Tag: Forever

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Book Review: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

StephanieLeave a comment

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Abby Jimenez (See: here, here, and here), so when I needed to read a book published in the spring of 2023 for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge, I leapt at the chance to put Yours Truly (Forever, 2023) on my list. Somehow, I managed to miss the first book in the series, but all of Ms. Jimenez’s books work as standalones, so I knew I’d be okay (although I’ll definitely go back and read Part of Your World at some point!). 

Dr. Briana Ortiz isn’t having the best time in life. Her divorce is about to be finalized, her brother is in kidney failure and horrifically depressed, and she’s just found out she’s not the shoo-in for a promotion that she thought she was. That last one is probably going to the new doctor in her ER, whom Briana dislikes immediately. But first impressions aren’t always spot-on, and when Jacob sends her a letter, apologizing for their disastrous first meeting, Briana is charmed. 

Jacob has suffered from severe anxiety his entire life, and his new job isn’t making this any easier. He’s already off to a rough start there, and adding to his stress, his brother is getting married…to Jacob’s ex-girlfriend. Life’s on a bit of a downward spiral, but after apologizing to Briana, the gorgeous ER doctor who immediately understands his anxiety and what it requires, Jacob falls, hard. 

When Jacob needs a fake girlfriend to accompany him to his brother’s wedding-related events in order to not look quite so pathetic, Briana readily agrees, but the situation and the slowly developing feelings between the two are complicated when she finds out that Jacob is also her brother’s soon-to-be kidney donor. Communication is key, but she’s maybe not quite there yet, not after her ex burned her so badly. Briana will have to learn to let go of the past and accept all that Jacob is offering her.

GAWD, this was SO GOOD. Abby Jimenez can write chemistry between characters like no other. I swear, I spent half this book sobbing over the deep emotions that she absolutely nailed, and the other half sighing and swooning over the connection between Briana and Jacob. As someone who has dealt with anxiety her entire life, I really appreciated how Jacob’s severe anxiety was portrayed, and how Briana just got it, accepted Jacob for who he was, and didn’t try to blow him off or dismiss his feelings. I wish everyone were that accepting and understanding (instead of just acting like I’m not trying hard enough or that I’m just lazy and don’t want to do something, instead of simple things like making a phone call being as frightening as a pit of slithering vipers). She absolutely nails how overwhelming social situations can be, and how insurmountable things can seem. Briana’s acceptance and reactions are every anxiety sufferer’s dream.

As is Jacob’s unconditional love. He’s just so there every moment for Briana, even when she freaks out (likely because he already knows how that feels). He’s so steady, putting himself out there despite his anxiety, and it’s all just so swwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooon. Total book boyfriend right here. I could not have loved his character more.

One of the best novels I’ve read this year, and definitely the best romance I’ve read so far!

Visit Abby Jimenez’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

fiction · romance

Book Review: How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson

StephanieLeave a comment

I needed a book about or set in Hollywood for the 2023 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge, so in digging through my TBR, I found How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson (Forever, 2021), a book that I’ve wanted to get to ever since it first came out. I love a good romance, even better if it involves a celebrity, and I do enjoy books about people’s obsessions, because they’re so relatable (I even find other people talking about their obsessions online – even when I don’t share them – charming! I love enthusiasm). Through no fault of its own, the book wasn’t quite the book for me, but it definitely has its charm.

Bethany Lu Carlisle is an artist who just can’t seem to settle down. She’s over 40 now and though her art is at least successful enough to support her (along with help from her wealthy family), she’s still flitting from thing to thing, spending a lot of time obsessing over her favorite actor, Keanu Reeves. Learning he’s about to be married is her record-scratch moment: what is she doing with her life? She should stop him, shouldn’t she, and maybe convince him to marry her?

With her lifelong best friend Truman, Lu goes on a series of adventures designed to put her in Keanu’s path, but somehow always missing the mark. Along the way, she and True have some parts of their relationship that they’ve been avoiding discussing for years to iron out, including their shared grief over the death of Lu’s brother long ago. With a string of celebrity cameos, How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days will bring together two soulmates – just not the ones you might expect.

