Ok-for anyone who thinks I hand out 5 stars like candy-here’s a solid 4 1/2 ⭐️ review. Abby Jimenez writes great romance. You root for the characters and their stories, and like a good romance, there’s plenty of escape. In this book, Brianna and Jacob are working in the same ER. Brianna’s up for a promotion, but Jacob’s sudden hiring in the department puts a pause on that. She is livid. Through wacky circumstances, they cook up a plan to have a fake romance. The romance inevitably turns real. My hesitation in giving 5 stars is this-Jacob is too perfect (men are simply not made as perfectly as he is!) and Brianna, in her hesitation to fall in love with him, is kind of annoying. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot as she hesitates. Alls well that ends well with this inevitably sweet romance. It’s worth picking up if just to fantasize about Jacob:) Thanks to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for an advanced copy of this book which releases on 4/11! #yourstruly #abbyjimenez #abbyjimenezbooks #netgalley #goodreads #romancebooks

I rarely rate a book 5 stars. For me to rate 5 stars I have to be emotionally invested in the book and its characters. I was so invested in this story, I didn’t want it to end. I loved the complicated characters and their struggles. I loved Jacob and his struggles with anxiety. He was written sensitively and realistically. Finally a book where the male love interest isn’t 6’4 tall. I adored Brianna and Jacobs banter. The letter writing was my favourite. This book had it all and self deprecating making fun of itself with the fake dating trope jokes. I even didn’t mind the miscommunication which is my least favourite trope. I absolutely loved Lieutenant Dan and kept saying his name in my head like Forrest Gump. Any book that has Smallville and Tom Welling references is a winner in my book. Abby Jimenez has done it again writing the perfect romance. Abby’s note at the back was enlightening. I highly recommend this novel if you’re looking for a romance with well written characters, humour and heart. This will immediately be on my staff favourite shelf.

Dr. Briana Ortiz is not in the best place - her brother is seriously ill, her divorce from her cheating husband has just been finalized and a new doctor has joined the hospital she works at. After a series of run-in’s, Dr Jacob Maddox throws Briana off completely by sending her a letter. Before they know it, they are fast friends. When Jacob needs a date to bring to his brother’s wedding, Briana eagerly agrees to be his fake girlfriend for the next few months leading up to the wedding. Neither of them is expecting those feelings to possibly develop into anything more complicated.

What a sweet, hilarious, heartfelt story!! I always say I don’t love rom-com’s, but when one like THIS comes along, my murderous, thriller-loving heart can’t help but fall head-over-heels for it. The characters were relatable, the plot was well-executed and even the miscommunication trope (my least favorite), didn’t deter me from rooting for Briana and Jacob. The letters Jacob and Briana wrote each other were so sweet too! As someone who suffers from anxiety myself, I really appreciated the way Jacob handled it and how Briana helped him through it. My heart also went out to Briana’s brother Benny, and their whole family really, for how they had to live through Benny’s kidney disease. I had to fight back tears at one point, and had I not been in the school picking line reading, I easily would have been sobbing in my car. This easily gets all the stars from me!

Thank you to Netgalley, Abby Jimenez and Forever for the ARC! “Yours Truly” releases April 11th!

This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

Read if you like:
💌 Handwritten Letters
🧠 Mental Health Rep
🏥 Hospital Settings
✍🏻 Pride and Prejudice References
🩺 Workplace Romances
❤️ He Falls First
💋 Fake Dating
🛌 One Bed/ Forced Proximity

This one basically has all the tropes and I am so freaking here for it! It starts with a slight and short lived enemies vibe which quickly turns to friendship between Bri and Jacob as they begin to write letters to each other and the tension starts to build quickly. I loved the Pride and Prejudice reference with their letters. It was so freaking swoon worthy and when it came full circle by the end of the book I about cried when we got the ‘Yours Truly’.

This one is a sloooow burn but don’t let that disillusion you from reading it because that dang tension! It was absolutely papable, even when they were just in their letter writing phase I was hooked for this love story!

I loved the one bed and forced proximity as that definitely helped increase the tension, and I’m a tension girly so it was definitely welcomed!

There is one trope that makes an appearance in this one that I know many people may not like, but I have to say it doesn’t bother me in the slightest and was well done in its inclusion.

There is a 3rd act break-up and some miscommunication but truly I think with the characters it was bound to happen or it would have felt unrealistic given their pasts.

