I have enjoyed Josie Silver's books, so I was incredibly excited to receive an advanced copy of Slow Burn Summer! This is just the type of book I thought I needed to get my rom-com loving heart fluttering. Unfortunately, the flutters never came. For the first half of the book, there was very little romance, and while it was evident that Kate and Charlie were going to develop feelings, it took far too long for anything to evolve. Once it did, all I can say is that the slow burn gave me luke warm feelings.

I enjoyed the cast of characters in this book and think that as general women's fiction it was a perfectly fine, well-written read. However, I WANTED ROMANCE. I didn't feel like this book truly delivered a strong romantic storyline, especially not one I would dub a slow burn. Slow burns are supposed to pull at your insides and make you ACHE until they FINALLY get together. Once they finally connected in this book, I was pretty much like, "MEH, that's nice."

If you're looking for a story that IMO is more about friendship, family, and moving on after divorce than it is about chemistry and romance; then this just may be the story for you. I think if I had entered with different expectations, I may have felt differently after finishing this one. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Josie Silver for the opportunity to read this ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House & Dell for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. Kate, Charlie, Liv and H were great characters and I loved the plot. Definitely a more rom com for Josie Silver compared to One Day in December and Winter in New York. I couldn’t put it down!

I dnf'd after 25% the dynamic between characters and the storyline caught me off guard. I felt weird with the story and didn't connect.

Slow Burn Summer is sweet, slow, and full of tension in a good way. It’s the kind of romance that feels real and leaves you thinking about the characters after.

The first half of this book was definitely a slow burn, I was pretty bored. I think the romance itself was definitely on the back burner for the entirety of this book as well.

That being said, I still think it was an enjoyable read as I really enjoyed the other parts of the plot.

I’d hate to give any type of spoiler, but I think my favorite part of the book was all of the people showing up to support Kate in trifle-gate.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Kate was an aspiring actress when she gave it all up o get married. Twenty years later and now divorced, Kate contacts her old agent. Her letter comes across the desk of his son, Charlie, who took over the agency after his father’s death. He enlists Kate for a once in a lifetime role - to play the author of a book that the true author didn’t want to release under his own name. When the book becomes a hit and then the truth comes to light, Kate must decide what is next for her.

Fake it until you make it. Good advice, right? Maybe not always.

Kate Elliot was an actress as a young woman. Now, after a divorce, she reaches out to her old agency in a last-ditch effort to get a job to support herself. Turns out his son has taken over the agency, and he has an idea for her she never could have anticipated: be the face of a book written by another author who doesn't wish to be connected to the work in any way. She's not a ghostwriter, she's just the ghost. It's odd, but she's desperate, so she agrees. With the help of her agent, Charlie they begin crafting a whole persona, and when it comes time to launch the book, she's got tour appearances, radio, and tv interviews to navigate. But it'll be fine, she's an actress, after all. And Charlie is there to make sure she's okay every step of the way. But why does it still feel uncomfortable?

I'm not sure I even understand the premise of this book. It's explained in full, but does it actually make sense? Why would a publishing house go through all this dang trouble to sell a book they're sure will sell anyway? It is inherently risky and they're kind of asking for it to blow up in their face. For me, the dishonesty of it just niggled at me through the whole thing.

That being said, I did enjoy the romance of it. Charlie is a man written by a woman, for sure. He's protective and sultry and never says the wrong thing. There are a few really swoon-worthy moments. It's not a straight-forward thing though (it never is). There are plenty of hurdles that stand between them in a way that reminded me a little bit of Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan or The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center.

Overall it is an easy entertaining read, but nothing about it really stood out to me as being exceptional. I'm glad I read it, but I probably won't go back to reread it, so I gave it three stars.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Another homerun from Josie Silver. I love the way she tells a story and writes her characters. Kate is utterly relatable and someone you want to cheer for... a goodbalance of quirky, confident and quick witted. Charlie felt less fleshed out and I would have liked to "know" him better but was still a fan. Great read and I will be recommending this to friends!

Thank you to Josie Silver and Penguin Publishing for this advanced reader copy.

Have you ever heard of a ghost author? No? Well neither had Kate until she was given a second chance on her acting career.

Kate, who was recently divorced when her husband left her for his secretary (cliche she knows!) contacts and old contact in the business. He has recently passed and his son, Charlie has taken over as talent agent at his company.

He finds Kate perfect for being the face of a book written by a famous author, but doesn’t want their name connected with the book.

They are an unlikely match, but unfortunately for me it doesn’t seem as if opposites attract. In stead of slow burn, I just didn’t see much chemistry together.

I’m also not a huge fan of the main female character being a “mess” and the male character saving everything. I think women can be confidently quirky without being a mess. And honestly, Kate was lovely! She was quick on her feet and so smart- but didn’t seem to be written in a way for the reader to see that. We seemed to be led to her being a disaster which was unfortunate.

