3.75 stars. I loved that this book took place in NYC , and they visit iconic places for her research. I love that even though Parker is absurdly rich he only has eyes for Elle. However Elle's conflict with Parker fell a little flat for me, and her relationship with her sister wasn't developed as well as it could be. It was very predictable but sweet, rom com in one of the best settings in the world. I really enjoyed it .

LOVE. Highly recommend reading in the summer time, but reading it at the tail end of winter still brought me all the feels. Elle is a typical flawed human that I relate to so deeply, and Parker is my new book boyfriend.

** spoiler alert ** Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest view! I loved the setting of this book and how the main couple visited each iconic New York location in order to gain inspiration for her script. There was forced proximity and loath to love and the billionaire trope. I also liked how the main character made girlfriends along the way. That being said, I wasn't in love with the main conflict. I can't relate to not wanting a man to buy me a brownstone in NYC-- sorry. I also just didn't love the couple and the relationship.

So much fun! I had a blast reading Summer in the City by Alex Aster. I really enjoyed the chemistry and banter between Parker and Elle, I had a few laugh out loud moments. New York City is the perfect backdrop. Elle was a little frustrating with her walls constantly being up however, as you learn more about her you understand why. All in all I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading other books by Alex Aster in the future. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us in the future. If billionaire romcoms are your thing I highly recommend it!

Thank you so much for the advanced copy. I was very excited to read Alex Aster’s adult debut, and it’s always a welcome opportunity to do-so prior to publication. Unfortunately, the excitement was not long-lived. I’m so sorry, but it really took a lot to get through this one. I almost DNF’d a few times. The day of pizza was very cute, but otherwise…

Summer in the City follows FMC Elle in a few classic tropes: forced proximity, enemies to lovers, fake dating, female angst towards male’s billionaire status, etc.

I don’t even want to spend more time on this by providing a lengthy recap, so in short: this was not well-written. It was surface-level and checked off all of the trope boxes and horribly unbelievable but was at least an easy read. I do not anticipate recommending this to anyone, when they can find the same storyline(s) elsewhere. I’ll post this to my Goodreads.

I was expecting more humor when reading this, I went in wanting a good funny romcom.

The book was good, it just wasn't what I expected.

We follow the female main character who fake dates someone she hates. The hate, definitely lacked! I wanted tension. I wanted true hate towards him. He comes up with a plan for them to work together to get what they both want.

They ofc fall in love, and that's the end.

Absolutely devoured this!! Alex has managed to encapsulate the 90s rom com vibe in her latest, I loved this so much, it was funny and feel good, I hope she writes more romance in future as well as fantasy! This would make a great movie!

This was such a fun summer read, perfect for anyone who loves a romance set in NYC! I haven’t read many billionaire romances, and honestly, with the way billionaires have been behaving lately, the extravagance in this one left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. That aside, I absolutely loved the banter, chemistry, and slow-burn romance between the main characters. I also really admired the protagonist’s dedication to her career. Overall, this was an enjoyable book that would make a great beach read!

This book had everything I love—memorable characters, an intriguing plot, a perfect balance of tension and romance, and plenty of laughs. The story pulled at my emotions, which is what truly makes a book great. I was on the edge of tears one moment and laughing out loud the next. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Elle and Parker was pure gold, and their witty banter had me hooked from the start. Parker was the ultimate green flag—charming, rich, and totally into Elle, even though she tried to act like she hated him.

However, I have to knock off a star because around 89-90% into the book, Elle became a little too whiny and immature for my liking. While I totally understood her struggles, I felt the writing lingered too long on her crisis, making the plot drag a bit and the third-act breakup more frustrating than it needed to be. Her ego just got a little too big for me.

That said, I still had a great time reading this. The emotional depth really elevated the story, and the complex family dynamics kept me invested. The NYC setting was perfect, and I felt like I was right there with the characters, experiencing their adventures. The book is short but packs a punch—fun, emotional, and with just the right amount of heart.

What I didn’t love: Elle could be a bit miserable at times, and the ongoing conflict felt a little repetitive. The ending also felt rushed, and I wanted more redemption for Elle after all the drama.

Overall, it was a fun and heartfelt read, and I’m excited to see more from Alex!

I wanted to like this but I did not like the main character and unfortunately that kinda ruined it for me

Such a fun little romcom, perfect for the upcoming summer! I also love books set in NYC, it makes for a fun filled atmosphere.

The buildup and tension were great, I loved the chemistry between the main characters. The only thing I didn’t love was the third act breakup, but those are just never fun.

I definitely recommend to add to your summer reading list!

Thank you Alex, Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC!

Summer in the City is a fun romance with fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, and a swoon-worthy billionaire MMC. The chemistry between Elle and Parker was lovely, and their banter kept me completely invested. Alex Aster did an amazing job bringing New York City to life and I felt like I was right there with them, experiencing every walk, every restaurant, and every late-night moment.

Parker was definitely a highlight for me. He’s charming, devoted, and would do anything to make Elle happy. I loved his grand gestures and the way he was so smitten with her from the start. Elle, on the other hand, had her moments. While I appreciated her independence, I sometimes found her frustrating- especially in how she handled Parker’s kindness.

The biggest drawback for me was the ending. After so much buildup, everything wrapped up way too quickly. It felt rushed, and I wish there had been more time to fully explore Elle’s growth and how their relationship solidified. I was left wanting just a little more.

Overall, this was a lovely rom-com that had me smiling, kicking my feet, and completely immersed in NYC. Just be aware this writing is different from Aster's fantasy series.

