Life's Too Short

Life’s Too Short (2021) is a contemporary romance novel by Abby Jimenez that follows Vanessa Price, a social media influencer, and Adrian Copeland, a lawyer. The story explores Living in the Present, The Transformative Power of Love and Connection, and Resilience Amid Adversity. This novel is part of Jimenez’s “Friend Zone” series, which mixes serious topics with romance and humor. Other books in the series include The Friend Zone (2019), featuring Kristen and Josh, and The Happy Ever After Playlist (2020), focusing on Sloan and Jason’s romance. Before her writing career, Jimenez founded Nadia Cakes in 2007, a bakery that gained fame after winning Food Network’s Cupcake Wars in 2013 and is celebrated for its inventive designs. Besides writing and baking, Jimenez also advocates health awareness based on her experience with chronic kidney disease.

The guide refers to the Hachette Book Group 2021 eBook edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, substance use, sexual content, and mental illness.

Plot Summary

After traveling the world and creating content for her YouTube channel, Vanessa Price has recently returned to her hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. Vanessa’s sister, Annabel, struggles with substance use and left her newborn daughter, Grace, in Vanessa’s care. Grace is inconsolable. Vanessa’s attractive neighbor, Adrian, the apartment building owner and a criminal defense attorney, knocks on her door to complain about the incessant crying. He notices Vanessa’s exhausted state. He offers to hold Grace while she showers, and his kindness leaves a lasting impression on Vanessa.

The following day, Annabel, her father, Gerald, and half-brother, Brent, attempt to force their way into her apartment to see Grace. Adrian intervenes, using his legal knowledge to scare them away. Vanessa invites him to stay for dinner. The two begin to develop a friendship in which Adrian helps with Grace, while Vanessa sometimes cares for Adrian’s foster dog, Harry Puppins. Vanessa has been experiencing weakness, a potential symptom of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in her wrist, which she hides from her family.

Though Adrian and Vanessa are attracted to one another, each hesitates to enter a relationship for different reasons. Adrian, who recently went through a breakup, struggles with anxiety and abandonment issues stemming from his father leaving the family when he was a child. Vanessa’s family faces many problems, including Annabel’s substance use and her father’s hoarding. Her grandmother, aunt, and sister all died from genetic ALS. Although Vanessa hasn’t been diagnosed, she has a 50% chance of having the disease. As a result, she doesn’t date, underwent a tubal ligation, and two years ago quit her job to travel the world and make the most of whatever time she has left. This project turned her into a YouTube star, and her channel generates significant revenue to support ALS research.

Despite Vanessa’s chaotic personal life, Adrian is drawn to her spontaneity and zest for living in the moment. Vanessa encourages Adrian to abandon his white-knuckle approach to life, stop burying himself in work, and embrace the whimsy and kismet of focusing only on today. When Adrian meets Vanessa’s father, he sees the reality of the literal mess of her life. Yet, he isn’t scared away and chooses to lean into the challenge by offering support and available resources. Adrian helps Gerald find a counselor who assists him with his grief and hoarding. He provides legal counsel for Annabel after she is arrested and shot while attempting to break into her previous residence.

Adrian and Vanessa begin spending all their free time together and form a little family as he cherishes the presence of her and Grace in his life. Despite everyone around them seeing it, Vanessa and Adrian suppress their feelings for one another, too afraid of what it will mean to confess their love. After a disastrous first kiss attempt, the couple faces miscommunication about their feelings. Vanessa finally confesses her feelings, and Adrian kisses her and takes her to his bed.

At Vanessa’s encouragement, Adrian agrees to visit his family in Nebraska for Christmas. After his father Richard’s estrangement, Adrian had no contact with his father. His mother and dad later reconciled and remarried, but Adrian refuses to speak to Richard. The Nebraska trip provides a chance to repair their relationship and introduce Vanessa and Grace to his family. Adrian’s parents adore Vanessa and are proud of Adrian taking on so much responsibility with Grace. Adrian knew that Vanessa’s sister died from ALS, but he didn’t know her chances of getting it were so high. After watching her YouTube videos, he learns the gravity of her situation and falls apart. He begs Vanessa to see a doctor, but she refuses. Adrian gives her an ultimatum: either seek a diagnosis and treatment, or he can’t be with her.

Adrian and Vanessa break up, and Annabel completes rehab but waives her parental rights to Grace. Vanessa leaves Grace with her father, who, with the help of a therapist, has cleaned up his home and secured a stable job. Vanessa resumes her world travel. She makes a tearful video for her followers, thanking them for their support and forgiving Adrian for not being able to love her. Two months later, Vanessa is on her ex Drake’s private island for his and his partner Laird’s (Vanessa’s former camera operator) wedding. Brent and Joel are there, and he tells Vanessa that Adrian has been traveling extensively for months, trying to find her. Adrian arrives on the island and reveals that he is adopting Grace. He apologizes for not respecting her wishes, and they reconcile.

For the next 10 months, they travel the world together with Grace. Upon their return home, Vanessa learns that the weakness in her arms was due to a benign cyst. She and Adrian get married, and she has surgery to remove the cyst. They reignite Vanessa’s YouTube channel by uploading videos from their travels. Adrian quits his job as a criminal justice attorney and begins lobbying for people with disabilities, ensuring that public places follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).