Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez @AuthorAbbyJim @GrandCentralPub #forever #romcom #fiction #bookreview

Kaceey’s Review:

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year!

I absolutely loved the previous two books by this author and had been sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for this newest release by Abby Jimenez.

Maybe my expectations were too high? Maybe when you want something so badly it just never holds up in reality.

Vanessa has fears she has the same terminal condition that claimed the lives of her mother and sister. She knows that due to genetics her chances of contracting the illness and dying are high.

Thus Vanessa spends her time getting her life in order as to leave no loose threads for her family. Only she never expected to meet her hunky neighbor Adrian. 

Abby Jimenez always includes tough topics in her books such as infertility and grief so I was ready for it. But, I had a hard time with Vanessa and her actions regarding her diagnosis. I found it frustrating and it ended up taking away my enjoyment of this read. Was it because I’m an RN? Maybe.🤷🏻‍♀️

There are many outstanding five-star reviews for this book. So I hope that is the experience you have as well.🤩

A buddy read with Susanne that left both of us a bit disappointed.

Thank you to Susanne for gifting me a 🎧 copy.

Susanne’s Review:

Let me be frank:  I have a Love/Hate relationship with this book.

What I loved:  The characters and their relationship.

What I hated:  The major plotline (and I have my reasons).

Ok, so let’s get down to it:

I LOVED the characters of Vanessa and Adrian (even though Adrian is my dad’s name and it’s almost impossible for me to find someone with that name attractive (sorry, not sorry!).  Truth be told, yes, in this novel, the character of Adrian was delectably swoon-worthy (it almost pains me to say!).  Kind, caring, witty, and funny, I was a goner as soon as he spoke.  It was clear Vanessa felt the same way!  The witty banter these two exchanged had me in stitches!  The way Vanessa and Adrian’s relationship grew from a friendship into love, felt wholly realistic.  Seeing them care for baby Grace, Vanessa’s niece together, also melted my heart. I laughed, I cried and yes, I was cheering for them the whole way through.

So, on that note, let’s talk about what I HATED:  The entire plot involving ALS.  Vanessa’s sister and several of her family members have passed away from the disease and Vanessa feels that she may now be exhibiting initial symptoms.  I felt this entire storyline to be very poorly researched, poorly written, and poorly executed.  Unfortunately, I have had two family members pass away from ALS.  As such, I know how the symptoms present themselves and I was very disappointed in the way this storyline was carried out.  While I am not an expert on ALS, I know a lot and was discouraged by how this was handled (and knew what was wrong with Vanessa immediately) and discussed this at length with my book buddy Kaceey, who is a nurse, and who happened to agree with me.

On the whole, I loved the friendship, romance, and witty banter in this story and simply adored the characters. I would recommend this book to fans of rom-com, contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and Abby Jimenez.  As long as unrealistic medical plots don’t bother you, I think you’ll love this.  What I also enjoyed was the fact that we got a tiny glimpse of Kristen, Josh, Sloane, and Jason from “The Friend Zone” and “The Happily Ever After Playlist.”

A buddy read with Kaceey that gave us much to talk about.

Thank you to NetGalley for granting my wish, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Abby Jimenez for the arc, and to my local library for loaning me a copy of the audiobook.  

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