This was a super cute and fun read for her first adult romance book! I had a great time reading it and I love all the cover choices at various bookstores.

i wanted to give Alex Aster another chance. her young adult books were…not my favorite (i’m saying this as nice as i can lmfao) but i wanted to see if writing young adult was simply not her thing! and that’s okay! plenty of authors flourish in only one age group! maybe adult would be Aster’s thing! i was wrong! adult isn’t her category either. for an adult romance, her characters did seem rather childish. and annoying. i couldn’t into the story with the amount of “i’m not like other girls!” energy the main character was producing ever paragraph. it was giving me a headache.

Thank you Harper Collins & William Morrow for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

Potential spoilers (nothing super specific):

I really love the premise of this book -- a screenwriter and a billionaire fake dating during summer in NYC?! sign me up. There were so many things about this book that were so fun and steamy and exciting.

BUT, I the FMC ruined this one for me. She had so many issues with absolutely everything -- and I'm all for somebody having issues and growing out of them. But it seemed like she just wanted to change everyone and everything around her rather than doing the internal work when she was clearly the problem.

The multiple break-ups were so unnecessary. I felt like they happened instead of just talking through things like mature adults, which she is not a mature adult so that tracks. But I really expected some development with her, not everyone else bending the knee to her whims.

I have NO clue what sweet angel boy Parker sees in Elle...like...he deserves to be in the book boyfriend hall of fame, and his female counterpart is just insufferable. It just made the book highly unrealistic (and not in a fun way that I usually enjoy).

The end was...I honestly can't even talk about the end because it pisses me off so much. The tone of the entire book was a little naive and immature for my taste & that just added to my annoyance with this.

Maybe this book just wasn't for me; I could very much see friends of mine really loving this, so I hesitate to say that I don't recommend it.

I definitely think that it's worth the read if you're looking for something simple and cute with typical romance tropes. But if you're hesitant and any of my thoughts will give you the similar ick, maybe hold off.

This was a cute story! I loved how the author made me really feel every emotion along this journey. It was such a wide range of feelings wrapped up into a fun and cute love story! There were so many pieces that you could tell Alex let her gift of writing free and it resulted in such great moments and feelings that helped carry the story along beautifully. I enjoyed this story and it has solidified my love for Aster’s writing style.

4.5 ⭐
2/5 🌶️

First a big thank you to NetGalley, Alex Aster and the publisher for this ARC.
I LOVED this story and I finished it in less than 24 hours because I could not put it down because from the very beginning I was hooked. I loved the banter and the back and forth between these two characters so much.
Elle is this emotionally unavailable screenwriter who has to return to NYC (which is a city she hates) to write her next screen play but she has writer's block. But once she runs into her new neighbor (who she shared one passionate evening with and she now hates because of it) she starts writing again. When he proposes they fake date to help his image and so she can visit all the spots she needs to see to help finish her story she excepts and from them on the sparks fly!!!!
I loved seeing the growth of these two characters, especially Elle even though at times I wanted to reach into the book and shake her! And Parker so sweet and patient with her but also wicked charming, who wouldn't fall in love with him..
This book checked so many boxes for me that the only reason I didn't give it 5 ⭐ was because the third act breakup and then ending felt a little rushed to me. I understood the reason for the break up but I wish there would have been a little more to the reconciliation at the end. The book was not super long so I feel like the ending could have been a little more fleshed out without being too long. I'm also not a fan of huge time jumps. But other than that this book was amazing and I will definitely read more from this author especially romance as she wrote it so well.
Definitely will be recommending this to everyone as a perfect spring summer read and buying this beautiful special edition myself to reread again.
Oh one more thing....this book is like a love letter to NYC in the summer and made me wanna book a trip just to experience all the locations in this book during the summer!

Parker and Elle meet in a club and after a few minutes of passion, their fling ends badly. 2 years later Elle moves back to New York and you’ll never guess who her new neighbor is.

This is a beautiful billionaire romance story of finding love through finding yourself. You see the characters and their love grow throughout the entire story. It’s funny, has great romantic tension, swoon worthy gestures and some twists I didn’t see coming! Some parts made me tear up a bit and I’m usually not an emotional reader.

The book was really well written and I loved the repeating theme of history repeating itself, even in just one season.

I quite enjoy anything written by Alex Aster, and this was just as fun as any of her any books. I had a fun and enjoyable time reading it. It was a little easy to tell that it was her first time writing a full on romance novel, but it was still a fun read, I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in romance novels

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Elle unknowingly met Parker Warren, tech billionaire, her last night in NYC and what started as a hot make out session at a club cratered quickly, leading Elle to hate Warren.

2 years and successful screenplays later, Elle is reluctantly headed back to New York for the summer, on contract to deliver a rom com screenplay set in the city she hates and house sitting in a swanky spacious apartment building. Guess who her next door neighbor is? Suddenly in close proximity, Parker asks Elle on a fake date for a work function as he moves to close a deal on his company's acquisition. It goes well enough that he proposes they keep it going, but only for the summer. He will help her through writer's block and she will help the optics of this deal.

Wow, I found this to be a fairly delightful read. You've got lots of tropes contemporary romance readers will enjoy: forced proximity, fake dating, billionaire, only one seat on the club couch, and more. Plus, it's set in NYC, one of my favorite cities. The ending felt a little rough, but overall I did enjoy this book. It was really hard to put down.

Thank you to William Morrow for an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This book is due to be published 3/25/25. I'll be posting to Instagram closer to publication.