The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez Series: Say You'll Remember Me #2
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Forever on March 24, 2026
Also by this author: The Friend Zone, The Happy Ever After Playlist, Life's Too Short , Part of Your World, Yours Truly, Just for the Summer, Say You'll Remember Me
Format: Audio/Physical (399 pages) • Source: Libby, Purchased
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From the #1
New York Times
bestselling author of
Say You'll Remember Me
comes a beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.
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?
I’ve read every single Abby Jimenez book before its publication date (thank you to Forever Romance as always!) and this was the first one where I had to actually wait until the book came out! It was a weird experience honestly but it WAS nice to enjoy the audiobook for once. The synopsis implies a love triangle and/or potential cheating, which is such a risky trope for Abby to cover… but honestly I knew she’d kill it.
Larissa met Chris and Mike at a concert one night and chose Mike (instead of Chris) to bring her home. Months later, she and Mike are dating and Chris missed his opportunity. Mike asks Chris to help him out one day and bring Larissa and her mom to a surgery appointment, and a friendship blooms between them. They accidentally rescue a dog together and start a lot of buddy reads. They have a ton in common…especially compared to her and Mike.
As with all books by Abby Jimenez, there are some touchy or tough subjects covered in this one. The full trigger warnings are described at the beginning of the book. In short, Larissa is barely scraping by financially and Chris is dealing with some complex grief.
I really loved the chemistry development and how the “complication” or issue happened throughout the whole book. How could these two ever be together, even if Larissa and Mike broke up? Chris and Mike are childhood best friends. There wasn’t necessarily a third act breakup because all of the problems were happening within the bounds of the narrative. It created a little less tension, honestly, but I still really enjoyed waiting to see how it would all unfold.
Chris and Larissa were great characters but they didn’t leap off the page quite as much as other characters in Abby’s books for me. There was just a little bit of a spark missing for me that puts this into the top tier favorites of her books. I thought they had good banter, again like most of her books, but just not QUITE as funny for me?
Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano Series: Finlay Donovan #6
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Minotaur Books on March 17, 2026
Also by this author: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun , Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave
Format: Audio/Physical (368 pages) • Source: Library, Spotify Audiobooks
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Life hasn’t been easy for Finlay Donovan lately, but it just got a whole lot harder. Her nanny and partner-in-crime, Vero, has been extradited from Virginia to Maryland, where she’s facing criminal charges for a theft she swears she didn’t commit. A prisoner to an ankle bracelet as she awaits her trial, Vero is forced to live with her overbearing mother and nosy aunt. Threatening messages keep arriving on her mother’s door, demanding Vero “turn over the money . . . or else.” And if she doesn’t figure out who really stole her former sorority’s treasury funds, her next home might be a prison cell.
But proving her innocence might be an impossible feat. Vero was the treasurer of her sorority when the money went missing—one of the only people who had access to the cash. And her alibi is a date who ghosted her. With her court date quickly approaching, and her mysterious stalker on her tail, Vero needs to clear her name fast.
Finlay decides a trip to Maryland is in order. After all, Vero stood by her through her darkest moments, and Finlay will be damned if she lets her best friend and children’s nanny be convicted for something she didn’t do. She sets off on a mission to sus out the real thief and bring Vero home.
It feels appropriate to put two of my more anticipated reads – especially the exciting March releases – in one spot! I am an avid reader of the Finlay Donovan series and would listen to the newest audiobook each release week. I was a little delayed this time but only by a week or so. I also decided to grab the hardcover from the library when I saw it was available so I could go back and forth.
This installment follows a plot point we’ve had in the back of our minds for a few books – Vero’s missing money issue from college that she fled from before the series started. I’ve really enjoyed the fact that this series has had a couple of multi-book overarching mysteries along with individual mysteries in each book. The first four or five-book story arc went away in the last book, and this one plot point resumed at the end into this one.
I don’t know if this story was that interesting or exciting for me but I thought it was a nice change-up from the last book. It took me a long time to read this one and I can’t really tell if it’s because I’m in a sort of slump or if I just didn’t care as much about this one. The book had its nice family/friend moments and funny ones, like always, so that continued to be a great time.
As usual, the book ends with some exciting developments – both on the personal side with the characters and the mystery side, of what we’ll see in the next book. I have a feeling that the main “villain” from the previous installment will re-enter here; it was alluded to quite a bit and the ending may have confirmed it. I’m excited to get into some new storylines as always… I wish she released two per year!
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