Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Yours Truly!

I love this book for so many reasons -

1. First of all, because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book whose character's experience of anxiety resonated so deeply with my own experience. I feel seen, heard and inspired for my own mental health journey. Thank you <3

2. Abby’s writing draws you straight into the story from page 1 - I feel the emotions with the characters and feel like I’m part of their world

3. Beautiful story and characters, who have the experience of finding their person who accepts and validates them for exactly who they are

And so much more that I can’t fit into a review. All of this to say that you don’t want to miss this one! And while you’re at it, make sure to pick up the rest of Abby’s books because you won’t be disappointed!

Abby Jimenez is a master storyteller. She balances tough topics with funny, lovable characters and a storyline that propels the readers forward towards an ending that comes to before you want to leave the world she has created. In this book, Abby shed light on the tough topics of anxiety, divorce, and acceptance. Abby has done her research and approaches these topics with sensitivity and care. I was fully drawn into this book and did not want to put it down.

Another beautiful and emotional romance from Abby Jimenez.

This author just keeps getting better and better with every book she releases! I love Part of Your World so much that when I learned about this book, I was excited and hoped it would be just as good as the previous one. And it delivers! Yours Truly is my favorite to date!

It’s a heartwarming book with fantastic main characters. Briana and Jacob, both doctors, had an unfortunate first meeting, followed by more misunderstandings. And through letters began a friendship that evolved into a more complicated relationship that involved an act of kindness and fake dating.

I genuinely love both Briana and Jacob. I sympathize with Briana with everything she was going through – her divorce, her job, and especially her brother’s condition. That said, she’s strong and spirited with a heart of gold anyone would be proud to be friends with. Jacob is such a sweet, quiet cinnamon roll! The person I relate to the most. His social anxiety is something I also struggle with, so reading his thoughts and what he does to take control of unfamiliar situations and locations speaks to me. I tend to do some of his actions as well, so it feels comforting to me to read someone, fictional as they may be, that goes through the same motions to lessen stress levels.

Briana and Jacob’s chemistry is top-notch, and their banters are witty and hilarious. The progression of their relationship is terrific too, and I love the writing of their thoughts of each other – how they notice each other’s tells, even the differences in their energy and silence. It’s very lyrical, the way Abby does it. There are bits in the book that talks about energy, listening, overthinking, finding your language, and, most importantly – showing up - that’s so heart stringing to the point of making me cry. That’s how much I relate to and feel about this book.

If you got to this part of my review, please pick up this book and read it. May it bring you the same joy it has given me.

This was a cute, loving and quick read. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about. I had some laughs, was jealous of the dialogue between Jacob and Brianna and learned that love shouldn’t cause harm. Simply a beautiful book that I can honestly recommend to someone that likes a good romance. I very much appreciate the digital ARC that I received from Forever Publishing and NetGalley. This review is my own honest opinion..

I will read anything by Abby Jimenez and strongly suggest you do too. Her books have characters you want to hang out with in real life and stories that will make you a romantic. Yours Truly is no different. Briana and Jacob start off rocky, but as they get to know each other (though a somewhat dated method) they find they have more in common than they though.

Yours Truly follows ER doctor Briana Ortiz, she’s recently going through a divorce and has a brother who is suffering from kidney failure and in need of a donor, and Dr. Jacob Maddox, also an ER doctor recovering from a bad breakup. Jacob has social anxiety and when they first meet, Briana thinks he’s an a-hole, but when he writes her a letter apologizing she crumbles and her previous bad opinion of him disappears.

To prove to his family that he has moved on from his ex, who is set to marry his brother, he tells them he’s dating someone. he’s forced to ask Briana to be is pretend girlfriend until the wedding…

I had the best time of my life reading this book. Seeing Briana and Jacob fall in love was one of the greatest thing ever.

I loved how they each understood each other, how the helped each other heal as well as their time spent together was the cutest thing. The letters, the dual POVs of them slowly realizing how fast they were falling was the best.

These characters had amazing an personal and relationship growth, Jacob’s coping skills with his anxiety is the rep I love to see, especially when Briana listened to him and understood how he felt and did things to protect and help him. Briana had trauma from her past relationship that shattered my heart, and them healing together in the end was an amazing thing to see unravel.

