I flew through this and want to give Jimenez credit for how deeply readable this is. That said, this book is a bid if a sludge through quite a bit of misery with not enough payoff in my opinion. As someone with lots of family in nursing, I also struggle with the framing of getting professional support in the book - the family’s “compromise” is really that the main character gives up a career and work she loves to be full time caregiver despite having the option to adequately care for and spend time with her mother. That is a lot of people’s reality, but after seeing the way it tears her family apart, I don’t understand making it the best choice in a fictional HEA. All in all I just didn’t love it.

Thank you Forever Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book started off strong for me, I love the way that Abby writes banter and how every one of her stand alone books, in this series, feels like returning to a familiar place (the mention of Jacob’s family’s parrot). It’s like a warm hug from an old friend. I also deeply enjoy the personalities of all of her characters.

But I’m not sure if it’s because of how heavy this topic is or if I just wasn’t in the right mindset for it, but after about 50% I started just feeling depressed—like there wasn’t a real happy ending in sight. And even though the ending was positive, it still felt riddled with sadness and *so* much sacrifice.

I also probably should have taken the trigger warnings more seriously because Sam’s grandmother and I have the exact same heart condition--yikes.

Even though this book probably wasn’t for me, I appreciate Abby’s craft and look forward to future books.

Things I’m hoping change in the published version of this book:
- mention of returning to “the motherland”
- referring to a character as “the messiah”

Abby Jimenez delivers a deeply emotional and heart-wrenching story in Say You'll Remember Me, a book that is heavier than her previous works but just as beautifully written. This novel absolutely broke me—I felt every ounce of the characters' pain in my own chest, and at times, it moved me to tears.

At its core, this is a love story, but it’s also so much more. It explores the devastating reality of becoming a caregiver for a loved one with early-onset dementia, a perspective that was both heartbreaking and profoundly moving. As someone with aging parents, this story hit incredibly close to home. The impossible choices, the grief woven into everyday moments, the struggle to hold onto hope—it all felt so real.

It was also interesting to read a romance centered around a long-distance relationship. While the characters didn’t get much time together on the page, their struggles living apart were incredibly moving and added another layer of emotion to the story. Their love felt raw and tested, making every moment they shared even more powerful.

If you’re looking for a lighthearted, steamy romance, this isn’t it. But if you want a story that will make your heart ache, root desperately for the characters, and stay with you long after you turn the last page, this is the book for you. It gave me the same gut-wrenching, emotional experience as The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

***Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I read this book in a little over 24 hours. It only took that long because I had to work. It was INCREDIBLE. The characters were flawed and beautiful. The relationship between the fmc and mmc was realistic and frustrating but understandable. Their chemistry was great and while not saturated with banter, when it was there it was THERE. I was giggling and kicking my feet within the first 5 chapters and remained hooked throughout the entire book.

BOOK REVIEW: SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME

New Abby Jimenez book with a Taylor Swift lyric title? Say less, I knew immediately that I’d be obsessed!! SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is all about super hot (but kinda an ass) veterinarian Xavier and witty, caring Samantha. They have an unforgettable first date but due to Samantha’s family crisis, she moves to California which forces their budding romance to be long distance.

This was a mix of women’s fiction/contemporary fiction/romance and I think the themes of family and navigating complicated family relationships was woven through the story in a masterful way. Of course the story centers around Samantha and Xavier’s love story, but there’s also so many other layers to this one!

Abby has an amazing talent of balancing heavy topics with humorous moments in a way that feels authentic, which I love! There was also tons of dialogue, which made me flyyyy through this one! And of course in true Abby Jimenez fashion, there were cute dogs 🥰🐶

If you’re an Abby Jimenez fan, you won’t wanna miss this one!!

Abby Jimenez delivers another beautifully crafted romance with Say You'll Remember Me. From the very first pages, I was hooked by the witty banter and undeniable chemistry between Samantha and Xavier. Xavier, a swoon-worthy veterinarian with a heart of gold, is practically a dream come true—until he opens his mouth and proves that even the most perfect men can mess up. I loved how Jimenez captured that tension between attraction and frustration, making their interactions both playful and deeply emotional.

Samantha is a strong and relatable character, and her personal struggles give this book depth beyond just the romance. The chemistry between her and Xavier is electric, but the challenges they face—especially with Samantha's family crisis—add real stakes to their story. I admired the way their relationship developed, with moments of tenderness, humor, and vulnerability.

Though I found the plot a little predictable at times, the heart of the story—about making memories, facing difficult realities, and learning to embrace love when you're not expecting it—kept me turning the pages. The emotional payoff was well worth it, and I really appreciated the growth both characters experienced individually and together.

Overall, Say You'll Remember Me is a heartfelt, emotional romance with a perfect balance of humor, tension, and sweetness. Fans of Jimenez’s previous works will definitely enjoy this one. It’s a beautifully satisfying read that left me with a big smile on my face.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves a romance that tugs at your heartstrings but still delivers plenty of swoon-worthy moments.

