The Night We Met

Say You'll Remember Me #2

by Abby Jimenez, Teresa Palmer (Narrator), Zachary Webber (Narrator)

Listening Length: 9 hours and 52 minutes

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything...

For Larissa, it came when choosing who to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great friends, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But she didn’t choose Chris to drive her home all those months ago—she went with his best friend, and he became her boyfriend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. How can something that feels so right be absolutely impossible?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Summer, Audiobook, Adult

10 pages, Audible Audio

First published March 24, 2026

About the author

Abby Jimenez is a Food Network winner, #1 New York Times best selling author of Just for the Summer, and recipient of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for her novel Life's Too Short. Her book Yours Truly was the first romance novel in the history of Book of the Month to win the coveted Dolly Award for Book of the Year. Abby founded Nadia Cakes out of her home kitchen back in 2007. The bakery has since gone on to win numerous Food Network competitions and, like her books, has amassed an international following.

Abby loves a good romance, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

Reviews

[alana ☁️]

i don't even care what this is about... if abby jimenez writes it, i'm reading it!

[Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t stop thinking about this book, so what the heck… 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Abby does it again.
messy. complicated. emotional. beautiful. hilarious. HUMAN.

[chan ☆]

bitch, get READY for some grade A boyfriend's best friend PINING AND YEARNING

YEE FUCKING HAW

(this is my favorite micro trope)

[ଘRory (Mr.Darcy Devotee)]

_Audiobook = secured🤸

A gorgeous cover?✔︎Check.
The boyfriend's best friend trope?✔︎ Double-check.
I am so ready for this! Someone please tell me it's already out, I need it now! 😭

[Maddy ✨ ~The Verse Vixen {AFK brb}]

Between wildest dreams and whispered goodbyes lies the spark that ignites the impossible..


~Premise:

One night. One choice. That’s all it took for Larissa’s life to shift forever. She was supposed to fall for one man, but it’s his best friend who makes her laugh at midnight, read dog-eared books by her side, and feel like the world finally fits.

Their story was never supposed to happen—wrong place, wrong time, wrong person. Yet every laugh, every stolen glance, every almost-touch feels like a lyric waiting to be sung. Because sometimes the love you shouldn’t have is the one that won’t let you go.Chris doesn’t date, and Larissa can’t afford another mistake—but how do you walk away from the kind of love that feels written in the stars?


➷ WHAT’S INSIDE:

🌌 That one night… one choice… that flips everything upside down.
📖 Remember Chris? The pharmacist. The bookworm. The quiet kind of good-looking. The one who seemed like background in a friend group of Instagram models?
💌 Yeah… this is his story now. And it’s about to wreck you.
🐶 He and Larissa are basically co-parenting a chaotic Yorkie.
📚 They trade books, share laughs, and judge bread (pumpernickel supremacy, obviously).and small joys tucked between heartbreaks.
🐾 A slightly feral but ridiculously adorable rescue Yorkie (who owns the story tbh).
🎀 Small problem: he’s her boyfriend’s best friend -A forbidden love—your boyfriend’s best friend kind of forbidden.we go from brother's bsf to bf's bsf very fast lol!
-This cover? Straight-up Wildest Dreams vibes!
👊🏻They both loves reading 🤍 def. Gonna get along!!
🤺 Yearning so heavy you’ll feel it in your bones. The “I want you but I can’t have you” slow burn that’ll eat you alive.
🔥 Longing glances, stolen moments, and the ache of almosts.
✨ All the messy choices life throws at you, wrapped in romance, laughter, and quiet devastation.


Can we just pause for a sec—
because this cover?? this cover is so Dreamy so damn pretty I can't!!- The fireworks, the golden pink sky, the couple sitting by the water with their little Yorkie third-wheeling—it’s giving dreamy, romantic, and heartbreak-in-the-softest-light vibes.—Tell me it’s not “say you’ll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe…”energy. It’s giving romance, longing, nostalgia, and that ache of loving someone you shouldn’t. It’s literally whispering “this is the kind of love that feels like summer but hurts like forever.”

