Thank you to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Two years after the loss of her fiance, Sloan is still working to get back to feeling like herself - or feeling like doing much of anything. But when a dog decides to literally jump into her car one day and she takes him home she starts to feel like things might be okay. After a couple weeks of unanswered texts, Sloan finally hears back from the dog's owner. But Sloan has no intentions of giving him up.

The Friend Zone was one of my favorite romance reads of 2019 and I have been anticipating the release of The Happy Ever After Playlist ever since. As soon as I got this in the mail I knew I had to read it immediately and I finished it in about a day. What happened to Sloan towards the end of The Friend Zone broke my heart and I'm so happy that we get to read her story now.

I absolutely loved the banter that started immediately between Sloan and Jason through their texts and phone calls and how they started forming a friendship. What I particularly enjoyed about this book was seeing the journey that Sloan went on both personally and in her relationship with Jason. Jimenez is able to handle a variety of issues and topics all wrapped up into an enjoyable romcom and I am excited to see what she writes next. The only thing that didn't really work for me in this one was that I wanted more of Sloan and Jason together and could have done without a couple of the dramatic subplots.

4.5/5 stars

I wasn’t sure where this book was going at the beginning, but once I got a couple pages into the book I was sucked in and couldn’t put it down. It was nice to read more about the characters from the Friend Zone and see their stories resolved in this book. Hopefully, we are introduced to some new characters so this story continues or we hear more about their lives where the story left off.

The Happy Ever After Playlist picks up a couple of years after the heartbreaking death of Sloan’s fiancé, Brandon. She’s having a particularly rough day when an adorable dog jumps into her car and also gets her a ticket (quirky combination, no?). She grows quite attached to him as the owner continues to ignore her messages and after two weeks, she decides to just keep the little fella as he’s reminded her that there is still some happy in this world to be had. When Jason returns home from a cell-free trip, he’s furious to find that his troublesome ex has not only lost Tucker, but also neglected to look for him and left town. The two come to specific agreements regarding Tucker, and you’ll swoon the entire time watching them fall for each other. Five star read for me! I loved it! Thank you to both Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the opportunity to read.

I liked this better than The Friend Zone because I thought Sloan was a much better character than Kristen. I still have issues with the decisions Jimenez has her characters make, though. It takes away from the romance and reeks of desperation and obsession. It started off great, with the back and forth banter over text but it went from zero to a hundred way too fast. But after what Sloan was put through in the first book, I feel like she did at least deserve some happiness, even if I didn't agree with the way it played out. 3 stars.

If you have not read The Friend Zone, go and read it ASAP!! I loved TFZ and was excited to read Sloan’s story. I was hooked on the first chapter. ⁣
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This book is so much than a romance. It depicts such raw emotions as Sloan deals with grief and her healing process. I love the strong the friendship that Sloan and Kristen have and is an integral part of the story. This book made me cry, made me literally LOL and have all the magical feels of finding love. ⁣
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Abby Jimenez is beyond awesome!! She DM along the way to chat about the story. Go and preorder this, I promise you it is a book you will want to read again and again. ⁣

Thank you so much to Abby Jimenez and Netgelley for the ARC copy.
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A great follow-up to The Friend Zone! This book was just as unputdownable to me as the first in the series. While this could be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading The Friend Zone first. (As one of my most favorite books of 2019, you won't be sorry you did!) I really like how this author writes about real experiences and struggles of everyday women. Jimenez's books are witty and fun, but will still tug at your heartstrings.

I was devastated for Sloan after she lost Brandon. Seeing her process her grief and find her way back to happiness was an emotional read, but so worth it. We even get another adorable dog in this book. I'm still on the fence about Jason (or at least his Jaxon persona) but I did fall in love with his family.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my review.

A special thank you to Hachette Book Group Canada, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On her way to visit the grave of her late fiancé, artist Sloan Monroe nearly hits a dog when he dashes out in front of her vehicle. When she stops to check on the dog, he jumps onto the hood of her car and then into the car through the sunroof. After getting a ticket for obstructing traffic, a visit to the vet, several unanswered calls to the number on his collar, and posting his picture everywhere with no response, Sloan decides to claim the dog. He turns out to be just what she needs to distract her from her grief.

Jason Larsen, dog owner, is off the grid in Australia and is shocked to receive Sloan’s many messages. After proving that Tucker is indeed his dog, and that he didn’t abandon him (his sort of girlfriend was supposed to be looking after him), he negotiates for Tucker to stay with Sloan while he finishes up his trip.

