When my friend Priyanka told me to read “Yours Truly” by Abby Jimenez, I judged the book by its cover and assumed it was going to be some cliché romance. Instead, I found a book that I’ll be recommending to people for the rest of my life. As someone who also suffers from anxiety, I thought this book did a great job at representing anxiety. Jimenez’s writing is truly magical. She knows how to give her characters depth and complexity while shedding light on very real situations with the sweetest romance on the side. Oh and fun fact, she actually spoke to mental health advisors to more accurately capture the humanity and nuances of anxiety and other delicate topics.
The book takes place in Minnesota (on an unrelated note I used to live there!) where our main characters, Briana and Jacob, are emergency room doctors. Dr. Briana Ortiz has been going through her own battles. With her divorce finalizing and running out of time to find a kidney donor for her brother, the only thing she has going for her is a possible promotion. Dr. Jacob Maddox, infamous for his awful first impressions as a result of his clinical anxiety, is having a hard time connecting with his co-workers at the hospital he recently transferred to. Did I mention he has the cutest dog — Lieutenant Dan?
Determined to redeem himself as he and Briana get off on the wrong foot, Jacob writes a letter to Briana explaining that he has a better time expressing his thoughts in a letter than having an in person conversation due to his anxiety— (I related to this so hard). In his letter, Jacob explains that his anxiety has held him back several times and he did not mean to come off stand-offish. He also expresses that he understands what Briana is going through with her brother as his mother also had a kidney transplant when Jacob was younger. And with this newfound understanding of each other, the two start exchanging cute letters.
As the couple grows even closer through exchanging letters, late night phone conversations, and work, Jacob decides to donate his kidney to Benny, Briana’s brother, without her knowledge. Now will Briana find out? And if she does what’s next? Read it yourself to see how the story progresses.
I, without hesitation, say this book is a 6 out of 5! This book exceeded my expectations and in a way healed me. Jacob is such a cutie pie and I just want to give Briana the tightest hug. They need to be protected at all costs. I will say this book had the biggest miscommunication trope which I am not usually a fan of — but I forgave it in the end.
So do yourself a huge favor and read this book. It’s a warm hug cosplayed as a 416-page book. I would also like to say this book is part of the trilogy called “Part of Your World” where each book is about different characters (so they can also be read as standalones). If you do want to read all three books, the suggested order is “Part Of Your World,” “Yours Truly,” and “Just For The Summer.”