okay... so i was really excited for this book like the cover is stunning first of all and a summer in the Hamptons hello sign me up! but it was really boring. it fell flat to me and the characters seemed very one dimensional. this book was one hundred percent not for me and that's really disappointing because i love a sapphic summer romance!!

respectfully, what a clusterfuck. i would like a refund for the few hours of my life that it took to read this. as a lesbian, reading a book in which the main character has a LOT of sex with (and has feelings for!) a lesbian while staunchly calling herself straight is not really my idea of a good time.

i honestly feel kind of deceived? it feels disingenuous to market this as “the romance for a new generation” when i personally do not find it romantic for the main character to have this crazy run of internalized homophobia that’s actually never resolved. if you are actively falling in love with a woman, you are not straight!! straight girls don’t do that!! i feel like i’m going crazy. i don’t want to be mean, but this quite frankly felt disrespectful to read, so that’s just how the cookie crumbles today.

This book takes place in a world I have no experience with and one which I'm too old for. I have a miniscule social media life, but I can imagine an influencer's life being similar to Lola's life. There are some stereotypical characters included, but they're a part of the world that makes up this story. I wasn't really a fan of either Lola or Aly. They're part of a generation I'm far removed from, but I could believe they were capable of the behavior in this book. This story has humor and there is some character growth. I can't say this was one of my favorite reads, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be after reading some of the other reviews. I could definitely see where those reviews were coming from, but if you're looking for a relatively quick read or just a bit of escapism, you might want to give this a try.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was unfortunately not for me. I only made it a few pages in and could tell that I wasn't going to like it. I didn't know Tink was an influencer when I first got this book and I probably would've skipped it all together had I known.

3.75 STARS

For a hot second I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book…

I thought the beginning was eh. I absolutely hated the middle. But I actually was really here for the ending and I appreciate where Tinx took this story.

I would say this is a love story and not a romance.

(arc review) — OUT NOW!!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

✨ Hamptons Summer Vibes
✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Sapphic / Gay Awakening
✨ influencer x Critic

This book was easy to read, a little bit messy, and kinda felt like I was a fly on the wall in a rich lifestyle. I feels like this was gossip girl meets sapphic love story and while it was entertaining I wish I had gotten a little more.

Lola and Aly definitely have chemistry and watching Lola’s journey to figuring out her sexuality was a whole ride. This book just didn’t feel as authentic as I wanted it to.

It’s entertaining has some great trend references and delivers on the spice. I think some people might enjoy that.

I only have one good thing to say about this book: I’m glad I didn’t finish it.

The main character Lola is so unbearable to read and all the side characters fit into their stereotypes. The writing is not terrible, however, the author used so much slang terms and referred to Gen Z as a punchline so much that this book will feel out dated in two years.

I went into this book blind, but after I decided to DNF, I read the synopsis and this is supposed to be a w|w love story?!? How am I supposed to believe that this girl, Lola, is attracted to ARC (the love interest) when she repeatedly says she is straight and uses ARC at the beginning at the novel to write her a positive review so people stop thinking she’s homophobia?!?

I really don’t understand what the author was trying to say with this story. There’s a lot of stereotypes of gay people and Gen Z that I just can’t get behind. So I don’t recommend this book.

I approached this book thinking it would be a fun and quick summer read. I was correct about one thing: it was indeed a quick read. I found it challenging to root for Lola at first, but I was curious to see what she would do or say next. By the end of the book, I began to like Lola, although it took me some time to get there. However, the writing felt somewhat corny, and the dialogue seemed cheesy for the ages of the characters.

I tried to love this book. I really did. I was so excited about it when I saw it was coming out. Unfortunately, it was a struggle to finish. I get that Lola’s flaws are part of the book, but it made it unbearable. The spicy scenes were all written fairly well. That was good.

It was a rough debut. I will be holding my review on review sites for a few weeks. I will not review on social media.

Thank you so much to Bloom and NetGalley for giving the chance to read the book early and leave my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to say that I'm a long time Tinx fan and love all the messages she spreads on her platform. I was extremely excited to support this upcoming release, but unfortunately, it just was not for me. The writing style, while I could almost hear Tinx narrating parts in my head, came off a little juvenile. While I get that there are many influences that I'm sure were pulled from Tinx's life (we know she's a die hard Sex in the CIty fan and huge fashionista), the name dropping of designer labels seemed misplaced and disrupted the flow of the story. They were mere decorations and served no real purpose other than to name drop. The characters were too caricature-y for me, bordered on stereotypical, and fell flat in terms of personality. And while I have no real issue with Tinx writing a sapphic romance novel, I know that this caused some discord within the LGBTQIA+ community. However, as a TInx fan, I know how much of an ally she is for the community and I know she would in no way, knowingly try to take advantage of her situation as an influencer just to push her book. I really wish this book could have been for me, I truly love Tinx so I won't be posting reviews to my platforms because I don't want to take away from her release day. Writing a book is an accomplishment in itself. So thank you again Netgalley and Bloom Books for the arc.

Thank you to @netgalley and @read_bloom for this ARC!

Hotter in the Hamptons
By @tinx
Releases May 6th, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Recommend? Maybe!

