Yours Truly: Book Recap, Summary + Spoilers

Chapter 1

Briana Ortiz and Jocelyn talk about “Dr. Death”, a doctor whose six patients have all died on his first day at Royaume Northwestern Hospital. Briana defends him, saying his patients were all in poor condition when they arrived. Hector comes in to let them know patient seven has died as well.

Briana’s best friend Alexis calls to ask how she’s doing given that her divorce with Nick is finalized soon. She had found out he had been cheating and had flipped out completely. Now she’s been dating, but the options have been terrible.
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Gibson, Chief of Emergency Medicine, asks to talk to Briana. She hopes it’s about him handing off his job to her since she’s the only candidate, but he tells her instead that he’s delaying retirement for three months. He also tells her that the new doctor, Dr. Jacob Maddox, is also up for the position, and it’ll give people a chance to get to know him.

Afterwards, Briana is upset, but Alexis reminds her it’s not unreasonable and that her brother Benny needs her right now due to his medical issues anyway so it’s better that she’s not as busy in the next three months.

Chapter 2

In the parking lot of Bad Axe Grill, Jacob dreads going in, knowing he’s about to receive upsetting news from Amy, his ex of many years, and Jeremiah, his brother. Jacob and Amy broke up eight months ago, and she started dating Jeremiah less than three months afterwards. Amy works at Memorial West, the hospital Jacob just left where he was Head of Emergency Medicine. They tell Jacob that they’re getting married.

Afterwards Jacob hides in the supply closet talks to his family on the phone about the engagement. His older sister Jewel and her wife Gwen are all angry on his behalf. His other older sister Jill says she’s not going, and his sister Jane agrees. His parents tell him it’s ok to not be ok.

However, Jacob says it’s fine and he wants his family to support them. To get his family off his back, Jacob lies and says he’s seeing someone at Royaume.

A doctor rudely runs into Jacob without apologizing, causing his screen to crack, so he follows her to confront her. He sees her, Briana, go into the room a patient, Benny, and chastise him, saying that he should have told her he has an infection. Jacob awkwardly interrupts to tell her that she ran into him. Both Briana and the nurse she’s with glare at Jacob who finally leaves.

Chapters 3 – 4

Briana is crying in the supply closet when Jacob walks in. He brings her a washcloth and asks if she’s okay. They make introductions and she explains that the patient is her younger brother who had an autoimmune disorder that came up out of nowhere. Jacob tries to comfort her by saving he can live a long time on dialysis, but Briana gets upset, saying that it’s a terrible way for a 27-year-old to live.

She then stalks out, mentioning that she thinks it’s unethical that he and Gibson are conspiring to get Jacob the job.

Jacob doesn’t know what she’s referring to, and doesn’t respond. He soon runs into Dr. Zander Reese was a nephrologist (kidney specialist) who is also Jacob’s best friend and roommate during med school and residency. Zander invites Jacob to grab a drink with him and Gibson at Mafi’s across the street.

Gibson tells Jacob about giving the staff some time to get to know him before they vote on the new Chief of Emergency Surgery. Jacob says he’s actually not interested. Gibson says it wouldn’t matter, she was always going to win since her team loves her. He just didn’t want her to run unchallenged so that there wouldn’t be rumors that she got the job by default. Still, Jacob says he’d prefer to opt out.

Jacob thinks about how some people wear him out, but these people do not. Amy was very high energy and took a lot of the pressure off of him, but he was lonely with her. Zander asks how he’s doing, and Jacob gives him an update. They talk about Lieutenant Dan, Jacob and Amy’s dog which he got custody of during the breakup.

They also talk about Benny and how he needs a kidney transplant but he has the rarest blood type, so it would likely take over seven years to find a donor, if ever. Jacob has type O blood and recalls how his mom’s life was saved when her best friend donated a kidney. He agrees to do the test to see if he’s a match.

Chapters 5 – 6

At home, Briana breaks down. Benny is eight years younger than her, so she practically helped to raise him while her mom went to nursing school. Benny’s been suffering from depression for a while since his diagnosis, but it’s now become debilitating. He’s being evicted from his apartment, and it’s a mess.

