A delightful story about finding love--and a new outlook on life--after tragedy. Full of music and heart and creatives following their dreams.

I was so excited at the prospect of Abby Jimenez's second book. Her debut, "The Friend Zone" was awesome and I had heard from those that had already read "The Happy Ever After Playlist" that it was equally as wonderful and they couldn't have been more spot on. I can say with 100% confidence that this is my favorite book I've read this year.

It's been two years since Sloan Monroe lost her fiance in a tragic accident. In those two years, Sloan has become a shell of herself. She has no motivation, she doesn't want to get out of bed and she's just lost all of her joy. It's a chance meeting with a dog, Tucker, that runs in front of her car that sends her life in a totally different direction and begins to pull her out of the rut she had been in for so long.

When Sloan continually tries to get in touch with Tucker's owner with no luck, she finally decides after two weeks that he's staying with her. As fate would have it, it's then that Jason, Tucker's owner finally turns his phone on and receives her messages after being out of cell range in Australia for the entire time she'd been trying to get in touch. The two begin to communicate by text and by phone and the exchanges begin to become flirty. Jason wants a date when he gets back stateside, but Sloan isn't sure she's ready. When they finally do connect when Jason is back in the U.S. is his job as a rising rock star going to torpedo the relationship before it really gets started or will he find a way to have both is career and the woman he's falling so fast for.

I just adored everything about this book. The interactions between Sloan and Jason were fantastic. The banter, the easy way they had about them when they were together, the sweet and caring way that Jason was with her, just everything makes me smile thinking about it. I will say I did feel all the emotions throughout this story as well. To me if you can make me cry, you've done a great job. I don't cry all that often when I read books, but this one got me and got me good.

Kudos to Abby Jimenez for penning another incredible book! I look forward to what she has to offer us next.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher**

I liked The Happy Ever After Playlist but, as with the author’s last book, didn’t love it. I enjoyed the building of the relationship between Sloan and Jason and totally found myself “in crush” right along with them and totally rooting for them to fall in love. The main flaw was that the leads were kind of a boring pair of beautiful people. Despite that, I laughed in a few places and overall kept reading because I wanted to know how they’d end up together. I’d certainly read another of Abby Jimenez’s books!

I adored this one almost as much as The Friend Zone. I am just so thrilled to have read something about Sloan! I really, really hoped for a follow up about her and whatya know! My wish came true. ⠀
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Abby is such a phenomenal writer.. I felt what the characters were feeling. I felt their love, I felt their struggle. It was steamy without being overkill! Bonus points for the fact that a dog brought the two love birds together.. such a sweet “meet cute”. Also, I think Jason is my new book boyfriend.. he just won my heart with how sweet and considerate he was towards Sloan. The only thing that didn’t jive with me was the ending. I get that a happy ending is a must but I felt like this one was just too perfect? It just didn’t seem realistic to me 🤷‍♀️ ⠀
I’m so grateful that I got to read this one early though!

This is the second book by Abby Jimenez and in reality it was her first as she needed to publish The Friend Zone first for literary reasons.

This book was a look at grief and how one woman, with the help of a dog, pulled herself up by her bootstraps and found that the sun still shone and there was good out in the world.

One of the things I love most about Abby's stories is the level of realism she puts into her writing. Messy buns, whispered dirty talk between friends, and scratches from dog claws all make appearances.

Humor, heart, warmth, and grief are all within the pages.

I was SO excited when my wish request was granted on Netgalley to read this book. This was the perfect break in between spring cleaning.

Summary: Sloan is having a hard time dealing with the unexpected loss of her fiance. During a rate venture in the outside world, Sloan finds an abandoned dog, Tucker. And it turns out Tucker's owner, Jason, just happens to be a famous musician who was on tour when Tucker went missing. Jason and Sloan get to know each other through text messages; eventually, they meet in person and the sparks fly. But will their attraction be able to thrive in the harsh reality and limelight of Hollywood?

Review: Ah, this is a swoon-worthy and hilarious story. I love Sloan. I love Tucker. I love Jason. I love Sloan, Tucker, and Jason together. I could just see the story come to life through the pages. The music recommendations match the chapters perfectly. Jimenez creates a beautiful story full of the complex characters, and ties in characters from her first novel, The Friend Zone. This is one to check out!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own!

5/5 stars

I'll be honest I liked The Friend Zone, but I absolutely loved THEAP! I don't know if it's that I connected more to the overall story or Sloan & Jason as characters, but this story really hit me in the feels!

I loved the beginning when Sloan & Jason are getting to know each other long distance and Sloan is coming out of her grief. It reminded me so much of getting to know my husband through IMs and late night calls. This story gave me so many butterflies and gushy feelings and that's before I even got to the steamy bits! The chemistry was written so well in this story.

