“Problematic Summer Romance”, Ali Hazelwood
Published May 27, 2025 • Book 2 of Not in Love
Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life.
Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him.
It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life.
But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists.
When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.
“Because if we ever end up in an accident, I’d rather die than survive you.”
When Problematic Summer Romance was first rumored, the internet practically combusted. The discourse circled the age gap between full-grown adults Maya (23) and Conor (38), sparking think pieces and heated TikToks before the book even had a cover. But once I read it, I couldn’t help but laugh a little and eye-roll hard at how overblown that controversy felt. The age gap wasn’t nearly as scandalous as people made it out to be. Instead of “problematic” in the lurid sense, what we really got was a tender, deeply felt romance that leaned hard into pining, longing, and that slow-burn ache Ali does so well.
The highlight here is the unrequited crush that simmers through the entire book. One of my favorite underrated tropes. Maya’s feelings, Conor’s restraint, and the constant undercurrent of “not yet” hurt in the most delicious way. Every glance, every almost-moment, every bit of tension stacked until the romantic payoff at the end felt enormous. Ali nailed the balance between tension and release, making their eventual coming together satisfying on both an emotional and romantic level.
Between the controversy, the angst, and the payoff, Problematic Summer Romance is quintessential Ali: smart, messy, funny, and surprisingly tender. And, hello, that cover? The colors are stunning—bright, bold, and impossible to miss on a shelf.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
vomit • sexual content • infidelity • abandonment
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