Author: Abby Jimenez

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: April 2, 2024 (available now)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

When Justin writes an AITA Reddit thread, he casually drops in the fact that the women he dates find their soulmate in the next guy they date after him. The post goes viral, and Maddy stumbles upon it and shares it with her best friend Eve, who is afflicted with a similar curse. Eve reaches out to Justin in his DM’s to compare their situations, and things quickly evolve from there.

Eve is not one to take a chance on other people, besides Maddy, and even that can be a struggle for her. Justin is a much more open and relaxed person, but he is also facing some major life changes that are going to have a significant impact on his day to day life. Eve and Maddy are supposed to be heading for Hawaii for their next traveling nurse gig, but they end up going to Minnesota (where Justin lives) instead. Justin and Eve have decided that maybe if they date each other for a little while, both will find their soulmates after their summer fling is over.

Justin is one of the funniest male main characters I have read in quite awhile. The effort, and humor, he injects into planning each of their dates, and checking in with Eve afterwards, is incredibly funny and also endearing. Maddy is the kind of best friend every girl would be lucky to have. Eve is a hard nut to crack, but it is great fun to watch her start to open herself up to the possibilities around her. 

Just for the Summer is the third book in a loose series (each revolves around different main characters, but they pop up in the other books) that includes Yours Truly and Part of Your World. They can certainly be read as standalones, but you do miss out on some of the Easter Eggs if you don’t read them in order. I, for example, skipped from the first to the third, and still need to read the second, so I forgot about some of the supporting characters from the first that are main characters in the second while I was reading the first. If that’s confusing, no worries… it confused me to try to write it down! 

I liked Part of Your World (book one), and plan to read Yours Truly (book two) soon, but I am not sure it can possibly top this one. I absolutely loved this book and read it in a day. If you are a fan of contemporary romance, like reading a book that makes you laugh, maybe cry, and feel all the things, you should definitely pick up a copy of Just for the Summer and move it to the top of your TBR pile.