Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for this ARC! I’ve wanted to read an Abby Jimenez book for a while because I’ve heard such amazing things!

This is actually the sequel (I didn’t realise this but I still enjoyed it regardless!) to Part of Your World (which I haven’t read but is on my birthday wishlist!) and follows Briana who is the best friend of Alexis from the first book. Briana is an ER doctor who’s life is pretty much falling apart. Her divorce is being finalised, her brother desperately needs a kidney and the promotion she’s been vying for is suddenly out of reach due to a new starter at the hospital, Jacob Maddox. Jacob immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Briana but after confessing his social anxiety to her they begin sending letters to each other and meeting in the “sob closet”. When Jacob offers to donate his kidney to her brother she is over the moon and offers to do anything for him. He just happens to need a fake date to his ex’s wedding events and he’s already told his parents he has a girlfriend. She readily agrees and it all seems like fun and games at first but then things start to become more real.

Five freaking stars omg I was bawling my eyes out at some of these scenes. When Jacob revealed that he was going to donate his kidney and Benny and Briana found out oh my poor heart! My husband suffers with polycystic kidney disease which means that over time his kidneys are slowly failing. As you can imagine the discussions surrounding Benny and his illness hit me like a truck. I absolutely loved the care and attention that Abby put into this rep though and that she channeled her own experiences into this book. Fake dating is a trope that (although is one of my favourites) has been done so much it gets a bit repetitive but this was so different! It was such a fresh take on the trope and the situation the characters were in was so unique.

Briana and Jacob are one of my favourite couples of all time my GOSH. Jacob needs to be protected at all costs he was the absolute definition of cinnamon roll. I loved him. Briana was so strong, independent and fun, she annoyed me at times with her extreme mental gymnastics concerning Jacob’s motives but she has been seriously hurt in the past so we need to give her a break. This book was so self aware as well, Alexis telling Briana that she had officially got to the “only one bed” scene had me cracking up. Also can we talk about Lieutenant Dan, what an absolute cutie! I would very much like my own parrot that shouts “motherfucker” and “it was the cat” now.

Overall this book was the perfect blend of romantic comedy and emotional depth. Please check trigger warnings before diving in because there are some difficult topics discussed! I would recommend this to every romance reader, especially if you love fake dating, a cinnamon roll mmc, mutual pining and chemistry that jumps off the page! This one came out on 11th April 2023 so you can get your hands on it now!

Absolutely loved every single minute of reading this. Couldn't put it down, I was rooting so hard for these two characters. It's such a good version of the fake dating trope. Really leans into the longing and miscommunication in a way that's so satisfying. I'd happily keep reading this story.

A heartwarming fake dating romance.

Bri, a recently divorced ER physician swears off love…until ER newbie Jacob Maddox shows up. With a friendship developing, Bri helps Jacob out by agreeing to be his date to a family wedding.

Firstly, this is a huge improvement on the first Part of Your World book in my opinion. Where I found the first book lacking in proper romance and angst, I found that this book succeeded in providing that. Throughout the book I found myself championing both characters and I wanted them to find a happy ending.

However, I did find that the final 20% threw a curveball that was remedied far too quickly. Despite this, I enjoyed the book overall and will definitely pick up any further books in the series.

"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."

DAMN. This book really had me hooked - and I am NOT a fan of the fake dating trope at all!
Jacob and Bri are some of my favourite romance characters to date. JACOB - this man is giving me unrealistic expectations for all future romances! He is made of sugar, spice and all things nice and I adored him!
BRI - My dear sweet Bri, I just wanted to hug her and take away her pain, but luckily she had Jacob for that.
This was so close to being a 5 star read for me except for how much it relied on miscommunication which is my least favourite trope in a romance!

One of my favourite books of the year! Despite the fact that I have a few of Abby Jimenez's other works silently judging me from my TBR pile, I was really impressed with this book.
I really enjoyed her writing; the characters came across as being incredibly real and relatable, and I particularly like how Jacob stood out from other romantic lead characters by effectively capturing a clinically anxious person.
Bri was fantastic as well, and she bri-lliantly (pun intended, not sorry) depicted the difficulty of someone who has been traumatised by abandonment to trust someone again and, more significantly, to trust oneself in their ability to be vulnerable once more.
This novel had everything I look for in a romance and made me feel warm and fuzzy. It's a very, very slow burn but the fire is not very bright (this is my way of saying that, unfortunately for me, it's not very steamy), although it manages to have a quite hot scene.
Overall, a fantastic book that helped me get out of a reading slump and had excellent real-life human characters. Any romance reader seeking for a cute and funny rom com should check it out.

