Hot Summer by Elle Everhart is the perfect summer sapphic romance novel!
With the amazing, funny and meaningful moments. Truly a cute romantic comedy, such a light and easy read! The main characters are so likeable that it made me breeze through this book.
I found this book so much fun. It was charming, engaging and so beautifully written.

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I am a huge fan of Love Island, that show got me through the pandemic. When I saw the premise for Hot Summer I was drawn in simply by seeing: "For fans of Love Island".

I was laughing within the first few pages. The voice and tone of the narrator (written) were hysterical to me. I was turning pages faster than I could think because I liked their commentary. It felt like someone I would be friends with because that's how my brain works.

When I was looking at other reviews for this a lot of them said it was predictable. Okay, yes it was if you watched Love Island before, but Hot Summer was a totally different animal to me. I found that I enjoyed reading this just as much as watching the episode after episode of the show. I looked at this as a different season with cast members and challenges and new members all the same.

I think what Elle Everhart did a fun take on dating shows in literature. I cannot wait to go back and read this again with my book club. Thank you to Penguin, Elle Everhart, and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy for my honest, unpaid, opinion.

This was so much fun. I’m currently binging Love Island and this just felt like watching a season. I’m all for the sapphic romance and the friendships.

I love a good Bachelor/Bachelorette reality dating romance but sadly this one fell a little flat for me. I liked that there was a Sapphic love interest but the chemistry between the main character just fell flat for me and I struggled to really get sucked into this story despite the GORGEOUS cover! Recommended for fans of books like Here for the wrong reasons or Not here to make friends. Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

First, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I’m going to keep this short and simple, this was such a nice read! I love pretty much every reality show book I’ve read and Hot Summer did not disappoint!

Genuinely, such a nice summer read. I loved it!

This is my fourth Reality TV show read and my last Pride month pick as well. I overall enjoyed all the previous entries, however, the Bi rep in this one pushes it to the top of the list. Sure there was unrealistic elements, but romance was true to heart.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 25, 2024

A great summer romcom, set in the world of a reality tv show (with one contestant a PR plant!) but I don’t watch enough reality tv to know what to compare it too, although other reviews mention Love Island. This was fun enough and turned open-door steamy sapphic, but the time they spent filming the show dragged on, the conflict was predictably contrived, and then it resolved so fast I struggled to believe it. This is a slow burn for the majority of the book and then races through all the action in the last few chapters but this will be a great beach read for many this summer!

thanks to netgally and the publisher for a copy of Hot Summer for a fair review. Reality show based romance are a guilty pleasure read of mine and this was a pretty good one. the characters are fun and the book lives up to the name it has a few nice steamy scenes. its a pretty quick read perfect for a quick summer book. the epilogue caped everything perfectly. 4.5/5

honestly no added notes, its giving love island but gayer *so its better* easy read, and fun! happy pride months lgbtq+ community. 4/5 stars

I adored this book. It was so easy to read and I inhaled it in only a few sittings. I cried with empathy for the harder parts of Cas’s journey, and cheered and smiled when she gained courage and showed up without a script or fear of the reactions of others. I was overwhelmed by the support shown by nearly every character for a sapphic coupling, and as a queer woman, I was reminded of how wonderful and kind the community can be. To even be able to imagine the equal support given for gay couples as well as straight couples fills me with hope for a society that supports love in all of its forms.
The friendships between this cast of characters is genuine— with each wanting happiness for others, no matter the cost or the hurdles to jump for it.
I also deeply appreciated the commentary on messy contracts and the desires of “Hollywood”, which can take more than it gives, and the journey of setting healthy boundaries and advocating for yourself even if you’re standing alone.
And to be released in JUNE?!?! Let’s go Lesbians. Happy pride!

As someone who's guilty pleasure is watching trashy reality TV, the synopsis for this book drew me in so fast and I knew I had to request it. Fortunately, I got rewarded with a copy! Thank you Elle Everhart, Penguin Group Putnam, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This book gives MAJOR Love Island vibes, and I absolutely found myself saying "Text!" and "I've got a text" like they do on the show, and picture everyone else running over to the person who yelled. I think that since it has very similar vibes to the show, it makes it a lot easier to picture every scene, including the bedroom, the villa, the challenges, etc., which is a great idea since it leaves a lot less for the reader to try and piece together if they are familiar with the show in any way.

I love the pacing from friends to lovers and the connection between the two FMCs. The initial friendship between Ada and Cas was a great build up to their relationship and perfectly reflected growing feelings. The chemistry was amazing, the friendship between the girls and Femi, everything was just perfect.