The two begin flirty texts that morph into long phone calls with the promise of a face-to-face meeting. When Sloan discovers that Jason is actually Jaxon Waters, the singer of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," she's completely blindsided. This is the song that Sloan couldn’t stop watching the animated video for after her fiancé, Brandon, died. Jaxon's music haunted her, it spoke to her soul, and it brought her so much comfort during the darkest period of her life. Could this be fate?

Utterly charmed by Tucker, and Jason’s patience and kindness, Sloan falls in love. Plus he's super hot! But Jason’s label has other plans as to who he should be dating now that he is on the cusp of superstardom and embarking on a major tour. Touring with Jason also means that Sloan will have to abandon her art that she has just started getting back into.

Is Jason worth the sacrifice? Can Sloan handle what could seemingly be another heartbreak?

Opening with an epic meet cute, Jimenez sets the tone for the perfect rom-com. However, after starting the book, I quickly abandoned it to read Jimenez’s debut The Friend Zone and I’m glad I did. because I was able to fully appreciate the back story. Fans of Kristen and Josh will be thrilled with this book. The couple get lots of page time because they are Sloan’s support system as she navigates her grief and her new relationship.

What I loved was how Jimenez pens Sloan so carefully—she is a character that is completely broken by grief and is simply existing. I encourage you to read the incredibly touching inspiration for this book in the acknowledgments.

The whole crazy ex subplot did not work for me. At times it felt a little clichéd and overly dramatic. I'm wondering if Lola will be the subject of the next book which is why she was given such a big part. I also found that the first half of the book was much stronger.

This book has all the feels, it is emotional, raw, and just plain funny. I adored the witty banter and Jimenez has an impeccable ear for dialogue. The Happy Ever After Playlist is heartfelt, flirty, and fun.

Can I just say, I have never been so excited to be granted access to an ARC (thank you Estelle❤️). I was afraid to read it because I LOVED The Friend Zone sooo much. I didn’t know how it would compare.

Best believe, this book BROUGHT IT. Abby did it again. First, she is excellent at dialogue between love interests. I felt the chemistry between Sloan and Jason straight away just through those initial texts.

Sloan’s story was absolutely heartbreaking in TFZ. I was so pleased to see how Abby handled the effects of grief and the way it manifests into every facet of your life. Read the author’s note at the end, which gives some further insight. I absolutely love the way it was handled.

Now let’s talk about Jason Larsen (my new top 3 book bf). I didn’t think any man could match up to Josh Copeland. But I think I actually love Jason more? Don’t ask why. I really have no explanation. Jason needs his own post on my blog entirely (coming soon).😅😍

Misc things I loved: The music and the playlist (available on Spotify) was also spectacular! Highly recommend. Also, can we talk about the Epilogue!?? ❣️❣️❣️This is what dream romance epilogues should be. Seriously. Authors, please take note.

Anyway, I’m ending this review here because I’m going to talk about this book for days, weeks, months, years, forever and ever. You must pick this book up in April when it comes out 🙌🏼❤️

My review: a Solid 3.5

After reading The Friendzone, I just knew I had to get my hands on this book. I needed to have the follow up with Sloan and the peek back into Kristen's life as well. I love Abby's writing style as she grabs you and sucks you into her story-line and make you fall in love with all the characters. Coming back to Kristen and her life was an added plus. Everything was going great. The story was great meeting an amazing guy and a whirlwind romance is just what the doctor ordered. I loved the Easter eggs that were left from The Friendzone as an additional plus. The first half of the book is a complete goldmine, however, I was just left a bit disappointed. I feel like some things were rushed to finish. The transitions weren't executed the way that would completely satisfy me. I needed more, I felt like the maybe I built myself up for this amazing book and dying to get my hands on it was just kinda a let down just based on the ending. I look forward to more books by Abby Jimenez. Just an additional note: As her actual first book its pretty amazing and showed what an amazing writer she became on the second book she wrote and The Friendzone checked all the boxes for me.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review.

I was lucky enough to read this book before it even came out. I’ve been waiting for it since before Abby’s first book came out. Man it did not disappoint!! It’s everything you would expect from her and more. I just wish they were longer because now it’s gonna be even longer before the next one.

This last year my family went through a big loss, my aunt who is my moms twin was taken from us. It was her second cancer diagnosis and we knew it would be fatal. We had 7 years from her diagnosis but knowing it’s coming doesn’t make it any easier. Everyone in my family is grieving but nobody wants to talk about how to move on. I read all the time but to have something hit so close to home at such a desperate time is exactly what I needed.

I feel like I’ve been stuck in-between for a while and Sloan showed me that it is okay to feel stuck. It’s okay to move on. Jason is everything that you need in a time of healing and I didn’t realize that my husband was being that for me until now. It’s easy to understand why people grieve but hard to understand why it takes so long.

