Fans of rom coms will enjoy this mash up of sub-genres, including enemies to lovers, fake dating, and grumpy-sunshine. The central female character, Dr. Briana Ortiz, is equal parts strong, soft, and aspirational, while her new co-worker, the sometimes-brooding Jacob, is secretly thoughtful and emotional in all the right ways.
The book occasionally crosses the line into pandering territory, where it feels like the author is going out of her way to make sure the characters are woke enough or to play to what she expects will tug the reader's heartstrings, but for the most part, it's a sweet, enjoyable read. My biggest gripes were that it took these incredibly intelligent humans so long to figure out that their counterparts liked them *for real*, and that Briana is so incredibly in tune with and sensitive to Jacob's introversion and social anxiety, but she sort of throws all of that out the window near the end. It felt like there was a decent chunk of the last third of the book that was leading with plot rather than character-- and to the detriment of the characters in that the events were so far outside what had been set up earlier. BUT, all in all, Yours Truly is a solid entry in the space and has some deeper themes that readers will love.

Synopsis:
Between her looming divorce, her brother’s declining health, and her impending promotion, Briana Ortiz’s life is in disarray. Things only get more complicated when Dr. Jacob Maddox joins her team and becomes her competition for the promotion. Once Brianna gets to know Jacob, she realizes that he is much more than a broody competitor, and could be the one person to help her move forward in life.

Read if you like:
- Enemies to lovers
- Fake dating
- Family drama

Overall:
Abby Jimenez is officially one of my favorite authors! After reading Part of Your World this summer, I was excited to read Brianna’s story in Yours Truly. Like Part of Your World, I couldn’t put this book down! I loved the characters, their hilarious dialogue, and representation of individuals with chronic health and mental health challenges. While this is a spin off from Part of Your World, it could be read as a stand alone. Now please excuse me while I read all other Abby Jimenez books

5/5 stars

Thank you Grand Central Pub and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Both characters were so likable. Loved the workplace romance/fake dating. I feel like it was a unique take and wasn’t like anything I had read before. Loved the mental health representation, especially in a male main character. Super enjoyable and the end had my heart in pieces. We all need a Jacob! Would highly recommend.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61918479

This book made me cry buckets with a smile on my face. I loved every page. Delightfully real characters with their own vulnerabilities, humor laced throughout, loads of chemistry and tension, with a satisfying happily ever after.

I read this book in one evening. What a sweet, heartfelt book about two people falling in love. I loved the back and forth perspectives of Jacob and Bri. Such a lovely book!

You know when you finish books sometimes and you go back to thinking about it overall and some books have a strong start, a low middle and a strong finish? or ANY other combination of the three? Well this was ALL highs and I am BEYOND obsessed with literally everything about this book so so much! This was my first Abby Jimenez book and I cannot believe I waited this long to read one! Abby wrote this so perfectly, it had allll of my guilty pleasures; fake dating, forced proximity, a bad ass female main character and the one I have learned I love so much is the super shy anxious cinnamon-roll male main character that has you swooning like a fool.

The not so meet cute between Briana and Jacob turned Jacob into one of Briana's "enemies" [but like for just the briefest of moments until he does something as adorable as writing her a letter] because once she started to know more about him, and hanging out with him she melted like butter at how adorably cute he was. She had the exact same effect on him and grounded him when things were anxious and could read his "quiets" perfectly. Ugh....I can't even get over how great this was honestly.

Long story short Jacob has found himself in bit of a situation, his now ex gf Amy of two years and his younger brother are now an item, and ENGAGED after only a few month of him and Amy breaking up. Naturally his family was worried about him, well he had enough and lied about having a girlfriend. Here is where Briana comes in, they were already hanging out a bit and they seemed like lost souls coming together / super comfortable with each other. NOW she's his fake gf and well im pretty sure you can all guess how things went from here...

