This book fits into ALL THE GENRES yet NONE OF THE MOULDS.

As per usual, the author takes on quite a few deeper, darker storylines - Dementia caregiving and going no-contact with abusive, narcissist parents – but still manages to make it a good time (question mark?).

I also liked the “We’re definitely, for sure in love, but can we make it work?” angle. Logistics are often skipped in stories like these – or it’s the woman who sacrifices all to follow the MMC – so it was interesting to see them navigate their situation.

I loved the dual settings of Minnesota (shout out, as always, to Nadia Cakes) and California, loved all the animal characters (JAFAR!), and, of course, the absolutely perfectly imperfect HEA.

Say You'll Remember Me delivers a touching story of love and resilience. Samantha and Xavier's connection is genuine, navigating the challenges of a long-distance relationship amidst personal trials. Jimenez masterfully blends humor with poignant moments, making it a compelling read for romance enthusiasts

Another banger from Abby. The emotional turmoil these characters go through hurt me and put me back together again. This woman knows how to craft an amazing plot and I loved every messy second.

This was not my favorite Abby Jimenez book by far. The book started out strong and although I think I have just read too many 20ish love stories lately I was hopeful. It took a turn quickly where I was thinking-how can I get through this quickly? Do people in their late 20's really talk like this? The tiktok references were maddening. Some of the most ridiculous things were when Samantha swallowed her ear bud and didn't realize she did it for hours? What?? Or when she asks Xavier if he would still love her if she was a worm and he wasn't?

I read the book and listened to the audio in between. The narrators weren't much better. If I heard the word Lit-ter-ly pronounced like that one more time I would have ripped my own hair out.

Add on the cheating dad on the dementia mom of Samantha and the child abuse and puppy drowning from Xavier's parents. No thanks. This one really just wasn't good all around.

I'm being generous with 2 stars. Slow down with your writing Abby-you have written so many really good books in the past, I hope this one was just a blip in your career.

Jimenez fully knows how to tug on the heartstrings of her readers. What a romance! I've seen very few romance novels where the love interests are in a long distance relationship, and Jimenez wrote this one with all the longing and heartbreak it needed to be successful.

Unpopular opinion alert! I liked this book😂

I’m not totally surprised as I’m a huge Abby Jimenez fan, but lots of people I’ve talked to have not loved it, so I was curious.

The two main characters do spend quite a bit of time apart, and there is definitely insta love.

But I did like it! I liked that it mixed lovey dovey with serious topics. I liked how the characters supported each other (they went through a lot of sh**). And I liked how it was dual POV and we got to see into both of their heads.

It also felt like their problems were real and not just miscommunication.

I don’t think it’s for everyone cause it’s pretty light on the “rom com”, but i liked it!

I loved this book! Most of my friends are Abby Jimenez fans. I've only read one other of hers and I didn't necessarily care for it, so I was dismayed when this was chosen for my book club. However, I was pleasantly surprised! The characters were very well-developed and the story was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I laughed and cried in this novel. 5 stars!

I will read anything Abby Jimenez writes. Though categorized as romance novels, these still have a plot that pulls on your heart strings and makes look at several different characters points of view. She always includes a serious note of “real life” that sometimes is really absent in other romance books. Thank you for the copy! I enjoyed y reading it!

The first in a new romance series by Abby Jimenez.
🎡
Xavier Rush prefers dogs to humans, but when the most gorgeous women he’s ever seen enters his veterinary clinic one day, he makes an exception. They get off to a rocky start, but eventually end up on the best date of their lives until Xavier finds out Samantha is moving to California the next day. As much as they want to break things off to keep one another from getting hurt since neither can move to be with the other, they keep finding ways to see each other. Can they maintain this long distance forever?
☀️
This book leaned more on the literary fiction side of romance. There’s way more than Xavier and Samantha’s relationship within the pages. Lots of themes of family, sacrifice, and what’s really important in life. I’m excited to see what the next #novel will be!

CW: dementia, infidelity, child abuse (recounted), animal death (recounted) the dogs live! death, physical and emotional abuse, grief, medical content, alcoholism, panic attack, blood, classism, emesis

Looking for the perfect boyfriend, look no further. Xavier is handsome, has great abs, loves animals and is willing to admit he can be a jerk. Samantha is not looking for a boyfriend but can’t help but be attracted to the vet who just told her to let him kill the kitty she is trying to rescue.

When Xavier proves he is a good guy, Samantha agrees to a date. But the date becomes a magical night that unfortunately comes to an end when she leaves Minnesota for a return to California to help her family. Her mother is suffering from dementia and her family needs reinforcements to help with the 24-hour care.

Xavier is stunned that he’s finally found a girl to care for when she abruptly moves thousands of miles away. He just took on huge loans to open his own veterinary office and is committed to making the business flourish. But love has a way of interfering with the best laid plans. Ultimately, the couple realize the attraction is undeniable but the idea of a long-distance relationship is untenable.

Jimenez has packed in a lot of interesting elements to draw readers. Xavier is perfect – in so many ways. (Repeated comparisons to Sarah Maas’ character Rysand are not necessary, though teens might be impressed.) There’s the love of animals that both characters demonstrate and which will endear them to many. Both Xavier’s and Samantha’s family stories are heart-wrenching, making them more sympathetic. Samantha’s mother’s illness impacts the entire family and is especially moving; calling attention to the constant difficulties of caring for someone with dementia. Touching and heartfelt, this is sure to please lovers of romance as well as those who appreciate good fiction.

