Tag: abby jimenez

ARC Book Review: Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer comes a new playful yet deeply emotional contemporary romance.

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC from Netgalley.

YUP. I’M CRYING.

Why do Abby Jimenez books hit so hard every time????? I am an emotional wreck after this one.

As someone who did long distance for a year, I felt the roller coaster of emotions and situations that come up when you can’t be physically present. It’s tough and seeing Samantha and Xavier work through that was really something. They wanted their relationship so deeply that they almost sacrificed too much and I loved seeing them communicate the hard things and find balance and peace.

The care giving aspects (to Samantha’s mom who has dementia) hit on so many levels. The raw and often desolate waves of situations and feelings that come out you when every day feels one step closer to permanently cracking. It’s trauma heavy but I think worked well in the story (I don’t qualify this as a rom-com, there’s some humor but it is settled around heavy themes).

AND HANK??? BLESS THAT MAN.

I binged this faster than I could blink and you could catch me crying in my reading chair waiting for those final moments to come together at last.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: 1-2 brief open door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content warnings: taking care of a loved one with advanced dementia, abusive parents (recounted and some on page depiction), mentions of animal abuse and neglect

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Book Review: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

I DON’T KNOW.

I need to write this review, but also don’t know what to write. I enjoyed this, I did. But something was missing. I can’t quite put my finger on what. While not my least favorite of Abby Jimenez’s, I wouldn’t count it in my top reads of hers either.

Maybe something was off with the chemistry initially. It started off really funny and I liked the set-up, then I feel like I lost a bit of steam in trying to get through it. It might be my own personal past things that combined with small things happening in the book that made me a little flustered.

The romance was super sweet though. I adored Justin. That man was put through the ringer and kept showing up. I loved the way he loved. His friends, his family, Emma. He’s one of those good souls. I could have read this book entirely from his POV.

I feel like the unsung hero of this book was Maddy. She kind of got dragged threw the mud and I’m glad she found a HEA too because Maddy really deserved more.

This was a complicated read. I’m still an Abby Jimenez fan though.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 1-2 open; low explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment, panic attacks, PTSD, anxiety, depression, depictions of undiagnosed mental health issues, toxic mother, child neglect

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Novella Collection Book Review: The Improbable Meet Cute Series

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 101 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

On February 14, an accidental email to a stranger opens the door to an unexpected relationship in a captivating short story by the New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners.

One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?

VERY CUTE.

I adored this. For 100 pages I felt like I genuinely got a lot of story to be rooting for this couple. Plenty of emails, a dash of Valentine’s and when they finally met? SO CUTE. This was a romantic gem.

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 61 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

They’re falling in love, yet they’ve never met. Maybe fate can intervene in a heartwarming “what-if” short story about new beginnings by the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.

Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?

CHARMED.

I have no idea how in 61 pages I felt like I got a well thought out story. I loved the characters. I thought the meet-cute was definitely clever and this made me smile a lot! Even burst out laughing too.

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 44 pages
Author: Sally Thorne
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For a hopeful and hopeless romantic, it’s love at first sight—with a little twist—in a hilarious short story about finding Mr. Right by the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game.

Rosie Whittaker and her sister are up for some Galentine’s pampering at a day spa. Getting locked inside a flotation tank is so Rosie. Enter a firefighter hero determined to pry this luckless pearl out of her high-tech shell. All Rosie has to go on is a dreamy voice and a flirty sense of humor. Remain calm, Rosie. This could be what you’ve been waiting for. Is this the man she’s waited for her whole life?

EH.

Not as into this one. The idea was there, but I didn’t love the execution. This would have benefited from even just a few more pages to add a better back story.

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 40 pages
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It takes nothing less than a fateful natural disaster to throw two opposites together in a ground-shakingly charming short story by the New York Times bestselling author of Drunk on Love.

This Valentine’s Day, Daisy Murray has her heart set on binge-watching rom-coms. Instead, an earthquake traps her inside a bakery with its impossibly rude and insufferably handsome owner and head baker. They already have a history: she’s always smiled, he’s always scowled. Where better to finally get to know each other than amid the disaster? Then again, they have no choice. Besides, it could have its sweet, undeniable, and unpredictable perks.

WAY TOO FAST.

This was not very good. No build up, no true conversation, just how fast can we get into bed without actually knowing each other.

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 43 pages
Author: Ashely Poston
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Every person she kisses finds their true love, and it’s never her—until now, in this funny and magically romantic short story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Audrey Love is cursed to be the person before you find your soulmate, the girl you dump for your true love. So when her best friend disappears hours before his Valentine’s Day wedding, Audrey fears that she did the unthinkable and kissed him at last night’s bachelor party. With help from the best man, she retraces her steps to find the missing groom and, with any luck, a true love of her own.

ZERO DEPTH.

This felt like it was missing A LOT to actually make the story work. The flashback chapters weren’t that helpful either. While I thought the couple had some chemistry, I didn’t like how this went about accomplishing that fact.

Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance Novella
Length: 71 pages
Author: Sariah Wilson
Publisher: Amazon Originals
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Valentine’s Day becomes a Roman holiday for a princess in disguise in a dizzyingly romantic short story about making wishes come true by the USA Today bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love.

Princess Ilaria has had it up to her tiara with the paparazzi, her own wild reputation, and the public eye. Trading places with her assistant, Ilaria wants just one blissfully ordinary weekend. Then a handsome photographer with a sexy Scottish burr offers to be her guide. Sparks fly, but how long can they last? Ilaria’s secret has to come out—and it could ruin a perfectly serendipitous romance.

A LOT OF LYING.

This felt way too condensed. To even add in a third act breakup in a 70 page novella? After one day? And everyone was lying?

So many things did not work for me in this one. I’d say this is my least favorite of the bunch.

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ARC Book Review: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 11t, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse. 

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

ALL THE FEELS.

It takes a talented author to make me cool with things I don’t normally love in romance books. Jimenez has accomplished that here (of which I won’t be saying too much more because spoilers).

I loved Briana. I loved Jacob. I JUST LOVED THEM BOTH SO MUCH. For many reasons too. I felt deeply connected to their personal growth stories and the fact that Jacob reminded me of someone in my life really had me going. I adored Jacob and the anxiety representation was raw, real, and emotional. Alongside Briana’s trauma and coping mechanisms that took the strength of love showing up to work through. Jimenez creates stories to make you feel and I love knowing these characters.

With some of the responses that I generally have a hard time enjoying, I thought the way it was handled made me understand why things were happening the way that they were. It’s a testament to the ability to create such a character dynamic you can see and get the why.

There was a bunch of tropes and plot devices that I did absolutely LOVE. And the execution, as always, was top notch for me. I loved the letter writing, soft dates, all the little touches, comforting when the world got heavy and more. Seriously y’all. This is another must read.

**Read the author’s note too!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2ish brief open; low explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: multiple mentions of different ER scenarios (cuts, wounds, vomiting, etc.), cheating spouse (recounted), chronic kidney disease, divorced main character, clinical anxiety, mention of pregnancy loss and suicide

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