Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was a really fun, fast read. The characters were likeable and funny. The romance was a little too instalovey for my taste. The writing wasn't anything to serious. It honestly was just fun.

Quick Summary: A STEM romance adventure

My Review: The Space Between Us by Melanie Summers is a STEM-tastic, dual perspective, romantic fiction story.

About the Book: A rather dedicated researcher with a heart for science and a seemingly grumpy billionaire with an apparent need for revenge are brought together for a most unusual ceremony of sorts. Although they initially get off on the wrong foot, they soon realize that a mutual attraction exists between them. What will they learn about themselves and about each other as a result of their jungle excursion?

My Final Say: This highly entertaining rom-com was a just right read. It checked all the boxes. It had perfectly imperfect leads who had a textured backstory. It had a STEM connection. It had notable passion projects per character, which motivated them to do what was needed. It had tragedy, wit, tension, chemistry, conversation, and heart. I confess that I really liked the inclusion of Ty's sibling. It was good to see how a special needs character could have a positive contribution to the story.

Other: This would make for a fantastic audiobook experience. I would love to hear the banter between Gwen and Ty. It certainly wouldn't be dull. They were pretty great together.

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: 💛

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (Gretz Corp), and to NetGalley. Thank you so very much for providing access to a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own thoughts and opinions. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with this writer's work.

4.5 ⭐️

thank you so much to netgalley and gretz corp (indigo group) as well as melanie summers for this e-arc!

this book was so freaking cute! I genuinely loved it so so much. I don’t like to compare authors, however if you like Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romances you might really enjoy this. if you don’t like Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romances then I think you still might enjoy this book!

this was such a dreamy, witty, fun enemies to lovers STEM romance between billionaire Ty Sterling and SETI researcher Gwen Fox. They are forced to go on a crazy funeral trip in Peru. The forced proximity, and angry banter just gave everything! I found myself giggling and blushing sooo often while reading this.

It has (in my opinion) the perfect amount of spice to romance ratio. she tells you in the authors note where the open-door spice scene is and to avoid it if you’re not interested.

the only reason it’s not a 5 star read for me is solely because I like STEM romances with a little more STEM content. that is simply a personal preference and does not take away from the absolute wonderful story this is.

I definitely recommend for all my rom-com lovers AND it’s available on Kindle Unlimited right now.

This review has been posted to goodreads on Mar 11, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/137854133-hannah-ridge
I will be posting my review on my instagram as well on March 12-13, 2024: https://www.instagram.com/hannuhshappyplace/?igshid=M2RkZGJiMzhjOQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn't influence my review. This was a great read, I just wish it wasn't dual POV.

A billionaire trying to achieve a childhood dream that stemmed from a difficult family life, and a scientist looking for life beyond earth while her family scoffs at her work. Their paths intersect when our billionaire hero is all but forced to join a trek through the Amazon rainforest along with our scientist heroine a bunch of others who want to convince him to fund their projects.
While the book starts of slowly and the protagonists feel one dimension at first, the plot catchee speed once the two of them are face to face. Their chemistry is almost instant, but they take a few more moments before they genuinely start liking each other as people. Their forest trip is more like a comedy of errors, setting a light hearted backdrop for the more serious discussions about how families may shape our perspective, sometimes for the worse. Their romance is best described as a whirlwind, yet endearing. The best parts of the book are the comical conversations and dialogues, as well as sensitive portrayal of characters who usually exist solely as the butt of snarky jokes. Lastly, the book sensitively represents individuals with autism, although through the eyes of a family member.

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for letting me read and review this book.

Overall a very cute and enjoyable book. Not quite an enemies to lovers, more like both grumpy to sunshine. The first couple of chapters took me awhile to get into and were kinda boring to me. After that, it picked up and I really enjoyed both of them learning things about themselves and changing for the better. They learned that there are more important things in life.

If you enjoy an enemies to lovers where the tension is high and the intelligence is higher, Melanie Summers' latest The Space Between Us is perfect for you! I loved getting lost in the pages of this book as Gwen and Ty explored Peru in honor of their late colleague. They didn't seem like a likely match but the build up and banter were spot on and made me fall in love with them as a couple!

