Another extraordinary book written by ever so talented Abby Jimenez.
Abby is gifted with amazing storytelling skills which transports the reader into her world of words and makes everything so alive and real.
The Happy Ever After Playlist continues the story of Sloan, who we met in The Friend Zone as being the protagonist’s best friend. Sloan is still grieving her fience who died two years ago in a tragic motorcycle accident. Since then, she has lost herself as a person and she doesn’t know how to find again the joy to live her life as it used to be.
During an unexpected occurrence, Sloan is put in the situation to save the dog she almost run over with her car from being taken to the shelter. Sloan is trying to contact the owner every day for two weeks, but there is no answer, so she decides to keep Tucker. Eventually, the owner calls and he wants his dog back. From here, they start to talk on the phone and they soon realise that there is chemistry between them, and they decide to meet each other when Jason returns from Australia. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Jason is a sexy, ever so handsome, carrying and famous owner? Would Sloan resist to his flirting abilities which make her blush? And what will happen when famous Jaxon has to go on tour to promote his music?
The Happy Ever After Playlist has the necessary ingredients for a successful book!

I was so excited to be approved for this as I adored the friend zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist didn’t disappoint in anyway. I mean I may count it as even better because it revolves around a dog and that’s a winner for me. Sloan and Jason’s slowburn friends to lovers romance is a lovely agonising read, you will them on whilst smacking your forehead. It’s just addictive reading, fun, a smile as you read book and just downright adorable, Abby is a go to author for me now, read this and you’ll see why.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Happy Ever After Playlist is a wonderful friends to lovers romance. I knew what Sloan was dealing and going through since I’ve read The Friend Zone. This was her book. Her finding her way back to life again. Discovering her passions and falling in love again.
All that begins with a dog called Tucker. He jumps into her car and into her life. With Tucker comes his owner Jason. Musician and rockstar.

Sloan and Jason gets to know one another through words via phone calls. These calls are filled with humor and questions about one another. When they finally meet face to face is when the courtship begins and oh my god it was amazing. Jason is not all rockstar but a kind and humble man who respects Sloan. I fell in love with them as a couple.
Sloan meeting his family and Jason meeting Kristen and Josh are scenes with so much heart cause these people means the world to both of them.

The Happy Ever After Playlist is about finding yourself after being lost and having lost a loved one. Sloan did that. She finds herself again and a new love. Their relationship isn’t without its obstacles since being a rockstar has its price and Sloan and Jason definitely discovers that.

THEAP is fabulous follow up to The Friend Zone. It can easily be read as a stand-alone. I got romance in spades, two terrific characters, an insanely cute dog and a lovely HEA. I couldn’t ask for more.

4 Promises Stars

This is a romance book that has a dog be responsible for the MC's meet-cute and I STAN this.

The Happy Ever After Playlist tells the story of Sloan, an artist that is still grieving the loss of her fiance two years after his motorcycle accident. She never cooks anymore, she can't paint and her house is a shrine to who he was. It's safe to say that her friends are worried for her, but still can't help her break this cycle. That's until Tucker jumps on her.

Tucker is an adorable Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever that was lost and roaming the streets of LA. After almost running over the cute dog, he decides to jump on her - through the sunroof - and pretend they are the best of friends.

Sloan brings him home and takes care of him and tries everything to find his owner, but he is unreachable. Many voice messages after, she realizes that Tucker is helping her cope with her loss and bringing out the best of her and decides to keep him.

And then Jason finally makes contact. He is an upcoming musician that is bound to be the next big thing. He was backpacking in New Zeland and that's why he was unreachable for a little while, but now that he's back in Australia and with phone service, he wants to know he'll get his best friend back.

The best part of The Ever After Playlist is this first part of the story, Jason and Sloan have adorable chemistry and their banter through messages and phone calls will melt your heart, it's just the sweetest.

After Jason is back in LA the struggle is to make this new relationship work with a ghost of the past (Sloan's trauma) and the threat of the future (Jason's crazy career taking off).

There's one trope, in particular, I didn't enjoy as much towards the ends, and I just thought that the book tried to be too many things at once with the crazy mega rockstar romance thrown into the loop.

But, this still was so much fun, Jason was so swoony, and I couldn't put this down.

This light hearted, entertaining and warm offering from Abby Jimenez is likely to appeal to many readers looking to alleviate the stress and anxiety of our current global pandemic. Sloan Monroe is a Los Angeles artist whose life descended into utter misery and never ending grief on the loss of her fiance, Brandon, almost two years ago. Nothing and no-one has managed to lift her out of the despair, not her best friend, Kristen, and her husband, Josh, she has been unable to produce her original art, making do with producing the more commercial astronaut cats. She has given up on cooking, and has let everything slide, including her appearance, living in her too expensive dilapidated home that she and her Brandon were going to do up but is now too much for her.

