3.5 stars
Firstly thanks to NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this ARC! The story started out strong fell a little flat in the middle but picked up again at the end! This story made me feel everything. I laughed and cried and feel that Abby did a great job at representing the difficulties that’s arise with dementia and making those tough decisions!
I would recommend this story to others! Thanks

Absolutely charming book with a strong, well-developed cast of characters, a swoony romance, lots of chronically-online 'in jokes' and of course.. the animals! I appreciated the balance of lightheartedness and heavy topics such as child abuse, dementia, grief etc. The overarching theme of memories - making them and losing them - was also very skillfully done.

I don’t know if I can put into words how much this book meant to me. It felt so deeply personal to me, but I know this is going to resonate so deeply with anyone who has had similar experiences to the characters in this book ❤️.

Abby Jimenez truly never misses with her books, they start with so much humour and joy and by the end I’m sobbing 😭.

I loved our main characters in this one, they were both so strong individually and together, and I loved their romance so much (as always Abby writes the sweetest men) 🥹. Similar to part of your world, the conflict for their relationship is external (sort of a right person wrong time situation) which I actually really enjoy, because it feels like the characters really should be together but there’s just life getting in the way (which I feel like is reflective of real life 🥲).

Basically, she made me laugh, she made me cry, there were animals - the Abby Jimenez formula that I can’t get enough of 🩷. I think this may be my new favourite book by her.

From the very first chapter, I knew this book was going to be something special. It had me smiling the whole way through, with moments of laugh out loud laughter and even a few tears.

Abbey Jimenez is amazing at writing banter and making romance feel so real.

This is easily one of my favorite books by her, and I can’t recommend it enough!

i went through so many emotions reading this book within such a short space of time. i was giggling, crying, smiling, screaming and so much more.

this was one of the most realistic romance books i’ve read with real world problems around debt, family issues and caring for a sick parent. however while making a romance emotional and raw, abby somehow manages to include hilarious moments at the same time!

i loved both of the main characters and highly recommend if you’re after a romance that has more depth and emotion rather than just lust.

wow! i literally couldn’t put this down! so so beautiful!

“love is the brightest colour in a grey world”

i read this about two weeks ago and didn’t want to write a review because i didn’t have the words to give this review justice! there were so many beautiful moments in this story have been engrained in my head, full of wisdom & hope. it was just the most touching, heart wrenching story i’ve read in such a long time.

abby jimenez’s stories aren’t just romances, they are real life stories, with real problems and always always a touch of hope with the most romantic mmcs. and this one didn’t disappoint.

xavier and samantha start it strong with the cutest meet cute (every time come on eileen plays i always think of them)! and real life comes in the way. it is the definition of ‘right person, wrong time’ with one problem after another, heartbreak after heartbreak. literally so so gut wrenching at times. but the perseverance is so touching, xavier knowing what he wants and continues to push forward to show that what he has between him and samatha is one in a million.

the romance at times does take a step back & become more of a subplot as it explores the the emotional and physical damage dementia has on families & individuals. but i think the whirlwind of events and how long the story spans - the romantic moments just become that more magical.

i loved every second of this story. at moments i laughed out loud, smiled so big & tears were shed. i highly highly recommend this to my emily henry fans and to my ashley poston lovers.

ps. every time i go back through my annotations i get teary & goosebumps - that’s how much this story has stayed with me.

read if you like:
- right person, wrong time
- loss & harships
- dual pov
- the cutest meet cute
- forced distance

the biggest thank you to hachette australia & new zealand and netgalley for the arc!

Firstly; THANK YOU HACHETTE for the ARC from one of my all time favourite romance authors! Best cover yet omg 🥰

Very, very sadly, this one just didn’t hit for me the way that I so desperately, DESPERATELY wanted it to, and I think that it’s because of the same reasons that Just For the Summer didn’t quite hit the spot for me either. I love, above all else, Abby’s relationships. The way that she writes two characters with separate issues who then come together on the page and interact in just… these most beautiful perfect gorgeous empathetic ways is THE best, and Life’s Too Short and Yours Truly are in my top list of romances ever. I struggled with this one, however, because it once again felt like this was less about the relationship between the characters, and more about two separate characters (although the emphasis was definitely on Samantha) who incidentally happen to be in a relationship. I know it’s especially tough given the whole premise of the book is long-distance, but I wanted MORE of them on page together! Every time they had a scene or a date I was 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 but there just wasn’t enough of them together to fully convince me. I also don’t think that I connected with Xavier and Samantha separately as characters as much I have with previous characters. It felt really hard to get a grasp on Xavier and who he was outside of just this perfect, beautiful man, and Samantha felt… too anchored in pop-culture? Normally, I actually don’t mind at all re. pop culture references in books, but the ones in this just didn’t work for me 😭 I absolutely SCREAMED at the very first comparison in the book, but then it felt like it was just taken too far, and the rest of the references just felt (love you always Abby 😭) a little too millennial/ dated.