The plot is unique and the side characters are written wonderfully, but I did feel let down by the title.

What if you were hired to pretend to be an author. An author of a best selling book, a book of the season! BUT, no one could know you were actually NOT the author. Would you do it? Would you put yourself and your family in that kind of situation? That is what the is book is about. Our main character, newly divorced and trying to find a new way in the world ends up being the face of the new it book! With this brings travel, recognition, and maybe some romance. What could go wrong? A lot! This charming new read is fun, light, and full of laughs.

My first Josie Silver book and it won’t be my last! I like the writing style but I couldn’t connect to the characters or their relationship.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to review. Another Josie Silver book I really enjoyed. I really loved the storyline in this book. It was different than anything I have read. It was filled with heartbreak, mystery, redemption, humor, and love. A super sweet read!

I have loved every single Josie Silver book, her writing style is right up my alley. Unfortunately, Slow Burn Summer was a bit of a miss for me. I did not buy into the main characters and any romance between them.

I loved the relationship with H the most, especially finding out who he was at the beginning of the book.
The ending felt clunky and unnecessarily complicated.

Josie Silver will always be an auto read author!

3.5 stars rounded up.

Kate, is a recently divorced single mother whose ex of 20 years is a toxic, cheating puke and whose daughter is away at university and feels distant. Down on her luck (and in need of money), Kate reaches out to her old acting agent, only to find that his son, Charlie, has taken over his clients because he has since passed away. Given an opportunity for a very unique acting role as a ghost author for an unpublished romance book by an author who wants to be anonymous, Kate reads and falls in love with the story and is honored to become the face so that others can read the book.

But at what price does becoming a secret fake author come? Only allowed to share this secret with her sister, brother-in-law and daughter, Kate turns to Charlie and the anonymous writer for support and guidance on how to lie to readers while also drum up sales. That is until the tables are suddenly turned and Kate faces the downside of being in the public eye.

She finds herself torn between staying true to herself and trying not to breech her contract. With the help from Charlie, and some people she’s met along the way, she must decide what (and who) matters most.

This story is written in third-person. While the majority is written with Kate as the main character, it sometimes flips to Charlie.

This is where sometimes genres fail certain books because as a work of fiction, this book had some beautiful characters and plot development. It had clever, funny moments mixed with delicate, heartbreaking realities. The main female character, Kate, was endearing and I rooted for her throughout the twists and turns. Charlie had some deep moments of reflection, especially when it came to grieving his father and trying to follow in his footsteps.

That said, this was not a typical romance or romcom. The romance was almost an afterthought or shadow in comparison to the overall story. And even then, it at times escalated out of no where, despite it lacking passion. I did not feel the foundation between Kate and Charlie was properly developed. It was almost such a slow burn that it didn’t happen at all—or it happened between the lines. I wish it would have tied their backstories with their respective divorces together more.

The story was unique enough that I wanted to keep reading. But I wouldn’t recommend as a typical romance book.

Tropes
✔️ Supportive sister relationship
✔️ Grief (Charlie’s father, but other grief is talked about too)
✔️ Divorced FMC / Divorced MMC
✔️ Ghost author/actress and her agent
✔️ Slow burn (I guess)
✔️ Takes place in and around London

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for an advanced copy. These were my honest opinions.

Consider yourselves warned, this book was definitely a slow burn! The set up was unique- I’m not sure that I’ve ever read a book about a person paid to pretend to be the author of a book they didn’t write. It was a bit of a train wreck as I spent most of the book waiting for the fallout. Kate’s relationships were all very messy- daughter, ex-husband, sister, employer, and everyone interacting with her along the way. I didn’t really feel the vibe between Kate and Charlie, indeed we never really got to know much about him or his feelings for anyone except his dad. To be honest, I would have liked the book more if it had skipped over most of the events in the book and picked up closer to the end with the next chapter in the story. That one was more interesting for me!
*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley

4 stars ⭐️ Kate is going through a lot of changes in life. I would be completely overwhelmed if I were her but this book was a relatable read. I do wish we got to see more of the romance between Kate and Charlie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story was promising and the burn was certainly slow, but this book was a slog to get through. The plot didn't move very fast and the romance between the two main characters felt contrived. I was hoping for more. Library patrons may enjoy this one, but there are much better books out there.

I was really excited about this book, but it fell way too flat for me and it became really formulaic. I don't think the premise was as entertaining as it was in the blurb, and I could not relate to either of the characters.
This is a pretty bland book, and while it can be fun, I am not the target audience for this romance book at all.

I could not get into this book. I read 30% and still couldn’t remember who certain characters were. I was disappointed because I’ve read other books by the author that I enjoyed. It just wasn’t enjoyable or memorable for me.

I was so excited to receive this and have loved Josie’s writing in the past. Here lately though I have found it hard to connect with her characters and unfortunately, the same can be said with this novel. A very interesting premise, just didn’t quite hit the way I had hoped it would.