It Had To Be You by Georgia Clark (2021)Liv and her husband Eliot ran a New York City wedding planning business until his unexpected death - upon which she found out he was cheating on her and left his half of the business to his mistress, Savannah. Now, the two are reluctantly working together. Surrounding them are several other couples, both old and new. I enjoyed the Love, Actually style of the book, as we get to know all of these characters and couples and see how they're all connected in some way. Each couple features a unique trope - two musicians faking a relationship (or maybe it's real), a celebrity dating a waitress, a gay couple deciding if they should get married, a woman questioning her sexuality. That was all interesting to me - however, the writing left a lot to be desired. It felt like basic and uninspired. I also thought Liv and Savannah worked through their troubles too easily, or maybe too much of it happened off-page. Either way, you'd think there would have been tension for way longer between the two. So, overall, cute premise, but lacking in execution. 3 stars
Tessa, her sister, and their two best friends are spending a couple weeks in Santorini in the lead-up to her sister's wedding. The three other women decide that Tessa needs to let them help her with her love life, when the one person she really wants to be with is Myles, whose family owns the resort they're staying at. Ugh, I wanted to like this so badly - Meghan Quinn is so good at steamy romances and fun banter - but this was a rough one for me. None of the characters acted like the 30-year-olds that they were - they acted like petty, immature teenagers. Tessa's sister's and friends' insistence on finding her a man, based on some contract from their high school years, could have been fun, but just felt embarrassing, especially when the men they were setting her up with were totally inappropriate. I didn't find Tessa to be charming or quirky - her rambling awkwardness was kind of annoying. I liked the idea of her and Myles together after so many years of crushing on each other, but their conversations were so cringey and the last 25% of the book felt so out of left field that I almost felt like I was reading a different book. 3 stars
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Sorry to see so much disappointment here, especially with Quinn. I always her books, though I have not read this one. I have definitely experienced that disjointed feeling when reading a book that seem to go from being one thing to another. I hope better books come your way
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sam! Surprisingly my luck has been really hit or miss with Quinn. I expected to love all of her books.
DeleteSorry to see that neither of these hit the spot for you. It pained me, but I finally decided to part ways with Meghan Quinn. I read one too many of hers where the characters acted immature and it made me roll my eyes, and too often I found her female main characters super unlikeable.
ReplyDeleteI loved the first book I read by her (The Highland Fling), but after that it's kind of gone downhill, unfortunately.
DeleteI've been wanting to read a Meghan Quinn book for a while, so I'm sad to see Vacation Wars was a rough one for you! Maybe I'd better start with one of her other books because I feel like I'd probably have the same issues as you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read a ton of her books, but I was surprised by this one - it definitely didn't feel like a seasoned author wrote it.
DeleteOh no- that's a bummer about Vacation Wars! I love Santorini too as a setting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I want to go there!
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that neither of these was a great fit for you. I've enjoyed all of the Meghan Quinn books I've read so far, but this one was probably my least favorite.
ReplyDeleteI've been so hit or miss on Meghan Quinn!
DeleteI'm glad we agree!
ReplyDelete