Shannon's Library

LET’S GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves travelling the world together – Emma as a freelance writer and Jesse as a nature documentary production assistant. But on their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on an assignment in the Aleutian Islands when his helicopter goes missing over the Pacific. Just like that, Jessie is gone forever. Emma moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When she and Sam get engaged, it feels like her second chance at happiness. That is, until Jessie is found. Emma now has a husband and a fiancé. But who is her one true love?

Shannon’s Rating — PG-13 (Keep in mind, this is a pretty mature PG-13. There are 2 F-words and more sexual situations than I’m generally comfortable with.)

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LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Taylor Jenkins Reed is a very popular and prolific author. Her books “Daisy Jones & The Six,” The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” and “Carrie Soto is Back,” are well-promoted and well-loved on Instagram. That being said, I am not an expert on this author. In fact, “One True Loves” is my first book by Reed. I have a bit of a rebel streak in me. As soon as the world starts going crazy about a certain author or a certain book – I tend to not want to read it. (Probably not the smartest trait in a book blogger, I know. But here we are!)

A couple of weeks ago I was at an event with some other Instagram book readers and there was a table laid out with free books we could take. A friend of mine, saw “One True Loves” on the table and suggested I read it. She told me that while she enjoyed Reed’s earlier novels, such as this one, she hasn’t loved her more recent books quite as much. I hadn’t ever heard of “One True Loves,” but since it was recommended by a trustworthy source, (and it was free!), I thought I’d give my first Taylor Jenkins Reed novel a try.

After reading the first sentence…I was hooked.

I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiancé when my husband calls.

What???

Now, some people have mentioned that if you’ve seen the movie “Cast Away,” with Tom Hanks, you’ve basically read this book. For the record, I loved “Cast Away,” – because I love everything with Tom Hanks. Who doesn’t? If you haven’t seen the movie, here’s just a glimpse…

I would contend that while the plot in “Cast Away” centers around what it would be like to be stranded on a deserted island – “One True Loves,” instead, focuses on what it would be like for the loved one left behind at home.

What is it like to lose someone you love so unexpectedly and so tragically? How do you cope with that and then slowly start to put the shattered pieces of your life back together? What does it take to open your heart up to the possibility of love again? And what do you do and feel when your first love miraculously returns?

These are the questions that kept me completely riveted and propelled me to finish this novel in one day.

Now, is this my favorite book of all time? No. It had some flaws. But…any book that compels me to read it in basically one setting – deserves a round of applause.

This was a fun book to read in February, the month of LOVE! And LOVE was certainly the theme of this novel. However, it was not simply the love stories between Emma and Jesse or Emma and Sam. It was also the story of the love between parents and siblings. Emma starts out the book as a typical teenager who resents her parents seemingly narrow-minded expectations of her. She was also jealous of and had a contentious relationship with her sister. Over the course of the novel, Emma realizes how much she loves, appreciates and needs her immediate family. (One of the most tender scenes of the book happened when Emma was in the midst of her grief and back living with her parents. She wanted to start reading again but was super sensitive to death. Her parents stayed up all night going through their books, making sure Emma wouldn’t read anything where ANYONE dies. Such a sweet moment. Yep. Emma’s bookstore-owning parents might just be the best characters in the story!)

So, if you’re looking for an engrossing, easy-to-read book about love this Valentine’s month – “One True Loves” might be a fun option for you. Will I be reading more of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels in the future? I’m still undecided. What do you think? Should I?