Member Reviews

Even though this story dealt with very serious issues (addiction, death, chronic illness) Abby Jimenez still brought her trademark laughs and witty banter. I loved the main couple and was rooting for their H.E.A. the whole way through.

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I loved this book!

The first Abby Jimenez book I've read, I immediately ran out and got the other two so I could soak them up over a long weekend. A great story full of laughter, sexy times, and healing. This isn't a fluff story, it's got some meat in it and makes you reevaluate your own life and how you do things. Can be read alone, but if you loved it as much as I did, definitely have the first two near you so you can continue your journey! LOVE IT!!

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This heart-warmer didn’t disappoint. Abby Jimenez has a talent for drawing the audience in and keeping them engaged. I’d say achievement unlocked again!

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Fun, sexy, heart warming rom com! Perfect addition to Abby Jimenez Friend Zone series. A great summer read that I enjoyed from start to finish. This books gave me all the feels in the best way. Drop what you're doing and pick up this series today. A fun, solid read. Well written and well paced with fantastic characters that relatable

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Bestselling author Abby Jimenez returns with LIFE’S TOO SHORT, the third book in her series that includes THE FRIEND ZONE and THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST. In this installment, we meet Vanessa, a popular YouTuber with a devastating family history of women dying before the age of 30, and Adrian, a workaholic lawyer with abandonment issues, whom readers will recognize from the previous books.

Jimenez is the queen of the meet-cute, and LIFE’S TOO SHORT is no different. One night, while snuggling in bed with his long-distance girlfriend, Adrian hears what sounds like a banshee/demon baby wailing from the apartment next door. Though he doesn’t know his neighbor very well, it’s important that his girlfriend’s visit goes off without a hitch, so he ventures next door to see what can be done. Greeting him is not only the shrieking infant, but also his exhausted, cranky and vomit-covered neighbor, Vanessa. Like all Jimenez heroines, she is sarcastic, snarky and bitingly funny, and quickly puts Adrian in his place. After all, what can she do…negotiate with the baby? Sensing he’s in for a sleepless night anyway, Adrian offers to hold Grace while Vanessa showers and takes a breather.

Adrian, who is shockingly handsome, incredibly fit and known as the complex’s most eligible bachelor, is also a baby whisperer. Or at least he must be, since he is able to quiet Grace and get her to sleep, all while Vanessa gets some precious alone time to help her feel human again. As it turns out, she is fostering Grace, who is actually her sister’s child, while her sister works through an addiction. And that’s the least of her worries.

ALS, the rare and fatal disease, runs in Vanessa’s family, and though there’s a 50% chance that she has inherited it from her mother, she has chosen to follow the “ignorance is bliss” method, avoiding any tests to rule out ALS while living her life to the fullest --- traveling the world, taking risks and documenting all of her adventures on her YouTube channel. Having already lost one sister to the disease, she is a staunch supporter of disability rights and a huge donor to ALS research funds. She also uses her lucrative influencer income to support her father and his hoarding habit, her sister and her drug addiction, and her brother and his constant get-rich-quick-schemes. And you thought the shrieking baby was the worst of her problems!

After being unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend, Adrian finds that he cannot get Vanessa out of his head --- and free from any pretensions about dating or sex, the two strike up a no-holds-barred friendship. Whether they are taking care of Grace, binge-watching “The Office” or helping Vanessa’s father out from under a collapsed pile of trash, they are entirely themselves: baby-vomit-covered, pajama-bottom-wearing and constantly toeing the line between teasing and flirting. With Vanessa and Adrian essentially co-parenting Grace, their attraction to one another takes on a new fervor (as evidenced by plenty of hilarious banter and sexual chemistry), but there are a few obstacles in their way.

