I really enjoyed this book! I absolutely loved both Briana and Jacob and thought they were both fleshed out so well. It was refreshing to see anxiety in the male main character and see it depicted so accurately. This is definitely a slow burn but that didn’t bother me as their friendship and banter was SO good.

The reason I knocked off a star was for the last ~15%. There were some serious plot points introduced that I personally did not think were handled well. It seemed they were introduced too suddenly and discussed too shallowly for such serious topics.

~Thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of ***************************Yours Truly*************************** in exchange for an honest review. ~

Well, we didn’t start off great, as I loved Bri in the first book, but she felt so incredibly bitter in the beginning. However, we start to see more about what’s going on in her life and why she’s reacting the way she is. That did make me prefer Jacob’s POV, but since we’ve started into the letters they’re writing to each other, I was sold. We really get to see Bri’s true personality shine in the letters, which was absolutely adorable. I became so invested in their budding friendship as they started writing to each other and that didn’t change.

I didn’t realize this had fake dating as a main trope, which, unfortunately, wasn’t great for me. These two are so cute, exchanging questions and spending time together in order to seem more believable as a couple was lots of fun— but as soon as they both caught feelings and start the usual fake dating drama, I was tired of it. It just feels so repetitive, naming the reasons why they can’t date, why it’s a bad idea, and how it’s not based on anything real. What makes it doubly frustrating is each of them does take steps to try and clear the air, and better understand the other person’s feelings, but they keep getting in their own way. It does make for a slower burn story and has the sexual tension amping up, but God, I just want them to fucking kiss already. And even once they finally did, it was still frustrating! So much lack of communication and constant using excuses to not talk. I was so over it by the end.

I was really hoping there wasn’t going to be a third-act conflict because of how long it took for us to reach them becoming an official couple, but no, we weren’t that lucky. More reliance on excuses from Bri finally made me realize I didn’t like being in her head. Then another of my dreaded tropes popped up and I just officially was annoyed by this book. It soured my feelings for the end (even if the reconciliation was really fucking cute).

It does have some great humor, as I do find myself laughing quite often, even with Bri’s clear abandonment and trust issues constantly being brought up, plus Jacob’s anxiety.

I JUST finished so these are my fresh thoughts.

PERFECTION.

Sometimes miscommunication tropes have me so aggravated because if one person would have said something, everything would have changed BUT this one needed to happen!

Fake dating to lovers is really one of my favorite tropes because I enjoy seeing the growth and evolution of a couple! Realizing they weren’t just friends doing each other a favor but people who can’t live without each other!

I really enjoyed how this book wasn’t just a fluffy rom-com but addressed real serious life issues! Makes the story relatable for the reader! Makes us also think that someone can find love even while handling serious life issues.

It was perfect.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever publishing for the gifted eARC for my honest review!

The second book in the "Part of Your World" universe, Yours Truly brings us back to Royaume where Dr. Brianna Ortiz is struggling to find a good thing. The only possible good thing in her life right now is that she's a shoo in for the promotion Alexis left behind in Part of Your World. That is until Dr. Jacob Maddox makes his appearance. With her divorce almost finalized, living in her childhood home, and watching her brother struggle through kidney failure, Brianna needs the win. Meanwhile, Jacob is on the struggle of his own. His ex-girlfriend is now engaged to his brother and his social anxiety is making the move to Royaume a living hell. When a series of accidents make Jacob look like Satan incarnate, he decides the best way to apologize is through a letter to Brianna. Thus we are swept up in an adorable romance complete with fake dating, kidney transplants, and the absolute best boy, Jacob's tripod pup.

I've been a Abby Jimenez stan for quiet a while now, but I have to admit that this series really hit me in the feels. Loving someone through their trauma and showing up with the good and bad is something we really should address more. As much as I love an easy love story, sometimes love is really hard, and Jimenez addresses that so well in her books.

"I’ll be harmless to you.”

