Rachel keep writing masterpieces. I wait for this story to be available, now I can't wait for the next parts. The first book keep you at a cliffhanger ant tnis make me crazy. Love Marlo and Ray story. Nya is correct they will find each other hearts. I hope!

actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.
Yes, it was predictable but in the very best way. The villain was clear from the outset and, although there was mention of previous heroines, it didn't matter that I hadn't read the previous books in the series.
I did call the majority of the "big reveals" before they happened but it didn't take away my enjoyment and I still couldn't put it down.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So I foresee book 2 in my future ASAP! Rachel doesn’t know how to write a bad story. Absolutely loved it! I didn’t want to put it down. The story flowed well and was so intriguing from page one to the very end. Loved it!

Ray is a rich, beautiful woman. She is in the popular crowd. Her parents just up and leave her to go do whatever and she feels like she has nobody.

Marlo is a sexy man. He had it rough growing up. He was an orphaned at a very young age. He would cut Ray's family lawn. He was not in the popular crowd, he was bullied in high school and did not have many friends. He just wanted somebody to stand up for him.

It is not easy for either one of them. This book is amazing and you just have to read it to get their story. I didn't want it to end. I want to know what happens between them.

Highly recommend reading it. Love it.

While working a summer camp for Drama students, Ray thinks it will be an easy time filled with acting, singing and choreography. What she did not expect was for the man in charge to be the same boy she had a hot moment with in high school but shunned after it was over. Can Marlon forgive her teenage antics or will he plot revenge on his adult nemesis? With enjoyable characters and a storyline that had me quickly turning pages this was a great read. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

God, I love Rachel Van Dyken's work. If you do too then obviously you'll love this book just as much as I did.

This is the first book in the Cruel Summer series. It does leave off in a cliff hanger. The story is about a spoiled, rich girl, Ray who when she was in high school was in the cool crowd that bullied Marlon, the poor, nerdy boy. Now Marlon is a hunk and the two of them have to work together at the same summer camp. My only complaint is that I didn’t love that this takes place at a summer camp it seems very juvenile and makes it hard to believe that the characters are in their early 20s trying to become famous.

SUMMER HEAT (Cruel Summer 1)
Rachel Van Dyken @

#SummerHeat #NetGalley #enemies #NA #cliffhanger #contemporaryromance #quickread

Even though this series was exclusive to iBooks last year. It's now coming to the rest of the platforms this summer!

POV:Dual
4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gaahh!! Cliffhanger!! But still loved it!
If you're used to Rachel playing with your emotions you know what I'm taking about.
This was a quick wee read. 100 or so pages.

Marlon was the gangly, lanky nerd, who you'd copy off in class, pick on, push into lockers. He just wanted someone to step in and stop the bullying.
His foster mum is Ray's nanny and he mows the law.
He's watched the spoiled princess Ray from afar. Until one drunken night they spend together. Then she dismisses him as if it never happened. Then she gets the drama scholarship he wanted. Then hate and rage built up. He now despises her with the passion.

Ray has it all, money, parents, friends. But that's what it looks like from the outside. Inside she's lonely, lost, craving unrequited love.
Her parents refuse to pay for drama school, she got the scholarship that Marlon wanted. After the night they spent together, Ray felt treasured, until her friends dismissed him when they saw him. She just watched as this happen. She's secretly loved Marlon from afar.

Four years later Marlon got his drama/dance degree and is now director of the summer drama camp. He's also not the same gangly, lanky nerd he once was.
Ray needs an agent, so she's standing in at the drama camp she unknowingly knows is the same camp that Marlon's at.
Sparks fly when she realises that it's Marlon. He's out for for revenge, and is about to give her a taste of her own medicine.

"My best bet was to use her as a human shield while simultaneously getting my revenge. Maybe it would make the pain go away. The pain of rejection, of never being enough, to trying with everything in you, holding hope to your chest, and then getting it ripped from you by the very person who gave it to you in the first place." ~ Marlon

Ray's still lonely, still craving that unrequited love. She's trying to avoid Marlon's transformation from the boy she knew to the man standing in front of her.

"Just because we were never friends didn't mean I never paid attention." ~ Ray

" I only trust myself because nobody else in my life had ever been reliable." ~ Ray

Can't wait for what's next.

*I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

*Phew!* That last scene....you know the one...the cliffhanger....it was also a smoking hot scene! I'm dying here! I'll have to rush and grab books 2 and 3 because I HAVE to know what happens to Ray and Marlon ("Marlo").

