I am a die-hard reality tv watcher, and enjoy celebrity "gossip" and drama as much as the next person, but I just really didn't like this. I feel like there's a lot of things the MC says and does that aren't really appropriate or handled well, and the writing also left quite a bit to be desired as well.

I am genuinely disappointed that I spent the time to read this book. I could not find any character likeable. The main character was pissing me off to no end. So vapid and shallow, what was supposed to be a summer of growth was just her putting her head in the sand and acting like everyone should prioritize her feelings.

I am not familiar with the author who is apparently also a fashion influencer just like her main character Lola but if that is the case and she wrote a mock autobiography, yikes. She could have pretended that she was a better person even a little.

But all the characters sucked. The stereotypical gay best friend, Ryan, was the best of all of them. But Justin sucked, Aly super sucked, and Lola was definitely the worst.

I'm giving this two stars instead of one because it was an easy read. But I would skip this one.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy

I think there are people out there who will really enjoy this book, I just do not think I am one of them. I requested this book because I wanted a summer-y kind of quick read, which I think on the surface level, this book achieves. However, the writing in it felt very two-dimensional and cheesy overall. I also think that a lot of issues in this book are really important, such as biphobia. I just don't think that those issues were well flushed out or handled with the best care.

Thank you to Bloom Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lola has been living her influencer dream, until it all comes falling down. Without her brand deals, boyfriend, and loyal social media following she runs away to the Hamptons to escape reality. When she runs into the person who put the nail on the coffin that was a career thing get unexpectedly....hotter.

Lola is on the cusp of becoming her own person throughout the novel, but she continuously allows something or someone to get in her way. I think in the end that her experiences with friends and partners did help her to propel forward into the person that she meant to be. While there are romantic components of this novel I wouldn't classify it as a romance and the main premise was for Lola to find herself.

Overall I found that Hotter in the Hamptons was a quick and enjoyable read. Perfect for people who are still in the process of figuring out who they want to be.

Thank you Bloom Books for the eARC!

Story was okay. It’s like a train wreck you can’t stop watching (or however that saying goes) did I finish it. Yes. Would I read it again. No. Glad to have read it, for sure interesting…

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Hotter in the Hamptons just didn’t work for me. The constant brand drops and influencer name-checking made it feel more like an extended ad than a story. I ended up DNF’ing because it just couldn’t hold my attention.

On top of that, knowing a straight author was writing about queer experiences made it even harder to get through. With so many queer voices already being sidelined, it felt disingenuous and, honestly, a little painful.

Thank you to Bloom and NetGalley for the ARC.

A crazy, fun-filled and big-hearted enemies to lovers summer romance involving a disgraced influencer who finds herself living next to the lesbian journalist who helped inflame her downfall. As Lola and Aly spend more time together in the Hamptons and Fire Island over the summer they start to catch real feelings causing Lola to reexamine her own sexual identity and consider whether she might be bisexual. This was messy, dramatic and at times very graphic sexually. I feel like it's sure to appeal to fans of authors like Magnolia Parks. I did love the audio narration by Bailey Carr and found myself rooting for Lola by the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Is product placement a thing on books now? I stg not a page goes by without a brand name...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-ARC of this book.

This was such a strange one for me, I sat with my thoughts for a few days and I’m still struggling to process my feelings. When I started this I was looking for a beachy read and this definitely fits the bill. It’s very surface level and looks at the glitzy world of summer in the Hamptons in a very trivial and superficial way. The main character, Lola is hard to really root for, she seems immature for her age and her internal monologue sounds like a horny teenaged boy. This one is super spicy, but like I said lots of the sex scenes were super cringey and maybe there was too much emphasis on the sexual relationships in this one. I did end up liking Lola more by the end of the book but it took forever for her to show some growth and character development. I will say I was somehow still oddly invested here but overall this felt very juvenile and immature.

☀️ BOOK REVIEW ☀️
Hotter in the Hamptons – Tinx
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“She came to escape the heat... but fell right into the fire.” 🔥
Influencer downfall? Check.
Rival next door? Double check.
Sizzling slow-burn with the woman who exposed you? Ohhh yes. 😏
When NYC fashion it-girl Lola crashes and burns in the public eye, she flees to the Hamptons for a quiet summer reset. But instead of peace, she finds Aly Ray Carter—her scandal-spinning nemesis—next door and way too hot to ignore.
Cue: 🍷 Minuty poolside
🌶️ Sharp banter & sexual tension
🏖️ Enemies-to-lovers sapphic summer bliss
💋 Glam, scandal, & redemption
If Gossip Girl went gay and grew up, it would feel just like this. Tinx’s debut is sharp, sexy, and impossibly addictive. Come for the drama, stay for the heat. ☀️
Perfect for:
💄 Lovers of fashion + fame
📱 Scandalous influencer drama
🌈 Queer romance with bite
📚 A hot-girl summer read
#HotterInTheHamptons #TinxBook #SapphicRomance #EnemiesToLovers #SummerRead #Bookstagram #QueerFiction #WomensFiction #SlowBurnRomance #GlamAndMessy #MinutyAndMakeouts

If you like Gossip Girl, you'll probably want to read this book.

