Excellent, excellent book. Simply love Abby Jimenez’s voice. Her dialogue is laugh out loud funny. Her character depictions are spot on - well portrayed, authentic. Reading her work is fun - and I always learn something.

“We’re all a little broken, Briana. We are a mosaic. We’re made up of all those we’ve met and all the things we’ve been through. There are parts of us that are colorful and dark and jagged and beautiful. And I love every piece of you. Even the ones you wish didn’t exist.”

I LOVED this. This was my favorite Jimenez book to date. Our main characters are flawed yet endearing. They are both struggling with some very real, relatable issues such as social anxiety, caregiver burnout/the exhaustion of watching a love one suffer with a chronic illness, fear of abandonment, and more.

Additionally, I adored the family dynamic's of both Briana and Jacob's families (except for Abby + Jeremiah. Didn't love that) and Briana's friendship with Alexis (when she went to visit!!)

My only concerns lied in the overabundance of miscommunication, as it got frustrating towards the end. Otherwise, however, this was so, so good.

--- 4/5 stars!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

CW (includes spoilers): Cheating (ex), social anxiety, chronic illness, organ donation, miscarriage, surprise pregnancy

I LOVED THIS BOOK! This is my favorite Abby Jimenez book to date and I’ve loved all her other books. But oh man, Jacob and Brianna were 😍😍😍😍😍. Abby Jimenez always does such an incredible job weaving real, hard issues into such a captivating and fun romance and I love the balance so well. Jacob is probably my favorite male character she’s written to date…he was so dreamy and the connection between him and Brianna made this such a fun and beautiful read. I wish I was still reading it!

Briana Ortiz is an overworked doctor whose personal life needs resuscitation. On the brink of divorce and her brother in desperate need of a kidney donor, Briana can’t help but feel like life has become one big bitter pill to swallow. But things go from bad to worse when she discovers the coveted promotion she was hoping for might not be in the bag after all. Instead, she has to go up against the hospital’s newbie hotshot, Dr. Jacob Maddox.

When Jacob scrubbed in, he was hoping for a fresh start. After all, he has his own set demons to contend with. Living with lifelong anxiety, his situation is amplified by his ex girlfriend’s recent engagement…to his brother. So when Jacob makes a bad first impression on Briana, he makes it his mission to prove he’s a good guy. In his attempt to do just that, Jacob decides to write Brianna an old school letter, the best way to explain his anxiety without said anxiety getting in the way.

Against her better judgment, Brianna finds herself moved by Jacob’s gesture and calls a cease fire that quickly morphs into friendship. Then Jacob ups the ante, giving Brianna the ultimate gift. But can the cynical doctor ever come to realize Jacob Maddox might just be exactly what the proverbial doctor ordered?

Yours Truly is technically part of a series, but can be read as a standalone as well. I loved the chemistry between Brianna and Jacob, but I loved the male representation of anxiety even more. While different mental health issues have been creeping their way into more books, most of the time it’s from the female perspective. With Yours Truly, Jimenez writes a new prescription for romance, all while making us continue to fall in love with love.

