Abby Jimenez

A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match from "a true talent" (Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

Yours Truly

Morana 

There’s a special peace in sleeping next to someone you love. When you slip into the dark holding them and wake up and they’re still there and you know that everything that matters is just opening your eyes away.

And we stayed there holding each other, inseparable, immovable, tangled like a tree that had grown into a chain-link fence.

“This is what it feels like to be truly loved. I’ve never felt it before. And I didn’t even realize it until just now.”

She’d stand extra close to me, looking up at me like if we just weren’t at work, she’d kiss me. I loved that the best. When she did that, it felt like she loved me back. I let myself pretend.

I would give her this every day. I’d spend the rest of my life looking for ways to make her smile at me like that. I lived for it.

I doubted there would be much of that. I didn’t want to disappear when she was around. I wanted to be wherever she was.

It made me weak with disappointment and hopelessness, and I knew I would always carry the ache I felt in this moment.

"It’s funny how similar longing feels to grief." AHHHH!

I wasn’t falling in love with her. I already was. It’s funny how similar longing feels to grief. Even though she was right here, all I could think about was the part that was missing. The part I’d never get. I was destined to love her up close and then eventually from a distance, and she’d never know it or love me back.

But I loved, loved him. Not in a friendship way. Not in an admiration way. In an if-you-weren’t-in-love-with-someone-else, I’d-take-a-chance-on-you way. An I’d-give-you-everything way.

“We’re different. We agree to be harmless to each other.”

I was my own greatest enemy now. Because I knew how this ended and wouldn’t lift a finger to save myself. I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry someone made you feel like it’s hard to love you,” she said. My chest got tight. She peered at me with so much earnestness I wanted to stop right then and there and kiss her.

Or maybe for him it was exactly what it was supposed to be. Nothing but a platonic arrangement.

“I always think that when we’re quiet, we’re agreeing to be harmless to each other."

Briana made me nervous, but she didn’t make me uncomfortable. That was a big distinction. For me, nervousness usually got better with time. Uncomfortable didn’t.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to live like that? 

To not carry that burden around with you. To not feel constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated and second-guess every little thing.

How could I be lovable when I wasn’t even likable?

[...] my rage would finally burn out, and I’d be left with what was left of me. And that wasn’t much.

Alyssa Weaver

"And you want a wife?" "Only if it's you."

You and me?" he said gently. "We're different. We agree to be harmless to each other."  

"Everyone's going to be looking at me," I said quietly. "No. They're going to be looking at me. And I'm going to be looking at you. Like this." She put her hands on my chest and peered up at me lovingly

But Jacob wasn't like that. He was a hero, but he was the kind that never let anyone know. 

 My life was a mess. But at least Briana's was the way it should be

I LOVE JACOB AND I LOVE THIS STORY BUT GOING DOWN TO THE ENDING MAKES ME SO FRUSTRATED ESP TO BRIANA. GIRL, YOU ARENT HEALED BUT THEN YOU SAID YOU LOVE JACOB SO MUCH??!!!! I KNOW THE TRAUMA THAT YOUR EX HUSBAND GAVE YOU BUT DAMN WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO JACOB??? ALSOO BRIANA CONCLUDED EVERYTHING ABOUT JACOB BEING STILL IN LOVE WITH HIS EX???!!!! DAMN, ISTG HE DOESNT DESERVE HIM

It is a very relatable and great story. It has a lot of trigger warnings when it comes to anxiety, depression, sickness, and betrayals; and that's what makes the book relatable. Because at some point in our lives, we were Briana, we were Benny, we were Jacob.

"Have you ever heard that quote if you judged a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its while life believing that it's stupid?"

"Nothing is ever perfect. There's just matches that have a higher chance of working than others."

"Have you ever heard the saying that if you're with someone who doesn't speak your language, you'll spend a lifetime having to translate your soul."

"And no matter how well you know someone, or for how long, you can never be in their head."

Kath

It is a very relatable and great story. It has a lot of trigger warnings when it comes to anxiety, depression, sickness, and betrayals; and that's what makes the book relatable. Because at some point in our lives, we were Briana, we were Benny, we were Jacob.

