This particular book I didn’t love nor hate. my feelings about this book are very conflicted. I feel like nothing was happening for half of the book, and while it does portray grief well and it does pull at your heart strings at some point, it doesn’t give you a 5-star vibe book.
I also feel like there was not a lot of chemistry between te two main love interests. if this stayed a pure fiction novel, about trying to conquer grief and lean on friends at hard times, this would’ve been way better, rather than a romance book.

2.75 rounded up. This book was very readable and I found the main character's work and journey to be very interesting. The grief aspects of the book were very beautiful and I liked that she shared that in common with the love interest. The parts that didn't quite for me were how quickly she developed feelings and discovered them. And the parts of the male main character's work fell a bit flat at times. There were major plot points that jumped around a bit. I finished the book quickly but it wasn't something I will be recommending to others at this time.

While the idea of this book really grabbed me, I just couldn’t get into it. I loved that Ivy and Conrad were both recent widows trying to figure out how to move forward in their lives, but I felt like their chemistry just wasn’t there (and when their romance did develop, it felt like it just sort of happened, rather than either an instant attraction or growing connection). A few of the plot points felt quickly thrown in and resolved (Sal, Alexandra, etc.) so the story felt a little clunky at times.

However, I absolutely adored Hudson and his growth throughout the book. I loved seeing him work through his feelings about losing his mom, and his connections with Fernanda, Ivy, and Conrad were so sweet and kept me coming back for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the eARC!

Don’t let the cover fool you, this is not a cute summer romance. This is more of a heavier read than I was expecting, but it was still good. Just wish the cover did the book better justice.

Adorable book.

Sweet book with characters learning to cope with grief, grow, and continue to live life. I liked the characters by itself, but didn’t quite grasp the chemistry between our two mains. It felt forced and out of place, not very organic with the backstory of their lives.

Aside from that, I absolutely loved Hudson and Rory. They brought both warmth and comfort to this story.

This was an odd read. The cover is very misleading considering the amount of death and grief contained in this book. There were also some interesting writing style choices.

Ivy is an upcoming scientist/inventor who is trying to get her soil hydration product off the ground when her husband is killed. When her grief makes it hard to work, her best friend gets her a job as a gardener for a director/writer in Hollywood. Conrad is also struggling. His wife died recently as well and he is struggling to parent his 4 year old stepson. Can they come together to make a new life?

This book just felt stilted. The pacing was off, and chapters ended on cliff hangers that weren't resolved. I didn't feel like the characters had chemistry together and they really weren't on the page together very often to develop any. The grief also felt too fresh to make their relationship feel real. Overall it just didn't hit emotionally for me like I hoped it would.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

This was not a light hearted summer read like I expected. I pushed through because I wanted to find out what was happening in the story, but it was a lot heavier than the cover would lead you to believe.

❤️ ❤️❤️/5
🌶️/5

Tropes:
Opposites-Attract
Grief
Found family(?)

This book follows Ivy Bauer, a PhD candidate who terribly loses her husband in an accident. Needing a change of scenery, she is employed by Conrad Reed, a Hollywood producer who himself suddenly lost his own wife and is navigating new parenthood.

So I didn’t think was too bad, honestly. I loved Hudson very much, I think he was my favorite part of the entire book. His honesty and how he deals with grieving his mom while also welcoming Ivy was so sweet. I just wanted to hug the guy 😭 (and Rory ofc). That scene at the sushi restaurant hurt my heart.

I’m ngl, if you told me this was a romance book after I read it, I’d think you’re crazy. Because the main characters had negative chemistry. Like it vacated the premises. At one point, I thought Ivy would get with JP because I was just confused 😂

That brings me to another point! The transitions between the chapters/scenes were abrupt. I had no idea what was starting sometimes, and the change in POV was not terrible but even having Mak’s there was kind of weird, considering she was a side character.

But all in all, it was an okay book! It definitely made me miss being near the water often.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this ARC 🥰

This is Gill’s first foray into fiction and it shows. The story is disjointed and the characters come across a bit flat. I didn’t buy the romance between the characters. The grief journey is well-told, and showcases the various forms grief takes.
2.5 stars

I REALLY loved the idea of this. I don't think it really translated the best actually on the page. The dialogue felt awkward and a bit stunted, the pacing felt off, and the chapters would end abruptly pretty often. I also didn't really feel the chemistry between our two main characters. It was a quick read and the cover is stunning. This one just wasn't quite for me.

Ivy Bauer - is a soil scientist and inventor who loses her husband in a bike accident
Conrad Reed - is a hollywood tv creator who loses his wife in a horrific car accident and leaves behind her son from a previous relationship - Hudson

After Ivy’s husbands death - she needs to take some time to grieve and with her help of her best friend Mak - she moves into Conrad’s pool house that was Dawns office; to redo his garden (acres on his properly in Malibu)
She joins a support group which helps her overcome some of the grief but its the work in the garden that helps the most. She helps Hudson with his grief by including him in it and showing her invention at his school and helps build gardens for the kids.
Conrad who’s career has been deteriorating finally score a new sitcom series after caving and “dumbing down” what he really wants to be producing.
Conrad ultimately falls for Ivy after they rescue Hudson from a black mailing paparazzi and a mudslide. He helps her with the investor that changed the formula of her invention and she ends up moving to Malibu to re-start the trials for invention and continues to stand up for the integrity of her product

This was a wonderful story that shows how horrible grief can be; but who doesn’t love an opposites attract love story. I couldn’t put this book down and absolutely fell in love with Hudson and the pup Rory!

