Member Reviews
I absolutely loved "It Had to Be You" by Eliza Jane Brazier. This book gives off serious Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes, blending suspense and romance perfectly. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. Eva and Jonathan meet on a sleeper train from Florence to Paris, feeling an intense spark. They part ways, not knowing they are both contract killers.
Six months later, they meet again in Versailles, where Eva is supposed to kill Jonathan. This kicks off a thrilling adventure across Western Europe, filled with danger, bodies, and unexpected romance. I adore how Eva and Jonathan communicate and support each other without undermining or discrediting one another. They push each other to be better, making their relationship unique and compelling.
It's not your typical happily-ever-after, but it's a refreshing and exciting read that I enjoyed immensely and highly recommend
This book was such a fun thriller! Romance? Yes. . Thrilling twists and turns? Absolutely! This book keeps you on your toes and is unputdownable! The main characters are contract killers that actually have hits on each other! The problem? Eva and Jonathan fall for each other!!! I loved this book and if you love thrillers with romance this is the book for you! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.
Eliza Jane Brazier's latest, It Had to Be You, might be one of my surprise favorites of the summer. It really has it all, and I loved every crazy minute of it. As if contract killers weren't interesting enough on their own, there's a little bit of a rom-com element, and a little bit of spice, and it's just the thing for lazy summer reading days. As I was reading, I wasn't sure how it was going to end, or even how I wanted it to end, but the ride was so fun that I didn't care. It turns out that it was perfect, and I want more Eva and Jonathan. At the very least, I want this to be a television series, because it would be AMAZING!
I just love the concept here, and the cover! So fun!
I did have a little trouble getting into the writing, which is purely a "me" thing with absolutely nothing wrong with the book. I just tend to prefer a bit more sensory prose that's less straight forward, because of the way my brain works. I know, I know. So please don't take this as anything negative here. Even so, hello! I'd love to see this on screen!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by a favorite, Eliza Jane Brazier, and allowing me to participate in the blog tour for the book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!
Eva and Jonathan meet on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris and hook up, thinking they'll never meet again. They both feel a spark unlike they've felt before, but work must come first. Because unbeknownst to the other, they are both contract killers. Let the games begin!
I adored Brazier's last novel, Girls and Their Horses, but this one is even better and just as deliciously fun! It's a sexy, over the top, cat and mouse tour through Europe with characters trying to deal with past trauma the only way they can. There are twists and surprises and bodies left along the way. I loved the dark humor, the romance, the thrill ride. This is an absolute must read for the summer - don't miss it!
Eva and Jonathan have a one-night stand aboard a sleeper train. Despite incredible chemistry, they don't expect to see each other again. Neither of them knows the other is a contract killer, and neither of them suspects the other is the one they've been ordered to take out.
This book gives serious Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes, including the undeniable chemistry between the MCs and the dark humor. It takes you on a deranged, high-stakes, and very spicy journey across Europe as these two parse out what is going on between them and, eventually, who is after them. These two are well-armed, and their unexpected connection makes the danger surrounding them and the crazy scenarios they find themselves in all the more confusing and exciting. This dual POV cat-and-mouse game is fast-paced, action-packed, and suspenseful. Some twists were predictable, but overall, this thriller/romance mashup was a wild ride and a fun summer read!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the free book!
Two assassins, falling for each other, trying to kill each other. I thought it sounded good, but I didn’t connect with the characters and I was a bit bored by the storyline.
If you like the novel’s premise you may really enjoy it- it just wasn’t for me, so I DNFed it.
It Had to Be You is so good! The story is told in Dual POV in alternating chapters for both of the main characters. Both characters are likable even though they are assassins. Both characters have past childhood trauma that lead to their current career. Both characters hold themselves in varying levels of contempt for their careers which makes them feel equally more human and more disturbed.
The secondary characters are intriguing. Some are saints and many are sinners. They provide motivation for our main characters and red herrings in the plot.
“I have been apologizing for myself all my life and I finally found the one person I don’t have to apologize to, and I was willing to kill him, for what? Survival? What the f@#k is the point of surviving if I’m not even living?"
