thank you to Random House Publishing, the author, and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

In this engaging retelling of the Kennedy legacy, two people from very different backgrounds: Joseph Kingsley meets Cate.

While Joe has a legacy and family responsibility to uphold, Cate is a gorgeous model who had to drop out of high school. When their paths cross the sparks fly, but are they too different to make a meaningful connection?

This is a timeless story about love and class separation told in a lovely style that keeps the reader interested.

I always love Emily Griffin's books, and while this is a bit of a departure, the book is well written and fun. A perfect escapist summer read.

Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint! This book is about two completely different people, Cate and Joe, and how their lives intersect. Cate is middle class at best, living with her mom and abusive stepfather. Joe is basically American Royalty - from the moment he was born. Think silver spoon. Cate is offered the chance to become a model, and while hesitant, is also hopeful this could be her ticket out of the hell she's living in. Joe is an assistant DA, dating all the "right" girls to fit the image his mother has tried so hard to maintain for him after his father's death. A year after a chance meeting on the beach during a photo shoot, Cate and Joe finally get together. And while he never once looks back, Cate is constantly questioning if she is what Joe needs. After a secret is revealed, things change between the two of them. Is their love strong enough to let the past stay in the past and move forward? And, if it is, will the paparazzi allow that to happen?

So so good!!! I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone!

I usually love this author's books. This one fell flat for me. Joe, a wealthy rising political star meets Cate, a young model on the beach one day. Cate has grown up first with a single mom and then an abusive father in law. They fall in love and the typical dramas play out. It didn't feel like a fresh creative story line to me. I was disappointed. Despite that, Giffin's writing style is always entertaining and I'm glad I read the novel. It just didn't captivate me.

A delightful love story from Emily Giffin. A story reminiscent of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. I really enjoyed the characters and pace of the story. Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read an advanced copy.

Such a fantastic, well written story! I read it in two days. This is a classic rags to riches story that makes every female grow up believing true love exists. It has been awhile since I have thoroughly enjoyed a story from Emily Giffin, she has created a masterpiece. It gives me the vibe of stories written similarly to Danielle Steele. I loved how the words conveyed the story and the way you can feel the emotions of the characters I felt a deep connection in relating to these characters as real people.. This story hooked me from beginning, absolutely fascinating and engaging, leaving me hanging on to want to know more about what happens to two people in a relationship where one is a well known icon figure always in the spotlight. The struggles of how the two overcame the differences and anticipating some kind of tragedy. It kept me hanging on until the end, definitely not one to miss!

Giffin is an author that I remember loving ever since her debut, Something Borrowed, came out. Since then, I’ve looked forward to her new releases which have not been as frequent as I would have liked - some having become new favorites up there with the SB books and others, well… not quite. I can very happily say that Meant to Be falls strongly in the favorite camp and I cannot tell you the last time I read a book front to back quite so quickly.

MTB is loosely based on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette and imagines what if? Ultimately, this book is fiction, so of course, it needs to be read in that vein. I was utterly captivated with the story of Joe Kingsley and Cate Cooper and wished the book was double the length so i could keep reading about them! I’m sad I finished so quickly since EG only publishes every other year, I’ll have to wait quite a bit for more from her!

Emily Giffin took an important piece of American history and reshaped it into a lovely, fiction romance. Told from the dual perspectives of the main characters, Joe and Cate, we see the burgeoning love story from start to finish of quite an unlikely pair. It was an interesting fictionalized take turned into a beautiful story. The writing was really good and captivated me from start to finish. I really liked how Giffin wove this story together seamlessly through the complexities of the characters. The nuanced characterization of each of them made them charming, vulnerable, and honest. Emily Giffin wrote a lovely story that all women's fiction and romance lovers will thoroughly enjoy.

Absolutely amazing, I couldn’t put this book down! I found myself wanting so badly for Joe Kingsley to be real! Cate and Joe were mesmerizing and I loved being swept away by their story. Emily presents an interesting perspective on how it may have felt to grow up in an abusive home or under the pressures of a high profile family while they each work to forge their own path.
Emily has a way of capturing emotions throughout the highs and lows of relationships (and life) as if you were watching it play out right before your eyes, I could absolutely see Meant to Be as a Netflix miniseries! It was such a captivating story and I’ll be recommending it all summer long!
Thank you so much for this ARC, I couldn’t have been more thrilled and felt like I was smiling the entire time I was reading this book!