I have enjoyed Silver’s other books and Slow Burn Summer is no exception. It is a heartwarming, funny, slow burn romance with lovable characters and an interesting plot. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

While I did really enjoy some book, I was very frustrated at times and for most of the last 40% entirely. We’re to believe Kate is 39 years old, has prior acting experience enough that she had an agent, and acts this novice? Why is she not immediately creating a new persona for this author alter ego instead of telling people about her ex husband and her sister’s shop? In the age of social media, any sleuth would look these details up and find that she wasn’t who she said she was. The fact she puts the whole ruse in an email is so utterly ridiculous I almost stopped reading entirely. From an editorial standpoint, it would’ve been just as easy for Kate to tell her daughter when she brought the new bf home and he overheard and spilled to a reporter who then fact checked all the very obvious clues she sprinkled in her interviews along the way.

I can’t believe how over dramatic this all becomes over time and it was hard to play into the fantasy.

A final note: the title feels completely unrelated to the book and simply exists to try and sell the book as a beach read. It feels lazy and doesn’t do the story justice.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Josie Silver’s tear-jerking, heartfelt romance style, and this time, she decided to write a romcom—though maybe we should call it a comrom because, in my opinion, the funny and silly parts of the book, paired with the brilliant and refreshing sarcastic tone in the creation of Kate Elliott, probably overshadowed the slow-burn romance between Kate and Charlie, which still needs some development. I have to admit,

I didn’t enjoy the romance parts of the book as much. I’d describe them more as attraction between two people who are holding on to each other after enduring terrible divorces. But I’m telling you, Kate’s characterization in this book deserves 10 stars! She’s one of a kind—literally wearing her feelings, unfiltered, honest, genuine, funny, and so easy to resonate with. She creates an urge to give her millions of hugs! I absolutely loved her! And as a supporting character, Liv steals the scenes as the best sister anyone could wish for!

The book’s unique concept immediately grabs your attention. Kate Elliott, at 39, is a former promising teen actress who married young at 19 and moved to Germany for her husband, raising their daughter Alice. Years later, she catches her husband in the worst cliché: cheating with his secretary. Her daughter is off to college, and Kate is left without a penny, thanks to the tight ironclad prenup she signed. After a few glasses of wine, she pens a letter to her former agent, Jojo, asking for any acting job she can get. This leads her to Charlie Francisco, Jojo’s son, who inherited his father’s business and offers her an intriguing job: to pose as a romance author for a new book whose author wants to remain anonymous.

After reading the powerful book, Kate is on board, even though she has to deal with the cutthroat Fiona, Jojo’s longtime business partner, who puts extra pressure on her with condescending comments. But at least Charlie, with his whiskey-cola-colored eyes, is in her corner. She starts to resist the sizzling attraction between them because she has a compelling job to focus on—attending popular radio shows, appearing on morning shows, and signing books at reading festivals.

Meanwhile, Kate keeps corresponding with the real author, who goes by “H,” wondering if he’s a man, while also dealing with her daughter’s possible romance with an Aussie, taking things a bit too far.

Yes, her life is far from easy, and some unexpected events push her into a crisis. Kate is forced to confront her life priorities and make better choices for her future, for the sake of her loved ones.

Overall, while I didn’t love the romance parts, I adored Kate. She may be one of the best romance characters I’ve read about recently. Her intelligence, quirkiness, and goofiness make her even more lovable. I chose to consider this book more women’s fiction and comedy than romance, which is why I rounded up my 3.5 stars to 4 for my unconditional adoration of Kate! This book is a bit different from Silver’s previous works—less dramatic, more entertaining, and hopeful. I actually loved this change and hope she continues to create more colorful characters while sharing her humorous writing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Dell for sharing this highly entertaining book’s digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Slow Burn Summer is the story of Kate, who’s fresh off a sudden divorce and in need of money, so she turns to the acting career she put on hold about twenty years ago. She reaches out to her former agent, but ends up working with his son Charlie, who has a strange gig for her: playing the part of the author of a hot new love story soon to hit bookshelves. Since the author wants nothing to do with publicity, they need more than just a ghostwriter–they need someone to actually be the face of the author and do all of the public appearances that go with it.

As Kate awkwardly navigates playing her new role, she contends with a bit of attraction toward her agent, Charlie. They work together to help her keep the identity of the writer secret, but will they be able to keep their feelings for one another under wraps?

