Just for the Summer — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Abby Jimenez
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Forever
Pages: 432

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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?

First Impressions

I love Jimenez’s novels and was so excited to read her newest one. I do love the cover and the title though, so even if I wasn’t already a fan this one would’ve caught my eye.

What I thought

Loved it! I also think that Jimenez may have predicted my life?

Emma is a traveling nurse. Ever 3 months, she and her best friend Maddy move somewhere new. She also has a curse. Every person she dates finds their soulmate after she has broken up with them. Emma and Maddy are just about to head on their next job to Hawaii when Emma finds a guy with the same curse she has. They start talking and decide they need to fake date each other to find their soulmate. Only problem is that he lives in Minnesota. Emma decides to take a chance and head to Minnesota just for the summer, to see if they can fake date and she can find her true love.

So, a few funny things. My husband’s name is Justin, and the love interest in this book is named Justin. They have an experience with meeting kitten that almost has a word for word match for what we experienced when we met our future kitten. He refuses to kiss Emma until date number 4, which also happened with me. And finally, in July I got really sick and my Justin took care of me. Emma has an experience very similar to mine, even with the kind of illness she gets. It’s wild. Suffice to say, I had a very good connection with this book. I loved the chemistry between Emma and Justin too.

This was the first book in a long time that I found myself wanting to come home and read instead of watching TV or scrolling on my iPad. I loved Justin’s silliness but that he was also so caring. However, the book does hit on some more serious storylines involving childhood neglect and abandonment. When that started to become more of the focus than the romance and the curse breaking, I found my interest wane a little bit. It just felt a little slow at that point to me.

Not to say that it wasn’t well done. I think Jimenez handled Emma’s trauma truthfully. It never felt over the top or dramatic just for the sake of the story. I think my minor issue is it almost feels like I read to different stories. I adored the romance and the fake dating that’s real dating for curse breaking. I liked the story of Emma dealing with her traumas and Justin being there to support her.