Despite Lightlark being easily available to me (lol), I have been eager to read an Alex Aster book since having had the opportunity to hear her talk in several panels at the last two YALLFests in South Carolina. She is sweet, hilarious, and seems like not only a good time, but a genuinely nice person. Since I have obviously failed at reading her YA Fantasy series, Summer in the City—being a stand-alone contemporary romance—was the perfect introduction to Aster.

There were elements of this novel that worked better than they normally would for me solely because it was told in first-person from the single POV of the protagonist, Elle. Soooo, for instance, regarding the pace of the romance: an “ooo la laaa” moment WOULD happen but then something WOULD NOT happen, if ya get what I mean. This is mainly because Elle is at a continuous struggle with her love/hate relationship with Parker. There was a constant back and forth that kept me, for the most part, invested as a reader—though towards the end, it did become a little tedious to the point where I spoke “girl, come on now” out loud. Several times. Though, luckily, her flaws are recognized by herself and her supporting friends so it is, I guess (hehe), essential to the plot.

Here are some qualities of the novel that you can look out for and/or that I liked!

-Grumpy female protagonist
-Female lead can be a bit of a hater
-Overall, imo, A Golden Retriever Male protagonist
-This is NOT an enemies-to-lovers story—only the mc views male lead as an “enemy”
-Lots of mentions of coffee, i.e., one of the best things on this planet
-Adventures in the great city that is NY

There were def qualities of the book that frustrated me, but overall, I had a really fun time with it!

Thank you to NetGalley & William Morrow for this ARC!

The HYPE for this summer romcom set in New York City is 100% justified!! The way I gobbled this book up in mere hours is a testament to just how much I became OBSESSED with the billionaire MMC, Parker who falls first and hard for his jaded, anonymous screenwriter neighbor, Elle.

The two agree to a fake dating arrangement for the summer that has them sightseeing around the city and slowly falling in love. Parker is the literal KING of swoony grand gestures but Parker has issues around men trying to buy love with money and it does not bode well for the couple.

Told from Elle's perspective as she tries to work on her latest script, she had the best black cat energy, relatable anxiety and was just the all around perfect foil for Parker. She definitely made him work for her affections and I was HERE FOR IT!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I also listened to this on audio and highly recommend that format. It is perfect for fans of books like Summer fridays, In a New York Minute or Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne.

The PERFECT Spring Break read!

An enemies to lovers rom-com. Elle is an anonymous, successful screenwriter with a history of not letting money control her. Parker is a billionaire CEO of his own tech company. They have one night they briefly meet at a club and now Elle hates Parker.

A couple years later they find themselves as next door neighbors. He needs a PR boost and she needs to get out of her writers block, so they make a deal to fake date for the summer. Even though they’re still enemies.

I found it hard to put this book down. The writers and characters captivated me from the start. I felt Elle’s obsession with money was a little too obsessive at times, but I get why it’s there. Such a cute love story!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the digital reviewer’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this. A nice change of pace from Alex's other books. I really loved Parker. I really hope to see more adult books from Alex in the future.

Thank you NetGalley & William Marrow For the ARC opportunity. :)

Seriously, I need a latte and a trip around New York City after reading this. As someone who is not from NYC I definitely felt transported to the city and locations. This book gave off all the nice vibes of a Rom Com and has so many quotable moments. I definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for a easy, middle paced, spicy, slow burn, fake dating romance.

“I didn’t fall in love with a version of you, Elle,” he says. “I fell in love with every you.” Also, it’s always ever been you gets me everytime!

Alex has a way of writing her MMCs so swoon worthy and the tension always delivers. I love and enjoyed Elle’s progression and her tenacity to make a name for herself. While some actions were frustrating, I felt it was necessary for the growth that transpired in the end. We get to see a glimpse into her cultural background too which I would have loved more of. Parker was everything I adored in an MMC as he was very attentive towards Elle. Although there were times where the plot jumped quickly, I felt like some things were not revisited in later parts of the book. The time jump in the end was definitely something I would have liked to be explained more. I would have loved to have seen more character development during the time jump, which is understood happened off page.

The marketing for this book and the attention to details is simply stunning. I absolutely adored the map (in the physical book) and references to each location, which only attributed to the experience of reading it. Overall, I enjoyed this read! Perfect for the summer.

Rating: 4.25

4.5 ⭐️

Parker and Elle are the couple of the summer. Almost two years after an awkward encounter in a stair well at a club, they bump into each other again. They are neighbors for the summer. 😅 Parker proposes fake dating to help him with PR and her with writers block. Elle promises to show up to events and gatherings as Parker’s girlfriend. Parker runs around NYC with Elle to all the places on her list.

They go on the sweetest dates. I was over here kicking my feet and smiling like a fool. I had so much fun reading this book. I finished most of it in one day 🫣 It was giving early 2000s rom-com vibes and who does love a sweet, fun NYC romance. 🥰

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC!

Oh my goodness, I am absolutely obsessed with "Summer in the City"! As a fan of Alex Aster's fantasy series, I was already excited to see her tackle adult romance, and let me tell you - she did not disappoint! This book is everything I didn't know I needed.

