Just for the Summer by Melody Carlson: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

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. But they never anticipated swapping love interests . . .

In this fabulous new twist on an age-old fable, award-winning and bestselling author Melody Carlson introduces you to two career-focused women who are about to discover that there's more to finding happiness than just switching up the scenery.

 

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

I have enjoyed Melody Carlson's books for MANY years (they were one of my first introductions to Christian fiction as a teenager, in fact) and I always look forward to reading her new ones. This was no exception. I loved this idea of two women who are unhappy with their work situations agreeing to swap jobs for 60 days. Fun concept, right? And it really did make for a fun story that I found myself enjoying. Ginny was a great character and I found myself really enjoying her parts of the story a lot. That said, Jacqueline was not my favorite. She was spoiled and at times a bit manipulative even. While I definitely think that was the point and we needed to see where she was coming from to see her growth in the end... I do wish there would have been more of that. It came, eventually, but it was definitely towards the very end of the story. While this is listed as romance and does have a little bit in there, I thought the romance didn't take as much of a front stage as I might have expected... not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind if that's not your preference. Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read and one that I would definitely recommend checking out! 

Get your copy: https://amzn.to/49FBXy3