This book starts off with a scenario that we all hope will never happen. Engaged to someone else and your husband comes back. I have to admit I didn’t agree with Jesse going away on their anniversary. Who does that?! I really loved Sam, and could’ve read a whole book about him. I loved Emma’s parents working in a bookshop would’ve loved to hear more about the bookshop. I know it wasn’t about that though. I enjoyed the ending and I hope Taylor goes to back to romance books.

This was my first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid and I was blown away by the depth of her writing. This is one of those books that will have you thinking, "What would I do in this situation??". So many beautiful moments, the prose is amazing, and TJR is now an auto-buy author after reading this one!

Thank you for the chance to read and review One True Loves. Unfortunately, I could not get into it and since I didn't finish it, I won't be reviewing.

Taylor made the soap opera cliche of a lover returning from the dead into a realistic heartbreaking read. (Dallas’ Bobby Ewing, I’m looking at you.) You really feel for Emma as her life seemingly falls apart again just when it came back together. Despite his ordeal, I found Jesse to be a tad selfish for thinking he’d just swoop in and resume life as normal. At its core though, One True Loves is a thoughtfully sweet tale about growing up, changing your mind and discovering who you want to be and whether a former version of yourself is your true self. I also especially loved Emma’s family and their family run bookstore. It evoked string memories of all the years I worked at Waldenbooks/Borders.

Definitely look for One True Loves at your local bookseller.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Special Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After hearing about TJR for the past year, I finally understand what all of the hype is about! She manages to write a beautiful story that engages the reader and keeps them wanting to find out what happens next. Definitely give this one a try!

Emma started dating Jesse when they were in high school and after college they got married. They were so happy and perfect for each other so when Jesse disappears after a helicopter crash Emma is devastated and heartbroken and doesn't know how to put her life back together. She moves home and slowly but surely things start coming together, including meeting and becoming engaged to another man. So when Jesse shows up alive and well, Emma is torn between the two men that she loves, her true loves.

I've read my fair share of Nicholas Sparks books and while I do enjoy them, they can definitely be a little hokey if you know what I mean. This is so not true with One True Loves. TJR does a great job of making the characters and their decisions relatable and also very real as well. I'll definitely be picking up more of her books in the future!

Only the second TJR book that I have read and it is definitely a winner! It also solidified a place for this author on my must-read list.

Thank you to Net Galley and Washington Square Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Another homerun from Taylor Jenkins Reid! I just absolutely love her books and this one was no exception. She writes stories with characters that are real, themes that are relatable and her books aren't filled with a lot of fluff or overblown drama.
One True Loves tells the story of Emma, who after losing her first husband in a tragic accident, has finally rebuilt her life and found love again with an old friend. Just as she is ready to move forward and get married again, she gets a most unexpected phone call, from Jessie her husband who has been found alive. Emma finds herself having to decide what life she wants, the one from her past or her future. Who is her one true love?
This was a touching and different type of love story. I was sucked right into the story and read the book in one day. To me that is the sign of a great book.

4.5 stars!!!

This is a beautifully written, emotional story about love, loss and second chances. Angsty and heart-felt, this book took me on an emotional rollercoaster and I fell in love with Emma’s character, and I loved her unique and emotional journey.


I think that perhaps everyone has a moment that splits their life in two. When you look bak on your own timeline, there’s a sharp spike somewhere along the way, some event that changed you, changed your life, more than the others.
A moment that creates a “before” and an “after.”


Emma Blair was living the life she always wanted. In her 20s she was married to her high school sweetheart, Jesse, had a dream job, travelled the world, and she lived in LA far away from her family and the life that, as a teenager, she desperately wanted to escape. She and Jesse live on their own terms, following their dreams and doing what makes them happy. And then her life is ripped out from underneath her when Jesse goes missing in the Pacific Ocean after a fatal helicopter crash. Consumed with grief and struggling to keep moving forward, Emma returns home to her family.

Slowly, she starts to live again. She finds work, she gets her own place, and she finds ways to cope with her devastating loss. And then she runs into Sam. Sam was a childhood friend who had a crush on her years ago, and from the moment they see each other again, attraction sizzles. Sam is different to Jesse and what they have together is very different to her old life, but with him Emma finds peace, happiness, and a sense of ‘rightness’ that has been missing for so long, and she makes the decision to let go of her past and take a leap into love for the second time in her life.


Good things don’t wait until you’re ready. Sometimes they come right before, when you’re almost there.
And I figured when that happens, you can let them pass by like a bus not meant for you. Or you can get ready.


But her life is turned upside down once again when Jesse is found alive, having survived a nightmare while fighting to make his way home to his wife.

Oh my God, this book messed with my emotions. Emma was lucky enough to find true love twice in her life, and when she is forced to choose between those loves, her heart is literally torn in two. Not only does she need to figure out where her heart truly lies, but she does it knowing that whatever she decides, she’ll be breaking the heart of somebody that she loves.


“I love you.”
“I know you do,” he says. “But I’m not the only one you love. And you can only have one. And it might not be me.”


The book takes us back in time so we get to see Emma’s life with both Jesse and Sam, and I love that we got to experience both of her relationships. It makes the present so much more meaningful, and I could understand and empathise with all that Emma was feeling. Jesse and Sam are both wonderful men, and I honestly loved them both, and I love the way the author didn’t downplay the significance of the men in Emma’s life, and the relationships that she had with them. She loves both of them dearly, and they love her in return. They are both good men, and her life with both of them was a happy, fulfilling one.

But a decision has to be made, and though I read with tears streaming down my face at times, I love the way this book played out. Emma’s decision was heart-wrenching and the angst levels are high, and though I didn’t always agree with her actions (view spoiler), I understood her reasoning, I felt her pain, and my heart ached with her as she made the biggest decision of her life. Her journey was beautiful.


I don’t think that true love means your only love.
I think true love means loving truly.
Loving purely. Loving wholly.


I loved this book. As I have come to expect from this author, I was sucked right into the story and struggled to put it down. Her writing is smart and beautifully emotive, and her story is realistic, heartfelt and romantic with wonderful characters and great development.

An unforgettable read. 4.5 stars.