A longer review of this book will be coming soon over on https://jenrosewrites.blog/

I just want to say thank you to the author, the publisher & NetGalley for this book. It was the wholesome, family focused, romantic book I needed - during a year that’s been incredibly difficult, for a lot of us.

This is the second book by Louisa Leaman I've read and loved - the first was The Perfect Dress.

Louisa seems to be able to create a world I instantly want to fall headlong into and what's more contains all my own interests. In this book Jess is obsessed with jewellery and always notices what people are wearing and loves the jewellery section at the V&A, just like me! She's also fond of arts and crafts and William Morris and it was a joy to visit in the book a fictitious place called Pel Tawr (I had to google it, I was so hoping it was real!). In my minds eye I pictured Wightwick Manor which contains William Morris wallpapers as Louisa describes.

You can probably tell I adored this book for the above references alone. Jess is on the trail of a family heirloom and we meet her just as she has tracked it down and about to bid for it in an auction. When she literally bumps into Guy - sparks fly, but she is spoken for already with the lovely solid Tim. She's been hurt physically (in an accident) and had a few broken hearts in the past by going for the wrong type of man. But with Tim she's found the one - or has she?

We follow Jess through the book as she tries to reclaim the necklace whilst delving into her family history - taking her to LA and Hollywood, which was another really interesting part of the book. We also find out how Jess got injured and now that she uses a walking stick what her life has become for her.

Louisa manages to combine the romance we all love with a wonderful original and unique grounding in facts. This just brings her books alive for me. I flew through this book, not wanting it to end but equally wanting to escape to its pages. I can't wait for her next book, I was so sorry to leave this story behind. Maybe a sequel...

A pleasant read, if a little underwhelming. I never really felt Jess's angst over Guy. Some of the characters were annoying. Tim, nice yes, but also controlling, as was Jess's sister. I loved the jewellery theme and the story of the butterfly pendant. The ending didn't feel all that satisfying either - it felt a bit rushed. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Perfect Dress by Louisa Leaman, and have found myself re-reading it for its charm and unique style. Meant To Be is a brilliant follow up with the same elegant writing and clever storytelling that leaves you itching to read the next chapter. Meant To Be is more than just a love story, it's about being true to yourself, finding your feet and following the dreams of yourself and others. It's a real delight to read.

This is the second book I have read by the author and I was not disappointed.
Interesting characters, with 2 storylines: one now and one in the golden age of Hollywood.
Jess has an adventurous free spirit until her bad accident, and then slowly builds her confidence back. She has a dull predictable boyfriend, Tim., and then meets Guy and from there the story takes off. Will she , won't she. What do you think!

A good story for reading in one go.

Jess had been an adventurous free spirit until she had a bad accident, and then decided that maybe it was time to settle down a bit. She has a lovely but slightly dull and predictable boyfriend, Tim.

Jess’ grandmother is in failing health and wants Jess to try and get back a family heirloom – a beautiful necklace – that’s up for auction. Jess goes to the sale but Guy gets the necklace, so she tries to buy it from him. He won’t sell unless Jess goes on a date with him, so how can she refuse?

A beautiful story with the bonus of an interesting family heirloom weaved through it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

This book is the perfect escapism to the year that has been 2020. It was a warm lovely read and was far more than just a romance novel. If you love your main characters to have a decent bit of back story, this book is for you.

I found Meant to Be a lovely, pleasant read. It follows the story of Jess who after years of picking the wrong man, is now with nice, dependable Tim. When her grandmother asks her to track down a necklace she finds she’s introduced to the enigmatic Guy. He’s everything that Tim isn’t and he ends up buying her necklace at auction. Whilst Jess desperately tried to buy the necklace from him, he somehow convinces her to go on a date with him instead where they seem to hit it off.

Will Jess get the necklace and will she refuse Guy’s advances even though she realises they have major chemistry together?

Thank you to NetGalley, Transworld Digital and the author for the chance to review.

Meant to Be is a good comfort story. It's a nice escape to curl up with. The pace is relaxing and digestible, the tone is warm and inviting, but the overall story isn't that memorable.

Jess is a jewellery lover living in London. She has hopes of owning her own business one day, but it seems more like an impossibility in the eyes of her sister and her incredibly basic boyfriend, Tim. While hunting for a precious necklace for her declining grandmother, she meets Guy, who manages to snatch up the necklace before her. And in order to get it back, she has to spend time with this charming and mysterious stranger.

The novel dives deep into Jess’ family history, which is a really nice layer on top of the romance and adventure. While there’s a lot of focus on gaining ownership of the necklace, Jess is also struggling with the idea of a predetermined “happily ever after”. Every voice around her is telling her to grow up and settle down, even if it means putting her dreams on hold. The necklace has a special place in her heart, and that’s evident from the beginning of the story. And in searching for the truth about her ancestry, she starts to realise the truth about herself.

