Yours Truly
2023
The second book in the Part of Your World series, this one leans on fake dating, friends-to-lovers, and workplace romance tropes, with a heavy dose of miscommunication threaded through. Briana Ortiz is finalizing her divorce, watching her brother’s health decline as he waits for a kidney donor, and gunning for a promotion that new hire Jacob Maddox has no interest in, though she doesn’t know that at first. When Jacob writes her an apology note for the tension between them, the two start exchanging letters and build an unlikely friendship, which shifts again once Briana learns Jacob has volunteered to donate his kidney to her brother. In return, she agrees to pose as his girlfriend through his brother’s wedding to his ex.
I started this on the train to work and couldn’t put it down. Jacob is easily one of the most endearing romance leads I’ve come across: caring and sweet, navigating social anxiety in a genuinely healthy way, and the proud owner of a three-legged rescue dog. Briana is sharper and more guarded, shaped by a string of men who’ve let her down starting with her father, and her arc from bitter divorcée to someone capable of trusting again felt earned even if it came together late. Jimenez also handles the heavier real-life material, mental health and family strain especially, with a lightness that never undercuts how real it feels, and the humor and banter throughout kept me laughing. My one real complaint is that the miscommunication stretched on longer than it needed to, but the chemistry between Jacob and Briana, and the quiet, comfortable way they understood each other’s silences, made up for it.
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