The next morning, Briana has coffee with Jessica, one of the OB-GYNs who is close friends with Alexis too. Briana used to find Jessica to be too bitter, but now kind of gets it. As they chat about how terrible men are, Briana brings up Jacob, but Jessica defends him and says he’s wonderful and that she’s known his whole family for years.

At the ER, they are all talking about how a little girl came in with a dog bite and Jacob is sewing up her doll. When Zander comes by, he talks about how long he’s known Jacob and how great of a person he is. He also mentions that he’s releasing Benny today.

Briana feels bad about being mean to Jacob after so many people she trusts have vouched for him. Finally, she tells him that the nurses have been cold to him, but he should bring them some desserts to win them over. She tells him what types of cupcakes they like. He asks her what she likes, and she tells him Red Velvet, but she says she doesn’t want one.

After work, Jacob’s family continues to bug him about his fake girlfriend. Jacob is feeling unsettled so he uses one of the tools he learned in therapy to transfer his emotions to paper and writes a letter to Brianna.

Chapter 7

When Briana leaves with Benny from the hospital, she tells him he needs to move in with her for a while so she can take care of him. She tries to comfort him, saying that he’ll be able to do the dialysis from home for two hours a day as long as she’s around to help. Benny looks a little more positive when she tells him that.

After Benny is settled, Briana thinks about how she’s done with relationships. The Nick fiasco taught her that men simply can’t be trusted. She remembers how her own dad walked out on their mom when she was pregnant with Benny and Briana was eight, leaving them homeless and destitute.

In the next few days, Briana packs up Benny’s apartment with the help of his friends, Justin and Brad, and she gets a home dialysis machine delivered.

Briana lives in her mom’s previous house right now. Even after her mom married her current husband Gil, she still refused to sell it, saying you always need a failsafe when it comes to men. Briana thinks about how her mom was right, since she ended up moving in after everything with Nick.

The next day, Briana receives a red velvet cupcake and a letter from Jacob. He writes to thank her for the advice, but also to clarify that he wasn’t interested in that position and didn’t conspire with Gibson to increase his chances. He also talks about how his mom had kidney failure and tries to explain why he said what he said about her brother.

After reading the letter, Briana feels terrible. To assuage her guilt, she decides to write him back.

Chapters 8 – 9

Jacob finds Briana’s letter taped to his locker, and he takes it home to read it. She thanks him for his letter and says she feels awful for how she treated him. She is understanding of him being an introvert and she offers to continue inviting him to Mafi’s and to keep the extroverts away from him if so.

The letter makes him smile, and he decides to write her another letter.

Briana finds Jacob’s letter taped onto the supply closet door. She leaves him a post-it note in response, asking about his dog, and he quickly responds.

After work, Briana goes to Target to pick up some stationary.

Chapters 10 – 11

The next morning, Jacob finds a longer letter on nicer stationary. Briana writes about her cat, Cooter. Jacob then responds in kind, penning a letter about his siblings. He talks about Jewel, who is a tattoo artist and the bet he lost to her.

Back at home, Briana tries to take care of Benny, telling him to get into the shower so they can take a walk and watch a movie.

Jacob and Briana continue to write letters back and forth, now on nicer stationary. Briana brings up to Jacob that she’s only interested in friendship though, since she’s not interested in dating and they work together.

When they both have four days off, there’s no letters, and Briana thinks about how much it sucks. She also starts to feel like the letters aren’t enough and she wants to actually hang out.

Chapters 12 – 13

Jacob gets a jolt when he sees that Briana has sent him a friend request. She then messages him and asks to call him. Jacob is mentally panicking but says yes. Soon, they’re chatting on the phone and hours go by.

Back at work, Briana comes to find Jacob to invite him to listen to an opera singer who occasionally shows up drink to the ER and sings for everyone. They also agree to have lunch together in the supply closet. Over lunch, they talk about how Benny is depressed and seems uninterested in living anymore.

