I was privileged to read a version of this romance several years ago, and it was stunning. I've bugged the author endlessly about publishing it as an ebook, and, finally, she did it! As soon as I discovered that it was available, I bought a copy for my Kindle. Now, let me tell you why this story remained in my mind all these years.
More than likely one reason I was so attracted to this book was because my mother was a young woman during WWII. She kept scrapbooks about every aspect of that era. She played big band music from those decades of her youth, and I grew up listening to it along with rock and roll. Whenever there were old movies from the 1930s and 1940s on TV, I watched them and grew fascinated by what so many film students consider Hollywood's Golden Age.
Take those years leading up to the war, add some of the famous stars from the silver screen, toss in a young woman from Texas and a handsome worldly man unlike any of the boys at home, and you have the makings of a love story for the ages. Like all good romances, there must be conflict, and this story has the deepest, most entrenched conflict of all that was rampant then and still exists today: racial and cultural differences.
You see, the young woman is Anglo, and the man she falls in love with is Japanese American--and the time is an era when those citizens were being eyed with suspicion and distrust. Eventually so many of them were rounded up, their belongings confiscated, and they were placed in camps. It's part of the shame of the war years.
Love conquers all, they say, and Diane is willing to fight the world for the man she loves. This is the kind of love story you'll remember. It Had To Be You is what romance is all about. One woman. One man. Made for each other, regardless of what the world may say. It Had To Be You (A World War II Romance)
It Had to Be You is a sweeping novel set in southern California in the 1930s and 40s. Dianne Castle, small town girl from Texas, arrives in the fast-growing city of Los Angeles with an unusual ambition for the day--she wants to be a journalist.
As the story opens, Dianne witnesses a small plane crash. The tragedy changes Dianne's life, providing her with introductions into both the newspaper world and the Japanese community. These connections bring her into the orbit of the charismatic owner of Club Borneo, Johnny Honda. Passing events pull them together--and drag them apart.
The novel paints a vivid picture of Hollywood before World War II, as Dianne meets Humphrey Bogart at a poker game, spends a weekend visiting Marion Davies at San Simeon, and even rates an occasional mention in Louella Parson's gossip column.
On a more serious note, It Had to Be You follows the prewar bigotry and wartime persecution against the Issei (Japanese-born immigrants like Johnny's mother) and Nisei (first-generation American-born Japanese like Johnny and his contemporaries) in California.
Satisfying on all levels, It Had to Be You is well worth reading. - Historical Romance - World War Ii'
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