Kate thought her acting career was over until she landed the role of a lifetime.

When failed actress Kate teams up with Charlie, a newly minted talent agent trying to salvage his father’s company, she agrees to pose as the face of a romantic novel written by a reclusive author. What starts as a simple photo op spirals into a full-blown book tour, complete with interviews, viral fame, and mounting pressure. Kate and Charlie have baggage, banter, and undeniable chemistry, and as the line between fiction and reality blurs until the truth behind the book threatens everything they’ve built.

Josie Silver delivers another feel-good romcom with charm, heart, and her signature slow burn. While One Day in December and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird remain my top favorites, Slow Burn Summer is light, heartfelt, and sweet.

This was a quick summer read book from Josie, which I appreciated. This was not my favorite Josie Silver book. The ending with the author seemed like such a far reach and slightly bizarre.

I enjoyed my time with it but wouldn't recommend it.

What a refreshing romcom! I’ve gotten so tired of the internal drama so many romcoms rely on. This was a new idea and so fun.
The feminist in me got annoyed by Charlie acting the hero, but I guess that was his job. Kate stepped up to it in the end. :) I love how she was able to resolve the conflict.
Josie Silver has such great character development and dialogue that I always feel like I’m witnessing actual events.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book should not be categorized as a romance. It's not even a slow burn romance as the title suggests. It's a women's fiction book with a sprinkle of a romance, one that's fine but it didn't really do much for me.

I absolutely loved the relationship between Kate and her sister Liz. It was hysterical and such a loving relationship.

Slow Burn Summer was a decent read, but I felt it lacked the punch of Silver's previous book, One Day in December. I enjoyed the main characters Kate and Charlie, but felt the premise of the book (Kate acting as a novelist with Charlie as her agent) could have been executed better. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Kate has just come out of a painful, embarrassing divorce and it's time to start over. She finds herself going back to where her career started - as an author. She reaches out to her former agent and is met with a surprise when Charlie, her agent's son, has just the part for her. He needs an actress to play an author in real life. The real author of a promising romance novel does not want to be associated with the publication at all. Kate is hired to be the "author" in real life. It's an exciting opportunity for Kate as a reader and hobby writer, but unlike most acting jobs, this one clearly blurs the lines between fiction and reality.

This is a cute rom-com that book lovers will adore. This is a unique premise that feels fresh with all the romance, drama, and laughs of a rom-com. Kate is such a likeable character from the first page and I just wish I could keep following her adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Dell for the ARC of Slow Burn Summer.

This story was a fun premise but the romance felt flat/forced for me. The idea that she was faking the fact that she was the author of a book for a well known author who was trying out a different genre was interesting but the ease in which she was able to lie and keep up the lie was a little unsettling. Thank you to netgalley for the gifted copy.

Slow Burn Summer was such a cozy, emotionally and heartfelt book. Josie Silver has a way of capturing the quiet, in-between moments of life and love that feel so real and truthful. This one really leans into the idea of healing, emotionally, romantically, and even physically. The romance is slow burn and it hits just right!

I really liked the characters! They felt like people you’d actually meet in real life, with real baggage and growth. The setting adds a lot too! It has that nostalgic summer vibe that makes you want to soak it in. I really enjoyed this one!

☀️ Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver, pub date 6/10
⭐️⭐️⭐️(3/5)

This was the sweetest story. Recently divorced Kate is hired by an acting agency to pose as the author of a romance novel for the book release. Her agent, Charlie, is handsome, charming, and recently divorced as well (of course!). I really enjoyed the more mature love story. In addition, the book actually has a plot, a real story; it wasn’t all about the romance angle. It has supporting characters who give the book a little more depth: a sassy/protective older sister, an intimidating boss bitch business partner, and a kind grieving widow author. The romance was a true slow burn romance, I mean, it’s in the name of the book so it should be expected, but wow…sloooooow burn. While I did really enjoy the book, most of the second half kind of dragged for me, hence the 3 stars. I really enjoyed the first half and the ending, so overall it’s still a like and I do recommend picking it up if you are in the mood for a quick-read sweet little love story.

Thanks to @Netgalley and @Ballantine for the ARC copy of this book.

