Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. Alex Aster is one of my favorite authors. I was already in love with her work from reading Lightlark and Nightbane. This is her first adult romance. I started this book with high hopes. Even with the high hopes this book exceeded my expectations. Alex Aster can write complementary romance as wonderfully as she writes fantasy. This is a fun summer rom com set in New York City. This book is written from the female main character's point of view. Once I started this book I could not put it down. I hope that Alex Aster continues to write romance along with her fantasy series. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance!

I was so excited when I see this ARC copy in my inbox! I absolutely loved Alex’s fantasy series and knew I’d want to pick up her first contemporary romance book. I was a little iffy about this going in for her to write fantasy and then a romance book but this book was fantastic! I loved every minute of it and is one of my favorite romance books this year. I loved the characters, the scenes and if I had the time would’ve read this in one sitting. If you want a cute romance read, make sure to pick this up on March 25th 2025!

❤️Thank you to Alex and the William Morrow team for the ARC copy❤️

I loved diving into Summer in the City by Alex Aster! It was very cute, and I enjoyed each of the characters - the banter was great, and I chuckled quite a few times. My only gripe was the third-act breakup, which felt a bit unnecessary to the story’s flow. Or, maybe I just read too many rom-coms. Either way, the overall read was thoroughly enjoyable and perfect for anyone craving a sweet, city-centered romance.

A super fun rom com with a 2000s feel. If you love New York City and enemies to lovers or billionaire romance, this book is for you! The ending was a little rushed but still a fantastic rom com and great adult romance debut from Alex Aster!

I didn’t expect to enjoy the billionaire romance trope so much, but Summer In The City does it so well, I loved every bit of it! Parker and Elle’s fake dating, enemies-to-lovers situation sends them on lots of great adventures around New York City, and their connection feels absolutely real. I was rooting for these two to figure out how to make each other happy from the beginning. A swoony, fun NYC romance!

First, a HUGE Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Publishing, and Alex Aster for this eARC!!

I have been so excited about the release of Alex's first adult contemporary romance!! I am a HUGE fan of Lightlark, Nightbane, and I'm 100% certain Skyshade will be added to that list next week.

Summer in the City is set in the heart of New York City. Elle, the anonymous screen writer and Parker, the tech billionaire have a chance meeting at a party he is hosting one night, that leads to a hate Elle manages to hold onto for 2 years- Until a chance meeting, 2 years later...

I was absolutely obsessed with the setting of this story. They hop around the city to these specific locations to help Elle in her writing, and in the meantime, she is reminded of her love of the city. This book gives the best 2000's rom-com vibes (think Kate Hudson movies). Elle has these "movie" moments I couldn't help but giggle at. Things would happen and she would relate them to the movies. I couldn't put it down!

Grief plays a big role in this story, and the different facets we all go through as we navigate that journey. How we mold our lives to fit in the narrative that we believe those we lost would want, rather than do the things that could ultimately make us happy. This part of the story hit hard for me.
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Some of my favorite things...
Enemies to Lovers- to enemies again
Billionaire antics
Fake dating
NYC
2000's rom-com vibes
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Highlights:
"I'm the type of person who gets happy when someone cancels plans with me.”- I feel this

"I wonder when the universe will allow me a delete key for real-life conversations."

"It belongs on someone who can outshine it."
He lightly tugs the diamond. "It belongs on you."

"Parker," I say very slowly, trying to remain calm, "did you buy the coffee shop?" He's leaned back casually in his chair, not a care in the world. "No," he says. I melt in relief. "Oh, good, I thought-" "I bought the chain." - Y'ALL- I DIE. The scone

"You are, though. To me, you are. It's like your mind and soul and body and everything was made for me. It's like you're perfectly mine."
"But I'm not," I say. I'm not yours. I can't be. "I know," he says. "But sometimes, I pretend."

"Thank you." I turn to face him. "What are you doing?" I ask, my question turning into a yawn. He just looks at me, like it's the most natural thing in the world. "I'm thanking the universe that we got to be here, at the same time”

"Nothing in life is endless." "Love is, Elle," he says. I laugh. "And what do you know about love?" "Now?" he says. "Everything."

#SummerintheCityDeluxeLimitedEdition #NetGalley

This book is your average, enjoyable summery New York City rom com. Lots of cute moments, and cliched things you might find in a billionaire romance. I found Summer in the City cute and easy to read.

The last 10% of this book though… absolutely ruined it for me. It felt so very forced and everything leading up to it was seeming like a great way to wrap up this book. But then the author decided to just add even more conflict. You thought the character worked through her issues? Wrong!

I’m still rating this decently because the book was cute for the most part up until point, but the end really soured the reading experience for me.

This book was absolutely adorable, and it’s going to be such a perfect summer read after the official release.

If you love cheesy romance books, this one’s for you. I’m more of a dark romance girl myself, but I still absolutely loved this book. It’s one of those books that will absolutely become a comfort read when you just need something cute to take your mind off things.

Spoiler-Free Tropes:
💋fake dating
💋millionaire MMC
💋next door neighbor
💋grumpy x sunshine
💋second chance romance

The characters are cute and feel very realistic. The FMC is loosely based on the author, which makes the character feel all the more real.

NYC really serves as a character all on its own, and the setting is so beautifully mapped out and described.

The MMC is misunderstood and just deep down wants to matter. He’s such a sweetie and deserves only good things.

This book is single POV from the FMC. The majority of the chapters are relatively short and have breaks throughout.

Thank you so very much to Alex Aster, the William Morrow team, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own and were not influenced by the manner in which I received this book.

What a fun summer Rom Com! Alex Aster’s debut adult romance novel was a perfect example of the tropes of I love! If you like forced proximity, billionaire romance, and fake dating, this is for you!

I am eager to see what Aster comes up with next.

5/5
I absolutely loved this book. It was funny, gave me butterflies, and allowed me to reminisce on my time in New York city. While it shares a similar structure to other romance books, it was bolstered by the added humor between characters and care to detail to describe the settings. I loved the relationship between Parker and Elle. The back and forth was adorable and it had a well written enemies-to-lovers trope. My biggest criticism was the end, when you get there, you will understand this (cough cough Elle), but despite this, I think it added a good depth to the characters that helped to round out their story. Overall, I would highly recommend this wonderful read!


Many thanks to HarperCollins Publishers for allowing me to read this as an advanced digital copy via NetGalley; all thoughts are my own.

This was such a fun read, and a great contemporary romance debut for Alex! I really liked the dynamic between the characters, they had great chemistry and interesting backstories. The tension in this book is 10/10! I devoured it in a day :) Thanks so much to Alex and team for the ARC.

Summer in the City by Alex Aster was an absolute delight, and I couldn’t wait to dive in after hearing about her romance debut. This book has everything, neighbors-to-lovers, fake dating, and a touch of billionaire romance, all set against the magical backdrop of a summer in New York City.

Elle and Parker’s chemistry is fantastic, with witty banter that had me smiling throughout. The NYC setting feels like its own character, bringing every scene to life with iconic spots and hidden gems, like their romantic walk from one end of Broadway to the other. She balances romance with just the right amount of humor and emotion, making it easy to get swept up in the story. Parker’s grand gestures are so cute!

The ending wasn’t quite what I expected, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the journey. Super excited I got to read an ARC of this - thank you, NetGalley!!

When I first picked up this book I thought, “Can Alex Aster truly be good at writing romance just as well as she does fantasy?” Well, I’m here to say this is the best book she has written to date. I honestly couldn’t put this book down and found myself giggling and blushing along with our FMC.