The plot pace was constant, and even though it wasn’t as fast as I expected, it felt perfect for the story. It’s like the difference between taking a train or a plane: one is faster but the other allows you to enjoy the journey more. The plot arc was engrossing even though it required suspension of disbelief, however, I find that to be true with most blockbuster action adventures/thrillers.
I loved the unanticipated ending. The whole book was easily digestible, highly entertaining, and thoroughly satisfying. I’m looking forward to Eliza Jane Brazier's next novel.
I enjoyed the author's last book, Girls and their horses but I absolutely LOVED this latest dual POV thriller that sees a female assassin falling for a contract killer on an overnight train only to later find herself assigned to kill him.
The perfect blend of Killing Eve and Mr & Mrs Smith, this was great on audio narrated by January LaVoy and Will Damron and sure to be a memorable romantic suspense read this year! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚
It Had To Be You By Eliza Jane Brazier
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded up to 5⭐)
📚MY REVIEW:
Oh my gosh -- what a FUN and entertaining read this was! Brazier's upcoming book is a sexy, spicy cat-and-mouse thriller that you'll love to love.
From the very first chapter, I knew this was not going to be your everyday, run-of-the-mill thriller. There was nothing scary or creepy about it. This was a thrilling adventure across Europe with two people trying to keep really big secrets from each other. Each chapter alternates between the perspectives of the two main characters, Eva and Jonathan, with the start of each chapter picking up right where the previous chapter left off. The story is seamless, the writing is fast-paced, and the chapters are short. I really enjoyed seeing the way each character was thinking as the plot unfolded. This was one of those books where it felt like the reader knew the secrets of each main character before they shared with each other, and it was so fun to watch the whole thing come together through the pages.
I will say that some of the scenes in this book got downright spicy. 🌶️ The scenes didn't last long and weren't a big portion of the book by any means, but just be warned - some of the language was pretty hot and steamy. You don't see that very much in thrillers, and in my opinion, it was a fun change for the genre. 😘
This book is somewhat reminiscent of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, and the way the chapters alternated perspectives between the two MCs reminded me a little bit of that show The Affair on Showtime. If you like cat-and-mouse storylines...if you like will-they-won't-they tropes in rom-coms...if you're thinking about dipping your toe into the thriller genre...Then this book is DEFINITELY for you.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for gifting me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! Be sure to get your copy of the book when it hits shelves on Tuesday, July 16th!
#ItHadToBeYou #ElizaJaneBrazier #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #thrillerreads #spicythrillers #catandmousethrillers #booklovers #bookcommunity
It Had To Be You is a funny, addictive and so entertaining book about two assassins who fall in love (or lust) and are then hired to kill each other.
It's a glorious game of cat and mouse and I loved every minute.
This is the 2nd book I have read by this author and both were amazing. I am definitely going to read her older ones.
I eagerly dove into It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier. I have read and loved her previous novels, but with this book, I could not get into it.
Blame it on my mood, because I cannot find fault with her excellent writing. It was simply a case of not connecting with the characters.
Many others have read and loved it so please check it out for yourself!
When Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they’ll never see each other again. Which is too bad, because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. But love isn’t on the agenda in their line of work.
Six months later, they run into each other in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. This encounter is not by chance, because Eva has been hired to kill Jonathan. She’s a contract killer, but what she doesn’t know is that he is too.
Their meeting kicks off a high-stakes adventure across Western Europe. There will be tourism. There will be bodies. Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other.
As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear that they are also being hunted — by something even more dangerous than love. . . .
Eliza Jane Brazier ups the ante with each of her books, and this one following two assassins across Europe is wickedly fun. Sometimes gruesome, sometimes steamy, this one is quirky and a total page-turner. It is over the top and you might have to suspend disbelief at points, but it's so good.
What to expect:
▪️unhinged characters
▪️cat & mouse games across Europe
▪️insta lust/love
▪️open door spice
▪️satire
The synopsis reminded me of The Takedown by Carlie Walker in a way, but with contract assassins instead of spies. I was pretty excited for it because I do love a good cat and mouse story, and was hoping for a solid enemies-to-lovers trope (like Heartless Hunters). But this leaned more towards unhinged like Butcher & Blackbird (minus the torture & graphic food imagery). It ended up being a combination of tropes/themes that I don’t care for (unhinged characters, insta love and a sprinkle of satire). If the above mentioned themes speak to you, then you should check this one out.