Ray and Marlo have a history. She was the spoiled rich girl and he mowed her lawn. They went to high school together and she ran with the popular crowd and he was viewed as a nerd. Even I think he believes her life was better than it truly was. I think she lived a life which lacked love and happiness but he only saw the shiny exterior and thought she had it all. All of this has left Marlo to fester in bitterness. Now, they meet up four years later working for the same summer camp and he's still angry and carrying a grudge. Ray seems broken, hurt and a little lost. Marlo is the head of the camp and is making her life challenging but Ray keeps trying. Marlo has had four years to develop and is a very attractive and confident man now. Their attraction has definitely reignited and everyone has noticed it.

I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers vibe going on as it is one of my favorite tropes. I think there is a lot more for us to discover about Ray's background that Marlo is unaware of. Hopefully that will come out in the next book. Of course, Marlo has some explaining to do to Ray as of the end of book one. I look forward to continuing the series. I think it has great potential!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Ms. Van Dyken for the opportunity to read Summer Heat in exchange for an honest review.

#SummerHeat #NetGalley

I'm so torn. I couldn't put this down, but it's one of a trilogy which means I need to get the other books to find out what happens. I'd rather read an extra thigh book, I'm super impatient when it comes to book conclusions.

Ray and Marlo have history, and not pleasant history.
Ray grew up in a semblance of luxury while Marlo worked for her family with his foster mother.
One drunken night in their teens sets the tone for the future of their friendship.
Marlo harbours a lot of resentment toward Ray because she essentially abandoned him to his bullies.
Marlo is still angry four years later.

Ray is not what she seems. Behind the facade of "little rich girl" is a very lonely, scared young woman.
When she turns up to work at a drama camp, the last person she expects to see is a still angry Marlo.

Try as they might, they are moths to the proverbial flame.

I enjoyed this. Marlo and Ray are good characters you can't help but empathise with. Their back story is solid and the dialogue between all the characters flows smoothly. I'm looking forward to what comes next.
The dirty dancing scene betwnne Marlo and Ray was good at extending the sexual tension and the shower scene that ended on a cliffhanger was great at setting up the reader to look for the next book.

3.8/5 STARS!

Holy angst, Batman.

This book was filled with all things I love- love/hate relationship, angst, nerd to hot, angst, funny, Dirty Dancing, and did I mention ANGST?

The characters were great, I loved Marlon and Ray. My favorite, however, was Jackson. I knew if he was in the scene I would laugh. Not to say the other characters didn't.

Rachel is one of the authors I can pick a book from and know that I'll like it or love it. At least, all that I've read so far.

One of the things I will say, and I don't know if this was because I was in a funk at first that Rachel brought me out of, or if it may have been the book itself, but the first few pages didn't grab me. However, I kept going because I trusted the author and I'm so glad I did!

This is the PERFECT quick summer read!

Now excuse me while I go get book #2 because I am not OK. (Don't worry, not in a bad way...)

In high school, Ray and Marlon ran in different circles. She was the pretty, rich, popular girl who had everything; and he was the skinny, nerdy, foster kid who, along with his foster mom, worked for her family. They spent one drunken night together which Ray refused to acknowledge. The next day Marlon was still not worth her time.
Four years later and they’ve found themselves together once again but this time the tables have turned. Marlon is the hot guy that every girl wants, he’s also the guy in charge and he’s determined to show Ray exactly how it feels to be the one on the outside.
Super short, fun read about two high school enemies who are secretly attracted to each other. During the course of the first few weeks of this summer drama camp the two fumble their way around each other; Marlon trying to exact his revenge and Ray trying her best but failing miserably to stay out of Marlon’s way. Because the two still seem to be attracted too each other it makes it hard for either of them to hold onto their animosity. Confirmed uploaded budget is aligned with the budget template in grant. There’s also the fact that Marlon starts to see that maybe everything was so perfect in Ray’s perfect life.
What made this not a 5-star read for me? It’s a cliffhanger…. Sigh, I’m so not a fan of cliffhangers. I did my research and there are of course two additional books for this series (Summer Seduction and Summer Nights). The saving grace with this cliffhanger? The series was published in 2018 so you can read them all in one shot and not have to wait. However, you will not find them on Amazon, this appears to be an iBooks exclusive.

Marlo and Ray's story was a tough one to read. It broke my heart. They had history growing up and now are enemies who end up at the same place to work. My heart broke for both of them- Marlo's circumstances of life and Ray's upbringing. You can tell there is history and emotion there. Then the ending it killed me!! I need the next one now!!!!

