Part of Your World

The Part of Your World series is Abby Jimenez's interconnected contemporary romance trilogy set primarily in and around rural Minnesota, exploring themes of belonging, sacrifice, career versus personal happiness, and what it means to build a life that honours both ambition and love. Whilst each book works as a standalone, the series creates a rich community of characters whose lives interweave, offering readers the satisfaction of revisiting beloved characters whilst meeting new couples navigating their own romantic journeys.

Books in the series:

Part of Your World (2022) launches the series with a reverse Little Mermaid story. Dr. Alexis Montgomery is a successful Chicago doctor from a wealthy, demanding family when a car accident strands her in tiny Wakan, Minnesota. Daniel Grant, a small-town carpenter and handyman, helps her, and their connection deepens during her extended stay. The novel explores the seemingly impossible divide between their worlds - Alexis's high-powered medical career and family expectations versus Daniel's contentment with simple, community-focused life. Jimenez examines what we sacrifice for success, whether love requires one person to give up everything, and how to bridge gaps between vastly different life paths. The small-town setting becomes a character itself, representing the warmth, community, and slower pace Alexis never knew she craved.

Yours Truly (2023) shifts to a hospital setting whilst maintaining Minnesota connections. Dr. Briana Ortiz is a physician struggling with her brother's kidney disease when Dr. Jacob Maddox arrives as the new doctor everyone expects her to hate. Their workplace enemies-to-lovers dynamic is complicated by Jacob's unexpected kindness - he secretly donates a kidney to Briana's brother, an act of generosity that transforms their relationship. The novel explores sacrifice, what strangers owe each other, and how sometimes the person who irritates you most might be exactly who you need. Jimenez balances medical drama with romantic comedy, creating both laugh-out-loud moments and genuine emotional depth. The book maintains connections to Part of Your World's characters whilst telling a complete, standalone story.

Just for the Summer (2024) completes the trilogy with a fun premise: Justin and Emma both believe they're cursed - everyone they date finds their soulmate immediately after breaking up with them. They decide to date each other temporarily to break the pattern, expecting their exes to move on and freeing them from the "curse." Set in Wakan, Minnesota (connecting back to the first book's setting), the novel employs fake dating and small-town romance tropes whilst exploring family dysfunction, found family, and healing from childhood trauma. Justin works at a resort, and Emma arrives for the summer, allowing Jimenez to explore seasonal romance alongside deeper themes about chosen family and breaking cycles of dysfunction.

The series excels at creating a sense of place - Minnesota, both urban and rural, becomes integral to the stories. Jimenez depicts small-town community with authenticity, avoiding both idealisation and condescension. Her characters genuinely grapple with the trade-offs between career ambition and personal fulfilment, between family expectations and individual happiness.

Common threads connect the books: characters who must choose between career success and personal happiness, found family themes, Minnesota settings creating community, medical elements (doctors, health crises), emotional intelligence and communication, and Jimenez's signature balance of humour and heartbreak.

Supporting characters from each book reappear in subsequent instalments, creating satisfying continuity. Readers invested in Alexis and Daniel's story get updates in later books, whilst Briana and Jacob's romance enriches Just for the Summer's world.

Jimenez's trademark emotional depth permeates the series. She's unafraid to tackle serious topics - organ donation, chronic illness, family dysfunction, grief - whilst maintaining romantic comedy's lightness. Her characters cry, laugh, make mistakes, and communicate like actual adults, creating romances that feel authentic despite their wish-fulfilment elements.

The series appeals to readers seeking small-town romance, medical romance, emotionally intelligent contemporary fiction, and stories where career-driven women find love without sacrificing ambition entirely.