One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Welcome to a TBT Throwback Thursday Review.  I am working on reviving this blog and catching up on some long overdue book reviews.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s career is currently on fire with her latest and awesome best selling novel, Daisy Jones and the Six. Ones True Loves was published in June of 2016.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.
On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.
Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.
That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.
Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?
Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying. -taylorjenkinsreid.com

Taylor made the soap opera cliche of a lover returning from the dead into a realistic heartbreaking read. (Dallas’ Bobby Ewing, I’m looking at you.) You really feel for Emma as her life seemingly falls apart again just when it came back together. Despite his ordeal, I found Jesse to be a tad selfish for thinking he’d just swoop in and resume life as normal. At its core though, One True Loves is a thoughtfully sweet tale about growing up, changing your mind and discovering who you want to be and whether a former version of yourself is your true self.  I also especially loved Emma’s family and their family run bookstore. It evoked string memories of all the years I worked at Waldenbooks/Borders.

Definitely look for One True Loves at your local bookseller.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Special Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.