From the USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone comes an adorable and fresh romantic comedy about one trouble-making dog who brings together two perfect strangers. Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can’t seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a “take me home” look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, … eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker’s owner reaches out. He’s a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.
Well, Sloan’s not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can’t deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There’s no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?
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Spoilers for The Friend Zone abound in this book, so tread carefully if you’ve not yet read it!
After falling head over heels for The Friend Zone and being absolutely crushed by Brandon’s death, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Sloan’s story. I needed her HEA like I can’t even describe. In fact, I needed it so badly I did something I hardly ever do — read it super, SUPER freaking early. Like ridiculously early. It pubbed in April 2020 — yes, I’m that far behind — but I actually read it in November 2019. Are you ready for some long overdue gushing?
The Happy Ever Playlist was everything I needed and more. I was nervous going in. I won’t even lie. Sloan’s grief in TFZ was almost overwhelming to me at times. (And understandably so.) The loss of Brandon was traumatic and tremendous. Grief is hard and it’s even harder to get right in books, especially when moving on is involved. How do you pay respect to the previous relationship and honor it while a character works towards a HEA with someone else? It’s messy and complicated and emotional and Abby did an amazing job with it.
I loved The Happy Ever After Playlist from the moment I picked it up. Sloan and Jason sucked me right in with their (perfect and amusing) meet-cute and I was a goner. I’ll be the first to admit famous person/regular person books don’t always work for me AND I have a complicated relationship with rockstar romances, but I was ready to risk it all for this pair. They wiggled their way into my heart and didn’t let go. I don’t want to get all spoilery for THIS book, so I’ll just say it struck the perfect balance between funny and serious. I laughed, cried, swooned and cried some more. It was utter perfection. Oh, my feels.
Due to the crazy world we live in, I currently only read happy books with happily ever after endings. In that regard, Abby Jimenez delivers. The heroine finds the hero’s lost dog. The musician hero is currently in Australia on the brink of success. While he’s away, they develop a quick and flirty texting/phone relationship. When he returns, the heroine is still reluctant, for reasons of her own, to get involved. The hero is every sweet thing a girl could ever want, but his exploding success interferes with any long term plans unless she agrees to go on the road with him for a concert tour. It’s all very adorable until the hero acts totally out of character and decides to make a great sacrifice without discussing it with the heroine, explaining his reasons, or asking her opinion. The decision causes great disruption and heartache and is the reason I gave this story a four-star instead of a five-star review. But otherwise it’s very cute and couldn’t have been more fun.
I prefer my females less crazy.
This is a review of an extended preview of this book
This is an absolutely adorable fun silly flirty book with a really cute pup at the center of it all. Sloane is stuck in her grief having lost her beloved fiancé. Jason, a musician on his way to the top entrusted a friend with the care of his pup(fur child). His career is on the rise and his dog is running wild. He made a really bad choice in picking a caretaker. Not only does she lose the dog almost immediately, she puts forth almost no effort to find the dog and leaves town on business without letting Jared know or returning a single phone call made by Sloane. Thankfully Sloane is a really good person with a kind open heart for dogs. Humans not so much right now, but dogs, absolutely. The pup hops into her car when she almost runs him over. She takes him to the vet and leaves a message for Jared. And then another message and does so every day for 2 weeks. Some of them are a riot! She finally hears back from Jared. who is on the other side of the world. And so begins their relationship via text and eventually actually speaking! So much fun. As stated earlier I was only given access to a preview so am headed over to audible.com now to get the whole thing!! Its definitely perfect for some light hearted romance and a great dog.
I finally got to listen to the whole book. The entirety lived up to the first 3 chapters. Everyone should experience the love that Sloane and Jack shared. At times their journey was difficult and emotional, but the managed to finally figure it all out. It was a perfect listen for anyone who needs a little pick me up and to have some hope for love and a wonderful happily ever after.
Jimenez has quickly become one of my favorite authors — and one of the few who drags me out of the young adult books world. I absolutely loved this book. The characters are REAL, they feel real things and don’t always react the way we want them to, but that’s the way people truly behave. I really enjoyed the depth of each characters, including the ones we didn’t want to like, and cannot wait to gobble up whatever she publishes next!
The depiction of grief was one of the truest I’ve encountered in a book. There are tropes as in most romance novels, but the more fanciful aspects do not reduce the impact of the issues the author explores. It is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
This book ruined me, for every Nicholas Spark book to come.
I cried. I haven’t cried reading a book in…forever.
I will never forget this love story.
