5/5 ⭐️

“Four dates, one kiss, and a breakup.”

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of this book.
This is my first book from the author but she might just become an automatic buy for me and I will definitely be going through her catalogue. This was my favourite read of 2024 so far and I have a hard time believing that anything can top it.
The main characters are treated with such tenderness that you cannot help but to root for them every step of the way. The side characters are lovable, the setting is beautiful and the writing is delightful, I’m truly struggling to find something bad to say about this title. I really did appreciate the content warning page as the book does deal with some very heavy topics, do NOT take that warning page lightly.

With Justin liking musicals, sending pre and post date surveys, making Greek mythology analogies and rescuing raccoons (by accident but I’m still counting it) I do feel like this book for written SPECIFICALLY for me, this man did not have a single red flag and I adore him.

Is this one of my favourite romances? Probably yes. It was so so good.
I was hooked and read it super quick.

What to expect:
☀️Fake Dating
☀️Summer Fling
☀️Childhood trauma
☀️Found Family
☀️Mental Health Rep

Blurb:
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  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.

My Thoughts:

It was great multi dimensional romance with a whole undercurrent of mental health and trauma.
Justin was an amazing book boyfriend - the man mad pre and post date surveys for god sake and he was just so understanding and supportive. My heart just squealed. Justin had a lot going on in his life, becoming a guardian to his 3 siblings and trying to juggle such an upheavel. He met the perfect girl, but maybe not the perfect time...

Emma was traumatised by her childhood with her mother. This affected all her other relationships and she self sabotaged and never let anyone get close to her.
But her relationship with her best friend and Foster sister Maddy was amazing. The support those 2 had for each other was just so wholesome.

The book did have a 3rd act break up, but I was expecting this because of the terms of the deal Emma and Justin made, one summer, 4 dates and one kiss.

Honestly READ this book! I cannot give it enough stars.

I loved the previous books I have read by Abby Jimenez so i couldn't wait for this one. To see the relationship develop through the book and pain they overcome.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abby Jimenez is one of my auto buy authors, and Just For The Summer has to be my favourite book of hers to date!

This book follows Emma and Justin, who meet online and decide to go on a few dates to try and break the “dating curse” that seems to plague them both, where the people they break up with magically find their soulmate soon after.

The premise was super fun, and I loved following them around on their dates. Justin is the embodiment of “if he wanted to he would”. He was so sweet and thoughtful, and I loved how fast he fell for Emma, who was a character I really related to. Their banter and chemistry was great, and the spicy scenes were well written.

As well as the romance, I also loved the friendships in this book. It was so fun seeing characters from Abby’s previous books, and Justin had a great group of friends who truly cared for him. Emma’s relationship with her best friend Maddy was also really special, and I loved how fiercely protective Maddy was.

I always like my romances have a bit of grit about them, and this book certainly had that. Both characters were dealing with difficult situations. Emma’s estranged, toxic mother unexpectedly comes back into her life, and Justin’s life is turned upside down when he has to assume guardianship of his three siblings. Abby Jimenez did a great job of exploring these situations and complicated family dynamics, and mental health and trauma were handled with so much thought and care.

There were some twists I wasn’t expecting, and I loved all the Easter eggs that the author gave us!

The ending and epilogue were fantastic and had me crying happy tears. Overall, this was a romantic, funny read with so much depth and heart. I can’t wait to read whatever this author comes out with next!

3.5⭑

Tropes;
- friends to lovers
- single guardian
- fake dating (sort of?)
- PTSD representation
- dual POV

I was so excited to read this one and unfortunately I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped.

I actually did really enjoy the romance between the two main characters, I thought they were really well suited and I loved their relationship- from how it started to how they developed feelings for each other. It felt quite natural and I loved their scenes together.

I loved the friendship between Emma and Maddy, I’d even go so far as to say that their friendship is my favourite part of the book. I love the sisterhood between them and how they would quite literally do anything for each other.

I also loved all the Easter egg connections to some of Abby’s other (very well loved) books!!

With that said, I wasn’t a fan of the absent mother part of the story - it made Emma’s inner monologue quite repetitive and in general I don’t really like reading about bad mother/daughter relationships.

