Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Goodreads Blurb

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.

(EDIT: I WROTE THIS 5 MONTHS AGO SO THIS WONT BE VERY GOOD AT ALL.) Meant to Be was such a fun and hilarious read! Perfect for the beach, and perfect for summer! I had moments of “LOL” and “OMG” just because it felt like the appropriate thing to say out loud! Unlike usual contemporaries, Meant to Be follows a girl, Julia (a.k.a. Booklicker. *gasp* OFFENSIVE Lol…see what this makes me do? I LOVE IT!) whose COVINCED her Meant to Be (MTB) is Mark, her “childhood (literally) sweetheart” even though he’s completely changed. But, of course, Julia thinks that he’ll still remember her and fall for her. PLEASE. When her class goes on a trip to London, she finds herself paired with Jason Lippincott, her mortal enemy. But almost as soon as they arrive, Jason already lures her to a party, something she DEFINITELY isn’t used to! The morning after, she has a bad hangover, can’t remember what happened, but gets a text from a mysterious person named “Chris”. Who is he? Julia can’t remember, but with the help of Jason, she just might. And who knows? Along the way…she may just find another MTB.

First off, let me say I LOVED this book! It was adorable and sweet, but there were touches of seriousness that struck a chord. Unlike other contemporaries, it didn’t deal with the serious stuff which, although I love to read, can make me a little depressed. So reading a bubbly book filled with romance and London was a wonderful novel!

Let me just say that all the cliques and populars really were familiar even if I’m in Jr. High. The catty, jealous…(To friends: You NEVER saw this. You never even heard of Fiction Freak. Good? Great!) Well, let’s just say that the way Lauren wrote the high school life was definitely on track. Speaking of writing, I loved the way Lauren Morrill wrote, making only what? Ten days? A week? Seem like forever, so that over the short course of the trip, two people could fall in love. It honestly was NOT insta-love to me. The romance just seemed to build up slowly and slowly until it all bloomed. It was just BEAUTIFUL!

The plot, as many have said, was incredibly predictable, but unlike most, I had fun with that!  I loved anticipating what I knew would happen and I loved squealing when it did. Honestly, my only complaint was Julia’s character. She kept thinking that she was so smart and that anyone else wasn’t. That and she kept saying “Mark’s my MTB. He’ll love me. I know it.” or something like that. Honestly, it struck a nerve and I really wanted to strangle her. Jason was right there and she just kept calling Mark her MTB. Argh.

Pages: 256

Series: Stand-alone

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Publisher: Delacorte

Release: November 13

Rating: 7 stars

"He pauses for a split second and shoots me a glance over his shoulder. 'There’s a lot you don’t know about me.' He says, and then he’s gone."