If you’re looking for THE love story of 2020, this is it. I loved Sloan and Jason, their ebb and flow were like that of the ocean, but watch out for those crashing waves. I look forward to reading the next book from Ms. Jimenez.
**This book is not “Clean/Sweet Romance” and there is language so it’s defiantly rated R (I say this because many of my followers aren’t big on these things, which is 100% okay)
I absolutely loved The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez, but all my book friends kept telling me that they loved The Happy Ever After Playlist even more and I’m here to tell you I completely agree with them! If you loved The Friend Zone be prepared to REALLY love The Happy Ever After Playlist.
I feel like Abby’s books completely sneak up on you. At first you’re like okay this is really entertaining but it’s also a bit of a tearjerker, and then by the time you’re at the end of the book you’re ugly crying. And not just because it’s sad! I bawled my eyes out from both sad things and pure unadulterated happiness, this has happened to me in both of her novels and I love her for it. Once again I did the audio and that is a great option (especially if you are worried about trying to see through your tears to the words on the page). It’s the same narrator for Sloan as it was for Kristen in The Friend Zone (Erin Mallon), and the guy is different but once again I just loved the experience of listening to it and the male narrator was really good – Zachary Webber if anyone wants to look him up.
I also really loved the fact that each chapter started with a song title. Some of the songs I knew and a lot I didn’t, but that made the experience even more enjoyable for me as a music fan, and I’m also thankful to the people on Spotify and Apple Music who took the time to put a playlist together of all the songs! I only wish I could listen to the Jaxon Waters songs as well…
The author’s note made me cry even more and if you read this book I recommend making sure to read it. It shed a little more light on the book and Abby’s idea behind writing it. The Happy Ever After Playlist is a heart-wrenching, beauty of a book and I would love seeing both this book and TFZ made into movies or at least a TV show of sorts. The characters are the kind of people you wish you had in your own life and the relationship between Sloan and Jason is 100% goals. I loved this book so much and highly recommend it to all romance and women’s fiction fans!
Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for my advance listening copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
This book had all the feels. Loved all the characters but thought Jason was extra swoon-worthy.
This one is already so incredibly well-reviewed that I will skip the summary. I already knew I would dig it because I love when an author bases their chapters around music. Sloan had me laughing out loud from the start, which immediately hooked me. I loved her friendship with Kristen, and now I need to go read The Friend Zone so I can get her story as well.
Jason and Sloan were adorably cute, and when things went wrong, Jason was a grade-A groveller. I think Sloan overreacted a few times, but she’s written so incredibly well, that she knew she was overreacting, which made her pretty close to perfect. That is such a rare thing in books, and it has made me an instant fan of Jimenez. I cried a few times reading this because their relationship was so strong, it was emotional.
This was such a fun read. I didn’t want to put it down because I loved all the characters (including the dog Tucker), and the storyline. A perfect blend of sexy times, comedy, and tear-inducing moments. I highly recommend this one.
I really enjoyed this romance/Singer story. I received it for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I’ve given it a 4.7* rating. This is not for the under 18 readers. This has plenty of feels so you might want to have a tissue handy. There is plenty of laughs too. They added a lost dog and so there is added situations from this also. The heroine is locked in grief after 2 years of her loss. Read this to see how a little dog changed this.
I want to read more of this author’s work.
The Happy Ever After Playlist is the sequel to Abby Jimenez’s The Friend Zone… but I didn’t realize this until after I finished. I read it as a standalone and enjoyed it as such. Of course, I will go back and read The Friend Zone, in backwards order, which coincidentally is the order they were written.
The Happy Ever After Playlist had a strong beginning with a super fun meeting and romantic build up between the two love interests. I didn’t want the smiles to end! However, the story does change gears into a rock star romance of sorts full of drama, sabotage, and plenty of complicated emotions. Personally, I needed the fun to continue, but this was indeed a well-written book for those who enjoy watching a couple overcome unique circumstances.
Once again Abby Jimenez sweeps readers away with a wonderful story filled with amazing, relatable characters. In THE FRIEND ZONE, readers suffered a tragic heartbreak right along with Sloan and now we have our chance to move on from it with her. Jimenez did an amazing job of showing how grief, and moving on, is different for everyone and it takes time to find happiness again. You couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters, new and old, as we see Sloan start to live life to the fullest again.
