Alex Aster with Deanna Ortega — 'Summer in the City'

Third Place Books welcomes New York Times bestselling author Alex Aster to our Lake Forest Park store for a celebration of her adult romance debut, ! Bookish influencer and content creator Deanna Ortega joins in conversation. Tickets are required in advance.

What you need to know:

• All tickets must be purchased through Eventbrite. Pre-ordering the book will not grant you access to the event.
• Book-bundled tickets include a signed copy of the event's featured book. For the month of June at Third Place Books, General Admission ticket funds include a donation to The Queer Trans Project.
• This event does NOT include a public signing! All books will be pre-signed. To guarantee a signed deluxe edition of Summer in the City, please purchase a book-bundled ticket through Eventbrite.
• If you are unable to attend the event, your book will be placed on hold at our Lake Forest Park store. You may request to have your book placed on hold at our Ravenna or Seward Park location. Please allow time for transfer.

Copies of Summer in the City and other books by Alex Aster will be available for purchase at the store. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book in advance!

Having trouble registering? See Eventbrite's troubleshooting FAQ here.

Tickets are required in advance.

Twenty-seven-year-old screenwriter Elle has the chance of a lifetime to write a big-budget movie set in New York City. The only problem? She’s had writer’s block for months, and her screenplay is due at the end of the summer.

In a desperate attempt at inspiration, Elle ends up back in the city she swore she would never return to, in an apartment she could never afford (floor-to-ceiling windows, skyline views, and a new coffee shop to haunt included). It’s the perfect place to write her screenplay…until she realizes her new neighbor is tech “Billionaire Bachelor” Parker Warren, her stairwell hookup from two years ago. It’s been a lovers-to-enemies situation ever since.

When seeing him again turns into a full night of hate-fueled writing, Elle realizes her enemy/twisted muse might just be the key to finishing her screenplay... if she can stand being around her polar opposite. She writes anonymously, and he’s on the cover of every business magazine. He frequents fancy red carpeted events, and she doesn’t like leaving her emotional support five block radius.

One summer. One wall apart. He needs to fake a buzzy relationship during his company’s precarious acquisition. She needs to write a movie around a list of NYC locations. Both need a break from their unrelenting schedules, and a chance to rediscover the skyscraper glimmering, pizza crusted, sunlit charms of the city.

Summers always end, and so will this agreement. It’s all pretend. Promise.

Until it isn’t.

Alex Aster is a #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author who has been featured by Good Morning America, the Kelly Clarkson Show, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Today.com, and People Magazine. She studied creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania, lives in New York, and is never too far from a coffee shop.

Deanna Ortega is a bookish content creator known for their funny, heartfelt takes on romance and romantasy. Their videos have captivated hundreds of thousands of readers with trope-driven recommendations, cozy chaos, and the signature way they bring books to life—often by explaining them to their non-reader husband. When they’re not filming, they’re homeschooling their kids, working from home, and sneaking in one more chapter.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

Also check out other Arts events in Lake Forest Park, Literary Art events in Lake Forest Park, Entertainment events in Lake Forest Park.