Say You'll Remember Me

Not my favorite of Jimenez's works. The main couple is cute, but I don't love insta-love romances and this one just gets bleak with all the hits these characters have to endure!

This book kept me engaged as well emotionally drained.

I really enjoyed this story, about a first date that became a last date. Because, turns out, she was moving out of town - back to her hometown on the west coast to take care of her mom. And she didn’t tell him. Until he took her back to her place and noticed the empty apartment. The couple, Xavier, is a vet. And Samantha, a social media specialist. She brings in a kitten and he becomes a smitten kitten. So they go on this amazing date, getting to know each other in an escape room - which they solve - but then the theme park had long since closed down and they were left there overnight. Then she moves two thousand miles away from Minnesota. But neither of them can forget about the other. The story doesn’t end with her move, and they make their relationship work across all the miles. I listened on audio, and loved Xavier, especially. Because they had a male voice for him, that was well done. Loved this book.

Xavier Rush’s “dream woman is a glass-half-full kind of person. She fights for what she wants and believes in the humanity of others—and she's usually right. She makes the most of bad situations, deeply dislikes heights. She's funny. Smells great. A fan of seashells and mustard, hates chorizo. And she never brings the right jacket.” Samantha Diaz’s “perfect man can speak to animals. He's very principled. Not a big talker,” but pays more attention than anyone in the room. A man who becomes “an animal doctor as part of a hero-arc-slash-revenge plot, which is an energy I can get behind. Hates people, loves pets. Wonderful with rambunctious pre-teen kids and frightened memory care patients…He doesn't like compliments but he's gonna have to muscle through that one, it's too important not to bring up.” Their first date is a sunset cruise for animal adoption on Lake Minnetonka, mini golfing at Mother Putters, and a space theme escape room, which is all fun and games until you get locked in with jars full of human heads and a date that ends in a UFO. As if that weren’t enough, Samantha is moving to California–the next day. And Xavier isn’t going anywhere! “You gave me the most unforgettable night of my life, then told me to forget it.” But “You're not someone you forget…This is what they meant when they talked about the one who got away. She’s the woman you never stop remembering, the one who haunts you. The one who stays at the front of your mind even when decades pass…She’d felt right from the very beginning…And now I was on a Ferris wheel, looking at the ocean. With her…They say that you won’t remember what someone said, but you’ll always remember how they made you feel…this moment would be the same if it wasn’t for how it felt.” But you can’t witness a life that’s taking place in a whole different time zone. They’re living on different rotations around the sun. And the logistics are all wrong. When everything goes dull around them, will love prove the brightest color in a gray world? Grab a furry friend, a bottle of mustard, and find out in this hot veterinarian saves dog romance Abby Jimenez’ Say You’ll Remember Me #animalrescue #thirsttrap #VILF

This book was chosen as my bookclub's pick. After reading Just for the Summer, I was really excited to jump into another Jimenez book, ready to fall in love and have my heart torn apart.

I wanted to like this book more than I did.

I liked both of the MCs, but there were times they were just insufferable. Yall went on ONE date, and you suddenly knew they were the one even though she was moving 2000 miles away the next day?? So much so it made your lives - already with the terrible things happening - worse? Look, I am all for the romance, but when the book is constantly whining about how far apart they are and there is no one willing to budge, it got tiring really quickly. My grumpy became happy far too quickly and I honestly ended up just wanting to read Samantha's "side" story with her mom.

The one thing this book does really well is the relationship between Samantha and her mother ailing from dementia. I wanted to learn more about the intricacies of the relationship, but the book leaned more into the love story between the 2 MCs. Give me the family dynamics. Give me the time learning how to rewire your life and routine because of a mom who doesn't remember your name. That's what I wanted more of.