Summer Heat is the first book in author's series- Cruel Summer. A classic enemies to lovers romance. While close friends as children, Ray and Marlon's relationship changes around the time they start high school. Ray transforms into the typical popular mean girl, dating the captain of the football team, leaving Marlon behind. When they meet again years later, their roles have basically reversed, since there stuck together they start to work through their issues.m eventually...

I cannot believe it took me this long to read this book.
Absolutely loved Summer Heat.

Loved the flow of the book. I loved how easy and quick this book was to read. Granted it did end on a rather abrupt cliffhanger which, by the way, I need the second book stat!

I enjoy Rachel’s books, however for some reason I could not get into this one as easily as the others. I think it had more to do with the storyline than the depth of the characters and chemistry between them though.

Summer heat is the first part of a 3 part series of enemies to lovers. Ray and Marlo have know each since they were kids. They are the classic spoiled princess and the help. However appearances are not always as they seem and when these two reunite 4 years after high school their chemistry is still there but so is the hurt, hate, and resentment.

This is a quick read but ends in a cliff hanger. Can’t wait for the rest of the series.

Ray and Marlon were pretty much mortal enemies in the beginning. Her social status and his lack thereof was just one thing that separated them growing up. Marlon lived in a guest house at Ray's family's home and was their maid, so he also had to work on the grounds. Marlon always thought that Ray was a stuck up bitch and Ray always disliked Ray and made fun of him. Ray after getting drunk on night in high school and her parents leaving her home alone again snuck into Marlons room and they had sex. She was mean to him afterwards and he had been using that pint up anger to get in shape.Fast forward 5 years after high school and Ray gets a last minute opportunity to teach at a prestigious camp for the arts. Marlons stepmother gave Ray a bag to deliver to him, she was shocked to learn he would be there, little did she know Marlon was going to be her boss at the camp. She was caught off guard by how much he had changed. He had vowed to make her time there hell, but there is something about her that makes him want her like he had always wanted her. He ends up making a pack to try and screw her over the way she did him all those years ago...I dont know if this book wasn't a full book but I feel like there should have been more to the story. It was a great read, but I dont like how it ended without any further explanation or details.

Ray and Marlo have known each other since they were children. He was the maid’s foster son, and she was the spoiled daughter of very rich people. They used to be friends until Ray decided that she could not be associated with Marlo anymore. From there everything changed until one drunken night altered their feelings for each other but once they sobered up and went back to reality they went back to square one only with a lot more hatred for each other. Now they are adults, and they meet once again, only to realize that they still want each other, no matter how much they also hate each other.

Despite the length of this book, it was really well-structured, I never felt that the story lacked complexity because of its length, it also wasn’t too fast paced nor it was an instant-love kind of book. Since it ends on a cliffhanger, a fantastic one might I add, we didn’t get to see the resolution, which is why the author was able to structure a good book, but still, keeping it short.

This story hooked me from the first few chapters, the plot, the characters, and the dialogue were really well written and I couldn’t stop reading. Both Marlo and Ray are such interesting characters. Marlo is a nerd with the body of a jock, though he doesn’t brag about it, he is sensitive but masculine, and he isn’t afraid to show his emotions through his art. Ray grew up in a very wealthy household but throughout the book we see that her live wasn’t great either, which really gives depth to her character. The fact that not once in the book does she act entitled made me really like her a lot. Also, she is the perfect balance of feisty and shy. Even though her being rude and bratty with Marlo is the main reason they now hate each other the narrative explains the character growth that Ray has during college, which saves the reader a lot of frustration. The side characters and the dialogue were just perfect. The side characters were hilarious and the dialogue was witty and funny. Where the book takes place was also great, I’ve never read a book that takes place in an acting camp, and it is really fun to read about.

My only complaints would be that the e-arc had some grammar mistakes, though not a lot of them, and they didn’t hinder my reading experience and that I would’ve wished that it was a full-length novel rather than three small ones. Besides that, I really enjoyed this book.

