This was an unrealistic romance. I would not classsify it as a romance but as a family drama with an unrealistic romance within it. The strong parts of the story were the protagonists’ relationships with their family, and the representation of dementia- but it was absolutely ridiculous that the family would remodel a home while caring for a dementia patient and wholly unrealistic. I usually like this author but this one did not do it for me. I am sorry.

2.75 ⭐️

Unfortunately, this book was not a favorite of Abby’s.

It felt different from her previous work, and the modern writing style and terminology was just a bit too much at times. I actually really liked Xavier and Samantha as characters. I could relate at numerous times to both of them and could see how loving and caring they were. Xavier was such a kindhearted and thoughtful person and Samantha was absolutely hilarious.

Insta-love isn’t my favorite trope, but it wasn’t too bad for me in this book (I think mostly since the book spans the course of a year, essentially). But my goodness.. I cannot get over how much stuff happens to this poor couple 😭 it was non-stop!! Especially in the second half of the book! Also one thing occurs that I simply cannot personally condone or justify… no matter the circumstances. It’s a bit fat no from me!!!!

The ending also felt a touch rushed, considering how much chaos had just occurred 😫

Anyway, it unfortunately wasn’t a personal favorite for me, but I did love the audio version!

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez is an impactful and heartfelt read about two people, who despite all odds, do everything they can to stay together.

Say You’ll Remember Me is great. The romantic leads are complex, and layered. And while they are a great match, outside circumstances are forcing them apart. I found the discussion of real-life issues and topics to be quite impactful.

The success of romance books obviously lie in how well the romance is executed. And sometimes it doesn’t quite gel, or is too forced. If I just heard the recap of Say You’ll Remember Me—two people with only one date do everything they can to stay together despite long distance, and family struggles—I would say no one would force that in any circumstance in real life.

But it shows how Abby’s strength as a writer and developing characters because it works in this story. While yes, the easy way would have been for Xavier and Samantha to stop talking, I also saw why they couldn’t. It was an interesting choice to have them be a perfect match, but outside forces are in the way.

Great novel all around.

I love me a good Abby Jimenez book and, although this isn’t my favorite of hers, I still really enjoyed my time reading it!

Yes, the dialogue was a bit cheesy, but overall I didn’t mind it. My favorite part of this book was how real the romance felt—no miscommunication or third act breakup, just two people trying to make it work. I also really appreciate how Abby Jimenez develops her characters as individuals navigating life circumstances in addition to building their connection as a couple. Overall, I enjoyed and can’t wait for Abby’s next book!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy!*

Xavier and Samantha have anything but a meet cute, with grumpy veterinarian rudely informing the social media manager that she's better off putting her cat down for its quality of life. But after Xavier admits he was wrong--a rare occurrence for a man--the two have one of the best dates of all time. Unfortunately, Samantha moves across the country the very next day, leaving the two unsure how they could possibly be together, but unsure how they could possibly be apart.

I've read all but one Abby Jiminez book, and I've tended to enjoy her later ones (that focus less on children and fertility) the most. This was was enjoyable, although tragic, though I'm not sure why I expected otherwise from this author! She has a beautiful way with words and manages to make these two leads seem SO PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER that it practically hurts. I think I liked the book overall, but I strongly disagree with the character's choices in the end, so it left me with mixed feelings. But that's personal, and nothing about the writing or the story and more about the fictional characters making probably realistic but stupid decisions. It's definitely worth a read, particularly for fans of Jiminez, Katherine Center, or Emily Henry.

Thanks to Forever for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

From the moment Xavier Rush stumbled into the story—with his devastating good looks, veterinarian heart, and a tiny kitten tucked against his chest—I knew I was in trouble. Abby Jimenez spun the magic that hooks you before you even realize you're smiling at the pages. Xavier is every inch the walking contradiction: a living Greek statue who somehow still manages to say the absolute worst thing at the absolute worst time. It's deliciously frustrating, and Samantha's fiery determination to challenge him made every interaction spark like fireworks.
But where this story punched me in the heart was the way it dealt with real-life messiness. Samantha's loyalty to her family and her gut-wrenching choice to walk away from something that could have been extraordinary weren't just believable; they were deeply felt. Jimenez knows how to take the fantasy of an epic love story and stitch it with threads of pain, hope, and a fierce, tender reality. The chemistry between Samantha and Xavier didn't just simmer—it burned with a slow, relentless intensity that made every stolen glance, every accidental touch feel monumental.
This wasn't just about falling in love but about earning it and fighting for it. Forgiving. It left me grinning like a fool, my heart aching in the best way, and sure that some moments—and some people—are worth remembering forever.