Elle is such a strong female lead with incredible character development. And Parker? Talk about swoon-worthy! I was literally shook by how much money this billionaire has, but the moment he bought that cafe for Elle just so she could have her favorite scone? I would have fallen head over heels immediately. How Elle resisted is beyond me!

The side characters are just as amazing - Penelope had me laughing out loud. She's hilarious and so down to earth. The book feels like you're actually exploring New York with the characters, and I couldn't put it down. I found myself shaking my kindle during some of the more infuriating moments, totally invested in their story.

If you're looking for a cute, funny billionaire romance that'll make your summer reading absolutely perfect, this is THE book. I'm already hoping Alex Aster continues to write romance because she is seriously talented. Highly recommend!

DNF @ 15%

This book is not written well enough for me to read a billionaire tech romance in the year of 2025. I will not be reviewing this anywhere due to not getting to the 50% mark

This was such a fun, summer romcom! The billionaire romance usually isn’t my vibe, but this was very cute. It was predictable, but that didn’t bother me at all.

i was so surprised to know this was alex aster’s first romance book! i loved everything about this -- i really fell in love with both elle and parker and enjoyed their story together through each chapter. im really excited to see any future stories from this author!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I actually loved this book. I read the Lightlark series so I was familiar with her writing, but this was completely different. This was such a cute romcom and not only was the story cute but she’s made the physical copy of the book cute so I will definitely be buying a copy for my shelf.

Elle writes screenplays, but she’s in a bit of a writers block so she decides to go to New York City to see if a change of scenery will help her. when she gets there, she realizes her neighbor is a man that she had a fling with and she absolutely can’t stand him. Will the two be able to work out their differences?

4/5 stars and I would definitely recommend this!

This was the sweet summer rom com I needed. I was shocked that this is Alex Aster’s debut contemporary romance, because it was so well done.  I am OBSESSED with this one! I loved the characters, the plot, the NYC setting, all of it.  Billionaire romances can go either way for me which usually has more to do with how the female main character is portrayed than the male.  I love when they feature a strong, independent, FMC as this one did.  I quickly fell in love with both Parker and Elle and loved their growth throughout the story.   There is just something about a summer romance set in NYC that gets me every time .  I loved how this was a central part of the plot and we got to visit the NYC landmarks along with them, I was completely immersed. I can’t wait for this to come out, because y'all, the sprayed edges, the map, the embossed cover is pure perfection!

This was a simple cute Rom-com. I really enjoyed this book the beginning was a little slower than I expected for a 300 page book but it paid off in the end it was paced nicely and I was rooting for the romance the whole time. I loved the idea of the Characters writing being almost a parallel but also a lead up to the real romance. I love Alex Aster's Lightlark series so I was really excited to get this one and while it is very different I feel like she got to insert more of her girly internal chatter into Elle's character and having it be less high stakes then her other books I think she did an amazing job.

Getting an ARC of this was an absolute dream! I love reading anything Alex Aster writes. Absolutely FERAL for this enemies to lovers fake dating romance!

The author's heart is in this book. The main character speaks about not writing in first person because it feels vulnerable, and this is the author's first book in first person. This book feels like a love letter to New York.

Fave quote: "Elle, you hate me, remember?" "I do. I hate you so much." SCREAMING.

Giggling and kicking me feet over the things Parker does. Also, can we talk about how amazing that spice was??

Highly recommend this book, for lovers of Lightlark or not!

A review will be posted on my booksta, toomanyfivestarreads, tomorrow.

3.5 stars, but since I am a notorious rounder-upper, I will call it 4. I like this book, I really did. It has grand gestures out the wazoo and I really like the two main characters relationship as a whole. However, I don't know if it's a thing, but the MMC was maybe too... perfect? His flaws are almost humble brags. Didn't stop me from finishing it in like 24 hours, to keep things in perspective.

All the good parts of a rom-com are there but something felt off. Maybe it needed a dual POV or more time spent on the enemies to lovers bit. It picks up about a third into the book.

I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like a 90s/2000s rom-com in the best way. All of the best tropes were included (enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, fake dating). I ate this up. Alex Aster can do both fantasy and contemporary in the most swoon-worthy ways.

I absolutely loved this. I wasn’t sure if I would, but seeing that it included all my favorite tropes wrapped into one book
( * forced proximity *fake dating *billionaire .) I knew I needed to give it a try. So good I did. I was sucked in immediately and couldn’t put this down. Lots of laugh out loud moments in this for me and so wonderfully written. I loved the relationship between Elle and Penelope. We all need a best friend like that. One who tells us the truth even if we don’t want to hear it. The relationship between Elle and Parker was amazing *swoons* This book kept me up all night because I didn’t want to put it down. It was a winner for me !!!

This is the perfect summer escape! The story is brimming with romance, self-discovery, and all the messy emotions of being unsure of your path. Elle is such a relatable character, and her journey of figuring out who she is while navigating grief, her job, and a new love/hot neighbor felt so authentic. The NYC setting added so much charm—Aster captures the magic of the city in a way that makes you feel like you’re walking alongside Elle and Parker through it all.
Parker- perfect book boyfriend! 🔥

I couldn’t put this book down, it was so fun!

A perfect book to get you ready for the summer! This was a steamy, hate to love romance with a New York Setting. I adore how they featured locations in New York and how it was set in the summer. Overall an adorable, fun summer romance!