Can you be an American and not beholden to the romanticism of Camelot?  The Kennedys weren’t just a long standing dynasty.  They were an ideology and a hope.  And in many ways, all of that came crashing to an unexpected demise in the Atlantic Ocean alongside John Jr. in 1999.

 

But what if?  It’s a loaded question in many ways.  Yet in Meant to Be, Giffin considers just that and reimagines John Jr’s life and legacy.  

 

An unlikely match.  Joe, the golden boy…wealthy and highly educated, with a family heritage of service to country.  Cate, the downtrodden girl…poor and uneducated but a firecracker go-getter and fiercely beautiful.    It only takes one look at her for his heart to be irrevocably stolen.  

 

While the storyline isn’t wholly original, it is a charming and entertaining re-envisioning that I think will appeal broadly.  Giffin’s depiction of this gilded era was sentimental and often eerily evocative of John Jr’s actual life. And the romance had just the right amount of angst and passion to believably overcome all obstacles mounted against the couple. 

 

If you’re looking for a reminder that sometimes love is just meant to be, Giffin’s newest book takes a hopeless story and transforms it into something of the fairytale we once dreamed Camelot to be.  

 

Grab this one for your beach or pool bag!

 

🎧I went back and forth between the print and audiobook editions (busy mom life!). The audiobook is well narrated by Caroline Hewitt and Robert Petkoff, giving Joe and Cate distinct voices. 

 

Thank you to @emilygiffinauthor @penguinrandomhouse and @prhaudio for these #gifted copies.