While they’re eating, Jewel stops by, saying the family hadn’t heard from Jacob and they were concerned, but when she sees him with Briana, she excuses herself. Jacob and Briana agree to get drinks after work. Afterwards, Jacob sees from his family text chain that Jewel thinks that Briana is his girlfriend amd they’re expecting to meet her at Amy’s wedding. Jacob tells Xander, who encourages him to invite Briana to the wedding and ask her to pretend to be his girlfriend. Jacob is torn between not wanting to ask her to do this and really wanting his family to believe that he’s ok.

Then, Xander tells Jacob that he’s a perfect match to be Benny’s kidney donor. Jacob says he needs to think about it. He says if he did it he’d want to do it anonymously. He soon tells Xander that he’s in and down to donate his kidney.

Chapters 14 – 17

That night, Alexis shows up at Briana’s place on the eve of her divorce. She feels a wave of sadness. She talks about how the men in her life like her dad and Nick have all left her. As they talk, they suddenly hear screaming. They run into Benny’s room, but everything looks fine. It turns out he’s laughing maniacally and crying because he has a donor.

The next day, there’s palpable excitement on the hospital floor with people talking about Benny getting a kidney. Jacob feels happy to see her so excited and to be able to give her relief.

Briana and Alexis have lunch together, and Briana is surprised to feel so gleeful on the day of her divorce. She goes into Gibson’s office to request time off for the transplant surgery, and Gibson accidentally lets slip that Jacob is the donor. Briana cries after realizing what a wonderful person Jacob is. She finds him and asks him and hugs him when he admits it, promising not to tell anyone.

Briana sobs out a thank you. He tells her about the family thing he had previously mentioned, saying that he needs someone to pretend to be his girlfriend to attend his ex-girlfriend’s wedding and pre-wedding events. Briana agrees, reassuring him that she’d do it regardless of the kidney situation.

Chapters 18 – 21

That night, Briana arrives at Jacob’s house determined to put on a performance of a lifetime. They agree to say that they met because Benny was in the ER a few months back and that Jacob moved to Royaume in order to be with Briana. On the way over to his parents’ place, Jacob stops and picks up a racoon carcass, saying that he’s bringing it to his dad who is a taxidermist.

At the house, they’re immediately greeted by Jafar the parrot as well as Carter and Katrina, who are Jewell and Gwen’s twins. The rest of the family greets them.

Jacob shows her his childhood room, which his dad now uses to store taxidermy projects, and on the shelf there’s a book by his mother, who is a world-renown relationship expert. When Briana finds out, she freaks out, since she insists his mother is going to figure out really fast that they’re not really together. Briana insists they need to get to know each other better pronto and start hanging out more to really sell it.

The dinner goes well, and afterwards tells Jacob she has a really fun time. The next day, Briana tells Jessica that they’re dating since they’ve decided to keep the facade up for everyone to prevent discrepancies. Only Zander and Alexis know the truth. They make plans for diner the next day, and Jacob drops off some Taco Bell for Briana after she mentions she likes it.

The next night, they have a casual dinner and chat. They talk about their respective exes. Briana talks about how Nick cheated on her with a mutual friend, Kelly. Nick talks about how he and Amy had one therapy session and she just gave up.

Chapters 22 – 24

Three weeks later, Briana and Jacob are happily ensconced in their fake relationship, and Briana is starting to realize that she really genuinely likes him. She’s happy to have the companionship, though she knows a part of her wants more. She finds herself feeling jealous at the thought of him with anyone else. Meanwhile, Jacob is feeling the same way.

Tonight is Amy and Jeremiah’s engagement party. Before they go, Briana offers him a hug, knowing it’s going to be a difficult night for him. They come up with a escape plan catch phrase before they go in, for Jacob to say if he’s desperate to get out of there.

At the party, Jacob realizes he’s glad things are over between him and Amy and that it was never right between them. He finds that despite the circumstances, he’s still enjoying Briana’s company. During the night, Briana ends up telling his family that they’re moving in together soon.

Jacob is surprised when Amy finds a moment to talk to him alone. She confronts him about what’s going on with Briana, saying that she’s worried about him and knows that he’s donating a kidney to Briana’s brother. However, Jacob tells Amy that he’s fine and things worked out the way they should.

In that moment, Jacob also realizes he’s genuinely falling for Briana and he wants to do something about it.

