This was a sweet novel, def one the lightest subject matter for this author. It was sweet romance and I will read anything this author writes.

This rom-com is about Alexis and Daniel, two people who are very different on the surface. They have a significant age gap, as Alexis is almost 10 years older than Daniel, they have very different jobs (Alexis is an ER doctor & Daniel is a carpenter/mayor), and they come from different social classes, which resulted in very different upbringings. Overall, they’re complete opposites. But their connection is undeniable.

This book had me smiling SO much. There were definitely aspects that reminded me of fairytales like Cinderella and Little Mermaid.

My favourite Abby Jimenez book is still The Happy Ever After Playlist, but this one is definitely a close second. I loved it so much and highly recommend others to read it when it releases on April 19, 2022.

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I think I just found my current favorite romance novel of the year that will be hard to beat! This is the first novel I've read by Abby Jimenez and I'm definitely wondering if I was missing out all along! Part of Your World felt so easy and smooth to read and all I wanted to do during the 48 hours it took me to devour this was know what would happen to Daniel and Alexis. I liked that this story tackled strong topics such as emotional abuse stemming from romantic partners and relatives while never feeling over the top... it felt like a real issue that many couples face in the real world. And there were baby goats in this story... how can you resist?! My only qualm, and this is absolutely silly, was the mention of the crazy weather phenomenon that occurred towards the end of the book. The meteorologist in me did not like that misinformation!

If you love feel good romance featuring cute farm animals and amazing friendships like Alexis and Bri's then Part of Your World is for you! I was super excited to see what character will be featured in Abby's book next spring! Thank you to both Netgally and Forever Publishing for a digital and physical advanced copy of Part of Your World! Rating: 4.5 stars

Unpopular opinion here, but I think this one is going to go down as my least favorite Abby Jimenez book. I was so excited for this book because I loved The Friend Zone series but this one fell a little flat for me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, it intrigued me enough to finish it ,but at the end it was just ok. Something was missing. The plot was predictable and I felt as though Alexis and Daniel were lacking chemistry. I really liked Daniel but for some reason I didn’t really care for Alexis. At times I felt she was a little mean to Daniel. Depression and domestic violence are referenced, but very surface level. I wish it would have gone a little more in depth and been explored a little more.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! “Grace costs nothing” was my favorite quote and I love that the characters learned it and loved it, well, most of them! This was such a fun romance that everyone should read!

Abby Jimenez never disappoints! I love the world that she's created and how each book focuses on the love story of a character featured in the previous book. This book is a fun read, and the characters are delightful. The book handles topics such as spousal and emotional abuse with sensitivity. I appreciate the way Abby weaves in talking about important topics while still delivering a light-hearted story. As always, this book is sure to make you laugh. Abby's books always include #goals relationships. The romance and love story is sure to melt your heart. Overall, this book is a great read!

I have loved all of Abby's books, and this one was just the same. WOW, I loved it so much! I laughed, cried, and could not put it down. Such a wonderful story of two completely different people who somehow fit perfectly together. I loved all the characters, even every small side character. They were well developed and thought out. You could feel them all and I love that in a book. I loved seeing both their worlds through Daniel's and Alexis' eyes. I felt like she did a wonderful job touching on both mental and physical abuse, and blending such an emotional topic into the story. This is a pickup and finishes in one sitting book, you won't be able to put it down. You will not be disappointed in this heartfelt and honest romance!

QOTD: How do you eat your grilled cheese? Mayo or butter? Flash cook or low heat? Preference on cheese?
My A: butter, flash cook and that cheap, bad for you American slices that melt oh so good. 😜
.
This was my first Abby Jimenez book (I know 🤦) and it will definitely not be my last!! I have her three prior books all on my TBR list, but after reading and loving Part of Your World, they've been bumped to the top!
.
Alexis, the female main character, is such a strong and impactful woman. I love when the FMC not only feels like someone I'd be friends with myself, but also someone I can look up to a bit. She's a kickass ER doctor, loyal friend and witty to boot. Her relationship with her ex is, unfortunately, something I think many reader s will relate to and watching her grow and heal from that situation is a joy to read.
.
And then there is ooey-gooey town mayor, restoration leader, B&B operator, carpenter and all around great guy, Daniel. He is so good to Alexis and the other people in town. He's patient and selfless and is the kind of mmc that reminds you where your standards for men should be.
.
Prepare to laugh out loud, wipe a few tears and have allll of your heartstrings pulled. This is a 2022 must read!!!
.
BLURB:
After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

5 stars over and over again.

I loved this one!

I was a fan of the first, I loved the second even better. And then was disappointed with the third. Part of your World has redeemed this author for me!!