There was so much in this book that I did not like that it detracted from the few things that I did enjoy. At its core, this novel is the love story of Samantha and Xavier, but it felt more like a story of all the reasons they should not be together and yet they do it anyways. There was some initial chemistry between the main characters in the first few chapters, but that quickly fizzled out in my opinion. The narrative was circuitous, the writing was plain, and the hyper specific gen Z/tiktok pop culture references (example: “would you still love me if I was a worm?”) were wayyy overdone. I thought the author portrayed the feelings of families dealing with dementia were accurate, though the actual way the characters cared for Samantha’s mother were alarming. I’ve read 4 books (and one short story) by Abby Jimenez and this one sits firmly at the bottom of my ranking (and I’m sorry to say that).

I enjoyed this story filled with love, humor, emotion, family and all the messy parts in-between. Definitely a mix of light and heavy moments that kept the story balanced. The meet-cute was hilarious, I burst out laughing every time the cat was mentioned. The characters were well rounded and the issues they dealt with in their lives felt real and honest. Abby Jimenez is terrific at dialogue, it always feels authentic to me. Overall I enjoyed this story and always look forward to more from her!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

Abby Jimenez's books are usually a slam dunk for me, but this one missed the hoop for me. I did appreciate some of the real struggles addressed in the book, but overall I didn't feel like the characters should have ended up together, making it hard to care about the story.

If you've read any of Abby Jimenez's other romances, you already know you're going to find a nearly perfect book boyfriend and a seemingly impossible path to an HEA, with angst and tragedy as well as the spice that modern readers are looking for. I was surprised that the author chose to reuse some of the elements of her previous novel, Life is Short, as if she was just introducing the ideas in that book and then really fleshing them out for this one. I always applaud an author who can bring real world situations like physical and mental illness, financial difficulties, and trauma into a "perfect world" formula where the beautiful woman still gets the extremly attractive and somehow single man, wedding, kids, HEA. But if angst drives you crazy, maybe give this one a pass.

3.75 rounded up.

If there's one thing Abby Jimenez does well, it's writing great banter. This book is different from her other ones, in that it was definitely heavier and handled some tough topics.
I loved how adult this story was, and how raw, real and vulnerable these characters were. But this story had a lot of things that took me away from the overall story and left me not even caring about the outcome of the couple by the end of the story.

The pop culture slang, Rhysand references and insta-love feel to the story took me away from it. And I just could not get on board with the excusing of the "cheating" no matter how justified they tried to make it. It felt as if the couple could never win. They kept taking L's left and right to the point where I thought maybe you guys shouldn't be together.

But Samantha and Xavier got their happily ever after in the end so kudos to them I guess..

Thank you to netgalley and Forever for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! Abby Jimenez writing style goes above and beyond the average rom-com, she doesn’t shy away from deep heavy topics while still infusing her stories with effusive joy and love. She seems to strike the perfect balance every time. Say you’ll remember me is no exception! I adored this book and fell in love with the characters, both main and side characters. I believe this book will be one of the summer’s best beach reads!

As always, Abby Jimenez hit it out of the park!!! I mean she hit it into the next state! Her books are always 5 stars for me, and this one was no different. I was immediately obsessed with Xavier and Samantha, and I couldn’t put this one down.

I got a bit bored of the repetition. Will they stay together or break up? When will they see each other again? They went through the same conversations and thoughts a few times, but it wasn’t too annoying because I figured they’d end up together and everything would be fun.

My favorite thing about Abby Jimenez books is how real and deep they are. They’re hilarious and fun, but they always tackle real, tough problems. Samantha’s mom’s dementia broke my heart, but it was partially repaired by meeting her family and loving them. And Xavier’s past, oh my gosh, painnnnnn!! But Jimenez tackles issues with grace, humor, and vulnerability, and I’m so here for it.

Side note, I loved the audiobook! There was a narrator for Samantha and a narrator for Xavier. Super fun and easy listen. :)

Wow. This book absolutely ruined me. I cried. I laughed. I wanted to throw my phone across the room at one point. Xavier and Samantha's relationship is so raw and real. It truly offers insight to the struggles of long distance relationships. Adding pets to that? Yeah, I was a goner. I wouldn't mind Abby deciding to turn this into a series where we're able to see each sibling find love. I think that could be really interesting and we could catch glimpses of Xavier and Samantha as they navigate life.

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez has some of the things I usually love about her books—like well-developed characters and a great cast of side characters. I enjoyed the meet cute and a few of the conversations between the main couple, but overall, their romance didn’t really stick with me. There was a lot of insta-love, and some of the big decisions near the end felt too perfect to feel believable. The side plot also didn’t hit as well as it has in her other books and ended up feeling a little frustrating. While there were moments I liked, this one just didn’t have the emotional impact I’ve come to expect from her stories. I'd love a book about Tristan some day!

While this is not my favorite Abby Jimenez book, I still enjoyed it and have recommended it to friends. The story is quite dark, in terms of dealing with a parent's alzheimers disease. Then with the added death of a grandparent, it's all quite heavy. That's not a bad thing, but I felt like there was less romantic drama and more family drama. I also missed the setting of Minnesota, but hopefully Jimenez's next book will be back in that state.