Abby Jimenez, author of The Friend Zone, has created an irresistible, heart-wrenching romance in The Happy Ever After Playlist. Artist Sloan Monroe is still living in a fog of grief two years after the death of her fiancé, Brandon. As Sloan drives down a Los Angeles street, a dog leaps into her car through its broken sunroof. Shocked to find herself with a lap full of dog, she finds herself suddenly, fully awake for the first time in years.
It turns out the dog's owner is a sexy musician named Jason who's currently touring in Australia. Sloan agrees to keep the dog until he gets back, since Jason's original dogsitter was clearly unreliable, and finds herself texting him at all hours of the day and night.
When Jason arrives back in L.A., Sloan can no longer deny that she's attracted to him. But it makes her feel guilty, as though she's leaving Brandon behind. Things are further complicated by the fact that Jason's career is on the rise, and he's about to set out on a long tour. Is Sloan's heart going to be broken just when she feels that it's finally started functioning again?
Sweet and funny, yet with vulnerable depths, The Happy Ever After Playlist is a delightful romance. Sloan's struggles with moving on after Brandon's death make for compelling reading--and create a surprisingly plausible story, in spite of the rock star accoutrements. Fans of contemporary romance are sure to love Abby Jimenez's second novel. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.