Fake dating at its finest. I absolutely adored this story. I loved the undeniable chemistry and respect that Bri and Jacob had for each other. The themes mentioned in this story and how they were executed really hit me in the feels. There were some really tough topic mentioned and Abby handled them beautifully. There was lots of banter and laughs as well as the serious stuff. I didn't think I could love this book more then I read the authors notes and it really shed a whole new light on the story. A brilliant story and I am excited to see what is to come from Abby. She is definitely an auto buy author for me

A flawless execution of fake-dating and enemies to lovers tropes delivering a gorgeous, fun-filled, heart-swelling romance with “all the feels”. 😍

Thank NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Piatkus for the ARC! I was over the moon when I got approved.

My first by Jimenez, but I’ve now crowned her as my top favourite author joining the auto-buy list.

Two doctors – Briana and Jacob, both of their lives falling apart - but all it takes for their love to blossom is a letter written by Jacob.

Oh where do I even start? I just didn’t want this lovely book to end. Giving us alternating POVs of Briana and Jacob, their story together starts with some impossibly awkward and hilarious situations. 😆

While Briana is wounded from her recent divorce, Jacob has to deal with an equally challenging life event. I quickly warmed up to both and I adored the good old letter writing that acted as an ice-breaker. As I laughed & grimaced, I also began to understand them.

The romance is slow-burn and the miscommunicating self-talk kept me turning the pages. I especially loved Jacob’s portrayal as he goes to unimaginable lengths for the love of his life, despite his own challenges with anxiety and socializing. His thoughtfulness, genteel and compassionate behavior squeezed my heart.

Jacob’s huge family was another great highlight – the characters were so delightful & the drama so entertaining😁. His dog Lieutenant Dan was such a sweetie & so was Jafar, the parrot – which went about shouting about obscenities repetitively🤣.

What starts as fake dating soon becomes very real for them both - that’s when we are hit with some unexpected twists with Briana’s narrative that were so moving, I teared up for her.

With genuine and realistic characters whom I dearly cared about, Yours Truly is filled with swoon-worthy moments of pure joy, hearty humor, sacred and “harmless” true love.

The ending made my heart sing and it was exactly how I wished it to be for this wonderful couple - who were a match made in heaven.

I appreciated that author’s note and the message she is trying to convey to us via this book, which she explains is very close to her own life story.

This was a really sweet read! I hadn’t read the first book Part of Your World but to me that didn’t matter, this can totally be read as a stand-alone.
The book centres around Briana and Jacob (the sweetest cupcake I’ve ever seen) and their blossoming romance is really cute. I loved the insights into his social anxiety and found him really relatable.
I’m only knocking off a star for the third act conflict, I understood it to a certain extent but in the end was just screaming COME ON NOW.
I’ll definitely go back and pick up Part of Your World now and keep an eye out for this author in the future.

This was just scrumptious. Briana is a dream, and Jacob...just wow. Amazing build of chemistry, so many layers and the letters, SO cute. Just a perfect romcom, with a tiny bit of spice, a ton of aww moments and overall fantastic. I'll be reading Abby's other books to meet Alexis and Daniel!

Wow! I loved this book. First Abby Jimenez book and it did not disappoint. I loved reading about Briana and Jacob. Also so many important topics discussed in this book which I really enjoyed. Both heartbreaking, earnest and funny!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher and author for letting me have an e-arc of this book.

Let me say that this is my first book by this author and I had heard nothing but positive things. So I went into this book hoping to love it, I came out of this book maybe not in love but still happy overall. I really loved Jacob, he was such a sweet guy and the whole description on his social anxiety was so accurate. I felt so connect to him as someone who also suffers from anxiety. I also loved his family, they were so quirky and the twist with the ex made me genuinely shocked within the first few chapters… like what?!?! Who does that to someone?!? I loved the ending of the book as well, I like that everything was wrapped up nicely.

However, the thing that took this down from a 4 star was the miscommunication! I absolutely hate this troupe, it’s so overused in romance especially when it was practically the main conflict of the second half of the book. It frustrated me because it was such a simple solution and I think that in 2023, we need to let this troupe go. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ok with a little bit but the fact that this was a key factor meant I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could. That being said, I would still pick up another book by this author and I would recommend this to others.

