It Had to Be You

Let me start with this, what a stinking cute story. I have to admit that I was hooked from the beginning. I'll be honest when I started this book I had a little bit of a hard time connecting with Edel, mostly because all I could think was she was this pretentious rich girl. Thankfully as the book went on I came to realize she was just a normal teen, and I also realized that I was judging her just like a normal teenager and I felt kind of bad for that. She's starting a brand new school, which she's never even been to school in the fist place! She just wants to have that normal teenage experience and this is basically her last chance before being thrown in to College Life and trying to adapt to that.

Also can we talk about the "meet cute". I am a sucker for a good meet cute whether it be in a book, on a show, or in a movie. Granted I would have been pretty upset had I been in Edel's position, but I think James saved it. I felt like I knew a little bit about how things were going to go with this, but then again I was pretty surprised with things that were happening. The whole time I was questioning things but I still kept wanting to read and keep figuring things out.

Yes, this book is extra cheesy, but isn't that what makes contemporary's what we love? I know personally that I really love cheesy contemporary books because it just makes me fall in love with the characters even more and gives me that butterfly feeling in my stomach. That is how I know I've found a good contemporary novel. Sometimes things seemed a bit convenient when twists happened, but I never lost that butterfly feeling with this book and I just felt that it was so cute I couldn't stop reading it.

If you are an avid contemporary reader I would suggest this from you. It is such a fun and easy read that just pulls you in and makes you want to continue to read it. It really is hard to put it down until you realize that it's over. I am so excited to know that this is technically a first book so I'm excited to see how the next novel will go and what will happen!

Lizzy Charles is one of my favorite authors. Her books are an auto-buy for me, always! And IT HAD TO BE YOU might be my new favorite. Warning! Make sure you have time to read it all in one sitting. I sat down to read "just one chapter" before practicing my presentation for a conference ... and didn't put it down until hours later, after I'd finished reading the entire book and no longer had time to practice my presentation. (Actually, this turned out to be a good thing, because I was totally stressing about the presentation, and this book was just the right balance of thought-provoking moments and delicious fun to pull me out of my nervousness, so I was relaxed when it was time to present!)

James and Edel are adorable, and the fake dating trope is one of my favorites. I'm usually frustrated by the miscommunications that keep conflict going in a story like this ("why don't they just TALK to each other??"), but James and Edel do talk. The way teens are likely to communicate. He tries to have a heart-to-heart with her, she misinterprets what he's saying and responds in a way that accidentally confirms his fear that they could never be a real couple. She tries to let him know that her feelings are real; he misreads her meaning and responds in a way that confirms HER biggest fears. Add in the friends, frenemies, and nemeses who pop in and out of the story in their attempts to help (or hurt) ... and you have a story that's equal parts realistic and total escapism. The perfect way to spend an enjoyable afternoon!

A cute read. Edel did seem a little more naive then I thought should would be, being a daughter of a diplomat and having lived/traveled abroad. Maybe it was due to her being homeschooled. She was refreshing innocent but also completely clueless.