Also, Brad was so icky and I hated that he was in the book for that long and I agree with the social media comments after the incident with Ada (IYKYK), he should have been long gone after that :( And, I also do wish there was a bit of him getting punched or yelled at during the reunion

4.5

Cas is an events planner for a dating app named Friday when she's offered a major promotion in exchange for participating in a dating reality show called "Hot Summer". The Hot Sumer TV show seems to be heavily inspired by the TV show "Love Island".

Cas has a lot of hangups regarding relationships, so combine those hesitations with the job motivations, she is pretty set on being on the TV show and really only forming "friend" bonds. After a bit of a rocky start in the weekly 'standings' of the show that determines who is sent home, Cas realizes just how closed off she's been. Cas begins opening up more with Ada, Femi, and Sienna, three contestants that she's been closest to.

Ada and Cas are both bisexuals and seem to be the only queer people on the show this season so they form a bond fairly quickly. Part of that bond seems to be a mutual attraction for each other but between Cas' relationship past and the general format of the show, Cas and Ada don't seem to want to rock the boat and their current 'pairings' too much.

I had such a fun time with this book! I read it in one sitting after being pretty slumped for most of the month. Cas felt super realistic as a character even though her situation was definitely a bit far-fetched. I liked Ada as well. She comes across as fairly timid in the beginning and a lot of the show's challenges but she's strong and assertive when she has to be. I really wanted to know how things would work out between Cas and Ada since they've been in such an isolated setting for their getting-to-know each other period. I think there was a few plot points that I felt were kinda unrealistic in regards to the conflict though, and maybe they just seem unrealistic to me - someone who doesn't watch a ton of dating reality TV shows. I had a really fun time with this though and I'm excited to get myself a copy in the future!

This book is absolutely perfect for summer! Having never watched Love Island, I was very intrigued by the setting and details the author provided. It really made me feel like I was a fellow contestant right alongside the main characters. The story follows Cas and her journey through a frustrating work life and agreeing to be on the reality show Hot Summer in the hopes of getting a promotion. Along the way she finds herself gravitating towards Ada, who is smoking hot, sweet, smart, and charismatic. Unfortunately for Cas, mixing feelings/emotions and work obligations do not work out the way she was hoping.

While Cas and Ada had the perfect amount of chemistry, unfortunately we only got a small taste of their backstories, which made me feel like I didn’t get to fully know them or their personalities as much as I would have liked. We hardly hear anything about their families, friends, or what makes them who they are outside from their past relationships and jobs.

Where the book really excelled though was in the theme of friendship. A lot of people take friendship for granted and think that love is the end all goal in life, but I think the power of friendship is so strong, that it should be represented more often. That was why I absolutely fell for Femi, Freddie, and Sienna because despite being on a reality show to find love, they were more invested in each other as people and friends, rather than focussing on the end money prize. You could feel the true love and support of friends, especially when they back each other up and comfort one another multiple times throughout the story. And omg who wouldn’t love to be greeted every morning with a fresh cup of coffee by a handsome and kind gentleman?

Honestly, it seemed like Sienna and Fami, and Cas and Ada were the only ones interested in finding love and exploring a relationship, everyone else it felt like wasn’t as invested and only there to have a good time. Since I haven't ever seen Love Island, I don’t know if a lot of what was portrayed comes from the actual show but I did not like how the women were expected to wear such ridiculous skimpy outfits, share beds with random strangers, and were ranked based on… what? I don't actually know… likeability, hotness, their relationship? It was never really explained so that part felt artificial and rubbed me the wrong way, especially considering how the show basically revolves around sex appeal rather than personality. Let's not even mention the outrageousness of the challenges…

As for the conflict… we all knew what was coming but, we didn’t know how it was going to unravel. Which was definitely majorly blown out of proportion and resolved WAY too easily. It would have been nice to have an added chapter from Ada’s point of view in order to understand her process for forgiving Cas. The ending was completely unsatisfying to me, you are just left with so many questions rather than answers. I want to know what happened behind the scenes when Cas left her job and the NDA, what happened after Cas and Ada left the set, and more details about their life and hopefully continued friendship with Sienna, Fami, and Freddie.

Overall, I loved the storyline, fun and dynamic group of contestants, portrayal of friendship, Queer representation, reality of toxic work environments (especially surrounding women), and slow burn romance between Cas and Ada, who both had unique past relationship challenges that they needed to work through in order to fall for each other. Again, perfect summer read, and would definitely recommend to the sapphic romance community!