Rich people of New York, their drama, and a Hamptons getaway...what could possibly go wrong.

I did find the writing to be really weird and corny at times, especially the dialogue. It is really quick to read though because it is written the way that it is.

This book has many unlikable characters that make questionable choices. And I know that some people love that in a book and some people hate that. For me, it depends on the book. I found this instance of it to be a bit annoying, these characters didn't really have any redeeming qualities that made that annoyance worth it.

The references made were very specific, so this will definitely age itself overtime, but for this current moment in time, it works.

I can see a very specific audience for this.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Book Review: Hotter in the Hamptons by Tinx

If you’re craving a summer escape drenched in a little scandal, sapphic tension, and soul-searching, Hotter in the Hamptons delivers all that and more. Tinx’s fiction debut is a perfect blend of spicy romance, influencer drama, and personal growth—wrapped in the sun-soaked backdrop of the Hamptons.

The story follows Lola, NYC’s former fashion “it-girl,” whose carefully curated life crashes down after a public mistake and a brutal exposé. She retreats to the Hamptons to lick her wounds and rebuild her brand—only to discover her new neighbor is none other than her professional nemesis and cancel-culture critic, Aly Ray Carter.

Cue the tension.

This book had me hooked from the start. I’m a sucker for sapphic romance, and the enemies-to-lovers arc between Lola and Aly hits all the right notes—full of snark, slow burns, and unexpected vulnerability. But beyond the steam (and yes, there is steam), what really stood out was the depth of Lola’s character development. Watching her not only fall in love with Aly but also find her way back to herself felt real and empowering.

Tinx manages to balance the glitz of influencer culture with the messiness of identity and redemption. There’s a storyline for everyone—whether you’re here for the smut, the self-discovery, or the behind-the-scenes look at cancel culture and internet fame.

Hotter in the Hamptons isn’t just a summer fling—it’s a whole journey. And honestly? I’d happily get canceled if it meant being neighbors with Aly Ray Carter.

This fast paced story was an interesting queer romance, but it could've delved deeper into some topics to make for an even better read. The main character Lola isn't meant to be likable from the start, but it takes way too long to get to the point where she starts to come around. Also, she spends so long convinced that she's straight and not considering the fact that she could be bisexual despite the fantasies about women. It would've been interesting to delve deeper into the internalized biphobia Lola felt. There are other topics, like influencer culture and self-identity, that would've been interesting to get more into as well.

Positives:
-It is a fast-paced, quick read
-I did actually like the ending and felt that it was the best possible outcome for Lola

Negatives:
-While I usually enjoy initially unsympathetic protagonists, Lola was too much for me. Her turning point came way too late in the story for it to feel very meaningful or significantly make up for her earlier behavior
-A lot of the designer namedropping felt shoehorned in
-While the text brings up some topics that could be interesting if explored in more depth, such as online/influencer culture and questions of personal identity, it ultimately fails to engage meaningfully with them and in fact seems confused about what, if anything, it is really trying to say about them.

Before elaborating on this last point, I'd like to give some context. I am bi. The author is ostensibly a cishet woman (although it seems that part or all of the text was actually ghostwritten?). While some people feel that it is inherently problematic for a straight writer to write queer stories, my personal stance is that I don't find it objectionable as long as the author is not causing harm to the queer community in real life or through the text (for example, with the use of unexamined harmful stereotypes). However, in my opinion, this book fails to meet that standard.

The two things that I disliked the most were the circumstances of Lola being canceled, and her insistence throughout the entire book that she's straight.

-Lola is canceled for using the (in my opinion, harmless) phrase "lesbian chic" in a relatively neutral context. I found this to be a puzzling choice, especially as several other characters also state that that they find it inoffensive. However, in the story it's still treated as correct and necessary for Lola to repeatedly apologize for it (using soulless therapy-speak). As a queer reader, I found this frustrating and frankly a bit...trivializing? patronizing? In order for this plot element to work as written, it would have made much more sense if she'd used some phrase that was actually offensive or at least more divisive, or, again, if this aspect of the story were explored in more detail.