Another great read by Abby Jimenez. She does a great job of writing a RomCom that also is real and has true-to-life problems and situations. Bri and Dr. Jacob Maddox are a hit and another great couple for Abby Jimenez. She has another 5-star book on her hands.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Abby Jimenez can do no wrong. She is easily one of my top favorite romance authors. And this book takes the cake as my favorite of hers yet. MAJOR SWOON!

Where do I even begin with how much I loved this one?! Abby has this way in her writing of making you feel like you’re hearing a story about your friend’s life instead of fictional characters lives. I loved that we got both Brianna & Jacob’s POV; it really made me fall that much harder for the story. Brianna’s quick wit & humor to Jacob’s sweet and serious side was the perfect combination; they had me cracking up! And I don’t think anyone can beat Jacob being my top favorite book boyfriend. (He reminded me so much of my husband, so maybe I’m biased.) This story really made me swoon the entire time; leaving me with all the heart eyes and hugging my kindle afterwards. 5 ⭐️

A HUGE thank you to Netgalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Abby Jimenez for this e-arc. Check out Yours Truly on its pub date 4/11/23!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review!!

I have loved everything that I’ve read by Abby Jimenez & this book was no exception! Jacob was absolutely swoon worthy & the best kind of cinnamon roll MMC you could every want in book. As someone who is introverted and struggles with anxiety this book and his character really resonated with me. i loved seeing how Briana was towards him and helping him overcome thing be never thought he could. I loved Brianas fun natured spirit and the way she was able to show Jacob there’s a way to live with anxiety. I was so happy to see Briana overcome her horrific trauma bc let’s be honest I probably would’ve done more than just glittered the place. 🤣 ifykyk. And can we also talk about Jacobs journal because literal heart eye emojis.

I could not put this book down, I had so many emotions reading this book & was so happy things ended the way they did. I’m looking forward to see what Abby has up her sleeve next! ❤️

Abby does it again!!! I love EVERYTHING she writes. When I got to about 30% I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night finishing this book. It had me laughing, angry, crying, I was feeling all the emotions. Briana though she made me so mad at times, I was so happy she was finally able to get the help she needed. Trying not to spoil anything but her emotional trauma hurt me so much. I have never felt so much for a character before and it broke my heart to finally understand why she did the things she did and all of it made me love Jacob even more. This dude was not backing down and I'm so happy he stuck it out and proved her wrong. Jacob was my person through this whole book and I related to him as I to am an introvert who is awkward in public and don't like to socialize. I really didnt recognize my issues till adulthood and understand that i have social anxieties and sometimes reading books like this help me better understand myself. My husband is definitely Briana as he is a super extrovert, but he always knows what I need in a social setting and I think our relationship made me love this even more.

Briana is a recent divorcee just trying to move on with her life as an ER doc. Jacob is also rebounding after a tough break up, moving to another ER just to escape. When they first meet, Jacob does not leave a good impression. Slowly but surely, though, he begins to win Briana over one letter at a time. When Jacob volunteers to donate a kidney to Briana's sick brother, she will do anything for him, including pretending to date him to show his family he's so over his ex (who is marrying his brother!).

This follows the classic "fake dating" trope and I LOVED it. It was so good and Abby Jiminez's writing is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

What I did not like? The ending felt VERY rushed, there was a surprise pregnancy (as soon as something happened in the story, I said "wow, I hope they don't go that route" and they DID), and I'm sorry, Amy and Jeremiah, Jacob's brother, were just forgiven. Like that.

This book is amazing. Out of all of Abby's books I'm pretty sure this one is my favorite. Briana Ortiz is a Doctor hoping for a promotion and a miracle. Jacob Maddox is a Doctor looking for a fresh start. When they meet its definitely not all roses and butterflies. Between hostility, whit and fun banter, this book has it all and then some. Dysfunctional families play a huge roll in this and I love it because honestly, whose family isn't perfect?! I laughed out loud and cried a few times throughout this book as well.
Read it. You're going to love it. I know I did.