Overall it was a really enjoyable read that I would totally recommend!

I really loved this book....the characters, the story, the setting....And then it ended. It just ended without warning, which means in order to finish the story, you need to buy the next book. I really hate when authors do that!

I appreciate the advance copy, but now it will be a long time for the next story...

A fantastic first book in this new series! Marlo and Ray have a complicated past, one that could be unforgiving.... Seeing each other again, causes sparks to fly and anger to resurface. What emotions wins out? Holy moly, what and ending! It will be torture waiting for book 2.

I want more! I really enjoyed this story but it is so short and only partial. I would like to rest of the story ASAP. I think the characters are compelling and there is so much to tell. Plus this entire camp has tons of stories just waiting to be written.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Social Butterfly PR for granting my request to review this book for an honest opinion.

OMGosh... I could not put this book down!! RVD is one of my favorite authors and I have pretty much read everything she has written so I was excited to get this book to review. I was a little surprised or maybe confused to see the review date was last year so I had hopes that the next book would be published as well and no such luck:( There is a cliffhanger and it is brutal!!

Marlon and Ray are enemies. Ray was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and Marlon was the boy who cut their lawn. Ray was always watching him and he has always wanted her. One drunken night in high school and they give in to each other. The next day Ray acts like she doesn't even know him. This fuels hate that he has for her. The last straw was when the scholarship he was after she took. The girl who has everything....or so he thought.

They now meet four years later at a summer camp where he is the director and her boss. The feelings of hatred he has towards Ray has not changed, but she has. The chemistry between them is scorching. I was totally sucked in to their story and can not wait to read the rest of this trilogy.

Wow! What an ending! Headed to snag book two right away! Ray and Marlo have history that ended badly when they were younger and then they are back in each other’s life again as enemies. What a fantastic book one. Can’t wait to dive into book 2!

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun and intense book this was! Rachel Van Dyken is a one click type of author. I need to get my hands on the next books in this series to find out how it ends.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book is book 1 in a three part book. It does end in a cliffhanger. 

Marlo is a foster kid who was made fun or and teased for...well just about everything including being skinny. He literally fit into the lockers the jocks shoved him into. Four years of taunting is over. His only wish was for someone to stand up for him. At one point he thought that person might be Ray especially after they shared a very private moment in her room during a party. But she never did. 

Everything in Ray's life seems perfect. She lives in a mansion, has fancy cars, designer clothes, and tons of friends. Nothing is as it appears. No one really sees her or knows her except Marlo. Her nanny/maid's foster son saw her when no one ever did. The night they spent together is something she has cherished for years. If she had s backbone, she would've stood up for him the next day when the football players pushed him around. She was scared. She felt bad that she also took his scholarship to his first choice college--an acting scholarship that he needed. She needed it more. Her parents refuse to pay for her education unless she follows the path they set for her. 

Finished with schooling, Ray takes the summer to work at an elitist and prestigious acting camp. A camp that producers and agents flock to for talent. Like everything else in Ray's life, the one person who hates her runs the camp. How is she going to survive the summer?

3 stars
Be warned! This book is book one and ends with a cliffhanger!!

It was an ok story. The names had me confused for a whole. She is Ray and he is Marlo. The "Ray" threw me fora loop.

What a enemies to.... well enemies as of now book.

Marlo and Ray have known each other since they were kids. Having endured high school with pretty much hating each other. They are both at a summer camp and are thrown into working with each other. These two have so much sexual tension you can feel it through the words in this book.


I can’t wait to read more.

I was given a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest and voluntary review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Okay this book is all sort of amazing! The hero Marlo and the heroine Ray are friends turned enemies turned lovers. marlo used to cut grass at Ray's house but they attended the same private school where marlo was bullied pretty badly by Ray's friends but still they managed to sleep with each other. When marlo continued to pursue her she shut him down. Now four years later Ray attends an acting,dancing and singing camp where marlo is the director. What happens between them is anybody's guess! Oh I loved the plot and the chemistry was just awesome between this two! Thank you so much for this book@netgally and the publishers.

