One True Loves | Taylor Jenkins Reid

I actually picked this up because I wanted to read Reid's newest, Atmosphere, and I'm 195th on the reserve list. If you've read anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid you know that she's a skillful writer. I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo a while ago and really liked it.

The premise of this novel strains reality. Emma marries her high-school sweetheart Jesse and they build a life of adventure and travel. But then Jesse is involved in a helicoper crash in Alaska, presumed dead, and Emma is left to figure out her life without the him. She moves back to her hometown in New England from California, heart-broken, but starts to find a new life, including love, for herself and allows herself to set down the pain of Jesse's disappearance. After nearly four years, she's engaged to a wonderful man, working at a job she loves and doing great.

But wait! Jesse isn't dead. (That's the far-fetched part. Obviously this could happen but it doesn't happen all that often, right?) He finally finds his way back to civilization (from a tropical, deserted Pacific island--from Alaska??) and comes back, expecting everything to be as it was. Obvious conflict. Emma has to figure out where her heart lies. Drama and tears ensue.

I don't know that this is Reid's best work (I hear raves about Atmosphere). A beach book, for sure. But a pleasant one with characters who seem like real people who you might actually know. Easy read with a few tears. Happy Ending.