Hot Nights, Cold Shoulders (Love Under the Sun #1)
Carina Gaskell
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
4.25
· Steam/Spice level: 5 of 5
Explicit and plentiful [?]
· 4 ratings · 330 pages · Published: 10 Mar 2026
Personal assistant to a literary rockstar, Isabel Martinez has always dreamed of publishing her own book. When the opportunity comes knocking, she discovers that she's completely unprepared, with no ideas to pursue. As if things can't get worse, her high school bully, Natalia Aranaz, invites her to spend the summer together, after a near decade of radio silence. Despite her reservations, Isabel accepts, hoping she can mine her past for good material. Immediately, Isabel is pulled into a world of obscene wealth: shopping sprees, private jets, and the boy of her dreams. The caveat? He's off-limits, with Natalia's name written all over him.
Kieran O’Connor has played it safe his whole life. Shy, quiet, and easygoing, he is the last person anyone expects to rock boats. But with nothing to show for his upcoming art exhibit at the end of summer, he's desperate enough to accept the invitation to a makeshift artist's residency in the home of the girl everyone knows is in love with him. Convinced all it will take to get through his predicament is laser-focus and infinite patience, he doesn't expect to meet Isabel, the girl who has been haunting his dreams every night for the past year, and whose face has been the only thing he's been able to sketch since.
Torn between their moral codes and magnetic attraction to one another, Kieran and Isabel must choose between the safety of everything they've ever known and the risk of building a better future—together.
In this summer of hot nights and cold shoulders, friendships are forged and broken, long-standing secrets are exposed, and the ties that bind us might very well be the ones that make or break us.
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Tagged as:
- contemporary 2
- multicultural 2
- new adult 2
- funny 1
- angst 1
- m-f romance 1
- class difference 1
- forbidden love 1
- forced proximity 1
- friends to lovers 1
- hurt/comfort 1
- secret relationship 1
- slow burn 1
- daddy kink 1
- praise kink 1
- neurodivergent mc 1
- southeast asian mc 1
- christian 1
- competent heroine 1
- sweet/gentle heroine 1
- shy heroine 1
- independent heroine 1
- take-charge heroine 1
- virgin heroine 1
- early 20s fmc 1
- working class heroine 1
- shy hero 1
- sweet/gentle hero 1
- virgin hero 1
- demisexual hero 1
- short king 1
- early 20s mmc 1
- Add topics
- content warnings
- ableism 1
- mental illness 1
- mental trauma 1
- racism 1
- misogyny 1
- religious trauma 1
- suicide / ideation 1
- victim blaming 1
- past abuse 1
- geography
- asia 1
- philippines 1
- Format
- interconnected standalone 1
- dual pov 1
- first person pov 1
- standalone 1
romance tags
The 'Love Under the Sun' series
4.25 · 4 ratings
strong heroine · slow burn · early-20s-mmc · racism · competent heroine · hurt-comfort · neurodivergent · sweet-hero · contemporary · multicultural · demi-sexual-hero · m-f · ableism · suicide · ic-standalone · new adult · short-king · class difference · daddy-kink · victim-blaming
Love Under the Sun reading order and complete book list ❯