Admittedly I don’t know if this book will stay with me for the long term but I held my interest and kept me reading which is a feat these days! Ultimately I think the pace of the plot felt off to me. I wanted maybe a bit more from Kate and Charlie because he was a great love interest but in the end their relationship seemed a little lackluster. The relationship between Kate and the author was very sweet, I’m glad that the book ended with them. Solid summer read!

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver is a charming, emotionally rich rom-com with a clever premise. The slow-burn romance with Charlie is tender and heartfelt, and Silver’s writing captures themes of reinvention and vulnerability with warmth. Though the pacing lags at times and the chemistry is more gentle than sizzling, it’s a satisfying, character-driven read for fans of thoughtful, slow-building love stories.

God I loved this book, I was kicking my feet in the air rooting for the main characters.
I loved the chemistry between the MMC and FMC, the sweet sibling bond between the FMC and her sister, and the intrigue of the whole ghost author plot. This was overall a fun book, thanks Josie Silver for delivering yet another sweet romcom.

This book was a "slow burn" and took awhile for me to get into. What is a talent agent supposed to do when one of his client's has no interest in promoting a novel? Of course, the obvious answer is to hire someone to play the part and see what happens from there! For those who are a Josie Silver fan, this is not one of her best but is still a quick read.

I had high expectations for this summer romance, but I think the slow burn was a little too literal for me. This author has always been hit or miss for me and I just could not get into this one. I will still try this author again because the ides are there for me, this one just did not do it for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC copy of this book!!

This was a cute quick read dealing with Kate's journey of self-discovery. The focus of the book is primarily this topic and light on the romance part. It was a solid story about Kate's "finding herself" and her love of writing but, overall, the romance with Charlie felt light it was an afterthought.

If you are looking for a filler book that deals with a somewhat heavy topic (i.e. divorce, finding yourself) then this is a good book to pick up. At only 352 pages, you can whiz through it but also feel like you read a story with substance. Just don't go in this for the romance and you will be all set.

Favorite book of the summer?? I think yes. Josie Silver has been a favorite author of mine since The Two Lives of Lydia Bird (it has lived rent free in my mind, literally), and she has quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

Slow Burn Summer may be my favorite summer read so far. It was so Josie Silver: lighthearted and comical while also tugging on the heartstrings and making the reader look inward. I absolutely adored both Kate and Charlie, both immensely flawed humans who slowly found themselves while falling in love. This was also such a fun and unique plot line, and my hat is off to Josie Silver for coming up with what feels so original in an increasingly unoriginal world.

I was at the bookstore on release day purchasing it so I could hold this beautiful book in my hands, and have already re-read it. I'm also already looking forward to her next book(s!) and have no doubt they'll be as fantastic as Slow Burn Summer, which will be a go-to summer read for me for many years.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel.

This book was a bit of a slow burn for me overall. Having loved previous Josie Silver books, I thought I knew what type of book I was getting into but it didn’t have the same emotional pull that her other books have.

I always appreciate books about authors and the publishing process because I feel like they are very authentic. It was incredibly fun peeking behind the curtain to see how this novel came about. However, I also felt like some of the tropes were a little overdone. The big problem of the book came fairly early on, and I felt like it was a little out of left field. I really liked the characters of Kate and Charlie but I wouldn’t classify their love story as a slow burn. Instead it was just warming up, then scorching, and then frigid. I didn’t think they had a very strong bond at the end (and I can recall being in tears at the end of other JS books).

I thought the bits about booksellers, fans, and the custard bandit were charming. There’s nothing like having a bunch of women (and some men!) come together in the name of a love story, and I enjoyed those parts.

Overall this was a good novel that kept my attention, but I wish the main characters could have developed a true connection with a slow burn.

What a lovely summer rom‑com that blends humor with emotional depth. Kate Elliott steps into a faux-author gig just as her life unravels. The slow-burn chemistry with Charlie simmers beautifully and the overall vibe was cozy and warm.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, & Dell for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved One Day in December I was excited to dive into another Josie Silver book. It’s possible that this one found me at not quite the right time for it. The characters didn’t have the chemistry I was hoping for and then the narrative fell a bit flat. I would have loved to see more of the community rallying around Kate and also more exchanges between her and Hugh. Instead things blew up and everyone got quite distant.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Josie Silver and the way she brings the characters to life. The MFC and MMC are easy to picture and to understand the emotions they are feeling. With some little help from friends and a few faux paus along the way, it was a sweet story that wrapped up nicely!