Just for the Summer
Justin Dahl seems to be under a curse: every woman he dates meets the love of her life immediately after they break up. When he jokes about it online, a stranger named Emma reaches out, because the exact same thing keeps happening to her. Emma, a traveling nurse who has spent her life moving from town to town with her unreliable mother, proposes an experiment: they should date each other and then break up, hoping the two curses cancel out and finally leave them both free.
Emma takes an assignment in Justin's Minnesota town for the summer, planning a low-stakes fling in a lakeside cottage. But Justin's crowded, chaotic family and Emma's complicated relationship with her mother refuse to stay out of the way, and the arrangement starts to feel like something neither of them planned for.
Abby Jimenez pairs a charming high-concept premise with the harder material she is known for, including family dysfunction and the long shadow of an unstable parent. Just for the Summer is a warm, funny romance about people who have learned not to count on staying, learning what it might mean to stay anyway.
A software engineer who believes he's cursed after every ex-girlfriend finds true love right after breaking up with him; takes in his three younger siblings during the story.
A traveling nurse raised on the move by her unreliable mother, who proposes dating Justin to cancel out both their romantic "curses."
Emma's neglectful, unreliable mother, whose reappearance forces Emma to confront her fear of attachment.
Emma's best friend and foster sister.
One of Justin's three younger siblings, whom he takes guardianship of during the story.
This novel functions as a standalone story, though it exists within a shared universe featuring recurring characters from previous books. While you may encounter minor references or cameos from earlier titles, they are designed as bonuses that do not impact your ability to follow the main plot.
A short story titled The Situationship exists, which focuses on the secondary characters Maddy and Doug and provides further insight into their relationship.