This was cute! It was definitely a very typical romcom with a very predictable plot. But I still enjoyed it and found myself laughing and blushing through the whole thing!

An atmospheric New York based romcom. You’ll be transported to NYC and fall in love with these 3 dimensional characters. Elle is a grumpy, introverted, screen writing homebody. Parker is her tech billionaire neighbor who needs someone to fake date for the summer. Parker might be my favorite golden retriever book boyfriend. This was a perfect read for summer.

I love Alex Aster's fantasy series and had high hopes for her rom-com romance. She didn't disappoint. Elle and Parker have an amazing story with witty banter. This book makes me want to visit New York and see all the same places they did.

I really hope this becomes one of this summer’s big romances. I loved this book! It may be March (which may as well be deep winter in Illinois), but Summer in the City transported me to the warmer months. Elle and Parker’s physical connection is instant - you can feel the heat between them upon first meeting. But sometimes sparks lead to a fiery inferno and Elle knows she will hate Parker Warren until the day she dies.

Except now it’s months later, she’s moved to New York to write her screenplay, and Parker just happens to be her neighbor. Elle hates to admit it, but nobody helps her escape her writer’s block like Parker does. And Parker could use a fake girlfriend to take the pressure off his upcoming business deal. One summer together could change everything for them both.

This book made me feel everything the romcoms of the late 90s/early aughts did. It was just so fun. Elle and Parker both deal with some serious problems in their lives, but there is never any doubt that this is a romance. Parker is so over the top, but I just fell in love with how much he loved Elle.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a review copy.

Rating: 4/5

Spice: 1.5/5

Plot: 3/5

Primary Genre: Contemporary Romance

Blurb: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Aster comes her adult debut novel Summer in the City—a swoony, fast-paced rom-com set in New York City in which a screenwriter and a sexy tech CEO go from lovers to enemies and back to lovers again… Twenty-seven-year-old screenwriter Elle has the chance of a lifetime to write a big-budget movie set in New York City. The only problem? She’s had writer’s block for months, and her screenplay is due at the end of the summer. In a desperate attempt at inspiration, Elle ends up back in the city she swore she would never return to, in an apartment she could never afford (floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, and a new coffee shop to haunt included). It’s the perfect place to write her screenplay…until she realizes her new neighbor is tech “Billionaire Bachelor” Parker Warren, her stairwell hookup from two years ago. It’s been a lovers-to-enemies situation ever since. When seeing him again turns into a full night of hate-fueled writing, Elle realizes her enemy/twisted muse might just be the key to finishing her screenplay... if she can stand being around her polar opposite. She writes anonymously, and he’s on the cover of every business magazine. He frequents fancy red carpeted events, and she doesn’t like leaving her emotional support five block radius. One summer. One wall apart. He needs to fake a buzzy relationship during his company’s precarious acquisition. She needs to write a movie around a list of NYC locations. Both need a break from their unrelenting schedules, and a chance to rediscover the skyscraper glimmering, pizza crusted, sunlit charms of the city. Summers always end, and so will this agreement. It’s all pretend. Promise. Until it isn’t.

The Good:
* Parker is perfect, I mean what else could you ask for in a billionaire? 6’4”, abs and gives you quite literally everything that you want. Coffee shops, houses, keys to exclusive parks. Like ok, sign me up. If Elle doesn’t want to marry him, I will. Sorry hubby. J/K obviously but I adored Parker’s character. Incredibly patient and sweet.

* The FMC seems to be a bit autobiographical. If you know anything about Alex Aster, you’ll see some similarities between her and Elle. They’re both of Columbian descent, they’re both writers. Idk why but I love a book from the POV of a writer. I know that some people hate it and I don’t understand why. I always love the insight into the inner workings of the writer’s brain.

* This book was giving Sex and the City, which I have seen every single episode of. Multiple times. I will not be accepting criticism on this tv show preference. Alex’s writing creates the atmosphere of Carrie Bradshaw typing away in her apartment. I’m obsessed with the vibe.

The Meh:

* In all fairness, I’ve probably just been reading a ton of dark romance spice lately but the smutty scenes fell a little flat for me. However, the book wasn’t devoid of smut so it passes.

* The financial gap paranoia that seems to plague the FMC just seems to come off as odd to me. I don’t get why it keeps coming up after getting over the initial hump and it just makes her seem annoying and petty when it comes to this detail.

Bottom Line:

Alex Aster’s first foray into adult romance is a success. Think Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy/Carrie Bradshaw meets Aidan Shaw in the pouring rain in New York City. It’s a lovely little mashup of Pride and Prejudice and Sex and the City with some fake dating and snarky humor thrown in. The romance is super slow burn and quite the emotional roller coaster. This is a cannot miss for fans of Alex Aster, Sex and the City and Pride and Prejudice.

This book felt like a love letter to the city. A journey embarked on that left you with a feeling that was hard to describe. Being originally from New York myself, this story felt like coming home.

Elle struggled, a lot, with who she was inside and out. She wanted to forge her own path, never having to rely on others to create a future she felt she deserved. She wanted to be the one responsible for her successes and her failures and doing so, she tend to alienate people around her.