She is on her way to the cemetery to visit Brandon's grave when life takes a turn for the weird when she almost runs over a dog that leaps through her sun roof and into her car. In a state of shock, she discovers her new pal is Tucker, and the dog belongs to Jason, whom she is unable to get hold of as she leaves messages on his voicemail. In the meantime, she takes care of Tucker, taking him to the vet and finds herself beginning to engage in everyday normal activities for the first time in two years, as she takes him for walks, and falls in love with him as he gives her a reason to start living. Tucker's owner, Jason, is a musician on the cusp of rock superstardom, having recently signing a contract with a big recording company. He is overseas, off the grid, without his phone, missing all of Sloan's messages, astounded to discover that he has to prove to Sloan that Tucker means everything to him. Before he knows it, Sloan becomes increasingly important to him as the two of them flirt with each other through a two week period of texts and phone calls before he can come home.

Jimenez writes with wit and humour of the life love that develops between Jason and Sloan, but which is strewn with challenges and obstacles, such as the life of touring on the road that leads to their deteriorating mental and physical health. Then there are the limitations Jason's future places on their life choices, a recording contract that threatens their love, not to mention the presence of a famous singer, Lola, a batshit crazy psycho, who looks as if she going to tour with Jason. One of the highlights of the novel is the authentic depiction of how grief can be so difficult to emerge from for many people, like Sloan. A wonderful read that I can see bringing a window of joy and comfort for many readers at the moment. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader therefore am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

You know when a book makes you feel, not only happy but also sad, that it can make you laugh and cry? This is one of those books!

In The Happy Ever After Playlist we see Sloan's story after the end of The Friend Zone. Spoilers ahead for the Friend Zone, if you haven't read it yet, I recommend to read it before starting this one.

Sloan's life has changed a lot in the past two years, she was ready to get married until her fiancé died in a car accident. Now, she is existing without actually living her life. Until, a very cute and energetic dog falls in to her lap, quite literally. That is when she decided to slowly move on, to find herself once again.

Only that the previous mentioned dog brings in to her life Jason, his owner. They get to know each other through the phone while he is out of the country and Sloan is watching his dog.

Sloan is having a lot to deal with, she is grieving but also wants to move on, she is a transitional state and you can real feel how everything is affecting her. She wants to follow her dream and start painting again.

Jason is a musician who wants to be famous, his main focus is his career. Meeting Sloan wasn't something he planned in, especially having feelings that can change his course. Jason is charming and flirty, he will steal your heart in no time.

I loved how they slowly started talking as two strangers but quickly became very invested in each other. They didn't even had to meet in order to feel their chemistry. This is a very emotional book, at times my heart broke for them, but it was also very funny. The humor was clever and a great tension relief. They had lots of romantic moments together which made me root for them even more. I loved how they both fought and prioritize their relationship without losing themselves.

We also got to see Kristen and Josh and how their lives changed, while being cute and lovable as ever. The new characters that were introduced were also very interesting and multilayered.


*I received an arc from Little, Brown Book through Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley for offering me something a little different. I got the love story I wanted, but so much more besides.
Our main character, Sloan, is the kind of woman you probably can’t help but find intimidating. A talented artist, successful blogger, physically attractive and clearly a good person who inspires love in those who meet her...but we don’t see this immediately.
When we first meet Sloan she’s still mourning the tragic death of her husband two years ago. Her life is on hold, and though her friends are looking out for her she’s not ready to move on. Then, unexpectedly, she ends up with a dog jumping in her car. Soft-hearted she refuses to let the dog be taken to a shelter, and decides to look after it. She gets a contact number for the dog owner and leaves messages, daily, but hears nothing.
That could have been it. But, no, where would the fun be in that? The dog’s owner is a musician who’s been abroad for a few weeks. When he picks up the messages he is immediately intrigued by this woman. And so starts a most unusual courtship.
What we learn pretty early on is that the dog’s owner, Jason, is a star in the making. Totally unlikely, but there’s an immediate bond and it seems pretty deep. Can these two ride out the somewhat inevitable pitfalls to this existence? I’d like to say it’s never in doubt, but the author sure makes her characters work for it. At times it’s ugly, but at times it’s beautiful.

That was perfect.

I cried. I laughed. I made heart eyes into thin air. It was everything I needed right now and I'm in love with Abby Jimenez's writing!
You can bet your socks I'll be rereading this sometime (very) soon 😉

I loved how every chapter started with a song recommendation, and it was so much fun compiling them all into a playlist!✨ They gave the book a "romcom movie" kind of feel and I LOVED IT~

I regret not having read the prequel, "The Friend Zone" before starting this book, but only because I love these characters so much 😌 You definitely don't have to have read it to understand the story because it pretty much works as a standalone novel :)

Abby Jimenez has officially joined my list of "auto-buy authors"✨

Rating: 5 out of 5 romance starss 🌟


Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for providing and ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Well, if you want something for right now that’s entertaining, fun and well written then this one is ‘just the ticket’, ‘fits the bill’ and totally ‘cuts the mustard’. Sloan Monroe is stuck and has been for two years since the tragic death of her fiancé Brandon. She’s in a state of inertia and cannot move on. Then Tucker most unexpectedly enters her life as does his musician owner Jason a few weeks later. Tucker is the star of the show, he’s a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever. Yes, I didn’t know about them either but they are utterly adorable like most retriever breeds and I want one. I don’t want to say much more as it will spoil the pleasure of reading this story which is told alternately by Sloan and Jason. Each chapter has a song and I did play quite a few of those as I read along except the Smiths as I didn’t want to be depressed!

