3.5 - Unfortunately, this one was my least favorite of the series. It didn't grab me as much as her others. I felt there was no buildup of chemistry between Vanessa and Adrian. There didn't seem to be as much internal dialogue with trying to convince themselves they weren't attracted to each other either. It just happened too quick. I like her getting him out of his "life is only work" philosophy and enjoy every minute, but they went from friends to more within a blink and it left a little to be desired. I also don't know how to feel about her thinking she has ALS and then ended up being something else, with still the 50% chance of having it hanging over her head, and Adrian's reaction too it. It was too extreme and then HER reaction to it. I wished it was more fleshed out and didn't leave me winded. Vanessa also dealt with so much in her family life. Phew. I was a little exhausted putting myself in her shoes. Just wasn't my story.

This was a perfect addition to The Friend Zone series! I really like the fact that it didn't continue with the group in the first two books since the second book really wrapped that storyline up. I loved how this was loosely based on a real person's life and I really enjoyed following her journey.

Abby Jimenez does it again! I devoured this latest installment in the The Friend Zone series, and Vanessa and Adrian might just be my new favorite of her couples. The friends-to-lovers plot is wonderfully executed--I loved them just as much when they were "just friends" as when they got together, which is so key.

My only slight complaint was that Vanessa's insistence on remaining in the dark about her medical situation felt too convenient/contrived as a plot device. I respect the complexity of her situation and won't pretend to know what I would do in her shoes, but something about it just didn't ring true to me. I obviously still loved it though and would definitely recommend!

I started this book and decided it was not for me. I loved Abby Jimenez's other books, I just was not connecting with the characters. This was a me thing and not a problem with a book. I look forward to reading her other books.

I love this book. What a great way to show the importance of living every day and enjoying it. Adrian and Vanessa were the perfect ying and yang to each other. Jesus's Abs indeed.

I just absolutely adored this book! Abby Jimenez has a way of taking really serious subjects--in this case, the disease ALS--and adding fun, love, and romance to a debilitating issue. Throw in the main character being a super-popular YouTuber who is taking care of her sister's baby, has a father who has hoarding issues, and so many other problems that arise, and you begin to feel like you could be reading about your own life or the life of someone you know. I can't wait to read more from Abby! Thank you Gallery Books and Hachette Books for the gifted copy!

I have read Jimenez’s previous novels and enjoyed both of them. I think she gets better with each one. Like her previous books, her main character is dealing with a serious issue that makes her think she can’t get involved. Jimenez does this very well without letting the book get bogged down with sadness. In fact, there is a good bit of humor in it which keeps the tone lighter. I’m a sucker for the friends to lover tope that she writes, and she always has an engaging storyline and characters. This one also features a rescue dog which is always a hit with me. If you enjoy romances, you can’t go wrong with this one. Jimenez has definitely moved to a must read author for me.

Abby’s writing feels like texting with your best friend. She is equal parts hilarious and heart warming. Life’s Too Short had me rooting for Vanessa and Adrian right from the start. Both have been dumped on by life and both deserve happiness. A true friends to lovers, I loved every minute of Life’s Too Short. Abby Jimenez has become an instant add to cart for me!

This book! Abby always knows how to pull at my heartstrings. I loved this story and like Abby’s other novels, the MC really had to work through some life changing obstacles and it all felt very real to me. I love how relatable these characters are and how it’s just not sugary sweet romance but real life issues people have to go through. The chemistry between Vanessa and Adrian was chefs kiss. I didn’t want the story to end and I want more! Loved this book and it just proved that Abby is definitely one of my favorite romance writers!

This book was a little hard for me to get through. I don’t like books about addiction, so I’m giving that as a disclaimer now that my rating might not be as high as the others in this series. But because the others in this series are amazing, I knew I still needed to give it a shot.

Vanessa lives her life to the fullest and takes nothing for granted. She’s a YouTuber who is travelling around the world with her millions of followers. Then suddenly she Vanessa’s sister leaves her niece with her and disappears. Vanessa takes her in even though she has no idea how to be anyone’s mommy. Let alone someone’s single mommy. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to be by herself too long. Her very cute, lawyer neighbor comes to the rescue. He’s the complete opposite of her and likes a well thought out plan, but as they get closer and closer to each other, they realize that life’s too short to miss out on one of the biggest blessings of all.

