“Sometimes I feel like I’m spinning. Like I’m in a tornado and I can’t ever stop moving and the only time I feel still is when I’m with you.”
— Life’s too Short, Abby Jimenez

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️/5

In the third installment of Jimenez’s Friend Zone series, we meet Vanessa Price and Adrian Copeland. Vanessa is a travel vlogger with millions of followers and a life most dream of having. But being her isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, not when she has a 50-50 chance of developing ALS and dying before her next birthday. That’s why she can’t let anyone in. Adrian is a high powered criminal defense attorney. He hates change, but not as much as he hates not being in control. When Adrian wakes up at 4am one morning to the sounds of a baby screaming its head off in the apartment next door, he goes over and offers to help. There he meets Vanessa, and everything begins to change.

I have come to be such a huge fan of Jimenez. This book was full of funny banter, exceptionally heartbreaking moments, and constant reminders to live every day like it’s your last. Jimenez is so talented at creating such complex characters while also making them believable. I also loved getting a glimpse of Josh and Kristen and Sloan and Jason again and seeing what they’re up to.

I deducted a star simply for lack of steamy sex scenes, and I felt like Adrian’s reunion with a particular character left something to be desired.

I loved this book! The dialogue was amazing and the entire story flowed so well. I love the perspective on life Abby gives through her characters. This was my favorite I have read in this series so far and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys contemporary books!

Abby's other two novels in this series are my all time favorites in the romance genre so I was both excited and nervous to read a third. I wasn't sure she could do it again but she absolutely did!

This story hit close to home for me, as I also have a genetic degenerative neurologic disease in my family history. Initially I wasn't sure I could handle the subject matter, but it was addressed with honesty, love, and humor. Abby weaves together joy and sadness in her novels unlike any other author I've read (except maybe Penny Reid.) This is a book about a young woman determined to live life on her own terms. Then family issues intrude on her plans and she has to decide if she's willing to take a different path.

This book made me laugh out loud and also had me near tears a few times. I read the entire thing in one day, which is a rarity for me. I highly recommend it for readers of romance, and it would work well as a standalone if you haven't read the first two yet, although you should!

Why are all of Abby Jimenez's books perfect? The 3rd book in the Friend Zone Series may be my favorite yet. Vanessa is living life on her own terms as a travel blogger, that is until her half-sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in full custody of her infant daughter. Vanessa's life comes to a drastic halt as she quickly transitions into being a mommy. She is on the struggle bus when her incredibly attractive neighbor shows up to help. Vanessa accepts Adrian's help. The two quickly develop a friendship that shows just how much opposites can attract.

Abby Jimenez latest book, Life’s Too Short, is a friends to lovers story of vlogger, Vanessa, and her very sexy neighbor, Adrian. This is rom-com at its finest! From the meet cute moment to their eventual declaration of feelings, everything just works!

The only thing I didn’t love about this book is that Vanessa thinks she has a terminal illness but refuses to see a doctor. So instead, she just whines about it. I wanted to shake her multiple times. 😊

Thank you to #netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advanced e-copy of #lifestooshort !

#book #bookreview #romcom #romancebooks #romance

No one quite writes dialogue like Abby Jimenez. While I didn’t like this book as much as I liked the Happy Ever After Playlist, I still loved the dialogue, romance, and story. Adrian, an incredibly hard working lawyer, and Vanessa, a vlogger star, meet and of course sparks fly, but then have to triumph over family drama, illness, and Adrian’s fears. The characters are great, the wit is top notch, and while I was scared for a sad ending, I was able to finish the book with a smile on my face. If you love Abby Jimenez books, you will not be disappointed.

If I had 500 stars to give this book, I would. I loved this book so much. I love rom com with substance and real life issues. Life’s Too Short has the usually aspects of rom coms without being cheesy and fake. Also, I legit laughed out loud on multiple occasions. It was a delight getting to know Vanessa (and learning from her how she deals with maybe being terminal), Adrian (swoon), Grace, and Harry Puppins. Adrian may seem too good to be true at times BUT he’s the type of too good to be true that realistic.

Abby Jimenez has done it again with this exquisite romantic comedy! With her signature balance of humor, banter, steam and heartbreak, Life's Too Short is a new favorite. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this was so well done!

Of this series, I didn’t love this book as much as the first two. Vanessa was an amazing character to follow!

