New York Times bestselling author Abby Jimenez returns with PART OF YOUR WORLD, a powerful novel about duty, obligation and happiness that is set in the same world as her highly acclaimed books THE FRIEND ZONE, THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST and LIFE’S TOO SHORT.

Is there a worse --- or better? --- thing to say as the protagonist of an Abby Jimenez novel than “I’m not dating for the foreseeable future. I don’t need any men in my life right now. Or ever”? It’s 9:00 on a Tuesday night in April, which means that everyone in the small town of Wakan is at the VFW bar, including Carl, the tow truck operator. When recently single Alexis, who is just passing through, swerves to avoid a raccoon, the only person available to lug her and her Mercedes out of a ditch is Daniel. Not only is Daniel the bingo-calling, fire-fighting, Santa costume-wearing, baby goat-fostering (yes, you read that correctly) mayor of Wakan, he’s also handsome in a “rugged lumberjack” kind of way. And he’s a decade younger than Alexis.

"PART OF YOUR WORLD is probably Jimenez’s steamiest and most magical work, but it is also one of her most poignant. The traumas Alexis has endured are written with frank, clear-eyed intent, yet they are never gratuitous or voyeuristic."

After the first --- explosively good, shockingly acrobatic --- one-night stand of her life, Alexis lets herself into her own home at the crack of dawn, with her hair tangled, her body covered in hickeys and Daniel’s hoodie on her back. (She panicked, okay?) A member of a legendary doctor family, Alexis is not the kind of girl who makes rash, reckless decisions. She’s a Montgomery, the youngest in a family of powerful philanthropists of the medical world, and it has been over a century since a Montgomery was not working at the Royaume Northwestern Hospital.

There’s just one problem: Alexis' golden-boy brother and former coworker, Derek, has just announced his marriage to a pop star hiding out in Cambodia, which means that she absolutely has to stay on staff…with her ex, chief of surgery Neil. After nearly a decade of abuse --- gaslighting, emotional manipulation and cheating --- she has finally severed herself from him, but Derek's announcement means that she cannot look for employment elsewhere without disappointing her family. Her father, a prestigious surgeon (with a matching god complex), already looks down on her for being “just” an ER doctor and for breaking up with the brilliant Neil, so this development means that she’s truly trapped. If only there was a tall, handsome way to blow off some steam…

Daniel loves his small town, but even he cannot deny that it has a whole lot of nothing: no mental health professionals or urgent care, no new bodies during the off-season, and nowhere near enough money to keep its citizens happy and healthy. Although his family has owned a historic mansion for six generations, Daniel, who lives above the garage, doesn’t have a lot of options at his disposal for wining and dining Alexis; to him, she looks like a model who accidentally stumbled off set and into his arms. But who needs all the bells and whistles when you have real chemistry? And if there’s one thing Jimenez does perfectly (who am I kidding, she does it all), it’s chemistry. And, apparently, baby goats in pajamas.

Longtime readers of Jimenez’s work will know that chemistry is only half the allure of her books: the other half is the serious, complicated issues she writes into her plots with deep emotional intellect and an all-encompassing compassion for the themes, characters and situations she creates. In previous works, this meant writing about infertility, grief and mental illness with tender compassion and sharp wit. In PART OF YOUR WORLD, this means tackling not only the age and income bracket disparity between Alexis and Daniel, but also Alexis’ wounds from Neil’s abuse.

In what is perhaps the heaviest theme Jimenez has written yet (and I’m including real, on-the-page grief!), she proves once again that thorough research and a keen understanding of the human psyche can make even the most horrific situations accessible and relatable. At the same time, she cements the power of literature to help characters and readers identify these red flags in their own lives.

PART OF YOUR WORLD is probably Jimenez’s steamiest and most magical work, but it is also one of her most poignant. The traumas Alexis has endured are written with frank, clear-eyed intent, yet they are never gratuitous or voyeuristic. I know from Jimenez’s interviews and talks about her books that research is an important step in her process, but I believe that she has really taken this immersion to the next level here. I hope that many readers will see it as a wake-up call, either to speak out about abuse in their own lives or to catch the signs of the abuse of others.

Of course, I cannot write this review without describing the characters in greater detail. Whereas Alexis has an obvious familial obligation to being spectacular and holding up her family name, Daniel too has an obligation to the citizens (and baby goats) around him. Although these two are from seemingly different, age-gapped worlds, their individual senses of moral duty and obligation allow them to find common ground with one another, as do their need for fun and relaxation.

For me, Alexis and Daniel are Jimenez’s most lovable characters since Kristen and Josh from THE FRIEND ZONE. Rooting for them to allow themselves to be happy while also hoping they accept that happiness could be found in one another put me through one of the most harrowing emotional rollercoasters of my life. This, plus the magic of small-town Wakan (savvy readers will catch nods to classic fairy tales), is representative of everything readers have come to expect from Jimenez: layered, heartwarming romance balanced by real-world themes, razor-sharp wit and an unapologetic, jubilant sense of empowerment.

In sum, I need Abby Jimenez’s next book yesterday. And I wouldn’t say no to it being delivered by a baby goat in pajamas.