Parker is a tech genius billionaire who falls head over heels for Elle from the moment they meet. He loved how she despised his money and fame, her snarky comments and her fiery personality. But sometimes he showed his love in a way that was just what Elle needed but not what she wanted.

Their summer love was perfection. The city dates, pizza tours, coffee breaks, and morning runs were just the icing on the top. Throw in a gala event and a private dinner in Paris, their love story was just like an NYC fairytale.

I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the writing style, the detail, the characters, the friendships made. It was such a great read and I am so thankful to have been able to read it.

Elle can’t believe her bad luck when she realizes her neighbor for a summer back in NYC is the billionaire bachelor Parker Warren, who also happened to completely insult her and make her enemies list 2 years ago. Her luck gets even worse when she realizes she’s finally working on her screenplay that’s she’s been struggling with right after seeing Parker again. Somehow she finds herself agreeing to fake date him for the summer to help his image and give her inspiration to finish her screenplay. But will their fake romance really end once summer is finally over?

I loved this one! It felt like such a fun summer whirlwind romance with some real depth added in there. I found myself flying through this one and feeling emotions right alongside these characters. I loved Parker and Elle’s relationship and it really felt like they were meant to be together. Definitely add this one to your summer TBR!

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

Elle and Parker are not what you think at first. Parker is a golden retriever and is so easy to fall in love with. Elle is fighting her own demons and has to work through them to trust anyone; especially Parker!
I Loved this story! It has so many tropes without overwhelming you!
Billionaire boyfriend ✅
Golden retriever ✅
Forced proximity ✅
fake dating ✅
Masked men 🚫 🤣🤣 no not in this book!
But it was such a good rom com read with mild spice! If your coming from Alex’s fantasy world know the quality of writing is the same but she really gives her all to the romance and its a great read!

Perfection!!!! This romance had me swooning and obsessing and I just devoured it!!! Third Act had me clutching at my heart and I don’t think I never read so fast to see how it all played out!!! So many sweet moments, steamy moments and just loving every moment Parker and Elle are together!!!! I have always loved this author and I hope she writes more romance because I need some stories from the side characters!!!!

4.5 stars! This book was such a fun read and I think it is a perfect summer book. The MMC was so cute and the ultimate boyfriend. I have loved all of Alex Aster's books but I think this is my favorite so far. Thank you so much to the author, Netgalley, and the publisher for providing this ARC.
This book comes out tomorrow. Go read it!

5 ⭐️
Tropes: hate to love [one sided enemies to lovers] fake dating, forced proximity, billionaire romance, single POV, he falls first

I absolutely adored this book! I lost precious sleep a few nights with ZERO regrets. This was my first Alex Aster book and it being her first contemporary romance I’m here to say PLEASE keep them coming 😍 It was fresh, witty, fun AND the banter?!? Was chefs kiss 💋 Elle and Parker had DELICIOUS chemistry and I could not get enough of them together. I swooned, laughed and even cried - I felt all the feels and I cannot recommend this enough.

This follows Parker and Elle who met in a club one night in New York City and had a not so cute meet-cute. Parker is a self made tech billionaire who can have literally anything at a snap of his fingers, and after that night in the club Elle made her mind up about him and truly LOATH him and everything he stood for. Her hatred for him ran so deep that it fueled her and her work as a screenwriter- and as funny as the universe is he was sort of her twisted muse helping her when she had writers block.

Fast forward some time and now Elle was back in New York for the summer. New York was the city she ran away from and the city that held every bad memory she’s ever had, the night she met Parker included. She was using this summer to work on her next big project, except her writers block was so far blocked until the universe not only put Parker back into her life but he was her neighbor. To her surprise he had no idea they had met before and that only made Elle hate him even more - but to her dismay he was never to far away and the universe kept throwing them together. Elle was an enigma to Parker, she was not scared to put him in his place and didn’t care about his money. Enter the fake dating arrangement - Elle would pretend to be his girlfriend to get some positive PR in the middle of a big merger and he in turn would help Elle get over her writers block and help her visit locations for her movie. Easy right?

WRONG! Together they were like magic - Parker was able to get through those walls that Elle has had up for way to long and I could not get enough of them. Parker was the quintessential book boyfriend and had major cinnamon roll energy but ONLY for Elle - only wanting a chance to love her beyond the summer and their agreement.

