Review: Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill [audio]

Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill
Published: January 1st, 2012 (Delacorte Books FYR)
Narrator: Shannon McManus
Pages: 304
Source: bought
Series: NA
Buy the book: Bookdepository
Rating: ★★★★☆


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.

If you know me, even for the tiniest bit, you know I love London. When I saw this book up on Audible when I was looking for a way to spend my credits, I knew I *had* to have it. Like, grabby hands. I'm glad I decided to go ahead. While the narration wasn't perfect, the story was fantastic.

Julia finds herself without friends on a school trip to London. They all had something else to do, so her company is mostly gossipy girls and annoying boys. With one in particular: Jason. She gets paired up with the most annoying guy on the entire trip and told they are buddies. Which means Julia cannot do a thing without Jason being there, and vice versa. After a party Jason dragged her to, Julia starts receiving texts from someone she can't remember. Well, she was kinda tipsy at that party.. Jason teases her with it, but gradually starts helping Julia finding out who it is. Together, they try to figure out who this mysterious person is, even though Julia still hates being in Jason's company.

They wander around the city, sometimes along with the group, sometimes alone. Jason starts both charming Julia and you as a reader. Because hate him in the beginning, but he'll grow on you. The romantic development in this book is fantastic. I have a weak spot for bickering characters with obvious chemistry. Characters that grow into romantic feelings or relationships instead of diving in head-first. Julia fights against her feelings, because ew, falling for the class clown? Not done. But you can't help fall for him nontheless. The arc of the story is perfectly executed and garnered quite a few "awwww!"s from me while I listened to this book.

The only thing I didn't like in the story was the whole obsession with Mark (her meant-to-be). I didn't really understand it, but thankfully there isn't much about that in the book. I loved seeing Jason teasing Julia, loved how they interacted and their chemistry was amazing. The climax in the story.. Swoooooooon. Loved it!

If you're into fluffy stories, this is definitely a book for you. I know I'll be rereading it when I get my hands on a physical copy!