First and foremost, Vanessa doesn't date; she doesn’t believe that she'll live past 30 and doesn’t want to force someone to bury her (or put up with her family, for that matter). Second, Adrian is realizing that he has not always been such a great boyfriend, constantly burying himself in work to avoid his abandonment issues caused by his father leaving the family when he was young. With two wildly dysfunctional families breathing down their necks, their careers on hold and a baby, the cards are more than stacked against them, and it is only the creative, brilliant mind of the author that could bring them together.

Jimenez has a distinctive voice: her talent for dialogue is unparalleled, her cliffhangers are perfectly paced, and her laugh-out-loud sense of humor and passion for pop culture come through every interaction, zany situation, love scene and even painful tragedy. But here she takes each of these talents and raises them to the 10th degree. She has tackled serious issues like fertility and grief before, but this book’s themes feel somehow even more timely: ALS, addiction and mental illness. Instead of focusing on all of the ins and outs of each issue and weighing down her plot, Jimenez shows how sickness and addiction run in nearly every family, and how it often falls to the “good one” to pick up the pieces, usually at their own risk.

Vanessa’s situation is heartbreaking, often painful, but it is perfectly balanced by her “life’s too short” motto, which in turn pushes Adrian to explore issues he didn’t even know he had while broadening his horizons and learning what it means to be spontaneous. I loved the characters in her previous books, but I think Vanessa and Adrian might be the most perfectly matched of all of Jimenez’s couples. Their friends-to-lovers storyline is so witty and engaging that even though you know they will end up together, it never feels rushed, forced or too predictable.

It is hard to compare Abby Jimenez to other authors. I cannot think of another writer --- in any genre --- so skilled at combining humor with real, hard-hitting tragedy and creating something as compulsively readable in the end. If you’re a fan of romances and romantic comedies, you’re sure to like LIFE’S TOO SHORT and the other books in her series. But be warned: she’ll ruin you for all other contemporary romances.

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Omg! Another GREAT read from Abby Jimenez! I am in love with her books!! This is a MUST read! You don't need to read her previous books to read this one... But if you love slow burn modern romantic comedies then read those too!!! Great characters with some heavy issues (terminal illness, anxiety, drug addiction, hoarding, etc), but completely relatable. Please add this to you TBR... You will NOT regret it!!!

*Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for the egalley in exchange for an honest review.*

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I would purchase this book for my library because it's a part of an owned series, but I wouldn't purchase this if it was a standalone novel. The first 3/4 of the book dragged, and the changes in characters/direction in the last quarter were too fast to be believable. In particular, the turnaround of the protagonist's father and brother was too extreme and rapid; I just didn't find it believable. I did find myself rooting for Vanessa and Adrian, and I appreciated the ALS representation, but overall, this book was underwhelming.

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I did want to read this book. But did not have time to read it. I also did not realize before I requested it that it was a third book to the series. So, I was not really into starting a new series. But I loved the cover and I’m really thankful that I was given the chance to read it. It seemed like a cute book. It has really good reviews and seems like a good book. So, if you are looking to read it, I do recommend because it seems cute...if you like friends to lovers trope.

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✨Book Review✨
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥
Thank you so much to @readforeverpub and @abby for the e-ARC! Life’s Too Short was released earlier this month and is available now!

Abby Jimenez does it again! Can I just say that this woman could write a grocery list and I’d pay to read it. AJ is living my dream life, being a professional baker and a New York Times Best-Selling Author. She is amazing 🙌🏻

Life’s Too Short is the third book in this series but it can be read as a standalone. I read The Happy Ever After Playlist last year and it was one of my favorite books of 2020. This one will probably make my top ten, too!

ⓌⒽⒶⓉ Ⓘ ⓁⓄⓋⒺⒹ
+Hearing so much about ALS, hit close to home for me. I lost my uncle to ALS in 2009 and I have never read a book that mentioned it and brought so much awareness to the illness. I actually did my research paper on ALS for my college class and picking up this book just felt kismet.
+Vanessa is hilarious. Seriously, she had me laughing so often that Mr. Rich Reads kept giving me weird looks 😅
+Adrian. Adrriiiaaannnn *in my Sylvester Stallone voice* ugh. This man. Let’s just add another to my long list of fictional boyfriends. Tall, bearded, smart, and great with babies? Yes please 🙋🏼‍♀️

There wasn’t one thing I didn’t enjoy. Even though this was a closed door romance and I live for the smut, AJ can write the hell out of a book and I didn’t mind one bit that it was closed door. I highly recommend this for all of my romance loving friends!

