YOURS TRULY

Author : Abby Jimenez

Synopsis :

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable — a kidney for her brother — she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

Review (spoiler free) :

I picked this book on my friend’s recommendation, and she had absolutely fallen head over heels for the book (and the male protagonist of course). I didn’t really think much before diving into it because our reading tastes are similar, and both of us like the same books (almost every time).

The book started out good, and the author built up a satisfactory momentum. Throughout the book, we get to see that Jacob deals with severe social anxiety and he has developed various coping mechanisms for it, which is explained really well. However, I did not really like that he overthought every minute detail in his head, rather than living in the moment.

We also get to see how Jacob opens up to Briana about this and she is completely understanding of it and tries to help him as much as possible. But as we move further, we see him craving Briana’s company 24/7 and going way out of his comfort zone for her, which seems drastic and not realistic, given that he has dealt with anxiety all his life.

The letters that they wrote to each other definitely stole the show, and it depicted their chemistry so well. I liked how they wrote to each other in the beginning of the book, but that became more and more infrequent as the story moved on, and at one point they just did not communicate their feelings for each other at all, in any way possible.

Jacob’s selfless act of donating his kidney for Briana's brother without any ulterior motive was the last straw that made me fall for him.

I loved how Jacob had a HUGE family and that they enjoyed every moment of them teasing him and laughing at his expense. Briana, on the other hand, had her ride-or-die best friend, Alexis, and that’s the exact kind of friendship that I root for. I definitely would have liked to read more of it.

The book also talks about how Briana’s bad experiences with relationships in the past had a negative enduring impact on her life, and that she needs professional help for that. Again, this is not something we get to see a lot in books or movies, and I would love to read more books discussing these topics.

The worst thing about the book was how Briana just refused to believe that Jacob was in love with her even though everyone told her so. I did not like how they sat with their feelings for too long rather than confessing it to each other.

All in all, there were things that I liked about the book and there were things that I did not like about it.