i really enjoyable and refreshing fake dating romance where characters develop their terrible first impressions into an amazing second chance. thanks for the arc!

"And being liked by Jacob meant something because he was so shy. It’s like when someone’s pet comes to sit with you instead of their person, and you feel like the chosen one. It made me feel a little special, like he saw something in me."

"But I didn’t want anyone else in this bed with him either. The idea made me feel sort of panicked. I didn’t want anyone else to get handwritten letters. I didn’t want him to smile at another woman or hang out with them. I felt oddly possessive of him and this little universe we’d built…"

"I had never been so happy to be trapped in a room. She was wearing my shirt. It would smell like her when I got it back. I couldn’t wait."

After Part of Your World became an unexpected 2022 favorite of mine, I was super excited for Yours Truly. I love Abby's writing, and her characters in both books are so extremely lovable, I feel personally offended when I see a review that's less than 5 stars (though that's the case with most of the books I love). Jacob was instantly the (current) love of my life. Nothing makes me feel more feelings in my soul than an anxious man, but he was also the most gentle, kind, genuine, and PERFECT man I’ve seen in a minute. The things I would do to this man, the first of which is just hug him for an hour. A whole. Fucking. Hour.

I can’t even remember the last time I was so giggly and giddy and emotional and constantly on the verge of tears. Simultaneously. Briana was such a powerful bad bitch. I absolutely ADORED that she had a total crisis at the end and acted in a way that people misinterpret as being “weak”. LEAVE HER ALONE. Also if Jacob can understand and feel no anger or hesitation about their relationship, I think other people can stfu.

I’ve had this book since last August and as much as I would’ve loved to have read this earlier, I still read it at the perfect time. The stars were truly aligned for me; but even if they weren’t, I have this feeling that that was just the magic of this book. While there is THAT trope that I know romance readers often hate, [the P word], I have never read a book where I felt that the author didn’t do right by that storyline. So this book isn’t for everyone. I feel selfishly happy about it. I hope people who dislike it find out about this trope and make the decision of not reading this book. Because I swear if I see reviews that go “oh I loved the first 85% but then THAT happened and so I’m giving this 3 stars” I’m going to flip shit. If you have a strong dislike for a popularly-disliked trope, then I highly recommend reading that spoiler and finding out in advance so you’re not wasting your time.

ANYWAY, coming back to other things I loved about this book… I mean it’s literally everything. Not a single flaw. I even loved the use of some phrases that are a bit more Gen Z than Millennial but I thought it was hilarious. Every moment with Alexis and Daniel in Wakan, even Doug. I think a reread of Part of Your World is imminent.

And Jacob’s grandpa… that man..
“Give me a cigarette or I’ll tell Jacob you’re hittin’ on me. You got five minutes.”
A legend.

MVP: Lieutenant Dan. Obviously.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

This was another highly anticipated read for me as I LOVED Part of Your World and was excited Briana was getting her own book. Wow Abby girl you put me THROUGH it. This book was not what I was expecting, it had such heavy emotional moments and characters that had real issues- but the romance between Briana and Jacob was so pure and heartbreaking it balanced the angst. And my god was there angst! I think the characters and the writing really kept me hooked because this had a lot of tropes I usually don’t like. This was also the slowest slow burn I’ve ever read?? But the pay off was so good and ugh so many moments that had me screaming. This book is the epitome of that quote “to love and to be loved is to be changed.”

Fake dating, bad first impressions, social anxiety, overbearing family members…it almost felt like a checklist of what to include, but at no time did this book feel like I was reading something that had been done before. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this, and thanks to the author for creating a cast of characters that had me invested from the off.
Briana is loved by her colleagues but is having a tough time. Her divorce is about to be finalised, her brother is depressed as he’s running out of time to find a kidney donor and she’s just been told that the promotion she thought was hers isn’t going to happen just yet. There’s a new doctor in town, Jacob Maddox, and on his first day he’s lost so many patients the nurses are calling him Dr Death. He’s aloof, and running from something.
Part of the success of this was having the story told from both perspectives. Allowing us to see under the surface of each character made it easy to fall a little in love with them. Both Briana and Jacob have been hurt in their past, so it was interesting to watch them fight their feelings as they try to convince his family they’re a couple.
The misunderstandings come thick and fast, but it always felt as if things would work out if we stuck around. Watching these two open up to one another really felt like we’d been invited to something special.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
I give this book 4.5 stars


