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reads2cope's review against another edition
2.0
Loved the banter and the romance, but once the unexpected pregnancy trope hit I 🤢 just can’t. Especially after that, if felt like the book was trying to save itself from everything that didn’t make the wrap-up make sense. They didn’t know each other long enough to start a family, so why introduce a pregnancy? She needs more time to think about marriage, so it’s a huge red flag that he’s pressuring her about it after less than a year even knowing each other! And why was her promotion at the begging such a huge deal if she’s still in the same role by the end? Frustrating. The book could have spent more time on the relationships with their family members - who are great and felt real - rather than suddenly rushing for a wedding scene. It made me question their motives and goals as a couple.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Gaslighting
kfmcf's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I feel like I read a different book than everyone else.
I liked "Part of Your World". I didn't love it, but I still thought it was sweet and enjoyable. This one *irked* me. For a few reasons:
1) there are slow burns and then there are books that just need a bit of editing to trim the fat. This was the latter. Was it egregious? No. But it was a bit of a slog.
2) Jacob's anxiety was pretty unbelievable. I suffer from pretty terrible anxiety, specially social anxiety and have had my own journey of working through it. Everyone is unique so I don't expect monolithic occurrences, but my issue really lies in the fact that we knew nothing about Jacob OUTSIDE of his anxiety. That was it. And it felt like Briana liked him because she could mold him to what she needed.
3) I remember having a little bit of a problem with Jimenez's writing in POYW (in the first series so much) but I thought she had grown as a writer. This prose felt really immature and also didn't feel natural for people under 40 to use as dialogue. Does anyone under 40 use "u" and "r" while texting?
4) This book was ableist. The dog's name is Lieutenant Dan as an homage to "Forrest Gump". Cute. However, when acknowledging this reference, he is just referred to as "the amputee from Forrest Gump." ??! Excuse me?! There are so many less offensive ways to saw who the character is - Gary Sinise's character, the man who loses his leg in the Vietnam War, Forrest's shipmate. Just...insensitive. And outside of Briana's family the diversity of the characters feels very shoehorned in and ingenuine. Can we stop just referring to characters as Asian? It's an entire continent with a plethora of countries and cultures.
5) This one is a spoiler. this is Jimenez's SECOND BOOK WITH A SURPRISE PREGNANCY. How is she forgiven for this when so many other authors are not? It's not done any better! It's telegraphed super early on when they're talking about naming a kid Xfinity and Briana says she likes the name Ava. And then the first time they have sex, it's unprotected. And why was EVERYONE PREGNANT. Alexis, I get, but Amy AND Kelly AND BRIANA. Oy. I'm exhausted by this. And I don't believe that they would magically be fine and stay together. They barely knew each other.
6) We get it. You own Nadia Cakes. 5 mentions is too many mentions. And even beyond that it was a lot of brand name and pop culture dropping, jeepers.
7) This is one of the most atrocious examples of miscommunication I have ever encountered. Tbh I am a miscommunication apologist BUT i do think that miscommunication has what i consider two paths it can go down: missed communication and withheld communication. Missed communication is par for the course for relationships. It's crossed wires, mistakes, saying the wrong things. Withheld communication is when you DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER AND FESTER OVER INCORRECT INFORMATION. Briana is a 35-year-old woman. This felt like high school nonsense. It was so so much of the book. It was the ENTIRETY of act 2.
I truly believe there was a solid and lovely idea here that just got muddled by mishandled tropes and overexaggeration. This is the 2nd strike for this author for me (looking at you "The Friend Zone") and I'll give her a 3rd, but oof...begrudgingly. And only because I liked two of her other books.
I liked "Part of Your World". I didn't love it, but I still thought it was sweet and enjoyable. This one *irked* me. For a few reasons:
1) there are slow burns and then there are books that just need a bit of editing to trim the fat. This was the latter. Was it egregious? No. But it was a bit of a slog.
2) Jacob's anxiety was pretty unbelievable. I suffer from pretty terrible anxiety, specially social anxiety and have had my own journey of working through it. Everyone is unique so I don't expect monolithic occurrences, but my issue really lies in the fact that we knew nothing about Jacob OUTSIDE of his anxiety. That was it. And it felt like Briana liked him because she could mold him to what she needed.
3) I remember having a little bit of a problem with Jimenez's writing in POYW (in the first series so much) but I thought she had grown as a writer. This prose felt really immature and also didn't feel natural for people under 40 to use as dialogue. Does anyone under 40 use "u" and "r" while texting?