When it comes to the romance, Jess’ easy back-and-forth with Guy compared to her stale chats with Tim make it easy to figure out which couple the reader is supposed to root for. However, I didn’t care for either. I occasionally found Jess to be a little narrow-minded or immature, Guy was frustrating and selfish, and Tim was just… there. The sparks were lacking, and the history became more thrilling that the present.

Meant to Be’s premise is interesting and it makes for pleasant reading, but both the romance and the self-discovery lacked excitement. While the journey to finding a family heirloom is interesting, the rest of the story struggled to hold my attention.

This was an interesting book combining the history of the owners of a necklace and Jess’s choices in men. It was partly a romantic story but with the added history thrown in. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A light hearted easy to read story! Believable characters especially Jess and a story than made you want to read quickly so you could see if what you thought would happen, did happen! I enjoyed it...

Louisa Leaman in her new novel 'Meant to Be' takes the romance novel and imbues it with a higher sense of purpose by intertwining a deep exploration of how family history can impact upon the present. The novel is comprised of two layers: the romance strand of the novel which, whilst sweet, is overshadowed by the strand where Jess explores the history of her family's art-nouveau butterfly necklace, a piece which has been passed down the generations. Despite apparently leading previous generations to finding a meaningful love connection, the necklace and its history has been lost, the novel opening with Jess trying to get the necklace back at an auction... where much to her chagrin she loses to the mysterious and interesting Guy.

The romance strand of the novel is Jess being forced between her head or her heart: does she settle down with dependable teacher Tim for a stable and predictable life (he is a real sweetheart) or does she continue a life of spontaneous adventure with jewellery dealer Guy (sparks fly with him but it that enough to sustain a relationship?). She is held back by previous trouble with love which lead to a serious accident. Yes, this strand is predictable but appropriately heart-warming all the same (except perhaps the moment Guy chooses to profess his love - a tad inappropriate!)

However, it is the strand which follows the legacy of the necklace where the novel comes into its own. The search for meaning and truth about previous generations spans the globe as Jess follows the lives of previous owners of the necklace. The way the necklace binds the histories of subsequent generations is a joy to read and underpins why Jess has such an infectious passion for vintage jewellery. At times, the search for answers seems to fall a little easily into Jess' lap. Perhaps that is the magic of the necklace after all?

Overall, this is a lovely read from Louisa Leaman and I enjoyed the originality of the necklace binding the plot and characters together. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely story about a girl that has been let down by her choices in men and how she finds her family history through a family heirloom. Within the history she finds the answer to her future.

A family heirloom necklace comes up at an auction. Can the two sisters be successful and return it to their grandmother?
Follow the necklaces history through the generations of the Taylor family and its females relationships.
A wonderful tale of the ups and downs of romance and inter generational relationships. Sisters, mothers, grandmother and even the generations before.
Enjoy the tale.

A fairly typical romantic novel that promotes living your life to the full. I did not really connect to the characters and preferred Tim to Guy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House, Transworld Publishers for the advance copy of this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I found it very hard to rate this book. I appreciated the family history and story of the necklace, and the situation Jess was in. I just didn't find Guy enough of an enticement as the male lead. I can see how many readers have rated it a wonderful novel about love, and living your life to the fullest; maybe I'm just another Tim in this instance.
The other characters were wonderful and added a lot of depth to the story, especially the sister and niece.

This novel follows the story of Jess and her family
Jess had an accident after a full life filled with excitement and fun then she does a ski dive in Mexico and the parachute doesn’t open leaving Jess to free fall to the ground
When she eventually gets back to her sisters house her boyfriend a teacher called Tim who looks after her completely he gets promoted.
But Jesss grandma Nancy who is close to dying has been Jess about her maternal line and about a piece of jewellery that she wants back now
She is on a quest to find the butterfly necklace will she find it?

I really loved that the story offered so much more than just a romance novel. The history of the necklace became as important to me as it was for Jess! Really enjoyed this book.

Meant to Be is a wonderful and heart-warming story about following your heart and making every day count. Jess Taylor was an adventurer, a free spirit, a traveller. But when she is badly injured during a sky dive, and when she is let down yet again by a scumbag boyfriend, she decides it is time to settle down. She meets Tim, a kind and steady man who provides her with security and love. But a quest to trace her mother's butterfly pendant is to lead her on the biggest adventure of her life and she will find out about the amazing stories of the women in her family. I became fully invested in this story with its cast of fine women following their dreams no matter what resistance they were met with. Charming, romantic and written with a depth that made it a joy to read.

Jess loves antique jewellery, the history behind each piece. It becomes personal for her when she tracks down a butterfly necklace that she used to play with as a child, to an auction house. She loses the bidding to a rather dashing gentleman called Guy. Although in a committed relationship with Tim, Jess cannot deny that Guy stirs up emotion in her, an attraction she tries to ignore. Jess tracks her family history through the necklace and realise that she is not on the path that is her destiny