I have had the opportunity to read some STELLAR romance books this year and I can now add Just for the Summer to that list! I reviewed The Paradise Problem about a month ago and it was a 5 star book like this one. I haven’t had such luck with romance books in a while, but this one is seriously SO good– if you’re looking for a great romance, you don’t have to look any further!

Just for the Summer Summary and Spoiler-Free Review

Justin has a dating curse: every woman he dates meets her soul mate immediately following their breakup. When he posts about it on Reddit, he gets a DM from a woman with the same curse. After hitting it off through texting, they decide to make their curses cancel out by dating one another and then breaking up in order to meet their own soul mates. Emma makes her next travel nurse assignment to Minnesota where Justin lives. But when they start navigating Emma’s dysfunctional mom and Justin having to take on guardianship of his siblings, the feelings they begin to develop for one another become that much more complicated.

Just for the Summer is so much more than a fun, flirty romance– it has a lot of substance to it. Both characters struggle with family dynamics and foster care and childhood neglect play a big role in the story as well. I thought the personal growth that both characters exhibit was so realistic and well done. As I have personally been taking a lot of classes about trauma related to foster care, I felt like the way it was portrayed was legitimate.

But from a fun, flirty romance perspective, it’s definitely there. I loved the wit and chemistry between Justin and Emma and was obsessed with how thoughtful Justin was. This is kind of slow-burn romance, but definitely not in the sense of enemies-to-lovers, more just a lot of romantic tension and yearning.

Spice Level: 2/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Spoilers Ahead!

Every romance book has the point where the couple kind of breaks things off and then come back together by the end, and normally it’s some stupid miscommunication that has me rolling my eyes. The issues in this book that Emma and Justin face felt logical. And while I cannot personally relate to Emma choosing to run away, it felt so understandable why she did due to everything she had gone through in her life.

I also loved how they developed feelings for each other through just showing up for each other.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about.

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While I love a silly, fun romance with a prince or a billionaire or something else kind of rare and crazy, it’s so refreshing to read a romance where they are just regular people going through tough stuff and having normal dates and falling in love but making them extra special in non-extravagant ways or being extra thoughtful.

It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful is will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

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I really loved Just for the Summer. It brought tears to my eyes and I absolutely loved Justin’s character. Also, as a nurse, the way nurses were portrayed and their work environment was relatively close to how things are (which I always appreciate lol).

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