Read if you like:
🖤 Mr. & Mrs. Smith
🔪 Assassins
😵 Hired to K*ll Each Other
❓Who’s in Charge
Eva and Jonathan hook up on a train ride after running into each other after sparks fly, but then when they come together 6 months later it’s kill or be killed…. Or maybe just F*ck instead?!
When things get out of hand between them, will they work together or apart? Is their palpable chemistry enough?!
I really enjoyed the overall plot of this one, and the narration was well done, especially with the dual POV and two narrator is, but at times the plot didn’t quite flow and work as much as I hoped to keep me engaged the whole book dying to know what was coming next.
Thanks so much to Berkley for my ARC and PRHA for my gifted audiobook copies in exchange for my review!
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This was a fun and easy read, fast-paced and fairly predictable. I don't have too many gripes with it - the writing is stilted at times, and the characters are quite dramatic, as you would expect.
"My heart is on a chain that is tied around her ankle."
The sex scenes are a bit interesting. With a bullet wound to the chest, high on E, on a luggage rack of the moving train? On top of the table full of tapas in a private room of a Barcelona restaurant? In a dilapidated French mansion where the giant gas fireplace still somehow works? Sure, why not.
It can be, at times, cringy: "I mold her; I elongate her insides." But I suppose that's part of the genre as well.
Could be a fun movie!
International intrigue and love spill from the novel, It had to be You.
Eva and Jonathon hook-up for one-night only on a sleeper train. Their lives are forever changed, each haunting the other thoughts. Unbeknownst to them, they are both hired assassins and soon they become the hunted. The chemistry is explosive even after months apart.
This book is sexy, wild, unhinged, fantastic and a total banger. Hooked from page one, It had to be You is sexy, darkly funny, unhinged and fantastic.
Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley
"It Had to Be You" by Eliza Jane Brazie hurtles its relentless and electrifying meld with romance, suspense, and danger when two top-of-the-line contract killers meet each other and apparently find it impossible to resist through a deadly game across Western Europe.
The novel's premise is, undoubtedly, very interesting and presents a rather unique spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope. The manner in which Eva and Jonathan meet on a sleeper train sets the stage for a wild and unpredictable journey full of twists, turns, and unexpected passion.
Fast-paced and dynamic, Brazie is a rush of an author who tantalizes her readers with adrenaline-fueled action and smoldering chemistry between the two protagonists—the tension crackling with intensity between Eva and Jonathan as they fumble through work and also their entailing dangerous situation.
Though the premise is very promising, it falls through in other facets of its execution. The characters are engaging, but there is a real lack of depth and development that inhibits an investment from the readers in their journey. The motivations of the characters and the backstories of Eva and Jonathan are haphazardly sketched out, thus following no clear path to understand or empathize with their actions.
Furthermore, the novel is marred by clichés and predictable plot twists through which originality and potential for impact get lost. In exactly this formulaic way, the romance of Eva and Jonathan plays itself out: familiar tropes, conventional material, with no meaningful surprises or revelations.
Moreover, these sequences in addition to the high-stakes encounters were, at times, somewhat disjointed and rather irresolute in following a clear-cut narrative structure that could help hold an immense level of tension and momentum of the story very well. As such, they are flashed out in a very patchy manner with tachycardic instances intermingled with plot lulls that hinder the overall flow of the novel.
I was thrilled to receive this finished copy, a few weeks before it releases! Then I picked it up and couldn’t put it down! It’s so damn good! So much spice, killing, the banter, the alternative POVs.. it’s all so good! It’s like Mr and Mrs Smith, but better!! I just loved reading this one, like a fun little treat! This just cemented Brazier as an auto buy author for me! I absolutely loved her last novel, Girls and Their Horses and have recommended it to so many people and this one is even better!
Eva and Jonathan share a steamy moment on a train, never to meet again- until Eva is assigned to kill him. What follows is a supremely fun, unhinged ride through the cities of Europe, providing a backdrop to their romance unfolding (despite their best efforts). I loved their internal monologues, the fun twists, and the real laughs. Brazier's writing lends itself well to characters who always feel a little off-kilter, which keeps the plot unpredictable. If you like your romance a little dark, this one is for you.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this e-arc.*