(Contains Spoilers)
As someone who has read popular romance author Abby Jimenez’s entire backlist, it was not a question of if I would immediately pick up her newest novel that released on April 1st. Having loved most of her more recent novels (I’m talking about you, Yours Truly!) and having liked some of her older ones, I was curious to see how Say You’ll Remember Me would rank.
This book follows Xavier, a veterinarian who recently opened up his own practice in Minneapolis, and Samantha, a social media manager planning to move back to California to be with her family. Everything starts picking up when Samatha comes into Xavier’s practice with an abandoned kitten wrapped up in her shirt. Despite bad first impressions, they hit it off. I had a very mixed bag of emotions when I set this book down, so let’s talk about it.
This book started off with an almost immediate insta-love scene. Usually this trope isn’t my cup of tea. However, I didn’t really mind it in this story. Typically romance novels, especially Abby Jimenez’s, spend a lot of time on the will-they-won’t-they storyline, but this book was a refreshing step back from that. I enjoyed the characters acting on their initial attraction and curiosity.
I also appreciated how the characters didn’t consider breaking up as a save-all for the problems in their life. In her past novels, Jimenez writes her main couples into a second or third act conflict where they almost, or in some cases do, break up. Though those conflicts still existed in this novel, a break up was never in the cards for Xavier and Samantha.
The main conflicts in this story were Xavier’s need to prove his abusive parents wrong, the progression of Samantha’s mom’s dementia, and the couple’s long-distance relationship. Abby Jimenez always includes hard-hitting storylines outside of the main romance plot. This is the first time that the main romantic conflict was an external factor rather than an internal one. In the past, Abby’s characters have struggled with fear around illness, fear of infertility, and emotional unavailability that have led to relationship strains due to a lack of communication. It was energizing to see a couple who communicated effectively with one another and were secure in their love.
While I would never claim to be an expert on the topic, I believe the dementia representation in this book was fair. It went into the hardships that Samantha’s mom faced with the progression of her dementia as well as the impact caregiving and watching a loved one deteriorate, lose memory, and lose mental and physical functions had on all of those around her. Samantha’s family specifically struggled with upholding their mom’s wishes of living at home as caregiving became more difficult and finding their own ways to cope with the emotions that the situation created.
One of my major critiques of this book was the discussions around Samantha’s dad’s coping habits. While the book touches on the struggle of watching the person you love most in the world fall victim to a harsh disease and lose the characteristic that made them so dear to you, it was suddenly revealed that the dad had been sneaking out at night to go meet up with other women.
I feel like there is a real discussion to be had here. Samantha and her sibling accused their dad of cheating, but later accepted that this was his way of coping. There are arguments to be made on either side of the morality, justification, and ethics of the dad’s actions, but we never got to engage with that. Additionally, the complex emotions of guilt, relief, stress, anxiety, frustration, and pain that would be experienced by the dad and his children’s sense of betrayal were not explored as much as I would have liked. I think that in adding this plot point, a deeper discussion was needed within the content of the pages rather than off-the-page speculation. This book was definitely one tragedy after another, maybe to a fault, making the ending a little less than what I had hoped for.
If you have read any Abby Jimenez novels, you know that she doesn’t shy away from corny or cringey phrases and references. This book contained quite a few. There were many comparisons of Xavier to Rhysand from ACOTAR, a ripped fae-god character from another popular TikTok book series. There was a quick mention of Roblox and internet slang phrases such as “Did you just call my cat mid?” and “Would you still love me if I was a worm?” Personally, moments like these often take me out of the book I am reading. They work for some people, but are heavily criticized by others.
Samantha’s job also fits in this ‘quirky and corny’ category. Samantha is the social media manager of a mustard company that was essentially a duplicate of the viral Wendy’s twitter account that would roast you a few years back. This was a little too quirky of a career for my taste. It reminded me of another one of her novels where the female lead had a company where she sold fashion for dogs with quirky catchphrases.
Overall, I enjoyed Say You’ll Remember Me. It had its flaws, and I don’t think it was Abby Jimenez’s best novel, but it was very entertaining. I loved Xavier and Samantha together, and their connection felt real. This novel is a fun, easy, and quick summer read that will hook you from beginning to end. If you decide to pick it up, I hope you get the fast-paced enjoyment that Abby Jimenez’s novels are known for.