The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Jimenez, Abby. Just for the Summer. Hachette Book Group, 2024.

In a Reddit post, twenty-nine-year-old Justin, based in Minnesota, asks if he is an asshole for naming his dog Brad after his former roommate. Human Brad is marrying Justin’s ex-girlfriend, leaving Justin in a studio apartment situated across a Toilet King billboard. Justin’s curse is that everyone he dates meets the love of their life immediately after.

Justin’s post attracts the attention of travel nurse Emma, who messages him to say she shares his curse. After messaging back and forth for a few days, Emma convinces her best friend Maddy to go to Minnesota for their next posting. Justin and Emma agree to date for the sake of breaking their curses.

Emma and Maddy stay in a cottage on an island on the property of Neil: the chief of surgery at the hospital that Emma and Maddy will be working at. When they arrive, Emma gets a call from her absentee mother Amber. For their first date, Justin takes Emma out to lunch. It is awkward at first but they gradually warm up to one another. When Justin drops her off, Emma is shocked to see Amber arriving on Neil’s yacht. They are clearly attracted to one another. The couples dine together.

When Emma warns Amber to be careful with Neil, since he is her boss, Amber assures Emma that she is in therapy for her mental illness. When Emma goes to dinner at Justin’s house, he tells her his mom is going to jail for embezzling money. Justin will be the sole guardian of his three siblings: pre-teens Alex and Sarah, and four-year-old Chelsea. A week later, Justin takes the kids to Great Wolf Lodge right after Mom goes to jail. Emma and Maddy spend a day with them, at the end of which Justin and Emma have their first kiss.

One day at work, Amber brings Neil lunch but none for Emma. Luckily, Justin brings Emma lunch, saving her mood. On their next date, they are interrupted by a call announcing that the kids have lice. Emma helps Justin clean their scalps.

Justin drives Emma home. They make out. When Emma asks Justin if he is okay with casual sex, he freezes. Just then, Amber throws something at Neil’s car. Neil hugs Amber to calm her down.

Emma gets norovirus while Maddy is away visiting her parents. Justin takes care of Emma all week, getting sick in the process. They have sex. Emma decides to stay in Minnesota beyond her six-week contract to give her relationship with Justin a proper shot. She starts staying at his place.

One day, Amber has a meltdown, devastating Emma, who had hoped her mother was better. Justin comforts Emma. To celebrate her birthday the next day, they decide to open her DNA results alongside Maddy. Emma discovers she has family members other than Amber. Her brother, Daniel, messages her. The trio drives to his house, which is two hours away.

Daniel and his wife Alexis are kind people. Emma has a panic attack after looking at Daniel’s family albums as she realizes he had a far happier childhood than her. She is furious with Amber for abandoning her periodically to tend to her other family. That night, she confronts Amber and attempts to flee Minnesota but Maddy finds her and stops her.

The girls move in with Daniel and Alexis. Emma breaks up with Justin, explaining the necessity of healing her trauma on her own. After six months of therapy, Emma returns to Justin. He is initially hesitant to accept her but when she tells him she loves him, he tells her to never leave again. They get engaged two years later.