Kate is a recently divorced, in-need-of-money former actress. Charlie is an agent who needs someone to be the name and face of a sure-to-be best-selling novel written by a renowned author in another genre who used the book to navigate their grief, but wants absolutely nothing to do with being a “romance” author. In the age of the internet, when any mystery can be sleuthed in 10 minutes, surely this experiment will go well. Kate is an adorable breath of fresh air. It’s easy to see why the public falls in love with “Kate Darrowby.” She’s charismatic, effusive, and refreshingly relatable with her verbal diarrhea stories. Her interviews remind me of how the public fell in love with Jennifer Lawrence in her Hunger Games/ Silver Linings Playbook days, when you never quite knew what was going to come out of her mouth, but it would always be 100% relatable. Her sister, Liz, is also a highlight of the book. She’s hilarious and fiercely protective. Their sisterly bond jumps right off the page. Where the book is lacking is the whole “romance” part of a slow-burn romance. It’s such a slow-burn it’s in danger of being snuffed out all-together, and the “I love you” declarations at the end feel incredibly rushed. It definitely felt like, where they are at that point, those declarations should have been more, “I really like you and I want to see where this goes.” It was just uncomfortable. While the romance is lacking, the overall story is cute. It’s also a lovely story about the different ways in which one processes grief, and how the loss of a future we thought we had can, in itself, feel like a death. Thanks to Josie Silver and Random House for providing me with an e-ARC in return for an honest review.

Charlie who recently inherited a talent agency from his late father needs to find an actress to pose as the ghost author for a heartbreakingly beautiful love story. In walks Katy, a loveably dysfunctional divorcee who’s working on finding her life again after her marriage falls apart and her daughter heads off to school.

I loved Silver’s writing and the plot, but the romance left something to be desired for me. The title doesn’t really seem to fit the book for me since there was no burning or even an ember… It felt like more time was spent on Katy and her sister Liv’s relationship than hers and Charlie’s. I loved Katy’s characterization. She was kind, honest, and completely herself in a way that all women should be.

This was my first book by Silver, but it definitely won’t be my last.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

My review was posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble 6/18/25.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

This book had a real fun storyline, the whole ghost author concept and secret identity drew me in. I enjoy seeing MCs in their forties that have gone through life experiences but are still open to learning and growing. I knew this was a slow burn going in but it definitely felt very slow in my opinion. This book has strong found family vibes and it was fun to follow these MCs around London. Always fun to read a book that is about books!

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Kate is a recently divorcee 39 year old, trying to figure out what’s next. She was an actress many years ago and has been asked to play “ghost author” for a secret famous author’s new book. This would mean her name & her picture would go on the book and she be responsible for all public facing activities. But after Kate read the book she had to say yes, this book was so moving so it’s time to brush off her acting skills and step into the light.

The only problem is Kate is Kate and the public loved her and the image she portrayed. She rocketed the launch of the book and all was going to plan until it wasn’t and it all came crashing around her. The only saving grace was Charlie, her agent who was always in her corner and helping her navigate the new world she found herself in.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

“I want to be part of your story.” “You’re my whole book, Charlie.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Friends to Lovers
* Forced Proximity - Workplace Romance
* Actress Hired to Ghost Author
* Charming Book Agent
* Divorced MCs in Their 40s
* Fake Identity
* Rediscovering Yourself
* Found Family - Strong Sisterly Bond
* London, England
* Slow Burn w/ Spice
* Single POV

🇬🇧📚🦖💕🇬🇧📚🦖💕🇬🇧📚🦖💕

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver is another winning novel. Like her other books, this one contains engaging, multi-layered characters, a solid plot, life lessons and plot twists. Kate, the main character, is someone I rooted for from the start. As she experienced life's struggles, her consistent kindness, thoughtfulness and resilience amazed me. I found myself wanting to be more like her - to be a better person. Her sister Liz is a hilarious foil to Kate's goodness. Add in an evil ex-husband, a potential new love interest, heartbreak and nostalgia and it makes for an excellent read.