I’m not sure exactly what didn’t work for me here. Despite her flaws, I liked Lu. She’s funny, dedicated to her art, aware of where she could be doing better in life, and goal-oriented, and I enjoyed her Keanu obsession. I liked True (despite his being an economist, haha). He’s so dedicated to Lu, setting up her Keanu search and helping her with every step. I liked the setting, I liked the plot, I loved the celebrity cameos (meeting Captain America in a bathroom, meeting Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa at a New Mexican campground, etc). But for whatever reason, reading this just felt more like a chore than it did a fun experience. I don’t know if I didn’t connect well with the writing style – there’s nothing wrong with it, it just didn’t reach out and grab me – or what, but this wasn’t the book for me.

I’m forever grateful to Anne Bogel of the What Should I Read Next? podcast, who taught me that not every book is for every reader, that we’re not going to form strong connections to every book, and that’s fine. The relief I felt upon learning this, upon hearing her put this out into the world, was enough to make me weep when I first heard it years ago. It doesn’t mean the book is bad or that you’re a lesser person for not enjoying it, it just means that wasn’t the book for you. And that’s fine. And this wasn’t the book for me, and that’s fine, too. Live and learn. : )

Visit K.M. Jackson’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

fiction · romance

Book Review: Life’s Too Short (The Friend Zone #3) by Abby Jimenez

Stephanie3 Comments

My wish was granted, my wish was granted! I’ve never actually wished for a book on Netgalley before, but I adore Abby Jimenez so very much that I decided to take a chance on her Life’s Too Short (Forever, 2021), the latest installment in her The Friend Zone series. I loved the first two books so very much that I wanted to sink my claws into this book as soon as possible, and to my massive surprise, the publisher granted my wish. Thanks, Forever and Netgalley. If you’ve loved Abby Jimenez’s other books in the series, get ready to fall even harder…or, if you’re looking for a new author to swoon over, Abby Jimenez is one you cannot miss. Life’s Too Short is amazing.

Vanessa Price, well-known YouTube travel vlogger, has been sidelined by the unexpected. Her addict sister has abandoned her newborn with her, and Vanessa is struggling (hey, newborns are tough!). Her bedroom wall apartment neighbor, hot workaholic Adrian, steps in to help her out one morning at 4 am, and the rest is history. The two start up a symbiotic friendship: Vanessa gets some help with the baby, Adrian finally gets to experience a life outside of work, and, despite vowing to remain just friends, the two of them inch closer to a five-alarm blaze of a relationship.

But things are complicated. Vanessa might be dying. The women in her family are cursed with a familial gene that triggers early-onset ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Both her mother and her sister died with/from it, and Vanessa’s chances are about 50% of having it, too. It’s why she became a travel vlogger, determined to see as much of the world and squeeze as much out of life as possible before dying young. Adrian doesn’t quite understand how dire things are for her, and when he does learn the truth, it’s nearly too much for him to handle. Can Adrian find a way to live life- however much is left of it- on Vanessa’s terms?

This. Was. Adorable. Despite the heavy subject matter- death and dying are always looming in the background, whether it’s the memories of Vanessa’s mother and sister, or Vanessa’s potential demise- Abby Jimenez manages to keep this a light, optimistic read. Her characters are vibrant, brimming with life and energy, bursting off the page in a manner that puts her writing on my list of insta-buy authors. Vanessa is determined, buoyant despite her circumstances, and yet not so optimistic that she seems unbelievable. Her odds of dying from ALS have forced her to define in exact terms what she wants out of life and the direct route to getting it. She doesn’t have time to beat around the bush; her directness and persistence, rather than making her brash, portray her as confident and courageous. She’s someone the reader immediately wants to spend time with- whatever time she has.