Workplace Romance. Enemies to Friends to More. Fake dating. Slow burn. This book has it all.
Yours Truly starts out with Dr. Briana Ortiz seriously annoyed and frustrated with Dr. Jacob Maddox. He makes a pretty bad first impression on his first day at the hospital and things keep getting worse, until he sends her a letter to explain himself. And omg, then they start exchanging letters and notes and I loved it. I felt like I kept anticipating the next note just as much as Bri and Jacob. As always in Abby’s books, Yours Truly is full of humor, some weird situations, and of course loveable pets. Jacob’s dog has the best name! In a book that covers kidney disease and anxiety, the balance of humor and romance with the heavier topics is perfect. Although there were a couple of things that occurred that I wasn’t a fan of (including a big assumption), the rest of the story outweighed the few parts that bugged me. I do wish the epilogue had been left out, though. The characters were great and the story flowed so well I didn’t want to put the book down. I love the way Abby creates side characters that add so much to the story. Jacob’s family is hilarious. There’s a whole side plot that happens with them that ends up becoming a bigger part of the plot and I liked the way it blended together. Bri’s brother is an important part of the story, but when her mom shows up, she adds some spark to the tension. Really, the amazing characters and the slow burn romance just comes together in a pretty great book. I definitely recommend picking up Yours Truly.
4.5 stars

Wow! This was my first book by Abby Jimenez, and I am kicking myself for just now finding out how amazing her books are. I loved this story for so many reasons, and only have a small quibble with something in the epilogue.

Briana and Jacob are such a great couple, and so real. I loved the fake dating and forced proximity and the catchphrase of "being harmless to each other."

"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."

The mental health rep in this book is outstanding. Briana's brother struggling with depression because of his health and prognosis. Briana herself struggling to cope with the trauma of her husband cheating on her with a close friend, subsequent divorce, loss of her home, etc. (That Jacob's mother recognized the extent of Briana's trauma was great insight into her character.) And Jacob, the MMC, having social anxiety and panic attacks. It's interesting to have the male lead be the one with anxiety, because so often anxiety is portrayed through female characters. Great reminder that mental illness does not really have a gender. Having suffered from generalized anxiety disorder myself, Jimenez's descriptions of anxiety physically in the body and the mental hoops one jumps through are spot on. At one point she calls it "glitchy, staticky feeling" and that's an apt description. I loved that Jimenez highlighted multiple times the positive coping strategies that Jacob employed to manage his anxiety.

Overall the whole book was marvelous! The supporting cast of characters is hilarious, and there are so many worthwhile and engaging side plots. I am immediately planning to read Part of Your World, which focuses on Alexis' story (Briana's best friend).

My only quibble is with an almost throwaway line in the epilogue about Briana having postpartum depression. From the book,

"...she'd had a short bout of postpartum depression after Ava was born. I got her through it."

This is written first person from Jacob's perspective, and something about it rubbed me the wrong way. It came off flippant. For having so much positive mental health rep throughout the book, this idea that Jacob would simply "get Briana through it," as opposed to Jacob supporting her, and also Briana working incredibly hard to live and manage her own disease, really bothered me. I'll admit that I suffered severe PPD and PPA with my daughter and required hospitalization, so I probably am biased. It's a small tidbit in the book that could just be omitted instead.

Thank you so much to Net Galley, the publisher, and author for providing this book for my honest review. Everyone needs to read this book. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love and you will too! I really don’t want to give too much away. Just know if you love romance, you will love this book. This is not just a typical rom-com. There is more depth to it that will pull at your heart strings and at the end of the day will leave you loving life and loving love. This book leaves the reader with more hope for humanity and the world. It’s just the perfect book. Mrs. Jimenez, I truly didn’t think I would ever find a more perfect romance than Part of Your World, but you have outdone yourself with Yours Truly. I can not imagine reading a more perfect romance novel! It’s my absolute favorite! I can’t wait to see what you will write next! Thank you so much for giving us all a little more hope and bringing more love into the world. Jacob and Briana have the most beautiful romance and I can’t wait to read it all over again!

Abby Jimenez has done it again, she writes some of the most emotional books but also the most beauty, she has a way of making her characters really connect with the reader and thus you really feel the emotions the characters are feeling

This book made me so happy my heart literally felt like it was going to explode. nobody will ever beat jacob. no man will ever compare. i loved getting glimpses of alexis and daniel’s relationship! this book reminded me of why i love best friends to lovers so much. the love they have for each other is so genuine like omg they GET each other.

