# IT HAD TO BE YOU, Award-winning WW II Love Story



## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I am thrilled to be able to announce my World War II love story is once again available as an ebook after more than a decade. Under a previous title (Nisei), It was contracted by an early epublisher, Starlight, in 1999. Though sales at the time were extremely modest, reviews were stupendous. Print publishers, though admiring the book, shied away for contracting for a book that didn't have an existing niche for shelf space. Because of Kindle, that--thankfully-- is no longer a problem!



A sweeping, passionate World War II love story you will never forget. . .

The kind of book that you think about afterward. . .They [hero/heroine] grip your heart and make you weep.-_In Print_

It is definitely one for the keeper shelf.-Margaret Lawrence

I highly recommend _It Had to Be You_ for an all-consuming and powerful love story.-_Romance Communications Reviews*_

Best Mainstream Novel - Golden Triangle*
Runner-up Best Mainstream Novel - Book of Your Heart*
Runner-up Best Historical - Now and Then*
Runner-up Best Historical - Show Me More*

under various previous titles*

The time is 1937. Journalist Dianne Castle mixes with Hollywood's elite post-Prohibition hedonists at the popular Club Borneo,owned by handsome Japanese American, Johnny Honda. Amidst the threat of war and chants of Yellow Peril, Dianne and Johnny fall in love, but it's a love not to be.

How can Johnny let his beloved Dianne throw her life away on the likes of him?

Dianne stubbornly vows to follow him to the ends of the earth-even if it means entering an internment camp.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Cheryl,

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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Somebody posted to my Facebook today that they read this book a decade ago, but still remembered what a powerful love story it was. She urged everyone to fork out the 99-cents and buy it. Made my day.


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## Tara Maya (Nov 4, 2010)

Aw this sounds really sweet. I am glad it is available again for those of us who missed it the first time.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Thank you, Tara.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

People are telling me they love the 99-cent price on this World War II love story.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I just visited some of the places in Los Angeles that are written about in this book, which begins in 1937. I just love old L.A.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This is the book of my heart.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This is the longest of all my books.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I got my first amazon review of this book. Very nice, 5 stars!


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Two 5-star reviews. Life is good.


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## Patricia (Dec 30, 2008)

WWII romances are one of my favorite genres!  I'm going to look for it now.  Thank you, Cheryl.


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## Buffalo Cowboy (Aug 29, 2011)

Cheryl, 
When I read the description of your book, I was blown away! My novel begins in WWII Los Angeles too! I'm not typically one for romance novels, but the reviews, the setting, and your cover have me thinking I should definitely give yours a look!


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks for your interest in this book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This is a slow but steady seller.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

For an out-of-the-box book, this has been a remarkably steady seller.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Getting some nice fan mail on this book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Nice, steady sales for this title.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Wish there were a category for this kind of book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

A nice read for a fall day.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Sadly, no room left along the bottom here for this cover. Though all my books are historical, all the rest are from Regency England. I actually wrote this one first.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Just got another fan email on this yesterday from a reader who says it was a wonderful read.


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## StephenEngland (Nov 2, 2011)

I'll have to add this to my TBR list. The song has always been one of my favorites. "And I'd be glad/Just to be sad/Thinking of you"


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

What good taste you have! It is a great line.


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## StephenEngland (Nov 2, 2011)

Let's just say I love singing the songs of that time. It's a shame we don't have music like that now.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Well, you look awfully young to have that opinion, but this old lady agrees with you. They'll be singing Cole Porter songs a hundred years after his death.


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## StephenEngland (Nov 2, 2011)

At twenty-one, I am awfully young to have that opinion  , but a seventy-five-year-old piano player and I sing Cole Porter songs up at the local nursing home. Good times.   Best of luck with the book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I can't imagine people singing the hip hop songs a hundred years from today, though.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

For those who might be wondering why all of my books are set in Regency England, except this one, allow me to explain. This book was written in the late 80s. Though it won a lot of writing contests, no NYC publisher would touch the time period -- for romance. (Non fiction, the total opposite) One New York editor told me if I wrote a historical novel set BEFORE 1900, she'd like to see it. That's when I tried Regency England. She bought it, and I've published many other English-set historicals for three NYC houses since.

But this is the book of my heart. It's a more passionate, sweeping book than my others, and I spent a full three years researching it, too.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This has been out as an indie book now for 6 months.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This is one of my titles available in the new lending program.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

It will be interesting to see how this does in the lending program.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I tried to change the price in the header, but it's not coming out right. This book is no longer 99 cents.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I still haven't succeeded in changing the price in the header. It's no longer 99 cents.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I apologize that I still haven't figured out how to change the price in this header. The book is $3.49.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Well, darn. Still haven't got the price changed in this headline.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Product Description
A World War II love story for the ages. . .
The kind of book that you think about afterward. . .They [hero/heroine] grip your heart and make you weep.-In Print

It is definitely one for the keeper shelf.-Margaret Lawrence

I highly recommend It Had to Be You for an all-consuming and powerful love story.-Romance Communications Reviews*

Best Mainstream Novel - Golden Triangle*
Runner-up Best Mainstream Novel - Book of Your Heart*
Runner-up Best Historical - Now and Then*
Runner-up Best Historical - Show Me More*

under various previous titles*

***
The time is 1937. Journalist Dianne Castle mixes with Hollywood's elite post-Prohibition hedonists at the popular Club Borneo, owned by handsome Japanese American, Johnny Honda. Amidst the threat of war and chants of Yellow Peril, Dianne and Johnny fall in love, but it's a love not to be.

How can Johnny let his beloved Dianne throw her life away on the likes of him?

Dianne stubbornly vows to follow him to the ends of the earth-even if it means entering an internment camp.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I almost got tears in my eyes when I read the latest reviewer's review on Amazon. It was from a Japanese American who highly approved of this book. And the reviewers' parents, who lived in Southern Calif., lived what I wrote about.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I will never get rich on this book, but it's the book of my heart.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Once you read the book, you'll understand each thing pictured on the cover.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

A reader told me (about this book) it "was the best book ever." Love it!


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

A man and wife just left a 5 star review of this book. They enjoyed reading it aloud to each other during a car trip.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I actually wrote this before I sold my first Regency-set historicals to New York publishers. I spent three full years researching this book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

The reviews on this book are so gratifying.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

I spent three years researching this book.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

This book is selling for $4.99.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

In July, hopefully, this book will be available in print.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

Of the eight Amazon reviews, 7 are 5 stars. It's a long book, more than 100 pages. Very much a sweeping, powerful story.


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## Cheryl Bolen (Jun 9, 2011)

The previous post was supposed to say this book is more than 100,000 words. It's more than 400 pages.


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