Thank you so so so so so much Forever Books for my ARC of this one! I was so incredibly grateful to read it in advance of its release in exchange for my honest thoughts!

This is only the second book I've read by Abby Jimenez, and while not a sequel, it contains some of the same characters that were in Part of Your World. I thought this one would probably be a little more rom-comy, but there really wasn’t a lot of comedy in the plot at all. With that said, there were a few very funny scenes (one made me seriously laugh out loud), and both main characters had a great sense of humor. But this is a serious book about serious issues, specifically, anxiety. I really appreciated how well this tough topic was discussed and I think it was very accurately portrayed showing how debilitating it can be. I did get a little tired of the trope-iness of the trope and felt that that could’ve progressed a little bit faster, but I get it. Overall, a very good read and I’m glad I made time for it. Bri & Jacob are great characters. Hat tip to the author for the Forward discussing possible content triggers. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever, Grand Central Publishing for an early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Yours Truly will be released on 4/11/2023.

i absolutely adored this book. it is so cute. briana is such a strong fmc and jacob is the EPITOME of a cinnamob roll hero. i would do anything for that man.

this book did an incredible job with the anxiety representation. it was so great to see how an anxious person’s mind works and see what it means for someone else to really understand that illness. briana’s patience and understanding with jacob every time they had to socialize was so sweet. she always gave him a SAFE WORD GUYS. one that if he used it meant he could leave the social situation for a little while. i love that so much. i NEED that.

it was also great to see briana finally confront her demons through the course of the book and recognize that jacob isn’t like all the men in her past. the development of their relationship was so beautifully done.

this whole book was so so so cute. i loved the ER setting. i loved the letters they wrote. i loved their friendship. i loved her relationship with his family and vice versa. i loved everything about this book EXCEPT the fact that they didn’t have a real conversation about their feelings until the 80% mark. the miscommunication that resulted from this just dragged on a little bit and made me anxious just like jacob. but it all worked out in the end and i truly believe these two are soulmates. if they were real, they’d be together forever.

Such a good book, I read it in two days! This was four stars for me, because I loved Part of Your World so much more.

Bri is an ER physician who cannot stand the new guy in the ER, Jacob, that she perceives to be her competition for her next promotion.

Jacob is just solid gold. Biggest nice guy, I'll give the shirt off my back type, ever. Without giving away any spoilers, he makes a massive decision pretty early on, because he is just that selfless and he just wants to see her smile.

This big decision ultimately leads Jacob and Bri to their fake dating deal. This became a little frustrating to me because as the reader the outward signals from both of them appear extremely obvious as to how fast these two fall for each other. Bri begins to struggle both mentally and emotionally, and takes some time to go see her friend Alexis (and Daniel, Hunter, Doug, and Kevin Bacon) in Wakan, which I loved! Jacob, ever the good guy, asks to come visit her, because love shows up.

Trigger warnings: affair, miscarriage, chronic illness, depression

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I adored Briana and Jacob. These characters are so well written. Jacob has anxiety, and Bri is currently overwhelmed but also deeply scarred from hurt in her past. They're each truly able to see the other and just inherently know how to support the other person. Their fake dating brings out the best in both of them and helps them heal, except there's a lot of pining and incorrect assumptions. The book moves them through the time leading up to his brother's wedding and then the kidney transplant.
This book is full of all the signature Abby elements - a sweet dog, amazing friends, quirky relatives (Jacob's grandpa especially!), and the magic of Minnesota. We see Alexis from Part of Your World multiple times and even get a trip to Wakan so Daniel is around, too.

I have never been more emotional while reading a book than I was reading this.
I read Part of Your World a few weeks ago and couldn’t wait to start this.

I absolutely loved all of the the characters and their character development in this. Based off books I’ve read in the past, I’ve never read anything that has included mental health in it that hasn’t been cringy. The way Abby was able to write the struggles of living with anxiety, depression, and trauma felt so real and easy to relate with. I think it helped that she spent time discussing with a trauma specialist counselor and a psychologist, I appreciate when authors actually put in the time to research and gather information to make it as accurate as possible.

This is easily going to be one of my top reads of this year and Abby Jimenez has definitely become one of my favorite authors.

Love shows up.

