A review by ggbookrecclub
Hot Summer by Elle Everhart

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

⭐️ Rating: 4/5
🌶️ Spice: 2/5

Genre: LGBTQIA+
Tropes:
Forced Proximity
Friends to Lovers
Secret Keeping
Slow Burn

Sapphic Romance + Reality TV = Amazing Summer Read

Hot Summer by Elle Everhart was so much fun. It incorporates all the fun aspects of Hot Summer(aka Love Island) and that crushworthy, will they/won't they feelings. This is the perfect summer read, it’s a fast paced book that keeps the reader hooked. Cass, one of our female leads, feels stagnant in her marketing and events position at the dating app she works for. With a promotion being held over her head, she goes on Hot Summer to use her vast knowledge of the game and to cross promote the dating service without telling or even hinting at it, thanks to an ironclad NDA. The show progresses and personalities come to show themselves. Cass struggles to stay in the game and to keep her feelings about Ada at bay. 

This book is a slowwwww burn. We’re talking small touches and holding eye contact kind of slow. Being held in captivity and with cameras on you 24/7 really accelerates relationships. Strangers become best friends and crushes turn into love connections. This couple is so cute and I loved seeing what their HEA looked like in the epilogue.

I’m not a huge fan of the 3rd party narration, I’m much more of a dual POV gal, but it worked in this instance. The emotions/reactions of the characters were still evident even if you weren’t getting it from their first hand point of view. I think the vehicle of producing a reality television show helps this, as shocking things happen to these characters it’s a surprise to 1. The character, 2. The rest of the cast, and 3. You, the audience.