Rating: I really liked it!
Laughing: 3

With Abby’s last book Just for Summer, and this book Say You’ll Remember Me, I can’t help but feel like Abby’s books are trending towards more emotional stories than the romcoms I’m used to. They aren’t bad, but sometimes you’ve really gotta be in the mood for all of those emotions. She mentions the content warnings in the beginning of the book and I’d recommend reading them first!

This book made me feel a lot of feelings, at times it made me a little teary reading about the tender and heartwarming relationship between Xavier and Samantha. I loved them both and I felt for them both. They were truly torn but I think they did what’s most important when it comes to love and relationships, and that was to choose each other. They were both down bad, and I did really love that. It did almost feel like the romance came second in this book, and that the focus was more on Samanta’s family and Xavier’s childhood trauma.

This story is also about what it’s like to be a caregiver for a sick parent. The tensions that can arise in your family and how it impacts your everyday life. It wasn’t easy to read, but the seriousness was alleviated at times with Abby’s humor, and swoony moments.

Lastly, I can’t read this title without thinking of Taylor Swift and I don’t know how that didn’t come up in one of the playlists lol.

Short Synopsis:
Samantha and Xavier have the perfect first date. Well, if you consider an escape room you can’t escape perfect. But then Samantha moves to California the next day and unfortunately the two can’t forget or get over their magical first date.

My Thoughts:
When you read an Abby Jimenez book, you can expect humor with emotional depth and too perfect HEA. And SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME is no exception.

The banter in this one was great. (I was obsessed with all the Rhys comparisons, animal snuggles and longing.

Rhys…I mean Xavier and Samantha were the perfect definition of star-crossed lovers. They both wanted to be together but given their 2000 miles distance and their current circumstances (Xavier’s vet practice and Samantha being her mom’s caretaker), they couldn’t be together.

It made for great longing and cute surprise causes though.

I will say the pacing on this one felt a bit off to me, which I wouldn’t expect from a seasoned writer. But it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

What You’ll Find:
Long distance
Hot vet
All the animals
Grumpy/Sunshine
ACOTAR references
Grief

Another winner by Abby Jimenez! I literally have no idea how she does it. I loved this book so much. The characters, the depth of story, the plot, everything was perfect!!!!

I feel so warm and fuzzy!
I had really high hopes for this, and Abby Jimenez definitely delivered.
I loved the multiple POVs, so we could see how both main characters felt about the relationship. It was especially crucial to have both POVs because of the fact both characters are separated for most of the book. I loved Xavier as a book boyfriend, I think he was actually quite perfect. We're talking about a sexy tall buff vet who loves animals more than people and would do anything for the woman he loves - what else could I want?!
The Dementia aspect of the book was heartbreaking and really relatable for me. I watched my grandpa go through and eventually pass away from Alzheimer's and it broke my heart much in the same way it broke Sam's. Seeing my experiences written down meant so much to me.
Abby once again kills it with a romance that made me kick my feet and literally laugh out loud at the same time.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for sharing this ARC with me.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I have loved (LOVED) most of the Abby Jimenez books that I have read. Say You'll Remember Me is just not my favorite and I was disappointed when I finished it. I often want to immediately re-read her books as soon as I finish them, and I have absolutely no interest in picking up this book again.

Samantha and Xavier had a good meet-cute at the beginning but the rest of the book didn't connect with me. The emotion and trauma were real, but this story was missing something intangible for me. It was possibly almost too intense and too many characters with complicated issues.

Abby Jimenez is hands down my favorite romance author, and Say You’ll Remember Me just proves why! Every one of her books has a way of touching my heart, and this one was no different. 💖

Samantha and Xavier’s story had me hooked from the start. Their chemistry is undeniable, and I couldn’t help but root for them the whole time!

What I love most about Abby’s writing is how she handles deep, emotional topics with such care, while still keeping the story light enough to feel like an uplifting read. Say You’ll Remember Me is no exception—it’s full of emotion, growth, and moments that will stay with you long after you finish the book.

This was my first ever Abby Jimenez book, and I cannot believe that I am so late to the party!

Say You'll Remember Me was raw, real, cute, sappy, made me smile, made me cry, and every other feeling ever. Her writing is such a masterclass of emotion and it left me wanting more but also so satisfied with how the story panned out. This definitely convinced me to go back and pick up the rest of her books once I have the time, and I'm extremely excited to do so!

I will update this review with my links when I post them!

10 * stars. Well what can I say about this book to do it justice. It was so emotional and beautiful. What these two characters went through was intense and so heartfelt. The family and all the characters in it made it such an amazing read. I could relate to this story so very much and that ending brought me so much happiness.

This was a disappointing introduction to the works of Abby Jimenez for me, and I don’t know if I just have too much hate in my heart or what but I struggled deeply reading this book.

