Published on: Aug 05, 2025 02:01 pm IST
Summer in the City by author Alex Aster is a perfect read for a rainy day. This one’s for those who like their books messy and a bit unhinged.
Sometimes all you want is a book that feels like gossip, and Summer in the City by Alex Aster is exactly that kind of rainy day read. It’s hot, dramatic, occasionally stupid, and full of decisions you would never make in real life. At the centre of this little mess is Elle, a 27-year-old screenwriter with writer’s block and a shot at the movie deal of her dreams. She’s house-sitting in a fancy Manhattan apartment (as one does) and panicking about her deadline. Enter Parker — former acquaintance, current nemesis, and unexpected muse. He’s rich, hot, mysterious, and emotionally unavailable. You know the type.
Cover of the book Summer in the City, by Alex Aster.
Their dynamic tries to encapsulate the steaming, hot tension of enemies-to-lovers but falls deliriously short. Elle is…a lot. If you’re not into the “I’m quirky and broken and better than other girls” brand of heroine, this will test your patience. But Parker? Parker is so rich he makes it your problem. He loves her as if she’s the only person in the world, and then he buys her favourite pastry shop chain because he can. The rest is for you to read.
Is the writing over the top? Absolutely. It’s all simile galore, and every dialogue feels like it’s the brainchild of a 16-year-old seasoned fanfiction writer. But none of that really matters, because this isn’t a book that’s here to make you think; it’s here to make you giggle at 1am when you should be sleeping, but instead you’re googling, “how to find love in 2025?” It’s chaotic, unserious, and just unhinged enough to make you feel something. But honestly, if a billionaire romance isn’t at least a little ridiculous, then what’s the point?
Title: Summer in the City
Author: Alex Aster
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Price: ₹699
News / HTCity / Book Review: Summer in the City will prove to be your guilty pleasure, monsoon fling with reading…. but nothing more!
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