Rachel Rambles About Meant to Be

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
From Goodreads:
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 total sucker for a good contemporary romance, so when I first heard about this book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it as soon as possible. And when I found out the book was set in London, I just about died of excitement. A cute boy and a fun romance set in EUROPE? Yes please!

Meant to Be did not disappoint. It was exactly what I was hoping for, and after going through a bit of a reading slump, it was the perfect book to get me excited about reading again. I flew through this book, hiding it under my desk at school so I could read it during class. I couldn't put it down!

Meant to Be is light and fun and romantic and so easy to read. From the first chapter, I was completely caught up in the story, and I couldn't wait for Julia and Jason to just realize their love for each other and live happily ever after. 

But Julia and Jason's relationship did not just fall into place easily. It was complicated and confusing and realistic. Throughout the book, Julia was not sure how she felt about Jason, and she went from hating him to liking him to hating him again quite often. Nothing about their relationship was easy, and while it made the book incredibly frustrating to read because I just wanted them to get over their confusion and make out already, it certainly made it more believable. 

Setting the book in London made the story approximately ten thousand times better, because London is beautiful and amazing. Julia's love for Shakespeare had a significant impact on the story, and even as someone who is one part unfamiliar with Shakespeare and one part not a fan of Shakespeare, I realize how magical the elements of Shakespeare made the book.

Meant to Be is bursting with romance, humor, and plenty of shenanigans, and it's the kind of book you can't help but read in one sitting.