August's Book Club: Just For the Summer By Abby Jimenez

Obnoxious billboards. Baby raccoons. A mom who goes to prison… and another who definitely should. Lice. Deep-rooted abandonment issues. And somehow—romance.

This book had it all, and I was hooked from page one.

One of the first questions that popped into my head:
“How do you even get kicked off Uber and Lyft?”
Then I found out... and I laughed for hours. Because yep, I’m pretty sure the same thing could happen to me.

It’s not all fun and chaos though. There’s a heart-wrenching story about a mother who has to leave her kids behind while serving 7 years in prison. The author manages to make it all play out inside a love story that somehow still works—beautifully.

What really struck me is how this book made me reflect on dating. The actual dates in the story are total disasters: picking lice, meeting the mom on date one, rescuing the drunk mom on date two… and yet, you root for these two. It reminded me that a great date has very little to do with what you do—and everything to do with who you're with.

In fact, after reading this, I opened Bumble again (Lord help us all), and it asked:
“What’s your idea of an ideal date?”

Here’s my answer, post-book:

“It doesn’t matter what we do—we could be drinking Natty Light and skinning possums—as long as we’re laughing and I don’t want the night to end… that’s the ideal.”

Another thing I loved? The author didn't sugarcoat the main character Emma’s past. She has baggage, and it’s all fleshed out. If it had just skipped to a tidy happy ending, it wouldn't have worked. There were a few unanswered questions, but overall, Emma faced her mess head-on, and I respected the hell out of that.

Book Club was a blast with this one. We swapped worst dates ever and bad mom stories like candy. And none of us realized it was book three in a series until the end—it stood completely on its own.

Which means… I’ll probably go back and read the first two.

Till next time —
Happy Reading,
Marsha