It’s a special kind of power to be able to write a romance where cmon we all know where it’s going - of course there is going to be a HEA - and in this one, it’s especially NOT difficult to see how we get there before it happens - but to be able to convince the readers to carry on and see it through your vision and your words specifically, it truly is magical.

Alexis and Daniel had a banter something like Jim and Pam only with spice, and the setting felt a bit reminiscent to Sweet Home Alabama. Just a little. To me.

There are serious themes with abuse both emotional and physical and also reimagining your life in ways you never thought possible that could easily make the book feel heavy or too much - but it’s placed throughout the storyline effectively.

I loved all the characters, even the ones you weren’t supposed to love for being so unloveable.

Already cannot wait for the next book.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC

In this opposites-attract romance, Dr. Alexis Montgomery, fresh off an abusive relationship and still coping with the mean ex who won’t leave their shared home, meets and falls for grilled cheese making, baby goat fostering, tattooed carpenter who runs a B&B in Wakan in a tourist village two hours away. The scandal? Daniel is only 28 to her 38, and she is a shoe-in for chief of medicine Royaume Northwestern Hospital, where a Montgomery has not only been on staff, but involved, for 125 years. Her world is mansions, designer duds, and staff; Daniel’s is an inherited house hand-built by his grandfather, flannel, and DIY.

Alexis does a lot of angsting over the right thing to do, slowly growing less superficial. Daniel is nothing but sweet and mature –and maybe a bit too perfect to be believed. He’s got his own legacy of sorts: mayor of the little town, he’s the guy who takes care of everyone and everything. The tension is not in the will they/won’t they have sex, but will they/won’t they realize it’s a LOT more than just sex.

Jimenez uses humor very effectively. In one memorable scene, breakfast is disrupted by Daniel’s doggo bringing a gift of a not-dead-yet squirrel to the party and hilarity ensues. Alexis’s brother Derek has run off with a famous pop star, and since there is an NDA, Alexis is listening to her new sister-in-law’s complete oeuvre one album at a time, which seem to correspond with her own moods and the phasing of her relationship. at their second meeting, Daniel reveals there is a $100 bet for who can take her home, this becomes another in-joke. And on a memorable date, Daniel arranges for a showing at the drive through of The Princess Bride, and they quote lines to one another throughout the novel.

I have to admit, with the “fairy tale” description, red-headed heroine and title straight out of The Little Mermaid, I had to adjust my expectations. The cover reflects the city girl/country boy theme and the format: the story is told in alternating points of view, chapter by chapter. Domestic abuse is a strong theme and while it comes with no trigger warnings, a list of resources at the back is relevant and helpful.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #PartOfYourWorld via #NetGalley

The whole time I was reading this book I kept
thinking, "this absolutely NEEDS to be a movie."

The 'struggle to be with someone you love but can't' trope is one of my favourites. And it made me fall in love with small town settings again.

I can’t get enough of AJ's humour. Loved the banter between the main character and her bestie. The MC is ambitious and strong but also has struggles like we all do in real life. The romance was very captivating and it was just the perfect amount of angst and fight for me. I couldn't get enough of the main characters together. (Not a slow burn.)

TW: I didn't read the synopsis before starting
this book, so I didn't know that it tackled
several forms of abuse. But AJ has a way of
incorporating serious issues into her books,
that's interspersed with humour, which I enjoy.
I appreciate that she destigmatizes therapy in
this, as well as men in therapy.

Spoiler: it is a HEA (happily ever after). And it
is a classic dramedy, which I'm always here for, esp when coupled with a serious topic.

“The sexual tension between the two of us was like a sunflower turned to the sky. I’d felt it even when she was gone, I realized. Like my body was looking for her even though I didn’t know where she was. It was a shift in gravity. Two bodies in a hammock, or an old mattress that dips in the middle. I could feel us rolling toward each other. It’s the kind of pull that’s easier to give in to than it is to get out of.”
— 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, Abby Jimenez

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book started off soooo strong, and then it just kind of felt flatter and flatter the longer it went on. It got four stars because it genuinely had me laughing out loud, and I did enjoy the relationship between Alexis and Daniel for the most part.

With that being said, here’s my issue: I felt like Jimenez was trying to do too much in this one. it wouldn’t been enough for Alexis and Daniel to have to overcome an age gap, or class differences, OR long distance. but ALL THREE? it was exhausting. and truth be told, she really made the class differences the focus of this one and the other two kind of fell by the wayside. so why not just cut the age gap and LDR completely out of the picture? I’ll never know.