This book!!!! 😍 I loved every minute. It’s hysterical, cute, sad, fun and makes you feel every emotion. I couldn’t stop reading it. I’ve become a huge fan of Abby and this is my favorite of hers, which is saying a lot. I love how she brings back her characters from the previous books too. Such a nice touch.

Abby Jimenez has become a go-to author for me because every time I finish one of her books I declare it my new favorite of her's. I love the way she weaves together a story I can't put down while dealing with heavy topics in a respectful way. And she also writes male characters you can't help but fall in love with!

Life's Too Short for me was absolute perfection. From their meet cute in the early morning hour to their Office marathons, I loved the friendship turned relationship of Vanessa and Adrian and I also loved each character independently on their own. Despite what she has gone through with losing family members, possibly dealing with her own ALS diagnosis and trying to keep her out of control surviving family members in line, Vanessa has the hugest heart and you are rooting for everything to go right for her. Adrian, first off he is incredibly swoon worthy and his love for Grace will melt you heart, he has unseated Jason as my favorite male character in an Abby book! I enjoyed going on the journey of growth he goes through in the book from realizing there is more to care about in life than just your job.

With Adrian being a minor character in The Happy Ever After Playlist, this book can definitely be read as a standalone, but if you have not read Abby's previous two books, I highly recommend that you do. The cameo of Kristen, Josh, Sloan and Jason in this book was one of my favorite and funniest scenes. While this book is funny, it also deals with a number of heavy topics including ALS, death and substance abuse in a way that feels incredibly authentic.

It takes a lot to make me laugh, especially out loud, but Abby Jimenez does it every time.

Just like with her previous two books, the author has managed to weave that humor through genuine, raw, difficult topics in a way that keeps it from becoming depressing or too heavy.

I loved Vanessa's outlook on life, the way she embraced each day and refused to be sad, but I also appreciated that there were moments of realism in all that she was dealing with. These characters felt like people I wanted to know, and I found myself cheering for them from the first page. I found the hero to be intricately layered, and completely swoony.

Another fabulous read!

Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez was a pleasant surprise! It had a lot more substance than I expected for a rom-com. I really appreciated Jimenez tackling a hard topic like ALS. As someone who has a family member with an autoimmune disease, I found it refreshing to read about a character that was dealing with something like that in her life, and how it affected her and everyone around her. While I appreciated the author broaching difficult topics, and enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters, I did find the story to be a bit predictable and got frustrated with the lack of communication between them.

Have you ever read a book that pulled on every emotion in your body, broke your heart, then put it back together again. This is how I am feeling after reading an EARC of “Life’s Too Short” by Abby Jimenez . This book honestly drew me in and kept me engaged from page 1. Abby Jimenez is an author I have fell in love with. Her characters are real and deal with real life struggles. Each book I read of her’s I think I know what I am in for and it completely changes. This book utterly spoke to my soul and I thank Abby for writing this.

Vanessa is a world traveler and YouTube sensation. She has the knowledge that she has a small chance of dying before she turns 30. She lives with this but chooses happy instead of sad. She totally lives her life to the fullest and isn’t afraid of an expensive bottle of wine.

Adrian is the opposite. He likes a plan, and being able to figure everything else - and from what I read he is really attractive ;). Adrian lives his life through work (criminal attorney) not really experiencing the joys. His struggles arise through his mental health - family and personal.

These two totally compliment each other - Aridian is safe and a grounding force while Vanessa brings the spinanity and lifts him up. They just seem to work and it is all encompassing.

Abby has a way of drawing you in. I think this comes from her character development and the truthful way she deals with real life struggles and grief. It never feels forced, or insensitive - it is REAL.

Damn Abby Jimenez....you just keep getting better and better with each book!!
Vanessa Price's adventurous life of globe trotting and documenting everything on her extremely popular YouTube channel has come to complete halt and she is now living a very different adventurous life raising her addict sister's infant. One night when Grace (the baby) is just inconsolable her drop dead gorgeous neighbor, Adrian Copeland, comes to the rescue and turns out he is the baby whisperer!!! Pretty soon Vanessa and Adrian are eating together, helping each other out with life in general and learning more and more about each other. Lines begin to blur when feelings start to grow but Vanessa has always been very adamant that she doesn't do relationships due to her family baggage and health history...but sometimes feelings don't care about family and health :)

Vanessa and Adrian’s story was one of the most hilarious books I’ve read in a long time! Despite a lot of the content being emotionally heavy, there were so many incredible jabs and snort worthy quips throughout the story! I adored Vanessa’s character. She was energetic, radiant, awkward and honest. She was the perfect opposite to Adrian’s personality. They went together like peanut butter and jelly. Adrian was the epitome of a true hero. He was compassionate and stable. He was the grounding force that Vanessa needed. My heart melted over his relationship with little Grace.

