thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and to elle everhart for the advanced reader copy of "hot summer", a queer summer romance that is totally deserving of being on your TBR. i have not really watched love island before, but i totally think this would be perfect for readers that enjoy reality television shows like that. if you enjoy love island but wish there were queer couples, you will LOVE "hot summer". all the characters were lovable and i enjoyed reading all of cas' calculated (yet warranted, arguably) schemes. something else that solidified "hot summer" as a five star read for me is the fact that everhart implemented the found family trope into the storyline, and did it SO very well.

I was so excited to read this book after reading the premise and seeing the cute cover. I enjoyed the story and it's going to be perfect for anyone who is looking for a fun beach read! I can't wait to read more books from Elle Everhart. Thank you for a chance to read this story!

I thoroughly enjoyed Hot Summer by Elle Everhart. Reality dating shows are my guilty pleasure and Everhart was able to make me feel like I was watching one of my favorites with the added bonus of a queer storyline. I found myself truly invested in the characters' journeys and rooting for their happiness. The sapphic spice, the friendship, the portrayal of the effects of social media: I loved it!

Hot Summer is a reality tv dating show set on an island with hot single people ready to have some fun and Cas has been selected as a contestant!

She always watched from afar but snatched the opportunity up from her employer when offered the position from the show. The deal is that if she makes it to the finals, she’ll receive her dream promotion! She needs the public’s vote week after week to secure her spot on the show. I started off really enjoying the behind the scenes aspect since I’ve watched shows like this but it got old very quickly and at some point became very mechanical sounding when aspects of the show were being explained to the reader. It made it extremely difficult for me to connect to the characters and I had zero investment in their lives once the middle hit and I never returned by the end. It sounded like a fun idea in the description but it was not a concept I would ever read again.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Elle Everhart, and Penguin Group Putnam for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This published on June 25th!

I have posted my review on Goodreads, and in my Facebook book club.

Perfect summer read! Thank you for the early copy, it was very refreshing, I advise you all to read it at the pool just like me!

4 stars!

I don't watch a lot of reality television, but I have read enough books to know that "Hot Summer" by Elle Everhart is one of the good ones! I found myself devouring this queer rom-com in virtually one sitting. This book is a lot of fun, especially if you're a reality TV junkie. There is a lot of drama in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Some readers will not like the main character, Cas, because her intentions start as deceitful, but the longer the book goes on, you'll start to understand that she's being manipulated by other forces as well. The main romance between Cas and Ada might read a little too insta-love-y, but I think that comes with the reality TV show territory. Unlike other insta-love books that I have disliked, I actually believed in Cas and Ada's romance beyond surface-level attraction. That's mostly because of Everhart's excellent writing. She gets you to care about these characters as if they were real people. They feel fully fleshed out and have great chemistry with one another. The secondary character also feels realistic, too, and some in villainous ways. Just well-written all around. You can see the third act coming from a mile away, but other than that, this is a fun, steamy, sapphic summertime beach read. Pick this one up before you head to the pool!

Thank you to NetGalley, Elle Everhart, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

I fliping LOVED this book. I loved the concept of the reality TV show setting, I loved the relationships, and Ada + Cas.... man oh man. This book did not disappoint me. I was rooting for Cas the entire time, but especially at the end. I really found this to be lighthearted and fun, enjoyable and steamy. A perfect summer read.

Love Island inspired?! Sign me up! For some reason, I love Love Island. After I had my son, I would sit next to him that newborn phase and just zone out to their wild antics on the show. I’m not sure if that’s why, but it’s always been a fav of mine! Anyways, I digress…

This book was a fun, spicy, sapphic romance that had me grinning ear to ear. I just loved Cas and Ada. They were both so deserving of a great HEA! The whole cast of characters really added to the book. I enjoyed the reality dating show aspect of it. It really felt like I was watching Love Island!

If you enjoy fun, sapphic romances and reality shows then I definitely recommend you check this book out!

I always love a book with a reality tv setting, especially a romance. Add the cover to that premise, and I thought that this would be the perfect summer read. I do have to say that for the most part this book was exactly that. It wasn't a perfect read. I do have to say that the reason Cas gets sent on this reality show, and everything surrounding it, makes 0 sense to me. It also just plays into the third act conflict in a way that again makes 0 sense. There's just no logic behind it all, and it made reading the last third of this book incredibly frustrating.
But before that I had a blast reading this book. I really liked our cast of characters. The different friendships made on the show were really fun to follow along. I do feel like some of the characters were a bit forgetable, but those weren't a big part of the narrative anyway so I didn't really mind too much. Some of the side relationships were also really adorable, and I really enjoyed scenes that focussed a little on them.
I also thought the main romance was incredible. It is a bit insta-love, but I don't really mind too much in a setting like this one. Ada was a great love interest. I also really enjoyed her dynamic with Cas. They were just really sweet together, and I loved seeing them open up to each other. I truly think they were a great couple. I do think the third act conflict caused for a bit too much drama for me, and the resolution of it was just incredibly quick and lackluster. I just felt like the book ended when so many threads were still up in the air for me. I don't know. I guess I wanted a little more from it.