Gwen was easy to like. She felt so real to me with her big heart, loyalty to her colleagues and friends, and desire to make her family proud. She also made mistakes and I appreciated that she owned up to them. I was totally fascinated by her work at SETI. SETI was new to me and I actually did some research to see if it was legit - IT IS! This aspect of the book was really fun for me and it added a lot of depth to the story.

Ty was also great. I love when your typical billionaires aren't so typical and we really get to see beneath the surface (and money).

The growth the two protagonists made not only together but individually was nice to read and very motivational.

The Space Between Us had just enough spice for me! It was sexy without being crude or over the top. I actually could have used another chapter or two :)

Thank you to Melanie Summers and Indigo Group for the copy.

"Look at the stars, Gwenny. Just look. They're shining there you you."

Fun, adventurous, and witty, Summers creates a rom-com that combines STEM, billionaires, and best of all Indiana Jones. So that last part may be a stretch, but as Gwen and Ty traverse through the jungles of Peru for Dr. Napper's last dying wish, let's just say that this is very unique compared to many other contemporary romances.

In this enemies to lovers, Gwen Fox works for SETI in the hopes that one day they will come into contact with life from space. Ty Sterling is a complete sketpic and cynic. He never understood why his buisness partner and best friend would want to cerate a foundation to fund ghost hunting, the search for the yeti or aliens. To him, this is a waste of their billions that could be used in his act for revenge against his absent father. So when his best friend, Dr. Napper, dies while trying to break the record for volcano surfing after skydiving, Ty is ready to pull out and leave everyone without jobs. That is until he embarks on the adventure Napper planned in his will. And when he is partnered with the woman who draws on his pictures and uses them as a dartboard, he knows he is in for one hell of a trip.

The banter alone made me break into smiles. Gwen is 36 and thriving. She is quick-minded and witty, but her sarcasm has me in a chokehold. She is more than funny. Gwen Fox is relatable. Ty on the other hand left me annoyed at times. He caused many of his own problems and the fact that his revenge was more important than his own friend made me agitated. I wish at one point beyond the send off of his friend that he acknowledges his hurt. There is a small instance where he recognizes it but there is not a very noticable affect from this. I needed him to have one more chapter of reflection. My needs for closure and character growth for Gwen was satisfied abet a little rushed at the end, but I enderstand the story needs to come to a close. Overall, I loved the character development that happened between Gwen and Ty. While most people are not a fan of insta-love, I think this was done well. The two are given ample scenarios and reasons to interact and delve into their relationship (seriously, pink dolphins may be the devil).

If you like movies similar to The Lost City or Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (no, not the one that gives you nightmares) then you would love this book! The action rom-com has a fun and unique twist that would not disappoint!

Thank you to Netgalley and Gretz Corp for the ARC E-book! I can't wait to read Allie's story!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

I love Melanie Summers books. What I love most about them is the flirting, the fun, and the hijinks. I've never laughed harder than at her books. I liked these characters, and the setting - although the device getting everyone there was kinda insane. I liked watching these characters grow together, and push each other, but ultimately some of their motivations seemed at odds with their personalities. Overall, I enjoyed this book as a romp, but it's not making it to my top five Summers books.

S.E.T.I. researcher, Gwen Fox, is a woman on a mission—to answer the cosmic question of the ages: Are we alone?
Along with her work family, Gwen is perfectly happy spending her days listening for extraterrestrial signals— until the worst happens. They get word that they’re about to be shut down by Ty Sterling, their billionaire backer whose heart is as cold as interstellar space.
About to lose everything, Gwen has no choice but to travel to Peru to change his mind. Armed only with scientific zeal and optimism, Gwen faces off against Ty, who just might be the most stubborn, cynical man in the galaxy.
As the tension between the pair builds, so does the undeniable chemistry that neither of them saw coming. Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Peruvian jungle, the space between enemies and lovers begins to collapse.
Will Gwen and Ty discover that together they form a supernova of passion? Or will their budding relationship crash and burn on impact?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars
🌶️ spice

I'm sure he master debates at least twice a day.

He's out there somewhere, I just haven't fought him yet.

A sharp, funny, sweet contemporary romance to get lost in. At times this book was silly and a bit too ridiculous to be believable, but did we care? No. I was smiling, smirking, tearing up, shaking my head and laughing the whole time I was being swept away to Peru. Will I ever be able to take anyone called Chad seriously ever again? Probably not, but we all know that most Chads are the worst.

