One True Loves

Genre: Contemporary / Romance

Book Type: Audio

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Pages / Length: 325 pages / 8 hours and 5 minutes

Publisher: Washington Square Press (June 7, 2016) / Dreamscape Media, LLC

Book Description: 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.

Thoughts: Love is a beautiful and tricky thing. What would you do if your spouse was presumed dead and you moved on, only to discover your loved one was still alive and on his way home to you? That is the exact scenario Emma runs into as she is about to move on with her life after mourning the loss of her husband, who was presumed dead.

This was such a moving piece, as I'm beginning to realize all Taylor Jenkins Reid books are going to be for me. She has an incredible way of storytelling in a way that l was not expecting. This book pulled at so many heartstrings, as I could not imagine the strength to get through the loss of husband and try to move forward, only to be confronted with that past love re-entering your life. How do you choose between the loves of your life? Who you were versus who you have become? While I cannot relate to choosing between two loves, this book does an incredible job of laying out a story where you can see both sides of how Emma is feeling.

This was a beautiful story and I enjoyed it so much, but it may best be described in TJR's own words noted below. She has such an incredible way of making you pause and think about things from another perspective, so I hope these do her and the book justice. It contained love, heartache, loss, strength, doubt, family, courage, selflessness and kindness.

Favorite Quotes:

💞 I think that, perhaps, everyone has a moment that splits their life into. When you look back on your own timeline there’s a sharp spike somewhere along the way; some event that changed you, changed your life more than the others. A moment that creates a before and after. Maybe it’s when you meet your love, or when you figure out your life’s passion, or when you have your first child. Maybe it’s something wonderful. Maybe it’s something tragic. But, when it happens, it tint your memories, shifts your perspectives on your own life, and it suddenly seems as if everything you’ve been through falls under the label of “pre” or “post”.

💞 I was flirting. Me. Flirting. It feels so good to flirt. No one ever talks about that, but in that moment I felt like flirting was the very thing that made the world go ’round. The excitement of wondering what the other person will say. The thrill of knowing someone is looking at you, liking what they see. The rush of looking at someone and liking what you see in them. Flirting is probably just as much about falling in love with yourself as it is with someone else. It’s about seeing yourself through someone’s eyes and realizing there’s plenty to like about yourself. Plenty of reasons why someone may hang on your every word.

💞 I love him. I love this man. No one knows me the way he knows me. No one loves me the way he loves me. There is other love out there for me, but it’s different. It isn’t this. It isn’t this exact love. It’s better, and it’s worse, but I guess that’s sort of the point of love between two people, you can’t re-create it. Every time you love, everyone you love, the love is different, you’re different in it. Right now I want nothing but to revel in this love.

💞 I don’t think that true love means you’re only love. I think true love means loving truly. Loving purely. Loving wholey. Maybe if you were the kind of person who’s willing to give all of yourself, the kind of person who is willing to love with all your heart, even though you’ve experienced just how much it can hurt, maybe you get lots of true love then. Maybe that’s the gift you get for being brave. […] I finally love that about myself. It’s messy to love after heartbreak. It’s painful and it forces you to be honest with yourself about who you are. You have to work harder to find the words for your feelings because they don’t fit into any pre-fabricated boxes, but it’s worth it because look at what you get. Great loves. Meaningful loves. True loves.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️