Just for the Summer by Melody Carlson Book Review

About the Book:

If you lived in a different place and had a different job, couldn't you have a different life?

Ginny Masters manages a popular boutique hotel in Seattle and manages it with aplomb. But the daily challenges and irritations of a fast-paced job and a demanding boss are starting to get to her.

Jacqueline Potter manages her grandfather's fishing lodge in Idaho because it was the only job she could find after graduating with her hospitality degree. She's grateful for the work but longs for a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan life she's just not going to find in this backwoods town.

The solution to both their problems seems obvious. Just for the summer, they'll swap jobs and lifestyles--and even love interests. But they'll soon find that there's more to finding happiness than just switching up the scenery.

You can read an excerpt here.

My Review:

This is a fun novel of the trading places style. It is a good combination of romance and a coming of age experience. The characters make the story. Ginny is a kind and gentle person in a high pressure job with a demanding boss. Jacqueline is the epitome of an entitlement personality, believing she deserved a top job without working her way up to it.

Carlson explores the idea of being happier in another place, another job, or another location. Both of the women had coming of age style experiences. I was a bit surprised at the quick personality changes in Jacqueline and Diana in an ending that felt rushed. Such fast character transformation could only happen in fiction.

This is an entertaining light read and a good lesson on contentment. Romance is present but somewhat subtle as is the faith message.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of more than 250 books with sales of more than 7.5 million, including many bestselling Christmas novellas, young adult titles, and contemporary romances. She received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, her novel All Summer Long has been made into a Hallmark movie, and the movie based on her novel The Happy Camper premiered on UPtv in 2023. She and her husband live in central Oregon. Learn more at MelodyCarlson.com.

Revell, 288 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)