Dr Briana Ortiz's life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalised, her brother's running out of time to find a kidney donor and the new Dr is inline for HER promotion.
But then Dr Jacob Maddox sends Briana a letter. It's a really good letter and suddenly he and Bri are sharing lunch dates in the closet.Bri starts to realise that this quietly sexy new doctor might just be her perfect match

I absolutely LOVED this book!
This is so much more than “just” a romance read.
The author creates such depth in her characters and storylines. I fell in love with Jacob and his social anxiety and Brianna dealing with her brothers chronic kidney disease and how their first meeting evolved into so much more. This book is filled with humour, lots of heart,dysfunctional families and love and understanding.There is a great array of side characters….especially Grandpa,a 3 legged dog and a rescue cat.
An author who has quickly become a favourite,I highly recommend this one!
With thanks to Netgalley,Abby Jimenez and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Piatkus for my chance to read and review this book.

Wow. wow. WOW. Every book i’ve read of Abbys just gets better and better, every story is a step up from the last, even when i think it cant get better!

This was such a beautiful love story, and like all of Abbys books - you could FEEL the soulmateism radiating through the pages. Something about the way she writes just makes you believe in all of her love stories. 🥹🥹🥹 This one had some beautiful quotes about love that i caaaant wait to annotate when i get my hands on a physical copy!

Briana was hilarious, the loveliest and so strong. & Jacob was the sweetest MMC ever, every little thing he did to show his love for Briana had me swooning, twirling my hair, kicking my feet, giggling. Briana and Jacob together though 😫 they were so funny and so so perfect for each other, The way Briana knew what he needed regarding his anxiety without having to ask, the way Jacob knew the exact way Briana needed to be shown love. They were made for each other in every way!!!

& as always, every side character was a blast to read. I loved Jacobs big family & all his sisters. aghhh!! and his Grandpa 🤣🤣

I just finished and i already cant wait for Abby’s next book, i don’t think i’ll ever tire of her stories, they’re phenomenal! cant recommend this enough.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review <3

Yours Truly has one amazing hero. Jacob Maddox. Swoon big time. He struggles with anxiety and starts off on the wrong foot with his new colleague Briana. They slowly get to know one another through words. Writing letters and phone calls. It was so enjoyable. The fake dating resulted in them get to meet both families and especially Jacob’s was so much fun.
The story is really slow burning and I didn’t mind it cause I really liked Briana and Jacob. They had great chemistry.

Sadly at the halfway mark it slowly started to change for me because of miscommunication. It dragged the story and the plot out. Way too much and it affected my overall enjoyment. Maybe it was to cause angst but in my opinion it didn’t. It was unnecessary and frustrating. This and inner monologues became repetitive and didn’t do anything for the story other dragging it out.

Yours Truly definitely has its highlights especially the first half. It takes on serious topics such as mental health - anxiety, depression, miscarriage to name a few. Add humor and wonderful characters as well. So if this speaks to you then Yours Truly is the story for you.

3.5 Stars

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

Yours Truly - Abby Jimenez
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC - Yours Truly releases in the UK on 11 April.

LIKES
☀️ My biggest like is the way Abby handled Jacob’s anxiety. The empathy and understanding Briana shows him and the journey to finding ‘his person’ is really beautifully done.
☀️ The meet cute - I love that they’re both doctors, it felt very Greys Anatomy in the beginning.
☀️ All the side characters added a lot of fun and depth to the story.
☀️ The main plot points were unique, which meant I was continuously excited to see where the story went next.
☀️ While sometimes I found the content of the notes they left one another a little ridiculous, for the most part they were adorable.
☀️ How we got to see Alexis and Daniel again (from Part of Your World).
☀️ The many relatable characters.
☀️ That it’s a slow, slow burn.

DISLIKES
🌙 EVERY OTHER PAGE had a sentence like ‘he bowled in laughter’, ‘I barked out a laugh’, ‘I laughed for five minutes straight’. It made the humour feel forced.
🌙 No mention of contraceptive in steamy scenes.
🌙 There was enough miscommunication throughout the entire book that I don’t believe a final act conflict was also needed.
🌙 While I respected their boundaries I can’t accept that his super intrusive family didn’t notice that they never kissed in front of them?

While this has a couple of dislikes from me, the things I liked I truly loved so I’d still highly recommend giving this one a go!

I have been looking forward to this book for a while and the blurb really pulled me in. The book did not let me down either. I loved almost everything about Brianna and Jacobs love story. Their first meeting and their developing relationship initially through letters and building into a fake dating situation ticked all the boxes but add in the anxiety and how well Jimenez brought it into Jacob’s character without the book feeling dominated about anxiety and mental health was refreshing and allocated both elements of love and mental health to be explored, developed and ultimately understood.
My only let down is more of a preference in that with romance I have a serious dislike on the reliance of serious miscommunication situations but it is my tastes rather than a negative to be added to this book.