Cas is a superfan of the reality show, Hot Summer, and has the perfect opportunity to go on the show. I think we all know an element of “reality” tv is staged. She doesn’t plan on actually meeting someone and opening up to them while on the show. Enjoyed the love island environment, drama and slow burn romance. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you watch Love Island, you NEED to read this book. It’s Love Island, but with a slow burn sapphic story.

It’s third person, single POV. The side characters are amazing. Femi is the best.

Cas works for a dating app that runs in-person events. Her company is quietly partnering with the show and if she agrees to go on, she’ll get a promotion when she returns. She signs the NDA.

What she doesn’t expect is to actually make friends there. Femi is an icon, we love Femi. Ada is gorgeous and Cas quickly has eyes for her. There’s villains, drama, and humor.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

I feel bad that I've been in such a reading slump because I haven't been able to care about a lot of these anticipated releases like this one. I really wanted this one to be the one to break the slump, but unfortunately, this wasn't it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for my early e-arc copy of this book!

Lately we have seen a lot of books centering around reality-tv and I am so here for that! In this book we are following Cas. She has spent her summers watching the reality tv show, Hot Summer. This year is going to be different because she is going to be a contestant! This was just supposed to be a move to catapult her career, but she might just be finding herself falling for one of the other contestants.

I thought that this book was fun, it was not very memorable, but fun for a pool read or a quick summer read.

I love love lovedddd this book and i read it while watching the new season of love island and it just made everything so much more enjoyable. it made me realize that they really need to make a lgbt centered reality tv dating show. i loved every single one of the characters, the dual pov, the tension the reality show aspect, everything about this book was fantastic and has become one of my favorite beach reads maybe of al time.

Talk about a perfect summer read! As a fan of all reality TV dating shows, I absolutely devoured this one. I loved all the little peeks into filming a reality show, but of course, what I loved most was watching our two leads fall for each other. This is the perfect book to take to the beach or the pool!

I adored this book; I definitely recommend as a fun, summer read.

Summary:

Cas works in marketing for a dating app and is dreaming of the day she’ll get a promotion. In her free time, she loves watching Hot Summer, the popular dating show. When her boss offers her the chance to be a contestant on Hot Summer (with the promise of finally receiving her promotion if she makes it until the finals), Cas jumps at the chance. She’s on the show to have fun and secure her promotion, not to find love. But she is instantly attracted to and intrigued by her fellow contestant, Ada. When Cas is with Ada, she feels like she can be her true self without worrying about how the cameras and audience perceive her.

Review:

I really enjoyed this book!

I think the author perfectly captures what it feels like to have a crush – the yearning, the giddiness, and the hope.

The book also had a great summer vibe, so I think it would be an awesome beach read (or something to read while wishing you were on a beach). Overall, it was a fun and happy read. Cas and Ada have such supportive friends who encourage their relationship. The side characters were fun and well-written.

I found the ending predictable, but that didn’t make it less enjoyable to read.

I love, love, love reading stories about two bi women falling for each other, so I’m so glad I got to read this.

If you enjoyed Here for the Wong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen and Lydia Wang, I think you’d enjoy this book as well!

ARC Book Review: Hot Summer by Elle Everhart

Highlights:
bi-for-bi sapphic romance
sweet & romantic yearning
reality TV
perfect for fans of Here for the Wrong Reasons
supportive friends

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Hot Summer was truly just as fun and juicy as a day on the couch binging the dating shows on streaming that this inspiration was clearly being pulled from. I wished there had been more insight to the drama of the other contestants, but I had a lot of fun reading the ins and outs of making shows like Too Hot to Handle, Perfect Match, etc.

If you enjoy Love Island and love the bi girls on the show, this book is for you. It feels EXACTLY like watching love island. It’s cheesy and very very cringey. But the stupidity of it is the exact same stupidity of love island so it works. My biggest complaint is the horrific number of spelling errors. 🥴
Fast paced, easy, light summer read. Picked it up for a book club but glad I did.

Hot Summer by Elle Everhart is the perfect summer sapphic romance novel!
With the amazing, funny and meaningful moments. Truly a cute romantic comedy, such a light and easy read! The main characters are so likeable that it made me breeze through this book.
I found this book so much fun. It was charming, engaging and so beautifully written.

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I am a huge fan of Love Island, that show got me through the pandemic. When I saw the premise for Hot Summer I was drawn in simply by seeing: "For fans of Love Island".

I was laughing within the first few pages. The voice and tone of the narrator (written) were hysterical to me. I was turning pages faster than I could think because I liked their commentary. It felt like someone I would be friends with because that's how my brain works.

When I was looking at other reviews for this a lot of them said it was predictable. Okay, yes it was if you watched Love Island before, but Hot Summer was a totally different animal to me. I found that I enjoyed reading this just as much as watching the episode after episode of the show. I looked at this as a different season with cast members and challenges and new members all the same.

I think what Elle Everhart did a fun take on dating shows in literature. I cannot wait to go back and read this again with my book club. Thank you to Penguin, Elle Everhart, and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy for my honest, unpaid, opinion.