Adrian is a fabulous hero. He’s capable and confident, a little gun-shy from having been burned by his recent ex, but not so damaged that his heart isn’t open to Vanessa. But- and this is HUGE- he doesn’t pursue her, because early on, she tells him she doesn’t date, and he respects that. SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON. As if a hot lawyer who takes charge and figures out why your baby is screaming and takes over so you can go shower for the first time in days isn’t already amazing enough! Hello, I’d like to order one of those, please! He’s not without his flaws, big ones that will eventually put him and Vanessa at what initially appears to be insurmountable odds, but…love finds a way. Or at least it does in romance novels like this, and that’s more than enough for me.

I loved this. I love this series, I love this author. Abby Jimenez has a way of creating characters who, for the most part, don’t need to worry about money (because that can bog a story down, so giving characters financially lucrative careers is definitely a nice tactic for an author to get that out of the way) but who don’t seem unrealistic, and who don’t let their financial status define them. Even though her stories often deal with tough subjects (infertility, grief, death), she approaches each topic in a way that breaks it down enough to seem manageable, greeting every theme with a can-do attitude and a supportive cast of characters that make even the unfathomable seem not so bad. If I could have any author pen my life story, I’d want Abby Jimenez on the job.

Huge thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book. Life’s Too Short is available on April 6, 2021, and I highly suggest you check it out. While it’s part of a series, it would read just as well as a stand-alone, but really, you want to read the other books in the series as well. They’re just as fabulous.

Visit Abby Jimenez’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

fiction · romance

Book Review: The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Stephanie3 Comments

Whew! After my last read, I needed something lighter. I love nonfiction, but I know I need to balance the heavier topics with books that are more on the fun side of the spectrum. I enjoy a good contemporary romance and I kept hearing great things about The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon (Forever, 2020), so that’s how it ended up on my TBR. It was always checked out at the library, though, so I had to wait until it was my lucky day and it was on the shelf. This book made me happy for a lot of different reasons: Black author, Black heroine, mixed hero (Black and Korean), lots of successful Black women in tech and science, a great setting, and a secret that must be kept but that might change everything. All of this worked so well for me!

Things seem to be going well for Samiah as she prepares for a date, until her sister clues her in that the guy she’s dating is currently going viral on Twitter- for being a horrible date for someone else in a restaurant down the street! When she arrives at the restaurant to clue Craig’s date in, she also meets the third woman he’s dating, and the video of their confrontation goes viral. Not exactly Samiah’s idea of success. She’s a hardworking, talented computer science geek whom her company can’t live without; this won’t damage her career, but it doesn’t exactly help it, either. After getting together with Taylor and London, Craig’s other dates, the three swear off men for six months in order to work on themselves. Samiah is all in and throws herself into working on an app she’s been developing for years. And then she meets the new guy at work…

Daniel has just started at the same company where Samiah works, a tech geek himself, but his employment there isn’t exactly what it seems. No one knows he’s working undercover for a government agency in order to uncover money laundering. He’s there to do his job and move on, but gorgeous, intelligent Samiah is making it difficult for him to remember his duties. Their flirtation and subsequent blossoming relationship leaves him exhilarated and guilty- he can’t be honest with her about who he really is, and it’s eating him up inside. When the investigation comes to a head, Daniel will need to make a difficult decision that may ruin everything he and Samiah have. Will he choose duty…or love?

Usually I’m not a fan of books where dishonesty is a key factor in the plot, but this worked really well as a plot point because it was realistic. Daniel’s secrecy surrounding his job made for absolutely necessary deception, and Ms. Rochon handled this in the most delicate way possible. Never once did I feel that any part of this story wasn’t working or wouldn’t happen like this in real life. That’s a huge plus for me.

Samiah is wonderful. She’s intelligent and hardworking, and she knows that she didn’t get there on her own and works hard to give back. But she’s not perfect, either; she doubts herself and is unsure of the next steps to take with developing her app. (As someone who has projects on the back burner that she’s currently shying away from for similar reasons, I understood this well!) She recognizes the value in pushing herself, however, both in work and in her personal life- her newfound friendship with Taylor and London was supportive and lovely, and something I hope to emulate when life gets back to normal.

