Emma is the protagonist of One True Loves. She is the younger daughter of Colin and Ashley, and is born and raised in Acton, Massachusetts, where the Blairs run a bookstore—Blair Books. Unlike her older sister, Marie, Emma has no interest in books or reading; she wants to travel the world. In her freshman year, she develops a crush on Jesse, also a freshman at the same school; they date at the end of sophomore year, eventually marrying as adults. Emma is also asked out by Sam, who works at Blair Books and is a couple of years older than her; she initially turns him down, though she finds him attractive. Years after Jesse disappears, Emma runs into and reconnects with Sam again, whom she eventually goes on to marry.

The younger Emma is a quiet rebel. She actively avoids reading and the bookstore, seeing the latter as an anchor tying her to a small life in Acton, defined by her parents’ expectations. Thus, Emma leaves home at the earliest opportunity and travels the world. Her interests and identity in these years are largely shaped by her rebellion against her family’s expectations, and this need to break out is shared by Jesse, her boyfriend.