I loved every second of this book! Even the minutes when I was also having a panic attack with one of the main characters. Even when my heart was breaking and desperate to hug one of the main characters. Even when I was afraid this book would traumatize me (it didn’t).
Briana is a fantastic ER doctor. She loves her work and she is dedicated but she is also hurting. He ex-husband (is a bag of tools) and cheated on her and now her divorce is looming over her. Her brother is in need of a kidney transplant but a donor is hard to find. And her bestie has moved away, gotten married and started a life without her.
Jacob is the newest ER doctor in the same hospital as Briana and he is having a very, very rough start. His first day he has a record number of deaths (not his fault) the nurses don’t like him and his anxiety is through the roof. And also he finds out his ex-girlfriend is going to marry his brother so that’s fun!
After their initial, very bad meet cute, Bri and Jacob get to know each other and their friendship takes off. With dips and near crashes along the way of course!
Bri and Jacob are top 5 favorite couples. Their banter and care and goodness was just more than words. Their extended family and pets had me rolling laughing. It was an absolute joy to read this love story.
Favorite quotes:

“Briana was a catastrophic life event. A thing that changed everything. And I wouldn’t be the same after this. All the women i’d ever met and all the women I ever would fell away beneath her.” -Jacob

“Love shows up!” - Bri

“It’s funny to think that even sitting there on the floor with her, uncomfortable and tired, was better than sitting anywhere else in the world without her. I didn’t even want to go to sleep because I’d rather be awake and with the woman I love, than risk being alone in my dreams.” - Jacob

Thank you Forever Publishing for my early copy! All thoughts are my own.

I think this is my first “big feelings” book of 2023 and omg did I love it. I have never read an Abby Jimenez book with my eyes, so I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it as much without the audio, but my goodness was I wrong. From the first chapter, I was totally and completely engrossed with Bri and Jacob’s world. I loved the family dynamics, getting to check in with Alexis and Daniel, from Part of Your World, and the perfect cocktail of tropes. We had workplace romance, fake dating, mutual pining, notes/letter writing, and even more.

I will say, this is not a Rom Com. There is a lot of Rom and a lot of Com, but ultimately, this book wrecked me emotionally. I still loved it, but it was definitely heavier in my opinion than Part of Your World.

Synopsis:

“ER doctor Briana Ortiz has had it up to here with men. She just finalized a divorce from her cheating husband, and the new guy at work has been nicknamed Dr. Death for losing seven patients on his first day. Yet when she tries to console him about it, his abrupt rudeness totally takes her aback. With a brother who desperately needs a kidney transplant, Bri has enough to worry about without work drama on top of it. Then she gets the sweetest letter from Dr. Death—er, Dr. Jacob Maddox—himself, and suddenly everything becomes clearer.Bri does the only thing she can think of. She writes him back. And he writes her. And soon Jacob’s little notes are the highlight of her day. Both are shocked when it turns out Jacob is a donor match for Bri’s brother’s transplant. Willing to do anything to express her gratitude at his sacrifice, Bri agrees to go as Jacob’s date to his brother’s wedding. They’re not dating for real, of course. But Jacob’s boisterous family doesn’t know that. And when they get the wrong impression, there’s nothing to do but go along with the charade...” —StoryGraph

What I Liked:

The Banter—The banter in the first 60% of this book was so good. It was exactly what I look for in Romance that keeps me turning page after page and staying up past my bedtime.

The Social Anxiety Rep—As someone with severe social anxiety, but works in an industry where I have to have it under control like Jacob, I felt so seen by this story. Anxiety can be very personal and how we all deal with our mental health is different, but this mirrored something so personal for me and I really appreciated it.

The Pacing for the first 75%—The pacing was on point and I couldn’t put it down!

Exploration of Love After Trauma—Oof. OOF. Bri’s story was so difficult to digest at points but also so important. It’s not something I have intimate experience with but my heart absolutely broke for her.

The Tropes—Such a great combo of tropes. So many of my favs!

What Didn’t Work:

The 3rd Act Break Up—Speaking of OOF. This 3rd act break up was so drawn out and got a bit redundant as a reader, but as a human, I know it could be incredible realistic.

Is it Miscommunication or Is it Mutual Pining?—But speaking of that 3rd act break up…I am undecided where this falls. I’ll need more trusted sources to read it and discuss it was with me to firm up my opinion.

Character Authenticity: 5/5 Spice Rating: 1.5/5 Overall Rating: 5/5

Content Warnings:

Panic Attacks, Anxiety, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Chronic Illness, Abandonment, Terminal Illness, Organ Donation, Emotional Abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic Relationship

This book was EVERYTHING! Fake dating and enemies to lovers between two (they feel they are) broken people, (social anxiety) mental health talk, written letters, and a whole lot of heart.