Briana Ortiz is an ER doctor who is about to finalize her divorce after her husband was caught cheating with their friend. Her younger brother Benny is in end stage renal failure, her boss is stalling her promotion, and her life is falling apart around her. Jacob Maddox starts work at the ER, and she thinks he is gunning for her new job, so is immediately on edge with him. He suffers from extreme social anxiety, so not knowing how to respond to her anger towards him, writes her a letter instead. The build their relationship initially through letter writing, and eventually start meeting for lunch in a supply closet, so Jacob can avoid being surrounded by too many people. Having a mother who also needed a kidney transplant and always wanting to pay it forward, Jacob decides to test if he can be a match for Benny, and ends up being a perfect match. He wants to keep it a secret so Briana won't feel obligated to him, but of course it slips. In turn, Jacob asks a favor of Briana, if she can pretend to be his girlfriend for the upcoming wedding events for his brother and his ex gf, because his family doesn't believe he can truly be ok with this betrayal. Briana agrees, and starts to fall for him despite her negative feelings on men in general. Jacob has always had feelings for her, and falls even deeper. However, they both keep each other at arm's length, and Briana believes that he's still in love with his ex, whereas Jacob believes that she's only doing this as a favor and it's strictly business. The constant state of misunderstanding if not outright miscommunication was very frustrating for me to read. I felt that the depiction of Jacob's anxiety was overall accurate, and while I understood where Briana was coming from, I felt like she was being purposely obstinate at times which I didn't love. The story wrapped up with my least favorite trope of all, which is a bit of a spoiler, but it did serve to advance the plot and point out past trauma in this instance. Still makes me want to scream though. This was my most anticipated read of the year and I'm sorry to say that it didn't quite live up to the hype for me. The theme of the year so far seems to be rom-coms taking a heavier turn with more serious subject matter, and this is a me problem, but I'm just not in the place for that type of read right now.

So I enjoyed the first 15%... I started this on audio by the time I got around to it. The narrators were great, the story seemed like it was going in one direction, but it surprised me by breaking the secrets and rolling along.

I definitely thought he was going to keep the kidney donor thing a secret the whole time. I was like oh lord, that's what's going to cause the third act breakup. No, thankfully. He communicated it right away and confirmed. I was like okay, okay... this has some potential.

But then the middle happened. Literally nothing happened. Sure, they were getting to know each other and build that fake dating, but it was tooooo longggg. She could have cut out a lot of filler. Jacob's inner monologues got a bit boring and I found myself tuning his POV out because I'm like HULLO I HAVE MY OWN ANXIETY! But I understand how Abby was trying to portray that fairly.

Not going to lie... I expected more from this slow burn. When they say slow, they mean a snail's pace. We got one sex scene that wasn't even that great? I was hoping for more in that area.

I think my main issue was the execution. As I said above, way too slow for me. The middle was seriously nothing special. And once the two FINALLY communicated with each other, I figured okay cool let's wrap this up! No. We still had 15% more of the story. I'm like wait- WHAT?

This had my two least favorite tropes of all time. Miscommunication & pregnancy. Ugh, didn't see that coming because I was like "She won't do it... will she?" Umm yep, she did.

Ugh... 3.5 rounded up but I'm considering rounding down ahahahahaha.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this delightful novel. “ Yours, Truly” focuses on two ER doctors at different point of them lives. Briana, is going through a painful divorce and is caring for her brother who is going through a health crisis. Jacob, has switched hospitals , after his long term girlfriend leaves him for his brother. This novel had me sucked in from the get go, with both main characters having delightful commentary and hilarious lives. Abby Jimenez truly has a gift for making us care deeply about her characters, and I found myself wanting to be friends with Briana! Also, Lieutenant Dan is the true hero of the group ❤️

Yours Truly was definitely my favorite Abby Jimenez novel. Briana and Jacob's connection was undeniable to themselves and everyone around them, even when they buried their own feelings down so deep for the sake of their shared "secret." This resulted in some major communication issues that likely could've been solved by a simple conversation, but they were too clouded by their own feelings and insecurities. However, I thought the plot and side characters were extremely engaging and fleshed out and I was really rooting for Benny. I also thought the way Abby handled Jacob's social anxiety was so well done. This was definitely a sweet story, with the perfect amount of angst that made me not want to put it down. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

✨𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝐖✨

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐳

THIS BOOK 🫶🏼 Thanks so much to @readforeverpub & @netgalley for the advanced copy! I devoured this book in a few days & loved so many things about it.