⚠️cw: Anxiety, depression, serious illness, mentions of miscarriage⚠️

When ER doctors Briana Ortiz and Jacob Maddox clash on Jacob's first day, it has all the makings of hate at first sight. Then Jacob sends Bri a letter and their friendship develops. When he offers to donate a kidney to her chronically ill brother, and she in turn pretends to be his girlfriend, the lines between friendship and love start to blur. But both have suffered heartbreak. Can they trust their feelings?

It's no secret that I adore Abby's writing, and ever since I read the sneak peek of this book, I loved Jacob.
I was not, however, prepared for how utterly obsessed I became with wanting him to get his happy-ever-after.

To be clear, Jacob Maddox is the cinnamon roll above all other cinnamon rolls. Without question. I will take no arguments on this.
Jacob is an introvert who suffers from severe social anxiety, and while some scenes were incredibly difficult to read, they were SO well written and painfully accurate (from experience). He broke my heart on numerous occasions, but I really loved his development through the story, especially with Bri. In the moments where he was most comfortable, he was hilarious, cheeky, sexy, and charming. It was easy to see how Bri fell down the Jacob rabbit hole because I was probably pushing her, head first! We first met Briana in POYW, and I immediately empathised with a lot of the things she had been through. I loved how she rallied for Jacob, and how instinctual her behaviour was around him. I wish more people understood and behaved like that around introverts like myself. She was at her best (and worst) with Jacob.

This is a story about soulmates, with a huge dollop of miscommunication (or rather no communication at times). I don't think I've ever screamed so hard at two characters to actually speak to each other! Jacob tried a few times. but Bri? *sighs* While I completely empathised with her fears, I was angry at her in c.44, until she explained herself. Then she broke my heart. But these are flawed, imperfect characters who make mistakes, and they are written exceptionally well. I won't spoil the twists and turns but know that I have totally forgiven Bri. And what a slow burn. It was the most exquisite torture, and so worth it. The mutual pining was on a whole other level, and the end was just perfection and had me sobbing uncontrollably - even though I knew THAT thing was coming. As always, there were some great Easter eggs, and I loved revisiting Wakan and seeing Daniel and Alexis so happy. The other supporting characters add some funny and poignant moments, but I particularly loved the two mums.
I know I say this every time, but Jacob is my new favourite Abby book boyfriend. Daniel who? (I'm joking, I still love you, Daniel. And the rest!) But Jacob just reached top-tier book boyfriend, alongside a certain Tom Valeska (IYKYK). A truly gorgeous and emotional read.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 😬💔😢💓🥰😂💓🙈🥰🤦🏻‍♀️😂🥰💓😢💔💓🥰🤬💔🙈🤬😢💔😢😢👏🏻🥰😍💓

My first Abby Jimenez and I was not disappointed!

In this book we've got:
- two ER doctors who start to fake date
- initial dislike to friends to lovers
- dual POV
- a 3-legged dog named Lieutenant Dan
- a locked room forced proximity situation with ONLY ONE BED
- he has social anxiety and his brother is marrying his ex
- she's finishing up a nasty divorce where her husband was cheating for a long time in their 10-year marriage

I absolutely loved this book, it had me in an absolute choke-hold. Our guy Jacob needs to get his family off his back, they are all concerned that his ex broke up with him and immediately started dating his brother, aaaaand a few months later now they are getting married. To show them he's over her (and ok with the whole situation), he asks fellow ER doctor and new friend Briana to be his fake girlfriend at family events. Oh, and on the side, he's also being a real-life angel by donating his kidney to save the life of Briana's brother. No biggie.

I was so thankful that this was dual point of view because I was so invested in Jacob - the man was falling fast, and falling hard. How Briana could not see that he was CLEARLY in love with her almost the whole time is beyond me. Add to that he's the sweetest, most thoughtful, beautiful man on the planet and you've got yourself a perfect book boyfriend. And she's just as perfect for him - she understands how his anxiety affects him and makes space for him, unconsciously trying to make things better every time he's in a situation where he struggles. He's never had anyone be so considerate of his condition in his life (which makes us hate his ex all the more, because she hated he was an "introvert").

There is a third-act breakup based on misunderstandings but it was also about past trauma and lack of trust. By then it was all downhill to the HEA but for a moment there I was concerned, Briana really has to work through her belief that she's not good enough for any man to stay with her (Daddy Issues with a capital D).