"Have you ever heard that quote if you judged a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its while life believing that it's stupid?"

"Nothing is ever perfect. There's just matches that have a higher chance of working than others."

"Have you ever heard the saying that if you're with someone who doesn't speak your language, you'll spend a lifetime having to translate your soul."

"And no matter how well you know someone, or for how long, you can never be in their head."

Abby, hi I’m one of your new biggest fans! Absolutely obsessed with this book and I really predicted I would like this more than Part of Your World. The storyline of this was really strong and until the end it was ahead but ultimately decided to keep them level. I do understand having some miscommunication but how extensive this one was did become a little too much. But like I said the characters in the book it made sense to have some. But I really liked this book and I’m so excited to read more of Abby’s books soon!

Priscilla Stanfield

4.5/5⭐️ • 1.5/5🌶️

Abby, hi I’m one of your new biggest fans! Absolutely obsessed with this book and I really predicted I would like this more than Part of Your World. The storyline of this was really strong and until the end it was ahead but ultimately decided to keep them level. I do understand having some miscommunication but how extensive this one was did become a little too much. But like I said the characters in the book it made sense to have some. But I really liked this book and I’m so excited to read more of Abby’s books soon!

this book took my breath away... i totally get it now. i get why so many people are talking abt this book. thinking about briana & jacob’s love makes me want to smile and scream and bawl my heart out. they were so perfect for each other, not in the way that fictional couples usually are, but their love is perfect AND realistic at the same time. realistic to the point that there were times when i wanted to scream into the void bc of the miscommunication trope. which totally makes sense, no matter how much it frustrated me. someone who has anxiety & who basically has overthinking ingrained into his system. someone who got cheated on & developed a trauma bc of how bad her past relationship was. i was frustrated bc of how the trope lasted for almost half of the book, but i never got pissed bc i understood why it happened. i understood the characters. i was able to connect with them on such a deep deep level. god.. people weren’t lying when they said that the anxiety representation in this book was top notch. it really was. i wanted to enter the book and hug and talk to jacob. HE IS ME. and i can only wish to have someone like briana who is easy to be with & would agree to be harmless to me & understand all my quiets. likewise, i can only wish to have someone like jacob whom i can have a quiet gentle life with, who lets me look into his soul, who never fails to show up. because that’s what love does. it shows up. and no matter how broken they both were, they’d never stop showing up for each other. their story touched my heart so much — it reminded me why i love reading, why i love consuming stories that fill the heart. thank you abby jimenez for this heartwarming masterpiece 🫶

chel

I like that Abby’s books aren’t just happily ever after endings, you see real life struggles of individuals and the influence they have on the characters and their relationships. 

Edna Aviles

Out of every book that i’ve read by Abby Jimenez, this one is definitely my favorite. Jacob and Briana have my heart in all the best ways 

prawnie

Abby did it again. Damn I am Jacob and Jacob is me. I’ve never read a book where anxiety was written as accurately as this one. I loved every second of this book and I’m a sucker for a surprise pregnancy trope so that was a bonus 😉. I can’t wait to finish off my summer with her next book. Abby knows how to write a romance that goes deeper than most authors write.

Jordan Leatherdale

Love shows up.

Abby did it again. Damn I am Jacob and Jacob is me. I’ve never read a book where anxiety was written as accurately as this one. I loved every second of this book and I’m a sucker for a surprise pregnancy trope so that was a bonus 😉. I can’t wait to finish off my summer with her next book. Abby knows how to write a romance that goes deeper than most authors write.

beginning was a little rough i was screaming i hate miscommunication trope so much 

big ab

I can't believe doctors can be this silly 

Mira <3

Jennifer Gosnell

This ends with a trope I hate… and yet this was a 5 star read for me?!?! Like, damn. It was so good. I got really worried towards the end… but I feel like this book was everything I wanted it to be. Also — every time I thought I could predict what was going to happen, Jiminez totally upended my expectations.

the beginning (and some of the end) were a bit shaky for me but i really liked this! i loved the family dynamics and that both of the main characters felt like real people 

Lorelei Petcu

Tasha Harrison

logan lea

absolute PERFECTION 🥹🥹🥹💗

he didn’t only take HER last name but he literally devoted himself to her 

“he let me look into his soul and the only thing there was us” OH. MY. GAWD.

OBSESSED with the love portrayed in this book. I thought it was so natural, and the portrayal of anxiety as a mental illness was well done and accurate. It was nice reading about living with and overcoming anxiety, and how there’s nothing wrong with you and the right person will love you 🥺 the love between the characters felt like real love I’ve experienced🫶🏻

Kass

Kaitlin Slaughter

4 stars just for Jacob oh my god i love him

Daphne

I loved this book. I loved how jacob’s social anxiety was described and how briana understood jacob and his anxiety. how she took the time to know him, understand him, and make life joyous and fun for him. how easy it was for him to love her, and how he wanted to be with her all the time. because she made it easy, she made him feel comfortable, and she made him feel seen and loved. to be loved is to be seen.

half star taken off because their misunderstandings / miscommunications with their fake dating was SO annoying. it wasn’t the worst but when I thought it was over, I was SOOO frustrated.

Tara Bounkeovisane

I loved this book. I loved how jacob’s social anxiety was described and how briana understood jacob and his anxiety. how she took the time to know him, understand him, and make life joyous and fun for him. how easy it was for him to love her, and how he wanted to be with her all the time. because she made it easy, she made him feel comfortable, and she made him feel seen and loved. to be loved is to be seen.

half star taken off because their misunderstandings / miscommunications with their fake dating was SO annoying. it wasn’t the worst but when I thought it was over, I was SOOO frustrated.

Jillian Roberts

“I always think when we're quiet, we're agreeing to be harmless to each other. That we're just sharing the same space and letting each other exist exactly as we are, and neither of us would hurt or upset the other one.“

first abby jimenez book i’ve read and definitely not the last (will be reading just for the summer soon!)

this book was sooo good 😞 but be warned, 

 (i thought it was) and it talks about sexual things and has spice scenes 🫡

beginning felt a little fast, pero i get that it might be dahil jacob happens to fall in love at first sight with bri

let’s talk about the anxiety rep !!! i have never felt so seen while reading a book. no one understands how hard it is to live with anxiousness trailing behind like it’s another person in your life and how you’re always fearing for something that 

happen. ‘yung simpleng change in tone, sending a message, picking out clothes to wear, having to know how many people there is at a particular place kasi you’ll get too overwhelmed, and how it feels like wheels turning in your head whenever you’re overthinking things. bullseye siya sa lahat ng ‘yon.

“I had to remember that not everyone overthought everything the way I did. Wouldn’t it be amazing to live like that? To not carry that burden around with you. To not feel constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated and second-guess every little thing.”

i read some reviews na naiinis kay bri kasi she lashed out on the third act (?) (basta somewhere almost near the end) pero i understand her too kasi the trauma she probably must’ve felt from her marriage of 12 YEARS only to find out that her husband was cheating on her with her friend while she miscarried his baby 🥲

but also jacob gave her brother an entire kidney so i understand both sides ,, and honestly the miscarriage part felt like it should have been known to readers (it was implied lang in earlier chapters but never stated until near the end)

kinda disliked how dragged out it was even though it was painfully obvious na they liked eo (but then again, who am i to talk 😔)

overall i loved it, i had so much fun reading bri & jacob’s romance, their little notes, the pining ?!, fake dating, enemies to lovers (ish), it was all in one book. but it does contain a lot of sexual and more mature themes so be warned lang talaga do’n !!

4.25/5 for this book, the anxiety rep really brought the rating up.