Daniel is definitely a swoonworthy hero, handsome, respectful, dedicated to both Samiah and his job, and with a sense of duty that is both wonderful and complicates things to the max (which makes for excellent tension!).

The Boyfriend Project is a fun, lively contemporary romance with an excellent balance of romantic tension and stress coming from outside sources. Its cast of realistic characters- ones you’d want to spend time with in real life- makes for an entirely engaging read, and I’m looking forward to meeting them again in future books in this series by Ms. Rochon!

Visit Farrah Rochon’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

fiction · romance

Book Review: The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

Stephanie4 Comments

Remember when I read The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez and immediately put its sequel, The Happy Ever After Playlist (Forever, 2020) on hold? That was in August, and it finally came in last week! (Doesn’t bother me. I seriously love that so many people are excited about reading the same things I am, so the wait never bothers me. Besides, my TBR is long enough that I always have plenty of other books to read. Not that I’ve had TIME to read lately… *sobs*) It was a nice surprise to be able to send that bad boy to my kindle and begin reading it the next day.

Ever since Sloan’s fiancé died, life has lost all its meaning and color. She’s mostly stopped enjoying anything about life, but that starts to change the day Tucker, a runaway dog, nearly throws himself under her car tires and then jumps through her open sunroof. Tucker turns out to belong to Jason, a surprisingly famous musician, and he and Sloan begin a flirty relationship via text while he out of the country. Caring for Tucker helps bring Sloan back to life, and flirting with Jason is shockingly exciting. Meeting him in person is even better.

But life with Jason and his fame is even more complicated than Sloan ever could have imagined. Living in tour buses, different cities every night, nothing to eat but fast food, manipulative and drama-heavy acquaintances, music companies that only care about the bottom line, giving up all of her dreams for all of Jason’s… Learning to live again means learning to compromise, and it’s not going to be an easy road for Sloan and Jason.

This ticked so many of my boxes: dual narrative, celebrity romance, cute dog (and the story didn’t immediately make me panic that something bad was going to happen to the dog!). Sloan is grieving hard at the beginning, and though the grief eases throughout the book, I love how her pain is handled throughout the book: she never abandons Brandon’s memory but finds a way to incorporate who he helped her become into her renaissance. His memory is honored at every step, and it’s bittersweet and beautiful. I loved watching her grow and find herself again throughout the arc of the novel.

Jason is a great hero, easy-going, dedicated, and not afraid of commitment. There was one spot where I felt he acted just a tiny bit out of character, not taking Sloan’s feelings as seriously as I thought he would have, but in general, I really appreciated his patience with and respect of Sloan’s grief. He never tried to rush her in anything and was content to wait for her until she was ready. And his love for his dog was beyond adorable, which never hurts.

Despite tackling the heavy subjects of grief and rebuilding a life after loss, The Happy Ever After Playlist is a light, refreshing read that made for a great escape from the world around me at a time when I really, REALLY needed it. I’ve already added the next book in the series, Life’s Too Short, to my TBR, though it won’t be out until April of 2021. Worth the wait. 😊

Visit Abby Jimenez’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

fiction · romance

Book Review: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Stephanie6 Comments

I am currently suffering from the wonderful problem of having all my books come in at once, and that problem began with the arrival of my library ebook copy of The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez (Forever, 2019). This book hadn’t been on my radar prior to this spring/summer, but as soon as I heard about it on an episode of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books, I hit the want-to-read button and requested it from the library. There was a months-long wait; no problem, I thought, I have no problem virtually standing in line.

And then, of course, everything comes in months before, all at the same time. I’m not complaining…

Kristen is long distance dating a military man who’s due to get out in a matter of weeks and who will be moving in with her, but instead of being excited, she’s hardcore freaking out. How is he going to fit into her life? How will Tyler deal with her constant heavy, painful periods that have pushed her to having a hysterectomy soon? He’s not even the type of guy who feels comfortable making a run for tampons… Kristen’s not feeling great about their future, and then she meets Josh.