Blurb:
“As New York City’s fashion it-girl, Lola has been living her dream. But when her career comes to a screeching halt after a very public snafu, everything Lola has worked for – her loyal following, her designer closet, her perfect boyfriend – starts to go up in flames. And when notorious culture critic Aly Ray Carter lights the final match by writing a scathing exposé, it feels as if Lola has lost it all.

When Lola flees to the Hamptons to escape her mistakes, she expects to spend her summer drinking Minuty by the pool while carefully rebuilding both her confidence and her brand. Instead, she looks over the trimmed hedges to see none other than her rival and newest neighbor: Aly Ray Carter.

As summer blazes on, Lola is swept into an intoxicating situation with the woman who ruined her life, marred by chaos and confusion as she tries to pinpoint why Aly has her so captivated. She thought the Hamptons would be the perfect place to outrun her mess, but quickly realizes there’s no place to run.”

My Take:
This is a great debut fiction novel!
The spice rating is 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 more for frequency of spicy scenes rather than the extreme or k*ink etc.
Well done spice for the hetero and wlw scenes!
I did struggle to connect with the book or any of the characters for the first half. The problems and power struggles that happened were hard for me to get into or feel sympathetic for anyone in the book.
The second half had me hooked though! I ended up not wanting to put it down once halfway, because I began rooting for Lola.

Nice quick read, only about four hours total.

If you’re into influencers, fashion, etc…then I think you’d really enjoy this book!
I’m also totally unfamiliar with this author, so I’m not sure if you’d enjoy the book more as a fan familiar with her.

Definitely open to reading more from this author!

#bookreview #tinx #hotterinthehamptons #netgalley #bloombooks #queerbookstagram #queercreator #bookarc #arcreview #tbr #fyp #trendy #maybookreleases

⭐⭐ = 2.5 Stars

I hate to review a book I didn’t love but I had such a hard time reading this. I DNF’d 30% in. The writing was cheesy and the story wasn’t much better. I love Tinx and I was so excited to see her writing romance. I had to give it a chance based upon the author alone. I don’t think I am enough of a fashion girly to care about all the references and I had a hard time connecting with a wealtyh fashion influencer who was not in touch with reality. I would still check out more books Tinx writes, but sadly this one was not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Unfortunately Hotter in the Hamptons was not the book for me. I was expecting a low stakes read, but this was superficial and trivial. The main character is hard to relate to or like and her inner monologue is really hard to read.
Thank you so much to Bloom for the early copy but I regretfully could not read this one.

Firstly, I am very thankful for the opportunity to review this early copy of Hotter in the Hamptons. Sadly I wish this book had done a better job in telling the story, the premise and first couple of chapters were good, but I wish it had done a better job at telling the story and my biggest problem truly was how irritating and unlikable the main character was, we all love a mean lesbain but I could not deal with her attitude chater after chapter. The story felt flat, and I wish the characters were better fleshed out.

This is definitely different from my usual read. I felt the FMC was difficult to like due to her selfishness, but that's what the story is about. It was mostly someone figuring out they needed to figure themselves out. Overall a good read

Loved that she tapped into fiction, wish the best for her but this was a no for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

DNF @ 10%

This book feels like the Dollar Tree version of The Devil Wears Prada. The entirety of the first chapter felt like one run-on ad placement. All of the characters met felt very flat and one dimensional. The book is being advertised as LGBTQIA+ but starts off with Lola being canceled because she made a comment about a jumpsuit looking "lesbian chic" then following it up later in the chapter with an "I'm not homophobic, I watch lesbian porn" explanation.

As someone who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I just don't get a good vibe for this book, specifically regarding the queer representation. Ryan is the overly stereotypical gay best friend. Lola doesn't even know if she's straight or not when asked, and just goes along with the answer she thinks that person's expecting. Personally, I don't think a queer book should start out with so many negative or stereotypical portrayals of the community.

I probably could have looked past the constant brand name dropping and vapid influencer stream of consciousness. But I simply can't continue reading this kind of portrayal of the queer community.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom for sending me an early copy!

I grabbed this ARC because I really enjoyed Tinx’s radio show. I think she gives good advice to single millennial women. But I didn’t fully know that this was going to be a queer romance. I do think that non-queer people can write queer romances and vice versa, but it does seem out of her realm of knowledge. I didn’t think the writing was bad and I did enjoy the Hamptons/pop culture references.

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC and exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I had to dnf this book at about 25%...

It just wasn't sitting with me and I couldn't get into it, to save my life.

So Lola accidentally gets herself cancelled and then her last attempt to salvage herself with an interview implodes, leaving Lola to skulk off to the Hamptons to figure out what she’s going to do with herself now that her influencer career is no longer feasible. But she can’t even enjoy her summer because the journalist who wrote the disastrous interview lives next door. Lola wants to hate Aly, she is also strongly attracted to her.

This book was okay, but its biggest weakness is its protagonist. It’s hard to like Lola. She’s petulant and impulsive and she holds grudges. She is unkind to her friends, especially her bestie who invited her to the Hamptons in the first place. She’s literally in a situationship with Aly, but refuses to call herself bisexual.

The name dropping of luxury brands was excessive and led me to wonder if Tinx was hoping for some sort of compensation for mentioning certain brands. It felt like The Truman Show.

Hotter in the Hamptons is still a fun book, despite its flaws. It’s good for a beach read.



I received a digital ARC of this book from Sourcebooks/NetGalley.