I want to sob just thinking about this book. Happy tears, sad tears, healing tears. I have long been a fan of Abby Jimenez, since her first book. She has explored the pain of chronic illness, grief and loss of a loved one, processing a terminal diagnosis, and C-PTSD after an emotionally abusive relationship. Each and every one of her books has punched me right in the heart (in a good way), but this one blew them all away. I received an ARC several months ago, have read the book 3 times since then, and have still struggled to put into words the impact this book had on me. But since release day is coming up and I want *everyone* to read this book, I’ll try.

Jacob and Briana’s story focuses on mental health, what it’s like to live with severe anxiety. I thought her portrayal of anxiety and how it affects relationships, work, life, etc, was so so spot on. Painfully so. Beautifully so.

While we’re on the subject I’m just gonna say right now — miscommunication is a large part of the book, AND I WILL TAKE NO SLANDER. I’m so glad so many romance readers don’t struggle with severe anxiety, and don’t struggle with miscommunication in relationships due to that. HOWEVER. For a lot of people with anxiety, especially anxiety to the level of severity that Jacob struggles with, communication is HARD. And it is so so easy to misunderstand what is happening in a relationship. Yes, Jacob struggles to communicate. Yes, this affects their relationship. YES, this is so accurate and realistic to the struggle with anxiety. Do not put your neurotypical criticism and expectations on this poor man. What’s beautiful about this book is the GROWTH we see in Jacob, how he figures out his best way of communicating, and how Briana works with him on that. A large part of this book is about healing miscommunication issues due to mental health issues and 👏🏼 I 👏🏼 LOVE 👏🏼 THAT 👏🏼. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. This is your warning.

Rent over. And a more complete review to come once I’m holding a physical copy in my hands and can annotate the crap out of it 🤍 thank you for writing this book, Abby.

An ode to the power of a well-intentioned and heartfelt letter. This book deals with some very heavy subject matter, including kidney failure, organ donation, loss & grief, and divorce. The author has a very personal connection to the subject matter, as she too, like our main character’s brother Benny, had a very scary time dealing with kidney failure. As with all of Abby's novels, I could not put this one down and I found myself running the full range of emotions while reading. The romance was on point, with just the right amount of steam. Loved the enemies to lovers chemistry between Bri and Jacob. Though this is a second installment in the Part of Your World series, it can certainly be enjoyed as a stand-alone romantic comedy as well. I never wanted this story to end and I can not wait for her next release.

The absolute way I LOVED this book. It was the exact book I needed in my life and I felt genuine joy in my heart the entire time I was reading it. I avoided Abby Jimenez's books because I had wrongly assumed they were all sad and I couldn't handle that. But Yours Truly has been the most spectacular book and I loved all the time I was able to spend with Briana and Jacob.

I felt such happiness when they were together and don't even get me started on the letter writing. Be still my heart! The way Abby Jimenez took to depicting mental illness as well as social anxiety were absolutely on par. I can't wait to reread this story, it's one that will stay with me for months to come!

Absolutely all the stars for this one! Abby has done it again!! I loved this book with my whole heart. I laughed (and snorted) many times, felt so much tension and my heart ached for both of the MCs. I always love a dual POV and Jacob was very memorable. The mental health representation in this book made me (a fellow introvert) feel so seen and respected. I identified so strongly with Jacob that some of the insights about his anxieties taught me about my own struggles. I will read anything Abby writes and I cannot wait for more :)

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read for contemporary romance. Abby Jimenez has been one of my favorite authors for quite some time now but with ‘Yours Truly’ she has gone deeper than she has before. This love story is one of genuine beauty. Bri is a strong woman whom seemingly had it all until she found out her husband of 10 years had been having a multi year long affair with her friend. She is now single and living in her old childhood home, her best friend has moved away, she’s taking care of her only brother who is losing his own will to live as he suffers from renal failure, and actively being passed up for chief for the emergency department at work in order to give the newly transferred doctor a fair shot at it, The subtle female rage and sorrow Bri goes through as she mourns her marriage and the woman she used to be is tangible. The way Jimenez wrote this character made it so that I felt I was her, regardless of the fact I have nearly nothing in common with her. A true talent. This is carried over with her MMC Jacob as well. You can tangibly see the care she put into accurately representing his anxiety, without letting it be his only personality trait which is commonly seen in recent attempts by authors in this genre. Absolutely a five star read.

