Taylor Jenkins Reid has become synonymous with deeply emotional, character-driven stories that explore the complexities of fame, ambition, and love (think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Daisy Jones & The Six ). However, before those blockbuster hits, she wrote One True Loves —a quieter, more intimate, yet equally gut-wrenching exploration of grief, choice, and the very definition of a soulmate.
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Love Triangle Publication Date: 2016 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) One True Loves
And then the phone rings. Jesse is alive. Taylor Jenkins Reid has become synonymous with deeply
Emma is shattered. The next few years are a raw, realistic portrait of grief—moving back in with her parents, abandoning her dreams, and simply surviving. Jesse is alive
Years later, a healed and transformed Emma has rebuilt her life. She’s a successful book buyer for a high-end travel store, has reconnected with her family, and is engaged to Sam, a gentle, reliable, and wonderfully safe former childhood friend. Sam is everything Jesse wasn’t: present, predictable, and steady.
This is not a simple romance. It is a philosophical thought experiment wrapped in a page-turner. The premise is high-concept: What happens when your husband, presumed dead in a helicopter crash, returns alive... just as you are about to marry your new fiancé? The novel follows Emma Blair. In her early twenties, she marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse, a free-spirited, adventurous man who pulls her out of her predictable life. They travel the world, living on ramen and passion. Then, on their first wedding anniversary, Jesse disappears in a helicopter over the Pacific Ocean. He is presumed dead.
