I'd like to thank Netgalley and William Morrow for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, touching book. Perfect for a summer romance read. I loved the characters and especially Parker, who's love for Elle pulled at the heart strings. Loved this one!

This was a really cute book! I loved the characters and the setting, and was really vibing with it until the end. I thought there was too much crammed into the last handful of chapters and the third act breakup was so unnecessary in my opinion. Overall enjoyed and excited to read more from this author!

Have you ever read a book that is so pretty, gives you the biggest heart eyes on the shelf, but then is a bit lackluster on the inside? Well, that's exactly how I felt with Summer in the City. It had all the makings of being *the* book of the summer (as the title states) but it didn't quite reach its potential in a way that helps it stand out. It was all just alright and none of it was outstanding.

Thank you Netgalley and WM for an ArC of this new beach read, " Summer in the City". This was one of my most anticipated reads since I loved the cover and love NYC. However, from the first page, the lead character bugged me. She is at a nightclub when a hot billionaire tries to woo her, and from that point forward, she makes it her goal to avoid NYC forever until her sister asks her for a massive favor. She ends up going back to the city, just to find out that her new neighbor is said hot billionaire. This one was way too predictable, and I'm sorry, what single girl would not want to be wooed by a hot, single billionaire?!

This is definitely your class romance read. Did I find it enjoyable? Yes. Is it my favorite summer time type romance ever? No. The beginning started off strong, the characters were great, the writing was good, and the plot was moving, but I found the ending to be just lacking and ugh. Again, a decent summer read but not my favorite one ever.

Actually... 2.75 rating
This book is a fun, chaotic rom-com with serious movie potential. Elle’s stupid pride and emotional walls made her wildly frustrating—but also real. Parker, though sweet and generous, sometimes felt a bit too perfect to be true. At times he also made me mad. Their dynamic was equal parts infuriating and addictive, like watching a slow-burn trainwreck. Despite the character flaws, the story’s heart and humor made it worth the ride. I think this is the type of book that would make a good rom-com movie.

A cute and quick summer read that I really enjoyed! Sometimes you need a good dose of enemies-to-lovers, and Alex Aster’s Summer in the City is the perfect medicine for that.

The book follows Elle, who is a successful but anonymous screenwriter who has escaped to New York City for the summer to finish a manuscript while dealing with writers block. Luckily for her, her biggest muse (and biggest pain in the butt…), Parker, is living next door.

This one was juuuuustttt about perfect for me, minus the fact that there’s the dreaded miscommunication trope. Womp womp. But I put it aside and let the sweet rom-com vibes take me away. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the eARC!

Summer in the city was such a good book to read. I enjoyed this read and so happy to come across this book. So thankful to read this book.

Short synopsis: Elle is given the opportunity of a lifetime to write a big budget screen play set in NYC, when she runs into Parker the billionaire she made out with in the stairwell 2 years prior.

My thoughts: First off, I loved the setting! I’ve been dying to visit NYc and this book basically had me doing that. Touring the sights, eating my way through the different pizza options, and of course stopping at a MLB game. I love the adventure and atmosphere in these pages.

Elle was hard to like during some of it with her irrational decisions, but I did like that she was a hard working successful woman all on her own fulfilling her dreams! She didn’t need some uber-rich tech billionaire to buy her fancy things. But he did have some great (albeit excessive) grand gestures. My favorite interactions were when they did the normal stuff like visit Home Depot at midnight to pick out paint colors.

Overall a cute summer-time romance!

Read if you love:
* Second chance romance
* Celebrity romance
* Grand gestures
* NYC sights
* Fake dating
* Neighbors to lovers

Parker was a 10/10 book boyfriend but I had a love/hate relationship with the FMC. I liked the tropes, but there were certain parts of the story that felt rushed or disjointed. Overall this book was a quick and easy read. I finished it in an afternoon.