Oh man.. this book. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez that is as of today available everywhere was like a huge hit of all the happy hormones all at once.

This was the first time EVER that I plan on purchasing a physical copy of this book just so I can annotate the heck out of it with all the quotes that I loved whilst reading it so I can just write all my thoughts around it. I’m so seriously so in love with this book that I can’t even form words to describe how much I love it.

Dr. Jacob Maddox is the epitome of the perfect man. Like.. if you search up the best sort of man that does not exist, Jacob Maddox would be front and center. If I found a real man like this, I’d so pull a Monica Geller and propose to him then and there. He and Briana were literally meant to be from the beginning; the letters, the friendship, the eating together in the freaking supply closet, the selflessness of this man and pure goodness.. 😭 (And Lieutenant Dan!! 😩)

You all need to do yourself a favor right this instant and go purchase this book. Thank you so SO much to Forever Pub for sending me an early galley of this book that I’ll never be able to get over. 😭

Briana is an ER doc dealing with the last couple weeks before her divorce is finalized, and a brother in renal failure who is hunting for a donor and extremely depressed. Enter Jacob, the new doc gunning for the chief position she was all but getting, until HE came on staff. But Jacob has severe anxiety, and just got out of a bad relationship with a woman who decided that marrying his brother was the better choice. He's got to find someone to help him not look so pitiful so his family can move past this betrayal.

I loved this. The love story was wonderfully written. I loved the letter writing aspect of their beginnings, though I wished there was a little more throughout the book instead of being so concentrated where most of the letters all fell in the book. I will say that they ABSOLUTELY should have anticipated one of the eventual outcomes of their story, because they're the people that should know better than anyone. That said, I really did enjoy this, and fell happily into Briana and Jacob's story. It was incredibly sweet.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity and for sharing a bit of yourself with the world!

Yours Truly by Abby Jiminez

Dr. Briana Ortiz is dealing with a lot in life. Her divorce is close to being finalized from her cheating ex and losing her friend to the said ex. Her brother is running out of time to find a kidney donor. The only spot of sunshine is her potentially getting a promotion at work heading the ER. UNTIL Dr. Jacob Maddox enters the picture and the promotion is put on hold. After several disagreements and misunderstanding, Maddox decides to write a letter to Briana which starts their back and forth and start of something new and exciting…

First of all, Abby Jiminez is such a good author! She is hilarious (please tell me you follow her and her dogs on TikTok) and her books always make me laugh out loud! Briana and Jacob have such good chemistry and it was a slow burn! If you like fake dating and enemies to lovers tropes, you will love this book!

Thank you Forever Pub for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Abby Jimenez DOES IT AGAIN. I absolutely LOVED Briana and Jacob's story. Briana was honest and strong and WITTY. Jacob was sweet and sensitive and endearing. As always, Abby Jimenez covered some pretty heavy topics but she weaved her humor and light throughout the story. I loved the dynamic of Jacob's family and are you kidding me with a three-legged Bernese Mountain Dog?! I FREAKIN' JUST LOVED THIS BOOK.

what to expect
-cinnamon role, hot man
-mental health representation
-dual POV
-funny family dynamics
-fake dating
-a cute dog

FINAL THOUGHTS: Abby Jimenez is an auto-buy author for me. I always know I'm going to get incredible humor and heart. This book did such a WONDERFUL job with the subject matter. Jacob the sweet, sensitive soul. Briana the witty firecracker. Easily a bingeable book. JUST GO READ IT.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Briana Ortiz is an ER doctor with a lot on her plate, her brother is on dialysis, her divorce is being finalized, and her support system is a little scant. When an arrogant new doctor starts in the ER, they get off on the wrong foot...until Jacob writes Briana an apology letter and their friendship starts to grow.