4) This book was ableist. The dog's name is Lieutenant Dan as an homage to "Forrest Gump". Cute. However, when acknowledging this reference, he is just referred to as "the amputee from Forrest Gump." ??! Excuse me?! There are so many less offensive ways to saw who the character is - Gary Sinise's character, the man who loses his leg in the Vietnam War, Forrest's shipmate. Just...insensitive. And outside of Briana's family the diversity of the characters feels very shoehorned in and ingenuine. Can we stop just referring to characters as Asian? It's an entire continent with a plethora of countries and cultures.
5) This one is a spoiler.
6) We get it. You own Nadia Cakes. 5 mentions is too many mentions. And even beyond that it was a lot of brand name and pop culture dropping, jeepers.
7) This is one of the most atrocious examples of miscommunication I have ever encountered. Tbh I am a miscommunication apologist BUT i do think that miscommunication has what i consider two paths it can go down: missed communication and withheld communication. Missed communication is par for the course for relationships. It's crossed wires, mistakes, saying the wrong things. Withheld communication is when you DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER AND FESTER OVER INCORRECT INFORMATION. Briana is a 35-year-old woman. This felt like high school nonsense. It was so so much of the book. It was the ENTIRETY of act 2.
I truly believe there was a solid and lovely idea here that just got muddled by mishandled tropes and overexaggeration. This is the 2nd strike for this author for me (looking at you "The Friend Zone") and I'll give her a 3rd, but oof...begrudgingly. And only because I liked two of her other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
jacquibear's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy
stephmcoakley's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
roget's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Moderate: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Blood
samcanuel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book made me rethink my opinion on dual POV romance novels. WOW. I laughed, cried, got butterflies, everything. I loved the characters, and although their thought processes deeply frustrated me, the slow burn was so worth it. Do I recognize that a story like this one is deeply unrealistic? Sure. No faking dating scheme would ever have to be so elaborate. But I ate it up. I loved all the characters so deeply, especially Jacob. I would recommend this to any romance novel reader, suckers for fake dating, and anyone who is okay with miscommunication delaying their joy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol
emmas_bookshelf's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Summary: Briana and Jacob are ER doctors who have a rough first meeting. Although introverted & anxious Jacob is immediately taken with her, Briana takes a bit to realize Jacob is a good guy, but once she does, she’s all in. They start fake dating and that ends how all good fake dating ends: with one bed and real love. 😜
Review: I loved many things about this book. Briana and Jacob have an easy chemistry and togetherness and the themes of promising to be harmless to someone really resonated with me. The book also had many truly laugh out loud moments (Jacob’s perfect interjection of catchphrases, iykyk). I appreciated how developed the families of the characters were and the inclusion of all the little daily joys (taking care of plants, bringing a loved one a meal) that make up a life. That was really lovely. And Jacob is donating a kidney to Briana’s brother. That’s so incredible. 🥹
Things that bothered me: the two on-page sex scenes both take place when one or both characters are extremely upset about something and while it’s referenced that they’re having a bunch of joyous sex in between it seemed kind of gross to me that the explicit scenes were when… these people should not have been having sex. It is explicitly written that Briana is having sex without a condom or any form of birth control and I’m like - two doctors? Seriously? They BOTH know better. And it seems extremely out of character for both of them. Unhealthy practices bug me. Moving on from sex: the two of them competing for a job was a major part of the beginning and then that storyline never goes anywhere and is never mentioned again* and that struck me as very odd.
*I did read an advanced copy so the final version may differ.
Review: I loved many things about this book. Briana and Jacob have an easy chemistry and togetherness and the themes of promising to be harmless to someone really resonated with me. The book also had many truly laugh out loud moments (Jacob’s perfect interjection of catchphrases, iykyk). I appreciated how developed the families of the characters were and the inclusion of all the little daily joys (taking care of plants, bringing a loved one a meal) that make up a life. That was really lovely. And Jacob is donating a kidney to Briana’s brother. That’s so incredible. 🥹
Things that bothered me
*I did read an advanced copy so the final version may differ.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood
hansbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THIS BOOK! Abby Jimenez is the rom-com queen. Her books make me swoon, and laugh, and giggle, and devour them like nothing else. This one is no different than her others, a couple of flawed but incredibly lovable main characters that your are rooting for from the start. I loved this enemies to lovers, to workplace romance, to fake dating, to *gasp* there's ONLY one bed! It was tropey magic.
Even though, there were moments where I thought, JUST HAVE THE DANG CONVERSATION, I didn't mind because I loved the story and the dreaded miscommunication trope made the book go on longer which I never wanted it to end.
I loved the family element and the medical setting. A highly enjoyable read, one I will be shoving into all my friends' hands!
