Litfuse Blog Tour Event: It Had To Be You (Christiansen Family #2) by Susan May Warren

It Had to be You is the second novel in the Christiansen family series, and it has trumped the first one as my favorite of the series as of now! Susan May Warren has a gift of giving an authentic voice to her characters that are so loveable that they feel like family and friends. It Had to be You is the perfect mixture of love, godly romantic relationships, plus, Warren's humorous writing comes through perfectly. Give it a try this year and you'll be more than happy that you did. 

Attention readers: I am giving away a copy of this book, it's also a signed copy. At the end of this review there will be a link to my giveaway on another post! ;) 

Goodreads Summary 

Eden Christiansen never imagined her role as her younger brother Owen's cheerleader would keep her on the sidelines of her own life. Sure, it feels good to be needed, but looking after the reckless NHL rookie leaves little time for Eden to focus on her own career. She dreamed of making a name for herself as a reporter, but is stuck writing obits--and starting to fear she doesn't have the chops to land a major story. If only someone would step up to mentor Owen . . . but she knows better than to expect help from team veteran and bad-boy enforcer Jace Jacobsen.

Jace has built his career on the infamous reputation of his aggressive behavior--on and off the ice. Now at a crossroads about his future in hockey, that reputation has him trapped. And the guilt-trip he's getting from Eden Christiansen isn't making things any easier. But when Owen's carelessness leads to a career-threatening injury and Eden stumbles upon a story that could be her big break, she and Jace are thrown together . . . and begin to wonder if they belong on the same team after all.

My Thoughts 

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Once I got this book I was overwhelmed with excitement. I adore Susan May Warren's stories. She has this wonderful writing voice that she gives her female characters that always make them come off as admirable and likeable. There has yet to be a Warren story I have not liked, and It Had to be You was no exception. 

I inhaled this story. I started page 1 at around 8pm Thursday night and ended it at 4am Friday morning. Who needs sleep when you have Jace~ I will get to Jace later in  my review, don't you worry! It Had to be You is a book that gives off the best happy feels. I finished it and was happy. I read it and was happy. I look at the cover and I'm happy -- I understand why Eden is smiling on the cover. 

This novel does have it's deep and emotionally raw moments too. Mainly with Eden and Jace both battling over their personal issues. For Eden it was taking on the role of cheerleader. Surely there couldn't be anything wrong with cheering on your brother when he's in the NHL? Yet for Eden it was consuming her life and she wasn't focusing on the life and roles that God was putting in her path. For Jace, it was coming to terms with forgiveness and letting go of hatred, plus, trying to walk away from the bad-boy image he had acquired from years of his NHL career.

Now Jace. Let's get to Jace. Be still my heart~ I loved Jace. I loved how he was patient around Eden, how he comforted her and showed her how her status or public image of herself wasn't what he saw. He was the type of man everyone could love. Extra fact: Susan May Warren said the actor she based Jace off of was Nathan Fillion. If you do not know me then I will share with you that I love Nathan Fillion. Seriously, Jace just gets better and better in my book. 

Aside from my petty attachment to Jace, Susan did a beautiful job with this story. If you have read previous novels of Susan's you will know that Susan doesn't stop with just circling her story around two characters. Oh no. She goes over and beyond. There were two--possibly three-- other story lines that only made me love and cry more over this book. Susan gives a beautiful detail to human emotions and the trials everyone goes through on this crazy journey called life. 

I highly recommend this book for young women, so mothers this could easily be shared I feel with a very mature teen. It's in my top ten already. Nothing can move it down. It's got a solid place in the top ten slots of 2014 for me.The novella at the end was the best bonus goodie ever so you have to read this story to know how the Christiansen family came to be~ 

Rating: 5 out of 5 bookshelves 
Disclaimer: I received a free copy for an honest review from Litfuse Publicity Group.

Purchase a copy: Amazon, Barnes&Noble,ChristianBook
Link to Author's social media sites: Facebook, website, twitter 


Susan May Warren is celebrating the release of her newest Christiansen Family novel, It Had To Be You, with a $100 Visa cash card giveaway and offering readers a free book club kit.

  One winner will receive:

• $100 Visa cash card
• Take a Chance on Me and It Had to Be You by Susan May Warren

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 29th. Winner will be announced April 1st on Susan's blog. Also, visit her website to learn more about the It Had To Be You backstory and Susan's free book club kit.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Susan's blog on April 1st to see if you won.

This is the link to the signed copy of It Had To Be You as a celebration hence the title Mini-Milestone Giveaway so click click click you just might win ;)

In His Grace, 
Taylor Reid