✨𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝐖✨

𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐳

This month I’m prioritizing quality over quantity with my busy schedule & I’m so glad I made time for authorabbyjimenez’s newest release! It’s also so beautiful I’m obsessed with this barns and noble special edition 😍📖

👍🏼: I so enjoyed this story focusing on romance, humor & heartbreak 🥹 When Samantha meets Xavier, a veterinarian, they click immediately, but have to go their separate ways as Samantha is dealing with a family crisis & Xavier is trying to keep his clinic afloat. This story highlighted so many heart breaking realities life can throw at you (message me for TWs) & how tough long distance relationships can be. Both characters journeys were so important & I enjoyed the depth and emotion Abby’s writing brought to them 🫶🏼📚

👎🏼: Unfortunately, the ending wrapped up WAY too quickly for me and I felt a little disappointed. While this definitely wasn’t my favorite Abby book, it was still enjoyable!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Q: What is your favorite Abby Jimenez book?⬇️
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#sayyoullrememberme #abbyjimenez #readforeverpub #romancebookreview #summerbookrecs

"Say You'll Remember Me" was published on April 1, 2025. A big thank you to the publisher and author for providing an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

One thing I will always give major kudos to Abby Jimenez for is her ability to write romance novels that run parallel to real-world, vulnerable topics. In her newest release, Jimenez crafts the story of Samantha and Xavier. Samantha is a social media marketing manager who meets—and quickly falls for—Xavier, a grouchy veterinarian.

The pair have a unique first date and seem very into each other. The only problem, revealed shortly after, is that the next day Samantha is moving 2,000 miles away to care for her sick mother.

While there were several cringey moments, I think Jimenez thoughtfully captured the difficulties of a long-distance relationship. There were a few sweet moments between Samantha and Xavier that I enjoyed, and again, I think the author did a great job portraying the realities of dating from a distance. However, I have to say this is probably my least favorite work from her. I wasn’t a fan of the overuse of what I’ll call “TikTok slang,” which was heavily used throughout the novel.

Another reason this book wasn’t my favorite is that, while I think Jimenez did a good job depicting a parent with dementia, most of the book was very sad. Nearly every character was dealing with, or recovering from, heavy traumatic experiences—and that just wasn’t what I was expecting going into a romance read.

There was a happy ending, which I appreciated, but overall it was just not what I was expecting—and again, the constant use of TikTok language really killed it for me.

It was a quick read, and I know I’ll continue to read more from this author—this one just wasn’t my favorite.

Abby has done it again! We love all of her books, and this one was not a disappointment. I loved the relationship between our FMC and her mother and the lengths she was willing to go to connect with her ailing mother. I've seen complaints about the motivation to be together, the quick falling, but I felt like it was all pretty realistic and not glossed over romance tropy-ness! I appreciated that hard decisions were made and not everything was handed to them.

I usually love Abby Jimenez’s books but this one just didn’t land for me.
I still enjoyed my self enough to keep reading but it just fell flat in some areas.
Not a fan of constantly having the love interest be described as Rhys from acotar… that just felt like very lazy wrong to me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC !!

I have yet to read an Abby Jimenez book that I don't love. She does a great job at building romance & chemistry between Samantha and Xavier and also hitting the emotional punches of the story. This was a bit darker than some of her other books but she still manages to wrap it up with a HEA. Would recommend and will continue to look out for her books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced copy!

Abby’s books always hit me the same way, an immediate dopamine hit with a great couple meeting each other, immediately followed by a lot of trauma, some more trauma and people working through it, and in the end, wrapping up with a big bow and happy characters all around.

His stories have become pretty formulaic, but she catches you every time with delightful characters that you can’t help but vote for and realistic traumas that hit close to home. All of that makes for a final HEA that feels extremely satisfying.

In her latest release, say you’ll remember me, we are introduced to Xavier and Samantha when Samantha brings in her orphan kitten to Xavier’s veterinary office. They have a little rough start, but through a subsequent visit their chemistry Sparks and they go out together… on the day that just happens to be Samantha‘s last day in town before she moves across country! Was so much chemistry these two decide to try to long distance and we as the readers get to tag along as they fight through the distance and Samantha’s drama at home with her mother suffer suffering from dementia- I did tell you there would be trauma!

All the while these characters keep evolving along with the side characters of Samantha‘s family and Xavier‘s clinic employees to create such compelling portraits of humanity that you can’t put this story down.

I knew what I was getting into when I started this, and I can definitely say that all that drama was well worth it in the end for both me as a reader and Samantha and Xavier!

I will read anything Abby Jimenez writes and this book is exactly why. I loved this heartfelt love story about two people who find love at first sight at the most inopportune time. Separated by distance and both struggling with job issues, financial burdens, and family stuff, the easy path would be to stop "seeing" each other, but they also realize that even separated by distance, they are each others lifelines. I loved the maturity level of everyone in this book. I loved that even as adults, we can still learn from those who have life wisdom. I loved the level of humanity these characters had. Definitely a 5 star read!