Also, it took WAY TOO LONG for Alexis to stop being a stepford daughter and stand up to her parents and that frustrated the hell out of me.

Oh and don’t even get me started on the constant refrain of, “the sex was unreal” from both MCs but never actually getting to witness any of the so-called “unreal” sex 😒 but I digress…

Daniel was the shining star of this book for me. Jimenez describes him as bearing similarity to Scott Eastwood and I AM HERE FOR IT. He was sweet and caring and romantic and sexy and I loved him.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the side characters, particularly Daniel’s relationships with his friends, and Alexis’s friend Bri. I know the next book is Bri’s story, and I’m sincerely hoping her love interest is Doug 👀

This one is out on April 19th! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Abby book - and I am HOOKED! The creative humor had me laughing, calling my bestie to tell her! So much to enjoy about this story - a 28 yo man with a dog, baby goat, mayor and his life together (mostly); a 38 yo woman stranded in a small town, recovering from years of verbal and emotional abuse. Did I mention he has a beard? And a dog?
Alexis comes from a wealthy family with a medical legacy - one of the Montgomery family has been on staff for over one hundred years. And now the legacy has fallen on Alexis' shoulders - after her gifted surgeon ditches her for a pop star wife and clinic in Cambodia. She can't even be mad.
Daniel rents his family home out as a B&B, living above the garage and acting as the town mayor - as the resident Grant in his small town, carrying his own over a hundred year legacy.
And the town - kind people who care for each other. Friends who have grown up together, like siblings.
And the humor - Daniel receives assistance to take an explicit picture.
Highly recommend - finished in one sitting, and well worth it!

So. I read this book a little bit ago and I couldn’t bring myself to leave a review because if I left a review then that meant (in my head) that I had finished the book. Silly, I know. I did not want this book to be over. At. All. I love the characters, the setting, the story… all of it. Every word on every page. I love how the characters exist in the same universe as her other books so you get little updates. I love the meet-cute. I love how I got mad when they were being silly. How I cried and laughed. How I was left wanting more. PLEASE. Give us more. We NEED more. We DEMAND more.

Thank you to the publisher and nethalley for my e - arc in exchange for an honest review. PART OF YOUR WORLD publishes April 19, 2022!

Abby Jiminez does it again! Her newest book is amazzinnggg! I absolutely LOVED it! mean, how could you not when it involves a lovable dog, baby goat, swoon worthy male MC, and hilarious female MC.

Much like the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, PART OF YOUR WORLD delves deep into the very different lives of Daniel and Alexis couldn't be more different and live such different lives. This book explores the complexities of falling in love with someone who is perfect for you, yet not perfect for the lives they live. Their meet cute was also so good, and they hit it off right away. Alexis just got out of a messy relationship, so she can't do anything serious, she swears their "fling" is a one time thing..... bit she can't seem to stay away from Daniel and Walkan... Will she able to convince her parents that her new man is worthy of their high standards?

I should also mention, this is an age gap romance as well, so if that's not your thing, then maybe skip this one. But I really enjoyed how it talked about the differences between wealthy people, and people barely scraping by.

This book touches on some serious topics such as, emotional and physical abuse, power differences, high expectations from parents, the struggles of lack of money, high society elitists, and more. Please be sure to check more in depth on the trigger warnings.

If you have read any of Abby's other books, you will love this one! Daniel is in the running for my favourite book boyfriend from her books <3

Oh, how I have missed the Abby Jimenez bookish universe!

I cannot stress what a delight it was to re-immerse myself in a truly authentic romantic comedy. As of late, I have found the genre to be both watered down and lacking, but Jimenez never fails to deliver.

If I'm being honest, what actually, honestly, sold me on this book would have to be the baby goats, though. Couple that with the fact that this is the first novel Abby Jimenez chose to dabble in magical realism (hello Isabel Allende fans everywhere), the chances of this being a miss were slim-to-none for my readerly heart.

Daniel and Alexis were both admirable characters, though there were definitely a few moments that had me wanting to pull my hair out. Regardless, the chemistry between the pair was this novel's saving grace, and I'm so happy to have carved the time out to pick this story up.

Thank you to Forever publishing and Estelle Hallick for providing me an ARC for an honest review.