“I always think when we're quiet, we're agreeing to be harmless to each other. That we're just sharing the same space and letting each other exist exactly as we are, and neither of us would hurt or upset the other one.“

THE ANXIETY REPRESENTATIONNNN OH MY GOD 

first abby jimenez book i’ve read and definitely not the last (will be reading just for the summer soon!)

this book was sooo good 😞 but be warned, it is not YA (i thought it was) and it talks about sexual things and has spice scenes 🫡

beginning felt a little fast, pero i get that it might be dahil jacob happens to fall in love at first sight with bri

let’s talk about the anxiety rep !!! i have never felt so seen while reading a book. no one understands how hard it is to live with anxiousness trailing behind like it’s another person in your life and how you’re always fearing for something that might happen. ‘yung simpleng change in tone, sending a message, picking out clothes to wear, having to know how many people there is at a particular place kasi you’ll get too overwhelmed, and how it feels like wheels turning in your head whenever you’re overthinking things. bullseye siya sa lahat ng ‘yon.

“I had to remember that not everyone overthought everything the way I did. Wouldn’t it be amazing to live like that? To not carry that burden around with you. To not feel constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated and second-guess every little thing.”

i read some reviews na naiinis kay bri kasi she lashed out on the third act (?) (basta somewhere almost near the end) pero i understand her too kasi the trauma she probably must’ve felt from her marriage of 12 YEARS only to find out that her husband was cheating on her with her friend while she miscarried his baby 🥲

but also jacob gave her brother an entire kidney so i understand both sides ,, and honestly the miscarriage part felt like it should have been known to readers (it was implied lang in earlier chapters but never stated until near the end)

kinda disliked how dragged out it was even though it was painfully obvious na they liked eo (but then again, who am i to talk 😔)

overall i loved it, i had so much fun reading bri & jacob’s romance, their little notes, the pining ?!, fake dating, enemies to lovers (ish), it was all in one book. but it does contain a lot of sexual and more mature themes so be warned lang talaga do’n !!

4.25/5 for this book, the anxiety rep really brought the rating up.

kalenga 

it’s been a while since i read a book that’s purely romance and this was such a nice way to get back into them. 

from the moment the book began i knew i’d enjoy every second of it and i was right. jacob was so heartwarming to read about and briana was so naturally funny and protective that you can’t not love her. everything that happened in the book had a reason to happen, everything was justified, the progression was incredible as well. it was just an honest treat. 

and the love these two had for each other? absolutely beautiful. they spoke their own language and understood each other without even having to say anything. i loved how intentional they were about each other and how they loved each other even when they didn’t know it. 

i had to stop myself from highlighting too much each time they spoke, that’s when you know a book’s good. overall i give it a solid 4.5 stars and i can’t wait to get into more of abby’s work.

My favorite Abby jiminez so far. I loved the depth to the MMC and the way his shyness and anxiety was portrayed. This was also pretty angsty but like safe angst, it’s an indulgent read. Not all that spicy but what we got was open door and fire.

The cover of this book is pretty sexist though I have to say. She never wears that outfit described in the book. They are both ER doctors written as wearing scrubs. He is accurately portrayed on the cover even down to his signature socks but for some reason she has to look ultra femme in a skirt and high heels which makes no sense. 

Abigail

4.5 stars

My favorite Abby jiminez so far. I loved the depth to the MMC and the way his shyness and anxiety was portrayed. This was also pretty angsty but like safe angst, it’s an indulgent read. Not all that spicy but what we got was open door and fire.

The cover of this book is pretty sexist though I have to say. She never wears that outfit described in the book. They are both ER doctors written as wearing scrubs. He is accurately portrayed on the cover even down to his signature socks but for some reason she has to look ultra femme in a skirt and high heels which makes no sense. 

I absolutely ate this up. Jacob reminds me of my own boyfriend (also Jacob lol). So many aspects of this book resonated with me and our relationship. Ngl I paused the book like 30 times to run to him and give him a hug. So many reviews saying men like this don't exist but I swear to you they do and this book just made me so so happy.

Manda

Sappy warning fyi

I absolutely ate this up. Jacob reminds me of my own boyfriend (also Jacob lol). So many aspects of this book resonated with me and our relationship. Ngl I paused the book like 30 times to run to him and give him a hug. So many reviews saying men like this don't exist but I swear to you they do and this book just made me so so happy.

its so obvious that the pov of the guy is written by a woman 😭😭 dnf-ed 

Yours Truly

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