I have ADORED Josie Silver's writing and gave five stars to both One Day in December (love this one so much) and A Winter in New York, but this one was a miss for me. While I appreciated an older (39) FMC as a romantic lead, as I'm also 39, I wasn't sold on this character or the premise. I know for many romances, a certain level of disbelief must be suspended, the "acting" job of lying about being the author of a book is just so implausible and is no way a job and a lifetime commitment to the lie. There was zero chemistry tween Kate and Charlie and maybe had I enjoyed them together more I could look past the implausibility of events. There were moments of this book that were truly funny, which I enjoyed, but I wish the author had stuck to more of her traditional emotional romances she had written in the past.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

so romantic and shows independence. I loved how it was book based and we got to know the MC’s in special ways.

Another hit from Josie Silver an author I really love. I really enjoyed this second chance romance and can't wait for more from this author.

Romance

Silver never disappoints!

Kate and Charlie are the perfect second chance romance couple. Kate caught her husband cheating and finds herself living above her sister's shop without a lot of prospects. She used to be an actress before she gave it up for marriage. In an act of desperation, Kate writes a letter to her old agent asking for any opportunity he may have.

Charlie has moved back home to London from LA after his own marriage imploded. He is a script writer but has taken over his father's agency after he passed. He reads Kate's letter to his father and cannot help being moved by her words, so he sets up a meeting.

The job Charlie has for Kate is not an ideal situation but is perfect for Kate. He needs an unknown actress to portray the author of a romance novelist. The actual writer doesn't want his name associated with the book and Kate would be the ideal candidate to pose as the author.

Kate accepting the job forces her and Charlie to work together but Charlie takes it a step further and shows up for her. She is used to being the one taking care of everything and for once, someone is looking out for her.

As the title implies, Kate and Charlie's romance is a slow burn. Some may find this a little slow or boring because Charlie and Kate don't really have issues other than what is created by their circumstances. I found this story to be humorous, heart-warming and authentic feeling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this novel.

I have been a huge fan of Josie Silver since reading One Day in December and I was so excited when I saw her name come up with a new novel. Slow Burn Summer just didn't do it for me :/ While it was a quick read, I did not feel the romance vibes between Kate and Charlie...at all. I get the title "slow burn," but it felt like no romance at all.

I adore Josie Silver's books and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one.

Absolutely loved this book from the very first page. It’s really fresh and funny. Romantic and relatable!

Kate was an amazing main character. I rooted for her from the moment I met her. And Charlie - well. What can I say about Charlie. As per all of Josie's male leads, I fell head over heels in love with him.

I soooo enjoyed reading this book!! Highly recommended and I'd give it ALL THE STARS!!!!!

Slow Burn Summer just didn't do it for me. Having read and loved A Winter in New York and One Night on the Island, I was expecting this book to be another romantic hit by Josie Silver. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to its expectations. I thought Slow Burn Summer read more as women's fiction than romance. Charlie and Kate's relationship was very much the back burner of this story. As a result, their love story didn't feel complete. I just didn't feel the chemistry between them :( Charlie's character felt one-dimensional. I still didn't have a good idea of who he was at the end of the book. I felt like I knew the fictional book's author better than him! Kate wasn't too bad. I enjoyed her humor and relationship with her sister, Liv. I felt bad for Kate at the end with all of the hate she was getting. Charlie and Kate's relationship was severely underdeveloped. I wanted more from their relationship. It felt like they barely interacted. Their slow burn wasn't executed well. I also thought the pacing of the book could have been better. It was too slow at points, and the plot wasn't engaging enough to keep me fully invested. Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC.

I had high hopes for Slow Burn Summer, because the plot and set up sounded so cute. I also love actual adult romances (characters with grown kids on their second marriages). Workplace romances? Always fun. But sadly it just wasn’t for me. The romance or ANY character relationships didn’t even start until around the 60% mark, and then when it did there was no tension. It just happened too fast for me. The writing also didn’t pull me into the story. And I didn’t enjoy the author reveal. It didn’t make much sense to me. Nor did how Charlie was literally everywhere.

I think you’ll like this if you like easy to read, kitschy, beach reads.

Another fantastically written book by Josie Silver! Every book of hers has been a 5 star read for me so I had high expectations going in to this one and it did not disappoint. I loved the characters and the plot and the romance and everything in between. I can’t wait for Josie’ Silver’’s next book!!

I read this one quickly and easily, and I mostly kind of liked it. It is about an actress named Kate who agrees to pretend to be an author who wants to remain anonymous. When the novel becomes a bestseller, things get out of control and Kate gets caught up in a series of ordeals while trying to protect the anonymity of the author.

It is a bizarre premise to begin with and the plot is a little hard to swallow. Would this ever possibly happen in real life? I don’t think so. Setting aside my disbelief, I was also a little disappointed in the romance. The connection between Charlie and Kate wasn’t that strong and seemed secondary to the book/author storyline.

So I am settling on three stars for this one. Even with a few major critiques, it was fast and entertaining enough for a quick read.

What a sweet story. Josie Silver took some real life issues, created a bit of a love story around them, splashed some humor on top, and gave us a delightful romantic comedy. I definitely recommend Slow Burn Summer.

I am rounding up to four because I like how Josie writes but I need 3.5 if I’m being honest . This one this wasn’t my favorite. The description makes you think this will be more of an enemies to lovers situation, which isn’t the case. Both of these characters are likable but the conflict seemed a bit bland. I was going into this expecting some big emotions because that’s what I expect from her writing, but it fell flat for me. If you’re looking for more of a light hearted story, I guess this one’s for you.

