It Had to Be You: A Heartwarming Contemporary Irish Romance of Friendship, Dreams, and Finding Love

by Sarah Webb

Still-unpublished author Molly Harper would die for a passion like those depicted in the novels sold at Happily Ever After, the bookshop she manages in the Irish village of Burnaby that specializes in romance fiction. And she'd love a boss— any boss—other than her store's detestable, super-smooth new owner, Milo Jones . . . though Milo's very attractive son may be the one good reason why Molly should not take flight. Molly's best friend, Paige Brady, is a happily married mother of two and running for local office. But suddenly she faces two unanticipated an opponent's stingingly personal attacks . . . and a surprise pregnancy. Kate Bowan sells trendy designer shoes by day, and potential matches-made-in-heaven by night. Because of her hectic schedule, the determined dating service entrepreneur has no time to pencil in for loneliness. What she does have, however, is a client who's proving to be a lot more than she can handle. Welcome to modern life and love in tiny Burnaby, Ireland, where three very different women with big dreams, the closest of friends, are about to discover that "happily ever after" could be only a heartbeat—or a heartbreak—away.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Ireland, Romance

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2005

About the author

Sarah Webb is an award-winning children’s writer. Her books include Blazing a Trail: Irish Women who Changed the World (illustrated by Lauren O’Neill) and A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea: Favourite Rhymes from an Irish Childhood (illustrated by Steve McCarthy), both winners of Irish Book Awards.

Sarah also runs creative writing clubs for children and teens, reviews children’s books for the Irish Independent, and programmes children’s and family events for book festivals and MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland). She also works part-time in a children’s bookshop.

Sarah is passionate about bringing children and books together and was awarded the Children’s Books Ireland Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Books in Ireland.
Her latest book, The Little Beekeeper of Henrietta Street (illustrated by Rachel Corcoran) was published in 2021.

www.sarahwebb.ie
Twitter: @sarahwebbishere
Instagram: @sarahwebbwriter

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and very easy two day read...perfect way to keep your mind off stuff and escape for a few hours. Just like watching a chick flick. :)

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story line would not attract my attention for long, and a lot of it felt superfluous.

[Fluffychick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not read this author before and will certainly look for her other stuff! Three strong female characters, likeable but not perfect - not reliant on being "man needy" which made it all the more interesting. Jay was probably the weakest character, but he was the baddy...the issue with his wife was blatant, but presume it was meant to be to the reader, but not to Kate!
Enjoyable irish chick-lit :)

[Gillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable storyline. I kept getting the characters mixed up. I think it could have been edited more efficiently. Would not call Sarah Webb one of the best Irish writers especially compared to Marian Keyes and Maeve Binchy. Not bad writing but average chick lit. But "Each to his own."

[Sweta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was part of a Surprise Box I acquired, so it's not a book I would technically go to read. But I really want to say some good things about this book.

The story revolves round three women of different professions, different love lives and different situations. And I liked all of their stories.

Molly Harper is a recent divorcee with an ex husband with stalker tendencies. While she's trying to write a book and become her own independent person, she finds her love interest in the son of the new owner of the book shop in which she works as a manager.

Paige Brady is politician with a lovely and helpful husband and two beautiful children. She is struggling to accumulate votes around the city for the election. She's tired and exhausted from all the work but he never loses hope or ever sidelined from her ambition of securing a seat at the senate. I loved how her husband stepped up to become a full time dad by taking a break from his work for a year or more if required, so she could concentrate on her career. The portrayal of such a healthy and normal family is really appreciated.

Kate Bowan is someone who used to have a designer tendency but for some reason, she left it and came back to her small city to work in shoe shop instead. In addition to that, she's been trying to build a business in matchmaking. She hasn't been successful but hasn't lost all hope yet. She finds her love interest in one of her clients and their story is just so sweet. But at the same, the story progresses to show how she figures out what to do with her career and how she make her business even better.

This book portrayed lives of three women in such empowering ways and I loved it the most. Husbands should be supportive of their wife's careers. Women should not give up in trying to make a name in any industry. And women should definitely try to create their own businesses.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light-weight novel about three friends - all women - who live in a small irish town. One manages a bookshop, one works at a shoe shop and teaches men how to date, and the third is married, and a local councillor.

Lots of potential, but I found the characters sadly flat and not particularly likeable. The men are either too good to be true or complete jerks; the only really interesting characters, in my view, were four-year-old Callum and the grandmother Lily.

There's a lot of dialogue, much of it small talk and entirely unnecessary to either plot or character development. However the pace is fairly good and there are a few interesting incidents, even if the continuity isn't great and the style is rather too informal.

Not one I would recommend, but others think highly of it.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[Marina Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book because I was traveling in Ireland and the cover said that It Had to Be You was the Irish No. 1 Best Seller so that peaked my interest.
It's a rom-com so I didn't expect anything deep. Well, the plot line was pretty predictable, girl meets boy, then marries boy yada yada. I found I had problems keeping up with the 3 women characters, I kept getting confused as to who was who. I think that Kate, Molly and Paige were very similar. After a few chapters I could figure out who they were. It's a story about 3 friends, Paige is an attorney who's running for office; Kate works in a shoe store but also running a dating agency helping men date successfully; and Molly is a manager at a lovely book store called Happily Ever After. I found these characters not realistic and their stories boring. The men in the story Tom, Angus, and Sam were too perfect.
Overall, a quick read I just wished there had been more about life in a small town in Ireland.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps I should read more Irish fiction.

