Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is imploding- her divorce is just about finalized, the promotion she was looking for has been delayed, and her brother’s chances for a new kidney are one in a million. When the new Dr. Jacob Maddox over-steps she goes into full on beast mode and delivers a set down that they both will never forget. Realizing his error, Jacob writes her an old fashioned letter that starts a back and forth letter exchange that creates a rock solid friendship. When Jacob secretly tests himself and is a match as a donor for her brother’s kidney Brianna will do just about anything Jacob wants in return for this life-saving gift. Jacob asks for that favor- he wants Brianna to pretend to be his girlfriend for a series of events with his family, something that she’s happy to do, but this line she crosses makes it very hard for them to ever go back to being “just friends”.

First, I need to give props to the narrators, Kyla Garcia and Zachary Webber. I’m a huge fan of Zachary Webber’s and have listened to him many time so falling back into his voice and portrayal of Jacob was no hardship and super easy. Kyla Garcia was a new narrator for me, but she too was wonderful and the two of them together had great chemistry. Abby Jimenez wrote some great dialog for these two characters and due to their narration, I was all in. This story caught me hook, line, and sinker.

These letters that Briana and Jacob exchanged were such a great way to create a voice for each character. Their jobs as emergency room doctors would be a dreadful read, but their relaying their days to each other on paper allowed the author to create unique voices for each of them. It also allowed the characters to relay things about themselves that would be hard to say in person. So, they got to know each other quickly and when they finally became friends in person it was a seamless exchange. I just so loved that. Am I the only one that was reminded of the movie You’ve Got Mail during these chapters? It was just all so fun and charming. I was smiling the whole time I read those letters.

I really liked how this novel explored social anxiety as a theme. I think it’s one of the first times where I’ve read a romance where the hero had this mental issue and it really opened my eyes to anxiety and how people deal with living with it. I loved how Briana knew how to deal with it and automatically did things to make him feel more comfortable, really without much thought. It made me love her a lot and get invested in the two of them as a couple. Briana too, was not without her own mental issues and the author did a great job explaining what was happening in a realistic way that didn’t get bogged down by technical terms. Briana and Jacob were so present for each other you couldn’t help but love them both.

I found this novel charming, funny, emotional, sad, and inspiring. I’m kind of surprised to be using those descriptors in what I thought would be a simple rom-com but this novel had a depth that leapt out and punched me in the face and made me take notice. You can’t help but admire a story that makes you feel all of those things and then reflect back on it again days later and say to yourself, yeah, that was a really good one. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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