REVIEW: Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez

Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez: Getting arrested might not be the ideal way to kick off a life reset, but one summer, one beach town, and one longtime friend can change everything.

Four years after graduation, Camille Luna is stuck. Her corporate job drains her, student loan debt hangs over her future, and her friend group is still fractured after a messy breakup. After one particularly disastrous night lands her in jail, it’s Danny Brennan—the lovable underachiever from her college days—who comes to her rescue. Danny offers her an escape: spend the summer in Rhode Island helping out at the restaurant he’s transformed into a local hotspot. As the days fill with ocean swims, beach sunsets, and rediscovering her passion for writing, Cam begins questioning whether the life she thought she wanted is really the one she’s meant to have.

BURNOUT SUMMER by @jennaramirezbooks was a warm, heartfelt romance about burnout, self-discovery, and finding the courage to choose a different path.

Camille was doing everything she thought she was supposed to do—working hard, paying off debt, chasing career success—but underneath it all, she felt exhausted and disconnected from herself. Danny was funny, supportive, and far more grounded than his reputation suggested. I loved that beneath his laid-back personality was someone who had quietly built a life he genuinely loved.

The chemistry between Cam and Danny was effortless because it was built on years of friendship, trust, and knowing exactly how to make each other laugh. Their romance was sweet, genuine, and rooted in the kind of friendship that made it impossible not to root for them.

There was something instantly comforting about this story. The Rhode Island beach-town setting, the restaurant backdrop, and the easy friendship between Cam and Danny created the kind of story that made me want to stay in this world long after the final page.
Tropes
💞 Friends to lovers
🏖️ Beach-town
☀️ Summer romance
✍️ Writer heroine
🐶 Dog dad
💛 Quarter-life crisis

BURNOUT SUMMER is perfect for readers who love summer romances, emotional character growth, and stories about finding the courage to build a life that actually makes you happy.

Book Info:

Publication: May 12, 2026 | Saturday Books

For fans of Tessa Bailey, Emily Henry, and Elle Kennedy: a beachy friends-to-lovers romance through a post-grad journey that will have readers cheering (and falling in love!) along.

Four years after graduation, life isn’t going the way Camille Luna expected. Her corporate career is soul-sucking, she’s in debt from student loans, and her breakup with her ex has created a serious rift between her college best friends. When her spiraling lands her in jail for the night, it’s Danny Brennan —the lovable burnout from their college clique— who bails her out and offers the perfect solution to her quarter-life crisis: a summer by the beach.

Cam is whisked away to Elswick, Rhode Island, where former slacker Danny has taken over his uncle’s restaurant and turned it into a seaside hotspot. But while Danny has grown into a devoted boss and dog dad, his carpe diem life philosophy is still as fiery as ever. The hazy summer days start to blur between shifts at the restaurant, dips in the ocean, and a reignited passion for writing, all alongside Danny who makes her laugh like nobody else. Cam can’t help but wonder —is it the salty waves that have her feeling so renewed, or is it the carefree friend she always overlooked? But summer can’t last forever, and Cam’s looming student debt reminds her at every turn that the frigid air of corporate office life is waiting.

As September approaches, Cam must decide between snuffing out the flames with Danny in order to keep her beloved friend group together and returning to the corporate grind—or falling into his forbidden arms and setting her old life ablaze.