REVIEW: Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

OUR REVIEW:

I am a sucker for Abby Jimenez's novels and the second it hits my kindle, I'm pushing anything else aside and diving in. Even in the novels of hers that I didn't rate 5 stars, I enjoyed them so much, I'd go back to them at any time to read them. 

In the case of Say You Remember Me we get the love story of Xavier and Samantha and their most perfect first date that then leads them into a very long distance relationship. Over the course of months, they try to not be together but neither of them are able to stop the ache that develops any time they think about a future without the other. The reasons they can't just up and move and make it work are completely reasonable but that won't keep you from feeling angsty and frustrated for them. All you want is for them to figure it out and see them together forever, because you have zero doubt that they must be. 

In the midst of all of this is Samantha's caretaking of her mother, the complicated relationships she has with her family, and trying to balance all of that with work and her love of Xavier. Meanwhile Xavier is trying to figure out how to make enough money to get to her as often as possible, while maintaining his new vet practice and not completely lose it all. So complicated. So frustrating. So worth the read. If I have any complaint, it's that I wasn't quite ready to see their story end...but isn't that always how I feel with Abby Jimenez's novels? Why yes, yes it is. 

BUY IT:https://amzn.to/3RVHMQC

SYNOPSIS:

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.

 

REVIEW: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

OUR REVIEW:

Just like all of the other Abby Jimenez novels I've read, I zoomed through this one; she has a knack for creating characters and scenarios that pull you in and make you care about their plights. In the case of Just for the Summer, Justin and Emma find each other via a funny story on Reddit and end up connecting through their similar dating stories. What starts out as a one off DM turns into several DMs that then turn into conversations and a suggestion that they try to break the dating curse they both seem to be under. Without a doubt, it's obvious that they're meant to be together and while I think Justin realizes that from the beginning, it takes Emma quite a bit of time to work through her denial. To say she has trust issues is probably the biggest understatement anyone could make, but it's accurate and understandable, as you get to know her story. 

Justin is created to be adored, in my opinion. He's considerate and fun and loving and attentive and really all the things anyone could ask for in a boyfriend. And while Emma is empathetic and caring and up for anything, her inability to let anyone in makes her mildly infuriating. Don't get me wrong, I understand why she does what she does but it's hard to see her denying what's right in front of her. 

These two characters have it anything but easy and yet they persevere and persist and you can't help but root for them the entire time. You know, absolutely know, that their love story is going to hurt before it's all said and done and yet you can't look away from it. You have to know how it's going to implode and how they'll make it back together. 

I really enjoyed their story, and all of the baggage and weight that they carry (Abby Jimenez is nothing if not consistent when it comes to giving her characters something to grapple with), their ability to work through it, and of course the connections that Justin and Emma have with all of the previous books. Funny and sad and infuriating and loveable--you're going to enjoy these two and their HEA.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/49hmYu3

SYNOPSIS:

A sharp and scintillating summer novel that will make readers laugh out loud and cry happy tears from the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.

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?

 

REVIEW: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

 

OUR REVIEW:

Sometime over the last six months I became a Abby Jimenez fan and began putting all of her books on hold on my Libby app, just waiting for the day I'd be approved for the next one to be released to me. When Yours Truly came to me quicker than I expected, I immediately put down what I was reading and dove in. 

Like all of her other novels, Yours Truly has a connection to at least one character in a previous novel, in this case it was to Alexis from Part of Your World. It features the story of Briana and Jacob-two ER docs who don't have the best first time run in. Fortunately for them both (and us), the negative tension that starts their path to love and romance is easily rectified when Jacob explains himself via a sweet letter. That letter begins a series of letters exchanged between the two of them and is a sweet way from them to get to know each other--a way not often explored in contemporary romance. 

As the novel progresses, we learn that Briana's brother is in need of a kidney and hasn't found one yet. Cue Jacob to get tested and find out that he's a perfect match. He tries to donate his kidney to her brother anonymously but his cover gets blown and so in exchange, Briana eagerly agrees to help him keep his family off his back about having a girlfriend, since his most recent ex is now his brother's fiancé. In order for them to pull things off, they have to get to know each other and that's where the fun really begins. Through their phone dates, their outings, their meet ups with family, they individually begin to wonder if they could make it a real thing, but each decides the other would never want that (of course, asking would be too easy so they just assume) and so there's lots of yearning and longing for something that neither of them thinks is possible. 

As we follow their journey to finding their HEA, we also get to know a character who has extreme social anxiety and all of the things one may have to do to cope with the outside world. Additionally, we have a character whose abandonment issues are so deeply embedded that they think a true love, long term relationship is off the table forever. Together they help each other live with and through the obstacles and struggles that come with these things, which only adds to the richness of this novel, in my opinion.

Yours Truly is the perfect fake dating, fun romance that I needed as I recovered from a major surgery...though laughing at some parts DID NOT help with the soreness I am currently in, it was totally worth it. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3WisuqJ

A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match from "a true talent" (Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

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.

“Abby Jimenez’s words…sprinkle humor and warmth all over my life.” –Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis