Wow wow wow nobody writes romance like Abby Jimenez. This story made equally laugh and cry. It was clear from the moment we met Xavier and Samantha that they were meant for each other. I had no clue how their story would end, but it was so satisfying when we got there. Highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

↠ 4 stars ⭐️

I scrumpt when I was approved for this ARC! I adore everything this woman writes and would seriously read her grocery list and love every second of it.

Abby has such a remarkable talent of weaving deep, complex emotions into her stories, effortlessly balancing humor, romance, and raw emotion, and Say You’ll Remember Me was no exception.

As always with Abby’s writing, I was hooked from the very first page. But this was definitely different than her other romcoms. While still sweet and laugh-out-loud funny, there was significantly more focus on emotionally complex and heavy themes like caring for a family member slipping away from early-onset dementia, a history of childhood abuse, and the struggles of navigating a long-distance relationship. The primary focus wasn’t so much on the romance, but rather on commitment in a relationship, family dynamics, and creating and cherishing memories with the people you love.

Even though Xavier and Samantha’s romance was a very instalove, I think it worked well here given the storyline, and their love felt so natural. I especially adored Xavier as a character—a hot, grumpy-yet-soft, and thoughtful veterinarian? *grabby hands* And he is the definition of “if he wanted to, he would.” Samantha was witty and hilarious, but I definitely felt more connected to Xavier as a character.

There’s a few things holding me back from rating this 5 stars. I wish we got more of Xavier and Samantha physically together. While I loved them, I think I was hoping for more romance when I picked this up. Also, there was a lot of internet slang, which I could’ve done without. And the ending.. I think the story ended too abruptly and I was left wanting a little more. But overall, I still really loved and enjoyed this one! Definitely check the trigger warnings and go into this knowing the usual swoony romance takes a bit of a backseat in this story.

Family obligations. Business obligations. Pride. Finances. Two thousand miles. Xavier and Samantha is a love story that spans lifetimes, but sadly life is in their way.

Abby Jimenez created a refreshing formula for the telling of this rom-com.
I didn’t have to wait until the second half of the book to witness their relationship.
I didn’t have to read about break ups, misunderstandings and miscommunication.
This felt like an honest love story with hardship and heartaches where love wins.

The characters are down to earth. Samantha is hilarious and Dr. Xavier Rush, oh Xavier … When your introduction to the main male character is him saving a dog, you know you’re going to love him, and I did. Then there’s Hank. My heart melts for Hank. We didn’t get enough of him but I don’t know that one ever could.

I laughed often; I cried several times; I can’t wait to read it again and I highly recommend this go to the top of your TBR pile.

#VILF

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars

Abby Jiminez is THAT girl! This book had me captured from the start.

A Rhys-like veterinarian and a social media girl for mustard meet at his office when she rescues a cat with no butthole... yep, you read that right! Leave it to Abby Jiminez to blend a story with deeply emotional themes like caring for a parent with dementia, and childhood trauma seamlessly with much needed comic relief. I was rooting for these two so hard! While there are some hard to read bits for animal lovers, it speaks to the character of Xavier and why he is the way he is (in the best way).

My only strife was wanting Samantha to be a stronger FMC at times. I'm not meaning in the emotional strength aspect, navigating her situation is incredibly draining and hard. She just seemed like the damsel in distress needing repeated saving from her boyfriend when it came to caring for her mom with dementia. This didn't track for me given Xavier has zero experience or knowledge with memory care from what we know, and given her family has been full time care givers for her mother for years. I think Samantha and her family deserves more credit for the education that goes in to FT care providing than Xavier being the one to repeatedly save the day. That being said this did a really fantastic job at exemplifying the emotional difficulties in watching someone you love succumb to dementia. It's not pretty. It's not easy. It's not cheap (especially in America I can imagine). And I commend Abby for tackling such an important and raw topic!

This is the perfect romance read as we head into spring and summer to give you a good chuckle and pull at your heart strings!

Jimenez has done it again, written a romance that renews our belief in the goodness of humanity in spite of toxic parents, misogynistic exes, and more. The love story between soulmates Samantha and Xavier is one of the most beautiful she’s ever written. When you know, you know, and both of them fell fast and hard, even with Sam moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles the morning after the first best date of their lives. Long distance relationships are hard enough for couples who have a history, but what do you do when you’re just getting started and it’s too good to give up?

There is so much I enjoyed and appreciated about this book. The depiction of Sam’s mother’s early-onset dementia is sensitive and compassionate, portraying how a caring family is willing to make huge sacrifices to fulfill their loved one’s wishes and treat her with dignity. Xavier’s hard-earned success as a veterinarian, in spite of his abusive, narcissistic parents, is a testament to his strength of character and inherent goodness as is his need to take care of the people he loves and the animals he’s sworn to protect and heal to the best of his ability. Samantha’s wit, as evidenced by her sassy and snarky social media posts for the mustard company she works for, and her dedication to her family draw grumpy Xavier out of his shell, making him happier than he’s ever been, especially when her family falls for him, too. There are some LOL moments, especially the dead mouse and swallowing the earbud, that bring levity to some pretty heavy subject matter. Finally, the relationship Sam has with her siblings and parents is a clear example of how, despite their different personalities and irritation towards each other, they can work as a team to take care of their mother.

Fans of ACOTAR will appreciate how Xavier resembles Rhysand (had to look it up since I’m not a romantasy fan, but wowza!) and anyone who craves delicious, slightly steamy romances without the miscommunication and third act breakups that are far too prevalent in the genre will want to read this gorgeous love story. Very highly recommended.

This is how you do the insta-love trope! Abby Jimenez makes these characters feel so real, and sometimes it hurts to read—she's just that good at evoking emotions through words on a page. The one thing I wish we had more of was their actual time together. I understand that the premise is a long-distance relationship, but I still yearned for more of them. I also had some trouble connecting with the family. Usually, I'm all for family dynamics, but this one made me sad, especially the dad's subplot. Overall, I stayed for Samantha and Xavier, and they didn’t disappoint!

Thank you Forever for the eARC!

Thank you Net Galley for the DRC!

I thoroughly enjoyed Abby Jimenez's newest book "Say You'll Remember Me".. I have two ties to the characters - my father-in-law had early onset Alzheimers, and my sister-in-law is a veterinarian. Granted these ties are not romantic in any way but I can attest Jimenez did her research on both.

Bitter sweet and lovely read.

thank you to forever pub for this arc !! i want to stay completely honest in my review and stay true to both the great and not so great feelings i had during this book. i will say, that i actually genuinely adored samantha and javier- both individually and together. i think that them as individual chracters were written strongly, genuinely, and consistently- which typically goes a long way for me. i also loved their meet-cute/romance- i think a lot of people would maybe consider it insta-love, but i loved it either way. them knowing immediately that something big was happening between the two of them, it was palpable and i leaned into their sweetness so easily. however, this was also a bit of a tough read for me... i dont know if it was the struggles of the immediate situations at hand or of the limitations of their relationship throughout, but i did honestly have a bit of unease in me majority of the time. a lot of the chapters felt so heavy, but i guess thats just life sometimes ! and of course abby did just a sweet job writing them all up and together! i dont want to spoil anything, but i will say that the book did end in a way that made me happy !! so at least theres that <3

I am always foolish enough to think Abby's next book can't possibly be better than the last, and every time I am proven wrong. There is so much emotion in this book, but just enough lighthearted humor to balance it out and make it the ultimate read.

Abby Jimenez gets better and better with each new release! SAY YOU'LL REMEMBER ME was gorgeous, heartbreaking, and everything I've ever wanted in a romance novel. This author has truly become one of my favorites in recent years. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I tried the first chapter or so. Love Abby's writing but this one is not for me right now.

Said with much love but as someone living wit ha parent with dementia this hit way too close to home and way more than i ever expected it to.

3.5 stars

Abby Jimenez has a talent for mixing the funny and the serious. On one level this is a love at first sight romance, but it is also the story of two families, one of which is dealing with the dementia of their beloved mother.

Samantha is a great character - smart, funny, energetic. She works in social marketing and is good at what she does. She runs into hunky veterinarian Xavier and their first date is one for the books - they get locked in an escape room together. This is clearly a relationship with a future, except for the fact that Samantha is moving back to California to help care for her mother and Xavier is establishing his vet practice in Minnesota. Xavier is almost too perfect - his only flaw is that he is still hung up on his rotten childhood and proving to his parents that he is a success.

The book details two struggles: Samantha and her family's coping with her mother's increasing deterioration, and Samantha and Xavier trying to find ways to be together in the face of money and geographical challenges. To me, both crises went on too long and by the end of the book I felt a bit bludgeoned and exhausted. Maybe Jimenez did that on purpose to emphasize what caregivers go through. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I flew through this book but I don’t think I was emotionally prepared for it.

Abby is great at writing books that feel very human - a mix of funny moments, swoony moments, and real life hardships. This one was heavier due to reasons I won’t put here due to spoilers. While I loved Xavier and Samantha, it just got hard to root for them as the book went on - watching them both feel miserable was horrible.

I’m really glad that Abby wrote content warnings in the beginning of the book! I think they’re very helpful and I’d highly recommend reading the author’s note before diving in. This book just didn’t feel so much like a rom-com - there were funny and happy moments, sure, but a lot of it was on the more emotional/heavier side. I think if I had known the degree of that, it would’ve changed my reading experience a bit.