Overall, I will continue being a super fan and buying every new book she releases, but unfortunately I just didn’t love this one as much as I wanted to.

This book hit me right in the feels. This book was comedic, but also dealt with serious life situations that really made me think what I would do if I was put in the same position. I genuinely couldn’t put this book down. The only thing that irked me was the insta-loved which just wasn’t really for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Beautiful as always by Abby Jimenez, I did find the male MC, Xavier at some points unrealistic and slightly too obsessed with Samantha (who is boarding two planes when you have double pneumonia..) and it was predictable but still engaging and made me laugh at times as well.

This was my first time reading an Abby Jimenez book, and what an introduction it was! This book made me laugh out loud and cry my eyes out. Samantha, the main female character, is so relatable as she navigates the motions of life while trying to be present with her family, especially her mother, who is suffering from advanced dementia. But when Samantha meets Xavier, the hot, moody veterinarian, her world gets flipped upside down.

I adored this book and finished it in a day because I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed some of the meta aspects of the book, like the mentions of the ACOTAR bat boys and Nadia Cakes. The love story, at times, felt hard to believe and a bit over the top, but it still had me eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next. I just loved the complexity and the many facets this book has to offer, and I look forward to reading more of Abby Jimenez’s books in the future!

Say you’ll remember me

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💛Dear god, save me from this book! I have never been on such an emotional rollercoaster in my existence. I quite literally laughed and gasped from lack of air and then sobbed like an absolute baby. I’m in ruin.

🫶🏻This book was a story of soulmates. I can’t describe it better than that. You live through their love and their pain, you live through their dedication and you hold their hand through their challenges.

👽Whilst this was a heavy book, there was so much fun in it from escape rooms and UFOs to crazy mustard campaigns that has me dying for the instagram handle.

🐶This man saves dogs.. need I say more, I mean I don’t but he literally put a dog in witness protection and he’s a vet?! Did I also mention what he looks like? “What did he look like?” She asked “like if Rhysand from ACOTAR series was a real person”. Enough said. 🦇

💙Favourite Quotes:

“You know, fun? The thing that makes you laugh and have a good time? Typically removing balls is not involved.”

“Embrace your inner Rhysand”

“Bonded pairs suffer apart”

🤔Final thoughts: a beautiful story and an easy read 100% worth it.

🦋This book was given as an ARC for:booksbymallie

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing this ARC for free via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was my first Abby Jimenez book and I had high hopes. These hopes were certainly met, because this book was such a realistic representation of life, love and loss. The sensitive topics were treated with care and woven into a beautiful, heart-wrenching love story. I finished the book with a good cry on my couch.

I read the first 63% of this book in one sitting. I was instantly drawn in by the hilarious dialogue and acts of service. Xavier would never let you go cold or hungry.

The final 25% felt a little slow for me, which is why it didn’t quite reach 5 star status. This could have been because of the focus on themes external to the romance. It made sense given the plot, but I found myself wanting the romance to take centre stage again.

I would still highly recommend this book. It has a unique story, likeable characters and a realism I haven’t found in every romance. I will definitely be reading more of her books!!!

well... this was beautiful, emotional, and so well written. I loved this miles more than 'just for the summer' (which i wasn't the biggest fan of), and I think that fans of the previous books will love this one just as much, if not more. the biggest thing in this story is that there isn't a singular "conflict" per se, it's more real; it feels like two real people trying to navigate life, love, loss, in a long distance relationship and try to make it work, ultimately, you're rooting for them as if it is real.

there is one thing I didn't like towards the end of the book, and there isn't a real conclusion to one of the overarching storylines (which I also didn't agree with the direction it went in), but it was still very satisfactory.

once again, Abby Jimenez has written a story that is about love, but also so much more.

thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the arc!

Abby has done it again - I’d read her shopping lists at this point.
Say You’ll Remember me was everything - funny, romantic, heartbreaking, devastating, emotional. It was truly the whole package. Abby’s talent to draw readers in and make you feel like you know these characters is unmatched. I rode the emotions of this book with these characters, feeling everything they felt, wanting to fix things for them so they could be happy. I wanted to see Sam and Xavier get their happy needing but I also didn’t want it to end!

It was a privilege to read this book before it is published - I can’t wait to promote it every change I get in the bookstore I work at. Now I just have to wait for her next book…

Well fuck me sideways because this is now my fave Abby Jimenez book - lady, you killed it.
I’ve been single for 2 years and now the likelihood of me finding someone and ending my celibacy is almost zero because Xavier Rush has RUINED me for EVERYONE.

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)