I can definitely say I laughed out loud on the third page. The whole meet cute with Tucker, Jason's dog and Sloan was hilarious and so precious. Tucker was definitely a beautiful touch to the story, had his own character and was not just a conveniently placed puppy. Speaking of hilarious, the bits of Kristen & Josh that were in the story were so entertaining! I forgot how utterly crazy and outspoken Kristen can be and I enjoyed seeing how they are doing now.

Overall, this story had so much within these few pages. It dealt with coming out of grief, finding yourself, new beginnings and not letting yourself get lost along the way in a new relationship. I truly can't recommend this story enough. It gave me so many butterflies, laughs, and feels that I know I'll read it again someday.

FYI, when you do read it, there's a Spotify playlist created by Abby! It definitely adds to the reading experience.

*Thank you so much NetGalley and Forever Publishing for gifting me a digital copy.

I'm noticing a trend in Abby's work: the first half of the book is an absolutely perfect rom-com that's cutesy, sexy, fun, pretty much everything I want in a romance novel. But then, the second half of the book takes an unexpected ride on an emotional rollercoaster that I love to hate. I think Playlist was a great follow-up to Friend Zone, and I actually think I enjoyed it more because of the pay-off of Sloan's journey. There were a few things that didn't check my boxes like the speed of their relationship, some of the Hollywood drama, and excessive martyrdom, but overall I know I'll keep coming back for Abby Jimenez books, especially if I need a good cry.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the advanced copy!

I will never be able to do this book the justice is deserves. I was OBSESSED with it. I battled between wanting to keep reading to know how it ended and wanting to slow down to make it last longer. Unfortunately my willpower for needing it to last was beat by my need to know the ending. And the ending? Was PERFECT. I loved that each chapter had a song with it, and was so happy to see multiple Bring Me the Horizon songs (one of my favorite bands of all time).

The author's note at the end, explaining the purpose for the book, made the book all the more special to me. Abby Jimenez is an author that will always be welcome on my shelf.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own,

In 2019 I was given a copy of The Friend Zone and told to read it. It was a debut from new author, Abby Jimenez, and my friend was really excited about it. She knew it would be something I would love, and she wasn’t wrong. It was the perfect balance of humor and emotional heartbreak and I’m so happy I got to read it. And then I heard about The Happy Ever After Playlist. The companion to The Friend Zone and I was so excited. I loved the character it was about and wanted to see what their life was like after the events of The Friend Zone. And boy did Abby deliver. The Happy Ever After Playlist was so good I still can’t even find the words to describe my love. And honestly if you haven’t read The Friend Zone and you don’t want to be spoiled then stop reading now.

The Happy Ever After Playlist takes place 2 years after the event in The Friend Zone that left Sloan devastated and alone. Ever since her fiancé died Sloan has lived in a bubble unable to crawl out from under her grief to get her life to some semblance of normal. But one day, on her way to the cemetery, a dog jumps through her sunroof and changes everything. Being the good person she is, Sloan finds the owner, who is overseas, and ends up watching the dog for him. Text messages are exchanged, phone calls are had, flirting takes place. Soon Sloan finds herself in an unexpected situation, the situation of moving on. Realizing she has a connection with Jason, Tucker’s owner, Sloan had to figure out if she can chance getting a broken heart again when it just maybe had started to mend.

I seriously was in love with this book 15% in. It was everything I wanted for Sloan’s story. My heart had been crushed when her fiancé died in The Friend Zone. It was so unexpected and she was on the verge of having everything she wanted in life. But the more I got to enjoy Sloan and Jason the more I realized that Brandon wasn’t the guy for her. He didn’t push her like Jason did. He didn’t take her out of her comfort zone. He was just a good guy that was there for her. But she needed more and Jason, and his crazy dog Tucker, where that more. Seeing the three of them together and Sloan put her life back in order was exactly what I needed.

The Happy Ever After Playlist hit on all the marks for me. I devoured the pages in one day and had no regrets at all in doing so. I laughed and I cried while being wrapped up in Sloan’s journey and I would have done it for longer if the book had more pages. I thought The Friend Zone was lovely, but The Happy Ever Playlist was perfection! This is one you CAN NOT MISS!

I really enjoyed this novel. Seeing a character who had gone so deeply into grief and depression (in the author's first novel), and then bring herself out of it in this one was wonderful to see! I also enjoyed the depiction of fame and how the difficulties of celebrity can affect personal relationships. I highly recommend this book to any adult romance readers.

I have a new book boyfriend after reading The Happy Ever After Playlist. Jason is just amazing – he’s kind, compassionate, caring, patient and all around dreamy. Not to mention he’s a rock star (literally).

