Man, Abby Jimenez really put her main characters through the wringer with this one. Xavier is such an amazing romantic lead as he falls so hard for Samantha, but he has so much pressure to succeed in his veterinary practice to be able to prove himself to his horrible parents. Meanwhile, Samantha has to not move back home to help her family deal with her mother as her memory slowly deteriorates due to dementia. And that’s only the start of all of the things that Samantha goes through. I appreciated how Abby Jimenez dealt with all of these very difficult issues with care and in a very genuine way. A relationship is rarely a simple happily ever after and this book shows how much it takes to truly put in the work to be together. 

Diving into the specific issue of dementia as Jimenez addresses it, she truly does capture just how difficult it is to still have a loved one with you physically, but to lose them completely by inches as their memories fade. Jimenez returns over and over again to how important making memories is, and how crucial it is to share those memories with others. As Samantha says, ‘“That there is nothing more beautiful than being a witness to someone’s life. To know them inside and out and be with them through everything, share the same memories. Memories are everything. I want that.”’ And then she continues a few pages later: ‘“You can’t fake that kind of thing,” she said, softly. “It’s the result of a parallel life. A shared collection of experiences, like a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger as it goes. And then you get to a point where you’re so far in, you can never replace that person. Not really. No one else can ever be the same kind of witness because you’ve lived through so much. It really is a once in a lifetime thing.” Her eyes went a little sad. “Can you imagine losing that? One memory at a time?”’ Because of what Samantha and her family are going through, she and Xavier value the time and the chance to make memories together even more, and perhaps especially because they are so limited in this respect by their circumstances. 

And I do enjoy all the memories that the two of them make together. Their whole experience  in the UFO escape room together and then the continued reference to “Come On Eileen” were great. Driving around in the Dart together (I love that Jimenez includes this reference to her own car) and traveling back and forth to be there for one another as much as possible, it all felt so realistic. And it all came down to the little things, which are extremely important, as we get from Xavier’s perspective: “You think that it’s the big memories you should be chasing—and it is in a way. Birthdays and vacations and special occasions. But the small memories are the fabric of your life, the ones so inconsequential that you don’t even remember them. You just remember how you felt when you were making them.”

On a lighter note, I loved all the side characters (okay, well, at least the ones you’re supposed to), but especially Tristan. He embodies the annoying, weird, and funny brother that you can love and hate at the same time. He’s a pain in the ass but also extremely lovable. 

All of this to say, the book is great and Jimenez knows how to rip your heart out, trample it, and then fix it all up in the end. After everything that Samantha and Xavier go through, we get this: “Maybe that’s the last thing we forget. Or we never forget it at all. Not really. We lose the words to say it. We lose the ability to show it. But we never lose the ability to feel it or recognize it when we see it. Love is the brightest color in a gray world.”

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and give a review.