This is now one of my favorite reads of the YEAR! Loved the flirtatious moments, the sad ones, the anxious ones and well basically everything. I cried at how sweet Jacob was, at how strong Briana was and how sweet and perfect for one another they were because they showed up for each other. This also had me laughing out loud so much, I swooned literally at EVERYTHING Jacob did. Such a fun read and the only complaint I have is that im sad its over; but the epilogue gave me SOME peace and it was just "chefs kiss*
Definitely cannot recommend this enough!


Thank you for Forever Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

100% recommend! Thanks net galley for the arc. Abby is becoming one of my favorite authors! I love how she intwines the same characters between her books.

Will I ever read a book by Abby and not love it? No, the answer will always be no. Abby is one of my auto buy authors and for good reason.

Abby writes with a mixture of humour, romance, full heart, emotion, and always tackling tough subjects with importance but with gentleness. Her mental health representation is always spot on.

A book that can make you laugh, swoon, cry, and make your heart absolutely melt into a million pieces is a book well done and that’s what Abby does for me.

Yours Truly

🧠 Mental health from a male perspective was so beautiful to read. Jacobs anxiety and his coping mechanisms (journaling, plant 🪴 room, meds, his dog!!) it was so well done

❤️‍🩹 Briana is one of the strongest female characters. The pain she has gone through and her resilience was inspiring to read. Her heartbreak was handled with a gentleness but she is also a bad ass. She also had a tender side when it comes to Jacob and it’s was lovely to read

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 The family in this book is everything!! From a quirky family to a family that has faced loss ❤️❤️

🐶 I’m a sucker for a dog in a book. To me dogs are the perfect companion for someone struggling with mental health and the way Jacob and his dog both needed each other was 🥺🥺🥺

Favourite quotes

“I was ruminating and it wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t getting me anywhere. So I used the skills I’d learned in therapy. Redirected my thoughts. Tried to ground myself by focusing on what I knew to be true.”

“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 colourful and dark and jagged and beautiful. And I love every piece of you. Even the ones you wish didn’t exist.”

Thank you @readforeverpub for my copy

My new favorite AJ book. So swoony and full of angst! Looooooved it! I also loved that we got cameos from Alexis and Daniel. I was worried I wouldn't love this one as much because Briana didn't stand out to me in Part of Your World, but I quickly become obsessed with her. And Jacob? Swoon doesn't even begin to describe this male lead. Love! 5 stars!

Abby Jimenez has a way with sucking you into a story in the most beautiful way. When you read her books, you are invested, you are breathing a breath of fresh air of romance, humor and enjoyment. But beyond that, she has a way to deepen the storyline with tough issues, heartbreak and emotions. I didn’t want this story to end. This was the RomCom I needed - fake dating where the chemistry was already off the charts? Letter writing and banter? Heartbreak and real life issues? Sign. me. Up.
Go ahead and pre-order now so this gem is waiting for you when it releases on April 11th.

I really enjoyed this book and getting to know Brianna Ortiz better after being introduced to her in the previous book. The story between the two doctors was great and it was nice to see a character with a mental illness.

Another knock out romance by Jimenez, who is officially one of my favorite romance writers! Her characters are easy to root for, and Jacob was my favorite male lead to date! His anxiety was so well depicted and I understood and empathized with his struggles. It was beautiful how Briana accepted him exactly as he was, and the comparisons with their previous partners really showed how right they were for each other. The letters were adorable. The pacing was perfect. But the ending, as per usual with Jimenez books, was a bit off. Things felt rushed and exaggerated to the point where I blocked out the bits of the ending I didn’t like (the separation bits and the miscommunication) and I forgot that I finished the book. Overall they got where they needed to go, and 95% of the story was exactly what my heart wanted. I pick up Jimenez when I want a quick fun read so this was a major win for me!

