Just For The Summer by Abby Jimenez || Book Review

I've read all of Abby Jimenez's books and while I didn't like all of them, I enjoy them at least a bit. I once consecutively read a bunch of books from her backlog, and it was fun. I discovered Yours Truly which became one of my comfort reads.

Hence, when Just For The Summer was released, I had high hopes for it. And it did not disappoint.

about Just For The Summer

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 review

When I read the Reddit AITA post on page one, I knew that I'd enjoy the book. The post easily set a humourous and lighthearted tone for the rest of the story to follow. And the story kept following it up with gems.

Josh and Emma both have a curse: every person who dates them meets their soulmate right after breaking up with them. It would be a funny coincidence if it didn't happen every time.

I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel like this and I thought it was a curse that nobody else ever worked out. But it wasn’t. It’s just that they weren’t you.

The romance in Yours Truly was one of my favourites because of the way it started and the banted between the main characters. Just For The Summer somehow managed to top that.

When Justin's Reddit post about his dating curse goes viral, many people reach out to him to ask for quotes or to date him so that they'd find their soulmate. Emma sends a funny DM to him about having the same curse and they hit it off.

It's easy to see why Justin and Emma bonded. They have similar temperaments, have similar humours, and both of them weren't afraid to poke fun at themselves. They went from Reddit DMs to texts, to phone calls, and then met in person. It's a super easy relationship growth that lowkey feels unreal.

I highly enjoyed Emma and Justin's initial get-to-know-each-other period. It's made out of dreams. They talk easily, spend hours on phone calls, and often send each other funny texts. It was no surprise that they wanted to meet after a while of talking on the phone.

Because when you’re in love, you do hard things. And nothing about anything was easy right now.

Emma is a travelling nurse with her best friend Maddy. Every 6 weeks, they move to a different city to help out at a different hospital. Emma finds it hard to put down roots due to her childhood and she prefers being on the go.

When it was time for their next destination, Emma created a powerpoint presentation to convince her best friend to go to Minnesota. Her friend caves and they go to a renowned hospital in Minnesota without telling Justin. After arriving, Emma sends a photo to Justin that he cannot miss and he loses his calm like we expect. He immediately asks her out on a date.

Here's the thing: Justin and Emma decide to date to break other's curses and find their soulmates next, but they're simply too compatible with each other. Anyone can understand that they're the perfect couple.

For their first date, Justin sends Emma a survey to understand her preferences for the date and later sends her an e-vite. After a banger first date, he sends her a form for feedback. He puts in all the effort to make the first date, and following dates, a success.

I swear to God this guy is the epitome of If He Wanted To He Would.

Justin is the absolute sweetest guy. He is a lead software engineer by profession working from home (I was tickled by that because I am also a software engineer). He is the eldest sibling of 4 kids and lost his father recently.

His life is about to go through a ton of changes because he is taking custody of his siblings while his mom goes to prison. Emma came to Minnesota at the right time because she becomes his life raft to hold on to as the rest of his world turns upside down.

The fact that he took custody of his siblings even though his mom's best friend volunteered to, does his absolute best to take care of them during the transition, and plans the sweetest dates with Emma says so much about him. And he cooks! He is lowkey the human version of a waving green flag.

Sure, Justin is flawed in a few ways. He sometimes doesn't understand what others go through and initially hated his mom for what she did while grieving his father. But he is willing to listen and learn. He does his best to support his family and friends.

In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy.

Emma didn't have a great childhood and she hasn't recovered from that trauma yet. Her mom wasn't a great mother and abandoned her for long periods of time until she was put into foster care. Despite that, she worries about her mom and tries to be the strong one because her mom isn't. She's been burying her trauma and moving on but it's always waiting to take over when she's vulnerable.

Right from the start, it's evident that Emma is too pure to be in this world. The above quote is something she says and lives by. Although she has been through a lot, she still tries to see the best in people and doesn't turn away when anyone needs help.

She was unsure of dating Justin when he took guardianship of his siblings because she didn't want to put down roots, but she rallied when they needed her. She may struggle with PTSD sometimes but she's always there for her people.

A while after she moved to Minnesota, her mom arrives as well. Emma sees her mom for the first time in years but it looks like her mom came only to date Emma's rich landlord. As her mother, Amber, makes a mess of things as she usually does, Emma is forced to decide whether she wants to continue allowing her mother to bring her pain.

Just like Emma came into Justin's life when he needed her, he also came into her life when she needed him.

“You're not asking too much," he said. "You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.”

The romance was amazing. I loved the initial half of the book where they got to know one another. Of course, as they date, they fall hard for each other. Despite both of them having vulnerabilities and being scared of their feelings, they show up for each other.

About halfway through the book, the lightheartedness reduces and there's more contention in the story. It's mainly due to Emma's mom Amber and the unresolved trauma that Emma has. It takes a long time for things to resolve so the story is kinda painful throughout that. Emma and Justin's relationship is a shining star in the dark night of the story.

This romance does have a third-act breakup. Just like in Yours Truly, I believe that the third-act breakup here was necessary. We hate to read it but there are situations in which it helps in the long run. Emma and Justin had some healing to do on their own.

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.

The supporting characters were amazing too. I loved Justin's siblings. They bonded with Emma really well and despite Emma not wanting to put down roots, she couldn't help but love them.

Emma's best friend Maddy was also great. She was Emma's foster sister and knew about Emma's traumas. Maddy became a travelling nurse so that Emma would have someone with her and wouldn't be alone. Throughout the book, Maddy is Emma's rock and support system. Honestly, Maddy is Emma's soulmate more than Justin. I loved their friendship.

We also see cameos of the previous couples in the series. Justin is the best friend of the brother of the main character in Yours Truly. I really liked that the stories were linked in a way but we still got a whole set of new characters and personalities.

Just For The Summer is also linked to Part of Your World in a way. Because I read Part of Your World a long time back, I didn't make the connection until it was revealed. I really liked the reveal.

overall

This became a new comfort book for me. I've read it so many times after my initial read and it never fails to make me laugh and feel good. I absolutely loved the ending.

If you're looking for a good romance book that will make you laugh but also explores deep emotions, I highly recommend this.

chat with me!

What was the last book you read which you want everyone to read? Is it a book that you would reread at some point? What kind of books become your comfort reads?