‘ONE TRUE LOVES’ MAKES A CHOICE BETWEEN TWO LIVES

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STORY | Finding happiness once seems like a perfect snow globe moment. At least this is how Emma Blair feels. With Jesse, she has the perfect life, one that includes travel, moves and adventure. Then her whole world crumbles when Jesse’s latest adventure involves the helicopter he’s on crashing… and him presumed dead. Some years later, Emma is back living in her small hometown, and doing something she never thought she would: running her family’s bookstore. She also reconnects with Sam, the boy who once had quite the crush on Emma. Her world is back together again. one true loves book review

Then everything changes again when a voice on the end of a phone call brings back everything she has been healing from…

REVIEW | Taylor Jenkins Reid is probably an author we’ve all heard of. We may not know her entire backlist, but she’s familiar. Whether this be from her hit novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or her Amazon TV adaptation Daisy Jones and the Six, she’s a universal name. One True Loves is one of her earlier works and has always been a novel that I did think sounds interesting. The concept of someone caught between two lives is an interesting one, especially since it’s not the character being indecisive but rather having a choice when realizing there are two worlds.

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To my great surprise, this is actually a good novel. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I do, and am glad I read it. It’s one of those novels that’s been on my shelf for a long time and this summer I finally buckled in and read the novel. This because the film industry “forced” my hand since an adaptation is in the world. Even with the things that do crop up that annoy (including some indecision), I can say I enjoy this.

I think the biggest pet peeve is Emma’s back-and-forth emotions. However, I give this story more grace in this area since this isn’t a woman with an infatuation who faces a decision and refuses to make one. No, this story is about a woman who has built lives, shared jokes, history and secrets in both lives. She has memories and has let people know her in both experiences. I did “guess” early on the end, but it is still lovely to read and discover how she comes to this conclusion and why she makes the decision she does. one true loves book review

In the end, while I don’t know that I’ll become an avid reader of Reid’s novels (they all sound so sad!), I did thoroughly enjoy this one. The conclusions on love aren’t always things I agree with. The way the story is set up (all of the headings of “before,” “after,” etc.) helps keep the story tracking, and surprisingly, keeps the timelines coherent rather than the jumping back and forth between past and present. It’s unique by comparison to most on my bookshelf and for this alone, I admire it.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Source: Bought
Publication Date: 2016
Genre: Fiction; Contemporary Adult, Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Add the Book: Goodreads one true loves book review

Content: this does have some language including a use or two of the f-word, “God d*mn” and other common profanity. There are 3-5 sex scenes. Most of which are non-descriptive. There are phrases leading up to it like a woman wanting to know what a man “feels” like after years and uses of sex being “hurried” or fast. There is talk of sex on a kitchen counter and a brief reveal of it being “fast.” There is talk of eye contact during the act and using this to show someone that they love them. “Moaning,” and other words are used as well. Again, the scenes aren’t graphic, but if you prefer zero such scenes, this is a better “skip” read for you. A woman is intimate with two men within a short period of time.