Starting with what I didn’t like about this book. Some of my long term followers may know that I am not a fan of YA books that depict characters with an addiction. I’m ok if the author just MENTIONS the addiction, but I am not ok with the author showing what they actually go through and what the family goes through. I have family members that are currently battling addiction, and as a firm believer of someone that likes to read to escape her real life problems, that’s something I don’t wish to read about. When I read the synopsis for this one, I was a bit concerned, because this kind of hit close to home. My family’s is a bit different, but I could still relate. It made me a bit anxious. But as I opened the book, I knew I didn’t have much to worry about. Jimenez does go indepth about the character’s addiction, and I found myself skipping over those parts. I feel like I missed quite a bit of the things that were going on because I was skipping some things, but it still made me feel better to read it that way.

However, even with what I didn’t like, it was still a sweet, sweet story. I LOVED the scenes with the baby and how she brought them closer together. I always say that kids don’t make relationships better, but in this case, it made the relationship AND made it better. As for the main characters, I liked them, but I have to say I liked them more together than apart. Which isn’t normal for me and Jimenez books. But I’m not sure what it was about this one, but I just couldn’t connect with them individually.

Of course I liked the writing style. Jimenez still has a way to make me sit and be hooked unto her words from the very beginning. I literally spent the whole day listening and playing a computer game. I was hooked. There were points where I got emotional, I laughed and so much more. I hate that it was the last in the series. I’m actually hoping there will be more. Sometime. (I don’t think so because she didn’t really introduce anymore potential characters. And if she did then I missed them)

However, as much as I liked the writing style of this, I did get emotional and cry like I did with the others. It was so different because with the others, I had real tears falling. With this one I didn’t. I guess it was because I was not as connected to the characters, but I don’t know. Normally that has nothing to do with my reactions to books. Normally I get sad from looking at sad commercials lol Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was emotional and I thought it was hella cute and about a serious topic, but it just didn’t MOVE me in the way the others did.

This book wasn’t my favorite for numerous reasons, but I still did love it. I can’t wait to see more of this author. I wish we had more coming from this series already. Here’s to hoping the success of this series calls for many more books by Abby Jimenez!

This fun romance book has a serious side as well. I loved the main female character as she's a traveler like me. I laughed bunches while reading this book. Fun summer time read.
Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy.

4.5*

Trigger warnings for mental illness, drug addiction, and grief.

It’s extremely challenging to talk about this story without spoilers, so I won’t go beyond the basic set-up. Just know that it’s about two really kind, decent people, travel vlogger Vanessa Price and criminal defense attorney Adrian Copeland, the cousin of Josh from The Friend Zone (Book 1), who we first met in The Happy Ever After Playlist (Book 2) when he went on a double date with female lead Sloan Monroe. (We are given a nice catch-up with the two couples in this book.) Vanessa began her highly-successful YouTube channel after losing her older sister to ALS (a disease that also took her grandmother, mother, and aunt). She has a 50/50 chance of succumbing as well, so she doesn’t want to waste a single moment wallowing, choosing to travel the world instead. In her introductory video, she shares her intention to donate proceeds to ALS research.

She meets her next door neighbor Adrian after he knocks on her door at 4:00 a.m. to see if she can get her baby to stop crying. (It’s actually her niece who she’s fostering.) This leads to a fast friendship that quickly becomes serious, a true meeting of soulmates. However, the past trauma of losing parents, either through abandonment, death, or mental illness (her father is an extreme hoarder), has greatly impacted their way of dealing with life’s challenges. For Vanessa, it’s to push away negative thoughts, even if it means sometimes faking happiness. In Adrian’s case, it’s to maintain total control and bury himself in his work. Will they be able to adapt and change to give each other unconditional love or will they crash and burn? You’ll need to read (and cry a lot of tears) to find out.

I’d give this a 5*, but it put me through the emotional wringer, so I can’t be objective. All 3 books in this series have female protagonists dealing with life-altering (or, in this case, life-threatening) conditions. The romances are genuine, complex, and deeply-emotional and the men they love are supportive and willing to make sacrifices (in this case, eventually). However, Jimenez never lets her readers forget that life is fragile and that we’re all on this planet to make the best of bad situations and find joy amidst the disappointments and tragedies we’ll all face on the journey. As this title so aptly points out, life IS too short and we must live our best lives rather than dwelling on the inevitability of future loss. Although this is a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first two books as well because, despite the heavy subject matter, they are extremely well-written stories of loss, grief, love, and redemption.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Forever through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I love coming back into Abby’s writing. It’s just so fun and familiar and honestly feels like I’m at a reunion or something – I know we’re all different from the last time we were together, but there’s always that nervous anticipation of what will unfold and finding our way back to that comfort and undeniable knowledge that I’ll enjoy my time. Plus, Abby’s writing is always so delightful and funny.