👍🏼: This second-chance romance was definitely a slow burn, but it kept me turning the pages & wanting more. The anticipation!! I absolutely loved the representation of mental health, specifically men’s mental health, and related closely to social anxiety that the main character dealt with. I loved everything about family, love, forgiveness, healing & supporting your partner no matter what. Such a special story 🫶🏼

👎🏼: I was definitely frustrated by the main characters for a bit of the story & forgot that I am often frustrated by the miscommunication trope 😂 I also wished for more at the end of the story after so much build up with the slow burn 🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall, this book was addicting & I appreciated so much about it. I would definitely recommend picking this one up, especially if you’ve loved Abby’s previous books ❤️📚 Out 4/11!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Abby Jimenez writes the perfect blend of sweet and meaningful. Romance stories aren't my usual go-to, but Jimenez has a way of drawing me in and having me enjoy every moment!

Synopsis: Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going the new guy at work who has been nicknamed Dr. Death for losing seven patients on his first day! But just as we are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox, he completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter. And it’s a really good letter.

I am going to start with a note to all who read the book, stay for the authors notes at the end and her personal history with the sensitive topics she expertly weaves into her books. "Yours Truly" addresses kidney disease, divorce, depression, anxiety, and pregnancy loss. Her writing is thoughtful and compassionate.

Jimenez gives us a fresh take on romance novels. "Yours Truly" takes us from life and work frustrations to fake dating to… so much more. Through letter writing back and forth we can see that Briana and Jacob's inner voices begin to drive them both a bit mad. I can honestly say that it made me tear up on more than one occasion. And it surprised me how unpredictable Jimenez story was at times. Through it all, Briana and Jacob’s tender connection and deep bond shines at the very center of this lovely story.

I enjoy books with letters, texts and emails. They help me see deep into the characters of a book. Between Jacob's journaling and the letters Briana and Jacob write to each other in this book, they reveal things on paper that might be difficult to say in person, and they find a real and healthy way to communicate. And I think that's why they form such a deep connection with each other. It has me wishing that we all wrote letters to our significant ones and they returned notes with us.

Abby Jimenez has a fan in me. She brilliantly shares a heartwarming and amusing tale full of new beginnings, self-discovery, taking chances, selflessness, and romance.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for taking me into Abby Jimenez's world. Its one I truly loved and look forward to with each new book release.

Posted on April 11 on @pairswellwithread Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq6VZwGrxIM/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez Dessert and Wine Pairing + Review:

🧁 Briana’s red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

🍷 Pinot Noir, pictured: Dough

📚 After loving Abby Jimenez’s “Part of Your World”, I knew her sequel was going be a highlight of my spring. And it’s out TODAY!

After parting from Alexis and Daniel’s story in the first book, “Yours Truly” turns the focus to Briana, Alexis’ best friend and fellow ER physician at Royaume Northwestern. After a tough couple months including the finalization of her divorce from her first husband, Briana is ready to call it quits on finding love. That is until she meets Jacob, the new ER physician that just joined her team.

If you are also constantly watching re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy like me, this is a great pick for your next vacation or pool day! This kind of setting is always fun, of course, but what makes this book so enjoyable is the quality of the characters and their connection through the fake-dating plot line. Abby Jimenez doesn’t disappoint!

For fans of “Part of Your World”, are you planning on reading “Yours Truly”? Would love to hear what you think.

Thank you Abby Jimenez, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for kindly providing this advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m positive everyone has been seeing 5-star reviews for Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez all year and I really don’t have much to add to the mix besides my absolute agreement that yes, this is indeed 5 stars!

In every book, Abby gives me the badass heroines I love to read about, matched with sexy, smart, dreamy partners. In Yours Truly, Brianna and Jacob stole my heart in the same way that Kristen and Josh did in Abby’s very first book, The Friend Zone.

Just like in previous books, there are fun easter eggs in Yours Truly. This is a standalone book, but it’s fun to get those little nods to her other books and characters. I saw a reviewer on NetGalley call her books the “Abbyverse” and I will forever be using that when describing her books!

Brianna and Jacob were both so full of life in their own ways and I enjoyed every minute I spent with them. I appreciated the care in which Jacob’s anxiety was described and the way Abby helps normalize mental health in her books.

This book also has lots of laughs. The banter was great, whether it was in letters, DMs, or in-person conversations. The friends, coworkers, and family members added a lot of fun to the story too.

