Book Review: The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
Abby Jimenez, like Katherine Center and Emily Henry, is one of my automatic reads for romance authors. Needless to say, The Night We Met got added to my TBR instantly. Check out my full review for The Night We Met below!
Book Information
Larissa is a hard worker and has to be one to survive. Working multiple jobs to payoff debt from her father stealing her social security number just comes with the territory. Chris is a pharmacist and recently lost his mother. He doesn’t know how to pull himself back together again. When Chris’ best friend, Mike, asks him to bring his girlfriend, Larissa, to her mom’s surgery, Chris really doesn’t want to. But when Larissa and Chris get to know each other, they instantly connect. Larissa would never do anything with Chris since that’s Mike’s best friend, and Chris feels the same, but Larissa can’t help but to feel that she chose the wrong man…. Now, she couldn’t undo it even if she wanted to because Chris would never be able to be with her now that Mike says he’s falling in love.
Review | Heidi Dischler
This was a very nuanced book. It follows Chris and Larissa, and is the second book in the Say You’ll Remember Me series by Abby Jimenez (no need to read the first one before reading this one, it’s just character cameos). There’s a lot going on with Chris and Larissa’s friendship (and they’re honestly so cute when they’re together). It makes things even more complicated that she’s dating his best friend. I won’t give any major spoilers, but I do want everyone to know that they never actually cheat. The only reason I mention this is because I wouldn’t want to read if they did (it’s a big pet peeve of mine). Anyway, Mike falls in love with Larissa and she really likes him, but knows she likes spending time with Chris more.
The Night We Met is a very slow burn novel with lots of pining and going through reasons why they can’t be together (pretty valid reasons in my opinion). Larissa is a really likable character and wants a lot for herself. Chris, on the other hand, honestly only has a personality because he likes Larissa. Like EVERYTHING he does in the novel is because of Larissa. I can’t even tell you what he liked/disliked. I can tell you his trauma, just not who he was before fixating on Larissa. Mike was… a bit much. You could tell he had fallen into a dark place. Also, even though he said he loved Larissa, I NEVER saw it in his actions. He was so annoying with what he kept doing that it was hard for me to like his character at all. He did end up making up for some things in the end, though.
So, like I mentioned, Larissa and Chris have great chemistry in the novel, but nothing romantic happens until like the very end (also no spice just FYI). But, if you’re a reader who needs something fast paced with a lot of romance, this is not the book for you. It’s super super slow burn.
Spoilers ahead.
Honestly, Mike’s whole last scene with him apologizing and owning up to his mistakes completely redeemed him in my eyes. It’s honestly the only reason I’m even remotely excited to read his love story next.
Overall, lots of pining, lots of slow burn romance, and lots of building up to a relationship that only happens at the very end of the novel. I didn’t mind it at all (I think relationships need time), and I liked that there wasn’t any physical cheating (emotional is a totally different story). All in all a solid four out of five stars. Not my favorite Abby Jimenez novel but still good.
Source: Audiobook from Audible
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