For me this really has been the year of queer dating show romances and so far this has been the most successful one. The Charm Offensive will always be my fave in this niche little genre but this book was also a wonderful read. I think choosing a Love Island style show was definitely the right move because it allows for more exploration of queerness in the way that couples pair up. The only thing I wish was expanded on more was Cas’s relationship with the other housemates. We were told in text that Cas and Femi were really close friends, but I think the audience needed more on page banter between them. Developing their relationship further would make the betrayal hit even harder. I would def recommend picking this up though because it’s a super quick read. It also seems pretty likely this is the Afterlight book for July so if you want a special edition be on the look out!

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the perfect lil summer sapphic novel! As a reality show lover, I enjoyed being teleported to the set of what I imagine to be Too Hot to Handle. The characters were fun to hang out with and the setting was gorgeous.

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.

*4.5

I have to say it, I HATE reality shows irl, BUT I’m in love with reality shows in fiction. In queer romances especially. It’s like something switch on and I can stop reading it. It’s like my favorite setting, except for Hollywood setting (my absolute favorite).
However, this book. This book is EVERYTHING. I love every single pages of it. I fell in love with Ada, so lovely e full of life, but I vibes with Cas. I felt a strong connection with her.
The romance make me believe in love stories. Oh my God, the two of them… And the grand gesture… My God, I want that in my life.
I also enjoyed the side characters. Every one of them, even the villain ones. And I liked the side romances too.
Really, now I want to go to this reality show for real, I mean.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc.

Hot Summer
There’s sometimes a rhythm to subjects that get portrayed in popular media. Movies famously get released in pairs (The Prestige and The Illusionist, Finding Nemo and A Shark’s Tale), and books are no different (in 2023 the “professional bridesmaid” / “paid fake date” trope swept through the fields of lesbians fiction like a horde of locusts).
Maybe it’s intentional, but more often it’s just that an idea is out there in the culture, and multiple people run with it.
On the one hand, I’m psyched, because this is the second queer reality show book I’ve read and I loved both of them. But it can be a bit irksome, as a freak who inhales romance novels, to find plots hinging on the exact same contrivances.
So a few points off of Hot Summer for (unintentionally) rhyming its plot with an absolute gem of a book, but there are so many already on the board it really doesn’t matter.
Our protagonist, Cas, has closed herself off to love owing to some bad experiences in her life. She’s just in this for the job she’s been promised afterward. Ada, by contrast, is all about the love. She longs to find someone to connect with … and the eye-banging that starts the minutes these two see each other bodes well for that.
Honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m on a reality show when I read fictionalized versions of them. All the emotions feel heightened, like the added layer of seeing behind the artifice of television shrinks the remove from the characters provided by the framing of a novel. I’m trapped with the book just as they are on location, and I found myself unable to stop until I’ve finished - just my little commitment to honoring their (voluntary) predicament.
Cas feels so real, probably because I identified with her a lot (not sure I’m supposed to, to be clear!). I think I doubly identified with how she did - guarded, but wishing she were more like Ada, open and free. Ada, of course, was an absolute delight - everything a girl could want or want to be.
I also thoroughly enjoyed all the other contestants as well - whether they were important plot-important friends or throwaway villains, each rise to the occasion perfectly and left me with an impression. I’d even be willing to read the Rashomon-esque take on Femi and Sienna, they were so well-written.
Hot Summer is a perfect Sapphic beach read, sure, but it’ll also keep you warm the rest of year, too.

This review is for an advanced reader copy of the book, provided by the publisher.

LOVES:
- This book starts out very focused on the entire cast of characters and it’s done in a very engaging way. I genuinely wanted to get to know every character, not just those who seemed like a romantic interest. The friendships and side romances that form feel just as important.
- This honestly feels like watching a reality TV show, but getting all the behind the scenes info. Super fun!
- I was absolutely here for the real, vulnerable moments. When Cas started facing her feelings and trying to be brave 💜
- The grand gesture and the epilogue 💖

This was unlike any book I’ve read before. It’s an unusual premise and one that I really ended up enjoying. The characters handled any shady behavior eloquently and realistically. I couldn’t find any fault with this book; super cute!

Cas is tired of spending her nights in bars surrounded by sweaty singles, so she jumps chance to move up the ranks by going on a reality dating show but she never expected to find love. While I don't enjoy watching Reality Tv, reading about it is much more enjoyable. I was honestly hoping for more drama, and I called the 3rd act conflict about halfway. I never felt like I got to know Ada because their relationship developed largely off page. I get that this is an ensemble cast because of the show, but there were way too many pointless characters. Overall, this was a decent read if you're look for a bi4bi reality TV romance.