I deducted one star because the one sex scene, though spicy, had a questionable consent moment for me. And HELLO in the year of our lord 2023 why are two DOCTORS not discussing protection and birth control before playing hide the sausage? I don't care if the characters are "caught up in the moment" any more, romance authors need to put this stuff on the page.

If you're looking for the link to Jimenez's previous books, Briana is friends with Alexis, the FMC from Part of Your World. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I adored this book! The banter, the respect and the slow burn!

I had everything I love in a book. Jacob has moved to a new job, his first day is a disaster.
Briana is an established member of staff, who manages to break his phone( by mistake) then proceed to shout at him.

It has dual pov, fake dating, friends to lovers. Honestly it's a good time all round. There may be some triggers. So check them out before hand.

Also Jacob is now my new favourite book boyfriend!

Abby Jimenez has done it again. I absolutely adored everything about this one and even stayed up till the early hours to finish it. ⁣
⁣
Abby creates these amazing characters who you cannot help but love. Briana is such a strong willed character who has gone through so much in her life and that affects the way she sees the world and relationships. Whilst that she does means she makes decisions I didn't agree with, you can completely understand why. ⁣
⁣
Jacob was everything, I quickly fell in love with him and now need my own Jacob. He was so sweet, so caring and just perfect. I felt like I really connected with Jacob and his anxiety. I'm very much the same in social situations! ⁣
⁣
Honestly I absolutely loved Yours Truly which is a book about second chances with some of my all time favourite tropes! Abby is an amazing writer and her authors note had me in tears. This book is so personal to Abby and I'm so glad that she is now feeling better! ⁣
⁣
Also please be aware that there are some trigger warnings in this one which can be found on Goodreads!⁣

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! I can’t believe I haven’t ready anything by Abby Jimenez before but I 100% will be going back to check them all out now.

This book was pretty much perfect in it’s plot for what I like as a reader. I loved how relatable Jacob and Briana were and their friends and families took it to another level.

Firstly I have kidney failure so to read that the brother in this story has to wait for an organ and it ends up being the new doctor that can help him that Briana can't stand was amazing!! Absolutely loved it. Also loved the characters and the rest of the story. I love Abbys books and can't wait for the next one!

I have a love/hate relationship with Abby’s books. There’s always parts I love, but they fell flat by the end. Reading Yours Truly was a completely different experience. This story was so rich and fulfilling. I loved the depth and journey both characters experienced separately and together.
Briana is an ER doctor approaching the final hurdle in her divorce from her cheating ex Nick. She’s working hard to achieve Chief position in the hospital but a new doctor unintentionally disrupts this. Her younger brother Benny is experiencing kidney failure, struggling through dialysis and in desperate need of a kidney transplant.
Jacob, initially deemed Dr.Death after a traumatising first day in his new job, is a highly anxious ER doctor escaping a dramatic past relationship. His ex girlfriend Amy decided to get in a relationship with Jacob’s brother only 3 months after their break up and are marrying regardless of anyone’s judgements.
After a rocky start to their work relationship, Jacob decides writing a letter to explain his sometimes blunt and insensitive comments is the best course of action. After reconciling they actually get on really well going from letters to DM’s and then phone calls. Jacob finds Bri amazing and find his anxiety improves when he’s around her.
After Jacob tells his family he’s moved on from his ex and has a new girlfriend, he’s forced into a situation where he needs a date. Fake dating ensues but my gosh it’s so much more. The book is best enjoyed when you read for yourself. The character development, the chemistry and challenges each character faces is a pleasure to read. You even end up vouching for the side character - even the ones you shouldn’t really like that much!
This completely turned around my previous reading experience for this author.
Thank you for the eARC. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

Oh my god, this book!!

I loved Jacob and Brianna so much, they were bother perfectly flawed and trading them come together a whole was incredible.

The way that Jacob's anxiety was portrayed was absolutely spot on and, in my opinion, made this book so heart wrenching.

Jacob's journaling the plant room was an amazing added insight.

I laughed, I cried, I even stopped to process a few times. This is honestly my favourite book of 2023 so far! Abby jiminez has done it again!

This book was so cute!!!!!!!!!! I am a sucker for fake dating and Jacob was so cute and sweet. And seeing Briana who was protective of him was so wholesome.