3.5/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC

I really enjoyed this one! Aster is so talented to be able to right in multiple genres and be amazing in every one! The story was so cute and I loved the characters so much! I had to buy it too and add this beautiful masterpiece to my collection

Loved this! It has everything you want in a summer reading book - billionaires, fake dating, second chances and chemistry. It was a super fast read and am sorry I finished it took quickly. Recommend for sure!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and William Morrow for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Tropes: Undercover screenwriter, billionaire MMC, forced proximity, fake dating

Ughhh. It's so easy to love him and so hard to like her. It was great until it wasn't. The ending was not it for me.

Alex Aster will never write a book that I do not thoroughly enjoy. This statement is supported by this book. Thank you, Alex, for another smash that would live on my shelf rent free.

A successful but anonymous screenwriter returns to the city she can’t stand, begrudgingly fulfilling her contract for the next big movie she’s supposed to write. Struggling with creative burnout, the last thing she expects is to get entangled with her billionaire next door neighbor. What begins as a mutually beneficial arrangement quickly turns into something neither of them saw coming.

I DNF’d this book at 55% for two key reasons. First, when a woman says no, that boundary should be respected, immediately and without question. This story included moments where “no” didn’t mean “no,” which sends a harmful message. Second, the MMC’s repeated love bombing (lavishing her with extravagant gifts like dresses, diamonds, even a coffee shop) despite her repeatedly saying she’s not interested in dating him, crossed a line. When a woman says she’s not interested, believe her.

Thank you to William Morrow for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I love romance and I love books set in New York, so I thought I'd be really into this. It just did not do it for me. All of the characters felt unbelievable to me, and how wealth was handled in the book felt unrealistic. I get it, he's really rich. But also, I don't think a rich person would spend there money like that on a girl they just met, even if they really loved them. I can see the appeal of this book to some people, like people who liked the OG Gossip Girl, but this just isn't the book for me. Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC!!

I was not a fan of this book personally. Parker was an A+ character and I loved him with every ounce of my being. No notes for my man Parker. Elle on the other hand was taking me out of the book. I could not vibe with her and even when I found out her reason for not wanting to date rich it was still not a good reason to be mean to Parker. Elle was so insufferable and it made enjoying the book very difficult.

This delightful summer rom-com swept me away with its vibrant New York City backdrop, which felt like a character in its own right. From the bustling streets and iconic landmarks to the electric energy coursing through every page, it evoked a nostalgic vibe reminiscent of classic 2000s rom-coms. The story’s playful tone and billionaire romance premise delivered exactly the kind of over-the-top fun I crave, filled with laugh-out-loud moments and sizzling chemistry.

That said, I found myself frustrated with Elle, the main female character. While I love a good grumpy heroine, her lack of growth was impossible to ignore. She remained stubbornly closed-off, with communication issues that made it hard to root for her at times. Her tendency to ghost people at the slightest conflict felt immature, and though her past trauma was acknowledged, the story didn’t give her enough opportunities to truly confront or overcome it. This lack of depth made it difficult to fully connect with her journey.

The romance between Elle and Parker also moved at a breakneck pace. While that added excitement, it sacrificed deeper emotional development, making their connection feel more like a whirlwind than a grounded love story. Still, the book’s cinematic quality and undeniable charm make it clear why it’s a fan favorite—it has all the makings of a blockbuster rom-com I’d happily watch on the big screen.

Put this one in your beach bag! It is such a fun summer read. I loved it, I loved the setting, and Parker was a 10/10. The only drawback for me was Elle. I found her aversion to money became grating after awhile. Parker doing these grand gestures (which gave me anxiety honestly because throwing that much money around seems ridiculous even in a work of fiction) but anyway, his thoughtful, over-the-top kindness was never even met with a thank you and that started to get on my nerves! I am Team Parker and Elle did not deserve him. I loved the story anyway! 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley & William Morrow for an e-ARC.


Elle is spending the summer in a high-rise in New York City, where she is writing a script. Her neighbor, who is obviously a wealthy bachelor, asks her to spend the summer as his girlfriend. He wants a woman who he can trust and who won't sell him stories to the tabloids, in the spirit of Pretty Woman. The description and character development were important. I haven't read any of Alex Aster's previous works yet, but I plan to soon.