Title: Life’s Too Short (The Friend Zone #3)
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: April 6th, 2021
384 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
A brilliant and touching romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist.
Vanessa lives life on her own terms — one day at a time, every day to its fullest. She isn’t willing to waste a moment or miss out on an experience when she has no idea whether she shares the same fatal genetic condition as her mother. Besides, she has way too much to do, traveling the globe and showing her millions of YouTube followers the joy in seizing every moment.
But after her half-sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her infant daughter, she is housebound, on mommy duty for the foreseeable future, and feeling totally out of her element.
The last person she expects to show up offering help is the unbelievably hot lawyer who lives next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. But as they get closer, Vanessa realizes that her carefree ways and his need for a structured plan could never be compatible for the long term. Then again, she should know better than anyone that life’s too short to fear taking the biggest risk of all. . .
Review
“I liked that she didn’t feel the need to impress me and I didn’t feel the need to impress her. There was something comforting about it, about just being you in whatever state you happened to be in.”
Abby Jimenez, Life’s Too Short
The third iteration in Jimenez’s romance series features Adrian and Vanessa, neighbors who cross paths and become close friends. Vanessa is a famous travel Youtuber, now living in one place fostering her niece. Adrian is a lawyer who spends way too much time working and not enough time having fun. Their friendship is unlikely, but helpful to each in such a big way. But Vanessa may have a rare genetic condition that kills the women in her family early in life, and she refuses to get tested or get treatment.
First off, I want to say that there are some parts to this book I take issue with, and I will get to that. On the other side, the writing in this book is glorious and emotional. It packs a similar level of emotion into 300 some pages that The Happy Ever After Playlist does. You can’t help but feel for Vanessa and her decision, she is so strong and set in her beliefs after years of questions and doubts. I highly respect the strength and courage that takes – and Adrian’s love for her is beautiful and heartwarming.
However. I have heard mixed reviews about the way anxiety is written about in this book. I myself am not diagnosed specifically with an anxiety disorder, however my Major Depressive Disorder comes with a side dish of anxiety. I personally did not have as much of an issue with the representation of anxiety in this book, but I will not take away from other own voice reviewers who did. Each person’s experience and perception is different, and valid. So, if you do deal with anxiety, here is your trigger warning for a potentially harmful experience.
All in all, I would not put this as the best in the series, but it does edge out The Friend Zone in my opinion.
Happy reading, folks!
Baltimore Bibliophile 