I have received this book for free as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book missed the mark for me.
It is not bad, but I just can not call this one my favorite.

I am okay with fake dating, one bed trope.
But I just did not feel the characters.

I don't get it how Jacob can be an ER doctor with extream anxiety. He is not okay with unknown and with unpredictable...
What his job is living hell, every day?!

Just 3.5 stars for me.

Yours truly - Abby Jimenez
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4

Pub Date: 11 Apr 2023

I must say I was slightly sceptical about this book being a ‘fake dating’ book, as I’ve read a few of these and I didn’t want to be caught in the repeat of the genre! However this book didn’t disappoint.

I think this was the result of the characters in the story. I completely fell in love with Jacob and Bri! I don’t think I’ve yet to read a book who I have related to but … Jacob. He was my mirror! It was so heartwarming to read a book with a character of such vulnerability and for it to be portrayed through the male character too just made the plot and characters to this book fit like jigsaw pieces.

I must say the plot was not the most ‘unpredictable’ but this book did have me frustrated and at the edge of my seat raging at times!

This book was a prime example of being lost in your head and thoughts rather than following your heart.

I’ll definitely be checking out her other books for sure!

You know I thought it would be almost impossible to top 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 but somehow @authorabbyjiminez pulled this one out the bag!

I absolutely 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 Briana in book one so I was super pumped when I found out she was getting her own book. Then I was even more excited when I got accepted for the ARC (thank you @NetGalley)

Abbys writing style is so beautiful. It flows so well. My main pro of this book is that it deals so well with mental health issues like anxiety and the stress of day to day living. She does it so well that you can really see she has an understanding of it.

The characters are witty, charming and you just cannot help but love them. I mean I already loved Bri anyway but it's possible I love her even more now. And the letters?! Oh.my.god the letters! 😍😍😍

This is part of an interconnected series that can be read as a standalone and I love that you see crossover characters from other books in it too.

Yours Truly is now not only one of my favorite books this year, but one of my favorites ever.
I don't know why, but when the author announced the blurb for this book, I had the biggest feeling I was going to absolutely adore this one. And I did.

Your Truly was everything I wanted in a workplace, rivals to lover, epistolary romance. Jimenez is a mastermind in the making of her character, their stories, and the general plot. Making everything work together so smoothly and creating the sweetest harmony.

She tackles tough topics and opens the doors to new rep. She does these things while also maintaining the most fantastic humor and the story incredibly romantic.

Like I said before, the main and side characters, the plot, all their stories, were AMAZING. I laughed so hard my tummy cramped, cried…hard, and had the most wonderful time getting to know Brianna and Jacob. The sweetest sunshine heroine and cinnamon roll hero pair to ever exist.

I cannot express how much I loved them in words, but please know I recommend this romance to EVERYONE.

I have been waiting for what feels like forever to read this book and I really enjoyed it!

This book was quite different from Part of Your World. It is about two broken souls who get a second chance at love. Although it touches on some heavy topics like divorce, anxiety, depression and chronic illness, it managed to be an entertaining read. The secondary characters (Jacob’s diverse and eccentric family and the work colleagues) added colour and levity to the story.

I loved the main characters although they left me frustrated at times (I'll explain later). Jacob - what a darling! He was such a good person; selfless, sweet and caring and understood Brianna (Bri) so well. Bri was fun, caring and loyal and this showed throughout a number of scenes in the book. Bri and Jacob worked really well together as a couple. Although they shared many interests, they had different personalities that complimented each other. I liked that this is a slow burn romance – I really got to see the characters’ love for each other and their friendship/relationship evolve and grow.

My only issue with the book is the miscommunication – it was the main part of the conflict and alas is not my favourite trope unfortunately. It added unnecessary angst to the story and left me feeling frustrated at times. I just wanted the characters to talk to each other especially since my sweet Jacob was on the receiving end of Bri’s frustration and insecurity.

Overall, this was a really good book; you can’t go wrong with Abby Jimenez. I loved all her other books and I am already looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved Abby Jimenez’ book last year, ‘Part of Your World’, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of this. It was adorable and feel good!

Dr. Briana Ortiz is a few weeks out from finalizing her divorce, her brother is on dialysis and is in desperate need of a kidney donor, and the one thing going right is she’s up for a big promotion, until Dr. Jacob Maddox transfer hospitals and starts working in the ER alongside her. She immediately hates him, as he’s impeding on her potential promotion, but one day, he writes her a letter to clear the air and apologize.

