Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin
Date of publication: March 12, 2024
Genre: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Adult Fiction
Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat
Goodreads Synopsis:
A funny and timeless novel from Luci Adams in the vein of Sophie Cousens and Kelly Harms
*One horrible, “bury your head under the covers” kind of day
*Two adorable children to nanny; and
*Their very hot, very single father
Daisy has realized you really can hit rock bottom when you lose your job, your boyfriend, and are estranged from your sister all at once. Seeking to claw her way out from the very definition of a bad year, her plan is to start by simply looking like she’s clawing her way out of rock bottom. On Instagram. Obviously.
But when she takes a stopgap job as a nanny to help a single father with his two young girls, being immersed in a close-knit, loving family starts to poke holes in her plan. Can making her not-so-picture-perfect life look perfect online really help her derailed career get back on track? Can it mend her relationship with her unreliable and painfully irritating sister? And can it get her back in the arms of her unbelievably beautiful and shallow ex…and as she gets closer to someone new, does she even want to?
A sparkling and bright novel of love, second chances, and finding your way in the age of ennui and influencers, It Must Be True Then is a delight for the millennial and Gen Z age.
First Line
You see, it all CAME down to the data in the end, I squeal, nervously.
It Must Be True Then by Luci Adams
Important details about It Must Be True Then
Pace: Medium
POV: 1st person (Daisy)
Trigger Warnings: It Must Be True Then contains themes that include grief, car accident, bullying, cyberbullying, abandonment, anxiety & anxiety attacks, depression, alcohol consumption, the death of a parent, and the death of a spouse.
Language: It Must Be True Then contains moderate swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is moderate sexual content in It Must Be True Then.
Setting: It Must Be True Then is set around Clapham North, England. Chapters also take place in Paris, France, and Anchorage, Alaska.
My Review
For some reason, I have been avoiding contemporary romances. But when NetGalley sent me the widget for It Must Be True Then, I decided to end my dry spell. Now that I have read the book (and enjoyed it), I want to say that I can’t wait to read more books by the author. From the prologue to the end, I laughed at Daisy’s antics or cried with her.
It Must Be True Then’s storyline centers around Daisy. In a matter of a few days, Daisy lost her boyfriend, job and stopped speaking to her younger sister. Giving herself a couple of weeks to mourn the loss of her job (where she worked for 13 years) and to plan on getting her boyfriend back, Daisy decides to look for a job that can tide her over until she gets one in her field (statistics). The job she gets is a nanny to two adorable children. As Daisy settles into nannying, she grows closer to the children and their father. But she has plans, including getting a new job, getting back her ex, and making up with her sister. But things don’t always go as planned.
The author had an interesting way of writing the past year of Daisy’s life. In between the chaos that was currently happening, the author snuck in chapters that detailed how she met Jackson and what their relationship was like (hint: it wasn’t much), what happened to cause her to lose her job, and the reason she wasn’t speaking to her sister. I thought it was brilliant because it allowed me to compare that Daisy to the Daisy presented throughout the book.
Daisy was tough to like. From the beginning, she was selfish and self-centered. The author made it very clear that this was the type of person she was and was very unapologetic about it. But as the book went on and her backstory took shape, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Not that it made me like her anymore, but I did pity her.
I wouldn’t say I liked Daisy’s relationship with Archie for the above reasons. It was all take and no give on her side. But, to be honest with you guys and me, she was actively trying to get her ex back, so how she acted made sense. I did find her speech about not wanting children, any children, very distasteful since Archie had two. I also felt her relationship with Archie was a little forced and held no sparks.
As I said above, the secondary characters made the book. I loved Archie, his girls, and his relationship with them. I liked Daisy’s best friend, who wasn’t afraid to call Daisy out on her BS but was also very supportive. I even liked Daisy’s younger sister once she realized her way of life wasn’t working. They made the book for me.
A very important secondary storyline is also centered on Daisy and her mother. I won’t get into it, but I felt bad for Daisy’s mother. Mistakes happen, and she paid dearly for them.
Despite everything I wrote in this review, I did like the book. Daisy’s character progression was terrific to read (she matured throughout the book). There were several laugh-out-loud parts (the Instagram pictures had me dying laughing). But the one that stood out the most to me was why she lost her job. It was a well-written chapter highlighting everything wrong with today’s society, and Daisy was correct with everything she said.
The end of It Must Be True Then was sweet, and I loved that Daisy had found peace with herself. The HEA with her and Archie wasn’t forever. It was more of a right now HEA (if that makes sense).
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Luci Adams for allowing me to read and review this ARC of It Must Be True Then. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to It Must Be True Then, then you will enjoy these books:
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