Abby took a horrible tragedy and was able to turn it into something so beautiful. Even when you aren’t looking for hope sometimes it still finds you.

Full review to come. Initial thoughts based on the preview:

What a great start! Well paced, with spot-on-humor, The Happy Ever After Playlist is instantly engaging and I am thrilled to read the full book. The premise, Sloan and Jason meet because of his dogs antics, is fun and fresh. By the third chapter, I was already laughing out loud and full invested with both main characters. Loving it so far!

Full disclosure: I've followed Abby on social media ever since the Nadia Cakes Vageode(tm) shenanigans. I read her first book, The Friend Zone, hoping it would be as funny as her social media presence- and it was!

The Happy Ever After Playlist picks up 2 years after the events of The Friend Zone. And while Kristen from The Friend Zone was hilarious and straightforwardly blunt as a character, I appreciated Sloan more. She was more like a kindred spirit to me: still funny and witty, but maybe slightly embarrassed by Krtisten's brand of humor even as she found it hysterical.

I appreciated that while Sloan was sad and loved her ex-fiancee, her grief and possible guilt at finding someone new that she was attracted was not the giant stumbling block that it could have been in the hands of a lesser author. Also, Sloan and Jason knew what they wanted and were patient and honest about it, which was a breath of fresh air in this genre for me. Even the few times the plot contrived to possibly split them up with some sort of misconception, a couple pages later the characters would surprise me by turning around and saying, "wait a minute, that can't be right," and would try to make it work again. So refreshing!

Did I mention that I finished this book in one day? I had minimal sleep that night but it was totally worth it.

I don't know who Abby will write about next, but I'm here for it!

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰⁣
Rating System: •5: loved it •4: liked it •3: just ok •2: did not like it •1: really did not like it •0: DNF ⁣
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“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭” 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐳 ⁣
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: April 14, 2020⁣
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: #fiction #romance #contemporary⁣
𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: see comment section⁣
𝐂𝗪/𝐓𝗪: self harm, alcohol/drug abuse, bereavement ⁣
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️/5 ⁣
𝟏-𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: phenomenal /fəˈnämənəl/⁣
𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦⁣
1. 
very remarkable; extraordinary.
2. 
perceptible by the senses or through immediate experience.⁣
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5.0/5.0⁣
Y’all... say hello to my 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 5 STAR READ IN 2020! For lovers of The Friend Zone, Abby Jimenez has done it again. I laughed, cried, cheered, audibly groaned and ultimately fell in love with The HEA Playlist. This book finds our character(s) two years “post Friend Zone” with a focus on Sloan. ⁣
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Jimenez, once again, delivers the most relatable characters in the midst of a heartfelt tale of romance that is 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 vivid and real. The narrative and banter is witty, hilarious, and will leave you wishing these characters were your best friends. (𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴- 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 😘.)⁣
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Yes, this is a romance, but it is also a story of loss, friendship, personal growth and selflessness. ⁣
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Thanks to @readforeverpub @netgalley for providing me with this ARC. ⁣
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𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Everyone. Preorder this NOW, thank me later. 💕

My first read of the New Year literally happened as the ball dropped. I would say I stayed up only to kiss and wish my family a Happy New Year. That happened but I also stayed up because I couldn’t stop reading until I knew what happened with Sloan and Jason. I’m so thankful that @authorabbyjimenez told the story of Sloan. The Friend Zone left me wanting more Sloan. The Happy Ever After Playlist did not disappoint. We got some Kristen, Josh, Sloan, and Jason. Can’t forget Tucker. I felt like the gang was back together but with some extras! And I was here for it!!

I absolutely adored this book. I was so afraid that I was starting not to like contemporary romance anymore but Abby reminded me that this is what it is all about! A book that makes you feel, makes you hope for more, makes you cry all the tears, and laugh through those tears.

This was such an amazing book to bring in the New Year’s with. This is easily a 5 star book. Wow! If this is any indication of how my reading year is going to be in 2020, I’m all in!!

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub #partner. Be sure to preorder this one, it comes out April 14, 2020.

P.S. Be sure to check out The Happy Ever Playlist on Spotify. Come on where can you get a book and playlist?!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Oh my gosh...

I'm a little late to the party on Abby's first book, The Friend Zone, One snowy weekend I finally grabbed it off of my bookshelf and dug in. As fate would have it, I also found out that I was selected to receive an ARC of The Happy Ever After Playlist so my weekend was set.

I would highly recommend reading The Friend Zone first to really grasp what this book is based off of. This would work as a standalone, but I feel readers would get more out of it knowing the past experiences and personalities of the characters if they start at The Friend Zone (you will not be disappointed).