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Loved it! Abby Jimenez is officially on my "don't miss" author reads for fun, relatable, and inspirational without being too preachy books. Will definitely be recommending.

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4.5 stars.
Abby Jimenez has done it again. I was hooked on this book from nearly page one. Vanessa is an overwhelmed travel youtuber whose life has been changed in an instant when she's suddenly taking care of her sister's baby. Adrian hears a baby crying from his neighbor's apartment. He checks in to see how he can help and becomes a baby whisperer. From there, the two quickly bond. What Adrian doesn't realize is that Vanessa believes she will die before her 30th birthday from ALS. Most of the women in her family have died from it before they turned 30. It's impossible to be tested so she lives life to the fullest, thus her travel Youtube career. Vanessa makes her intentions clear that she's not looking to be in a relationship. She has health and family issues and does not want to pull anybody into her mess. Yet, Adrian willingly becomes attached. Their friendship is seamless as is their path to falling in love. There is a lot of drama and angst within the story but I loved almost every minute of it. Vanessa and Adrian had such a wonderful friendship that people dream of having and they're practically family as they take care of her sister's baby. This book is full of wit, heartfelt moment, and heartbreak. The MCs are well-rounded and the supporting characters actually give something to the plot. I knocked off half a star because some of the drama could have been avoided if Vanessa actually went to the doctor at some point. The climax of this book is just wonderful and movie worthy. Not quite my favorite of the year but it's high up on the list!

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So good! Jimenez has become a go to author for me. Despite the fact that her 3 books are romance, she is able to write about things such as ALS and terminal illness making these books feel like they have more substance. I like the way she interweaves the characters from all 3 books and they again make an appearance in Life's Too Short. Very readable, definitely recommend for some entertainment!

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Well Abby has done it again. She really is a special author. Abby does it with the conversations her characters engage in. She is so good at writing about life and developing characters that feel like they are my real life friends/neighbors.

Abby’s characters are modern and authentic. In Life’s Too Short, I loved the dynamic between the main character Vanessa, and her dreamy love interest Adrian. Things felt so natural between them. Vanessa is a successful youtuber. She has a 50-50 chance of having inherited her family's ALS gene. Vanessa has come to terms with the disease and lives her life full of adventure and independence. But, Vanessa unexpectedly builds a platonic family with her neighbor, Adrian while she is caring for her drug addict sister newborn daughter.


The book tackles it all -ALS, addiction, teenage pregnancy, mental health but you won't be disappointed with this one. This book is just SO good, I couldn’t put it down. Now, the only bummer is we have to wait another year for the next one from Abby, at least I can grab some Nadia Cupcakes while I wait!

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Thank you Netgalley, Forever Pub and Abby Jimenez for an advanced reader copy of Life's Too Short in exchange for an honest review. I adored The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist, but I think Life's Too Short is my favorite so far.

Vanessa is trying to live life to the fullest. ALS runs in her family and she's watched close family members die young. She doesn't want to waste the time she has left. The YouTube star has recently taken custody of her young niece because her sister, the baby's mother has a drug problem. She runs into her next door neighbor, Adrian when the baby Grace is crying uncontrollably in the middle of the night. Adrian and Vanessa are immediately drawn to each other and develop a friendship that is quickly more than that.