You really had me thinking in the first few pages I was going to hate this MMC - I literally wrote in my notes "what a twat"....but I see what you did there, giving me that full circle moment at the end. Touche.

Ty turned out to be a bit of a cinnamon roll guy, I loved his relationship with his brother and chemistry with Gwen was A+. His revenge plot was giving Season 1 Ted Lasso, and the petty little witch in me was rooting for it. Gwen was super relatable, I can always get around a character that gets underestimated and then wipes the floor with everyone.

We had some tantalising moments of sexual tension, but have to say I was left wanting more. There was an initial spicy scene that I thought was going to get smuttier but wasn't overly descriptive then moved in a fade to black direction and afterwards there wasn't as much tension, it felt like it fell off a bit and suddenly they were in love and they were only 2 days or so into the trip. Everything from there was quite sweet and PG.

The romance side of things outside the steamy moments felt rushed, but all in all it was sort of worth it for that psychedelics scene to play out. How is it possible to laugh and enjoy something but cringe in abject horror at the same time? That was how that felt.

Would recommend if you're looking for a fun, easy beach read, with witty banter (and well placed arguments) and loveable characters, that's light on the spice. You'll absolutely breeze through this one.

Tropes:
🛸Enemies to lovers
🛸Billionaire MMC
🛸Forced Proximity
🛸Only one...tent?
🛸Neurodivergent Rep
🛸Dual POV

My review is also posted on Goodreads!

He’s a self made billionaire set on revenge
She’s an intelligent women trying go prove life exists outside our world.

Together the brave the wilds of Peru

For Gwen anything that can go wrong does. For Ty he just wants over so he can go home and accomplish his goal. Hilarity ensues as they banter their way through, eventually they can’t resist their attraction anymore.

I loved this book! It was funny! It was engaging! It was easy to follow! I loved the characters! Just the right amount of spice!

It was a good time! I want more!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5-4/5 🌶️ 1/5

Tropes: oposites attract, forced proximity & “enemies” to lovers.

I read this book like it was a stream of consciousness from Gwen and Ty and while I clearly enjoyed the way it was written, I also liked the perspective the characters gave me on my own life.

Gwen is still figuring her life out and her work is the one thing she can count on until she can’t. Ty has a hectic life and a busy job ( how does he even function I envy him do much), I feel like while this story is about finding oneself,it shows that you really don’t have to have it all figured out by a certain age ( very refreshing).

Gwen and Ty are polar opposites and the chemistry is * on point* I enjoyed their intellectual sparring and cannot wait for the next book in the series.

This book was actually much better than I assumed (which is a lesson in itself for me to not assume). Starting the reading, I was of the same beliefs as MMC Ty, that the whole SETI thing is not a science and that people looking for an intelligent extraterrestrial life are whackos. I snickered when saw the trope “STEM romance”, thinking SETI does not have much to do with STEM. But this novel made me realise I was wrong and, quite frankly, rather rude and judgemental. FMC Gwen managed to convince Ty that her team was working on real science and that she is clever, brilliant and well educated, but more importantly, she managed to convince me (😅) about the same. The author helps us understand and keep our minds open and free of judgement. I really appreciate that.
Romance portion was a bit obvious, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t entertaining. There has been some build up, tensions and longing, which made the culmination quite sweet. The spicy scenes were described tastefully and in a sexy way.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I would recommend it. 4/5

4.75/5

the way i enjoyed this book SO MUCH?! it took a few chapters to get into it, but i really had fun with this one. the concept was different enough from romances i've read before so it felt like i was reading something new. i actually enjoyed every character and could so clearly imagine them in my head. the pacing was great. plus the forced proximity/enemies-to-lovers tropes were fabulously executed. this book is just a really good, fun read and it will stay with me for quite a while.

First, I'd like to thank Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I liked the premise of the book, but I wish that the main character's trauma wasn't dismissed as much as it was. Having parents who argue all the time just to be competitive is dismissed as "not as bad of a trauma" to justify how rude the main character can be. The insta-lust, at first sight, was also strange, especially considering that the two definitely knew how the other person looked before they met in the first place. It's all a bit weird. I give this a solid 3 out of five stars. I feel that Melanie Summers writes well and would love to read more of her works in the future.

