I'm Supposed to Be Witty Here and All I Want to Do is Make Undiscernable Hand Gestures While I Tell You Why I Loved This Book
Just for the Summer
Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Women's Fiction
Forever
April 2, 2024
ebook, paperback, audiobook
432
A sharp and scintillating summer novel that will make readers laugh out loud and cry happy tears from the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.
Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.
It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?
“Maybe home isn’t a place. Maybe it’s a person.”
I’m not lying when I tell you that I picked up Just for the Summer and finished it less than 24 hours later. Was I reading this while on the clock for my real-life job? I refuse to confess to that so you can use your imagination. There is a reason why Abby Jimenez is wildly popular for her romance books and like my headline suggests, I wish I could just gush for 300-500 words going off just vibes and hand gestures but it turns out that most people like to read actual words for a book review—who knew?
I’ll be absolutely honest with you and speak directly to the girlies who have mommy issues— (Daddy issues? You get a break this book. You’re welcome.)—maybe check-in with yourself before you tackle this book. If you feel like you’re in a good place, then, by all means, read on. Our FMC, Emma, has some serious issues when it comes to abandonment and the only person in the world she can rely on is her best friend. She also happens to have the worst kind of luck when it comes to dating. She’s the female equivalent of “Good Luck Chuck” and after scrolling an AITA feed on Reddit, Emma discovers that she has a male counterpart out there as well.
“If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. It’s so much healthier than anger. For both of you.”
As luck would have it, Justin is not only woefully unlucky in love, he’s also hilarious, charming, and pretty much the epitome of golden retriever energy in a straight man. The problem is that he’s in Minnesota and Emma is a traveling nurse. In a delightfully rom-com turn of events, Emma is able to convince her roommate and fellow traveling nurse to take their next rotation in Minnesota in order to see if Justin is too good to be true. The only thing is, Justin is about to become the legal guardian of his younger siblings.
Trying to see if a relationship would work between Emma and Justin is trying in itself but when you add on an island in the middle of the lake rental cottage, mommy issues with both Emma and Justin, an impending expiration date, a fake dating experiment that obviously is actual dating but neither are willing to admit their feelings because tension, and a miniscule plot point at the beginning of the novel that turns into a big deal by the end—“trying” becomes nearly herculean.
“You are not what happened to you. You are what you do next.”
Y’all, if this was on Bravo it would win all the Emmy awards. Just for the Summer plays out exactly like the most bingeable kind of reality series. The way Abby Jimenez injects every bit of reality into her characters, her storytelling, and weaves in cameos like she’s on the hook to produce a Marvel movie is utterly impressive.
I can’t go any further without ruining this reading experience for you all, so I’m going to leave it at that. Just for the Summer is officially out today. Definitely go buy a copy and then read it so then I can gush about Justin, rage cry about mommy issues with someone else, and swoon over the sweetness of this HEA with everyone. Look at that. I did it without having to resort to hand gestures. You should reward me by going to read this book.
Jes is a self-proclaimed bookworm, who recently moved from the PNW back to the Midwest. When her nose isn’t in a book, she’s spending time with her husband, two kids, and her three fur babies, or exploring the globe. She also firmly believes that you should start the day with coffee, and end the day in bed with a good book.