Thanks to Netgalley and Forever Publishers for my eARC copy of Yours Truly in exchange for an honest review. I immediately preordered this one because it's one I HAVE to have on my shelves.
TW/CW: Miscarriage, infidelity, surprise pregnancy, medical content, panic attack/anxiety, mental illness stigmas.
I loved the family element and the medical setting. A highly enjoyable read, one I will be shoving into all my friends' hands!
Thanks to Netgalley and Forever Publishers for my eARC copy of Yours Truly in exchange for an honest review. I immediately preordered this one because it's one I HAVE to have on my shelves.
TW/CW: Miscarriage, infidelity, surprise pregnancy, medical content, panic attack/anxiety, mental illness stigmas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Mental illness
Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy
anyaemilie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a rough time with this book, which is not usually true when I read Abby Jimenez. She has written some of my favorite romance books, and she always manages to write sweeping love stories that emotionally wreck me before my heart is put back together at the end.
I read several other early reviews, and I seem to be in the minority, but I was very frustrated the majority of the time I was reading this book.
I loved the characters. Briana and Jacob both went on journeys throughout this book, and I loved how they grew and changed. The mental health rep in this book was amazing, and I especially liked Jacob's journey with his anxiety. I loved the development of their relationship from pretending to date to slowly falling for each other. It was sweet, and the letter writing was very very cute.
I also know from the author's note at the end of the book that this was an extremely personal book for Jimenez to write. The whole subplot of Briana's brother dealing with an unexpected autoimmune disease that leads to kidney failure is directly taken from her own life.
There are so many of this parts of this book that I loved. So why am I giving it 3.5 stars? Because of the miscommunication trope that is threaded through a good third (or maybe even half) of the book.
I'm hiding this chunk for spoilers, even though most of what I say is pretty vague. Proceed at your own risk.
There are two huge miscommunications/misunderstandings, one from Briana and one from Jacob where they both make HUGE assumptions about something with only part of the information. And then neither of them talks to the other about it! They spend so much time assuming they know how the other one feels and they're both completely wrong, and they don't talk about it until everything has fallen apart. It's extremely frustrating that characters who are in their 30's (they're both 35 if I remember correctly) spend so much time assuming they know what the other person is thinking instead of taking two minutes to have a conversation about something to clear the air. And the part that's so frustrating is that these misunderstandings are so SILLY. And multiple times Briana flat out refuses to listen to Jacob and let him explain what is actually going on because she is SO SURE that she knows how he actually feels. I know this has to do with past trauma (which she eventually does address and deal with), but the fact that the major conflict in this book revolves around frankly ridiculous miscommunications is incredibly frustrating. There's no real reason these two people can't be together except their sheer stubbornness and refusal to be honest with each other.
It's disappointing that there was so much about this book that I loved but the entire miscommunication thing really ruined my enjoyment of the book. (As you can tell, I'm not a fan of that trope because it's always silly and easily resolved.) I feel like for the heaviness and seriousness of the rest of the plot, that really didn't fit in, and I wasn't a fan of how either character dealt with it.
It might be a little harsh, but I have given the majority of Abby Jimenez's books 5 stars and I know she can write really amazing stories. This one just didn't do it for me, and I'm pretty disappointed that this one plot point kind of sucked all the joy out of the whole book for me.
I read several other early reviews, and I seem to be in the minority, but I was very frustrated the majority of the time I was reading this book.
I loved the characters. Briana and Jacob both went on journeys throughout this book, and I loved how they grew and changed. The mental health rep in this book was amazing, and I especially liked Jacob's journey with his anxiety. I loved the development of their relationship from pretending to date to slowly falling for each other. It was sweet, and the letter writing was very very cute.
I also know from the author's note at the end of the book that this was an extremely personal book for Jimenez to write. The whole subplot of Briana's brother dealing with an unexpected autoimmune disease that leads to kidney failure is directly taken from her own life.
There are so many of this parts of this book that I loved. So why am I giving it 3.5 stars? Because of the miscommunication trope that is threaded through a good third (or maybe even half) of the book.
I'm hiding this chunk for spoilers, even though most of what I say is pretty vague. Proceed at your own risk.
It's disappointing that there was so much about this book that I loved but the entire miscommunication thing really ruined my enjoyment of the book. (As you can tell, I'm not a fan of that trope because it's always silly and easily resolved.) I feel like for the heaviness and seriousness of the rest of the plot, that really didn't fit in, and I wasn't a fan of how either character dealt with it.
It might be a little harsh, but I have given the majority of Abby Jimenez's books 5 stars and I know she can write really amazing stories. This one just didn't do it for me, and I'm pretty disappointed that this one plot point kind of sucked all the joy out of the whole book for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment