Abby Jimenez

A brilliant and touching romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist. When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn't expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn't just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn't want to take anything for granted. But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from "daily adventure" to "next-level bad" (now with bonus baby vomit in hair). The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she'd be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua. Now she's feeling things she's vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

Life's Too Short

Keira 💫

If Vanessa ever did get sick, I wanted her world to stay as big as possible. I didn’t want there to be anywhere she, or others like her, couldn’t go and I’d spend the rest of my life fighting to make that a reality. It was rewarding and fulfilling—and I finally had my balance.

         I kept up with my therapy sessions and I was in an online support group for people living with terminal loved ones. I took care of my mental well-being with the same commitment that I took care of my family—because I couldn’t do one unless I did the other.

         Vanessa snuggled up to me and I put an arm around her. Grace leaned into me on the other side, holding her favorite stuffed bear.

         I told them I loved them every day. I never took tomorrow for granted. Aaaaand I read the horoscopes Becky texted me without exception.

         “Are you ready?” I asked, hovering my finger over the button that would send the file through. “We can’t get it back once it’s gone.”

         Vanessa grinned. “I don’t think ALS will know what hit it.”

         My lips twisted up into a smile. “Good.”

😭😭🥹🥹🫶🫶🦋🦋😩😩❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

“Let’s make this the best time of our lives. Live every day like it’s your last.”

         I sniffed. “And when one of them is my last?” I asked, looking at him.

         “You’re my soul mate. I’ll find you in the next life. Like I found you in this one.”

         I mean, I knew about Melanie, but I didn’t know about the rest of them. She never told me, I didn’t know, it wasn’t in Drake’s videos or…She probably thought I knew because—

         She had told me. She told me and I didn’t fucking listen. I didn’t fucking hear her.

         Information came flying back to me in patches, each bit sticking until it pieced together into some black, macabre obituary.

         Her tubes were tied, her saying she couldn’t adopt Grace because she wouldn’t be here in a year…

         It was a wrecking ball to my universe. The shattering of everything. A beautiful stained-glass window in a thousand pieces at my feet.

         She might be dying. The love of my life might be dying.

         And I was going to have to watch.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGTHDTDVSTUDDCJUIYTDFVFUTDVKC

         “No! I’m not seeing anyone. And I probably never will, ever again, if that makes you feel better.” Then her chin started to quiver. “And don’t worry, I won’t ever try to kiss you again. Gross, right?” Her voice cracked on the last word.

         I shook my head. “I don’t get you. Did you want me to kiss you back? You wanted me to cheapen our friendship with something that didn’t mean anything to you? You wanted a fling? This isn’t some game for me, Vanessa. Kissing you means something to me.”

         She blinked at me through tears. “It…it does?”

         “Of course it does. How can you even ask me that?”

         She sniffled. “But…but you didn’t kiss me back.”

         “You were drunk,” I said. “You were so drunk I had to carry you home. I don’t kiss intoxicated women. Even if I want to. And then you said it was a mistake, that you…” I didn’t finish. I couldn’t.

         I paused for a long moment, turning away from her. I dragged a hand down my beard and then looked her in the eye. “I’ve wanted to kiss you almost every single day since the day I met you.”

         And there it was. Out in the universe.

         She stared at me, speechless. Shocked.

         Nothing was going to be the same after this.

         I wondered how much damage was done, if we’d even be friends now. We might have moved past her drunken misstep. But not this. My one-sided feelings would be too much.

         I waited for the letdown that I knew was coming. The gentle “I don’t see you that way” or “It’s me, not you.”

         She looked at me with wide apologetic eyes and licked her lips. “Adrian, I’ve wanted to kiss you almost every single day since the day I met you too.”

         It hit me like a storm throwing a door open. Everything inside me burst into chaos. My heart launched into pounding as hope ripped through me.

         A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “And I’m not drunk now…”

         I broke into a grin and was clearing the distance between us before she took another breath. 

“She dropped the diamond stud and made an impatient huffing noise as she knelt to pick it up.

         “Here, let me help you,” Drake said, putting his hand out.

         She handed the earring to him and stood still while he got closer to put it in, tipping her head to the side.

         “You look nice, butterfly,” he said, his voice low.

         She gave him a flirty sideways smile. “Thanks. So do you.”

         Hot, thick jealousy ripped through me. There was something familiar about the way he touched her. Like he’d done it before.

         As soon as he was done with her earring, she pivoted to grab a small purse.

         “Hey, I know we’re supposed to talk, but can we do it after?” she said to me, putting on her coat. “Drake and I need to get going. We’ll be at Vermilion.”

         I wrinkled my forehead. “Vermilion? They’re not open on Mondays—”

         “He bought out the restaurant.”

         “Hey, thanks for watching Grace,” she said. “She’ll probably sleep for a bit. I’ll be home by eight.”

         Then she edged past me out the door with Drake trailing behind her and was gone.

         Who the fuck was Drake? And why was he taking her to Vermilion? I wanted to take her to Vermilion!

         I looked around her apartment, holding the baby, feeling whiplashed.

         The room still smelled like Vanessa’s perfume. There were dresses on her bed. Lots of them. And shoes all over the floor. It looked like she’d tried on her whole damn closet. It was a studio. Did she try them on with him sitting there watching? What the hell? 

“Why do grown-ups stop doing things like this?” I asked, lolling my head to look back at the ceiling. “Why do we forget?”

         “It’s not very sophisticated. I think I’d have some explaining to do if I brought a woman home and this was the ceiling in my bedroom.”

         “Oh my God. I would love if a man brought me home and this was the ceiling in his bedroom. I’d be way more excited to have sex with him.”

         I could feel him look at me. “Really? You think these are available on Amazon Prime?”

         I giggled. “Just so you know, I’m not having sex with you just because I come over and you have glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling.”

         “Is there anything you will have sex with me for? I’d like to get started on it.”

AHHHHHH 😩😩🦋🦋🥹🥹🫶🫶❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥😭😭☹️☹️

“Do you want to see my surprise?” he asked.

         He smiled and got up. I watched him draw the curtain back on my sliding glass door.

         There, on the tiny snow-covered bistro table on my balcony, was an ice sculpture of a swan.

         “Came right off the dessert buffet.” He put a hand up. “Don’t worry, I didn’t steal it. I donated a couple hundred bucks for it. They were more than happy to let me have it.”

         I shook my head. “You carried that up here?” I breathed.

         “It’ll be there until spring. Every time you see it, I want you to remember that I put that dripping ice cube in my coupe for you.”

         My heart tugged. It reached out for him uselessly like arms trying to stretch across an ocean.

         He was perfect. He was perfect in every single way.

         All I ever wanted was to live. To grow old and have more time. And now I had something else I wanted as much as that.

         And neither one was probably ever going to be mine.

This is a rendition of “why did you come?” “You called.” Situation 😭😭🦋🦋🫶🫶🫠🫠😩😩❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥🥰🥰

“How did you get here so fast?” I looked over all the stuff he brought. “I called you and you came in, like, ten minutes. How’d you get all this ready and steal a garnish and still make it to rescue me in under an hour?”

         He cleared his throat and talked to the food he was setting out. “I was already on my way with it.”

         I pulled my face back. “You were on your way home when I called you? Your thing started at six thirty. It’s seven fifteen. Did you just show up with a bag and start pillaging? You weren’t planning on staying?”

         I watched him opening more containers. “Why?”

He didn’t answer me for a long moment. “I just figured you had a rough day and might want to watch TV with someone.”

Grace smiled at me from her stroller. She’d been doing that now for the last few days. Every time she had her pacifier in and I made her smile, it popped out and she’d beam up at me, all gums and twinkling eyes. And if I tickled her, she giggled. I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved playing with her.

         I reached down to scoop her into my arms and nuzzled her with my nose. She had on a tiny blue fleece onesie with snowflakes on it and she smelled like baby powder and Vanessa’s perfume.

“It was like the whole Price family was headed for extinction. Faulty genes, predisposed conditions, and Murphy’s fucking Law.

         And poor Grace. An addict mother, a narcissistic granddad, a deluded uncle, and a dying guardian.”

“That’s a nice photograph,” I said, nodding at a framed picture. It was a copper-colored dog on the shore of a lake. Looked like up north.

         She closed the space between us to stand next to me. “It’s not a photograph. It’s a painting.”

         I raised my eyebrows. “Really.”

         “Yeah. I got it at a MADD fund-raiser. I had to pledge a fortune for it. It’s a Sloan Monroe.”

         “Oh, Jaxon Waters’s wife. I know her,” I said, studying it.

         “You know her?” she said to the side of my face. “How?”

         “My cousin Josh is married to her best friend. He lives next door to them in Ely. And I went on a date with her once.”

         I looked at her and her eyes were wide. I pulled out my cell phone and went to Instagram. I found Sloan’s private page and handed her the phone.

         “Oh my God,” she breathed, scrolling through the pictures of Sloan and Jaxon, my cousin and his family intermingled in the feed, sitting around a campfire, at the table for Thanksgiving, playing with each other’s kids.

         “This is so cool! You just got cooler by association,” she said, smiling at me. “I’m a total fangirl. I love her—she is so talented. There’s like a three-year waiting list for one of these.”

         “I can see why,” I said, looking back at the artwork. 

         I’d had the thing less than three hours, and I was already counting down the seconds until I got to hand him back to Becky.

         The diapers wrapped around his belly and stopped only the urine from getting everywhere—which I suppose I should have been grateful for. But it did nothing for the pudding-like stool he was shitting all over my apartment. Luckily, he’d done this only on the hardwood so cleanup had been minimal, but it was far from pleasant.

Hey man. Stop repeating that statement 😭😭

“That’s Grace. My name is Vanessa.”

“Nice to meet you, Vanessa. Now go. Take. A shower.”

"Vanessa lives life on her own terms--one day at a time, every day to its fullest. She can't afford to think about whether she has the same fatal genetic condition as her older sister. After all, she has way too much to do, traveling the globe and showing millions of YouTube followers the joy in seizing every moment. But lately, life has been anything but pure joy, and travel has come to an abrupt halt. After her younger [half]-sister drops off an infant and skips town, Vanessa is housebound--on mommy duty for the foreseeable future and feeling totally out of her depth. The last person she expects to help is her wickedly hot next-door neighbor Adrian Copeland"--

Makayla Reed

I thought it was cute. I loved Adrian and som of Venessa’s pov on life. However the ending made me mad. I don’t understand how it was a huge revelation that Adrian never knew she possibly had ALS or even considered it based on anything when he’s an intelligent lawyer and knew full well about her family and ALS research on her channel. But their live was sweet and so was Grace.

Sofie I

"There are people you can know for a lifetime and they never get into your heart. And then there are those who are already inside it, before you ever even lay eyes on them."

Wow this book tore my heart out and stomped on it, then picked it up, put it back together, rinse then repeat, over and over. I am once again floored by Abby Jimenez' writing, the way she explores such deep, difficult topics with insight, nuance, humour and grace is just a wonder to behold. This book had some of the toughest topics in any of the six Jimenez' books I have read so far, trigger warnings aplenty for mental health issues and related topics such as addiction, hoarding, abandonement, death, grief, and dealing with terminal illness. I sobbed multiple times while reading this book, so definitely brace yourself and make sure you're in the right headspace when you pick this one up, but it really is a beautifully told story that is worth the read.

Adrian and Vanessa both come from deeply flawed families and they both have their unique ways of dealing with this, from Vanessa's unending optimism to Adrian's need for control. I loved our two main characters, they were both intricate and deep and the way they uderstood each other, supported each other and helped each other through some really bad situations was truly beautiful. It was almost a grumpy X sunshine story but Adrian isn't really grumpy, he's just busy and a bit closed off because he has a fear of people leaving him. Vanessa is bubbly and fun loving, but she also had a fear of people getting too close for fear of them losing her, because she has a 50/50 chance of developing ALS like multiple other women in her family have developed and died from. Their friendship at the beginning of the book was really delightful, the way they both breathed air into each was so fun to read, their banter was great, there were some proper laugh out loud moments and some deeply touching moments too. All the while they were both denying feelings for each other and miscommunicating themselves into confusion, as always. Why on earth romance novel characters can't just speak to each other beats me!

Unfortunately, and something that made me drop a half star in my rating, the second half didnt sweep me off my feet quite like I hoped it would. There was so much tension building up to the moment they finally kissed and when that finally happened it just felt a bit lack lustre for me. This was already at about the 60% mark so I was starting to worry about what was going to happen, only for it to be more miscommunication 😂 this made the ending feel a bit too rushed in my opinion. I think this could've been a slightly longer book because every aspect of this was really important to the storyline in my opinion. All of the side characters and the side quests we're taken on with them are what helped make this story feel so genuine and touching. I think I just wanted a little bit more oomph from the romance because this book dealt with so many tough subjects I think it needed a little bit more impact to really get it to that five star mark, for me. Regardless, it was still a wonderful love story.

I can't wait to dive into Abby Jimenez' next book once I can get my hands on it, with this book I am officially in love with 5/6 of her books so far and it has truly cemented her as a must read, auto buy author. Her books are must reads in my opinion, the way she captures a slice of life in such an all encompassing way is so impressve. For books that are roughly 400 pages long she manages to squeeze so much depth and heart into them and they leave me reeling, thinking about these stories and characters for a long time after I have finished, and I never want to put it down while I'm in the middle of them. I've had such a good start to my reading year and I am thrilled!

Genevieve 

"There are people you can know for a lifetime and they never get into your heart. And then there are those who are already inside it, before you ever even lay eyes on them."

4.5 ⭐️

Wow this book tore my heart out and stomped on it, then picked it up, put it back together, rinse then repeat, over and over. I am once again floored by Abby Jimenez' writing, the way she explores such deep, difficult topics with insight, nuance, humour and grace is just a wonder to behold. This book had some of the toughest topics in any of the six Jimenez' books I have read so far, trigger warnings aplenty for mental health issues and related topics such as addiction, hoarding, abandonement, death, grief, and dealing with terminal illness. I sobbed multiple times while reading this book, so definitely brace yourself and make sure you're in the right headspace when you pick this one up, but it really is a beautifully told story that is worth the read.

Adrian and Vanessa both come from deeply flawed families and they both have their unique ways of dealing with this, from Vanessa's unending optimism to Adrian's need for control. I loved our two main characters, they were both intricate and deep and the way they uderstood each other, supported each other and helped each other through some really bad situations was truly beautiful. It was almost a grumpy X sunshine story but Adrian isn't really grumpy, he's just busy and a bit closed off because he has a fear of people leaving him. Vanessa is bubbly and fun loving, but she also had a fear of people getting too close for fear of them losing her, because she has a 50/50 chance of developing ALS like multiple other women in her family have developed and died from. Their friendship at the beginning of the book was really delightful, the way they both breathed air into each was so fun to read, their banter was great, there were some proper laugh out loud moments and some deeply touching moments too. All the while they were both denying feelings for each other and miscommunicating themselves into confusion, as always. Why on earth romance novel characters can't just speak to each other beats me!

