Book Review: It Had To Be You by Ellie Adams

"The worst break-up ever . . . Could be the best thing that has ever happened to her,

Lizzy Spellman has been dumped. At a party.While wearing a Henry VIII costume. By the man she thought was The One. Someone even filmed it, so now she's a massive YouTube hit sensation too.

Just when she thinks things can't get any worse, she meets the rudest, most cynical man in the world, and gets a new mission in life. To prove him wrong.

Love does exist, and she's going to find it . . ."

Rating: 4/5

You can buy It Had To Be You as a paperback or an eBook now.

Lizzy is dumped in a pretty embarrassing fashion at a birthday party, wearing a rather fetching fancy dress outfit as well. The break-up was filmed by a kind bystander and soon Lizzy is recognised everywhere she goes after the clip goes viral on YouTube. Despite her misfortune, Lizzy is determined to prove that she can find love out there, even when she meets who she thinks is the rudest man she has ever met - TV journalist Elliot. Elliot has a terrible attitude which only fans the flames for Lizzy - she is sure she can show him even the most unlikely people can find love... even controversial YouTube stars!

Ellie Adams is the pen-name for already established chick lit author Jo Carnegie. However, this book is a move away from the usual books she writes, so I can understand why she has chosen a pen-name for this - it would certainly open up her readership more to those who were perhaps not so fond of her raunchier early novels (I did love the Churchminster series myself!). However, this book retains all of Jo's brilliant writing, her humour and whatever it is that makes her books so readable, so there's definitely a big reason to pick up this book! The cover is a nice, bright yellow - not a colour you see much in book covers these days so it's certainly a stand out book.

What I loved about this book was the characters inside it. Lizzy is a funny old character - she is very funny, always getting herself into awkward situations, and copes admirably even when she finds herself to be a YouTube star for her break-up and consequent reaction! She works in P.R., the scenes of which lend themselves to the funniest scenes in the book that honestly had me laughing out loud - how people can advertise these things with a straight face I will never know. What was so great about Lizzy is that she was just a normal girl dealing with some pretty rubbish situations, one of which is meeting stuck-up and rude TV star Elliot at a work function.

Elliot is someone you are meant to hate at the start - engaged to a rather beautiful model, and with a successful television career on ITN news, Elliot seemingly has it all, and doesn't he know it. But when it all goes wrong, and he meets Lizzy, the pair strike up an unlikely friendship of sorts. Lizzy ends up listening to his woes over several cups of coffee, and the story progresses from there. I enjoyed reading this burgeoning relationship, the banter that the pair have is brilliant to read, and I really did love both of these characters. I was hoping that there would be a happy ending for the pair, but things definitely aren't plain sailing for them. I have to admit by the end I did have a soft-spot for Elliot, I felt he had a kind heart underneath the attitude and the bluster.

The supporting characters in this book are fun to read about too. There's Lizzy's best friends Nic and Poppet - they sound like the best friends a girl could want, especially in Lizzy's situation! Nic is a workaholic and very set in her ways, whereas Poppet wants nothing more than to meet Mr Right and settle down. Their friendship is genuine and lovely, Adams puts this across so well in her writing. Lizzy's family are also prominent in the book, and lend themselves to more amusing moments. I love a book where I love the whole cast of characters, and this was definitely one of those books. There's funny moments, romantic moments, it isn't all plain sailing but the story is absolutely fantastic and I loved every page of it. Yes, there were a few crude moments or words that made me cringe but I really did enjoy Ellie Adams writing. I found myself eagerly reading, desperate to get to the end and find out whether I would get my happy ending. Ellie Adams is going to be one of those authors you'll definitely want to be looking out for, and this is a brilliant novel - funny, and heart-warming, this will definitely leave a smile on your face!