I found this a charming slow-burn romance (it does live up to the “slow burn” part of the title). The chemistry between Kate and Charlie is sweet, albeit a bit tame (not necessarily in terms of spice, but in terms of how much emotion I felt while reading about the two of them together). I honestly felt like the non-romance aspects of the book were the most entertaining–it’s quite funny and I liked seeing the way the bookish community was portrayed in this story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC of this novel!

From just looking at the cover, I expected this to be some kind of cheesy love story. Not that those are bad, we all need one once in a while but what i didn't except was for the book to be SO much more. There was genuine LOL moments, sweet moments, real life moments and a whole lot of love moments. To say I loved this book, the characters and the overall storyline is an understatement. This is a book I would re-read and recommend to everyone!

I loved "One Day in December," but this one didn't level up for me. I thought it was an enjoyable, cute read, but not hitting me as hard as her other books.

This book was a breath of fresh air! Kate is looking to get back to work and her only experience is in acting. She was a child/teen actress that left her job/career for love. She marries, has a daughter and 20ish years later finds her life unraveling with her husband's affair and subsequent divorce. He has maintained his career, the house and moved in his mistress! Kate moves into an upstairs apartment above her sister's costume dress shop.
Kate sends a letter to her former agent asking for another chance. This letter was hysterically honest and ends up being read by her former agent's son, Charlie. Kate seems like a good fit for an unusual job role being named author for someone else's work that they don't want to publish under their own name. The book's author pens a beautiful novel of love and loss that Kate can relate to. She also finds it difficult to say 'no' to Charlie and his charm.
Kate finds herself wrapped up in a whirlwind of press for this book and appearances, that lead to pretty hilarious and self-deprecating situations that will leave you laughing and cringing. Of course romance blossoms, but that was not what drove the book. There are so many themes throughout this book that are so well done. Grief is a main theme and how people deal with and overcome grief. We also see an awakening and reclaiming of personhood for Kate. Charlie also comes out of the shadow of his father and ex-wife and finds a career that is his own. I also loved the bond between Kate and Liv. This is the sisterhood we all aspire to! Highly recommend picking this up when it comes out!

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley, for providing me with this advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Slow Burn Summer is romance that explores grief is it relates to death, divorce and careers. Even beyond the primary character, Kate and Charlie, each character is addressing their grief, obligation, loyalty and self-identity in a way that is beautifully interwoven.

3.75 ⭐️

i really enjoyed the basis of the characters role, a “ghost” author if you will. Kate Elliot is a newer divorced woman after 20 years of marriage and no job. she reaches out to her old acting agent she hasn’t spoken to since she was 17 and kickstarts a new role: pretending to be a debut romance author for a world renowned author who is completely anonymous aside from the agents knowing who they are.

this quickly spirals into more than Kate bargained for or was told- constantly turning her phone off to avoid the overflow of notifications, journalists and unknown callers.

but she also finds love in something unexpected. newfound love of being on her own, for the people in her life and for someone special.

I marked this down just because i’m not the target audience age, about 13+ years older than me, and i felt as if the “slow burn” was slowish but was super rushed by the end of the book. some of the transitions felt unfinished before moving on like i was missing a paragraph or a page.

it was a nice read overall!

This was such a sweet and fun rom com! Another new to me author that I can see why she’s so loved. Josie had a way of captivating you to Kate’s story from the very first page. I love how complex each character is in this story from Kate and her relatable characters and Charlie wrapped in grief and how to move forward.

The plot was well paced and the writing was so good. The only thing I wish for was some more tension between these characters. Just to really feel the connection between these two. But all over I found this so enjoyable and a must read!

Josie Silver is an auto-buy author for me and this title proved to be no different. It was fresh, fun, and romantic. I loved reading about Kate finding herself again post divorce. Charlie helping and being there are qualities we don’t see often in romance heroes but I’m so happy they were showcased in this novel. This book was so good! I can’t wait for it to be in readers hands.

i liked where the storyline went but i couldnt get into the writing. i wish it was dual pov and i wish the chapters didn’t feel like run on sentence 💔 i was looking forward to thing book and it just ended up not being for me

When Kate is hired as a ghost author for a new book whose author wishes to remain anonymous, she’s not sure what to expect. A handsome, charming agent and an instant best seller are definitely not what she envisioned.