🎯 THE Mood!?
Alexa, play The Night We Met by Lord Huron.. 🎶🌌

It’s sitting under fireworks with someone you can’t have.
It’s laughing until your chest hurts, but crying when no one sees.
It’s love, timing, loyalty, and the ache of what if? wrapped in golden-hour sunsets.


"Buckle up, buttercup – this love story is anything but simple, but it sure is a wild ride!"🌺 Get ready for 300+ pages of "we shouldn’t"… followed by “we did.”

This isn’t just a book—it’s a whole moment.
Pretty cover, devastating premise, Yorkie chaos, forbidden longing…
Abby Jimenez said romance but make it hurt (in the prettiest way possible). 🌸✨

[Ali L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a beta reader for this so let me ease your mind with a checklist of things this book has:

Peanuts ✔️
A cute dog ✔️
A ne’er-do-well friend ✔️
A long-suffering friend ✔️
Bitter, bone-deep regret over mistakes of the past that threaten to haunt you with a lifetime of unhappiness ✔️
Portable charcuterie boards ✔️

Do you love love? Me too! Especially when it’s messy and Minnesotan. I normally don’t post early reviews until closer to pub day to drum up more hype but I don’t think this author needs my help so here are my five stars several months before release day, do with them what you will.

[Liana Gold]

Well hello there, this just landed in my library. The QUEEN of relatability is back and I'm so ready for this.

Happy to report this is WAY better than the first book!

[bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey so this man actually says to her “If I had a nut allergy, I'd taste your food to make sure it's safe and if it wasn't and I died, I'd die happy because I died protecting you. Do you understand?" So you can’t convince me that he isn’t the perfect man.


I will never recover.

[manas]

hopefully this is good 🌚

[kim ౨ৎ]

does this mean we have a new AJ series?? brb im screaming 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

[ahmeeka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to start this off by saying I spent the entire time picturing jonah hauer king as chris and brec bassinger as larissa—take that information as you will.

admittedly I didn’t like the first book in the series, and I was surprised because I’m usually a huge fan of abby’s books. this book, however, is now one of my favourites.

the night we met puts the slow in slow burn. there’s quiet pining, and they’re friends first. the relationship between chris and larissa is built as friends, which we don’t see a lot of in books nowadays, and I loved it.

I wasn’t sure how it would work with chris being the best friend of larissa’s boyfriend, but it all tied together perfectly.

I won’t go into too much detail because it will spoil the book, but the way abby writes character development is SO special—and this isn’t limited to the main characters and their respective point of view either.

my only wish was that we got more time with chris and larissa as a couple, or perhaps that’s me wanting more time with them in general because I just loved them.

it’s also closed door, so perfect for younger readers or people who want a break from reading spicy books!

I’m looking forward to the next instalment, and I’m hoping it’s about lexi!

[Alya ( 20 comments restriction ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts
INFINITE FUCKING STARS 😭♾️ Abby's writing just hits the soul, it just feels so raw, emotional, HUMAN, the way she writes her characters, the messages behind the books .. I just can't put in words how much I love this author's writing! Now, with that being said I do understand why some may not enjoy the boyfriend’s best friend trope as much as I did, Mike broke my heart honestly in so many ways, the way sees himself and feels unworthy of Larissa but what got me most is the dialogue towards the end 😭❤️‍🩹 Chris on the other hand?? In what universe does one find herself a Chris?? Not only does he do things for her and make it look like Mike did them but the fact he says if he had a nut allergy he's willing to taste and would die happily just to make sure she's okay, this is literally the definition of above and beyond HOW does one not root for them to be endgame despite knowing the consequences? Hence why in the beginning I said this was EMOTIONAL AND HUMAN. I appreciate how certain topics were handled by Abby as always. I will definitely be rereading this one!