3.5 Stars.
After reading the first book, I had to know how Sloan recovered and healed. My heart broke for her and I wanted her to achieve as much happiness as Kristen did. This book started out so well for me. I loved the way Sloan and Jason “met” and corresponded together. The connection between them was on point and I found myself enthralled completely. Then from around half way it changed and I was getting frustrated with some inconsistencies. The thing with this authors writing is her storylines are interesting and have a good amount of wit in them that makes me happy but I did have some issues thoughout the book. My biggest point I couldn’t get on board with was the workings of the music industry. Having a family member who’s occupation is in this area, I’m privy to some of the ins and outs and I didn’t feel it was authentic with how Jason was working. I’m not a fan when authors either don’t research their subject matter fully or create drama for dramas sake and then it has a sense of an unrealistic scenario. On the whole, I enjoyed this novel and was happy with most outcomes but enjoyed the first way more.
A love story with a built in soundtrack and a precious dog sidekick, I was hooked fast.
Sloan and Jason didn’t move in the same circles. They had no reason to ever meet until one precocious and friendly dog lands in her lap. Literally, he lands in her lap via her sunroof. That was a great scene!
Sloan’s back story is a bit a of tear jerker. She loved someone and then lost them tragically. She’s still in mourning and not ready to re-enter the living world much less the dating world. But then she gets a sign. He’s furry and full of life but Tucker came bounding into her life at a truly important juncture in her life and he gave her a reason to be happy again. Too bad he belongs to someone else.
Touring musician Jason is that someone else. I already wanted Sloan to keep her happy so I was really hoping Jason would be reasonable and even nice to her. He’s actually super sweet. From their second conversation I knew this was going to be a fantastic story and I wasn’t disappointed.
They have the best text conversations. Honestly, I was laughing out loud and smiling like a loon. If you don’t want people giving you strange looks, don’t read this book in a public place.
I haven’t read the prequel to this book, The Friend Zone, but I think I must. I want to know more about Kristen and Josh. These are obviously good people, good friends and have a sweet romance.
This book checked off all of my romance boxes. Great chemistry (even thru the text messages), fun characters and story that had me looking forward to their first face to face meet. It was sizzling I tell you. SIZZLING!
For romance that will give you all the feels and the best kind of swooning HEA, read this book!
For More Book Reviews , Recommendations and Interviews , Visit my Blog (Bibliomedico ) :
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You can read my review of the first book ( The Friend Zone ) here :
https://bibliomedico.wordpress.com/20…
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After reading ( The Friend Zone ) last year , ( The Happy Ever After Playlist ) has become my most anticipated book of 2020 . Andddd Abby Jimenez didn’t disappoint .
” Sometimes the hardest place to live is the one in-between ”
The story of Sloan and Jason was heartbreaking , sweet and romantic . It was a little fast-paced for my liking 😛 But I love their relationship , it was supportive , respectful and loving.
The book is all about second chances and how even though losing someone you love is so difficult , but life still goes , we have to keep going .
Trigger warning : If you are uncomfortable reading about lose and grieve , please avoid this book .
” I was supposed to marry this woman. I’d known it the moment I thought I might lose her. She was it for me . The thought of being without her was unacceptable to me as never seeing daylight again , Never picking up another guitar ”
This novel had me laughing , smiling at those cheesy and fluffy scenes, and crying over Sloane’s pain.
I would recommend it if you love celebrity Rock star romances.
” You can’t control the bad things that happen to you . All you can do is decide how much of You, you’re going to let them take .”
The Happy Ever After Playlist is a brilliant follow up to Abby Jimenez’s first novel, The Friend Zone. It’s a story about healing, about finding yourself. It’s about the accumulation of coincidences that just might actually be fate. Sloan and Jason are two characters who have their own struggles and pain, and they have to battle through their own insecurities to find themselves… and each other. It’s one of those novels that transcends its genre. The Happy Ever After Playlist is a must-read.
I didn’t want this book to end. I had been eagerly waiting for it to be released and now I can’t wait for book #3!!! Abby is so incredibly talented telling hard stories in a serious yet light hearted way.
Definitely find the playlist online and listen along while reading!
Finished this book in one day. I absolutely fell in love with it
Do I have this book in three different formats? Yesss, I do. I preordered a signed paperback but started reading the ebook then moved to audio. I had some painting to do and didn’t want to stop reading. It’s narrated by Zachary Webber and Erin Mallon, which are both favorites of mine.
Abby made her mark on the book world last year with The Friend Zone. The Happy Ever After Playlist just ensured that she’s not going anywhere. She writes with a realness like she’s just a girlfriend telling you a story over lunch. I knew I’d love Sloans story. I wanted her to get her HEA so freaking bad. Jason was everything she needed and more. As you can tell from above, I couldn’t put it down. I’m a greedy girl that can’t wait to find out what she’s writing for us next.