Say You’ll Remember Me

Apr 2

Xavier is a veterinarian. He’s known for a gruff bedside manner, but he’s also very good at his job. When Samantha comes in with a kitten who has a life-threatening condition, he gives it to her straight; and she serves it right back. With the way she put up with no nonsense, he can’t stop thinking about her. Good thing she and the kitten come back and so begins a fast-falling love between two people who face all kinds of barriers.

What started with me laughing out loud had me in tears within the first 40 pages. I’ve mentioned this before, but my mom died of early-onset Alzheimer’s last year. Samantha’s mother in this book has the disease, and at times I felt like I was reading my own journal entries as a daughter grapples with her mother’s diagnosis and slow fade. The theme of memory is woven throughout and touches not only the romance but also the family aspects.

I’ve read every full-length novel by this author, and it may be my own life experience colliding with this book, but this one felt heavier. Abby’s signature humor sprinkled throughout was still present, but at times, probably because of a long-distance element to the plot, this was excruciating. My one other small reason that this didn’t get the sparkling 5-stars is that Xavier was almost too perfect. He has a sad backstory, but if he were answering questions for a job interview, they would be like Michael Scott’s, “I work too hard, I care too much…” 😂

A few notable highlights:

🧡 excellent communication between Xavier and Samantha
🧡 no third-act breakup
🧡 humor and heart
🧡 somehow the near-instant love was believable
🧡 California references (a plus for a California native)

Overall, I recommend this to readers who like romances that lean heavily toward women’s fiction (this one a bit more than the author’s previous work). Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the digital review copy.