Tropes in this book are a little enemies to lovers, fake dating, and major miscommunication (my absolute least favorite trope!!!), which is why I had to dock it a star. So much of the book is based on some big miscommunication between the characters, which is a real shame, because Briana and Jacob are so mature in every other way.

This book also deals with big topics like anxiety, infidelity, abandonment, and panic attacks, but the author does a great job of representing each well.

This one is out April 11th! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars
Having already read and adored Abby Jimenez's previous books, I could not wait to read this, especially when it was a follow up of sorts to Part Of Your World.
Might Jacob be my favourite male love interest/main character ever? Quite easily.
Seeing him struggle with some of the issues that I've had myself, in terms of social anxiety, was so incredibly relatable and Abby deals with the topic in a really sensitive way. Instead of making someone and in particular a male lead difficult because of his mental health, we see how vulnerable and open he is.
Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I was falling in love with Jacob, nonetheless Briana.
I liked the hospital setting and the plot of Jacob donating his kidney.
I also thought the letter writing was lovely, as was the way that traditional romance tropes like fake dating and there only being one bed were handled in a self-aware and interesting way. It added to what I already liked about these tropes. And the biggest surprise for me was, my least favourite romance trope *spoiler alert* an unplanned pregnancy happens towards the end and I didn't mind at all. I was so absorbed in their story and it actually somewhat made sense instead of just being shoehorned in, like it often is.
Both main characters also had depth and I enjoyed seeing them interact with the side characters too.
But I did feel like banging my head against a wall when it became clear that the miscommunication trope was about to start. Them both thinking that neither of them could be in love with the other, when it was so clear that they were was a bit frustrating.
And my biggest gripe was seeing Briana push Jacob away in such a cold and hurtful manner. I understood why she was behaving that way but it was tough to read.
However, I simply adored the majority of the book and in particular - as I've already mentioned - Jacob.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐️Yours Truly is a classic Abby Jimenez novel: true love, complicated and realistic characters with true problems and the happy ending we all need for them. Jacob Maddox’s anxiety is the truest portrayal I have ever read – reading almost identical in its portrayal to situations and thought processes that my husband experiences in real life. Inside Jacob’s head you see exactly why situations might escalate for him that wouldn’t for someone without anxiety and from Briana’s perspective, you see how anxious behaviour can be perceived by others. Briana is the light hearted rock that Jacob needs…only she isn’t just the bubbly care free person other books might pair with a “complicated” character like Jacob. She has her own troubles with the relationships in her life: her ill brother, a friend recently moving away (hello little snippet of Alexis’ life) and her recent divorce. The best part of this book for me was the fresh perspective on classic tropes: need a fake date for the wedding and the “there’s only one bed”. I have read both tropes so many times, yet I liked the subtle differences this book managed to pull off (which is well done considering you think once you’ve read one of those, you’ve read them all).The miscommunication killed me as it does in every slow burn – making the first seventy five percent of the book something I had to plough through to get them together! The only thing that fell a little flat for me was the actual “get together” period. The first sex scene seemed a little rushed and the “happy period” that ended suddenly to do the final get-back-together scene all seemed to wrap up a little too quickly for me – I think to make it a 5* I would have liked to have that last 25% of the book maybe last another hundred pages, though I can understand with word counts “dragging it on” might not have appealed to other readers, I feel like with such a slow burn, I would have liked to see them happier longer.

Dr Briana Ortiz and Dr Jacob Maddox get off on the wrong foot. She thinks he's come to her hospital to get the promotion she's been working for, instead he's come to avoid his ex-girlfriend and brother who have got together and both work at his previous hospital. Briana's younger brother is in kidney failure and has slumped into depression, which means he's not looking after himself and is a frequent visitor to the ER where she works.

Jacob is an introvert and an over-thinker, very much like Briana's brother. On his first day at the hospital he had a series of patients die (none of them his fault) and now the nurses call him Dr Death and hate him. His large, loud family are constantly hovering over him, taking his side and throwing shade on his brother. It's all too much. Then a woman runs past him so fast she knocks his phone out of his hand and cracks the screen. Could anyone get off to a worse start? Well yes, they could follow the woman into a patient's room and then (see introvert and overthinker above) make some stupid comments when she is clearly distressed by the patient (Briana's brother).

Anyway, long story short, Jacob writes Briana a letter to apologise for his behaviour and explain why he acted the way he did. A proper letter on real paper with a pen. The letter means a lot to Briana and she understands his behaviour better because of her brother. So strikes up a pen-pal relationship as they leave each other letters around the hospital.

