Set aboard a Mediterranean cruise, this sweet romance is a delight for travel lovers and books about summer romances. One True Loves is a swoony, multi-layered young adult novel about making room for vulnerability, redefining Black excellence, and finding the courage to be one’s true self. I loved everything about their love story and the resolution was so satisfying! Overall: One True Loves While he has more traditional goals, he encourages Lenore to be herself and loves her for who she is. The best part of this story (just before Lenore) was Alex! Bryant writes some of softest, sweetest male love interests and I think I loved Alex even more than Sam. The author does a wonderful job of exploring the pressure Black kids can face when their parents (lovingly) encourage them to be twice as good.

It just felt like nothing she did was good enough, and being a “free spirit” didn’t help with parents who wanted Black excellence. With a well-to-do Black family and super smart siblings, I could understand Lenore’s middle child syndrome. She has anxieties, but not quite as messy as Tessa’s - hers is more insecurity-centered. Even more than Tessa, Lenore felt super real to me. It’s lovely that she gets some redemption in this story (and a lot of her behavior in the first title makes more sense). I LOVED this book! I didn’t care much for Lenore in Happily Ever Afters because I thought she cursed too much (and she does) and was a bit too “cool” a one-dimensional character. Armed with a new-ish polaroid camera and a potential new love interest, Lenore is about to learn a whole lot about herself.

It doesn’t help that her super-smart brother is making her parents’ dream come true by studying law and her little sister is literally a genius. Lenore gets off on a bad foot with Alex and she also has other things on her mind, such as what she’ll do in college (even though she’s already been admitted to NYU for Art History). Until her family goes on a Mediterranean cruise, where she meets Alex Lee. So, she decides she’s done looking for love and that the whole true love thing will never work for her.

They’ve either cheated on her or broken up with her at the worst time. Lenore has had bad experiences with every guy she’s dated. This companion title focuses on the sassy, seemingly unbothered Lenore Bennett, Tessa’s one of Tessa’s new friends. One True Loves is Elise Bryant‘s sophomore YA novel set in the same universe as her debut, Happily Ever Afters.

One true loves book