Plot Summary
One small decision after a concert changes everything for Larissa, even if she doesn’t realise it at the time. Now, she’s built a happy, easy life with her boyfriend—sharing routines, inside jokes, and a sense of stability she’s never had before. But there’s one complication: the person she connects with most isn’t her boyfriend, but his best friend, Chris. As their bond quietly deepens, Chris is left torn between his feelings and his loyalty, knowing that acting on them could risk everything.

My Bookstagram

[April]

WHAT??? The cover is so pretty 😍 Have I read Say You'll Remember Me? Not yet but I need this one now!! 🤭💗 Why do we have to wait sooo long for it 😫

[liza palmer]

i cannot wait for you guys to read this 🥹😭😭

[✨Julie✨]

If Abby writes it, I’m reading it.

(This will be Chris’s story)

[Erin Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yearning, angsty, comedic, tragic and full of slow burn tension – another Abby Jimenez masterpiece!

Meet Larissa, hustling to make ends meet, taking care of her mother while her dead-beat father is constantly digging a hole she can’t outclimb. Larissa is full of passion, grit and good intentions. Insert Chris, a WALKING GREEN FLAG – whose wants nothing more than to make sure Larissa is safe and cared for. He’s stable and they have so much in common. The problem? Larissa is Chris’ best friend Mike’s, girlfriend.

Along the way on this wild ride, we get so many hysterical moments including a seriously unhinged yorkie causing chaos. Abby brilliantly mixes her heavier themes including severe allergies, alcoholism, and poverty alongside humor and heartfelt moments. Throughout this story the way Chris lifts up Larissa and cares for her, someone who can never be more than a friend to him – and that genuine compassion is what truly will stick with me long after this book has closed.

Alexa, play Wi$h Li$t by Taylor Swift, seriously…. If you love that song you will love this book. It perfectly encapsulates all that is this romance between Larissa and Chris in The Night We Met; sweet, heartfelt, raw, longing and genuine. That’s exactly how I would describe this book.

Abby Jimenez books are so easy to pick up and so hard to put down! One amazing thing about Abby’s books is that the characters she writes are so autthentic and feel like truly real people. To write romance and incorporate what real life looks like to real people who have real problems, and make it interesting... that take skill and Abby has that skill! This book really shows Abby at her best, which with such a nuisanced plot (a love triangle!) is a real challenge! Abby always has a way of getting her characters into SUCH A MESS, and I’m always screaming in my head in that third act… how are they going to find their way out of this mess and get their happy-ever-after they deserve? And yet again, she wrapped it up beautifully, with such grace. I can’t wait to see what’s next in this series!

Truly so honored to have received an Advanced copy of this book via the “traveling arc program” that Abby hosts – I’ll always remember this experience!

[Jill (readinginpjs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

It’s absolutely no surprise to me that I have ANOTHER favorite book by Abby Jimenez 💜

Chris very quickly became my top Abby book boyfriend - he’s a man who LISTENS, and very much has acts of service as his love language 🥹

Larissa and Chris have an undeniable connection from the start, and as always, Abby gives us so much angst & yearning 😭
our MCs were very much meant to be, but definitely could not be together.

this was the slowest of slow burns, I was getting a little worried there for a second 😅 but I trusted Abby to get them to their HEA!

✦ tropes & stuff:
💫 friends to lovers
🐶 a shared rescue pup named Woofarine
🔼 love triangle
🏥 pharmacist mmc
💖 fmc figuring out her path
🫶🏼 found family
💙 he falls first
❤️‍🩹 allergy + grief rep
🐢 slow burn
💞 dual 1st person pov

paperback | ⭐️: ♾ | 🌶️: fade to black |

📖 The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
📚 book 2 • Say You’ll Remember Me series
💜: contemporary romance (mf)

*Connect with Me*
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[Ri ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars rating is too generous for this book but whatever i don’t even wanna talk or think about this book 😔

[ashlyn [semi ia]]

2026🥲… girl just put the book on a flash drive and slide it under the table, i won’t tell😏

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

Whew… this book stressed me out. I love Abby’s writing, but for a romance, I was so aggravated through so much of the book. I don’t know how to describe it without a lot of spoilers, but I think this always aggravates me when the hero/heroine has a different love interest throughout the majority of the book. I did love both the hero and the heroine in different ways and I understood the complications, but dang.

