Book ~ "Say You'll Remember Me" (2025) Abby Jimenez

From Goodreads ~ 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.

Samantha found a kitten and took it to the vet to get checked out. The vet turns out to be a grumpy Xavier who advised euthanasia because its bumhole hadn't properly formed and it would eventually die if expensive surgery wasn't done. Samantha stormed out and raised enough money to save the kitten. She took the kitten back to Xavier for another check-up and he asked her out. They have a wonderful time that night and then she informed him that she was moving back home for good to California the next day. Her mother had dementia and the family was banding together to take care of her at home. 

I thought this story was okay. Samantha and Xavier were cute together ... her humour countered his seriousness. But things escalated quickly from there. I know she just met the guy but it wasn't until he was dropping her off at home after their date that he discovered she was moving from Minnesota to California in a couple of hours ... how could it not have come up in the conversation especially since she'd brought the kitten in to get a travel note? 

They acknowledged they had a great time but it couldn't go anywhere. Despite now being thousands of miles apart, Samantha and Xavier can’t stop thinking about each other. The next thing you know, Xavier is travelling to California a couple weeks later and it's like they'd been together forever. They are planning a life together but couldn't figure out how it was going to happen. 

Samantha's mother had dementia and the family had promised her she would live at home and never be put in a facility. So Samantha, her father, her maternal grandmother, her brother, her sister and her sister's two young sons all lived at the grandmother's house and took turns taking care of the mother. The mother became violent at times, didn't know who they were, wandered off, wouldn't take her medications, etc. I've never known anyone with dementia but shouldn't she have been a facility where trained people could take of her properly? It emotionally and physically beat them down but they were determined not to break the promise of keeping her at home. Really?! 

Neither Xavier nor Samantha had much money ... Xavier was still paying off his loans for his practice and Samantha was contributing to the household finances. Samantha then put her extra money along with the others into renovating their grandmother's house ... shouldn't the priority of the extra cash have gone towards getting the mother proper care instead of sprucing up the house? Xavier started working crazy hours at various clinics to make enough to fly back and forth to see Samantha in California and was burning himself out.

It's written in first person perspective alternating in Samantha and Xavier's voices (the chapters are labeled). There were references to characters in another author's stories I hadn't read so I didn't get them (I looked them up later ... it was weird the author would assume we all knew). As if the long distance relationship and the mother's dementia wasn't enough, there was more not so happy things that happened. I knew everything would be resolved at the end but I wasn't buying how it all came together. As a head's up, there is swearing and some adult activity.

The cat rescue I volunteer with had a kitten a couple years ago that was born without a bumhole and the surgery was expensive. Happily the cat is doing well now.

Book ~ "The Happy Ever After Playlist" (2020) Abby Jimenez

From Goodreads ~ Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can't seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a "take me home" look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker's owner reaches out. He's a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: he wants Tucker back.

Well, Sloan's not about to give up her dog without a fight. As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can't deny a connection. There's no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: with his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?

Sloan was out and about when a dog darts out in front of her car and jumps in through her sunroof. She takes Tucker, the dog, home and tries to contact the owner whose info in on Tucker's tag. Sloan's fiancé had been killed in a motorcycle accident two years ago and she is still grieving but having Tucker is helping her get back into her old life. 

Two weeks later Jason, Tucker's owner, finally contacts her and wants his dog back. He's been hiking in New Zealand and assumed a friend was taking good care of Tucker. He's going to be in Australia for another couple of weeks and Sloan offers to keep Tucker until he gets back. During that time, they text and talk on the phone and get to know each other. When Jason gets back home, they connect and can't deny there is an attraction and start to plan a life together.

I thought this story was just okay. It started off cute and light but then went downhill for me with so much drama. I found it hard to believe that Sloan has spent the last two years in mourning but snapped out of it pretty quickly when she meets Jason ... within a month or so they are in love, she has given up everything for him and they planning a future around him and his music. The dialog and actions was unrealistic and cheesy ... though they are almost thirty and have had life experiences, they talk and act like young teenage girls. The ending wrapped up way too cleanly ... everything and everyone was perfect.

It's written in first person perspective alternating in Sloan and Jason's voices (the chapters are labeled). As a head's up, there is swearing (I don't have an issue with swearing but there was an excessive amount) and adult activity.

Book ~ "Life's too Short" (2021) Abby Jimenez

From Goodreads ~ When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn't expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn't just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30 and Vanessa doesn't want to take anything for granted.

But after her half-sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her infant daughter, life goes from "daily adventure" to "next-level bad" (now with bonus baby vomit in hair). The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she'd be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua.

Now she's feeling things she's vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

Vanessa is a famous travel vlogger with millions of YouTube followers. Her mother and sister had had ALS and had passed away before they were 30 and there's a 50/50 chance that Vanessa has it too so she assumes she'll pass away at 30 also. She saw the misery her sister had gone through with treatments and decided to instead spend possibly her last couple of years having fun and seeing the world rather than treatment before ALS takes her too. Then her drug-addicted half sister gets pregnant and abandons Grace, her infant daughter, with Vanessa. Needless to say, this changes Vanessa's life and puts her travel and lifestyle on pause.

Adrian is a lawyer who is Vanessa's next door neighbour and owns their building. Until the night he helps her out with Grace, they have never had any contact. They start hanging out together and become good friends with Vanessa loosening up the always needing to be control Adrian. Adrian would like more but Vanessa has made it clear she's not interesting in dating anyone (he is unaware of her possible death sentence) and he doesn't want to ruin their friendship. Vanessa realizes she would like more but Adrian isn't making any advances so she assumes he just wants to be friends.

This is the second book I've read by this author and for the most part I liked it. The interaction between Vanessa and Adrian was cute. It's written in first person perspective in Vanessa and Adrian's voices (the chapters are labeled). As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity

It does get heavy at times because Vanessa is supporting her family and is concerned about what will happen to them once she's gone ... her father is an unemployed hoarder, her half-sister is a drug addict, her well-educated half-brother doesn't want a normal 9 to 5 job and she needs to find an adoptive family for Grace because she assumes she's going to pass away soon. Plus Adrian has family issues of his own. Vanessa may or may not be dealing with a life threatening disease but she does nothing to see if she is. So it got a bit annoying as she keeps dwelling on dying and not getting confirmation if she may have ALS. Find out either way and then deal with it rather than assuming.

Book ~ "Just for the Summer" (2024) Abby Jimenez

From Goodreads ~ 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?

Justin posts online on Reddit that he is cursed ... after he dates a woman and they break up after a few dates, the woman always finds their soulmate. When Emma comes across this, she responds to him because she has the same curse. He is in Minnesota and she is in Colorado and they start texting and chatting and get to know each other. Emma is a travel nurse and she and Maddy, her friend, take on new assignments in new places every couple of months. Their next stop is supposed to be Hawaii but Emma convinces Maddy to head to Minnesota instead so she can meet and date Justin so they can break their curse and move on to meet their soulmate. As Emma and Justin get to know and like like each other, though, their plan to break up after four dates becomes harder.

Both are coming with baggage. Emma's mother, Amber, had frequently abandoned her and Emma was eventually put in foster care in Maddy's home. Amber has popped in and out of Emma's life for years ... it's always nice at first but explodes before Amber disappears again. Emma always has hope that Amber will straighten out and come back for good but it next happens. Justin's mom is heading to prison which will leave Justin responsible for his three younger siblings for the next six years.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it. It's a cute romance that does get heavy with the issues that Emma and Justin have to deal with with their families. It's written in first person perspective in Emma and Justin's voices (the chapters are labeled). As a head's up, there is swearing.