I love this book. I love everything about it, it’s funny at times ( a few lol’s), flirty, occasionally hot and steamy (😳) has great repartee and some really good characters who are so, so likeable. I cheered the developing relationship between Sloan and Jason which starts, stops, starts and how and then seems to go into reverse and makes you laugh and cry. At one point a snivelling mess is an apt description of how I’d describe myself until it reaches the joyous conclusion you hope for all along. Oh and did I mention the dog???

Overall, I lapped this up and revelled in it. The afterword by Abby Jimenez is well worth reading as it explains the reason why she wrote it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and particularly to Little, Brown Book Group for this wonderful ARC.

An emotional read - I think it helps if you have read the previous book too.

When Sloan finds an abandoned dog, she doesn't realise what changes this wil make to the safe life she has created for herself since losing her fiance 2 years ago.

Every time you think things are going to work out for her and Jason something happens tp cause problems, so do they stand a chance at happy ever after?

3.5 - Sometimes the hardest place to live is the one in-between... Stars!

I am torn at my rating for this one, because for me it was a book of two halves, I absolutely adored the first half of Jason and Sloan's story, the unique meet-cute and the way Jason negotiated the relationship he was building with Sloan around and as well as to include her grief.

A rock star on the rise, meeting and falling with a woman who prefers the company of his dog Tucker, and her paints and canvas is always going to be a love story with more than a few bumps in the road. Bumps I knew would come, but what made me fall out of love with the second half of the story (not the couple) was the literal line up of every clichéd trope you can think of in relation to this sort of romance story playing out.

I will say that the tropes used are pet peeves for me as a reader, so my review is purely on personal preference for that, and although I did find myself rolling my eyes and getting a bit frustrated with the way things played out, the writing and characterisation were sound, and the epilogue a perfect ending, so I will definitely be looking to read more from the author in the future.

Well this book is just all kinds of beautiful all rolled up and packaged behind this gorgeous cover.
I loved Friend Zone, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this beauty ever since reading. It definitely has not disappointed. I’ve loved revising characters from Friend Zone with the addition of Jason (who is all kinds of perfection). I haven’t been able to put this one down! I’ve been too keen to find out where this was going.
Definitely a five star read for me, it is absolutely stunning. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This wasn't my usual type of read, but I have to say I loved this & it's one of the best books I've read so far this year! Who'd of thought having a strange dog dive through your sun roof would lead you to fall head over heels with a rock star & after a whirlwind romance embark on his tour with him. Sloan the Huntsmans Wife blogger is still grieving for her partner after an accident took him away from her, while Jason just wants to find his errant dog & the rest...thats for you to read & fall in love with the rollercoaster romance this novel takes you on! Thankyou Netgalley for my ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

I really really really loved this one!
It mixes the fun of a romcom with the angst of a rockstars romance and it does it well.
If you need another motivation to pick this up asap there's the most adorable dog ever. Cupid? Idk him, Tucker does it better.

The beginning was so fun and so light, I truly needed it. I loved how they connect and built their relationship. I loved how this book portrays the message of moving on from grief for themselves and not only because there's someone in your life.
Jason and Sloan are both wonderful characters, you connect with both of them, you care for both of them. They're definitely the best match.

The second part was a full angst/will they make it or not? And I have to be honest rockstars romance rarely work for me, i saw the plot twist coming from ages ago, and it was my least part of it all.

But overall it truly was a joy to read, the couple is pure gold and Abby Jimenez's writing captures you since the first page. I haven't read The Friend Zone yet because it didn't interest me, but after meeting Kristen and Josh, and loving them, I truly want to give it a chance.

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up when it releases.

Devoured in 24 hours and compulsive reading are my first thoughts on finishing THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST. This story had all the highs and crushing lows, so get ready for a roller coaster ride that had me gripping onto the safety bar.

The Sloan that we met in THE FRIEND ZONE was brought to life in this story, a shadow of her former self and still understandably stuck in a complex grief pattern of one significant date of loss to another. The grief element of this book was well written but it didn’t overwhelm the narrative; it was balanced so well. The serendipitous meeting of Tucker, the dog, Sloan and then Jason was absolutely fun. I got so wrapped up in their virtual meet cute and then their real life one.

I got lulled, lulled into chemistry for days, banter (much of which came from Kirsten) and the gorgeous newness of a relationship. So that when the rot and angst crept in, I wasn’t ready. The second half of the book had more serious tones and it was gripping but tough reading. I will say no more to the plot because you just have to read this.

I have exited the book reinforcing my fandom of Abby Jiminez’s writing and character creations. I feel like I want to go back and read these two books back to back soon because I just haven’t had enough. You are definitely going to want to read this.

Thank you to Little Brown for the finished review copy.