by Abby Jimenez

A Romance, 2025 by Forever, 416 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

Instalove, which isn’t my favorite trope. It’s not the point of the story, the point is the struggle to make it work long distance, but it’s still instalove.
Some of the references were used too often and got old fast. It felt like some of this was written entirely with BookTok comments and jokes. We didn’t need those.
Being so completely honest, the solution to the advanced dementia issue was unrealistic. Showing things like this are actual part of the problem when dealing with dementia because as much as this book DID show the realism, the ending is too rose colored to be realistic.

The characters are wonderful. Literally the opening scene with Xavier tells you everything you need to know about him. It’s well written because you feel that connection right away. Plus, the banter was perfect.
Tristen and Samantha’s sibling relationship is my favorite. They’re funny, they fight, but they’re also there for each other at their cores. I love them.
The spotlight on real issues like the reality of dementia, grief from a sudden loss, and debt were handled better than I expected. As a fan of contemporary, these are the kinds of hard hitting things I look for.

Contemporary fiction fans, this tackles big topics with grace and dignity. It’s not perfect but it does a good job.
Romance fans this one looks at sort of an instalove with challenges as well as taking on long distance romance.

This book tried to balance real-life contemporary issues with romance. While it rid a good job with that for most of the book, the ending had to pull back on the contemporary realism in favor of giving a happily ever after romance ending.