Jacob's mother received a kidney donation many years ago and the entire family were grateful because none of them were a match. In an attempt to pay it forward Jacob volunteers to be tested for Briana's brother and turns out to be a near-perfect match. He agrees to donate a kidney but insists on anonymity and for the operations to take place at another hospital, his introversion could not cope with everyone crowding around him, being grateful and loud.

When Jacob confesses that he is dreading dinner at his parents' house where his brother is going to announce his engagement Briana offers to accompany him as his fake girlfriend. She understands his anxiety and vulnerability and wants to help, just as she would help her brother. Indeed, she teaches Jacob a game she and her brother play at social events.

Things are going swimmingly, Briana and Jacob are getting on fine, they could even have something real, but when Briana finds out that Jacob in her brother's donor he can't tell if she's faking it out of gratitude. On her part, Briana is worried that Jacob is still in love with his ex and just faking it with her to distract his family. Can these two get over themselves?

I thought that this was the second Abby Jimenez book I had read, it's actually the fourth! This loosely follows from Part of Your World, which was a bit heavy on the woo-woo with a sentient Inn. The Inn features in this book, but only a cameo appearance.

What can I say, I loved it. Okay I felt both of them maybe harped on a bit too much about what they thought the other was doing rather than looking and listening to what they were actually doing, but hey that's the nature of the beast, there has to be some kind of conflict.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

ARC Review of Yours Truly by Abby Jiminez, Publishing Date: 11th April UK

If I could give this book infinite stars I would but for now it gets a 5⭐️

The book follows Dr Briana Ortiz when her life is pretty much in the dumps. Nothing seems to be going her way, she’s about to get divorced, her brother needs a new kidney and she’s probably never going to get that job promotion. In walks Dr Jacob Maddox, the new ER doctor and pain in Briana’s ass. The two of them start with awful first impressions and Jacob can’t seem to get anything right, so he writes her a letter. Their letter writing takes off and the two start to tolerate each other, or so Briana thinks. It isn’t until she finds out the super hot new ER doctor is donating a kidney to her brother that she realises maybe he isn’t so bad after all, and is super lovely but definitely not her type…
—————————————————————
This book had me hooked straight away. It’s obvious to anyone who follows me that I’m obsessed with anything Abby writes. Abby’s books really are beautiful written, with moments that make you laugh out loud and quite a few moments to cry. And this is all true with Yours Truly. Briana and Jacob are phenomenal characters. Briana is a powerful, headstrong, intelligent woman. She has a great job and seems like a real person! Her life circumstances make her dislike Jacob in the beginning and you cannot help but under her (as much as you want them together). But Jacob… I think he is my new favourite book boyfriend EVER! This man is the perfect combination of sensitive and self assured. He’s an absolute sweetheart from the beginning and you cannot help but love him. I mean who doesn’t want a Doctor with a rescue dog and his own house to sweep them off their feet?’ Jacob has anxiety, which is revealed at the beginning of the book, Abby’s take on Jacobs anxiety is very refreshing to read as I rarely find books where the MMC has mental health issues that aren’t over the top. Jacobs anxiety doesn’t make him a difficult person but instead makes him relatable and personable. I love how he takes care of himself and how Briana knows the signs and can read him without even having to say a word. Their relationship is just gorgeous!!! The plot, the story, everything about this book is wonderful and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but ugh I just loved it.

This book takes place after Part of Your World and while it is definitely a standalone book, we do get snipits of Alexis and Daniel (in case you missed them like I did).
I will 100% be buying the physical copy and listening to the audiobook. If you haven’t listened to any of Abby’s audiobooks I really cannot recommend them enough, they’re probably the best narrators I’ve ever listened to.

If you like:
🫧 Hilarious banter
🫧 Strong MC’s
🫧 Tear-jerking endings
🫧 Spice
🫧 Dogs
🫧 Greys Anatomy/ Hospital Drama’s
Then this book is for you!

Thank you to Abby Jiminez, Netgallery, Piatkus and Little Brown Book Group for this advanced reader copy.

Abby has done it again! This book and this author have me in a serious chokehold, it's unbelievable.
Briana is an ER doctor, expecting to be promoted to chief, until Dr. Jacob Maddox arrives and ruins her plans.
I loved everything about this book, fake dating, pining, and one bed. I loved the first one in the series and this was a brilliant follow-up book. I laughed, I cried and I couldn't put it down. Bri and Jacob's friendship and relationship was so cute and I can't wait to read it again!