I love these little short novella type books... I laughingly call them quickies.

Ok, so this little quickie is a New Adult romance featuring Marlon or Marlo as he is sometimes called and Ray. I love a good enemies-to-question-mark type of story. Marlon and Ray have a past. Ray was the stereotypical popular girl and Marlon's foster parent worked as a live-in nanny for Ray. Ray's friends were typical fake popular friends and she was too into the security of the illusion of that friendship to stray from it. Marlon was bullied and ridiculed by Ray's friends all throughout high school. Marlon teetered between longing for (because she's the prettiest girl in all the land) and hating Ray (for all she represented). One fated and drunken night things "happened" between Ray and Marlon. The next day, good ol' Ray pretended nothing happened and Marlon got beaten and shoved into a locker for his troubles. And, just to twist the knife even further, Ray receives the Drama Scholarship that Marlon was up for. Add all this together and you get a huge, seething hate-on that Marlon has been (sporting) simmering for years.

Our story begins as Ray has been given a huge opportunity when she is hired on as a counselor at a very prestigious drama camp for high schooler's. Little does she know that Marlon or Marlo as his is now called is the Director for the whole camp. Marlo has made a name for himself in the collegiate drama world and is on his last tour at drama camp before he heads west to the big time. Oh, and did I mention that Marlon has "matured" from a stick thin, awkward nerd into a saucy eight-pack having saucy, saucy-pants? Because, yeah. Marlo thought he had put his past behind him, but one look at Ray brings back all his hatred in its gory detail. Ray isn't the same person she used to be and wants to succeed despite her circumstances. She decides she isn't going to let Marlon and his hate drive her away and keep her from persevering. On top of all this, Marlon also cannot hide the fact that he still has that much-despised part of himself that still wants Ray with almost as much fervor as his hate.

Oh, it is delicious. I was worried that Marlon was going to be cruel, but he wasn't. You can see where both people are coming from. You can see the reason for Marlon's hate-on. You can see growth and realization. You definitely get some saucy steam of that love 'rm/hate 'em thang they got going on. And, I'm just gonna put this out there so there are no surprises.... it ends on a doozie of a cliffie.

This is book 1 of 3 for the series. I'm successfully hooked, and I'll totally be going back for more.

* I was given an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley. I am voluntarily reviewing this title. *

Cliffhanger notice would have been nice. I rarely will allow myself to read them unless all books in the series are already published because it takes too long in between releases to remember it all as I will need to in order to fully enjoy it in entirety.

It was a great concept.. revenge against the one who wronged you years ago/second chance romance. I enjoy those, as i did this one, especially since I felt it was different and more originally done than usual. I enjoyed the Hollywood drama club camp aspect more than I would have thought.

Great author and writing. Low on the heat until literally the last few pages but it worked.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
Review on goodreads

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Marlon and Ray have a history: he was a handyman and worked for her parents. Ray was the pampered rich girl who took what she wanted. Ray seduced Marlon one summer, then turned her back on him. Now, she works for him at a summer camp and he is in a position to exact some revenge. There was a lot of love.hate banter and sexual tension between these two characters, and the shower scene in the communal bath hut was "steamy".
This is a part of a 3 part Series (Summer Seduction - # 2 and Summer Nights - # 3), so you will have to purchase the next two installments to find out whether Marlo and Ray can put their past behind them and make something lasting out of their undeniable attraction for one another. (I am so not fond of serials and cliffhangers!) I give this a 3.7 out of 5, rounded up to a four.

What a great start to a series. The characters are intriguing and I'm just dying to know the true story of Ray. I know there is more and the author did a great job keeping her mysterious. The chemistry between Ray and Marlon is electric. I cannot wait to read the next book.