Josh is the station’s newest firefighter, best friend to Kristen’s best friend’s fiancé (got that?). After their meet-cute fender bender, sparks fly between them and Josh is in, but Kristen, determined to be faithful to Tyler, keeps him at arms’ length…especially after he talks about wanting a ton of kids. That’s not something she’ll ever be able to give anyone, and thus there’s not even the slimmest chance, even if she were single. Which she isn’t.

But things keep heating up between them, and when the universe yanks away the final barrier, Kristen finds herself in Josh’s arms. It’s everything she could have dreamed of, but how could she be so selfish as to deprive Josh of what he wants most in this world? When tragedy strikes, they’ll have to figure out where each of them stand, and how to move forward in a world where everything has changed.

Wow, are reviews ever mixed on this one! While I enjoyed the book, I totally understand why.

Kristen. She’s bold, brash, in-your-face, doesn’t take crap from anyone…except her overbearing, dragon-lady of a mother. She’s been managing a long-distance relationship with Tyler the Marine for the past two years. She runs her own business designing clothing and items like stairs and doghouses for small dogs. She’s always there for her best friend Sloan, and at 26, fibroids and extremely heavy, painful periods that last for weeks on end are pushing her to a partial hysterectomy. She won’t be able to have kids, something that doesn’t seem to bother her too much until she meets Josh, Sloan’s fiancé’s best friend. The attraction between Kristen and Josh is strong from the beginning, but when he starts talking about wanting a whole passel of biological kids, Kristen knows there’s no hope there, not even if she were single.

Kristen’s inability to talk to Josh about her upcoming hysterectomy is the key problem in this story. If she had been open and honest from the beginning and laid out the facts- I’m having surgery in a few months to remove my uterus- it would have spared everyone a lot of drama. Instead, she choses to avoid that conversation entirely. I see a lot in writing circles on Twitter and in books on writing that if the problems in your book can be solved by a single conversation, your plot isn’t strong enough, but I think Ms. Jimenez’s writing in this story is strong enough and her characters are complex enough that they’re able to carry the book despite this.

Infertility is a huge theme in this book- Kristen’s acceptance of and struggle with it (because both can be true at the same time). It seems like a lot of readers didn’t enjoy the ending; I’m on the fence about it. I understand why the author wrote it the way she did, it’s not entirely unheard of and I know a handful of people who have experienced something similar, but it can also be a giant slap in the face to people in Kristen’s shoes. If you’re struggling with infertility, have struggled in the past, or love someone going through these struggles, this may not be the book for you.

Josh as a hero is pretty great. He unknowingly puts his foot in his mouth about wanting biological kids, pushing Kristen to clam up about her upcoming surgery, but he’s swoon-worthy as a love interest, always looking out for Kristen and taking care of her and anticipating her needs. It’s Kristen’s upbringing at the hands of her demon mother that has rendered her unable to believe that she’s worthy of such care that forces her down the road of problem-avoidance, a detail that I think deserved a little more attention throughout the story, but Josh handles this admirably.

However, I didn’t care for how often Josh veers into ‘she’s not like other girls’ territory with Kristen; he never outright says it, but it comes dangerously close and that made me uneasy. I had thought romance was past that by now, but apparently not?

That said, I did like this. Josh and Kristen are fun together, and their chemistry is off the charts. There’s a major content warning for sudden death, though; if you’re struggling with grief, wait until you’re feeling stronger and ready to read about this topic before picking up this book. These chapters felt like a punch to the gut for me, so I can only imagine how much they would affect someone whose pain is fresh and raw. Take care of yourself.

I enjoyed The Friend Zone enough that I already have its follow-up, The Happy Ever After Playlist, on hold at the library. And that’ll probably come in in about ten seconds…

Visit Abby Jimenez’s website here.

Follow her on Twitter here.