Thank you NetGalley & Little Brown for sending me an early copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, thanks to Abby’s team and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

When I read ‘Yours, truly’ last year, I was so taken aback by the story that I didn’t think it could ever be topped. And while YT will remain the champion of my heart, this book was right on par.
I have never read a romance novel with a male MC that had a clearer communication style than Justin has. He deserves all the love in the world.
Emma went through so so much and it closed around her heart like a fist. She had the help to dig herself out in the end and I’m so happy she did.
But nothing beats Maddy. I’ve never read such a three dimensional secondary character, ever. Mandy’s love for Emma is so fierce and strong. But the best part about their relationship was that she was standing on business!! She was telling it to her like it is, so sugarcoating. And that’s what a real bestie should be like.
I adored this book and will continue to consume each and every book Abby writes.

This was my first ever novel by Abby Jimenez, and I'm going to go buy her back catalogue after reading this. Seriously.

Just For The Summer is an exceptional five star read, by a truly world class author. The themes explored in this book - love, trauma, grief - are handled with grace and dignity while breaking your heart at the same time. I loved every hero in the book - the characters are messy, complicated, so lovable and endearing. I laughed, I cried, I gasped. This book grabbed my attention and never let it go.

Please, please, read this book, you will not regret it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the description of this but actually there far too many Big Issues for me. It's my fault for skimming over the CW at the beginning, but I do wish there was a hint in the blurb because some of the issues hit close to home and I wouldn't have requested it. The romance is lovely and I'm sure this is going to be huge this summer.

Abby Jimenez has done it again and put out a corker of a book. I laughed, cried and loved every second of this rollercoaster.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Justin and Emma are cursed. They date people and the next people their dates go on to have relationships with become their soul mates. In an attempt to break the curse, they decide to date each other and then break up to try and balance things out. But what they weren’t expecting was to fall in love along the way.

I initially expected this to be a light and easy read based on the blurb, but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the story. Emma struggles with emotional trauma and a difficult relationship with her mother, while Justin is preparing to become the sole caregiver for his three younger siblings, so they both have a lot of things to unpack. But this is what made the story so great and made me root for them even more.

This is the second book I've read by Abby Jimenez, and it’s convinced me to read her others. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc!

A very enjoyable romance read that showcases more serious topics and experiences. Highly recommend. 4/5 stars.

"Basically every woman I date more than a few times ends up finding her soulmate after we break up. It's a thing."

4.5 Stars!

A very enjoyable romance read that showcases more serious topics and experiences.

This story worked the line very well between giving readers light-hearted and soft romantic scenes and allowing the story to feature characters that had complex emotions and challenges that didn't keep the characters contained within neat boxes. The main romantic leads were really enjoyable to follow along, with great characterisation their scenes sang really well. The dialogue was fun, and the humour and funny scenes flowed very well.

I also enjoyed that the good characterisation didn't end with the main romantic leads, it was really nice to see a developed cast of characters. Side characters weren't there just to further the romance, it felt like they were thought out and added to the story in other ways than just to boost the main leads. The only thing I would have preferred would have been a neater ending on some on the sub-plots but that's me being a bit picky.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I say this every time, but this book is my new favourite by Abby Jimenez. I was hooked from the very beginning by the plot and stayed for the genuine characters (that Abby develops so flawlessly throughout). The story begins with a Reddit 'am I the arsehole' post, which is just brilliant, and it appears that Emma and Justin have the same issue, every person they date ends up breaking up with them and finding their soulmate straight after. They endeavour to break their curse by simply dating one another, breaking up and then the next person they date will be their soulmate.
Abby writes the finest men and Justin may just take the trophy. He’s wholesome, funny and I have never wanted to protect a character more. Both characters navigate a series of struggles throughout and Abbey tackles them with understanding and compassion. I adored the cameos from our favourite characters from the Part of the World Series.

This book is a romance readers dream.

Favourite quotes:
𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝑰𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚, 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚.

𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚.

𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝑲𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐.

𝑻𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒐.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒑 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇.

Abby Jimenez books are always a must read for me. Not only do they stand on their own two feet but they always contain so many satisfying Easter eggs linking to her other novels. So, whilst 'Just For The Summer' features new couple Emma and Josh, let's just say that there is crossover with nearly every other Jimenez book (the least exciting being a Jaxan Waters t-shirt - the others are much better, but you will have to read to find them!).

The book opens with Josh writing an AITA post which goes viral. He has a 'Good Luck Chuck' style curse where the women he dates always find their true love directly after him. Emma reaches out after seeing the post as she also seems to have the same 'curse'. They hatch a plan to date each other which will surely cancel out the bad vibes... or does it mean they are made for each other? Time will tell.