Unfortunately, and something that made me drop a half star in my rating, the second half didnt sweep me off my feet quite like I hoped it would. There was so much tension building up to the moment they finally kissed and when that finally happened it just felt a bit lack lustre for me. This was already at about the 60% mark so I was starting to worry about what was going to happen, only for it to be more miscommunication 😂 this made the ending feel a bit too rushed in my opinion. I think this could've been a slightly longer book because every aspect of this was really important to the storyline in my opinion. All of the side characters and the side quests we're taken on with them are what helped make this story feel so genuine and touching. I think I just wanted a little bit more oomph from the romance because this book dealt with so many tough subjects I think it needed a little bit more impact to really get it to that five star mark, for me. Regardless, it was still a wonderful love story.

I can't wait to dive into Abby Jimenez' next book once I can get my hands on it, with this book I am officially in love with 5/6 of her books so far and it has truly cemented her as a must read, auto buy author. Her books are must reads in my opinion, the way she captures a slice of life in such an all encompassing way is so impressve. For books that are roughly 400 pages long she manages to squeeze so much depth and heart into them and they leave me reeling, thinking about these stories and characters for a long time after I have finished, and I never want to put it down while I'm in the middle of them. I've had such a good start to my reading year and I am thrilled!

i loved this book to end the series! vanessa was such a fun and refreshing character and i loved how seamlessly aidan and vanessa came into each other’s lives. it was just so natural and great build up. the life’s too short thing was slightly cheesy, i’ll admit, but i liked how the title showed up and everything came full circle. great book to start off my 2025 with!

Tara Bounkeovisane

Outta the 3 of this series this one was my favorite, couldn’t put it down. These are the first Abby Jimenez books I’ve read since she was recommended to me & so far I’m loving them ☺️. 

Edna Aviles

Syrina

the best out of her books so far, also a one-sitting read,  i might have a problem

Janet Akisanmi

Look…. It was a great book, would i read it again ? No…idk why i didn’t get attached to it 

But i do encourage the others to have the experience i got 

Reina Boo

Look…. It was a great book, would i read it again ? No…idk why i didn’t get attached to it 

But i do encourage the others to have the experience i got 

i haven’t sobbed this hard reading a book in years. i fully intended to go to bed three hours ago but i started this book and couldn’t go to sleep without knowing how it ended. this book is beautiful and tells a heart wrenching love story of partners and family in such a raw way. this was the last book i had to read in abby jimenez’s backlog and she has officially locked herself in on my top authors list.

kels

lexie

i fucking thought this was a cutesy novel. no it made me fucking cry.

Julie Burszan 

As with all of AJ's books, I feel like I've been on a roller coaster and the bar just lifted and they're telling me to get off. What an absolute ride - funny, charming, and full of wonderful side characters.

Kate B-L

abby was trying to get real and emotional but forgot to put the romcom corny aside

Davina 

"ours" (taylor's version) by taylor swift

"if the world was ending" by jp saxe, julia michaels

vanessa and adrian are so effortlessly perfect for each other! i love them so much idk what else to say, i'm still emotionally recovering from what i just read

also their friends to lovers was perfect! CHEFS KISSES and adrian copeland UGH WHAT A MAN

"softly" by clairo
"baby powder" by jenevieve
"ours" (taylor's version) by taylor swift
"if the world was ending" by jp saxe, julia michaels

THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME (not clickbait)


vanessa and adrian are so effortlessly perfect for each other! i love them so much idk what else to say, i'm still emotionally recovering from what i just read


also their friends to lovers was perfect! CHEFS KISSES and adrian copeland UGH WHAT A MAN

julie reads

A brilliant and touching romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist.

When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn’t expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn’t just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn’t want to take anything for granted.

But after her half-sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from ‘daily adventure’ to ‘hourly nappy change’. The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she’d be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua.

Now she’s feeling things she’s vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

I almost got rid of this book last year and what a mistake that would have been. Dame this book was so cure, it had me laughing and it has me crying. 

I didnt expect to end up loving it as much as I did.i binged it in a day. I love the positive truthful message at the end of this book and how it all ce together. 