Chapter 25

Briana overhears part of the conversation with Jacob and Amy and reaches the conclusion that Jacob isn’t over Amy. She feels crushed. She’s quiet on the way home, and Jacob is quiet as well.

Back at home, Benny informs her that Jacob is still outside, pacing on their porch. She goes out to talk to him, and Jacob asks her if she wants to go on a real date, not something as part of their fake-dating routine. However, Briana questions why Jacob all of a sudden wants to do this right now. She tells herself that he’s just doing this to try to get over Amy, and she says no, reminding him that she isn’t looking to meet someone right now.

Afterwards, Briana cries to Alexis about it, thinking about how heartbroken she is.

Chapter 26 – 31

Afterwards, Jacob is upset. His mom notices and asks if he got into a fight with Briana. However, his mom tells him that he and Briana seem to have something real and that he should show up and keep fighting for it. Despite his anxiety, he realizes his desire for her is strong enough for him to keep trying.

The next morning, he calls Briana and asks to come to breakfast. She’s at Alexis’s place in Wakan, but he asks to join her there. Briana is confused since Jacob doesn’t tend to like new places and new people. Knowing how he feels about unfamiliar things, Briana texts him all the details and specifics so that he’ll feel comfortable when he gets there. She tells him that he’ll be meeting her friend Alexis and Alexis’s husband Daniel. She also tells him about Daniel’s best friend, Doug.

Jacob soon arrives, and as they hang out, Briana thinks about how happy she is with him, but how sad it makes her that he doesn’t seem to be over Amy. They’re having a good time and in Jacob’s room where there’s a gust of wind that forces the door shut, and they can’t get it open.

They call Alexis and Daniel, but even with their help the door stays firmly put. They decide to put a humidifier outside to dry out the wood and hopefully loosen it up, but that means they’ll still be stuck overnight. Briana is worried since she knows she’ll be tempted to sleep with Jacob.

Chapter 33

With nowhere to go, they end up going through each others’ phone search history and sitting around the fireplace with bourbon. Briana ends up drunkenly telling Jacob that she loves him. When they take up, the door has become unstuck.

Back at home, Briana’s mom has shown up to help nurse Benny back to health. They decide to tell Briana’s family about Jacob being the kidney donor. Briana also tells her mom and brother that she is moving in with Jacob, since she has to keep up with what that she told his family.

Benny is concerned that Briana is dating Jacob for his sake, but Briana reassures him that she is deeply in love with Jacob and only a tiny fraction of that is because of what he’s doing for Benny. As she says this, she realizes it’s true.

Chapters 34 – 37

Briana soon shows up at Jacob’s door with a bunch of food from her mom and with some bags to move in so they can keep up their facade. The next week Jacob thinks that it’s the happiest he’s ever been.

They’re at the hospital when old friend of Briana’s, Levi, turns up. He is divorced and seeing a mutual friend of theirs, Cindy Baker, and they’re moving in together. Levi suggests that they all grab a drink together. Zander points out to Jacob that someone seems to be hitting on Briana. Jacob interrupts and Briana introduces the two men. Jacob notices when she introduces Jacob as her friend.

Later, Briana introduces Jacob and his family to her mother, Rosa. Afterwards, Rosa talks about how much she liked Jacob.

Chapter 38 – 40

Back at home Briana talks about going over to Levi’s place, and Jacob gets jealous and goes to bed. Later, he notices that she’s been texting him, and it drives him crazy. Every time he hears her phone ping it bothers him.

They’re at his parents’ house when it goes off again, and Jacob can feel himself having a panic attack. Amy and Jeremiah happen to be in the middle of making an announcement that they’re having a baby, and Jacob walks out.

Briana sees how upset he is and goes after him. They end up in the basement, and he breaks down. She tells him that she loves him. They have sex. Afterwards, Briana feels upset with herself for having sex with someone who is clearly in love with someone else. She runs out into the bathroom.

Jacob wants to talk to her, but Briana doesn’t want to see him. He’s confused by her behavior, but he’s supposed to be leaving for the bachelor party. He goes home instead, leaving the truck keys for Briana so she can get home.