🩷Books that you won’t want to put down
🩷Minnesota and California settings
🩷Lovable animals
🩷Grumpy vet who looks like Rhysand
🩷Complex family situations
🩷Funny meet-cutes
🩷Emotional reads

More spoiler-y things (not included in my Goodreads review):

It really bothered me how the main characters didn’t have a life outside of work and loving each other or in Samantha’s case taking care of her mom and loving each other. Seeing them slowly turn into shells of a human being was awful and not a healthy relationship at all in my opinion. I know that was kind of the point, but I think they both made decisions without communicating or thinking things through. I wish I had known that this book was about a long-distance relationship before going into it.

I did think the dementia storyline was handled with a lot of care. It felt very real. However, my hot take is that they should’ve put Lisa in a nursing home. I think when she said she wanted to stay home, there’s no way she could’ve foreseen how hard everything was going to get for her family.

Abby has done it again. This book was a beautiful roller coaster of emotions. This book spoke a lot about caregiving and it hit home, caregiving is SO HARD and she did such an incredible job talking about it. The dementia, the sundowners, the mental toll it takes.
And then you have the romance. I don’t think I’ve ever highlighted a book so much. Xavier and Sam’s relationship is so sweet and pure. He’s such a cinnamon roll and honestly, any man that says it’s okay to bring home stray animals every so often will win my heart immediately.

I am a fan of the author but this book was definitely not a light read. The storyline was great, the characters had depth, but the book as a whole had a heavy undertone. The book was well written and the characters were amazing throughout, but it was more of a tear-jerker as well. Have some tissues ready, but this author sure knows how to write a good story. I did love our main characters though, and there was just the right amount of humor mixed throughout as well. You will enjoy this book no matter what, but it can be emotional for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARCs!

I love love love Abby Jimenez so was thrilled to get have an early copy of this new release. Abby's books are so well written, mixing romance with deeper real life situations. This book was funny, starting with a cat that literally had no butthole. Insta-love happened and an unexpected cross-country move resulting in a long distance relationship. This was beautifully written, showing the pain that comes with caretaking for someone with dementia, as well as the pain with a long distance relationship.

Absolutely loved--thanks so much for the copy!

Okay. I have thoughts on this one.
I LOVE Abby Jimenez books and recommend them to everyone that will listen.

This one HURT. It was painful and beautiful. I would highly recommend trigger warnings if you have family drama/issues or any kind of trigger with Alzheimer’s, dementia, in a parent. Caregiver strain is real and definitely something to be aware of.

That said. The MMC I adore. What a man. Their beautiful relationship and every freaking obstacle in the world. The FMC and her fierce familial loyalty even at the expense of her happiness was hard to watch but also admirable.

I still don’t know how I feel about the book. It’s definitely an Abby Jimenez book with the heart wrenching story but it felt so real.

Whew I don’t know. I have to process this one

I think it's physically impossible for me to not like an Abby Jimenez book, just like it's probably impossible for her to write a "bad" book. Although "Say You'll Remember Me" truthfully isn't my favorite (Just For The Summer really just set the bar ridiculously high, not her fault), I did still really enjoy this one. Abby's books are always so much more than a romance. They're deeply emotional and our main characters always go through so much, I think this one more so than the rest of her novels. I think I'm so used to forced proximity, I was taken aback by the forced.. distance? I don't think I've encountered a "romance" novel that not only navigated a long distance relationship but the familial struggles that Samantha was going through, not only with her mother's condition but learning to be a full-time caregiver to someone who was slowly forgetting you. She had to work a bit harder to convince me of the romance, but it still worked!! I think Abby Jimenez' voice and emotional range is consistently great in every body of work she puts out in the world. I'm forever grateful to be able to alive at the same time to read them.

Thank you Forever pub for the eARC ♥️

Wow, what else can I say that others haven't said about this book? It's real, emotional, moving, sweet, sad, romantic, full of yearning. The characters are kind people who are so down bad for each other, I lived for it. I love how Abby Jimenez writes about grounded people with modern problems, like a business they're committed to with people they employ, and parents they need to move home for, and siblings and friends who aren't perfect but still remain lovable and loving. I stayed up till 4 a.m. reading this book and I have no regrets. I'll be recommending this book to all my friends and anyone who asks me for a recommendation for a solid romance. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

To the Publishers I am grateful for the opportunity to read this Advance copy. This was my first Abby Jimenez book and I loved this love story. I felt like this story was unique in reading about a long-term relationship with two individuals who are wanting to create and establish careers for themselves but yet wanting to find and keep their love. I love that Xavier was handsome, smart but yet was shy and had to work through his own childhood traumas but yet was willing to make the sacrifices to make his love work with samantha. I like the real life struggles that Samantha and her family were challenged with in regards to her mother.