BOOK REVIEW: JUST FOR THE SUMMER – ABBY JIMENEZ

Book Review: Just For The Summer – Abby Jimenez

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?

Just For The Summer is the cutest romance novel ever. This is what I have to say for this book, as a big fan of Emily Henry and her writing style, Abby Jimenez’s writing blew me away. Her writing has such eloquence in it and is extremely entertaining. Her characters show such raw emotion in her words and are truly relatable. I know some people find romance novels quirky and cringy, but honeslty Jimenez wrote in such an autentic and real way, that the story didn’t feel fake, I could envision every single page in front of my eyes.

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

The novel starts off with a reddit am i the asshole thread, a very funny and engaging way that whipped me into the chapter. From there, we get introduced to Justin, the creator of the Reddit message, who talks about a ‘curse’ where every single girl he has ever dated finds her soulmate the moment they break up. This is where Emma comes in. She slides into his DM’s, explaining that she is going through the exact same thing. The two come together to form the perfect brew to break this curse. Their theory is that if they date and then break up, their ‘curses’ will cancel out, which leads them to find the true love of their lives.

As a traveling nurse, Emma and her best friend, Maddy, decide to go to Minnesota, where Justin lives, so the cursed couple can fulfill their dream of finding the one. But as the summer goes by, the two start to realize it may just be more than a fling. The only problem is that the two both have very hard personal lives, so will they be able to work out their issues, and fate wins as they become the power couple?

Starting off with a banger, I absolutely DEVOURED the positive characters in this story! I ate them up; they were amazingly written. I especially loved Justin; he had such cute quirks and was literally every girl’s dream man. And Maddy!!! OMG, she is THE epitome best friend that every single person should have in their lives. I also thoroughly enjoyed the character development throughout this book – it was refreshing to see all the characters grow, especially Emma, as she started coming out of her hole and embracing the beauties of life.

The complexity of each character was also very beautiful, as this wasn’t just an ordinary love story. Both Justin and Emma come from very hard backgrounds, and no character is displayed perfectly, which adds true originality. I also enjoyed reading the vivid imagery of the settings displayed in the book; it truly immersed me in the book.

If I really had to nitpick at something, I think I would say I would have really liked to see Emma’s past relationships, how they turned out after she dated her, and what caused them to separate, basically seeing how her ‘curse’ is described.

Encompassing everything together, this is one of my favourite romance novels, and Abby Jimenez is now for sure one of my top authors whose novels I will always keep in my heart. This story is perfect for anyone who is looking for a heartwarming, charming, funny, deep, thoughtful novel that checks all of the boxes for a swoon-worthy contemporary romantic comedy!