Abby Jimenez is an American romance novelist and the founder of Nadia Cakes. She is the author of two book series called Part Of Your World and The Friend Zone. Just For Your Summer” is her sixth book and includes characters from the other books in the Part Of Your World series.
It seems Justin has a curse. Every woman he dates moves on from him to find their soul mate after they break up. When Justin describes his curse on a Reddit thread, the thread goes viral. Then Emma, a 27-year-old travelling nurse with the same problem, reads the thread and feels inclined to send him a DM. After they start chatting, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other out, and they’ll both go on to find their soulmates afterwards. It sounds like a ridiculous idea, but it just might work. Emma’s best friend and roommate, Maddie, is fully on board with the idea and makes sure to check out all of Justin’s social media accounts to see if he’s legitimate.
Emma and Maddie hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a travelling nurse would be in Minnesota, where Justin lives, but they both 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.
From their first in-person meeting, there’s an immediate physical attraction and a strong connection. Emma is aware that it’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer, so she won’t let herself get too invested. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re both suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected. As they begin to open up to each other and their bond becomes stronger, their intimate feelings for each other become undeniable. When Emma’s mother returns to her old tactics and causes havoc, leaving Emma alone in her wake, Emma is once again confronted with the unresolved trauma from her past. At the same time, an ancestry search reveals a shocking deception. With all this surmounting stress, Emma shuts down and makes a plan to escape, leaving Justin a lovesick mess.
This is a heartfelt, deeply emotional romance novel with an engrossing storyline from start to finish. The story includes important subject matter, including abandonment, loss, betrayal, unresolved trauma, and heartbreak. These topics are seamlessly woven into the captivating story and don’t give the book a heavy or dark tone overall. There are also great elements of humour in the story, especially in the conversations between Emma, Maddie, and Justin.
The dual POV gives the audience perspective into the completely different lives of Emma and Justin and their own personal challenges. Despite all these differences, their feelings parallel each other, making for a beautiful love story. There is one unexpected twist in the story, which makes it even more layered. One slight criticism would be with the epilogue; it definitely felt like a necessity, but its execution and content felt a bit rushed and unsatisfying after the great storytelling beforehand.
Narrators Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber provide perfectly paced, engaging, and complimentary performances. Larkin’s portrayal of Emma is heartfelt, authentic, and full of emotional moments. In particular, the meaningful conversations when Emma opens up to Justin are delivered with a deep sense of honesty and rawness that makes them extremely compelling. Webber’s portrayal of Justin is equally satisfying, especially when delivering Justin’s inner voice, expressing his feelings for Emma. The combined performances very much elevate the story and make the characters memorable.
The author’s Q&A at the end of the audiobook is worth a listen as it provides insight into how the characters were developed, why characters from past books returned in this story, and what research and support were needed to address the trauma subject matter in the book. Overall, this is a romance novel with a riveting story, interesting characters, and important subject matter. Similar to It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, this book really stands out and will likely be a hit with readers for many years to come!
