Meant to Be

Meant to Be
Lauren Morrill
290 pages
Released: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte
Source: Southern ARC Tours
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

When Julia signs up for a class trip to London over Spring Break, she fails to take into account all her friends will be at a swim meet instead, so she's stuck with classmates she can't relate to.  Especially Jason, who is the most obnoxious boy in her class.  So obviously she's not exactly thrilled when the two of them are paired up to explore London together!

I adored Meant to Be.  Adored it!  I knew from the moment Jason starting acting foolish on the plane that this was going to be a good a novel filled with ups and downs and lots of fun.  I was so right.

Julia is a nerd in all the right places.  I loved her character so much!  She loves learning and even though she maybe loves to follow the rules a little too much, she really is a sweet, responsible young woman.  I couldn't help but feel for her at inopportune moments, like when she crashes into a supermodel at the airport and is drenched in iced coffee.  Obviously, I wanted her to find the happiness she was looking for, which is why it was great when she went from zero love prospects to three!

Let's talk about that love quadrangle for a bit.  When Julia leaves the states she's got a crush on Mark, though she hasn't actually spoken to him in years.  Then Julia meets a boy at a party in London and while he wants to meet up and get to know her better, she goes out of her way to avoid that.  And of course - Jason.  But Jason is the most obnoxious boy in her class, so let's not worry about that.   Decisions, decisions!

Meanwhile, Julia is on a school trip so as the reader, we get to visit lots of famous London landmarks right along with her.  The setting was romantic and fun and made me want to hop across the pond and see for myself (although that's not happening any time soon!).  I also want to add that I think Julia's and to some extent Jason's personal backgrounds really leant well to a  more serious aspect of the novel.  Their family lives weren't perfect, but you have to read the book to find out for yourself.

Meant to Be was such a fun romantic contemporary.  It was charming, witty, and the author's voice is fantastic.  Meant to Be is Morrill's debut novel and I can't wait to read more by her.  I absolutely loved this book and I'm a little sad I have to pass this book on to the next person in the tour.  I'm probably going to have to purchase this one for my "keep" shelf.

Five stars!  I gobbled this book up in one sitting as soon as I opened the package.  Meant to Be is massive fun and perfect for fans of Anna and the French Kiss or The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.  Mark this one as "to-read!"