I very much enjoyed this, with Emma and Josh's cute dates and instant attraction being fun to read about. There is a very dark edge to this book (Josh's mum is about to go to prison and leave him to look after his young siblings for 6 years. Emma's mother is a train wreck who has mentally scarred her) and so things get very intense very quickly. The flirty, fun section at the beginning is short lived before it gets pretty serious. This did not diminish my enjoyment but the beautiful sunset cover art may be mislead the tone of the majority of this book.

That being said, any man willing to paddle across a lake on a unicorn floaty to rescue his lover when she is sick deserves all of our time! This book is another Jimenez triumph so enjoy,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It feels like a curse, dating people who then go on to find their soulmate in the next person they date - but can it be cancelled out by dating someone with the exact same issue? That's what Emma and Justin try to find out, and it becomes a whole lot more complicated than 'just for the summer'.

I've not read any (full-length) Abby Jimenez novels before, but now I intend to explore her backlist because this book is full of swoony romance, humour, strong friendships and heartbreaking moments in a near-perfect blend. (Also, apparently, several references to previous books that I really need to know about.) Justin is a fabulous character: just on the verge of being too good to be true, but tempered by his understandable reactions to his family situation. And then there's Emma, who is so well-written because the way she initially comes across - full of empathy, up for adventure - is gradually peeled away to show what's beneath. I was diving into this book every chance I got, and I'm really looking forward to reading more.

OMG MS ABBY DOES IT AGAIN! I am overwhelmed with how much I loved this book, stunned, speechless! Abby has restored my faith in romance books once again. I was going through the motions reading this book, I was laughing, crying (more like sobbing) and swooning.

I loved the romance in this story so much and Justin was so sweet and funny I legit was giggling and kicking my feet. Also it had the sweetest found family, normally found family in romance feels so forced to me, but I adored it in this book.

I have to admit, at first I wasn’t vibing with the FMC, she was just so overly positive, but I think that was the point? Throughout the book you’re going through a journey with Emma, there's a lot of trauma she's unpacking. This story kind of starts off with Emma and Justin agreeing to date to break their dating ‘curse and through this you’re learning A LOT about both Emma and Justin's traumas - please check trigger/ content warnings.

I also didn’t expect this book to be so emotionally heavy, it dealt with a lot of difficult topics and it's one of the reasons I loved it so much - It felt so much more than a summer romcom.

Overall, this is one of the best romance books i've read this year. It dealt with Mental Health in such an authentic way and added the most butterfly inducing romance! I would highly recommend reading Abby’s other books in this series before this one just to get the full experience (especially Part of Your World!!).

Thank you so so much Little, Brown Book Group, Piatkus & Netgalley for this arc (legit made my year)

“If you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy.”

“You are the only thing in my life making me happy right now. And I’m not the least bit afraid to tell you that.”

Just for the Summer was a beautiful story.
It has many of my favorite things: humor, banter, a great supportive cast, heart-wrenching moments, complex characters, and in this particulr story: Justin (Yes, Justin is a category unto himself).
In the age of fake-dating and marriage of convenience, Emma and Justin going on actual dates was extremely refreshing. Even though there was an expiry date to their dates, seeing them fall for each other, going through the angst of crushing on each other, and making the effort to work towards something in spite of the circumstances, was really fun.
I loved it. I love when authors show us who the characters are outside of their love story: Justin becoming the legal guardian to his siblings, while he's busy falling in love, and Emma having to face her trauma when her absent mother shows up. Abby gave great character arcs to both of them.
Emma and Justin thought it would be Just for the Summer, but it turns out they want to be together for a lifetime.

This is the second book I’ve read by Abby Jimenez and this one was just as good as the first. Her writing style is superb and really draws you in. The characters were fantastic and the story had a few twists and turns I didn’t see coming. A great rom com with well rounded, real world characters.

Wow, wow, wow!
My favourite book of 2024 so far.

This was quiet yet poignant. The love I have for these two characters is immense. I haven't had a romance move me in the way this one has in a very long time.

The care Abby took with these characters is admirable. I'm in tears writing this but I would read this again in a heartbeat because it was just so beautiful.

My first five star read of the year and it couldn’t have been more deserved. This book, as all of Abby’s, was heartbreaking, uplifting, beautifully written and had a host of complex characters.

She has never let me down in any of her books. Ever. And meeting Emma and Justin was the cherry on the cake for my 2024. Two beautifully written characters who owned my heart. From the premise of being the ones to end their curses, to dealing with a whole load of family drama/past traumas and still coming out of it in love. I loved them together so much.