Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.
It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").
But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.
Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.
I'm a sucker for cute contemporary love stories as much as any teenage girl, but I will admit I am a bit more critical of them. A good love story, in my opinion, is one of the hardest things to write. Every component has to be perfect. The characters have to be relatable and likable. The setting has to be realistic and believable. The romance itself has to be cute and natural. There's a very thin line between cute and cliché and it's so easy to cross that line.
As much as this book wasn't perfect, it was one of the better love stories. The characters were believable and real, the environment was beautiful, and most of the romance natural.