Review is from Goodreads

Abby Jimenez is one of my favorite romance authors and this was another great book! Alexis meets Daniel at a bar in his small town one night when she is driving through. Alexis is a doctor that comes from a controlling family with a legacy and a lot of wealth. She knows that her parents would never approve of Daniel, especially because they want her to get back with her emotionally abusive ex boyfriend. Because of this, she keeps him a secret from everyone in her life except her best friend and secretly drives down to visit him on the weekends. I absolutely loved the romance between Daniel and Alexis. There was so much chemistry between them and there were a lot of compelling side characters. It also covered some very important topics including both emotional and physical abuse. I’m looking forward to reading Bri’s book next year!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Abby Jimenez has become one of my favorite romance writers, and this book continues her streak of winners! It’s told from the perspectives of Alexis, a doctor from a rich and influential family in Minneapolis, and Daniel, the young mayor of a tiny poor town a few hours away, who meet cute at the very beginning of the book when her car ends up off the road while driving past his town. So there’s an opposites attract romance, along with some deeper themes about family expectations and legacies, and emotional and physical abuse. Plus lots of fun little nods to Disney princess movies and my favorite movie The Princess Bride, and a touch of magic realism too.

I will say, at the start I was a little unsure about this one because it was a little bit too insta-love for me, but the characters, the story, and the charming fictional town of Wakan which was itself like a character definitely won me over and I was even crying by the end as I always seem to with her books.

This comes out on 4/19/22 - I have been trying to read my ARCs in semi-chronological order this year to stay on top of them, but I’m on vacation so decided to throw caution to the wind and treat myself to one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I’m glad I did!

4.5 stars.

CW/TW: domestic violence, emotional abuse

As the title suggests, Part of Your World, has some nods to fairy tale elements (red head lead with a domineering father!), but still manages to tackle some huge issues. I've put the content and trigger warnings at the top of my review in case the mention of this in my review itself could be a trigger.

First, I think Daniel wins for boyfriend of the month, year, forever? He's a really devoted kind of guy in all aspects of his life. His chance meeting with Alexis, helping her after she swerves off the road dodging a raccoon, shows us this immediately. He helps her out since he knows she'll be waiting quite a while for a tow. Alexis decides to stop over and eat in town and things go from there!

Alexis has recently come out of an emotionally abusive relationship and was cheated on, so she's not looking for anything serious. She comes from a wealthy family who expects her to put up with her ex while they all continue to gaslight her (minus her brother who has just married a famous character from another one of Abby's books and moved out of country!).
Daniel is not wealthy, but he does come from a family that founded his town. Their worlds don't match up.

Alexis has a lot of work that she needed to do to come to the realization that she didn't have to accept the abuse she was experiencing from not only her ex, but her family as well. It felt so good to see Alexis decide what is most important to her and begin to prioritize that.

I was really looking forward to this book, and I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations.

TW for domestic abuse with a secondary character on page

What I Liked: Romance is a genre in which the characters have to be likable (unless the trope calls for an unlikeable character) and you as a reader have to feel the chemistry between the protagonists. If I don’t buy that the people I’m reading about would fall in love by the end of the story, then the book has failed to live up to it’s promise of being a romance. This is not the case with this book. Even though Alexis and Daniel are complete opposites, their chemistry is apparent right away. I LOVE that for once, the age difference is an older woman and a younger man and that it’s not an unsubstantial amount (10 years). And I like that the reservations Alexis has about their age difference isn’t the main focus of the story and goes away as their relationship develops. Despite their differences in age, class, and occupations, they are both struggling with the weight of obligation, which is a realistic obstacle in their love story. Another fun aspect of this book that I liked was the moments of magic that pop up here and there and the allusions to Disney movies. It was fun to catch these as I was reading.

What I Didn’t Like: There were times that the antagonists in this book, mainly Alexis’s parents were so outlandishly over the top that I wanted to roll my eyes. I know that this was done as part of the “evil villain” theme but there was only so many scenes of Alexis being yelled at by her dad that I could take. I also felt like some of the storylines were left a little open ended or without a conclusion that made sense. Alexis’s friendship with Jessica and Gabby in particular would have benefitted from a clearer conclusion.

Who Should Read It: Fans of romantic comedies that also deal with some heavy subject matter will like this book. As a content warning, a major part of this book deals with both physical and emotional abuse (nothing graphic) and how easy it is for an abuser to hide their actions from the world.

Review Wrap Up: Jimenez received some flak for a previous book that left me a bit leery to read something of hers but I’m so glad I did because this was a fun yet emotional story that managed to tackle some difficult subjects with compassion. The opposites attract trope was used well here and I enjoyed the growth that both Daniel and Alexis had to do in order to be together in a healthy way. I’m excited to read Bri’s story, expected to be released in 2023.

Favorite Quote(s): “Like, seriously? These are the men we’re supposed to get a UTI for? If you found someone you like, date him. Trust me.”

“I don’t think she realizes how exceptional she is. I got the sense nobody tells her, which is weird.”