This is a slow-burn with lots of yearning and Abby always writes the most endearing heroes. Even though this had some moments I didn’t love, overall I enjoyed it and was satisfied by the ending.

Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 4.25 stars
Narrators: Teresa Palmer & Zachary Webber
Narration Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Romance
Length: 9h 52m

[zoë ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗]

having to wait until next year for my next abby jimenez book is HORRIBLE.

[Stephanie Wilen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Night We Met is hilarious. I’m talking laugh out loud, kick your feet funny. Abby Jimenez’s humor lands every single time, and the banter alone made this an absolute joy to read.

And then there’s Woofarine. Absolute menace. Tiny rascal. Professional troublemaker. Every scene with this dog was pure entertainment.

Larissa completely won me over. She’s been dealt a rough hand, but she never gives up. She keeps going, works harder and claws her way out of financial debt. She’s resourceful, resilient, and determined. I loved her tenacity.

Chris is a top tier book boyfriend. He doesn’t just love Larissa, he loves her in a way that’s uniquely attuned to who she is. He wants to give her everything, but more importantly, he wants her to succeed on her own terms. He lifts her up and offers a helping hand without taking away her agency. He lets her do the work and fully own her accomplishments. This is what real support looks like.

I also enjoyed the focus on male friendship. So many books center female relationships, so it was refreshing to see the dynamics between Chris and Mike. Their conflicts, strained loyalty and resolution felt authentic. Jimenez did a fantastic job portraying how friendships evolve over time.

The Night We Met delivers humor with heart and characters you can’t help but root for. A standout romance that understands what it truly means to show up for the people who matter.

[Astrid Willow · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh 😭 Abby. girl. Please bring back the Life's Too Short energy! These last two books have been miserable drama up until the last two chapters, and while I can respect the craft and acknowledge that they are well written and just not for me, I miss her older work where there was drama but also cozy and fun romance where I could actually believe the characters liked each other.

[Maaike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably the most disappointed I’ve ever felt about a book. I’ve been so incredibly excited about this book so when I saw it early in book stores I obviously had to grab it.

I will admit that I hadn’t read the blurb because I like going in blind. But even reading it now, I wouldn’t have expected the book to be what it is.

My main issue with this book is that the main character Larissa is in a relationship with another man for about 80% of this book. In book time it’s about a year. Meanwhile, throughout that entire relationship, she’s also having what you could call a friendship but is much closer to emotionally cheating with his best friend, Chris. For 80 percent of this book you are reading about Larissa being in an honestly quite bad relationship?? For what??

And I’m supposed to find it cute that Chris does what he can to hide Mike’s red flags. He saves him when he’s too drunk to follow up on his plans, helps him pick out gifts for her, throws out everything with nuts when Mike doesn’t do it. But it doesn’t even stop there. He shovels out her car when it’s snowing, he gets an EpiPen and always checks hers when he sees her. He has fucking nightmares about her safety. And the one thing he doesn’t do is warn her about the fact that her boyfriend doesn’t give a shit about her safety?? There’s this whole thing about him being willing to die for her if it means that she’s safe??? Babes this is a contemporary romance, not the time and place for love declarations like that.

Eventually she finally breaks up with Mike and that whole situation is so uncomfortably unsafe for her. Read like such a traumatic event but in the book they just kinda gloss over that part. Then there’s even more drama which was resolved incredibly quickly and easily. If that drama had started at 50%, maybe I would’ve been invested. It could’ve been explored better but not like this?? Truly didn’t give a fuck anymore at that point.

