Title: Just For The Summer
Author: Abby Jimenez
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Genre: Adult Fiction – Contemporary – Romance
My rating in stars:
My rating in words:
Really enjoyed it!
WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
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?
MY THOUGHTS (spoiler-free):
“In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy.”
I finally read my first full-length Abby Jimenez novel! And I finished it in 2 days, which is definitely already telling you how much I enjoyed it. So let’s get into a quick mini bullet review of what I loved about it!
Everything I loved:
Justin. Okay, I’ve got to be honest, Justin is the epitome of the perfect book boyfriend. He is adorable and funny and thoughtful and oh wow, the way he sends these questionnaires to Emma before and after every date just had me swooning. Add to that the way he takes care of his family and how open he is about his feelings? Swoon.
The depth and character development. I guess I should have known that this would be so much more than just a rom-com when I first read Worst Wingman Ever, a novella by Abby Jimenez, that packed so much depth into one tiny novella. While Just For The Summer definitely delivers on the romance and the swoons, it also delivered two incredibly complex characters with a lot of backstory going on and a lot of issues to overcome. But that said, the character development is amazing and heartwrenching and beautiful.
The open communication. These are two characters that know how to communicate about their thoughts and feelings and expectations and it is just such a breath of fresh air. Yes, there is still a lot to overcome for Emma and Justin, but miscommunication isn’t one of those things and that elevates this story to top status for me.
Maddy the best BFF. I do love strong friendships in books and this one delivered. Maddy was hilarious and protective and I loved her so much.
My nitpicks:
Was the premise really necessary? I loved the idea of the premise about both Justin and Emma being cursed and dating each other to try and cancel out their curse. And I love how it set up the entire story. But while I can see Justin’s part of the curse, I felt like Emma’s curse was kind of added on to have the reason for them to get together in the plot. I mean, who are these men she dated that went on to marry other people? She never mentions any of them. And how would she even know what happened to them after dating her, if she doesn’t fall in love and moves away constantly? Maybe I missed something, but this felt off to me.
It’s technically a standalone, but I still missed something by not reading other Abby Jimenez books. Near the end, we meet a few different characters that apparently are from other Abby Jimenez books. And since I hadn’t read those books yet, I felt like I was missing something. Nothing crucial to the story, but it felt a bit too obvious to me that these were cameos.
Overall, I highly enjoyed this read, despite a few nitpicks, and am definitely looking to pick up more Abby Jimenez books soon! This was an amazing balance of romance and depth, of swoons and introspection and all the emotions.
SOME FAVORITE QUOTES:
“The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about. Taking the end piece of the bread at breakfast so she can have the last middle piece for her sandwich when you pack her lunch. Making sure her car always has gas so she never has to stop at the pump. Telling her you’re not cold and to take your jacket when you are in fact, very, very cold. It’s watching TV on a rainy Sunday while you’re doing laundry and turning her light off when she’s fallen asleep reading. Sharing pizza crusts and laughing about something the kids did and taking care of each other when you’re sick. It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.”
Tell Me:
Have you read Just For The Summer or will you be reading it?
I loved this book but agree that even though it’s technically a standalone, it feels more special when you recognize the characters who appear as cameos from Part of Your World. It’s like visiting with old friends.
Yes, so true! I’d definitely recommend other people to read her other books in this ‘series’ first. It’s not a must, but I think it’ll indeed make the reading experience better.
I’ve been seeing this book everywhere. I haven’t read this author yet but if you liked this book then I’m sure I will too.
She definitely seems to be a well-loved author! I’m still new to her books too, but I did enjoy this one, so hope you will too if you decide to give it a try!
You really flew through this one! I know Jimenez has a huge following (esp. among my book blogger friends) but I’ve read only one book from her so far. My experience was similar to yours: I really enjoyed it but had a couple issues. Still, it was a 4 star read for me (the one I read was Part of Your World). So glad you enjoyed this one!
Glad to hear you felt similarly about Part of World as I did for this one! She does seem to be very popular with lots of 5-star reads so it was a bit daunting to even rate it less that 5 stars, even if I still very much enjoyed it!
This one sounds fun! I’ve never picked up an Abby Jimenez book before, so I’m glad to hear this one is a standalone if I do decide to pick it up… even if it might be better to read them all!
I’m still new to Abby Jimenez, but I do enjoy her writing style, so hope you’ll love her books if you decide to give her a try!
I can’t wait to read this book! I have really enjoyed every Abby Jimenez book I’ve read so far, I’m just waiting for this one to become available at the library. I’m on quite a long wait list as this is so popular! 🙂
I hope you’ll love this one!
I love her books but I have still to read that one!
I hope you’ll love this one, Sophie!
I haven’t had a chance to read this yet, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I hope you’ll love this one too!