Review: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

     One True Loves was a touching book. Jesse & Emma’s love story is classic until it “ends” tragically when the helicopter he is travelling in crashes and he is presumed dead. Jenkins Reid thoughtfully and accurately portrayed Emma’s grief. Emma’s reactions were very real to me, very believable as to how a young widow would respond to her true love being taken from her suddenly and tragically.

In the process of trying to move on with her life, Emma returns to her hometown and all that is familiar to her. When Jesse was alive, he and Emma lived a life full of adventure, travel & excitement. She didn’t picture living a boring existence when married to Jesse.

Again, Jenkins Reid accurately portrays how a person changes over time, after certain experiences. Funnily enough, people often find happiness in ways they never pictured. Emma discovers this when she returns. She takes over the family business, lives in the town in which she was raised, re-establishes a relationship with her sister, and maybe most importantly, finds love where she least expects it.

Emma reconnects with Sam. She knew him in high school and it seems he always carried a torch for her. Emma finds that a “boring” and somewhat predictable life can be satisfying and even bring happiness! As she and Sam plan their wedding, Emma gets quite a surprise when she finds out Jesse is alive. Now she has to choose between her two true loves.

As far as this being a realistic plot, I suppose it would be highly unlikely that the lone survivor of a helicopter crash would live to tell the tale after 3 years. However, this is not impossible, so if readers let themselves go with it they will find that Jenkins Reid again pretty realistically recounts how people in Emma, Sam, & Jesse’s predicament would react. Emma finds that she’s not just deciding between two men she loves, but also between the life she wants to live as the person she has become. I recommend it, so read it!