Kate is a recently divorced, down on her luck former actress with a cheating ex, an absent daughter, and a stuffy flat above her sister’s shop because of a prenup that left her with next to nothing.

But then she’s given an offer: pose as the author of a book about to be released. The author wants to remain anonymous, so the publisher needs a face, a name, a body.

It’ll be the easiest acting job Kate will ever be offered. Or is it?

It’s all arranged by Charlie, the smoldering, hot son of Kate’s former agent.

But when information gets leaked and everything is put into jeopardy, who can Kate turn to for help?

I wanted to love this but the premise was hard for me to get behind and the romance was so low key it was hardly key at all.

Guys? Zero spark.

Kate becomes so weirdly enamored with this job as a fake author, puts so much importance in her part, that it begins to feel awkward. Like when the book SHE DID NOT WRITE is a bestseller in its first week, she’s gobsmacked…but that game isn’t really hers, she’s just an actress acting like she wrote it.

Besides that there’s a romance with zero spark that ends with two people telling us they’ve been in love from the start…what now?

I thought Kate and Charlie were lovely people. Kate’s relationship with her sister was supportive and full…but that was it.

I was disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this ARC!

This is a sweet story but it just didn’t sparkle for me. I didn’t feel much chemistry between the main characters. Also the opening scene felt an odd way to open this story. The female male character is asked by a perfect stranger to hold their baby and the baby proceeds to get sick on her. What purpose is this intended to serve??

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I was SO excited to get this book early because both of the Josie Silver books I have read were easy 5 stars for me. This one was kinda cute, kinda funny but the romance and slow burn were off the whole book. It felt like the last 15 pages they just dropped that they loved eachother, it didn't feel natural at all. I am so sorry but this one disappointed me. Rounded up to 4 stars.

I really enjoyed the pacing of the book and the characters had great chemistry. The story was creative and the side characters added comedy. Overall, I was invested in Charlie and Kate's love story and tore through the book in one night

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book, but it really missed the mark for me.

It was hard for me to get into this book because the beginning of it felt like it moved at a glacial pace. I liked Kate's character immediately, as her personality seemed very similar to my own. Charlie was a bit harder to get a read on, so it was more difficult for me to connect with him as a character. The romance between the two is nonexistent, which was a bit of a let down and definitely pushes this book more into the women's fiction category over romance. The little we got in terms of their romantic relationship did not seem to make a lot of sense within the context of the story and of their characters. It made reading through story a bit frustrating because I kept waiting for the relationship to begin and I felt like I had been hung out to dry.

Overall, not a bad book, but also not a great book for me.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Tropes: Fake identity, forced proximity, slow burn
Spice Level: 🔥🔥

Kate, a former actress freshly out of a divorce, finds herself stepping into an acting role pretending to be the author of a hit romance novel for an author who wants to remain nameless. Charlie, the talent agent hired Kate for this elaborate farce, who is grappling with his own past and the legacy of his late father.

The chemistry between Kate and Charlie was there from the start and their banter was fun. This book wasn’t just about romance—it was about starting over, facing past hurts, and figuring out who you are when everything else falls apart.

There were a couple moments that made me laugh, especially when Kate’s sister was involved.

All in all, this book is heartfelt, a little messy in the best way, and full of that emotional payoff we all love in a romance. Perfect for a cozy weekend read!

Thank you to Random House Publishing for an advanced ebook for my honest opinion!

I liked this romance, but I wasn't obsessed with it. The characters were likable. The storyline was potentially interesting, but it felt too surface. It felt like lots of things were happening throughout the book, but not all of it was necessary.

I will definitely still continue to read more books by this author!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in an exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so I really loved this book! It was great as a character study, and a funny Bridget Jones type thing. The main plot, Kate finding herself after her divorce, was awesome because of Kate's enthusiasm and silliness in her job. The romance was secondary, and honestly, their love confession didn't give me butterflies. I would've been happy if they just started dating! I wish there was more build-up, better communication, even some flirting. I can't wait for Josie Silver's next book, and thanks for letting me read it early.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this one, but I would call it more comedic women's fiction than a romance, with the romantic elements feeling a bit more of a forced afterthought than the main focus of the story. Kate is a 39 year old divorceé, having never worked except for a brief stint as a soap opera actress when she was 19. Needing to support herself so she can move out of the flat above her sister's costume shop, she sends a letter to her former agent asking him to take a chance on her again. Sadly she finds out that he has passed away, but his 40ish son, Charlie, has taken over the reigns, and has the perfect part for her. His agenting partner, who represents authors, has a love story set to publish from one of her authors, but they don't want to be attached to the work publicly, and they enlist Kate to become the "ghost author", putting her name on the book and making all the necessary public appearances to promote the book. Kate's chaotic charm captivates the national audience on TV, and the book becomes an overnight success. Kate was such a fun character, but I loved her slightly unhinged, loose cannon of an older sister Liv most of all, and felt this was the best relationship in the book. The relationship between Kate and Charlie didn't feel like much more than agent/client, even after they did hook up. Their declarations of love at the end felt out of the blue, because we didn't see much development to get there. Lackluster romance component aside, this was a really fun ride, and kind of made me wonder how much this is actually going on in the literary world. I appreciated the more mature characters, and the themes of grief, love, and starting over, which gave heart to a story that could have been a bit silly at times.