4 ⭐️

This was cute. Much lighter, happier and hopeful than the previous Josie Silver books I’ve picked up. The writing got a little repetitive at times, but nothing dreary or heavy to push through.

A bestselling author pens an out-of-genre novel and hires a down-on-her-luck divorcee actress to be the face of it. And may I say, how timely: given the buzz and speculation all over the internet regarding a certain romantasy author using a pseudonym.

There were a lot of sweet moments in this that I loved. To keep it vague and avoid spoilers: the bangles, the deleted scenes, the cab driver, the epilogue. I felt the romance itself kind of took a back seat in this story, which was fine for me. I’d have thought based on the title it would’ve been more summery or beach vibes, which it was not (but again, fine for me).

If you’ve picked up Josie Silver in the past and didn’t find yourself a fan, this one just might be the one that changes your mind. It was easily my favorite one I’ve read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books | Random House Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley & ballantine dell for the arc and early read! josie silver has always been a must-read author for me, so i was glad to get a copy of this.

what i liked about this book:
⟡ this book was a lot more lighthearted and funny than i'm used to from silver? not that her past books aren't, but this felt like i was reading a sophie cousens book at parts. there were some zany moments involving a t-rex costume and a trifle, and it was just a lot of fun.
⟡ i really really liked kate as a main character. on the brink of 40 & a recent divorce under her belt, she's trying to get her life back in order and takes an acting job for the first time in 20 years -- maybe even the role of a lifetime. kate was very sincere and charming, and i could see why so many people were in her corner during her low points.
⟡ separately, i also loved her older sister liv. another fun, fiery, hilarious character.
⟡ the premise had a strong start and i really liked reading about kate getting used to her role as a "ghost author." which leads me to...

what i didn't like:
⟡ the premise of the book is kate's position as posing as the author of a new book on behalf of a mystery writer, and that got blown up way too quickly! the result of that made me enjoy the first half of the book & find the second pretty boring.
⟡ the romance didn’t work for me, i’m sorry. i guess it was ~slow burn~ since they don’t kiss until over halfway through the book, but i never really understood the moment where they went from colleagues to romantic interests. also, in the beginning apparently they didn't like each other? i never got that impression!
⟡ charlie as a whole was a frustrating character, mostly because the author decided to give him his own pov but it was extremely limited; really, just when he was having a work meeting that kate wasn’t a part of. by the end of the book, i still didn’t think we really knew much about him, and despite the book being a romance, it felt like the subplot throughout it all.
⟡ the ending was pretty corny, sorry not sorry.

overall i was pretty disappointed by this, but it was also a quick read and had some bright spots that makes it hard to rate it any less, especially since i’ll continue reading josie silver’s work.

I have been a fan of Josie Silver since reading One Day in December. Unfortunately, Slow Burn Summer missed the mark for me. While the storyline was original, I just did not feel the romance vibes between Kate and Charlie. I also felt confused with the title and thought it was going to be a summer rom-com type of story. That was not the case at all.

2.5⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for this arc. But sadly, I struggled getting into this and even finishing it. I didn’t mind the writing but just couldn’t connect with either main character.

This book was cute, but honestly may have trouble actually recommending it. The plot itself felt original in the author/agent book trope. Kate is a PR stand-in for an author who wrote a love story who wants to remain a mystery-and Charlie is literary agent who inherited the job from his father-and in theory the story is about their romance. However-I very much felt the the romance was an afterthought (to be honest I was more invested in Kate finding herself rather than a romance with Charlie). The end wraps things up nicely but there’s a scene at the end in a hotel bar that felt honestly forced and almost left field? This book was an ok summer read, but not my favorite Josie Silver book.

This is a sad review for me. I do really enjoy Josie Silver books. One Day in December was a 5 star read. This book, though, was just a complete miss for me. The concept of a ghost author, not a ghost writer, was a bit of a stretch for me at the outgo but I was all in for a book about books so I watched it unfold. It just didn’t get anywhere, unfortunately.

The FMC, Kate, just didn’t pull my interest and she often seemed inept and ridiculous, rather than witty and charming. She made a series of not-smart bad decisions relative to her faux author role that caused the unraveling and outfall yet no one within her professional circle held her accountable. She defied an NDA multiple times and no one batted an eyelash, being more concerned for her than about the mess her choices created.

I also felt no chemistry between the FMC and the MMC. Their relationship felt forced, rushed, underdeveloped and unrealistic. The FMC, Kate, seemed much older and without great appeal while her Top Gun-esque hot MMC counterpart, Charlie, was all LA tan and polished finish. His height and aviator sunglasses were mentioned repeatedly. The two just didn’t connect and didn’t fit for me at all.

Overall, sadly, a disappointing read for me. It’s definitely got swoony romance elements that many will love but they felt unrealistic and cheesy to me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of the book and offer my thoughts!
My review is posted on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7453461212

Recently divorced Kate, a former actress who stopped acting to get married and raise her daughter, ends up taking the unique position of being the public face for a romance novel by a novelist that wants to remain private. Kate Bridget Jones’ herself through the process by being herself. She also has a very hot agent she feels pulled to.

This was a slow burn but very cute. Kate was a very likeable and charismatic protagonist. I would have liked to get more of Charlie, her love interest, more than his top gun looks and whiskey eyes, but I loved the chapters that followed him. I proI agree with reviews that say this book leans more women’s’ fiction than romance, but I loved it all the same!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

This reaaaally is a slow burn, and waaay to slow for my taste. I am so sorry but i really couldn't get on board with the 3rd person POV and up to 40% I just couldn't see where this was going, The cover and the blurb really made me believe this was going to be a bit different.
Also felt like there were a lot of plotlines around the main story that wouldn't allow to focus on the actual story and that was a bit problematic for me.