I'm someone recently diagnosed with fnd and I know how ot feels to go through something so difficult and this book hit home although I don't have what Vanessa has my world was turned upside down and life is too shirt and this book was brilliant 

Samantha King

I almost got rid of this book last year and what a mistake that would have been. Dame this book was so cure, it had me laughing and it has me crying. 

I didnt expect to end up loving it as much as I did.i binged it in a day. I love the positive truthful message at the end of this book and how it all ce together. 

I'm someone recently diagnosed with fnd and I know how ot feels to go through something so difficult and this book hit home although I don't have what Vanessa has my world was turned upside down and life is too shirt and this book was brilliant 

Meghan Thompson 

4.5 ⭐️ 

i am SICK to my stomach! do you hear me SICK ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATINGLY SICK THIS WAS SO GOOD I HATE IT HERE 

let me just say that the friends to lovers trope will forever and always remain superior and this book proved it whole heartedly 


Grace, Adrian, and Vanessa all have my heart. i fell in love with them with them just being friends. did i have to wait until over 60% of the book for them to finally kiss..? yes but i didn’t mind i could read about their tensioned friendship until the world ended. the fixers of their respective families ended up together and the healed each other UGH 

fav quote: 

“So, what? Does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?”

“That title doesn’t even feel worthy of what this is.” 
i simply turn into a puddle if someone said this to me 


this book made me SICK to my stomach it was so cute ugh

Loved this one!! This series is unbelievable ! 

Brittany Peterson

Steffi J

I always look forward to reading Abby Jimenez’s books. Her writing has a vortex-like quality… it sucks you in. I enjoyed this read, though to be honest, Adrian and Vanessa were a bit lacking in chemistry. It was hard for me to believe they loved each other THAT much. Their interactions with each other felt wooden - like watching two really bad actors who are absolutely apathetic towards each other. I do like how the serious issues in this book are tackled. Adrian and Vanessa’s cause of breakup also didn’t feel forced or overdramatic. It felt reasonable. Kudos to Abby Jimenez for keeping her stories as realistic as possible!

This book had an emotional chokehold on me like no other. The audio was so good, but I want a physical copy. I don’t remember the last time I cared so much about what happens to characters. Also, the smut is very minimal and not graphic!

Kendra Leigh 

Jennifer mitchell

Abby Jimenez strikes again. I read this on a plane and thank god for masks because I could not stop SMILING from the cuteness. (Also the last few chapters broke me but in a good way).

Amanda

Good story but I found some things about the FL frustrating. The final 2 chapters annoyed me. The epilogue brought it back around but it all felt rushed and one-sided.

Ariel Wolf 

I loved this book. Abby did it again, this book sucked me right in and I didn't want to put it down. I fell in love with the characters and loved the cameos from past characters that I love from the friend zone universe.

Jennifer Eggleston 

Live like you are dying ...

Vanessa and Adrian are an adorable pair and when you add a baby ... how can you resist.?! Another Abby Jimenez hit you in all the feels read. 

I loved how Vanessa knew Adrian and how Adrian was there no matter what. This is a slow build. A will they or won’t they but you know they will type of read. Not very spicy; more fade to black (which was a little disappointing). 

Just another great read that leaves you with some thoughts to ponder.

I couldn't stop reading and ended up reading this book without creating too many highlights. I loved this book so much. 

I think I'm riding on an Abby high and I don't want to it to ever stop. I love how well every single one of her books is written. 

There's just something so thrilling about it all. Like, I genuinely wish I had more time to spend and read every single one of her books.

It honestly, feels like no matter what she writes, I could eat it up. I love her writing so freaking much. 

I couldn't stop reading and ended up reading this book without creating too many highlights. I loved this book so much. 

I think I'm riding on an Abby high and I don't want to it to ever stop. I love how well every single one of her books is written. 

There's just something so thrilling about it all. Like, I genuinely wish I had more time to spend and read every single one of her books.

It honestly, feels like no matter what she writes, I could eat it up. I love her writing so freaking much. 

Life's Too Short

Reviews

Highlights