This book wasn't earth-shatteringly amazing, but a perfectly pleasant read. It reminded me of an updated Harlequin romance in which a woman falls in love with a single dad.

Loved the main character, an introverted and idealistic scientist and young widow who is trying to make a moisture retaining component that could improve agriculture but is being thwarted by an evil investor. Wasn't the biggest fan of the love interest, a grieving widower and former TV star turned show runner trying to make a quality show but thwarted by Hollywood.

The problem I had was that this book was set up like a romance, but really didn't deliver on that front.
The characters had virtually no romantic chemistry at all. I got confused at one point and thought maybe I was wrong and they were going to end up with other people. It was a more touching love story between the main character and the young son of the dead wife.

Malibu Summer is not just a romance but a story of grief and second chances. This gave Libby Gill’s debut novel some depth. It is an amazingly sweet and redemptive story about love after loss.

The story is told from the main characters’ POV. Both Ivy and Conrad spend much of the book grieving their late spouses. There is a definite opposites attract vibe in the story as Ivy is a bookish academic finishing her doctorate and Conrad is an aging, trying-to-stay-relevant television producer. The “ghosts” of lost spouses were secondary characters of sorts that contributed to the main characters’ development. Add in Ivy’s best friend, Mak, and Conrad’s son, Hudson, and you have a solid cast of characters.

Overall an enjoyable, easy read, however I did have a few small issues. I felt Hudson was portrayed a bit too mature/precocious at times, Ivy’s big conflict was wrapped up a tad too conveniently, and at times the author’s messages felt a bit preachy.

This book was not at all what I expected. The characters felt awkward - I’m not sure I would even classify it as a romance.

I’m sure some will enjoy it but it wasn’t for me.

3.5 stars

Ivy and Conrad are both young widowers. Needing a change of pace, Ivy, a soil scientist, takes on the job of landscaping Conrad’s grounds. Conrad is navigating raising his step son and trying to sell a new television series that crushes his soul just a little bit. Both are learning to overcome the grieving process and how to live each day, while simultaneously becoming closer.

I really loved the seconday characters of Mak (Ivy’s best friend and Conrads colleague) and Hudson (Conrad’s step son). I did enjoy watching both Ivy and Conrad embrace their grief, learn to live with it, and learn that it’s ok to move on.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but felt that they often had conflicts where just miscommunications that became over exaggerated. I thought that it would have a little bit more romance, but again, widowers, so it seems apt.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy. Malibu Summer is Libby Gill’s first attempt at fiction. It follows the lives of Ivy, Conrad, and Hudson as they learn to overcome the loss of a close one. I do feel like the storyline was a bit all over the place. The time line would jump from one moment to weeks or months in advance. It made it hard to keep track of what was happening. Overall Malibu Summer is a quick read about two people learning to love after tragedy.

DNF @ 80% — there was more chemistry between the main characters and their professions than each other. They BARELY interacted. And when they did, it felt like small talk and god, it was just so forced and painful.

Instead of propelling the story, the short chapters made the pacing choppy and disjointed. And the plot was so incredibly boring. And the cherry on top was the overly quirky kid hogging the spotlight.

MALIBU SUMMER is an easy, fast book about difficult and hard life changes. The disconnect between the topic and the writing style ranges from awkward to dissonant. The two leads are not, to my mind, opposites, one is a Hollywood writer and the other, an almost-PhD soil scientist. They have in common that both their spouses die in sudden, separate, vehicular deaths and a common friend arranges for the almost-PhD to work in the Hollywood writer’s unfinished garden. It’s not surprising to imagine they will somehow work through their grief and end up together. But most of the book is driven by their grief, not their romance; despite the lovely cover that suggests to potential readers that light romantic reading is involved. This is an engaging book as long as it’s not judged by its cover. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

This was really sad and grief stricken, much more so than the cover or even the description would suggest. I can't even really call it a romance because the characters were so odd and behaved so weirdly. There was zero chemistry and I couldn't help but think this book would have been better off without the two meeting. I hope you have better luck!

Malibu Summer comes out next week on May 21, 2024, and you can purchase HERE.

She flipped the page and frowned when she saw the note her investor, Alexandra Varsha, had scribbled in the margin, add humor here. Humor wasn't exactly Ivy's strong suit, especially when it came to her research. But Alexandra had practically beaten it into her that if Ivy wanted the backing to continue testing HydraHold, the irrigation product she'd invented, she'd better dazzle the agrigeeks from UC Davis. It hadn't been easy to get a Silicon Valley venture capital firm interested, especially in a product created by a female scientist, but Alexandra had seen how innovative-and potentially profitable HydraHold was.

Devastated by the sudden accidental death of her husband Will, Ivy accepts her friend's suggestion that she temporarily move to Malibu to restore the garden of Conrad Reed. She can still oversee the lab and conduct meetings via Zoom while getting out of the house where everything reminds her of Will and the family they were planning.

At first, Conrad and his house seem to represent everything she is against--rampant energy consumption and unabashed waste. But Conrad is also recently widowed, trying to rebuild his life and career while taking care of his young stepson. Ivy finds herself caring more about him than she expected, even if she is suspicious of his offers of assistance.

Conrad and Ivy were both so likable--Conrad actually more than Ivy, who's a bit prickly. The unique second chance romance through grief, with subtle hints of the paranormal, kept my interest more than most books have recently. I loved this book. #MalibuSummer #NetGalley