I really can’t recommend Yours Truly (and all of Abby’s books!) enough!

Abby Jimenez sure knows how to write a book that balances out talking about heavy topics, while still keeping things fun and light. I ADORED this book! As someone who struggles with anxiety and is an introvert, I related to Jacob 100%. I've never seen myself in a character the way I did with him. And the fact that Brianna had his back! *Sigh* They were the ultimate team/couple.

I flew through this book, and I cannot wait to see what Abby writes next! I read The Friend Zone a few years ago and LOVED it, so now I think it's time to read the rest of Abby's backlist ASAP.

Yours Truly is a rom-com featuring two ER doctors, Briana and Jacob. At first, Briana views Jacob as competition, but as she gets to know him, she learns there's a lot more than meets the eye. Jacob turns out to be a perfect kidney match for Briana's sick brother, and in return, she stands in as a fake girlfriend to fool Jacob's family and make them think he's completely fine with his brother marrying his ex-girlfriend. As they continue to fake their relationship, feelings start getting real, but both have hesitancies due to past relationships.

I really enjoyed Abby Jimenez and am excited to discover the rest of her books. Her writing style is easy to read and funny.

The latest story from one of my favorite romance authors is here and all I can say is that this book was pure Abby Jimenez at her finest!

Abby has written some of my absolute favorite book boyfriends in the last few years and Jacob is right up there with the best of them!

This is a companion novel to PART OF YOUR WORLD (yes there’s Alexis and Daniel appearances) and centers around Briana, a dedicated and passionate ER doctor, and Jacob— a newer ER doctor in Briana’s hospital. The two don’t get off on the right foot, but eventually the ice breaks through some shared moments, vulnerabilities, and letters and what comes is a sweet and feel-good romance!

There was so much to adore about this book. But number one on the list is Jacob. You learn very early on that he suffers from social anxiety and I truly appreciated how Abby wrote his character with this. Jacob was just so honest and pure with the best intentions, but he also felt so REAL because of his anxiety and the way he coped and handled it. Briana on the other hand took a little bit to warm up too, but once I did she stood out in her own, flawed way.

While the characters were a huge reason I loved this, there was still the story itself I enjoyed. It included fake-dating, a dog, and letter exchanges for an epistolary element! As you can expect from this author, the story wasn’t all just warm and fluffy but delved into some more serious topics such as the aforementioned anxiety, loving yourself, chronic disease, new beginnings, and so much more to make for a powerful read.

The one thing that held it back from being five stars was some of the miscommunication and Briana’s later actions. The miscommunication did make sense for this narrative in some regard, but at one point it felt like just a tad too much. And then for Briana, she made some rash choices which I had a hard time with, but I guess it made sense for her character development. And I am glad her issues were addressed in a healthy way.

Overall, if you’re an Abby fan, get excited for this one!

Abby Jimenez does it again! A five star read for sure. I love Abby's character development and the relationship between the characters. I'm not a fan of a fake-dating trope, but Abby does a great job of intertwining enemies to friends to lovers into fake dating. I always love how Abby's stories involve real world issues (usually medical) that people go through that affects their daily lives, even if it's not visible, or they don't share about it. Love that she included a character who has social anxiety and wrote her first divorced heroine. Love everything about this book!

4.5 stars

Dr. Brianna Ortiz has had a rough year after her recent divorce with her ex-husband who has been chatting on her friend for a long time. And to add to her plate, her brother's health is deteriorating and she can't find a kinder donor that's a match for him. Enter Dr. Jacob Maddox. Shy and quiet, he's the new kid on the block at the hospital. When his meddling family asks if he's seeing someone after his ex is getting married to his brother, he lies and tells them that he's dating someone from his new hospital. And then Brianna and Jacob are stuck in a fake dating situation. And did I forget to mention that Jacob is giving Brianna's brother a kidney?