Cute story with three female main characters in a small town. Not as much about the local book shop as I had hoped.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been on my book shelf years. Was a bit bored with it if I'm honest took ages to read

[Kotak Kasut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

[Ellen Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Such a lighthearted read :-)

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Amanda Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this one for my book club…it sounded promising, and I was gearing up to read about the struggles and self-actualizing journeys of three women. And it was an Irish bestseller to boot.

But I was disappointed. The writing was nothing great, the characters were really unbelievable, and everything just proceeds so perfectly. It felt as implausible as the fictional Irish village it was sent it, and the women’s professional ambitions were often pushed aside to instead focus on their improbable relationships with men. The scenes with Paige’s kids really irked me, as did the cutesy ending.

Luckily it’s a very fast read and I remained wholly charmed with the idea of a romance book store by the name of Happily Ever After. But overall our club was pretty unimpressed with this one (and more than a little baffled as to how it hit number one on a book chart!) and are now (thankfully) moving on to Emily Giffin. If only all chick lit-ish authors could write like her!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a brilliant read! I loved it so much that I read it in a day!
It was fast paced but easy to keep up with.

It follows the lives of three friends who are all very different. Their stories are told and leave you guessing as to what might happen next.
It shows love and war through politics and business but at the same time, it shows laughs and memories which everyone would want to last forever.
Not only does it show the typical life of a person but it shows the troubles that you just don't want to face.

Having not read any books by Sarah Webb before, I was unsure on what it would be like. However, it was gripping from the first sentence right the way through to the end. In fact, I just wanted to read more and I was sad when it was over.

If you get the opportunity to read this book, do it. It is a decision that you won't regret and one that will make you laugh and smile, even on the hardest days.

I think this is a book I will be reading again for sure.

[Hsiau Wei · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tell the story of Paige, Molly and Kate with each of them have their own story to tell. Paige, who is going for election for counsellor position found herself to be pressured and stressed up by taking of her children, more so when she is just realised that she is pregnant again. Kate who is running away from the past, found herself being face to face with the person who have cause all the heartache that she have and Molly, an aspired writer found herself to be attracted to the new owner's son, Sam at the same time her struggle to be a romance writer. Of the three characters, the book focused more on Paige, her challenge to be an elected councillor as well as her struggle in keeping her family together. Overall, this book is an easy read with a simple plot that i enjoyed thoroughly. ;)

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I didn't read the reviews before I picked it up. 3 1/2 stars from me: I thought it was a good book. I read it quickly and had no problems picking it back up. I actually quite enjoyed the different names given to things.
I thought the characters were well written, deep enough but not too deep - it is chicklit after all. There was romance for almost all the characters, it was slightly predictable but the happiness was longer than in most books, usually you only get 10 pages of the togetherness.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Its the kind of book that just makes you feel happy. And whats not to love about shoes, bookstores and guys?
Of course it was predictable but really, how many chick lit books aren't?
Its one of those feel good books and I really loved it :)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Angus, Sam and Tom! I would be happy to marry a man like any of them! Or a cross between them :)
And Paige, Kate and Molly. Characters that you can easily relate to and just perfect. I'd love to be them.
I'll definatly be reading more!

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

It Had to Be You wasn't bad so much as it was just... forgettable. All of the Irish slang in the book (it's a "Irish #1 Bestseller") is a bit confusing, but mostly funny. I enjoyed reading It Had to Be You for the most part, and it didn't necessarily bore me, but I don't think I'd jump to recommend it to others. If you find it abandoned on a park bench, though, or the only book to borrow at a hotel or bed & breakfast, go ahead and pick it up.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up randomly at a hotel from the guest library & decided to read it based on the reviews even though the cover (different from the one pictured here) looked cheesy.

I liked it & kept thinking it would make a good movie. It was a quick easy read & had just the right touch of romance & humor & optimism. It went back & forth between 3 women/friends in the same town in Ireland. Kept me entertained & engaged & cheering for the characters.

[Ally · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a little bit plain. The plot line was predictable, and I felt contrived. The story was mainly about a woman striving to become a writer, and often spoke of what makes a rom-com writer unsuccessful. What I thought was interesting, is that the author of this book, seemed to make the same mistakes.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed parts of this book and the characters but often it was hard to pick back up after setting down. I liked how it was a story of several different people and then all woven together, but at times I was bored with the story.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book. I found it interesting how there was a cultural infulence on everyone's actions in this book, but it was not as important as it seemed it should have been. Basically, I think its a chick flick in a book, but this is a good book.

[Ásta Ha. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hér er ekki að ferðinni neitt bókmenntaverk en ágætis afþreying.
Ein af aðalsögupersónunum vinnur í bókabúð sem heitir Happily Ever After. Bókabúð sem sérhægir sig í rómantískum skáldsögum. Skemmtileg hugmynd.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a lot of fun and I liked how the three main character's lives all wove together along with their friends.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, easy read. Perfect for the beach!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book summary exaggerates the plot drastically, leading you to believe there is more depth to the book than there actually is...but it was easy reading.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 Irish best seller? A little too perfect in the end, but it did have the perspective of three different characters and I always like that.

[Kelly Bainbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

again a great beach read. Nothing taxing just good enjoyable read.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a light, quick read. Enjoy!

[Tiffany]

Predictable but sweet.