-Lola spends pretty much the entire story rejecting the idea that she is anything but straight. At one point she states that she's never considered whether she could be bisexual because she knows she likes men (despite fantasizing sexually about women and only liking to watch adult entertainment of the all-female variety). This honestly could have been a really good and realistic starting point for some self discovery, and I'd be totally on board with her working through some internalized biphobia, but that is not what happens.

While Lola correctly points out that other people such as Aly should not pressure her to embrace any particular identity label, she also acts like it's totally out of line for Aly to suggest that Lola is possibly not straight given that she is engaging in a romantic and sexual relationship with another woman. What is frustrating about this is that it could so easily have been mitigated by Lola even hesitantly considering another term like queer or questioning (I honestly thought this was where it was going when Jess brought up how she prefers "queer" over "bi"), or even just saying that she's no longer sure of how she currently identifies, rather than insisting that she's straight.

I could probably say more but frankly I do not wish to devote any further time to thinking about this book.

Ok I liked this book! Queer romance and self discovery (kind of).

I don’t know how accurate a lot of the influencer world stuff was (assuming pretty accurate considering the author), but if you hate influencers and want to be validated in your hatred then this is the book for you. But all the niche trendy influencer brands that were mentioned was a fun touch!

The main character was so selfish and insufferable the entire book, and at the end of her sexcapades, she decides she’s “done being selfish” by “choosing herself”. Verrrry Carrie Bradshaw. Not sure if the self discovery was supposed to be more impactful, but it just felt like the biggest nothing burger.

The smut was smutting. An easy and fun beach read. It didn’t really make influencers look great, but honestly that kind of added to the fun!

I need to stop reviewing books by influencers.

Lola is a vapid self-absorbed character. When she makes an unthinking comment on a live stream, she is characterized as homophobic, and the people cry out for her cancelation. In an effort to save her reputation, Lola does an interview for a hot journalist, Aly, who is known for her affairs with straight women. Instead of resuscitating Lola’s reputation, the article instead calls out the influencer culture and the blandness it had infused into society. With her boyfriend away in California for the summer while they are “on a break”, Lola makes the only logical choice and runs off to the Hamptons with her BFF only to discover that her neighbor is the dreaded journalist lady-killer, Aly.

My biggest complaint with this book is exactly what Lola is labeled as, bland. It was highly predictable, the characters are not very likeable, and it wasn’t very interesting. The characters were over the top. Lola had to hit that influencer vibe so hard, even when pulled away from limelight. It doesn’t feel like she really learns anything from her actions and instead dabbles in fooling around with a woman. It doesn’t feel authentic. What is even odder is the love interest being a person who hurt Lola by writing an article so painful, it caused her to stay in bed for days. If there was true resolution or even a fully formed conversation about this, the enemies becoming lovers would make a little more sense.

As for other characters, Aly was an immature pouty baby. Every time she didn’t get her way, or someone said something meanish to her, she would go radio silent. One would think a fully functioning adult would have better coping mechanisms. The boyfriend Justin makes plans for and about Lola without ever consulting her. There is a scene where Lola looks around their apartment and realizes that the only area she is allowed to make her mark is in one small room. The rest of the apartment is… bland. Ryan, the best friend, seems great but is also super self-absorbed (maybe a commonality that brought Lola and Ryan together as friends). He seems more focused on doing his own thing but when Lola gets wrapped up in her own situationship, Ryan gets upset that she isn’t available for him. He invites her to a party and goes without her. She finds out when he leaves her a note. Yet he gets mad when she misses dinner with his boyfriend to screw around with her love interest. No one is likeable in this entire story.

I will readily admit, I am probably not the preferred audience for this book. I was hoping that this was a fun and flirty LGBTQIA+ summer fling love story. Instead, I got this book. I hope it finds its target audience, and someone out there fully appreciates all it has to offer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an advanced copy of this book.

While I enjoyed the fun and spicy queer romance of this book a lot it seemed pretty cliche. There was so much drama. Too much predictability. It had lots of potential but didn't quite make it for me.

This was like if the girls from "The Clique" grew up in the best way. A perfect beach read: fun, some spice, some personal growth, something for everyone. Extra points for saying ON Long Island and not IN Long Island.

ARC Review: Hotter in the Hamptons by Tinx
This one just wasn’t for me. The influencer/reality TV vibe didn’t really click, and while I can see how it might appeal to some, I found it hard to connect with the main character—she came off more self-absorbed and whiny than relatable.

As someone in the LGBTQIA+ community, I also struggled with how those elements were portrayed. It felt like they were included in a stereotypical, overly performative way that made me uncomfortable rather than seen.

While I appreciate what the book might have been going for, it ultimately didn’t land for me.

Hotter in the Hamptons is a no for me dawg. I didn't like this at all and ended up DNFing because of that.