ARC Review - Summer Heat by Rachel Van Dyken

Title: Summer Heat (Cruel Summer, #1)

Author: Rachel Van Dyken 

Genre: New Adult Romance 

Rating: ☕️☕️☕️☕️

Release Date: July 31'st, 2019

Page Length: 149 

Blurb: 

Spoiled Princess is what he used to call me.
We were an inferno of hate and passion wound up with a dash of chaos.

For four years I watched him mow my lawn.
For four years I watched my friends make fun of him.
For four years I hated myself for wanting him, but even more for the way I treated him.

And then I had him.
For one night, we put all labels away and I spent the best night of my life in his arms.
Then the next day, with my secret night under lock and key, I looked the other way while my friends shamed him.

But now the jokes on me, because the scrawny lawn boy who I secretly loved from afar is now the director of Hollywoods most exclusive summer camp.

And I'm on his staff.
Now it's his turn to punish me.
His turn to make me pay.
His turn to take his revenge after years of humiliation.

He's no longer a boy you can ridicule.
But a college graduate who can have any woman he wants.
I want him to look at me the way he did that one night we had together, but right now
the look in his eyes tells me he's going to enjoy having me under him for two straight months.
I don't know where his hatred ends, his passion begins.
All I know is he wants revenge.
And I'm his lucky target. 

Review:

I love the enemies to lovers trope in romance. It's one of my favorite type of stories to read about. And Summer Heat definitely has that going for it. 

Our two main characters knew each other in high school and that's  where the enemies part of the story starts. We do get a few flash backs to some scenes from that time, but not full chapters or anything. I do wish we got a little bit more from that time period. It would have made connecting with the characters a little bit easier, I think. 

"For minutes, I felt like a princess. And my knight in shining armor had ridden in to rescue me from the demons that haunted me."

They meet up years later and wind up having to work with each other, and that definitely causes some major tension. The tension and angst between these two is very easily felt. I liked both of the main characters. This book is duel point of view and I liked getting to see both Ray and Marlo's perspective.  

I would consider the romance in this first book to be a slow burn, lots of tension to keep you hooked to the pages though.

It definitely has that first book feel to it, you can tell that it's setting up for the events and things to happen in the future books. And by the ending, this is definitely just the beginning to Ray and Marlo's story together. It does end on a cliff hanger, so if you don't like those, I would definitely have book two handy. 

"Music set souls free. It didn't trap them."

Overall I thought it was a good slow burn romance. It's a great start to the series. The tension, and back and forth between Marlo and Ray keeps it interesting. It is a really short book, so it's a very quick read. 

I think if you're looking for a lighter, quick enemies to lovers read then you will very much enjoy Summer Heat. It was a quick, enjoyable read for me. 

*ARC Received from NetGalley and Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

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- Danielle