One True Loves – Review

I was not planning on reviewing this book but after some consideration I decided I wanted to have a review of all of her books on my blog and its only right to add this one to the list. One True Loves is the first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I didn’t completely fall in love with. It was a fun read, it was enjoyable but it’s not my favorite book by any means. The story follows Emma Blair whose husband, Jesse (her highschool sweetheart) has gone missing and is presumed dead. Emma has moved on and is now engaged to Sam, a childhood friend from her hometown. When Emma finds out that Jesse is alive she must choose between her one true loves. Will she choose Jesse or Sam?

If you can’t tell from the short synopsis above, this book has a lot of drama. Part of the reason I love Taylor Jenkins Reid book is because she writes romance with a realist edge to it. Her books typically don’t feel so outlandish that I can’t connect to the main characters but this one did. It felt too big and I couldn’t connect with the main character’s situation. I had a hard time feeling sorry for a character that had two great loves in her lifetime and was moping about how hard it was for her to choose. Despite my frustrations with the main character I really wanted to know who she was going to choose.

I enjoyed seeing the changes that Emma went through from her teenager years to her adult years. She clearly grew up. I think one of the other problems I had with the book is that I was biased towards one of the love interests. I thought that one of the relationships she was in was somewhat toxic and I knew the entire time who I wanted her to choose. To me it was obvious who was better and I got frustrated watching Emma try to figure it out.

I do want to mention that there is representation of a mother with Deaf children in this book which made me really happy! It briefly mentions that the girls have cochlear implants and that the family surrounding the girls is learning sign language (it doesn’t specify if it’s SEE, ASL, or CASE) to communicate with them and also mentions that the mother is heavily involved in the Deaf Community. I thought that this representation was really great for the side character involved and I’m really happy that I got that surprise within the book.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book because despite the fact that I really enjoyed reading this book, I wasn’t as impressed as I have been with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other books.