Abby Jiminez is one of my auto buy authors and she did NOT disappoint with Yours Truly. This book was so funny and the characters so real. Jacob has anxiety and the anxiety representation in this book was so well done that I was highlighting passages nodding my head like YES THAT’S ME. I’ve never felt so seen in a character. I think he might be one of my favorite Abby men. This book was packed with a lot and it was definitely an emotional roller coaster. I understood what Bri was going through but the conflict felt a little forced and I was side eyeing her a little bit. I definitely think there should have been some warnings in this book because I was surprised by one of the plot points and it might be difficult for others. However, even though there were some difficult topics, it was also filled with humor and I found myself laughing a lot. I also loved the letters they wrote back and forth to each other. Definitely a new favorite by Abby. 4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the eARC!

I feel like this book was written for me, I empathized with both main characters but especially the MMC. They both work in health care (me!) and Jacob has anxiety (me again!). I love fake dating technically this is also coworkers-to-lovers. I called one of the reveals pretty early on and I'm not mad about it at all. I can see where this won't be a lot of people's cup of tea just because of the sheer amount of tropes Abby Jimenez hits on (third act breakup, miscommunication, surprise pregnancy). Also, a fair amount of trigger warnings (cheating, miscarriage, chronic illness, social anxiety). But especially at the beginning I loved the letters Jacob and Bri wrote to each other. I don't usually highlight too much but I had about a dozen LONG sections highlighted because they spoke to me so much and even teared up a little at the end with the journal. Also, I wish there were more words of wisdom from Mama Joy. This is a high contender for being one of my favorite books of 2023 - it's only January but I'm calling it now.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

ER doctor Briana Ortiz has sworn off relationships after her husband of over a decade cheats on her with her friend. While her divorce is being finalized, Bri’s brother awaits a kidney donor. Her full plate is only made worse when the newest ER doctor at her hospital, Jacob Maddox, is put in the running for the promotion she wanted. Anxiety-ridden, introverted Jacob is going through his own suffering as his ex-girlfriend gets engaged to his brother. Jacob and Bri get off on the wrong foot after a mishap and avoid each other in the beginning. To apologize, Jacob writes Bri a letter which sets off their friendship. While their friendship is blossoming, Jacob finds out he is a perfect match to be Bri’s brother’s kidney donor but wishes to remain anonymouse. Meanwhile, Bri agrees to fake date Jacob for a few months to convince his family that he has moved on from his ex-girlfriend. While Bri and Jacob try to convince everyone they’re in love, they quickly fall more and more for each other. They remain hesitant to state their love, though, for fear that the other is only faking affections as part of the act due to trauma each has been through.

This is basically the Hallmarkification of Grey’s Anatomy and I’m fucking here for it. It took me to about the 20% mark to really get into this story. I got HOOKED after that. I know the first 20% was slow for me because Jimenez was building up our relationship with the main characters - Briana and Jacob - and I’m just impatient. I love Briana and Jacob and think they’re well-written, complex characters. I would like a Jacob Maddox for Christmas plz and ty.

Jacob is an introverted sexy af man with severe anxiety (especially in social interactions). While I related to the inner self-torture of his anxiety, I really related to Bri in this. She feels like she has to be everyone’s caretaker and is trying to find herself again. She is also emotional and loud and touchy-feely and Latina just like me. We’re the extroverts who invade your space and force friendship on you in a loving way.

In terms of the story, I love how Jimenez portrayed anxiety, depression, trauma, mistrust of men, and dealing with major life issues. I think she did a great job while still keeping the story light and happy overall. While there were some dark issues like a marriage affair, depression, and severe anxiety, Jimenez (in my eyes) handled it tastefully and in a way that pushed the plot forward while maintaining a light-hearted story. My only gripe with the story was how long the miscommunication went on (but I understand where it comes from cause of Bri & Jacob’s past experiences). Like other rom-com novels, there’s some predictable aspects of the book but you still get all teehee☺️ when it happens. You are rooting for these two to be their best selves. And rooting for them to f*ck.