Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Going to London for a school trip is like an early Christmas present for Julia. She gets to see the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare, see all of the London culture, and the place where her parents met and fell in love.

But her trip started down hill and only went more south from then on. The plane ride was excruciating  the class clown from her class, Jason, was making obnoxious noises, and rude gestures toward Julia. 

And since Julia is a control freak and needs to be prepared for everything, Jason is not her best friend. But then they get stuck as buddy partners for the 9 days they are there - where one goes, the other needs to follow to keep one another company and safe.

The other interesting part of her trip is a mysterious person who texts her on the cell phone her teacher gave her. Julia always has her MTB - her meant to be guy who she thinks she'll be with for the rest of her life: Mark. 

When Julia and Mark were 5 and 6, they were neighbors and got "married" in their back yard. Since then, Julia has been pining for him and thinks that they will be together once Mark starts talking to her again. 

So when she gets contacted by the "mysterious man", she doesn't want anything to do with Chris. Mark is the only one in her future. But Jason finds out about Chris and decides to help uptight Julia get to know him and loosen up during this trip, for a price. 

Now Julia and Jason are roaming around London trying to find the mysterious texter, while also trying to follow the rules for their trip. However, because Julia is partnered with Jason, following the rules is out of the question. 

Julia isn't sure what to do anymore. And it only gets more confusing when Mark randomly pops up in London at the end of her trip. So now Julia is juggling Mark, Chris, and Jason all at once. It's enough to make any sane girl go crazy. What will Julia do? Which boy will be her MTB? Read Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections

I can't believe that this is a debut author! The way Morrill writes, I thought she would have had a ton of books out!

I really loved this story. One, because it reminded me of my trip to London for 8 days during one semester in college. I recognized the sights that Morrill wrote about and could really relate to Julia when she was wandering the streets of London. 

Secondly, this was such an epic story of falling in love and discovering new things. I started reading it and didn't put it down until I read the very last word - that's how much I loved it!

Jason, being the class clown, did make me chuckle a few times throughout the novel. There were some other times that he made me cringe with what he did or say, but mostly he was very humorous and I loved the times where he was actually serious with Julia. 

While reading this novel, I had my own version of how it was going to end, knowing that I was right and couldn't wait to see the reactions of the characters. 

I ended up guessing completely wrong and thrown for a loop when I found out what REALLY happened! And I love that I didn't guess it right - Morrill did a great job twisting and turning this tale into something that was not so easy to be able to guess. 

I loved this story and would recommend it to anyone wanting a book about traveling, falling in love, and making mistakes when it comes to love. I will definitely be on the lookout for more novels by Morrill when she releases upcoming novels!