Just for the Summer by Melody Carlson

Book description:

 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.

My review:
   Melody Carlson is best known  - at least to me - for her Christmas novellas she has been writing every year for a long time. This may be the first book of hers that I have read that is not Christmas. And I liked it.

 If a guy can use the word, it was a cute story. And I liked the characters. Most of them. Jacqueline wasn't the easiest person to like, though I felt badly for her at times. 

 Ginny had her moments, but turned out to be the most likable of the two. 

 Then there are the guys. Adrian and Ben were totally different, but very likable characters...though Adrian needed to stand up to his mom and tell her the what for. Ben definitely won out on the best of the two. 

 Setting: Of the two settings, the fishing lodge won hands down. In fact, I found myself wishing I lived at a place like that. Just not in Idaho.

 There is not a ton of romance, but there is some. And a lot of problems could have been solved with some communication. But then that would have made the book too short.

 There wasn't a lot of Christian content, but it was a great entertaining read. 

Overall, this was a great read that entertained while also showing that change can be good, and that we don't have to stay where we are if we are unhappy. Though the chance to trade jobs and locations with someone is not something most of us can do.

Special thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

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.

Just for the Summer is available from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.