Whoa boy. Where to begin with this one? Two things to know before you read this book: this is essentially novella #1 out of 3 in a series that ends in a complete cliffhanger, and it is non-stop angst and tension. If you’re cool with that, it’s a sexy and gripping read that draws you in from the very beginning and never lets go. Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review and getting me caught up in this series. I love Rachel Van Dyken’s books because they are so different from the norm - the relationships are usually more complex, tension is high and the chemistry is palpable but there are obstacles in the couple’s path to happiness. I can’t read her books as often as I would like because my blood pressure usually increases while reading and I need to take a break from all that perfectly delivered angst.

Summer Heat tells the story of Ray and Marlo, two young adults who grew up together - her as the daughter of a wealthy family, and he as the foster son of Ray’s nanny. They were drawn to each other but the differences in their social status caused Marlo to resent Ray and his hatred towards her to build. When they are reunited while working together at a drama camp, time has passed and the dynamics of their relationship have changed. Marlo is seeking revenge for the way Ray treated him, thinking that using her and then casting her aside will make him feel better. But his feelings towards Ray are more complicated than that, and he’s not sure what to do with that information. Just as things are starting to come to a head, the book ends. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-star book for me is that I would much rather have read this as one long, complete book. I think the build-up of all that angst didn’t pay off, because we don’t get to experience the softer side of the relationship - that must come in the sequels. So for me, this is the start of a great story but it doesn’t work unless you plan to complete the series (preferably immediately after reading this first installment).

My only gripe on this book is that it ends on SUCH a cliffhanger! I actually gasped out loud and said “boooooooo!” Hahaha. Anyway this is great. It’s very sexy and the writing is top notch. Now I need to read the sequel to see what happens! Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

An iBooks exclusive trilogy, and book 1, Summer Heat, is currently free. Maybe it’s alway free, I’m not sure, but it’s an excellent way to make sure you buy the additional books, and buy them you must, because let’s face it, the author pulls you in with her excellent writing, her addictive storyline, and two characters you just want to lock in a room until they finally realise how truly good for each other they are. Enemies to lovers to..... I'm guessing enemies again after that whopping cliffhanger. I love everything about this book (yep, except for that cliffie), the whole summer camp thing, the dirty dancing vibes (yep, it’s one of my favourite movies), Ray and Marlon have such great chemistry, the sexual tension is just screaming to be released. I loved it.

Three stars for a well-paced story, palpable chemistry between the two main characters., and unobtrusive flashbacks that flowed well with the story. My qualms: petty behavior from the main characters made them less likable and a cliffhanger that just cut the story off. Cliffhangers work best when you feel like you got a full story, and then there's more coming, not when the story abruptly ends with no sense of completion of fulfilment.

Thank s to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow really really like this!! But !! It's only a lead in to a series which I was like ok ok that's fine! BUT!! It's an ibooks exclusives series?!!!! Wth?? I definitely think that should have been explained! I don't have iBooks so this definitely stinks for me!! This book was a lot like the movie dirty dancing which I loved so if you have ibooks you're going to love this! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

WOW WOW WOW!!

I found this book randomly browsing on netgalley (thanks for the fantastic read btw), and I had NO idea I would be hooked in so quickly.

I LOVED how this author wrote. Her books were short enough for a quick read but left you on CLIFF HANGER AFTER CLIFF HANGER *rude*. So I have finished the series in less than a day. Yes, it IS that good.

If you are a sucker for a fun, cheesy, romantic, sexual tension filled book, look no further. I loved the characters. Most of all, I loved the camp, and the countless references to Dirty Dancing. Also, love that Bad Zombies were mentioned WHO KNEW RV LOVED SOME ROCK?

Anyways, this book was suuuuuper steamy, so I advise readers to be 18+ for this bad boy. It was fantastic, and the sexual scenes and tension kept me on edge the entire time. The cliff hangers made me stay up until the wee hours of the morning needing more. I was obsessed and I will be reading more from this author. Go read!

Rating: 5/5

Summer Heat by Rachel Van Dyken is book One in the Cruel Summer series. This is the story of Ray and Marlon. Ray is thought of as a 'Princess' and Marlon was the boy that mowed her lawn, a foster kid and one that the other kids picked on. They were never really friends, although both thought the other one was attractive. Ray did go along with the other kids sometimes to stay cool and which did cause Marlon to be hurt. Now years later Marlon is totally different and they find themselves together again. Sparks fly again and love it tempted but something happens pulling them apart due to their past.
I am such a fan of Ms. Van Dyken and this book you won't be able to put down! It takes you through some roller coaster rides of emotions! I cannot wait for the next installment of this story!!