I loved this new Abby Jimenez romance! I was one hundred percent on board with Briana and Jacob, and I couldn't put this book down. There were some tropes towards the end that I did not appreciate, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

The letter writing was a really sweet way to show Jacob and Bri getting to know each other and letting their walls down. It was refreshing to have realistic and flawed main characters. Briana’s process of dealing with trauma with her divorce was quite powerful. And props for the strong Latinx woman representation! I also liked the realistic representation of anxiety, and I really related to Jacob’s character. I liked how Briana was thoughtful in her interactions with him and his family. I also liked reading about the medical aspects, as well. It was moving to hear that it was partially inspired by Jimenez’s own experience being on kidney dialysis.

Aside from those tropes I don’t care for, I felt endeared by these characters and their struggles. A very sweet contemporary romance, a must-read for Abby Jimenez fans!

4.5 - 5 stars!

I actually liked this one *MORE* than Part of Your World (which I found a little cheesy/corny). I connected more with these characters. I really enjoyed the "fake relationship" trope between Briana & Jacob, because it quickly escalated and evolved to something real.

I also really appreciated the author's note at the end, which made this book even more special.

My favorite were the letters between them two; my significant other & I did this when we first met and continue to do so!

If you’re already a fan of this author’s work, you will love this one; and if you’re new, go read all her backlist AND this one too (which can actually be read as a standalone as well – I received a lot of questions on this – and YES you can read this one without the previous).

Part of Your World was one of my top reads for 2022, and Yours Truly is a worthy successor. I absolutely LOVED this. I loved Jimenez's interpretation of the one-bed trope- so clever and funny. The third-act breakup felt a LITTLE drawn out, but I will be forgiving because of that perfect ending

Thank you Forever Pub and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

Phew, this one had me tearing up on the train during my morning commute 🥹 the anxiety rep was really well done and resonated with me (and I think it will with a lot of readers). Briana and Jacob were an adorable couple, and I was rooting for them from page 1!

🌹Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez:
Fans of Part of Your World will enjoy this one and have fun finding the threads that connect the two stories. We’re introduced to Dr. Brianna Ortiz and Dr. Jacob Maddox, who start off on shaky ground until Jacob writes Brianna a letter. What starts as a friendship turns into a favor - but readers will be left wondering if these two can turn that into love (not really, because this is pretty predictable but enjoyable nonetheless!) So I liked this but I will say this feel into the category of “could be shorter.” It doesn’t drag though, so if you need a light romance that will be a quickie - this is yours, truly!

wow this book really lived up to my expectations. I fell in love with Abby Jimenez characters in Part of Your World, and this was a very anticipated read for me. Jacob and Bri are complex and not without their struggles and their past hurts. I feel like they both had a desire to not be a burden and had almost reached a point in life where they just wanted to exist peacefully and maybe even independently. I love a bad first impression, I think it fits so well with this book and their personalities. But then to see their budding friendship and under the radar romance that they were both oblivious to, it was just lovely. Bri sees Jacob for who he is and how he functions and immediately does what she can to lessen any burden or anxiety on him without thinking twice. It warmed my heart so much especially considering how those things had been overlooked in the past. As someone whose anxiety is very very similar to what Jacob experience, I just can’t say enough about how incredible that representation was. Bri had a lot to unpack, understandably so, and the way that Jacob loved her was everything I wanted. Abby Jimenez writes such beautiful characters who are able to entertain but also able to make readers feel seen and feel deserving of love and respect.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Alright first I want to start off by saying that I frickin' LOVE Abby Jimenez. Her books are perfect feel-good romances with a touch of reality to make it relatable. The conflicts that the characters face aren't far fetched and unnecessarily dramatized but still tell a sweet and realistic love story. My favorite books are the ones that I can relate to on a human level and this one did just that. Jimenez's portrayal of social anxiety and the different ways of coping with it is so on-the-mark and is one of the many things that adds a dynamic layer to a basic romance. I also really love the way Abby Jimenez's books (even the ones unrelated to this particular series) are all in the same world, separated enough to be independent stories but still tangentially related enough to see mentions of our favorite characters living their happy ever afters. I have been looking forward to this book for months and it definitely lived up to the hype. My only complaint is that she doesn't already have more books published! HIGHLY recommend and I can promise I will be talking about it non-stop to anyone who will listen:))