I barely noticed the lack of steam in this story. Sure there were a few scenes of heat but for the most part, the story was quite platonic. But that didn’t take away from the “romance”, that’s for sure!

I teared up a few times during this novel. Abby Jimenez certainly didn’t hold back when it came to gut wrenching situations and heartbreak. I was so worried about how this book was going to wrap-up. Fearing for the end. But, the epilogue saved my sanity for sure. What a truly beautiful story Life’s Too Short was!

4.5 stars. My favorite Abby Jimenez book so far! This book hooked me from the very beginning. The family drama was gripping, the descriptions of their lifestyles and challenges were so intriguing. Jimenez did a great job drawing me into the character's lives. Both Adrian and Vanessa's characters were very likeable and their chemistry was fantastic. I loved having the dual perspective. The only thing I wish was different was that it took them a very long time to get together, but thankfully the build up was so well done I barely noticed. Even though so much of their relationship took place in their apartments, in a seemingly 'small lifestyle' I really enjoyed the dynamic and thought that Jimenez made a simple life look very appealing. I didn't want to book this book down and have now added a new book boyfriend to my life!

I was invested in this book and these characters from the very beginning. Vanessa is a famous YouTuber who finds her self fostering her sister's newborn. Adrian is her next door neighbor and has a very rigid and quiet life as a successful lawyer. When the baby won't stop crying late one night, Adrian stops over to offer some assistance, and the two form an unlikely friendship... and even start to feel like a family within their friendship. This book also deals with more serious topics like mental illness, addiction, hoarding, and fatal disease, yet I found the dialogue snappy and realistic, and the characters complex enough to feel like friends. I chuckled to myself quite a few times at their quick witty back and forths.

Abby Jimenez did it again. Following in the steps of The Friend Zone and The Happily Ever After Playlist, Abby has once again concocted the recipe for the perfect romcom. Every one of Abby's books have tugged at my heartstrings, made me shed a tear or two and had me smiling and hopeful.

Life's Too Short was very reminiscent of the Friend Zone when it came to the protagonists not wanting to take the leap of faith by expressing their feelings for each other. The book follows Vanessa, a big deal travel YouTuber that is living life to the fullest with the belief that ALS was going to end her life early on just like the disease took some of her family members. Adrian is a lawyer that spends his days focused on work and never leaving time for fun. The two, separated by a paper-thin apartment wall, meet when Vanessa's niece Grace keeps them both up late one night with her crying. If the perfect romcom isn't enough, we also get to see what Josh, Kristen, Jason and Sloane are up to when they make a brief cameo!

Life's Too Short will have you feeling like you shouldn't take life for granted and will have you swooning for the kind of love that Adrian and Vanessa share.

Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pub date: April 6

Abby Jimenez has done it again! I didn't doubt for a minute that she'd have me smiling and sobbing in equal measure, but this book was even more than I could've imagined. I connected so much with both Vanessa and Adrian, and just wanted to adopt Vanessa's outlook on life. I want to enjoy each day, not put the joys of life off to get to later. I want to travel the world, burn the expensive candle, and enjoy the fancy wine.

I enjoyed how Adrian and Vanessa's relationship started out with a solid friendship, but you could feel the chemistry on every page. I was seriously swooning every time Adrian took care of baby Grace. Is there anything sexier than a man with a baby?

Of course, there are some heavier topics in this book. You'll most likely cry more than once. (I was a puddle for most of the second half.) But as in her first two books, Abby Jimenez manages to deliver a heart-wrenching story that leaves you feeling whole and so satisfied. I cannot recommend this book enough, and it will easily make my top books of 2021 list!

"If you spend your life dwelling on the worst possible thing, when it finally happens, you've lived it twice. I don't want to live the worst thing twice."