Emma and Jesse. High school sweethearts and true love. They go to college together, travel the world together with their jobs, get married and love deeply. On their first anniversary after about 11 years together Jesse leaves on a helicopter for work and is in a crash. Presumed dead.
Emma moves across the country back to their hometown to all her family's expectations for her and everything she and Jesse were escaping from when they were 18. But she works through her grief over a period of years and then meets someone else and falls in love again. Another deep and true love. She is engaged and happy again.
And then the phone call comes that Jesse is actually alive. She is faced with the dilemma of what to do. Someone's heart is going to be broken. But who and who will she end up with. The struggle and conflict is believable and well written. The ending was good. I liked this book and the emotions.
Emma moves across the country back to their hometown to all her family's expectations for her and everything she and Jesse were escaping from when they were 18. But she works through her grief over a period of years and then meets someone else and falls in love again. Another deep and true love. She is engaged and happy again.
And then the phone call comes that Jesse is actually alive. She is faced with the dilemma of what to do. Someone's heart is going to be broken. But who and who will she end up with. The struggle and conflict is believable and well written. The ending was good. I liked this book and the emotions.
Helpful Score: 1
ONE TRUE LOVES has a dynamite premise: What would happen if your husband died and you fell in love again after a couple of years and planned to remarry someone else, just to learn that your husband has been found alive after having only been lost at sea?
While I enjoyed the author's exploration of the emotional conflict, I think I would've enjoyed it more in the hands of an older, more mature writer. Emma, Jesse and Sam were in their 30s, but the substance of their relationships was very YA and juvenile. It felt shallow overall, with many depths going unexplored. This felt like a triangle of college freshmen vs. a triangle of grown adults.
The three MCs were all inherently good and noble people, which is nice, but it doesn't make for deeper exploration of human conflict and behavior, which a situation like this begs to explore. The figuring out ended up being a little too safe, too "clean."
Having said that, I did find ONE TRUE LOVES to be a worthwhile read, I enjoy the authenticity the author seems to strive for in her writing, but I would more readily recommend the author's other novel, AFTER I DO, over this one. I felt the telling of that story was better aligned with the characters' stage of development. 3.25 stars.
While I enjoyed the author's exploration of the emotional conflict, I think I would've enjoyed it more in the hands of an older, more mature writer. Emma, Jesse and Sam were in their 30s, but the substance of their relationships was very YA and juvenile. It felt shallow overall, with many depths going unexplored. This felt like a triangle of college freshmen vs. a triangle of grown adults.
The three MCs were all inherently good and noble people, which is nice, but it doesn't make for deeper exploration of human conflict and behavior, which a situation like this begs to explore. The figuring out ended up being a little too safe, too "clean."
Having said that, I did find ONE TRUE LOVES to be a worthwhile read, I enjoy the authenticity the author seems to strive for in her writing, but I would more readily recommend the author's other novel, AFTER I DO, over this one. I felt the telling of that story was better aligned with the characters' stage of development. 3.25 stars.