I absolutely adored this book. Vanessa was a luminous character. I loved how determined she was to live her life to the fullest despite a possible life altering diagnosis. I love how she encouraged Adrian to live because life is too short. I felt like these two really brought out the best in each other. I'm not always a fan of romances where the characters don't know each other for long, but this felt like they were meant to be and was so well done. I love how Abby Jimenez's have moments that make you laugh out loud, but can also make you cry (happy or sad tears.)

This was such a wonderful book! I can't wait to get my pre-order when it is released in April so I can reread.

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The thing I love most about this series by Abby Jimenez is the real-life struggle of the main character that is really the focus of the book, with some lovely romance throughout the story. I really love the way she focuses on different medical and mental health problems in this series. Vanessa’s story is touching and the relationship between Vanessa and Adrian is stellar (where can I find a man like Adrian?). While the miscommunication issues in each of her books make me want to scream at the characters to just be honest and listen to each other, Jimenez does a great job of connecting readers to real relationship issues. I just adore this series and this third book may be my favorite so far!

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As always, I always want to love Abby’s books. I had really enjoyed TFZ when it debuted and I couldn’t wait to continue to eat up Abby’s books. However, I can’t keep putting down my friends when they bring up problematic elements from this author’s books and it hurts.

Life’s Too Short kicks off right away and let me tell you, it’s quite the fast read! Next thing I knew, I was almost halfway. But I started to rewind my audiobook to make sure I heard certain things correctly. There was a quick suicide comment I definitely wasn’t a fan of, then there was the male MC’s thoughts of “it’s nothing she should worry about” after finding out that our heroine may have ALS, and then you have the heroine thinking she has ALS but never actually seeks out any medical advice/help.

It’s really hurtful to think that certain health issues are being used as plot devices. HEA’s are deserving even if a person continues to live with a chronic/terminal illness.

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Have you ever read a book and felt like it was written just for you? That’s how I felt while reading this book. I absolutely loved it. Abby wrote a story that made me laugh and pulled and my heart strings. I could relate to Vanessa and her quest to live life to fullest extent possible.

I flew through this one and enjoyed the many Easter eggs that Abby leaves in her books. The author also handled many challenging issues and topics well. I enjoyed the character development throughout the novel and watching the various characters grow. In short, if you love Abby or need a good laugh or cry, read this book!

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Book Review
Life’s Too Short | Abby Jimenez
OUT NOW!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Y’all this book was SO. GOOD. all the angst, all the swoon, all the feels. Clear your schedule when you start this one because you won’t want to put it down! Adrian, oh Adrian... Abby Jimenez knows how to write a book boyfriend and he is everything I ever want in one. And Vanessa is pure sunshine. I absolutely loved her optimistic and fun attitude and her heart of gold. Although I WISH they would have communicated a little more, I know that was the whole premise of the story, so it didn’t bother me as much. And while the books isn’t a light read all the way through, Abby is so eloquent and thoughtful with her stories and words that even the heavier topics you still get a sense of hope.

While this is book 3 in The Friend Zone series you can totally read this as a standalone!

Life’s Too Short is out TODAY! Buy it, borrow it, listen to it, just READ IT!

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Abby Jimenez did it again! She’s become an auto-buy author for me. She always weaves a great story with emotion, humor and romance. Also we get a quick sighting of Kristen, Sloane, Jason, and Josh which was a fun surprise. I also loved how Abby added such authentic information about ALS.

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Ok I have loved every book in this series so far, so I was thrilled when I saw the next book announced. Abby's writing is just so incredible and she gives me all the feels. Same can be said with her latest book, Life's too Short. This mix of characters I adored. Plus it was fun to have a YouTuber featured!

The chemistry between Vanessa and Adrian was sweet. I sort of felt like Adrian was slow to catch on to many things about Vanessa, but it added to the story. These two learned a lot from each other and changed each others lives.

This book features lessons on life and how we can't take tomorrow for granted. The importance of not holding grudges. Being there for family, even when they are driving us mad. We also get a look into motherhood and having a baby when dating. There's drug abuse and mental issues involved as well.

Beautiful story. Great characters.

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