I think the only thing I really enjoyed about this book was the MMC, he’s a generic stone faced but soft core love interest but he’s quirky and different because he’s actually obsessed with the FMC in a normal, fun, cool way not a weird, creepy, overprotective way.

There are two unforgivable crimes books can commit for me; being cringe, and being boring and Say You’ll Remember Me was both of these, shockingly a double negative did not make a positive with this one.

The book does improve in the latter hundred pages or so because it decides to lock in and take itself seriously and ditches the weak attempts to be relatable and goofy it’s been harping on for the first 200 pages of the book so that’s nice.

But yeah unfortunately this was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for advanced access to the e-ARC of this novel, all opinions are my own.

Thanks to Forever for letting me read this early. All thoughts are my own!

DNF @ 10%

This is the first book by Abby Jimenez I’ve read, and unfortunately, I do not see myself reading any others from her. Within the first 8% of this book we got three references to a character from the ACOTAR series, which felt not only gross because of the harm SJM has caused and perpetuates but also felt very heavy handed in terms of pop culture references. There was also a Roblox reference which was just WILD.

The FMC also uses the phrase “fucked off back to his motherland” in reference to a character named Omar, which is actually so gross, and I’m really frustrated about it. Given the political climate we are facing, an off handed comment like this may seem small, but will have impact and ultimately hurt readers. It’s extremely harmful language and perpetuates stereotypes about men of color. It’s disgusting.

After seeing Jimenez do all of that promo and the events for Rebecca Yarros’ newest release, it’s clear that Jimenez’s choices are not ones I want to support any further.

Honestly a beautiful book. It has honest, cute and intense love but also a realistic touch of the struggles that life can throw in our way. It didn’t feel too much, it didn’t feel weak. It felt just like a right balance for a romcom. I highly recommend.

"There is nothing more beautiful than being a witness to someone's life. To know them inside and out and be with them through everything, share the same memories. Memories are everything."

I don't usually annotate my books but Abby's book had me wanting to do just that. The above quote is just one of many beautiful words that are written in this book. I loved this story. It had me smiling, laughing, crying ... Annotating 😂 it just had me feeling all the feels. ❤️❤️❤️

Book Releases on April 1, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the E-ARC.

I was unfortunately really disappointed by this one. The writing and storytelling that I loved so much from Abby in the Part of Your World Series was just nowhere to be seen here in my opinion and there were quite a few things I really did not enjoy in this. While I think it is true that Abby has written phenomenal, emotional love stories with depth in the past, Say You’ll Remember Me felt like that praise was taken too far. This book was just traumatic event after traumatic event to the point where a lot of it: 1. Did not feel necessary to any sort of plot, relationship, or character development. Just trauma for the sake of trauma. And 2. There was SO! Much trauma that most of it felt super surface level, and not actual fleshed out plot points.
I also felt like the writing quality really took a nose dive here. It did not feel natural whatsoever and a great deal of it felt cringey to me. Almost like it was trying TOO hard to be hip and trendy and appeal to a Gen Z audience. I would’ve liked it a lot more without some of the “humor” and references in here. I also found the near constant time jumps to be overwhelming and made it really hard to connect with either character.
And on a more personal note as someone who has loved and lost someone from Dementia, I found one of the major plot points to be really disappointing. I know it’s a tricky disease that can be different for everyone that suffers from it. But having Samantha’s mother not remember her for the entire book (if I remember correctly), but still know who everyone else it… Even having her be comfortable with Xavier after meeting him once in the midst of a meltdown felt not only inaccurate but also, again, just a way to absolutely torture this character?? Not a fan. On a related note... Kinda feels weird to have a book so hugely about Dementia be called Say You'll Remember Me but alas...
There were a handful of cute moments I did enjoy sprinkled throughout this (LOVED those Old Men Retired Vets that stepped! Up!) and I did really like most of the characters in this I think it just fell really flat in the writing and story as a whole.

Thank you for Forever for free digital copy!

This wasn't my favorite out of the books that I read from Jimenez. Xavier and Samantha were very cute together and the chemistry between them was strong from the jump. They had a lot of barriers between them that made it hard. When it comes to my preferences, I'm not a really a insta-love girl and that's what this book felt like for me. I will say that even though I'm not a fan of the trope, I still think that Abby Jimenez executed in a way that I still didn't mind. I think the first half of this book was stronger for that reason, but in the second half it kind of fell flat. Everything happening was believable but at certain points I was like dang this couple can't win for losing. I think because they fell so hard for each other initially it just became kind of boring for me.

This story’s other focus was on dementia and the struggles of being a care taker for someone with the disease. I think Abby Jimenez handled this topic well. She didn't simplify it and painted a picture of it that might be relatable to some. I really felt for Samantha and her family. They often had to make hard decision and make sacrifices that affected their way of life as well.
Overall this book was very meh for me.

Also, I should note that there were ACOTAR (not a fan at all) and some comments made about the sister's baby daddy. There were certain implications that felt offensive.