In this novel we follow screenwriter Elle and tech CEO Parker. These two first meet briefly at a club in NYC but don’t quite hit it off (way to go Parker). They end up neighbors for a summer two years later, and Parker needs a fake girlfriend to distract the media while his company negotiates a huge multi-million dollar merger. Elle also needs someone to go with her exploring NYC for her script. What unfolds is pure love with every page and adventure.

I am totally in love with this book because of the fast paced and meaningful plot, characters that just speak to me on a deep level, and the overall writing quality. It was just a perfect story (even if I read it in fall from Middle-of-nowhere Midwest.

Elle was such a memorable character. She really spoke to me. I could relate to her in many ways, especially with her anxiety and fear that people don’t truly like her. Girl, same. And Parker was 100% book boyfriend material.

The only issue I had was everything was going perfectly until chapter 30. However, Aster made up for this during the last half of Chapter 32 (the last chapter).

If you’re looking for a cute romance with no cheating, a HEA, banter that will have you literally LOLing, and characters that make you want to jump inside this book, then read Summer in the City.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

I sadly wasn’t the biggest fan of this, I think I prefer her fantasy series more! It was well written but I think I was just stuck in fantasy land lol

I was so happy to get this book as an ARC! I love Alex Aster's writing. Thank you William Morrow Books and Netgalley for the opportunity. #SummerintheCityDeluxeLimitedEdition #NetGalley

This was such an awesome romance. I am not a New York resident and the way she describes different locations really made me feel like I was there or that I could envision what the surrounding area looked like so I could imagine it perfectly. Her attention to detail really made me enjoy this book.

The characters in the book were great! The fact that they made misconceptions about one another the first day they saw each other made their "fake dating" story so much more enjoyable. I love that Parker just keeps buying things or using his money to try to make her happy. You can tell he just does not know how to be normal. I can just imagine their argument about using the jet to get to her sister who is in labor, I giggled.

There were times I did feel the story dragged slightly and I just was not into it and there were times I could tell this was a first-time romance book for the writer. But like I said before, the writing was very descriptive at times when it needed to be and it really helped me imagine the scene.

This was such a fun summer romcom. I loved getting to visit well known and lesser known spots in New York City while reading, especially their hunt for the best NY pizza. It made me want to book a flight to do the same! The romance was fun to read, especially all the grand gestures that come with a billionaire romance, but I do feel it lacked some depth. Yes, they both had feelings for each other but the feelings they had weren't described in enough detail to make it feel real to me. I loved that Elle stayed true to herself throughout the book and we saw her evolve from someone who preferred anonymity to fully embracing who she was and making friends and making a difference. This is definitely something I would recommend to someone looking for a light, fun summer read set in NYC!

I can’t even explain how much I loved this book. I binged this in 24 hours, and now I’m going back to reread my favorite parts again.

The chemistry was so unreal for Elle and Parker, it was ooooozing off the page. I loved our FMC Elle; she’s smart, beautiful, sarcastic, and so fun. Our MMC Parker is just all around sexy and vulnerable and delicious; I loved him!

I have already ran to order my own copy of this lovely novel. This was true romcom brillance at it’s finest. Fantastic job Alex Aster; I will be reading everything you write going forward!

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC.

I loved this book and the characters! I liked reading about the New York scene, it felt like Gossip Girl vibes. The fruition of the relationship had all the right aspects between the characters. I highly recommend this book if you love romcoms.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book!

I’m a sucker for a good romcom and Alex did a beautiful job with this one. Both character’s had a great arc throughout the book. Parker is a closed off billionaire that trusts no one. Elle is an anonymous screenwriter who keeps herself isolated from the world due to her past experiences as a child/young adult. They start off on terrible terms, end up neighbors years later, and start a fake relationship. The burn is slow in this one but I wasn’t mad about. This reminded me of an early 2000s romcom based on NYC. And I loved every second of it!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️ 🌶️

This was a fun read. Loved the banter between the characters. MMC is such a green flag and and the FMC was so relatable.

So enjoyable and well written.