Jimenez might be my new favorite romance writer. You’ll be kicking your heels at how perfect the grumpy vet and cheeky social media manager are for each other from the very beginning, but their extremely complicated lives just won’t let their love happen. I did find myself approaching the final chapters, wondering how they were going to find their happily ever after (a must in any rom-com), but Jimenez wrapped it up perfectly. Folks with loved ones with dementia might want to be careful reading this one. (Recommendation to be sent to subscribers of WordSmarts email newsletter)

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez is book #4 in the Part of Your World series (and book #1 in the Say You'll Remember Me series, if goodreads is correct). I am a big fan of Jimenez' work and found that I can relate to almost all of her other rom com novels. This one, however, was so much different and a hard one for me to rate and review.

The book starts out with Samantha bringing a kitten to the vet where she meets Xavier. They have a connection, Xavier can't stop thinking of her, and eventually asks her out. They have a whirlwind first date which includes a rescue dog cruise/dinner, a mini-golf/arcade challenge where she meets his besties, and finally a UFO themed escape room where they end up locked in until the manager returns the next morning. Samantha has to get to the airport - she's headed to California to help her family take care of her mother who has severe dimentia - and Xavier offers to drive her to the airport - NOT KNOWING THAT SHE'S FULLY MOVING TO CALIFORNIA PERMANANTLY. She tells him that she had an amazing time, but he needs to forget about her because she doesn't know when or if she'll be back.

Ironically, the romance part of this rom com is what makes rating this book hard for me. I thouroughly enjoyed the writing style, the banter, the dialogue, but it felt like a one-sided romance. Xavier put himself in financial, emotional, and physical stress trying to keep the relationship going. He got further into debt, gave up volunteering at the animal shelter (which he LOVED doing), worked his butt off 80+ hours/week and ended up putting himself in the hospital. She came once or twice to Minnesota to be with him. I think if the two characters had any kind of background or history together, like a second chance romance, this would have worked a little better. But the fact that he was doing this for someone he had known for one singular date makes it feel less cute/romantic.

I think it was important to include both characters family issues. It did help to see what they were struggling with on their own and to show how each of them felt like they could finally "turn off their brains" when they were together. I am a single mom/widow and I get that. I miss my person tremendously every single day and, while I have family that helps out, I still feel the emotional load of dealing with everything alone. I miss having that one person that can just wrap their arms around me and I feel instantly relaxed and that I can stop worrying for a minute - and I miss being that for someone else. But the drama was intense. Especially the FMC's family issues.

Samantha's family issues were so real. They had to make hard choices and it was messy and relateable. The only part of that story I didn't love was the father's decision to cheat on his wife. I hate cheating tropes and don't think I'd ever say I understand them. To cheat on your wife when she's vulerable and scared is unacceptable to me. I understand that she wasn't the same person he married 30+ years ago. But just no.

Also, the frequent tik tok/brain rot/social media references are getting old. Or maybe I'm just old.

If you love Abby like I do - or if this was your first AJ novel - don't give up. Go back and read (or reread) Yours Truly or Part of Your World. And let's all collectively hope that her next novel is better.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I absolutely flew through this story. Abby Jimenez is an author that can make me care about characters so deeply, and I really connected with these two. Samantha is a deeply relatable character, I really loved her storyline and her personality. Xavier was swoon-worthy, and I loved how much he cared about and cared for Samantha.

The story itself was so sweet, had funny moments, and was deeply emotional. This is definitely not your surface level rom-com, these characters had real life issues that needed to be dealt with. I adored how deep this story felt, and I appreciated the issues that Abby addressed in this book. My heart broke for these characters so many times.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I am giving it 4 stars because the ending did feel a bit rushed to me, but other than that I loved it.

Thank you so much to Forever Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this one, but the number of pop culture references wasn't for me. It kept pulling me out of the book. I've heard many good things about the author, so I'll try another one of her books.

Unfortunately this was not for me. I have loved all of Abby's other books and was looking forward to Say You'll Remember Me ever since it was announced, but the constant reference to Rhysand and ACOTAR really took me out of the story. I am sad to say that I am DNFing this at 40%

This just solidified for me that Abby Jimenez might just be my all time favorite romance author... this was so unbelievably good. I can't stop crying. This book was devastating and hilarious sometimes all in the same page. Abby perfectly wove a heartbreaking family story into a rom-com and I fear I may never recover from it. This was utterly fantastic.

typical abby jimenez— emotional and beautiful in all of the very best ways. my grandpa had dementia. he passed away on my birthday last year, so that storyline hit very close to home. i know all to well what it’s like and watching my mom struggle with his diagnosis made me know exactly how sam felt. this truly was such a beautiful story and all of the characters felt so real. it broke my heart and put it back together again in a way that only abby jimenez knows how to do. beautiful writing, beautiful quotes, real & relatable characters. this was all of the good stuff!