It Had To Be You, is the first book in the Chicago Stars series written by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. As stated in a previous post I've started reading these out of order by reading the 3rd book in the series first. These seem to be stand alone books as well as being in a series which I always love. I love that I can read a book and if I am not particularly interested in it, moving onto another one in the same series without it affecting the story line.
As of 9/7/2021 12:16pm, I am on page 34 and there hasn't been a lot of dialogue but a lot background setting for the main character, Phoebe. I AM ADDING A TRIGGER WARNING TO THE FIRST CHAPTERS! THESE CHAPTERS DO CONTAIN BULLYING SCENARIOS AND RAPE. I know I already want to grab this woman hug her and tell her that she is not alone, that she is not worthless. When books start out like this they add emotions to the reading, not always desirable feelings but feelings none the less. I'm sitting here and I'm praying that through the chapters she finds a way to heal. And that's how I know this book has me, hook, line and sinker!
Toda is 9/9/2021 9:14am and I am 88% the way through the book on page 334. So far the writing style is nice and descriptive. Some of the chapters could use with less description but I understand the scene she is trying to set for the characters. The dialogue so far has been pretty steady and with the book coming to a close I've finally reached the climax where all the dirty secrets that some of the characters have been hiding from each other. Again I'm going warn that there is talk of child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping, and bullying. But to see the way that the characters are trying to heal themselves is motivating.
One of my particularly favorite scenes is when Phoebe attends a meeting with the owner of the football stadium that the Star's football team uses. She's there to renegotiate a contract that her father stupidly agreed to and was never able to get changed. The way she presents herself and dresses leads you to believe that she is the dumb bimbo everyone thinks she is, but by the end of the scene you can tell she is a viper. Quick witted and manipulates the situation so well that you can't help but feel pride for her. She's the underdog in man's world of competition and grit and she proves over and over again that she can handle herself. She's a character you can truly fall in love with.
Without giving too much away I can say the book is about Phoebe, a 33 year old woman, who inherits the Star's football team from her absolutely awful father with conditions that if the team doesn't win the AFC Championship then the team is handed over to her obnoxious, disgusting pig of a cousin Reed. During her ownership of the team though she meets Dan, the head coach of the team, who is quick tempered and just an all around angry son of a bitch. But what do you expect from an Alabama boy who was raised with an alcoholic mother and an abusive father. Somewhere along the way though both of them show so much character development that you can't help but root for them.
The thing about reading a book based in a different time than you are currently in, is that you have to remember what it was like back then. This book is based in the 90's which was honestly not that long ago. You can see how much the world has changed since this book was written though and how far society has come with some of the problems that people faced in the 90's. I'm not done with the book yet but I'm sure I'll finish it before lunch today.
So far its got 4 out of 5 stars. The characters have great development and dialogue, she sets the scenes with great descriptions but they are sometimes long and drawn out for my liking but I understand the need for it sometimes. This book almost didn't capture my attention though until much later in the chapters. Sometimes the transition from one scene to the next is fast and only a paragraph away, sometimes scenes are only described and there is no dialogue and it takes a couple sentences to realize that she had moved on from one scene to another. Other times its very seamless and has a well written transition. I will say I do really like the fact that I'm at the part where the plot thickens but I'm not too happy about how long it took me to get here, I'm almost done with the book and now its getting extremely good and the action is starting to happen, like the whole book has led up to this exact moment. Its quite exhilarating and at the same time disappointing that the story of Phoebe and Dan is about to end.
Welp, at 1:50pm I finished the book and I have to say even though it was slow going at first, this book was a good read. You can tell the author did her homework and researched the subjects she was writing about. You can tell she didn't just fumble her way through putting everything together. (see what I did there with the football pun) Anywho, I am going to have stick with 4 stars that I had given this work to begin with, I was not entranced with the writing like I was the third book in the series but it was funny and well written. The characters had personality and grit and came a long way since page 1. I'm extremely happy with the unforeseen ending and the Epilogue that followed. I honestly can't wait to read the second book in the series but that's for another day.