Brianna and Jacob have been dealt bad hands.
Bri- A divorce from a cheating husband, trying to find a donor for her brother that has kidney failure, and the possibility of losing a job she has earned.
Jacob- His ex girlfriend and his brother engaged to be married, a new job to not have to work with her, being called Dr. Death on the first day of the new job, and severe social anxiety that people mistake for his being a jerk.

The way Bri really helps Jacob manage social things in a way that no one else has is very heartwarming. She can center him and she knows quickly how to give him an out when needed. Jacob is just the sweetest!

The last little bit of this book had me SOBBING!
I think this book of Abby's shot into my second place slot!

I am in awe of Abby Jiminez and this book 🥹

This was my second Jiminez book, and I think I’m a convert. She writes the most beautiful, complex relationships, absolutely wonderful mental health rep, tension you can cut through, and banter that makes me literally laugh out loud. And SUCH lovable characters.

I truly adore both Brianna and Jacob, and I found their relationship to be so charming from the very beginning. Jacob struggles with debilitating anxiety, and Bri is getting over a very messy and life altering divorce. I love that these characters are older, ABD they have very complicated prior relationships that affect how they show up now. This also makes them incredibly realistic and relatable.

These two had me truly giddy almost nonstop reading this book, and I had the most difficult time putting it down. Not only do they balance eachother perfectly, but they help heal eachother from past hurts, meet one another where they are, and yet still challenge eachother to grow. They have such a healthy, adorable friendship, and the transition to more via fake dating was so well fleshed out and sweet. I truly felt like I was falling in love with these characters alongside them.

I’m definitely adding Jiminez to my auto-buy list, which says a lot as I judge rom coms quite harshly compared to other genres. I just loved everything about this one, and everything about Part of Your World (the book this spun off from). Thank you so much to Forever Publishing & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title before publishing!

Abby Jimenez has done it again!

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This is the second book to Part Of Your World and centers around Brianna and Jacob. They are both newly single following bad relationships. While they start off on the wrong foot their friendship grows and leads to so much more. Like Abby’s other books this one also deals with heavy topics. Brianna’s brother is going through kidney failure and Jacob has social anxiety.

The love story in this book was so well written. I cried multiple times just out of live I felt for Jacob. His social anxiety was so well written and the way Brianna handled it was amazing! They had so much chemistry!

I docked half a star because I didn’t love the miscommunication that happened in the book and Brianna really bothered me. While I loved them as a couple her by herself was hard for me to handle. Jacob really carried the book as far as main characters go.

I loved this book! While the plot is predictable (fake relationship that turns real), the characters are great. Jacob, a kind, gentle doctor with clinical anxiety, meets Briana, also a doctor who is not afraid to say what’s on her mind, fiercely loyal, and very protective of those she loves. The story is told by alternating narrators: Jacob and Briana.
Soon after I started reading this book, I knew I would love it and I was hooked from the beginning. I really liked how the characters grow and develop throughout the story, and how the author weaves important issues into the story while raising awareness on mental health.
I liked the large-family dynamics, and it was also great to hear about Alexis and Daniel, and Vanessa, even if it only was a brief reference to her.

Thanks to Forever for the advanced copy of this book.

#AbbyJimenez #TrulyYours

When a book makes you laugh AND cry you know it’s a winner.

I read Yours Truly pretty much in one sitting. It was so addicting I couldn’t put it down.

In Yours Truly, Dr. Briana Ortiz is finalizing her divorce, taking care of her brother who is experiencing kidney failure, and just generally trying to keep it together. When a new doctor comes into her ER and is a threat to her job it’s just enough for her make an enemy of him - or is it?? (Haha, I mean of course… we all know how this goes)

Abby Jimenez is just seriously one of the best contemporary romance writers out there. Her characters are so wonderful and real. There’s so much compassion and fragility that you can’t help but love them.

Out April 11, 2023.

𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝓊𝓅. 
 
No review will ever do this book justice. Yours Truly is a novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious fake dating, and the joy in finding your perfect match. It’s relatable, emotional, and incredibly romantic. Even months after reading this I constantly find myself thinking about it. I’ll never look at roadkill the same. This is a story that stays with you long after you finish reading it.  
 
