Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Kindle Unlimited | Kobo | Nook | Audible | Bookshop | Barnes & Noble
Book Overview
In Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez we meet Briana Ortiz an ER doctor at Royaume Northwestern Hospital in Minnesota. She currently finds herself in a spiral as she’s days away from her divorce with her philandering husband becoming final while simultaneously caring for her sick brother as he battles kidney disease and is on a waitlist to receive a new kidney. The only bright spot that she’s looking forward to is her upcoming promotion.
But after the arrival of new ER doctor Jacob Maddox, her upcoming promotion is threatened as Briana believes he’s gunning for her position. She takes an immediate dislike to him which is further instigated following an awkward first meeting. That is until she receives a shockingly sweet letter from Dr. Jacob Maddox.
The two begin to exchange letters back and forth and a tenuous friendship develops. As the two become close Jacob asks her to fake date him so he can ease tensions in his family as his brother prepares to marry his ex-girlfriend Briana is all too willing to help. Suddenly lines are blurred and they can’t tell the difference between what’s real and fake. Will they be able to overcome their tragic heartbreaks and build a solid future together?
My Review
So, Yours Truly started with so much potential to be my next favorite romance read but fell flat for me in the middle and never recovered the intensity of the romantic feelings that were being built up in the beginning. We see both Briana and Jacob in a vulnerable transitional period of their life where they’re trying to determine the next steps.
Briana is struggling to heal following the the breakdown of her marriage after the revelation that her husband cheated on her with her best friend leading to a divorce that will be final in the next few days. And her brother Benny’s kidney disease where he’s on a waiting list to receive a new kidney and due to the chronic condition’s impact on his life he’s become depressed and listless. All of these things bring a lot of stress and tension to Briana. As for Jacob, he’s grappling with the reality that his relationship with his ex Melissa failed and as if that’s not bad enough she found love with his brother Jeremiah and they’re planning to get married. Now his family is concerned and worried about his emotional and mental state after this news and he’s struggling to convince them he’s fine.
The premise of this story and the dilemmas faced by these characters while interesting and complex didn’t hit the mark. Let’s start with what worked. The first flushes of romance that we saw build between Briana and Jacob, in the beginning, was exquisite. Having them exchange cute letters as they got to open up and know each other was brilliant. We get to see their chemistry and feelings for each other develop in such a unique way.
Next, Jacob’s social anxiety was well represented in this book. As a person who’s struggled with social anxiety since a young age, I found it to be so relatable and spot on, and appreciated reading a character that faced similar struggles as I have. Also, Briana’s ability to hold space for Jacob and be considerate of his condition was admirable. From the beginning, she just got it and made an effort to make sure he felt included while respecting his boundaries and limitations. In doing so Briana allowed Jacob the space he needed to push himself outside of his comfort zone and better manage his condition.
Additionally, Jacob’s selflessness and his decision to donate his kidney to Briana’s brother revealed so much about his character and immediately endeared me to him. The fact that he wanted to remain anonymous and put the focus on helping out someone in need without the fanfare and theatrics that would inevitably follow if revealed to Briana. His desire for her to accept and build a friendship with him where she didn’t feel indebted to him because of this need was so pure.
Due to Jacob’s current situation with his family and the upcoming marriage of his ex and his brother, he’s desperate to convince his family he’s fine. He makes up a little white lie that he’s dating someone at his new job. Following a misunderstanding his family believes Briana is his new girlfriend. Enter the necessity for him to ask her to enter into a fake dating arrangement to save face and appease his family. It’s at this point that the story hits the rails.
The budding feelings that exist between Briana and Jacob increase and they begin to fall for each other which is adorable. Until the miscommunication trope enters the chat and ruins everything. These two spend the majority of their time thinking incorrectly that the other person isn’t into them. Briana due to misinterpreting a conversation believes Jacob is still in love with an ex. Whereas Jacob believes Briana is just fake dating him because she feels indebted to him for him donating his kidney to her brother after she finds out he’s the mystery donor by mistake.
So, instead of having an honest discussion about their feelings and determining where the other person’s head is at they just build up assumptions about the other person and cause unnecessary misery for each other. They continue with these thoughts and actions despite evidence pointing to the contrary and others stating that their love for each other appears genuine. This was nauseating and frustrating and not a concrete enough reason to keep them from being together. I wish a better more believable conflict was created that would create tension between the two because this wasn’t it. It only led me to be frustrated and annoyed.
Furthermore, while Briana was accommodating of Jacob’s social anxiety and that was terrific this was the only thing she offered him. She closed herself off to him in so many ways when he tirelessly sought to pursue her and be with her. He overextended himself and went way beyond his comfort zone to accommodate her and she gave nothing. At one point he literally tells her to use him he doesn’t care he just wants to be with her. It was at that moment that I stopped wanting these two to end up together. I know many readers favor men groveling and begging to be with a person but this just gives me the ick. No one man or woman should have to forgo their self-worth and respect to prove they love and want to be with a person especially when they’ve done nothing but be trustworthy and dependable. The man was giving up a kidney for Pete’s sake.
Yet, Briana continued with this narrative that all men are bad and he would just cheat on her like her ex did and abandon her like her father. As a woman who’s been cheated on these feelings are valid I get it, I’ve been there. However, the extent to which she took this despite positive examples of people finding love a second time around like her mother and her best friend. And despite Jacob’s actions that pointed to the contrary she still clung to this mindset. And this completely lost me. At this point, I felt Jacob deserved better than this because he was such a terrific accommodating guy that bent over backwards for her.
And the ending really disappointed me because it was more of Jacob pouring himself out to a woman who didn’t seek to compromise or meet him halfway and that’s not how you build a healthy, functional relationship.
I had such high hopes for this book it was highly rated and Abby Jimenez has been recommended to me on multiple occasions. However, I just couldn’t see this couple having a healthy, functioning relationship built on equality and compromise. Furthermore, I didn’t like Briana for Jacob. While yes she supported him and his social anxiety that was about all she did. And, I felt there was more she could offer him because he offered so much. There was an imbalance between the two and I couldn’t support or root for them as a couple.
While I know I’m the anomaly and this book is a fan favorite it just wasn’t for me and that’s ok. Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
Check out my October TBR 2024: 5 Star Predictions to see if my predictions for this book were spot on.
Til next time happy reading!!