I love Josie Silver!! This was another great book of hers. The only part I wasn’t crazy about was Kate and Charlie’s relationship- it felt like it jumped straight from them being polite with each other to being in love. I wanted more of that slow burn described in detail. Still a great book! Silver is on my must read list.

Slow Burn Summer
By: Josie Silver
3.5 stars

Josie Silver is an author I have a rocky relationship. Some books are hits and others are misses. This was sort of in the middle for me.

This was a fun book! I love books about books and the idea of a Ghost Writer becoming the face of a romance book for an author who doesn’t to want to be associated with the romance genre was an amazing premise. Thirty-nine year old divorcee Kate sends a drunk email to her talent agent and in response gets the offer of being the face of an upcoming romance book. Except instead of getting her agent, she gets his son, Charlie. Charlie is also recently divorced and has a background in movies but took over his esteemed father’s position after his passing. Taking a leap of faith after reading the book and falling in love with it, Kate agrees to the role.

We see the less glamorous aspects of publishing from getting your headshot photo taken, to creating a social media presence, the anxiety of meeting fans at signing events and in the case of Kate, becoming public enemy number one when people find out she isn’t the true author. While discretion was key to this role, sadly Kate’s secret gets out and she goes from being on the best seller list to being dragged through the metaphorical mud by internet strangers. Her life gets turned upside down and soon the public starts taking shots at her older sister. Kate goes into hiding to avoid any fuel to the fire, but seeing her journey from the highest highs to the lowest lows was perfectly done.

When it comes to the romance between Kate and Charlie, it felt very underwhelming to me. I never felt the chemistry even simmer. Charlie felt to me like a nice guy who just wanted to help someone he literally put in the position to be scrutinized by the public. When it developed beyond politeness, I was taken aback a bit. Kate deserves all the love in the world but their interactions were superficial at best so seeing them eventually become…something… felt out of place.

What I LOVED was the email exchanges between Kate and the mysterious author, known as H. It was sweet to see these two confide in one another and their in-person interaction was hilarious. I loved Kate’s older sister Liv so much. A protective older sister who is housing Kate above her sewing shop who would fight anyone who says a bad word about her little sister. Their bond was beautiful and their bangle exchanging when they needed courage had me tearing up.

While the community aspect of publishing, the book community, and rise in fame that comes with author hood was refreshing, the story felt at times too choppy to really deliver it to a 4 or 5 star read. I hated Kate’s daughter, Alice, who is 19 and aloof. The aftermath of what happened to Kate was cruel and I wanted her publishing team to back her up more rather than let her go silent and handle it all on her own.

Thank you to Random House for the eARC and PRHAudio for the ALC.

This story follows the plight of a divorced former across who is in need of a gig. She is offered the opportunity to pose as an author for a writer who would prefer to remain anonymous. In her new role, she enters into a slow (SLOOOOOOOOOW) burn summer romance with a talent agent who is also divorced.

While I appreciated the premise of this story, i do think that it is falsely marketed as a romance. The buildup here between the MMC and FMC burned so slow, I fear that the spark completely burned out for me. Perhaps if this was marketed as Women's fiction with a romantic subplot, my expectations may have been different but this plot line did not do it for me. Their love didn't feel as hard earned as I typically like with a slow burn romance.

I may also not have been the target audience for this novel, as the main characters' ages and backgrounds were not something I could relate to.

This was my first book by Josie Silver. I thoroughly enjoyed Slow Burn Summer, both Kate and Charlie's love and fake dating scheme were so heartwarming.