We follow Sloan as she begins life again. We meet Jason her love interest. I love how they interacted with each other in the beginning, mostly by flirty text messages. Jason is an up and coming music star and Sloan is an artist trying to get back to doing what she loves, not what she has to do. As they try to mesh their worlds they find themselves easily becoming overwhelmed by life on the road and the demands of his tour schedule. New relationships are hard enough, but the added demands of stardom really test Sloan and Jason and in the process of trying to protect one another, they inadvertently hurt themselves and each other.

I loved the strength of Sloan's character in this book. After grieving a horrible loss, we see her start to thrive and really do what's best for her. Jason does his best to support her, but in the end, I felt it was more Sloan standing on her own two feet and fighting for herself.

The strength of all of the characters, the love and sacrifice we see between partners and the friendships we see continue in this installment make this a 5 star read for me.

Wow. Just wow. I loved Abby's first book but this book was something else. The characters were so well developed and the story was so fleshed out and real that I honestly felt like it was real. I cried (honestly, heart wrenching much??) and laughed and everything in between - and I wanted to fly out to get Nadia's cake (I see what Abby did there..). The characters were just so real and perfect and flawed - I want Kristin and Ernie as my best friends. And obviously Tucker too. This book was incredibly written and if you love happy rom coms, first read The Friend Zone then read this one immediately afterwards. Do it - you won't regret it for a second. Just bring tissues.

I was not expecting to have my heart ripped out as I read this book. But even with that, I laughed and cried and giggled, and re-read pages even as they happened. I wanted to experience this book as one might experience a blanket warm from the dryer.

This is the perfect follow up to The Friend Zone. I was heartbroken for Sloan and was wary of anyone replacing Brandon, but Jason was perfect for her. I really loved seeing her come back to life and I loved how good they were to each other. While there was a little bit of insta-love in this book, I didn't mind it because I really felt like they were right for each other. I loved getting to see so many different sides to these characters--when they were at home in LA, when they went back to Minnesota, when they were on tour, when they were unhappy, and when they were just in their-day-to-day with each other. Both this book and The Friend Zone had really good narrative arcs; I never felt like the story was too short or like there wasn't enough action. The characters really had to work for each other and they had to go through real struggles.

I really wanted to like this book. It has the best meet cute ever, and the characters start out super interesting, but the more I read, the less I liked it. So, let's start with the good. The dog, Tucker, is great! And the Meet-Cute is great. Sloan, the heroine, is having a really bad two years and then a dog jumps into her life. Tucker is a lost dog and his owner, Jason, is away on a trip. So when Sloan finds him, she starts to take care of him, while leaving messages on the voicemail of the number on Tucker's dog tag. Jason finally gets cell phone service and calls Sloan and convinces her that he HAD set up someone to watch the dog, but that person was unreliable, hence the missing pooch. The set up is so great for this, I thought for sure at first I would really enjoy it.

But in the end, I had some frustrations that really put me off of it. SPOILERS FOLLOW

Sloan is suffering from depression, and while the book occasionally makes noises about how she should go to therapy, she ends up getting better just by making better decisions, all on her own (kinda). But, like, that's not how depression works, and that's not how the type of depression she has works. She needs therapy. She may need medication, and the book just hand waves it all away. "She made better choices which is why she's no longer depressed." Like NO! That is so frustrating to me. It seems irresponsible for an author to present a problem as severe as grand depression, and just say "She was able to just make better choices!"

Also, the choices that they're saying are "better" aren't really better. Because she ends up doing not very good things, but is cheered on by her friends who are just happy she's not in her apartment anymore. But here are the life choices she makes that her friends say are good for her.

After knowing a guy for two weeks she 1) Quits her job to go on tour with him (Jason is a musician) 2) Sells her home, so she's currently homeless 3)BASICALLY MOVES IN WITH A GUY AFTER TWO WEEKS.

And her friends cheer these decisions along. So, that is the majority of my problem.

Also, we keep being reminded that Sloan is more conservative then Jason, but they don't REALLY explore what that means. All we know about Sloan is that she's an artist with a bunch of tattoos, and she likes cooking with hunted meat, and she said she doesn't kiss on the first date (she ends up doing that) and that she thinks sex before marriage is cool, but thinks she should wait to be married before having kids. Like, that is the extent of her conservativeness? It's just a really confusing thing for the book to keep harping on without exploring it, why even mention it?

Okay, let's talk about the hero, Jason. Jason is not a great communicator. In the beginning during the meet cute it's super adorable, but later he has all these worries and fears and he just swallows them down, but also let's them influence how he acts, which isn't the best. They could have just had an actual conversation.

Also, the end grovel wasn't good enough. - There's a public thing, but I feel like we there wasn't enough follow through one on one for after.

So, this book started out pretty solid and then just lost it.