this is such a sweet, fun, spicy good time! I don’t really love billionaire romances bc of the ethical & moral dilemma with being a billionaire, but I thoroughly loved the characters here! I love Elle and think she’s a well developed, fully loveable character!! I wish I’d had Parker’s pov bc I couldn’t really reconcile the first meeting with him and the way we get to know him throughout the book. by the end tho it’s clear he’s head over heals in love with Elle it was so sweet to read! I also enjoyed the time spans of the story, and how the plot stayed pretty consistent in filling in the in-between times, again tho I would’ve liked Parker’s pov for those moments too.

thank you for the arc!!!

This book had so much potential and it just ended up annoying me greatly. I haven't read her previous fantasy work so I went in pretty blind here, but the female main character just drove me crazy. This is not enemies to lovers as marketed and I am begging contemporary romance authors to stop with that trope unless they are actual enemies, there's just not enough here. Final thought, please for the love of all that is holy stop with female characters pushing back/ refusing the spoiling of a generous & wealthy hero, I AM SICK OF IT.

This was such a cute book! I loved Alex Aster's Lightlark series so I was so ecstatic to see she was writing a romance book (my first love). She hooked me from their first, we're gonna call it meet cute, and I couldn't wait to see how they would run into each other in the future. I loved seeing how their relationship developed and I'm obsessed with Parker. He is the dreamiest billionaire, swoon worthy MMC! Their little adventures together around the city will have you swooning too! I loved that I felt like we were taken along on their journey or love and self discovery.
I would def recommend this book!

Thank you to William Morrow for the eARC!

This book had such an amazing premise that I had a feeling that it would be a fun, flirty summer read - pun intended. However, I had a hard time connecting with the FMC and didn’t like how she treated the MMC. Perhaps it’s some of my own baggage about being strung along, but it wasn’t fun reading it. Great concept, just wished it was ironed out a bit more!

This is my first book of Alex's and I loved it. I went to NYC for the first time last month and this brought back so many memories. It was the light romance I needed with a little substance and all the NYC landmarks.

I will definitely pick up one of Alex's books again.

Summer in the city is a short and fun read that I would consider a pallet cleanser for my reading queue. It was a very addicting book that I had trouble putting down.

This book almost seemed like a giant ad for New York and tourist spots with the characters visiting several touristspots throughout the book on the premise that the FMC needed to visit these locations for movie inspiration. The FMC did get annoying towards the end of the book with how much she was fighting the love story that was occurring because of her own inner demons. I feel like this went on a tad bit too long. I also think that Aster’s writing is immature/inexperienced when it comes to spicy scenes. Almost like she’s holding back. The spicy scenes were slightly glossed over and over before it started.

I was excited to read Aster’s first book into adult romance and see how it compares to her ya fantasy novels. They are completely different, however, I find that Aster has a lot of room to improve on her writing skills.

I really enjoyed Summer in the City! Parker and Elle were perfectly imperfect together and they are one of my favorite book couples! I loved how down bad Parker was for Elle. He may have showed her how he felt in ways she didn’t understand but it truly had me kicking my feet. I loved seeing the city through their eyes and I think Alex did a phenomenal job detailing the city! The breakup and time jump wasn’t what I was expecting but I know it had to be done! Elle had to learn she was capable of being loved and being able to be on her own! I’m so glad it all tied together in the end. This was my first book by Alex but it definitely won’t be the last.

Summer in the City is a fun and steamy ode to New York City and life in your twenties! This is one of those delightful little rom-coms that is so utterly unrealistic, you have so much fun disappearing right into it! Despite unrealistic circumstances, the characters and story are told in such a relatable manner, that the reader will find themselves laughing, cringing, and falling in love along with the two protagonists.

Whenever an author who is primarily known for one genre decides to dip their toes into another, I know I’m in for either a treat or a disaster. Fortunately, with Alex Aster’s writing, it was an absolute joy to read her latest work! I can’t tell if I prefer her fantasy or romance writing more—here’s to hoping she keeps up with both!

Thank you to Alex Aster, William Morrow, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

The cover for this is so cute! However, this was just okay for me. It is so much about money? And these people complain about money so much which is odd because everyone in this book is rich. Even the protagonist who we think scraped for her success (and i suppose she did, through her own choices) has a billionaire dad!! I am okay with the occasional billionaire romance but this honestly just read as strange, the continuous fixation on money. It wasn’t “fun” and it overshadowed the romance for me

I ate this book up. I love fake dating and enemies to lovers (especially when only one of them hates the other). It was adorable and as much a love letter to NYC as to the characters. There were twists and turns that I wasn’t completely expecting. I adored our MMC, Parker, so much. I was rooting for the couple the whole time. Just a prefect read for the summer!

This super sweet rom-com was giving me all the feels as a New Yorker. Parker has landed himself at the top of my book boyfriend’s list. The way he’s ends up treating Elle after their first meeting had me swooning all book. Elle herself being a homebody that would rather be in sweats had their story coming to life as she deals with a rocky past. If you’re looking for a fun summer read with the NY feels, look no further.

I was really excited to see that fantasy author, Alex Aster, was releasing a romance! I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one, and I'm so grateful to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

This book follows Elle who, after an awful run-in with Parker two years prior, encounters the billionaire yet again. This time, they are neighbors. The spice was a plenty, the banter was swoony, and this book was a fast-paced story. Was it predictable? A bit...but that's what we love about the second-chance romance/rivals-to-lovers tropes, no? We know we are getting our HEA!

I thought this was cute and recommend it to anyone who loves a romance set up with NYC vibes!

It is hard to believe this was written by the same author that created Lightlark! I mean this In the best of ways! It was such a departure from her other novels. This was a perfect book and the description was totally on point. I laughed, I kicked my feet, I smiled, and blushed. Worth the read!

This story was so good. Loved the two main characters and the supporting characters. It was well paced and very cute.

I have to be honest this isn't my typical thing, but because the author had a background in Fantasy, i was intrigued! The premise is honestly very cute, and the nod to all the major NYC landmarks made it interesting, esp with the map! (such a fantasy thing to include a map). A lighthearted romcom style beach read is what I expected and exactly what i got.

Thanks to William Morrow for the advance copy of this book!

Elle said she'd never go back to NYC, but in an attempt to dive into some real-life inspiration for a screenplay, she ends up there for the summer... next to "Billionaire Bachelor" Parker Warren, a previous fling.

I think this was my first billionaire romance?! Is that possible? It was a fun trope, but it also seemed like Elle wasn't so into that aspect of Parker's personality. I did like how that drove parts of the plot, but the twist with it at the end had me screaming at Elle like WHAT ARE YOU DOING WOMAN. Anyway, I finished this in a day because it was so bingeable. Lastly, while this is touted as enemies-to-lovers, I'm not sure that's a trope I'd use here because they were never really enemies.

I see what you were trying to do here, but sadly I wasn’t vibing in the second half. I was so interested in the beginning, but as the plot advanced, I felt like I was just going down a check box of typical romance book things. Kinda bummed! The finished copy is gorgeous though.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it was a great jump into the romance genre for Alex. I also liked the aspect of a more city setting for a book that gave me total summer vibes, compared to normal summaries that I feel like usually take place in a more tropical climate

This book would get five stars if it weren't for the main female character. She's insufferable and has zero redeeming qualities. She must be the hottest woman on planet earth because otherwise it makes no sense why anyone would volunteer to spend time with her.

Fun premise, but very cliche and trope heavy, and it felt like none of the characters motivations were fully fleshed out. I was enjoying it up until the 70% mark when it rlly fell off for me.

Thank you net galley for the arc!