3.75 Stars Overall

I'll start off by saying that I fell in love with Josie's writing when I read One Day in December. To this day it's still my fave book by her. When I started reading Slow Burn Summer I went into the book completely blind, I didn't even read the back cover summary. As much as I was enjoying the story I felt as though I was missing a huge plot point. And to my surprise I was even more confused once I got to the end of the book and realized the prologue was mentioned after the epilogue. As I know this was intentional and not a mistake I feel as though if I looked at the table of contents and noticed where the prologue was mentioned I would have read that first before starting the book. If I did the story overall would have made much more sense to me. The only thing I kept asking myself while reading the book was who is the mystery author? It came off as though it would be a huge deal one revealed. I came up with many theories. One thinking it was the MMC, Charlie, and then I thought it could possibly be Kate's rubbish of an ex-husband Richard. Thankfully it wasn't either of them but I feel like the identity of the author overshadowed the story as a whole for me. I knew early on that the romance was going to be between Kate and Charlie and yes it was a slow burn relationship for them but I also felt that once they crossed the line from professionals to more it felt too rushed and that their strong feelings for each other happened way too quickly. This would have easily been 4 stars for me if the prologue was mentioned at the beginning of the book and not listed as an actual deleted scene. I understand why it was mentioned at the very end I just feel it didn't help the overall story. It is an emotional story filled with people dealing with grief and finding their place in the world after suffering the loss of a loved one/parent/spouse due to divorce. I still enjoyed reading Slow Burn Summer and I look forward to whatever Josie writes next and hopefully escape to England again in her future books.

I am a fan of Josie Silver, but while I did enjoy this outing, I didn't find it as good as some of her previous work.

My small issues with this book involved the characters and the plot. Our mains, Kate and Charlie, could be annoying at times and a bit inconsistent with their personalities. Kate, while a seemingly strong woman working diligently to find work in her chosen field of acting, at times was naiver and more trusting than I expected her to be...especially in the acting business. And Charlie, who started out as sympathetic and a bit vulnerable with his personal and professional issues, to me felt like he became a whole new character about 2/3 through the book...more selfish, less sincere, less supportive of Kate. The plot seemed over-the-top at times, and I kept thinking, "Do they really think this is going to work?".

Silver is an excellent writer, and I'll always be happy to read a new book from her. This one just felt not quite up to her previous efforts for me.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine / Dell for providing the free early arc of Slow Burn Summer for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Overview: Kate Elliott, freshly divorced and in search of a job, writes a letter to her former talent agent after almost two decades. The role she is offered? To pose as the debut author of a romance novel (for marketing purposes) in order to maintain the anonymity of the true author.

Thoughts: Overall I liked this book - it’s rare to find a romcom featuring not one but two!middle-aged divorcees. Kate filled the “quirky female lead” role well and although Charlie probably won’t make my top 10 list of book boyfriends, I did like how he supported and wanted to protect Kate as her situation went from bad to worse.
My main complaint is that this book could have used a better title!! Like so many other modern romance novels, I felt like a generic title was slapped onto the cover, without much reference to the actual premise of the story.

Take home message: Slow Burn Summer is a fun contemporary romcom that features a divorced female lead who makes a connection with her divorced talent agent while impersonating an author who is choosing to remain anonymous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a puzzling read for me. There were some fundamental issues that frustrated me at times—but I also really liked it…?

Recently divorced Kate reaches out to her old talent agency in search of work. She connects with Charlie, the son of her former agent who recently passed away. Charlie lands her a job as a “ghost author,” She acts as the author of a new novel doing PR and social media for an anonymous writer. Everything goes according to plan—until it doesn’t.

The first 35% of the book was great, but it started to veer off course after that. I felt like the major plot twist came too early, and the back half went a bit off the rails. A lot of things happened that felt extraneous, and there were too many secondary characters who didn’t feel fully developed or even necessary.

