It Had to Be You

A Novel

By: Georgia Clark

Narrated by: Danny Campbell, Feodor Chin, Frankie Corzo, Robin Eller, Gibson Frazier, Pete Simonelli, Megan Tusing, Steve West, Gabra Zackman

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

“A wedding planner dies and leaves the business to his wife - and his mistress. What could possibly go wrong? A charming rom-com to kick off your summer.” (People)

An Elin Hilderbrand Entertainment Weekly Summer Reading Pick

“The book-equivalent of a perfect first date... Highly highly recommend.” (Elin Hilderbrand, number-one New York Times best-selling author)

“A heady kaleidoscope of romance, heartbreak, and healing that’s both rich in insight and enchantingly funny.” (Fiona Davis, New York Times best-selling author)

The author of the “emotional, hilarious, and thought-provoking” (People) novel The Bucket List returns with a witty and heartfelt romantic comedy featuring a wedding planner, her unexpected business partner, and their coworkers in a series of linked love stories - perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Casey McQuiston.

For the past 20 years, Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have run In Love in New York, Brooklyn’s beloved wedding-planning business. When Eliot dies unexpectedly, he even more unexpectedly leaves half of the business to his younger, blonder girlfriend, Savannah. Liv and Savannah are not a match made in heaven, to say the least. But what starts as a personal and professional nightmare transforms into something even savvy, cynical Liv Goldenhorn couldn’t begin to imagine.

It Had to Be You cleverly unites Liv, Savannah, and couples as diverse and unique as New York City itself, in a joyous Love Actually-style braided narrative. The result is a smart, modern love story that truly speaks to our times. Second chances, secret romance, and steamy soul mates are front and center in this sexy, tender, and utterly charming rom-com that is “so much fun” (Casey McQuiston, New York Times best-selling author).

©2021 Georgia Clark, Inc. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Great Story…

I really enjoyed this story. I laughed out loud in places, and even shed a few happy tears at the end.
However, the narrator who voiced Darlene was pretty terrible. I groaned every time she started a chapter.
Had there been a different voice for Darlene, I would have reviewed higher.

Distractingly bad narration

I wanted to like this book, as I’ve enjoyed other titles from this author and it came highly recommended. I honestly could have probably gotten into the story itself but I could not get past the narration in order to enjoy it. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and truly, this was like nails on a chalkboard at least half of the time. I understand the intention behind having different people read the different points of view, but I found the change distracting in this case. A few of the narrators were fine, but some were truly awful. I actually had to speed up those chapters just to get through it and still keep track of the plot but I ended up fully skipping certain sections because the narrator was THAT BAD. If I could have returned this title I would have, but for some reason Audible wouldn’t let me. Wishing I would have purchased the written version so maybe I could have enjoyed the story.

Hard to follow

There were moments of this novel that I appreciate but it took me a year to finish because it just didn’t grip me and the multiple story lines were hard to follow. Felt like a series of intertwined novellas instead of a cohesive story.

Good story but disappointed with narrators

I was very disappointed with the narrator that played Darlene. She had a very thick speech impediment and was very difficult to understand. I skipped every chapter she read, missing most of the story of Darlene and Zack.
Otherwise a neat story and having different narrators for each character was fun.

Narration is AWFUL.

Book is fine, mindless and easy to follow. The narration is insane. The lisp of the character Daphne is so irritating I just skipped it. 1-2 narrators is more than enough for any book.

A good break from non fiction

Cute story, albeit predictable. I needed a break from heavy stuff (real life issues) and this is def that. Sadly the performance is trying. Most of the cast struggled w accents and hence sounded rather odd, but the plot survives that. Good palate cleanser overall.

All over the place.

To many issues and vague storylines. I would have loved to hear more about Liv and Sam. Hard to stay focused on some characters

Loved it! Entertaining

Entertaining. Funny! Great intermingling of stories of love & loss & starting over. Cinema ready!

Wonderful and fun book

It took me a while to get into this book and initially found the full cast narration hating. However, once I got a bit further into the story, I thought it added a lot. It was a great contemporary fiction novel and enjoyable unique story

Skip the audio version

If it were me, I wouldn't brag about the ensemble cast when half of the narrators are awful. The story was ok but the narrator switches were completely distracting. Whoever voiced Daphne did the most awful British accent and her lisp which came and went was so odd and she sounded 12 years old. Sam, supposedly sexy in his early 50s sounded like a grandfather and the Brit sounded like he was from Australia.

It may be a cute story with a cast of characters but in audio format, it was muddy, annoying, poorly cast and made me want to skip chapters so I wouldn't have to deal with some of the voices. I will definitely not listen to any further books with this many narrators.