And then there’s this whole down in the dumps fmc thing going on which I’m hating more with every book I read that has this trope. She has bad money issues, she has a million side jobs, she has a shitty family situation, she has a shitty living situation, she has a shitty car. And he? He has money, he has a comfortable job, he has a friend group that’s like family, he has a safe car, he is so obsessed with her that he wants to save her. He buys her food, helps her with her side jobs, and all the crazy shit I mentioned earlier. She ends up losing her job and moving in with him and he motivates her to make a small business out of one of the side jobs she was doing. Which was cute, I will admit. She doesn’t want him to pay so they co-sign a loan, fine. But then he still goes behind her back and buys all this stuff for her small business?? When she’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want to be dependent on another man. He makes her drive his car so she’s safer, he replaces her tires without her knowledge, keeps her favourite things stocked even though he doesn’t use it even before she moves in.

I just hate how the entire book she’s so determined on getting out of her bad situation on her own. And it’s still made clear that she couldn’t have done it without him. If she doesn’t want your help with money, don’t fucking do it behind her back omg.

This is becoming way longer than I intended oops, but there’s still one thing I need to yap about. They rescue a dog together, cute funsies. He can’t take care of it on his own because of his job so she helps him out, all good with me. But every time this fucking dog gets mentioned it’s about him killing animals?? He brings a dead animal inside multiple times. Kills a snake while they’re on a walk. For what?? What was the reason?? It adds absolutely nothing to the plot. The only thing it adds is that he gave her his shirt so she didn’t have to wear hers that got dirty from the snake (and then also carried her backpack and refused sun block cause he didn’t want her hands touching him and causing unholy thoughts like he didn’t have those already). It just pulled me out of the book so much when another dead animal appeared. Just no.

I am really hoping that her next book takes another direction or it might be my last Abby Jimenez book. I love her writing but this plot killed me😭

[Pip Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am speechless. I did not expect this book - THE BOYFRIEND’S BEST FRIEND BOOK - to be the one. I inhaled this in 24 hours.

I adore Abby Jimenez. But I was so very hesitant about this story. My guard was up because of a) the tropes and b) the fact that I did not love SYRM. I was proven wrong.

Larissa is down on her luck, living pay check to pay check just to keep herself afloat. Her no-good father has racked up credit in her name that she is frantically trying to pay off and her mother is in a cycle of extremely unhealthy relationships. Chris (💕🥹⭐️📖) is the definition of an acts of service man, he is gentle, thoughtful and is always looking out for Larissa, especially when his best friend and Larissa’s boyfriend Mike neglects to do it himself.

This more of a friends x lovers and is the slowest of slow burns with excruciatingly drawn out tension. I ate it up. There are lots of heavy themes in this (I believe there’s a trigger warning list at the beginning) but it was counteracted with so much heart and humour that the book’s overall tone felt extremely well balanced. I am also a sucker for an acts of service MMC (Abby Jimenez writes them so well!!). Larissa deals with a severe nut allergy and the way Chris goes above and beyond to make sure she is safe was🥹🥹. As someone with coeliac disease who has to be so careful about what/where I eat, I connected with this part of the book on a soul-deep level.

Given the setup of this book, it is no surprise that some very painful situations and internal conflicts are brought up. I appreciated that these were not glossed over, they were not excused and justified to the point that it made me hate our MC’s. They were given sufficient time and thought for them to feel realistic and the right amount of painful/morally grey.

This is also a no-spice book for my closed door people!🌶️

I feel so lucky to have been allowed to read this book early! Thank you so much to the team at Little Brown and Netgalley for the arc.

[Yelena]

Hm why did I think that this was coming out march31th??? No idea actually but anyway I can't lie and say I'm excited for this so much because the trope!! I don't know how it's going to work I'm SCARED but unlike a lot of people I loved "say you'll remember me "so I hope I love this too🤞🏻

[har]

COVER REVEAL!! omg it’s gorgeous i’m SAT. and the way it’s releasing one day after my bday 😩😩

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh this is gonna be messssyyyyyyyy

[Vita Wirt · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ I don’t want to spend 90% of the book feeling angry, when it is advertised as a romance 😭 it was well-written and fast paced but the whole topic and relationship + friendships were bothering me a lot. I wasn’t rooting for anyone at the end tbh

[jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

i did not feel a single positive emotion toward this book until 82%. take that as you will.