Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez

When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn't expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn't just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn't want to take anything for granted.

But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from "daily adventure" to "next-level bad" (now with bonus baby vomit in hair). The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she'd be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua.

Now she's feeling things she's vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

Paperback, 384 pages

Published April 6, 2021

 by Forever

4/5 stars

This is the third book in Abby Jimenez's trilogy, The Friend's Zone, my favourite of the three. I came to this one as a hybrid read - splitting my time between the book and the audiobook - a great way to read.

The first 2 books leaned heavily on miscommunication, a trope that is not my favourite.  One discussion would have cleared everything up.  This being the author's debut series, I felt she was finding her groove in those earlier titles. Most readers absolutely loved them and I get it, but they just weren't quite there for me.

This one, though? Different story entirely. Life is Too Short has many layers, which is exactly what I look for. Like her previous books, Jimenez tackles a serious theme, but this time around the story felt less repetitive and had a much better flow. The dual POVs gave real depth to both main characters - I genuinely felt like I got to know them better, which made all the difference.

Add in witty banter, a baby and a gloriously ugly dog and you have a book that balances heart and humour beautifully.

Abby Jimenez has become an auto-read author for me. It's like she gets better with each release.  

This book was #14 in my 2026 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge.