A queer romance set in a Love Island-inspired show? Sold. The little details that Love Island fans will recognize were super fun (The hideaway! Boys bringing girls morning coffees! Ridiculous challenges!) and helped to propel the story along. This was a fun, fast read!

Spoiler commentary – the third-act breakup isn't a trope that I love, so I was meh about that. You see it coming from a mile away, and I think it would've been more interesting to have Ada leave with Cas and weather the storm together, like that would've been more surprising and unexpected. The sex scenes between Ada and Cas were *SO* well done, and I really loved them! I tend to cringe a little during queer scenes, they almost feel overdone sometimes, but these weren't at all.

This was such a fun, enjoyable read! A sapphic, love island based rom com - say less! The chemistry between Cas and Ada was amazing, but the slow burn almost killed me! 😂 you could totally tell the author is a fan of love island - loved all the behind the scenes details! The secondary characters were adorable (shout out to Femi), but they got a little hard to keep track of as the book went on. 3.5 stars rounded up! Thank you again to Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

AHHHH! I loved Elle Everhart’s “Wanderlust” so I knew I had to get my hands on “hot summer”, and i’m so glad I was approved for an ARC.

I loved HS, not only the storyline (giving me “are you the one” vibes) but I also loved all the main characters. They all seemed genuine and their friendship chemistry was perfect.

Cas and Ada were amazing MCs and I would love to see more of their story (book 2?!?)

I read this during a snow storm and the books summer vibes were great to get me out of my seasonal depression funk.

Immense thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Hot Summer!!

I am… obsessed with reality tv and gay people and this book was genuinely made for me

Hot Summer is chock-full of yearning, romance, spice, and competition and is just so FUN!!! I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed it, I feel so lucky to have had the chance to read an advance copy before it’s released to the world ♥︎

A free copy of Hot Summer was received in exchange for my honest review

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cas is voluntold by her company to be a contestant on a popular dating show, Hot Summer. Her boss promises her a promotion if she makes it to finals, as she can secure brand deals for the company through the show. When Cas goes on the show, she doesn’t expect to find love. But, Cas meets Ada and it’s love at first sight.

This book was so much fun!! I literally felt like I was watching a dating show, and I was completely invested the entire time. Elle Everhart gives each contestant a unique personality which perfectly depicts a dating show dynamic. The only thing I would have liked to see would have been more personal stories for each contestant to create more relatability.

I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun summer read!

really cute queer show romance :D i loved the whole idea and eveything there was so cuteee i mean i loved Cas, legit. thanks for the arc

Hot Summer by Elle Everhart
June 25, 2024
4.5/5

This Love Island-inspired book will sure to be the book of the summer.

Cassandra Morgan, better known as “Cas,” had been waiting for career advancements for a while after getting bored of hosting dating events for Friday, the popular dating app she works for. The late nights and difficult people are draining and have been taking their toll on Cas. One day, her boss gives her a chance for advancement as long as she agrees to join Hot Summer, a reality dating show based on the real world Love Island. If she makes it through to the finale, she will finally get the promotion she has been wanting ending those late nights and instability that she has come to hate. She agrees and finds more than she could have ever hoped.

Fans of Love Island will have a distinct advantage of understanding Hot Summer and the roles these characters play in the public eye. However, the premise of the show is carefully preserved with detailed explanations for every new event. Hot Summer is well-written, fast pace, and balances the line of fiction and real world commentary of the public and their role in reality television.

Everhart’s main and secondary characters are engaging and thoughtfully crafted. The main character and her love interest are bi-sexual with several BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ secondary characters. Readers will be engaged with the main couple and come to love and hope for secondary pairings and their happiness. Everhart allows her characters to present the real world struggles of what relationship trauma can have in a person and the pain of opening up to someone new.

While the book contains one of my least favorite tropes (SPOILER- miscommunication or better to say lack of communication), this issue is resolved maturely and quickly.

This book is for all those reality dating show watchers who have hoped their favorite couple can stand the test of the show and the real-world and for all those that hope, one day, mainstream reality shows will open up to more than just straight couples.

This book gave off such Love Island vibes. Cas, the main character finds herself competing for love on a hot dating reality show. I absolutely fell in love with all the characters and the entire story.

This cover deserves five stars! I also enjoyed the story. There were a lot of characters and the setting was perfect. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Hot Summer about a reality dating show set in Cyprus was spot on with some adorable contestants, some we love to hate, some with deep secrets, and others just trying to find true love. I enjoyed the vulnerability of both Cas and Ada (team Cada) and a nice touch was the relationship that they developed with villa mates Femi, Sierra, and later Freddie. The book truly held my interest and exposed me further to reality TV. 4 stars

I received an ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Hot Summer by Elle Everhart, Cas the main character finds herself competing for love on the hottest reality dating show, except Cas isn't there to find love, she is there to make it to the finale and prove to her boss that she is ready to move up in the company. Can Cas resist temptation and stay focused on her goal or will she give in to the hot summer heat?

As a lover of reality dating shows I absolutely devoured this book. I felt like I was getting a behind the scenes view of my favorite drama filled show and found the main characters endearing and believable. The author does a wonderful job of giving you the light-heart care free feel of a summer reality show while also creating character dynamics that keep you turning the page to find out what will happen next between the contestants. I found myself smiling at the interactions and rooting for these characters. I think the lgbt representation in this book was very well done and I loved that I felt myself and my own feeling represented in the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who is a lover of the RomCom genre. It is genuinely a fun reader that I think anyone would enjoy!

The greatest sapphic meets reality dating competition book I’ve ever read! The storyline didn’t drop a beat and made you fall in love, and in loathing, with the perfect amount of characters as some reality show books go into too much detail for too many contestants but Everhart nailed the ratio perfectly. This book has you rooting for Cas and Ada from start to finish!
Thank you again to NetGalley for the ARC!!!

This is described as a "Love Island-inspired queer romance," so I was immediately sold, and thankfully, this book did not disappoint.

Cas Morgan is stuck in her current position as an event host for a dating app, so when her boss offers her a promotion contingent on her participation in the reality show Hot Summer, she jumps at the chance (just go with it; it's a romance novel). Determined to do well on the show and win over the public, love is the last thing on Cas's mind, so what on earth could happen?

I loved this. It incorporates all of the drama and fun of Love Island/reality dating shows and has a great cast of characters. The slow-burn romance between Cas and Ada is well-developed and makes it hard to put this book down. My only small quibble is that there's a little bit of nonsense towards the end that was inevitable but felt a little overblown. I still can't recommend this one enough and can only hope that the upcoming seasons of Love Island are as entertaining as this is.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

i devoured this book!! this was so fun to read and Cas is one of my favorite characters EVER. i loved the reality tv show vibes. such a brilliant book!!

do yourself a favor and read it as soon as it releases. a huge thank you to netgalley for the arc!

I really enjoyed this! I think once you hit the villa and the reality show the book really hits its stride. For me the problem was the beginning - I feel like our introduction to Cas doesn't necessariliy do her justice. Over the rest of the book we start to see glimpses of why she wants out of events but the first chapter sort of makes her seem like a party-ish girl that fits in that 'scene' well. I felt like without some of the background on the job and also her history with Saoirse I don't really understand why she jumps at the opportunity to be exploited by her boss slash why she isn't looking for anything serious. So it felt like a bit of a flimsy start that really strengthens as the novel goes. I understand why she's hesitant to open up with people at the villa, but I don't know that her being hesitant to open up to the reader encourages us to root for her from the start.
I felt the 3rd act break was really strong and well motivated by all parties and even though i saw it coming it still broke my heart.
Thank you so much for the ARC, i'm so glad i got to read it and think overall it's a great queer summer read!

I read this book feverishly and tried to put it down multiple times the week week I was approved for it (because it doesn’t come out til summer and I have JANUARY ARCs to read🫣) BUT I SIMPLY COULD NOT….IT WAS TOO GOOD!

This book was fun fun fun! Cas is one of my favorite characters I’ve read in a long time!!! I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this book because I regrettably do not like dating show reality shows (unless you count Catfish…which is the most deranged and most likely, 100% staged “dating show” that I have not been able to look away from since 2011😂) and have never watched “Love Island”. Lucky for me watching and liking dating shows was not a pre-requisite to absolutely loving the heck out of this book! The characters in this book (a large majority of them, a select few were clearly ones you are supposed to love to hate) were so likeable and authentic and I just love that in my books! I can already see this being a top read of 2024 for me!!!

5.0⭐️

⭐️THIS BOOK COMES OUT JUNE 25TH, AND YOU SHOULD PROBABLY JUST PRE-ORDER NOW TO SURPRISE YOURSELF WITH AN AMAZING SURPRISE COME JUNE⭐️

Special thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam and Putnam for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

#hotsummer #elleeverhart #penguinpublishing #gpputnamssons #putnambooks

So wonderfully queer and brilliant! The story and characters were engaging and I loved them all! Femi has my heart though! I have not once watched Love Island and now I want to but only if it’s gay! Cas and Ada are both brilliant well developed characters that draw you in and make you root for them! The storyline was fun and lighthearted with pure joy and laugh sprinkled throughout! There was also however good character growth from Cas and getting to know her more over the book made her more loveable! The love between Cas and Ada was believable and sexy and you wanted to yell KISS ALREADY PLEASE! Thank good they finally did! The depiction of nonjudgmental and pure supportive friendship in her Hot Summer house made me very happy and hope that everyone gets to experience that in life. Your friends rooting for you and your love and bringing you an iced coffee in bed! I need a sequel!Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5

Setting: Cyprus
Rep: bisexual protagonist and love interest, multiple POC and queer side characters

This was an easygoing lighthearted read perfect for queer fans of Love Island! At some points it felt a bit on the nose - the concept of Hot Summer was literally Love Island with the name changed and it would've been nice for it to be a bit more unique but I still enjoyed it. I would've liked to have seen more of Femi and Sienna, and more.of Femi and Cas's friendship which was really nice, and I thought the turning point near the end was a bit abrupt and people's reactions were a bit unrealistic but overall a good solid summer romance.

I absolutely loved this book and have already discussed it with my entire Love Island group chat. We don’t even deserve this it’s the best.

This book was great! I enjoyed Cas and Ada, though I would have loved Ada’s POV as she seemed the more mature of the two. I thought the author handled the reality TV aspect of things really well and fleshed out some of the side characters in a way that helped keep them all distinct. The chemistry was there and Cas had a good arc. It was a fun read, but I wanted a little more overall.

Short summary: all that stands between Cas and her dream job is getting to the finale of Hot Summer (based on Love Island). When she meets Ada though and starts developing feelings, Cas wonders how long she can keep up the lie or if she wants to.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.