Book Review: It Had to Be You | Eliza Jane Brazier

A truly twisted love story between two contract killers who are either perfect for each other or lethal to each other (or both). Eliza Jane Brazier’s It Had to Be You is a weird, quirky, surprisingly romantic thriller that you won’t want to miss.

What is It Had to Be You about?

Two contract killers, each with a hit out on the other, must fight their growing attraction as they face off in an epic game of lust and murder across Western Europe.

When Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they’ll never see each other again. Which is too bad, because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. But love isn’t on the agenda in their line of work. Six months later, they run into each other in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. This meeting is not by chance, because Eva has been hired to kill Jonathan. She’s a contract killer, but what she doesn’t know is that he is too.

Their meeting kicks off a high-stakes cross-continent adventure across Western Europe. There will be tourism. There will be bodies.  Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other.As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear that they are also being hunted—by something even more dangerous than love…

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What did I think?

This book is a fun palate cleanser because it is truly unlike anything else I’ve read. No matter what kind of reading slump you are in, this will surely knock you out of it. It Had to Be You is so delightfully deranged! I can’t think of a better word for it. Every novel from Eliza Jane Brazier somehow tops the prior one in terms of how weird and dark the book is. This is no exception! It kind of reminded me of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith crossed with A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing. Unhinged and oh-so-fun!

The story alternates between Eva and Jonathan’s perspectives (though it favors Eva’s perspective). They meet on a sleeper train from Florence to Paris where they hook up right on the luggage rack. Their meeting is so fun that I almost forgot that the book was going to be about two contract killers, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was reminded of that twist in essentially the next chapter.

Sparks fly between these two deranged lovebirds, but it seems they will separate for good. They’ve both gotten in one another’s head, and they don’t know the other is a contract killer too. But the reader knows, and we have so much fun watching them figure it out. Six months later, they meet again in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles when Eva has been sent to kill Jonathan. She’s a contract killer after all. She can’t turn down an assignment just because she hooked up with the target.

We are in on the secret, so for us this is a story about two people who will probably have to kill one another, but also seem as though they could be soulmates. Both Eva and Jonathan are unstable—partly because of their pasts and partly because of their line of work. They can’t easily have relationships, but we learn that suits them both. Eva had a fiancé who died (another contract killer so I think she can safely assume he was killed) and her only other close relationship is with her handler (who is at once her lifeline and support, and her boss). Jonathan has a brother, but otherwise he is alone.

Do these two kooky killers work it out? You’ll have to read to find out! Brazier doesn’t write this as a typical love story. These two aren’t blinded by attraction or feelings—they are very decidedly planning to kill one another and that is a lot of fun to watch. At a certain point, there becomes a bigger problem that the two are distracted by and that leads to a very temporary cease fire. Things pick back up from there.

Some good twists and turns along the way, and several that totally surprised me (which is always fun). The ending worked well. It will sound strange to say that this was actually not as dark as her last book, Good Rich People, given that this is about two killers. It honestly isn’t even as dark as If I Disappear. Stylistically the humor is more forward in this book, though there is always some irony in Brazier’s humor. But I think it works because these are consenting killers (which I’m laughing just typing that phrase; consent is important!). Weird, dark, funny, and quick-paced!

How is the Audiobook?

The audiobook for It Had to Be You is narrated by January Lavoy and Will Damron. Not only are they both fantastic narrators (January Lavoy is easily one of my favorite narrators in the business), but they are always great together. And of course, as I mentioned in my review of Listen for the Lie–they are married in real life! Is that not adorable?

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Penguin Random House for my copy. Opinions are my own.

If you liked this, what else should you read?