This was the sweetest, most adorable romantic comedy ever. After being introduced to Abby Jimenez last year by reading Part of Your World, I fell in love with her books. And it was nice to see Brianna have her own book in Yours Truly. Abby creates authentic, flawed, messy, and relatable characters that have gone through itttt, while still maintaining a light rom-com tone through the book.

Jacob is quite possibly the most precious male protagonist that I've ever read. All I wanted to do was hug him the entire time. Jimenez does a wonderful job creating a character who is autistic and dealing with a lot of anxiety. And the way he talks about Brianna...SO CUTE.

Overall, this was an outstanding romantic comedy by the queen of emotional rom-coms that make you both cry and laugh. Y'all have to preorder this one!

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Pub for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Abby Jimenez manages to write the most incredible stories that deal with heavy, emotional topics, yet somehow still feel light and leave you smiling. Yours Truly might be my new favorite book of hers. This book has incredible mental health representation, the challenges of finding a kidney donor, the trauma of ending a marriage, all sprinkled in with sassy letters and my personal favorite, a foul-mouthed parrot.

I loved Briana and Jacob and how they worked to learn about each other and how they could support one another. They were two characters who created safety in their relationship and truly brought out the best in each other. I greatly appreciated the dual POV in this one, which allows readers to really get into the heads of each of the characters and see what they are thinking. There were times I wanted to scream at Briana and Jacob for not simply admitting their feelings, but I also probably would also be too scared to admit my feelings. Their journey from sort of rivals to friends to lovers was a beautiful slow burn. I can already tell this will be one of the best books I read all year.

Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advanced e-copy. I am sooooooo happy I was approved! Officially out this Tuesday, April 11th, 2023. Some B&N’s already have it out (not at mine) but I can’t wait to grab a copy for my personal library. Everyone needs to add this to their shelves!!

Who else read PART OF YOUR WORLD and wanted more of Briana? Me. Well YOURS TRULY did not disappoint – Jimenez came to slaaaayyyy. This story gave me the same giddy feeling such as THE FRIEND ZONE (my absolutely favorite Jimenez book). About 20% into the book I knew it was going to be a super close call for 1st place. Dr. Jacob Maddox though, ultimate book boyfriend – hands down! Also, can I just say a Salvadorean female main characters……uhm yessssss! Thank you, Abby for the representation. Bri and Jacob’s first talks were soooooo adorable and gave me butterflies. I loved everything about their hand-written letters, to their phone calls; swoon. I fell in love with these characters and couldn’t get enough of them and all the animals. There is a heavy amount of mental health language (i.e. depression, social anxiety) but I found myself actually taking on some of the techniques used. You’ll get to experience dual POV’s and get inside both of their heads. This will definitely fall into one of my favorite books this year!

CW: depression, social anxiety, chronic kidney illness, organ donor, gaslighting, infidelity, miscarriage

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the eARC.

Abby Jimenez is an autobuy author for me, I even pre-order her books when I have the digital ARC because I need the physical copy.

I have rated all of Abby’s books at 4 or 5 stars. While this one is no exception, I would say it’s my least favorite of her books. I still loved it, but it didn’t quite pull on my heartstrings quite as much as the others. Miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes, BUT I think it worked for this book. I could understand how it came about and why it continued, it didn’t come across as two adults acting like children when one simple conversation could fix it all. What I didn’t love about it though was around the middle I felt like many chapters ended with something along the lines of, but this isn’t real for him/her, or but I only have so much time left before it’s all over – and I felt like yelling ‘ok I get it!’. That’s really my only complaint. I loved the characters and the development of their relationship. I loved the way mental health was handled. I loved their families too. I don’t know if there’s another romance author that makes me laugh quite as much as Abby. I know when I pick up her books that the banter between characters is going to sound like me and my friends and will have me cackling for days. I have some quotes written down but without the context around them they aren’t as hilarious. I was also appreciative of the trigger warnings/content guidance provided at the start of the book.

TLDR: Not my favorite Abby Jimenez book, still loved it, still an auto-buy author, can’t wait for the next one!