“I hate this city”, I say, cursing under my breath. “Really why?” “Because its heavy with memories - bad ones. The city is practically painted with them” I don’t know why I’m telling him this, something true, when he said it himself - this was just pretend. Especially when one of my last bad memories in this city involved him. Parker just looks at me “The paint over them” he says “make it new” - and they did just that.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Publishing and Alex Aster for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know if I can thoroughly put into words how much I absolutely loved this book. I spent every free moment I had reading this. I haven't read any of Alex Aster's other books but after this I NEED to read them all. I need her to absolutely continue writing adult romance because for this being a debut she knocked it out of the park.
Elle is a screenwriter with writers block who has a screenplay due at the end of the summer and to make things worse, she needs to write it in a city that she hates. Enter Parker, our physical-touch-as-a-love-language KINGGGG. He was absolutely perfect! I think he might be one of my favorite MMC!
Their chemistry was everything and more to me.
The writing was so good and hooked me from the beginning. I really think this is gonna be one of those must-read booktok books. This book was so much fun to read and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it before it came out!

the perfect summer vibes rom com!!!! this was totally my cup of tea. exceptional writing and so easy to follow. could not put this book down. 5/5 stars! can't wait to read more from this author :)

Summer in the City was such a fun and romantic rom-com! I immediately liked Parker and really loved all the different places in the story they visited throughout NYC. The more Parker and Elle interacted, the more I loved them! My only two complaints were that I didn’t like how Elle and Cali were together, and I didn’t enjoy the parts of the story that included her. I also felt like there were some parts where the dialogue or descriptions didn’t flow well, and it was hard to get into the story.

Overall, it was a cute and enjoyable read, and I liked how everything turned out in the end. Thank you to Net Galley and the William Morrow team for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is completely different from Alex's Lightlark series, which I DNF the first book, but this one kept me reading. It was a sweet, funny, and easy to binge love story set in NYC. Elle and Parker have strong chemistry, and their banter is really good. The little bit of spice we got was ok. It delivered everything that I expected from a rom-com, enemies to lovers, fake dating romance even with the predictability and a 3rd act break up (it was frustrating when it happened as it was so late in the book and she already said yes but was quickly resolved since there was like 2 chapters left.) Overall, this will definitely make a great easy fun summer read at just under 300 pages.

First of all, I was seriously excited to get this book. I have followed Alex all through her Lightlark promotions on TikTok and Instagram and I loved the Lightlark series when I found out that she was writing this book I was all in on it. I loved how the story began with their first meeting in the club, the misunderstanding that occurred, and how Parker shoved his foot in his mouth leading the enemies part of this enemies-to-lovers trope. If Alex does anything after this that isn't Lightlark I hope she releases another special edition of this book with the first chapter and the chapter that they meet again from Parker's POV because I would love to see what he thought. I do believe the book should hold some trigger warnings, just in case. For loss of a parent, and marital abuse to the point of it looking like a forced marriage and manipulation of children into their adulthood.

Thanks a bunch, Netgalley, for sending me this ARC!

I absolutely loved reading this book! It was such a refreshing change from her other works. The characters were all really enjoyable, and there were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. It was super exciting and unexpected!

There was a bit of time-hopping, which isn’t always my thing, but it did make the last 10% of the book feel a bit rushed. I also wasn’t a big fan of the breakup in the third act.

Overall, it was a really fun and engaging read!

This was so sweet and cute, and definitely had me wanting to go to NYC! The banter and chemistry between Elle & Parker was amazing, and I loved watching their relationship unfold and grow. All the over the top romantic gestures and dates had me smiling and swooning the whole way through. I will say, Elle definitely got some side eye from me in the last third of the book, and I may or may not have wanted to strangle her. Overall, though, I absolutely loved it! Can’t wait to read more from her.

I was hooked as soon as i started reading. I related so much to the fmc in the beginning of the book which made me love her character so much…. Feeling like that could be me in a coffee shop really made me feel like i was IN the book while reading. The pacing of the book was great, there was never a moment i felt as if it were too slow or too fast and i was never bored. The plotline was really what had me on a chokehold, wanting to know what came next every single chapter ! There were times where the fmc felt like she was complaining a little too much and never letting go of this grudge and at times it was a little frustrating. I felt as though the mmc did his best to try to overcome and fix his errors but somehow it wasn’t enough for her at times. I can understand having your fears hold you back but it just felt a little frustrating while reading sometimes.
I had a lot of fun reading this and i LOVE a fake dating, rom-com! I was literally giggly and LIVINGGGGG for the banter !!!!
Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!!!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for this arc of Summer in the City.

I am pleasantly surprised at this novel, from Alex Aster. I’ve read Lightlark and absolutely loved that and to see the switch to a rom-com was nice!

In this novel we follow Elle and her journey on figuring out how to get out of her writers block while also somehow running into the billionaire, Parker Warner who did not leave a good impression on her 2 years ago. Throughout this novel we see something blossom between them and it’s absolutely adorable! The banter, the experiences and the deep moments are so important and what make this novel amazing!

I will say, Elle had me quite frustrated some chapters with her attitude towards money and Parker, but I totally understand why she felt that way. I just wish she’d had a different mindset about a few things. But overall, she’s quite relatable I’m happy she was able to open her heart to something genuine and real!

Parker, he comes off a bit stuck up or too into himself, but deep down he’s a sweetheart and the way he treats Elle, you can tell how much he really cares about her. He’s really a lovely man and I’m just happy their paths crossed and became something beautiful.


Overall, this is the perfect summer rom-com! It definitely feels like you’re watching a classic love story movie! I highly recommend to everyone! :)


4.75/5 ⭐️