It Had to Be You

The First Wives Club meets Love Actually in this entertaining story of friendship and second chances from Clark (The Bucket List). Liv Goldenhorn and her husband, Eliot, run a New York City wedding planning business, working with a diverse team that’s become more like family—until Eliot dies while in Kentucky visiting his much younger girlfriend. While Liv and her eight-year-old son grieve, the girlfriend, Savannah Shipley, turns up in Brooklyn to announce that Eliot left her half of the family business. Liv and Savannah’s eventual friendship is sweet, albeit too good to be true, and as they work together to revamp the business, all those involved find their way into new romantic entanglements—including a pair of florists who debate getting married, a musical duo who fake a relationship, and a waiter who’s swept off her feet by a celebrity. Liv, meanwhile, finds new love with a chef and Savannah realizes her feelings for a female fashion student. Alternating between the five budding couples, Clark delivers a humorous, poignant story about rebuilding after tragedy. Though the tidy ending is a touch saccharine, the appealing characters will draw readers in. This is a charmer [em]Agent: Allison Hunter, Janklow & Nesbit. (May) [/em]