Ahhh I love Abby, she can do no wrong. Honestly, this book was everything I had hoped and wanted it to be. Abby always writes her stories with so much depth that they are so much more than just a simple romance and become so relatable because the characters have everyday problems too. I loved this book, Abby doesnt miss with her book boyfriends and this one hit just as hard as the others. I loved the focus from Xavier on wanting the mundane parts of a relationship rather than the big over the top things and I think that was such an impactful part of the book because sometimes theres such a focus on big romantic gestures when really all we want are the mundane things.
Samantha and Xavier have the most beautiful story and I cannot wait for everyone to read it,

I feel like this one definitely comes down to personal preferences.
The writing was really great, so easy to read and follow along.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the insta love or the heavy focus on the family dynamics.
As another reviewer has mentioned, it did feel like the romance was a sub-plot and personally it didn’t work for me.
I could absolutely see someone going through a similar situation adoring this book and how it would work for them.

Review:
Book: Say You’ll Remember Me
Author: Abby Jimenez
Genre: romance
Pages: 368
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Abby Jimenez is hands down my favorite romance author. This book was so much more than a romance, though. The family dynamics aspect and long distance really made this one so interesting.

Xavier and Samantha meet when she brings a kitten she found into the vet, and he is the veterinarian. Immediately, grumpy and stoic Xavier is taken by Samantha’s beauty and the humor begins when he has to tell her that the cat is missing its butthole 😂

Xavier asks her out, but little does he know, she is about to move from Minnesota to Glendale, California to care for her mother who has early onset dementia.

This was a beautiful but difficult love story with a touching family aspect of caring for an ill loved one. There was so much humor at the beginning of this book, I was laughing out loud. This was great because there are aspects of this that are really heavy. I loved that this depicted real challenges-family, health, financial, parent relationships that are so common in real life. Their love story was beautiful, but they had so many obstacles standing in their way and they still were able to make it work. I related to both of the main characters. I understood Xavier’s pride in his clinic and career and not wanting to let that go. I related to some of the caretaking aspects as well and what strain it can take on a family.

I loved Xavier and Samantha’s commitment to each other despite their far from ideal circumstances. I love how when visiting, Xavier slides right into Samantha’s family, helping things to function smoothly despite him being new there.

I will always read anything that Abby Jimenez writes. There were lots of laughs, tears, frustration, and swooning throughout and I enjoyed every minute!!

Thank you to Hachette Australia and New for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

Wow. This was my first ever Abby Jiminez read and it will definitely not be my last. I downed this book in less than 12 hours because I was hooked from the outset.

This book had me laughing out loud, crying, audibly gasping and feeling tense throughout as Xavier and Samantha worked through their circumstances. It had it’s highs but it had it’s lows…you were feeling something at all times and I was completely engrossed in this story.

To see a book deal with not just one but two heavy topics I have lived experience with (a loved one with dementia and parental abuse) was a lot however both were handled with care and sensitivity…and with real life responses to them. There was no brushing over or forgiveness or pretending things were okay…there was acceptance for what was despite how things would have been better if they were different.

Xavier is the personification of “if he wanted to, he would” and every woman deserves a man like him. His love, self awareness, natural ability to care for others (humans and animals), desire to work hard for love and protection of Samantha was endearing to read.

Samantha would be my bestie if she was real. Her liveliness, wittiness, practical nature, endless love and devotion to her family showcased a strong but equally as vulnerable woman. Her and Xavier’s love has shot up on my favourite couples list.

This book really had it all for me and I’m honoured to have been given an opportunity to read this before its release…to which I will be getting my hands on a physical copy as soon as it’s out!

I’ll be posting a review on my Instagram in early January and again closer to the release date.

Say You’ll Remember Me (arc) - Abby Jimenez

Absolutely 5 ⭐️. No Notes.

I don’t really know how to express how much I loved this book, but here’s a start;

Xavier & Samantha - you can absolutely tell that these two had been together in another lifetime. 🖤

There were multiple moments in the book where I could feel my heart audibly crack. It was so beautiful and soul-crushing at once. Xavier and Samantha’s love was so deep and infinite - it really was the universe hand picking them for each other. They were each others person. It was beyond cosmic. When they were together, everything else became white noise and it was their own little bubble.

