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

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book as it involves to characters dealing with the death of their spouses. I figured it would be intense with the characters figuring out how deal and learn to live again. However that was not really the point of this story. I felt like their grieving was just a small part of this book. The part of the book I did enjoy was reading about Ivey as the gardener who was a PHD candidate in soil and had invented a way to have the plants watered but not as frequently. I enjoyed her plant choices, how Hudson, the young stepson, learned from her. The romance for me was so so as was the book. I enjoyed it, but very superficially so don’t steer away from this book if you need something romance light. It was more that than what I thought it would be.

This book felt more like women's fiction to me than romance, but it was great nonetheless. The depiction of loss, grief, and healing through the characters of Ivy, Conrad, and Hudson gave the story depth and had me very invested. There's a lot of personal growth for all the characters and an unlikely romance between Ivy and Conrad.

Malibu Summer by Libby Gill was amazing. The writing is sharp and insightful - and at times just charming. Well-developed characters with believable cute romance.
A fun and emotional read.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A fun story but an incomplete one at that. The romance wasn’t fully developed for me to get the butterflies I so hope to feel when reading a romcom. Plus, I felt like I missed pieces of the story with how the chapters ended and started again. I didn’t hate Ivy but also… I didn’t love her either.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Malibu Summer is a story about Ivy (an environmental scientist driven on metrics and data) and Conrad (a tv producer driven on creativity and his imagination) who are both dealing with immense grief due to the sudden loss of their spouses. It's a fast-paced novel that follows you through both of their journeys trying to navigate through their grief and find their "new normal" and each chapter is short but leaves you wanting to know what happens.

I very much enjoyed the relationship that blossomed between Ivy and Hudson (and Rory), Conrad's stepson (and his dog) and the growth that Conrad and Hudson shared throughout the story. Seeing the loss of a parent through a four year old felt really well done and real.

I was rooting and okay with Ivy and Conrad romantically, it did feel a bit rushed or that I wasn't getting the full sense of their chemistry and connection (other than they were widows and passionate/successful in their careers). But, I definitely enjoyed this book and would read something else by the author! ✨

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC of this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin books for the ARC of Malibu Summer by Libby Gill. This was my first novel by the author, so I went into it not knowing what to expect, but liking the synopsis and cover. The cover is pretty but deceiving, as this is not a light heated, sunny read by any means. It is brimming with death and grief and actually transpires over a year, not a summer. Pros: quick read. Supporting characters Hudson (plus Rory) and Mak were enjoyable. Cons: Extremely slow, uneven, choppy chapters that do not align. Am I missing something? Underdeveloped plots, and characters Conrad and Ivy have zero chemistry, and as widowers rush into an intimate relationship while both grieving. This just feels wrong and the entire story fell flat for me. 2/5

Malibu Summer is my first book by Libby Gill so I was not sure what to expect.

I won't waste your time summarizing the premise of this book since there are plenty of summaries out there.

The premise of this book had great potential. Two individuals who suddenly and tragically lost their spouses meet and fall in love. But unfortunately the main characters fell flat. I felt like Hudson was the best developed character of the book.


Possible triggers: Auto accident, spousal death, infertility, sudden death

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately this author’s writing style was not for me. I found the storyline to be very slow, tedious in some parts and shallow in others. The characters were one dimensional and often very judgmental. I found there was no chemistry between the main characters, I truly have no idea why they were attracted to one another or wanted to be together. I think the plot had a lot of potential and I enjoyed many of the side characters.

Great setting and atmosphere (with the author's background in television, it feels like there is some authenticity), characters that were relatively interesting, but an execution that just didn't keep me invested in this one.

MALIBU SUMMER – Libby Gill
Penguin Books
ISBN: 978-0143137924
May 21, 2024
Contemporary Fiction

Malibu, California – Present Day

After the tragic death of her husband, Ivy Bauer needs a break from her job as a soil scientist and takes a job in Malibu as a gardener at the home of recently widowed Hollywood writer Conrad Reed. Conrad’s late wife was a Hollywood actress who died in an accident that turned out to be scandalous as she was with another man. Conrad is raising his wife’s son, Hudson, who is sullen and unhappy after the death of his mother. Ivy feels like she has plopped into the middle of a gothic novel. Everyone is sad and tense. All she wants to do is build a garden to help soothe away the pain and guilt of losing her husband.

Three troubled souls—Ivy, Conrad, and Hudson—come together in an emotional rollercoaster in MALIBU SUMMER by Libby Gill, Ivy feels responsible for her husband’s death because he was on his bike and in a hurry to meet her after she admonished him not to be late. Conrad’s marriage was crumbling under the weight of his recent failures to land a new contract after his early successes. Hudson misses his mother, especially since his father’s name is unknown. The relationship between Conrad and Hudson is tenuous, but Conrad will do whatever it takes to protect his stepson.

Meanwhile, Ivy is just minding her business doing her gardening job, but Hudson lurks, and she soon involves him in her projects. She usually lives and works in San Francisco and has taken time off from her job. She had been working on a game-changing organic irrigation system and has left it to others to continue the work while she is gone. But Ivy can’t help but be concerned about its progress. Conrad is also lurking around, proving to be kind and considerate to Ivy. An attraction is slowly building but there are too many factors to make it possible. After all, both are recovering from the unexpected deaths of their spouses.

Readers will wonder how these three can make it work and have a happy ending. After all, they have a lot of baggage and barriers to keep them apart. But in MALIBU SUMMER we watch as they begin to trust and care for each other. There is a bit of drama as a pesky paparazzi photographer is trying to get the juicy details on Conrad’s late wife’s death. He will do anything to keep that man away from Hudson. Even Ivy feels protective of the little boy. She begins to grow fond of Conrad, but since she doesn’t plan to be in Malibu beyond the summer, nothing can happen. Meanwhile, she worries whether her research is being tampered with, which will destroy all the work she has done on the project. Will things get resolved and the three finally come together at the end and find happiness?

A riveting and emotional read right from the start, don’t miss MALIBU SUMMER.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today