That said, I did enjoy the book. It was cute and sweet—a quick, easy read. I’ll definitely check out more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for providing access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Josie Silver is always amazing at creating characters. They always have a lot of depth to them and the relationships she creates in her novels are always excellent and this one was no exception. However, this book overall fell flat for me. I found the person pretending to be an author plot very strange. So much drama came out of it. The plot had so many random things come up and it felt like too much and not enough all at the same time. I think if she had focused in on one or two major plot points, the book wouldn’t have felt so disjointed and slow. Overall, not a winner for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sucked into this story right away. I loved the characters, especially Liv. I related to her and loved her so much! Kate, the FMC, is a broke divorcee who hopes to find an acting job after she abruptly quit the business when she was 19 to follow her boyfriend to Germany. Now, she's divorced him after finding him cheating with his secretary and has left her penniless. Kate is offered an acting job to pretend to be the author of a new book. The real author wrote it as a love letter to deal with their grief, but romance isn't their typical genre so they don't want to be associated with it. Kate loves the book and despite hesitancies, accepts the role.

Charlie, the son of Kate's now deceased previous agent, believes Kate can play this role. He simply believes in her. Of course, they fall for each other, but their love story can't be due to all the complications.

This was a really beautiful love story and a story about second chances. I've read a previous book by the author and look forward to more.

Slow Burn Summer is accurately named if you are looking for a slow burn romance to read this summer! The main character, Kate, who put her acting career on hold to be a wife and mother at a young age finds she needs to start over after having a cheating spouse and an ironclad prenup. She tries to get into acting again by contacting her old agent, only to find that his charming (and also divorced) son has taken his place. Kate agrees to act as the author of a newly released romance book but things go sideways as she catches feelings for Charlie and finds that keeping this secret from the public is a little harder than she thought.

First off, I do love a romance book with divorcees or women/men in their later 30s/40s! So I was happy to read this book because I do love this storyline typically. I also found Kate to be a charming main character and loved her and her sister’s relationship throughout the story. I do think the author could have developed Charlie’s character a little more. I had a hard time really understanding what was so special about him at times.

All in all, this was a super cute story and definitely a good slow burn romance for summer.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for letting me read this book.

This book had all the elements I've come to expect and enjoy from a Josie Silver novel - an interesting premise, relatable characters, and a slow build plot that culminates in a heart-jerking resolution. However, I was surprised by how clunky it felt getting to that resolution. This wasn't my favorite story from this author, but I do recommend it for a more emotional summer read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for gifting me with an ARC to review! All opinions are my own.

I do wonder how often something like this happens. Kate Elliott, an out of work actress, is called by a talent agency to offer her a job. To be the face of an upcoming romance novel because the author wants to remain anonymous. She accepts. The concept was there, but the second half of the story fell flat. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Kate and Charlie at all. There was a lot of side stories that happened including Kate’s ex-husband, her daughter running away to be in a relationship and Kate having a second chance at love. This didn’t really feel like a romance, but more like contemporary women’s fiction. The ending was cute though.

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver is the kind of summer romance that quietly sneaks up on you. Picture this: Kate, freshly divorced actress, fakes being a romance novelist for a summer book tour—where sparks fly with Charlie, the talent agent. It’s all witty banter, slow-burn chemistry, and a clever fake-coverup premise .

Honestly? It’s light, cozy, and kinda addictive—perfect for when you want something low-stress but still charming enough to keep those pages turning.

This book was a cute quick read and it gets better and better as you read through it. The tension between the main characters was chefs kiss and the reward for the slow burn was great. The main character was very likable and had me laughing with her wacky stories. I liked the twist of how you thought that the writer was going to be one person but then it ends up being someone else. I think it was the right choice to not have had the deleted chapter because then it would've ruined the surprise of who the author was of the book. I liked being surprised and trying to figure out who the mysterious author was. Also, I loved the playlist at the end of the book. I would've liked for it to be at the beginning of the book or to have a song per chapter so I could be thinking of those songs for context while I was reading.

Slow Burn Summer is more like No Burn Summer. This couple had ZERO chemistry, and their relationship came out of nowhere. The way they acted as adults in their 30s was quite shocking. I have loved books by Josie Silver before but this one was not it. I had to force myself to pick it back up every time I put my e-reader down. I thought the premise was intriguing, but I very quickly stopped caring. I say skip this one.