Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Just For the Summer

The conflict in this book felt so real and grounded. I really believed that the obstacles facing them could actually keep two people apart, which is pretty rare to find in a romance. I loved the care and thoughtfulness the author handled mental health and how difficult it is to heal from trauma. Abby Jimenez, you have a new fan!

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mugsandmanuscripts's review against another edition

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emotional funny relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I liked this one so much that I've had a hard time sitting down to review it because I just don't know if I can do it justice.

It's hard to find a romance that isn't just fluff, has good character development, a mostly believable storyline, and is, well, enjoyable. This one hits all those markers. Both Justin (MMC) and Emma (FMC) are well-developed and likable characters with more going on than meets the eye. Both are complex characters, and I loved them.

Emma struggles with attachment and "feeling small" after a traumatic childhood with a very unstable mother and years in foster care. I think "feeling small" is how she and her best friend Maddie (who is AMAZING) describe what look to be PTSD episodes. She has to confront her mother (who appears to have undiagnosed borderline personality disorder or possibly bipolar or maybe both) and her understanding of her throughout the novel. Obviously this is a very difficult topic, and Jimenez manages to portray it with surprising sensitivity.

Justin is struggling with complicated grief as he navigates not only his father's death several years ago but also his mother's upcoming several-year jail sentence, which forces him to move back home to become the guardian of his three siblings (from pre-school-aged to teen) to care for while she's gone. He understandably struggles with resentment even as he loves and cares for his siblings. A lot of his story could have been trivialized, but wasn't. Again, well done.

Also, of course—shout out to Maddie, the best friend Emma could ever ask for, and also to Justin's sometimes annoying friends (and his mom's BFF) for supporting the MCs in meaningful ways. This book is a testament to how it takes a village to help people heal from their trauma—and also how those who are hurting really need to accept the help they are offered.

This one was really good. I'm picky about my romances, and this one absolutely deserves all 5 stars. This is one I'd recommend not just to romance readers but also to readers of heavier lit who just want something lighter (but not fluffy) to read.

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zanazy's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Just For the Summer is a romance story that layers in an aspect of past childhood trauma and real-life problems that make it more than a beach read and a cute story. I found the story pace to be fast, in terms of the romance aspects, but the underlying, individual storylines that both the female and male characters go through moved slower, in a more realistic way. I'll go into more detail on the story and characters next, with small spoilers ahead.

The main relationship between Emma, a traveling nurse, and Justin, a software engineer is sparked by a DM sent by Emma after an AITA post that Justin makes. In his post, Justin explains his dating curse, similar to the movie Good Luck Chuck, where every girl he dates, goes on to find their soulmate after they break up. Coincidentally, Emma DMs him because she has the same curse. After a few flirty DMs and mentions of a funny, plumbing billboard, Emma makes an out-of-character decision to change her next traveling assignment from Hawaii to Minnesota so she and Justin can "date" and break each other's curse by canceling them out.

You obviously know where this will end, so romantically, there were no big surprises.

Aside from the relationship between Emma and Justin, the best friend/sister relationship between Emma and Maddie is a large driver of several key events and character developments for Emma. Emma is Maddie's foster sister and Maddie has seen Emma at her worst, more often than she should have. Most of the worst times usually involve Emma's biological mother - Amber. Emma has major unresolved childhood trauma from frequent abandonment by her mother that has never had a chance to heal. However, Emma is good and she chooses to see the best in her mom. This eventually

ends poorly when Emma discovers her mother lied to her and kept her from having a chance to be happy with her family, including a brother and grandparents.

Justin has issues of his own. Shortly before meeting Emma, his mother is sentenced to jail, leaving Justin to take care of his younger siblings and become their guardian. He goes through a lot in this story and the character development he undergoes is almost as big as what Emma goes through.

Because of their underlying issues, Justin and Emma's story is relatable. It can get difficult to read at times as there are several moments where their mental health is not in a good spot, especially Emma's, but it's part of who they are, and I enjoyed the insight into the minds of their characters.

This is the first book by Abby that I have read, and I enjoyed it. When I finished the story, I learned that two supporting characters and one character who makes a brief appearance in this book were first mentioned in Part of Your World, so I intend to read that book too, but as of writing this, I don't think it took anything away from my experience.

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tigerkind's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If you’re into boring, predictable books with idiotic asshole characters and think that the only way to be happy is to get married with kids, this is the one for you.

Also I hate the inane phrasemongering in these books. „Love shows up.“ „Love is meeting someone where they are.“ idk how about some original writing?

Only reason this is getting stars at all is because it has a semblance of structure and the characters don’t all blend together (only because their only personality are the issues they have.)

tl;dr this pissed me off. Cover is great though.

edit: took another 0.5 because the premise is so fun but it’s more or less abandoned in the first 100 pages

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marinajonesreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Of the three books in this shared world, this is my favorite. The traumas felt real, the emotions felt real and the sadness felt real. I loved the lesson that sometimes, love isn’t the only thing to consider. I also liked that really, you can read this book without the others. I love the shared universe concept.

Emma and Justin were adorable. Emma is a protagonist I can get around. So very very flawed but also very relatable. I understood where she was coming from and my heart broke for her throughout.

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booksgoodformysoul's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A very, VERY emotional read, that was both heavy and light. This book flew by like a breeze - the characters had me laughing out loud, and the romance was so sweet, but the situations both main characters were dealing with were heavy. What a great representation of mental health, trauma in life, becoming an adult, life not always being fair, and working to heal. Ah, Abby Jimenez is just incredible. Very much recommend, but be prepared for a read that will sit with you, a little heavy on your heart and soul. And check trigger warnings, please!

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kayceero's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love Abby Jimenez’s writing but the depth in this story really blew me away.

Content Warnings

dkh's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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