I really liked Adrian and Vanessa. This was the first time I didn’t have a pretty immediate connection to the storyline (her first two books matter to me for very personal reasons), so I was a little worried – but I really shouldn’t have been. Adrian is amazing, and I never doubted Abby’s ability to create a multi-dimensional, lovable, slightly-infuriating by overall amazing love interest. Vanessa is someone I feel like could be my best friend, and I wish I could drop by her apartment to get caught up in her chaos. Their chemistry together was palpable, even through the page, and as much as I’d like to keep Jesus’s Abs to myself it’s undeniable that he belongs to and with Vanessa. I won’t even fight that.

The story itself is wonderful. I laughed, I wanted to cry, I think I might have actually hugged the book in the end. Abby is masterful as she balances back and forth between heavy subjects and intense situations amidst witty banter and sweet, romantic moments, and I felt like she respected every aspect of Vanessa and Adrian’s situation: medical issues, phobias, career crossroads, everything. The progression of their relationship also felt real and paced properly, which I very much appreciate in a romance book.

I don’t think I have enough superlatives and good adjectives for this book. It’s a must read for everyone, and sits proudly on my shelf right next to her other books. I ordered this as soon as it became available, and know all of Abby's books will be an auto-buy.

Another great book by Jimenez! She is such a talented writer. This story was one of those that draws you right in and you just can't stop until you are done. Highly recommend this one!

Abby Jimenez is a fantastic author. This book drew me in from the first page. However as I continued reading, one of the main characters started to annoy me and it really took away from the book.

This book pulled me out of my reading slump (I actually forgot to review this when I finished it in like February) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Going in, I had high hopes since I enjoyed The Friend Zone by her, and I wasn't disappointed! This book is unique and yet reminds me of other books I've loved. Overall I gave this book 5/5 stars. I found it to be a story people can relate to and love.

4.5/5

It is not a secret that I love Abby Jimenez, I love Nadia Cakes, I love her, and I love her books, so it really isn't a surprise that I loved Life's Too Short. She really knows how to pull at your heartstrings, and this time it was through Vanessa and her possible ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) symptoms. I really didn't know much about ALS going into this book, and I feel like I learned a lot about the disease in general and how it can affect someone's frame of mind if they think they might have it. I also loved the fact that while Vanessa is a fictional character, Jimenez did get inspiration from a real person - YouTuber Claire Wineland. Another big plus for me was that I found Vanessa to be incredibly relatable, from her love of Carmex to her dad being a hoarder, there were so many things about her that really hit home for me.

I have listened to the last two books on audio so of course, I had to do that with Life's Too Short, and it was just as amazing as I thought it would be. The narrators are Christine Lakin & Zachary Webber and I already knew I loved Webber, but now I also get to add Lakin to the list of narrators I love. She was wonderful as Vanessa, Webber was great as Adrian, and together they really killed the audiobook narration. I loved the romance in the book and could feel the chemistry between Vanessa and Adrian through the pages. I also loved both of their viewpoints, and what a strong female character Vanessa was. She refused to let her symptoms define her life and felt like someone you could really look up to - fictional or not. There are both lows and highs in Life's Too Short and I loved every minute of the journey although it did end up being a touch less emotional for me than the first two books. Either way, I already can't wait until the next book comes out in 2022!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is an absolute GEM! Abby's writing gets better with every book. I really loved Vanessa and her take on life, she was so vibrant & took things as they came. HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook for this one, so good!

I would definitely drop my whole life in an instant if I had an Adrian living next-door to me. Vanessa and Adrian are the cutest couple especially with how he helps out Vanessa care for her niece. Thank you for an advanced reader copy of this one it was so enjoyable.

I've been a fan of the previous installments of Abby's series of these groups of characters. I actually went out and bought this book because I had a feeling I'd love it like I loved the other two. I have funnily enough not read it yet, but Abby Jimenez is a fun writer that I just know hit it again with this book.