I am such a fan of Abby Jimenez's books - I listened to her first three books on audio right after my son was born (and they kept me such good company late in the evenings and early in the AM while feeding him) and when Part of Your World came out, it was an immediate read. To have the opportunity to read Yours Truly as an ARC was such a gift - I loved reading Bri and Jacob's story. While fake dating is not my favorite troupe, this book's banter, emotions and personalities were a treat to read. I also thought the focus on Jacob's anxiety was something that will stick with me for a long time - not often do you see the male character exhibit anxiety and as someone who shares a lot of the same anxiety triggers he really clicked with me. I loved watching Bri's focus on easing his anxiety throughout the book - and ultimately making sure they were a "yes/yes" [IYKYK] and a perfect mosaic.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of release!

I would give this book a 1000/5 if possible. It's that good. I

the way their friendship started, the building tension, the fake dating, I can find no imperfection when it comes to this book.

Abby Jimenez did it again!! Another five star book. I loved everything about it; the characters, the storyline, the dialogue. The characters were relatable and funny. I especially loved that Abby included her own personal connection to the story in the authors note.

There's something Abby Jimenez does with each book that just surpasses the other. My favorite was the Happy Ever After Playlist, Yours Truly beat it by a mile. Her books always have me laughing out loud and crying with the characters. No matter how much I try to stretch the out I always end up reading them all in a day. This one was no exception.

Briana is probably my favorite FMC so far and Jacob, I love him so much I could melt. Her portrayal of anxiety and depression were just spot on. Also, her portrayal of someone with chronic illness and depression with a chronic illness just perfect. Everything about this book was absolutely beautiful I finally get what everyone is saying about this book, and you won't get it until you read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review all words are my own.

Abby Jimenez gets me every time. This beautiful story about two ER doctors who have had their hearts broken but begin a fake relationship to help one another out will keep you turning pages all night long. A story about anxiety and learning to trust and love again after betrayal and loss. Highly recommend.

Abby Jimenez is one of my favorite authors, so I was absolutely thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest – and it didn’t disappoint! I loved, loved, LOVED this book!!

The story is told in alternating first-person narratives by the main characters – Briana and Jacob. They make really bad first impressions on each other when Jacob joins the staff at Briana’s hospital, first because Jacob may be in the running for the promotion that was promised to her and second when he barges into her brother’s hospital room to yell at her from running into him in the hall. But after finding each other hiding in the supply closet they both use to escape work and/or family stress, Jacob sends her a letter – a long, hand-written letter. So she writes him a response. And so it begins…

I’m sure most reviews will talk about the fake dating/enemies to lovers aspects of the stories, as well as the health crisis that brings them together, but I want to talk about how very, very well this novel addresses some very serious mental health themes. Jacob suffers from anxiety and Brianna is devastated by her pending divorce. The portrayal of their issues is realistic and beautifully handled. The language used was so powerful – her descriptions of ruminating and spiraling were so realistic that I had physical reactions. Briana’s grief and stress were also depicted brilliantly.

But while the themes are heavy and important, the whole story was handled with humor and respect, and led to a realistic – and very satisfying – resolution.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"Yours Truly" was such a cute book. I was happy that this was Bri's story as I truly enjoyed "Part of Your World". I can truly see this series being made into a movie as I could see everything fall into place plus Jacob was just dreamy. We need more Jacob's in the word. Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy.

READ IT!! Just freaking READ IT!

Oh how I just needed this book! Totally binged this fast paced hilarious and moving story in less than 24 hours.

Jimenez can write characters like none other. They just tug at your heartstrings and have you absolutely roaring with laughter with them. You just cannot help but adore every character in her books, and how real they are at the same time. I loved how I could feel Jacob’s social anxiety and Briana’s own fears dealing with her past possibly becoming a reality in her future. I could seriously wax on for ages about all the details in this book that I just loved: the nonstop laugh out loud moments, the banter, the letters, Lieutenant Dan, and of course the families and amazing friends in this story.

I swear this is her best book to date, and you know I’ve absolutely loved all her books!! All the stars people! ALL THE STARS!

Side note: Please make sure you read the Author's Notes at the end!

Thank you, Forever Publishing, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.