I’m so glad that Abby ended up writing The Friend Zone and having that story published first. It made reading The Happy Ever After Playlist that much better for me. I did enjoy The Friend Zone so I had a feeling I would enjoy this book but I had no idea just how much I would enjoy it. For those that might not be aware, you are introduced to Sloan’s story in The Friend Zone and you see how the death of her fiancée impacts Josh and Kristen. Now The Happy Ever After Playlist picks up 2 years later with how Sloan is continuing to cope and grieve Brandon’s death. In comes an encounter with a lost dog and how the reunion with the owner leads to an unforgettable love story.

I always judge a good book by the depth and breadth of emotions that a book has me feel. This book had me completely invested and feeling all sorts of emotions from delight to hope to sadness to frustration (in a good way). I found myself feeling like I DESERVED to have an opinion on their relationship based on my level of emotional investment 😉. It’s a funny yet heartbreaking at times and well worth the read!

Abby has done it again and I have fallen in love with this book. Slone and Jason are amazing characters with such depth to then. I love how much Kristen we get in this book as well. I can't wait to reread it.

A second novel that is just as wonderful as the first. This author has a hilarious sense of humor that is extremely enjoyable. I laughed and I cried. Sloan’s story is powerful, entertaining, and hopeful. This is a wonderful story.

I really had high hopes for this author. I read The friend zone and I prefer way better than this book. The protagonist are full in my opinion and as the author likes to point out " beautiful, gorgeous, hot". That's all their redeming qualities.

This was a sweet, yet somewhat predictable, story about Sloan and Jason. Sloan finds Jason's dog while he's out of town and they start a long distance friendship that turns romantic. This was a fun, light read especially with summer around the corner. I would recommend it to people looking for a good beach read. Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sloan was still trying to get her life together after her husband, Brandon, death two years ago. Then swooshed enter into her life, Tucker, an adorable dog that would lead her to life and love again.

Sensories overload! Sloan is that girl next door with a hard exterior. Jason is the superstar with a heart of gold. This story has dug up so many feelings of the past for me. I love the song title and artist at the beginning of each chapter. The author introduces me to songs I've never heard before and then there were songs that just takes me back. They say musics as memories. Each song takes me back to that time that has been so significant in my life, that put all my sense into overdrive. I had to put the book down many times, just so I can deal with my own emotions.
The style of writing was honest and relatable. Jimenez wrote what she knew, such as Stuntman Mike and the crocheted tissue holder that looked like a vagina. Her humour come through strong and I suspect that Kristen is mirrored after the author. The dialog was not some cheesy romance where it felt unreal. I felt like a fly on the wall of Jason and Sloan. I wanted to be Kristen so I can be there for Sloan. I was completely submerged in this story. I started to imagine who would play each character if it would become a movie. At the end of the book, I truly felt like I lost a few friends. I can't wait until the next book, even if it's not a continuance of Sloan and Kristen.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! The Happy Ever Afert Playlist is just one of those books you don’t want to see end. Funny, interesting and believable characters that made me want to be their friends. What more could you ask for in a book? Oh, and an awesome playlist to go along with it. Run, and grab this book. You won’t be disappointed.

This was a really great follow up to The Friend Zone! It was such a fun read. I LOVED the characters Jimenez introduced in her first book and was great to see how they are all doing. I like how the author also covers really heavy topics in a subtle but impactful way. Both Sloan and Jason were so easy to root for (both together and apart), and was just a really sweet love story that we could use at a time like this!

It got a bit too much drama and Hollywood for me about 3/4 of the way through the book, but I still really enjoyed it, and read it within 24 hours!

Go pre-order this and/or request from the library like now. I literally screamed when I received this - I am not kidding. I absolutely LOVED Abby’s debut novel ‘The Friend Zone’ (go see my review for it on my feed). I actually compare all contemporary romances to this book, like for reals. The Happy Ever After Playlist can be read as a standalone but it will make your anticipation stronger if you learn about Sloan’s sub-story. Sloan’s sub-story in TFZ made me cry TBH, like ugly cry. I can’t say this enough but Abby is so talented. If I could go back into time and unread both of these - I would in a heart beat.
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I loved HEAP as much as I love TFZ. HEAP is a feel good romance about second chances and finding the courage to heal after loss. Sloan needed to find herself again and make her own happiness, but a hot musician boyfriend might help along the way. Abby’s writing has a way of personally connecting you with all of her characters. The writing style makes you feel like you are sitting with everyone and included in the conversations. This story tugged at all my strings and had me laughing out loud and crying.
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Also each chapter has a song in the chapter title that Abby recommends you listen to before reading. There were a few familiar songs I LOVE and a lot I didn’t know - but her playlist is on Spotify. DO NOT SKIP THE acknowledgments - just FYI. Overall, my favorite romance read of the year. Please keep bringing us the best book boyfriends Abby! I’m soooo here for it.