This book was not a fun rom-com. It was a very excruciating, emotional, frustrating, EXHAUSTING roller coaster of a love story and journey of Xavier and Samantha’s relationship that unpacked all the ‘not so rainbow and sunshine’ moments of life. Abby covered some extremely complex and traumatic topics in this book and she did so beautifully.

Another reason why this book lodged itself in my heart was Xavier. The black cat (albeit, cinnamon roll) mmc. He was so misunderstood. Just because he didn’t like people and was guarded, it didn’t mean he was a horrible person. He was reserved. He didn’t always smile. He wasn’t prone to outward displays of affection and emotion …and Samantha understood all of it and completed him as his other half. It really was so personal to read about a character that feels like your personality has been cut, copy and pasted onto the page. ✨

If I could summarise this book in a few simple phrases/words, it would be; Mustard, ‘Come on Eileen’, VILF, trauma, UFO escape rooms, family, kittens without buttholes and infinite, cosmic love.

(Also I’m absolutely not one to cry in books but damn…. Abby got me good with this one! Don’t let her cute covers fool you !!)

Thankyou to @netgalley for this arc!! I am already counting down the days until April 2025 to get my physical copy and transfer all my annotations and re-read (and have my heart shattered all over again!!)

(P.s - check the trigger warnings before reading this book !! Look after yourselves <3)

I have mixed feelings about this book. It started off really strong but about half way through it started feeling like the romance was more of a subplot. This book had a large focus on Samantha’s family dynamic and dealt with heavy topics including dementia and abusive parents.

I really enjoyed the beginning and the meet cute was perfect. I loved Samantha and Xavier’s first date, he took her to a puppy adoption cruise and literally jumped into a lake to save her phone (are you kidding me?!) I adored all the ACOTAR references and couldn’t stop picturing him as Rhysand in scrubs. Once Samantha moved across the country, Xavier worked relentlessly to make his way back to her. 8 weeks later, the man flies to California because he has a “veterinary conference” to attend but really it’s an excuse to spend 2 days with Samantha - and they aren’t even dating yet. Bless him!

The main disappointment for me was how little time our main characters spent together. Most of their communication was via phone call or text message. I think I would have loved the story a lot more if the FMC and MMC weren’t apart 99% of the time and wasn’t expecting it to be a long distance relationship for the entirety of the book. It felt like the ending was a little rushed and I was really hoping to glimpse more of their life together after Xavier moved to California. The epilogue didn’t give me the closure I was seeking either.

Abby Jimenez never misses. Samantha and Xavier had a an emotional roller coaster of a relationship. They had so much chemistry and care for one another. Samantha was dealing with a lot in her life and I loved seeing Xavier not give up on being with her and doing everything he could to make things work. I couldn’t put this down, another smash hit from Abby.

I love Abby Jimenez and her other books, her writing is always really easy to read and her plots are solid. I’m not sure what it was about this book but I’m not a fan of the insta love trip and this was very much that. That’s the main reason I believe for why I didn’t enjoy this one as much as her other books

I’ve never read a romance book quite like this. I need some time. I’m crying like a baby.

Five strong and well deserved stars!!

This book held my heart in the palm of its hands, and repeatedly smashed it into a thousand tiny pieces. It is beautiful and raw and real. I don’t know how Abby does it. It is so much more than a love story. A big part of the story follows Samantha’s mum (Lisa) as she lives with dementia. You get to see how Samantha’s family comes together to create a safe and loving environment for Lisa. On the opposite side of the country from Xavier.

Xavier and Samantha meet when her cats need to be checked and from the moment they met, honestly I think they knew they were soulmates. There was no point searching for anyone else. They were it for each other. But they couldn’t be together, couldn’t live parallel lives.

Xavier is the definition of, “if he wanted to, he would”. This man put Samantha before his next breath. He did everything in his power to exist in her world. When he knew she couldn’t go to him because of her mum, he went to her. Every. Single. Time. Without hesitation. And a vet? Who prefers animals over people? Animal lover. Immediately soft spot.

This book was heartbreaking beautiful. At times I laughed, at times a cried. My heart goes to everyone whose family deals with dementia.