Kate and Charlie are down to earth, enchanting characters who comically continue to face life’s challenges. This was an incredibly sweet rom com that focuses on the importance of maintaining all of life’s relationships. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a summer read with a bit of substance!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book! I really LIKED this one. I think I read it in less than 12 hours total, would have been sooner but sometimes a girl just needs to put the book down and sleep. Kate was a great main character, absolutely adored her and her sister. They melted my icy heart. Charlie? I think Charlie could throw trifle at my face and I’d literally say thank you. There were a few grammatical errors, very minor errors that I’m sure will be corrected before publication. I did find an inconsistency in the book though—in one chapter it is said that Charlie silences both of their phones and places them face down, yet on the same page his phone rings and immediately on the next page her phone rings. Not a huge deal, but if I caught it, I am sure others will as well. Those small things aside I really enjoyed this book and these characters.

This book is a gem from start to finish. I read it in one setting. It's a storyline I have not come across before and it really draws you in. The characters are relatable and interesting and flawed and wonderful.

Josie Silver has done it again. A heartfelt, pull at your heartstrings modern romance, perfectly set in quintessential UK. I really simply adored this book. As predictable as modern romance can sometimes be, there were some fun twists and turns that kept me guessing.

Kate Elliott gave up her role as a soap opera actress to get married, now twenty years later, she is divorced and in need of a job. Somewhat desperate, she sends a letter to her former agent. Although she does get an appointment, she learns that her agent has died, and his son, Charlie has inherited the agency. Charlie and staff are in an unusual situation, in need of an actor to play the part of an author, as in “ghost writer.”
A well know author has written a romance novel, sure to be a success, however, the author in question is known for a completely different genre and doesn’t want to be associated with this latest book. Kate agrees to fulfill the role, attending all promotional activities, including live interviews, that to her surprise are not only on radio but also television.
The book is a huge success, and Kate plays the role well, until unexpected situations come up that create some friction. Charlie is diligent about protecting Kate; however, some things are simply out of his control. There also is a bit of chemistry between Kate and Charlie that they both choose to ignore.
This is a captivating, delightful story that caused me to pause occasionally while I laughed out loud.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. Charlie is a talent agent, who has some serious life issues at the moment: a divorce, a business he inherited but doesn't want, and an author who wrote an amazing romance book but also wants nothing to do with it. His agency wants to put the book on a summer tour, but needs to find someone to pretend to be its author - enter Kate, who used to act in soap operas, has her own life crises, but also seems to be perfect for this job. The catch is she just cannot know who actually wrote this gem of a romance book. So Charlie and Kate plan to lie throughout the summer, but as the lies get bigger and their lives intertwine more, are they able to keep up the charade?

I just loved this book about the book world, so that alone is a great recommendation for this book. However, the characters were also enjoyable, I liked all of them and genuinely wanted to see them succeed. The characters were written as real people, with complexities and layers that were very relatable. Also, the title of "Slow Burn Summer" is perfection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Dell for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a charming, peaceful book! I could totally picture myself curled up on the couch during a rainy summer day with this! It was beautifully written and I especially loved the ending, everything was wrapped up perfectly! Thank you Random House and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review! My review for this book is now up on Instagram and Goodreads!
www.instagram.com/becks_bookstagram
www.goodreads.com/rebeccagauger04

From the moment I saw Slow Burn Summer and Josie Silver’s name on the cover, I knew I was in for a treat. As a longtime fan of her work, I had high expectations and this book delivered in every way.

The story follows Kate, a forty something newly divorced woman who finds herself at a crossroads after her daughter heads off to university. A chance visit to the talent agency she once worked with as a child brings her face to face with Charlie, the son of the agency’s former owner. When Charlie offers her a rather unconventional job—pretending to be an author on a book tour to promote a novel written by an anonymous, publicity shy writer—Kate reluctantly agrees. What follows is a whirlwind of deception, discovery, and undeniable chemistry.

I truly loved this book, especially all the little nods to the book world. Josie Silver weaves a story that feels both fresh and deeply authentic, making it stand out from the usual rom com books. There are some seriously sweet moments, hilarious scenes, and some unexpectedly deep themes that give the book real emotional weight.

The standout character for me was Liv. Every time she appeared on the page, I found myself grinning. Her sarcasm, dry wit, and fierce loyalty to Kate made her an absolute joy to read. But beyond Liv, every character felt fully realized, to include the ones who weren’t exactly likable were written with depth and purpose.

If I had one small critique, it would be that the ending felt a bit abrupt. I wanted just a little more time with these characters, a bit more resolution. But that’s a testament to how much I enjoyed the journey because I simply wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

If you’re looking for a book that is fun, heartfelt, and refreshingly unique, Slow Burn Summer is one that you should pick up. It’s the perfect summer escape, and I’ll be recommending it to all my friends as their next beach read. Josie Silver has done it again!

Thank you to NetGalley, Josie Silver, and Dell for the eARC of this book.