This was a cute, adventure packed read. I enjoyed the banter and enemies to lovers vibe but unfortunately i found some of the dialogue to be a little cringey.

The premise of the trek through the jungle was fun and i liked the self reflection the characters went through, they truly changed by the end and i love character growth.
The whole set up for the journey was a little absurd though? I think it threw me off going into the first part of the story.

Overall, i didn’t really feel the chemistry between the two MCs but it was a fun time. I’d probably be willing to try another book by this author.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

'The Space Between Us' is a laugh-out-loud funny, enemies to lovers, STEM, forced-proximity, billionaire romance. AND there's adventure. Yes, that is a LOT to pack into one book, yet the pacing was enjoyable, and the plot was fun. The MCs have great chemistry and banter and truly do dislike each other at first, which was awesome (so many E2L books get this wrong, somehow).. I highlighted a ton of moments that made me snort or actually laugh, which doesn't happen too often in books.

I'm definitely excited to read more from this author.

I was actually pleasantly surprised and impressed with this book! Yay for a book that represents science but something crazy and new and different like extraterrestrial intelligence. This was what drew me in, because I'm pretty sure that no one has written a book with this concept. This is a billionaire romance, with forced proximity and the always wonderful enemies to lovers trope. This is literally all my favorite things in one book. A S.T.E.M. romance? Check. An enemies-to-lovers story with forced proximity? Check. Research into extraterrestrial? Check. An adventure in a different country? Check. This worked really well for me, and I loved the chemistry between Gwen and Ty. I also thought there was some nice spice and truly laugh out loud moments with the right amount of action and adventure and of course, science. This is definitely a rom com worth reading!

Thank you to NetGalley, Melanie Summers and Gretz Corp for the eARC of this book!

💰🚀🛸🏈 ❤ The Space Between Us❤️🏈🛸🚀💰
Author: Melanie Summers
Review: 4.5 - 🌟
I was given the privilege of receiving an ARC of The Space Between by Melanie Summer.
@mj_summers_author

I'm a Melanie Summers fan already but boy was this one out of this world....get what did there 😉

If you are looking for a laugh out loud Rom-Com you can now order : https://mybook.to/tsbu_stemromance

Gwen is a brilliant mind, kind friend and beautiful person enjoying her life. Except the ridicule from her family for not working in real science and the ever elusive A hole Ty Sterling for trying to shut down her life's work. Being at SETI for 10 years working in extra terrestrial research she is ready to buy a house and continue on with her current what she thinks is a full life.

Ty- Self made billionaire along with his partner Dr. Dick Napper is where he wants to be and able to care for the most important person in his life his brother Michael. All he has to do to reach his true and final life goal is to buy his estranged fathers favorite football team and Ty will be fulfilled, or so he thinks. To do this he will pull out of the foundation Dr. Napper runs that funds Gwen's research and life work.

When Dr. Nappers untimely departure from this life forces Gwen and the Man she hates most in the world Ty Sterling to go on an adventure together. This is when things really pick. The banter between Ty and Gwen is like no other. I laughed so much while reading this book my family kept saying "what's so funny".It also touched on basic human emotion and how and why we search for what will fulfill our lives, even if others don't think it's real.

I loved that Ty was drawn to Gwen as soon as they meet but fought temptation as long as he could. When they finally give in it is so fun, hot 🔥 and loving. Who knew these nemesis would be the ones to believe in each other. 💰 👽 💘

⭐️: 3.5/5
🌶️: 2.5/5
Format: 📱 eARC

Now I have to say, I was pretty skeptical when this started. The expositional action in the book is a series of far-fetched premises, which I found pretty unrealistic, even for a billionaire romance. But, as the book wore on, what I did really like was a lot of the emotion the two main characters faced in their development. The FMC deal with very relatable issues with her relationship with her parents, and the MMC works through grief that I absolutely cried at toward the end.

I did enjoy the romantic build-up and tension a lot!! There were a lot of little moments throughout that build up nicely, so when the main pairing did get together, it gave what it needed to. We didn't get a *ton* of true spice, though, and I wish there'd been more.

Overall, the pace was really quick, and I did enjoy myself, but it was just a bit wacky for me. Sometimes the setting took away from the story. But it gave me the feels and I always love that!