“You are not what happened to you. You are what you do next.”
Just for the Summer is a 2024 romance novel by Abby Jimenez and the third entry in her bestselling Part of Your World series. The story centres around Justin, a man with a curse: every woman he has ever dated winds up following their soul mate the second they break up. Emma hadn’t planned for her next assignment as a travel nurse to involve heading to Minnesota, but dating Justin proves too enticing an opportunity to pass up, especially when she and her friend arrive at their quaint cottage on a private island. The pair’s quick fling soon descends into something more, however, when Emma’s toxic mother shows and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings. Suddenly, they’re navigating much more and feeling things they never imagined. If you love cutesy beach reads, multiple POVs and rootable characters, join us at What We Reading for the best books like Just for the Summer!
Funny Story – Emily Henry
Kicking off our list of books like Just for the Summer is Emily Henry’s Funny Story. Daphne always loved the way in which her fiance, Peter, told people the way in which they. She loved it so much, right up until the moment he realised he was in love with his childhood friend, Petra. Heartbroken and alone in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, she finds herself proposing to be roommates with the one person in the world who understands her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic, Miles is the absolute opposite of the buttoned-up and organised Daphne. Yet, one evening, they find themselves both drowning their sorrows, forming a tenuous friendship and a plan. It’s a plan that involves them posting intentionally misleading photos of their summer misadventures together. Of course, it’s all for show. There’s no way Daphne could ever kickstart a new chapter in her life by falling in love with her ex-fiance’s new fiancee’s ex, right?
Check Out The Best Books Like Funny Story
This Summer Will Be Different – Carley Fortune
Lucy is holidaying at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local tasked with showing her a good time. The only problem is that Lucy doesn’t realise that he is her best friend’s younger brother. Despite an undeniable level of chemistry and an eclectic night spent together, there are so many reasons why they need to stay away from each other. It soon proves to be easier said than done.
Every year, Lucy visits Prince Edward Island for a dose of fresh coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde. And every year she vows to stay out of Felix’s bed. But, when her best friend, Bridget, suddenly needs her help, Lucy finds herself on a precarious mission to help her friend and resist the one man she’s never been able to in Carley Fortune’s This Summer Will Be Different. Like Just for the Summer, it is the perfect beach read brimming with chemistry, quips and sun-soaked escapism.
Check Out These Great Summer Reads
Summer Romance – Annabel Monaghan
There aren’t enough labelled glass containers in the world to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’ life. Her mother passed away two years ago, her husband has left her, and she hasn’t put on a pair of bottoms with a zip for as long as she can remember.
So no one is more surprised than Ali when she takes her wedding ring off for the first time, steps outside and finds herself meeting someone. Or, rather, her dog lays claim to someone by peeing on them. The last thing Ali needs is to make things messier, but the way in which Ethan smiles at her convinces her that there is never any harm in a little summer romance. Similar to Just for the Summer, Annabel Monaghan’s Summer Romance is a cute romance read filled with lost characters who are finding their special connection.
How To End A Love Story – Yulin Kuang
Another one of the best books from 2024 like Just for the Summer comes from Yulin Kuang in How to End a Love Story. Helen is a bestselling author who has just landed a position writing the TV adaptation of her popular YA novels. Grant has done all that he can to move on from the past, building a life for himself across the country. He knows that he shouldn’t have taken the job on Helen’s show, but the prospects it will open up are too good to ignore.
Grant is exactly as Helen remembers him from all those years ago. And she is exactly how he remembers her as well. But, as secrets resurface, the pair are forced to grapple with the fact that they were never meant to form a love story. Yet, the key to making peace with the past – and with themselves – soon proves to be in holding on to each other in the present.
The Rule Book (The Cheat Sheet #2) – Sarah Adams
Nora Mackenzie’s entire career is in the hands of famous NFL sensation, Derek Pender, who just so happens to be her extremely handsome college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t curtail things as gracefully as she could have done in the past, and now that has come back to haunt her. Derek is the first client she has won as a full-time sports agent and is very much still holding a grudge against her.
Derek has sights on a small dose of friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the woman who broke his heart, wants to be his agent, he’ll let her. And make her life miserable the whole time. But, if there’s one thing Derek knows about Nora, it’s that she’s stubborn. Instead of giving in, Nora sets out on a quest of her own. However, when a wild night in Vegas leads to the pair of them waking up in a bed the following morning married, both Derek and Nora must grapple with this new relationship in order to save their careers in Sarah Adams’ The Rule Book, the perfect second-chance romance read for anyone who loved Just for the Summer.
The Wedding People – Alison Espach
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island when Phoebe Stone arrives alone at the chic Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels. Everyone in the lobby quickly mistakes her for a member of the wedding party but is actually the only guest at the hotel not there for the big day.
Phoebe is in the Cornwall because she’s dreamt of being there for years, hoping to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband. But, she’s here without him. Elsewhere, the bride has accounted for every last detail and would-be disaster with exceptional detail. What she could have never envisioned is the arrival of Phoebe, or how frequently the two women would find themselves colliding with each other.
Expiration Dates – Rebecca Serle
Daphne Bell is adamant the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it – the exact length of time they will be together. She has been receiving these notes for twenty years, until, finally, she receives one without an expiry after a blind date at her favourite Los Angeles restaurant with a man named Jake.
But, as their love story gets underway, Daphne begins to question the paper’s prediction and confront what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things that Jake doesn’t; information that – if he were to find out – would shatter his heart. Like Just for the Summer, Rebecca Serles’ Expiration Dates is a warm and heartfelt tale about what it means to be single and to find love.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