Dr. Briana Ortiz is going through some serious shit. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time and hope to find a kidney donor, and the promotion she deserves is probably going to the new man-doctor, Dr. Jacob Maddox. She’s all set to claim Jacob as her nemesis but then he goes and sends Briana a giant red velvet cupcake and a hand written letter. And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob should be everyone’s next book boyfriend. He’s this fantastically funny and subversively likable guy who’s terrible at first impressions because of his anxiety disorder. Suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters and sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,”. But when Jacob gives Briana the best gift imaginable, a kidney to her brother, she doesn’t know how she’s going to possibly repay him. Until she finds out Jacob’s in need of a date to his brothers engagement party to Jacob’s ex girlfriend and Brian’s just the girl for the job. 
 
Fake dating is my favorite rom com tropes and this one knocks it out of the park! It’s a very slow burn, with some seriously funny moments coupled with moments of crying. To me this book represents growth, healing, and stepping out of your comfort zone for someone you love. It tackles big topics that aren’t easy to discuss. All the characters are so lovable and I can’t forget to mention the three legged dog Lieutenant Dan. Do I have you sold yet??

RUN do not walk to get this book. It’s officially out on 4/11.
 
Read if you like: 
- Doctor romance  
- MMC with anxiety disorder  
- Fake dating  
- Enemies to friends to lovers  
- Transplant/Organ Donation  
- Dual POV  
- Slow-burn 🌶️ 
- Second chance

TW: Anxiety, Hospitals, Autoimmune disease and organ failure

Abby Jiminez does it AGAIN.

Jacob is an anxious ER doc who starts at Brianna’s hospital. It’s HER ER room, how dare he come in and try to take the job she’s been going for! After having coexisting panic attacks in the ER supply closet, the initial bad feelings have started to disperse and Jacob and Bri start leaving little notes for each other. His regard for her grows, and he starts to understand more and more about her and her brother Benny’s kidney failure. Jacob has his own family stuff going on- his little brother is now engaged to be married to Jacob’s ex, and he has told his meddling sisters and mom that he is dating somebody at work… cue FAKE RELATIONSHIP yeehaw!!

I freaking loved this, it meant so much that it took place in MN because I have only had that happen with the Unhoneymooners. They even mentioned at one point the transplant center at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, at which point I exclaimed, ROCHESTER!!! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that mentioned my hometown by name, so I was excited to say the least.

This was a heartfelt, sweet story, and I would recommend it to lovers of romcoms with emotion, also lovers of Grey’s Anatomy because drama and doctors go together like pb and j. I can't wait for y'all to get your hands on Yours Truly!

The perfect romance book doesn’t exis—

Oh yes it does. And this book is it. I wish I could give this book more than a 5⭐️ because I just don’t feel like a 5 truly reflects how much I loved every second of this book. This is the definition of “show don’t tell” in romance and even though this was far from a spicy love story, it had my heart melting over and over again. These characters were just so on point and I loved the way Abby Jimenez wove their characterization together including how they dealt with trauma and mental health. I mean I just really didn’t want this book to ever end. It was everything. It’s only March but I can already tell this is going to be a top 10 for me for the year. Thank you Abby Jimenez for writing such an amazing love story.

This book releases April 11th 2023! Don’t miss it!!

Thank you to Forever Pub and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is on the decline. Her divorce is finalizing and her brother is in desperate need of a kidney donor. And to top it off, the new man-doctor in the ER seems to have stolen her promotion right out from under her. But just when Briana thinks she couldn’t possibly hate him any more, Dr. Jacob Maddox writes her a letter. After exchanging letters and having lunch dates in Briana’s designated “sob closet”, she starts to believe he might not be all that bad.

This book has me convinced Abby Jimenez can do no wrong! I loved Part of Your World SO much, if you haven’t read that one I highly recommend it! I couldn’t get enough of this book and flew through it in only a few days. I LOVED BRI AND JACOB. Oh my gosh y’all did I love them! Jacob’s anxiety really spoke to me and I connected on a such a deep level with his character. I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole life and Abby did such an incredible job with his character! Bri’s journey to letting go and allowing her heart to love and trust again was so heartwarming. Jacob is super high on my list of book boyfriends! And I have to mention the organ donation subplot. I’ve been part of multiple transplants through my job as a nurse in the operating room and seeing transplant so well represented in this book warmed my heart more than anything! I will warn you, you’ll see the miscommunication trope and I understand not everyone is a fan. A big thank you to Abby Jimenez and Forever for my gifted copy! Yours Truly is out 04.11.23!