I usually love Josie Silver as an author and find her books to be filled with fun, cute romance. Unfortunately this one just was not like that for me. First the whole idea of someone getting paid to take credit for someone else’s work just seems strange to me. And I think I could have overlooked it if the romance part was strong. But it wasn’t. Not even close.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I mean, Josie Silver never misses! Loved this one so much. I just was annoyed with the secrecy around who the real author was. I feel like we were set up to believe it was Charlie!

Other than that, this was enjoyable! I really felt for Kate throughout. She was definitely handed a rough hand, but made the most out of it!

This might be my favorite Josie Silver yet! Charlie and Kate's slow burn romance was well-paced to build an authentic connection, I loved watching the relationship between Kate and Liv, Kate's sister, and I was captivated to see how the "play author" plot would pan out. This is a great read to kick off Summer 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballentine for the advanced copy. Slow Burn Summer hits shelves on June 10, 2025.

THIS BOOK IS A WIN! I loved it so much. The story, the humor, the romance. Excellent. Her best book since "One Day In December"! Didn't want the story to end. Such a unique story, as well and I loved the characters!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for the advance copy!

By slow burn, I think they mean almost nonexistent burn. There was very little romance in my opinion. The book paced a bit slowly and didn’t seem fully flushed out to me. Also, there didn’t seem to be a good enough reason that they couldn’t be together. There seemed to be a lot of set up to her pretending to be the author for it to be over incredibly quickly. Think it would’ve been more impactful if the charade had gone on longer. Didn’t love the whole trifle balaclava debacle or that she ends up working on a book with the author.

A cute slow burn romcom with a whodunnit vibe. Kept my attention and was interesting although it just didn’t have me falling head over heels for any character. It did feel well wrapped up at the end and the bonus “deleted scene” prologue was a fun addition.

⅘ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Slow Burn Summer
Author: Josie Silver

Thank you so much Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC! I really enjoy Josie Silver's books. This was a super fun romance about a girl named Kate, a recently divorced former actress who’s offered a job pretending to be the anonymous author of a bestselling romance novel. As she goes on a summer book tour, sparks fly between her and Charlie, the man who hired her. This book is full of fake identities, career reinvention, and unexpected feelings. This book touches pretty close to home as there are many allegations going around right now on bookstagram about ghost writers, if they are AI, etc. Also, she’s not joking with her title in this book. This is definitely a SLOW BURN summer romance. This releases 6/10/25!

This is my first non-winter/holiday book by Josie Silver and it’s a fun read! I was SO compelled by the premise - such a fresh and unique take on the ghost-authorship experience.

I liked Kate immediately and was fully on her team. She was such a genuine human (lol since she’s posing the whole time) and it was impossible not to want her to come out on top. There were some points of the story that felt a bit long winded, but also some parts that felt super brief. Besides the pacing feeling weird sometimes, I was deeply compelled trying to deduce who the secret author was. Despite all evidence to the contrary I was half convinced it was Charlie lmao but I just assumed it would be someone pivotal to the plot in other ways too.
Charlie was a doll and I wish there had been more even distribution between his POV and Kate’s, though I loved them both.
I will continue to enjoy Josie’s future works and am grateful to NetGalley for the eARC!

I was screaming and was disappointed. I kept looking for the romance and I found it was lacking. However, the storyline itself made sense.

This wasn’t quite what I expected. The premise sounded fun and had potential, but the story leaned much more into women’s fiction than romance, which just isn’t what I’m in the mood for lately. The romance felt underdeveloped and didn’t really grab me, and I found it hard to fully connect with the characters or their dynamic. That said, the concept was unique, and there were some heartfelt moments. It just didn’t fully land for me.