Review Detail

‘One True Loves’ by Elise Bryant weaves together a multitude of themes that become one beautiful story. While Lenore is graduating from high school, she doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with her life. She’s been accepted to college and is planning to travel to New York City to start her life after high school, but there are loose ends to tie up and she isn’t quite sure how to tie them.

First, she has to deal with the heartbreak that comes from always feeling second best with any guy she’s ever interested in romantically. Her best friends try to make her feel better, but there isn’t much anyone can do since Lenore’s is not really willing to be fully open with her friends about how she feels. She puts on a brave front, but deep down it hurts. Just like it hurts that her parents are always looking at her like she has to be the next big thing, and she doesn’t quite know what to make of that. She looks up to her brother, Wally, who seems to be all put together, but looks aren’t always indicative of what’s really going on, and Lenore comes to find that out as they travel together on a cruise vacation for two weeks after high school ends.

While on the cruise, she sees a good-looking guy across from her at the Trevi Fountain, the same place where her friend back home told her that she could wish to find love. She thinks maybe there’s something to it until she happens upon him in person, and she realizes that the guy, Alex, aggravates her to no end. From the way they meet to his outlook on life where everything is planned at least ten years in advance, she doesn’t want anything to do with him. However, as their families spend more time together, Lenore and Alex find that they have more in common than they think, including the ability to talk to each other about topics that seem off-limits with others.

Mix in some past romance, bad feelings, heartache, along with some beautiful scenery, moments of pure bliss, and a lot of soul-searching, and that’s what Elise Bryant has crafted with ‘One True Loves’. For anyone who loves to travel, seek out truth, embrace life in all its trouble and glory, this is a great book to pick up. Set against the backdrop of a Mediterranean cruise and all of the excursions that go along with a trip of that caliber, ‘One True Loves’ focuses on more than just love—it focuses on truth, growth, kindness, and learning to value one’s own worth.