3 rating
I really wanted to like this one! I really liked the premise and I have been trying to read more sapphic books, but this one kind of fell short for me. I didn’t fall in love with the characters at all. They were also not very rememberable. The thing that frustrated me the most was the fact that MC and love interest would not talk to each other throughout the whole book about the past and what happened between them. It was really frustrating, especially since this was the main plot of the whole book. I was hardly satisfied of the ending because I just couldnt feel anything for these characters.

I did like the ice cream truck road trip as a backdrop to all of the drama. I loved the subtle references to certain pop culture things with the names of the ice cream. It was a really nice touch!

Even though it was not for me, if you like YA, sapphic, roadtrip style books, then this book might be for you!

I really loved this book. I also really enjoyed that this was a LGBTQ plus second chance romance. I also really loved that it is a road trip like story with a save the day element at the heart of this story. It was a really fun read. I am admit the story was was told in a unque way the narrrator broke the fourth wall alot talking to the audience. It look so getting used to, but it also made you feel really connected to the main character. It was a very fun read and def a new favoite by this author.

So charming this will melt your heart. I absolutely loved Fallon and Chloe. It's so great when it's friends to enemies to lovers. Dugan delivers on her third YA with a nuanced, sweet romance. Fallon is the classic bullheaded, stuck-in-her-POV main character that I adored. It took time for her to come around, but the tension was well worth it. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

A spontaneous hook-up shatters Fallon and Chloe's life-long friendship. Now the girls have to work together in a small ice cream truck as they travel across the country to meet their mothers at a festival. Can a week traveling together repair the awkward, or are Fallon and Chloe just going to hurt each other again?

This was not my favourite book by Jennifer Dugan. Fallon's narrative was hard to follow - she is constantly skipping between the present, the past and daydreams of how she wants things to happen. The side characters were distinct and likeable.

Melt With You follows Fallon and Chloe as they take off on a road trip in an ice cream truck, heading to a convention to represent their mothers' business. Fallon and Chloe's moms own Love at First Bite, an artisanal ice cream truck, together. This is awkward for Fallon and Chloe, who were best friends up until last summer when they slept together and ruined their friendship. Now the pair are in a confined space and must figure out if their friendship is salvageable or even worth saving.

Melt With You will absolutely make you crave ice cream, so be prepared for that. If you love a good road trip story, you absolutely have to check this book out. It features some interesting and funny roadside attractions that reminded me a lot of places I've stopped on road trips. This book does heavily feature lack of communication, but I kind of liked it in this book. Emotions are hard, especially when you're younger, and it felt realistic for two teenage girls. I liked Fallon and Chloe a lot and I had no idea the words "go with me" could give me goosebumps, but yep that happened. I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it for anyone looking to add another sapphic story to their Pride TBR!

Melt with you by Jennifer Dugan is a YA Contemporary novel that has a f/f releationship! I really enjoyed this book! Idk why it took me forever to read this one because I loved it!!!

Content Warnings: alcohol consumption, sex scene (fade-to-black), divorced parents, a character being grossed out by periods (off-page), vandalism, theft, break-in

Melt With You is a fun, sapphic story about two former best friends who must road trip together to work their families’ ice cream truck at a series of food truck festivals. Ten months ago, Fallon and Chloe hooked up- and the next day, Chloe left for college. The two haven’t spoken since. Fallon is reluctant to go to an event without her mother, and she’s even more reluctant to do it with Chloe. However, Chloe is the only one available to help, so Fallon must put up with Chloe’s attempts at brushing off their hookup and trying to act friendly as they road trip to their first festival.

Quick Tropes:
Forced proximity
Second chance
Road trip

I’ll start with the things I liked about this book!

Melt With You is a great sapphic book for summer. This book gave me all the road trip vibes I wanted. If you like YA books with messy teenage gays that are endlessly dramatic, this is the one for you.

I had two major issues with Melt With You.

Firstly, Fallon, the main character, constantly breaks the fourth wall. She addresses the reader regularly throughout the text. Usually her reason addressing the reader is to say something along the lines of, “You’re once again wondering, Why is Fallon being soooooo dramatic all the time?” (Yes, that line did have six o’s.) She often notes the audience is probably wondering why she doesn’t just talk to Chloe.

This is where my second issue comes in: the miscommunication trope. The major conflict in this book could’ve been solved by Fallon reciprocating Chloe’s efforts to mend their relationship. If they could have a conversation about what happened and their feelings around it, the book would be so. much. shorter. Not only does Fallon not try to communicate with Chloe, she outright rejects Choe when she wants to talk. Since Fallon and Chloe are coworkers and are forced to be near each other, they have many, many opportunities to talk to each other. But they don’t, because Fallon is so determined to hate Chloe.

It took me a while to root for the couple because Fallon was so stubborn and refuses every opportunity to communicate with Chloe. I like messy teenage gays, but it gets annoying to read about when the characters refuse to own up to mistakes or talk through misunderstandings.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an ARC! Rating: 3.25

This is another cute book from Jennifer Dugan. I’ve been a fan of her since I read Hot Dog Girl and absolutely loved it. This one isn’t as good as that one but still a fun cute read.

Thank you Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of Melt With you!

2.5 rounded up!

absolutely adorable idea of two girls going on a road trip in an ice cream truck!! when will this happen to me?!@!

Unfortunately, too much miscommunication kills this read. I ended up not being able to stand the characters nor care for their relationship by the end.

Touch an adorable low stakes sapphic rom com. “There’s only one bed” gets me every time. A sweet and quick read. Can’t wait for more from Dugan!

i wanted to love this so much more then I did because seriously— look at that cover! but honestly this was just a mess. this is the miscommunication trope one of my least favorite tropes ever, in one 300 paged novel. there was virtually no plot except for that. the vibes of the cover and the premise was cute but poorly executed in my opinion.

How do you say, in the most diplomatic way possible, that this book was SO not for me. On so many levels.

To preface this review, I knew I was not a fan of Dugan’s previous book “Some Girls Do.” Conceptually? Cute. Execution? Underbaked. Even still, the promise of a sapphic romance with forced proximity and an ice cream-centric roadtrip allured me to the dark side and convinced me to give Dugan’s books another chance.

Y’all. I should have trusted my instincts on this one. But alas, I could not resist a good ice cream pun on the cover (rocky road hehe), so multiple hours spent reading and a hoarse voice from ranting to the Notes App on my phone later, here we are. Sigh.

I think the main character, Fallon, of “Melt with You” captured my thoughts on this book best at the 61% point: “God. So much drama. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m normally a drama girl. I have absolutely no interest in being a part of drama or creating it, but I really don’t mind a few spatterings of it in my ya contemporary or watching it unfold in all of its dramatic glory from afar. But even for me, this was too much.

The only semblance of a plot — save for the road trip aspect – was the miscommunication, senseless anger, and merry-go-round of endless drama mounded on top of every. single. interaction. the main characters had.
To keep the spirit of the ice cream alive, let me offer you a metaphor: If the plot of this book was vanilla ice cream, the miscommunication, petty bickering (not even fun banter bickering arg), and, of course, drama, is the borderline illegal amount of toppings a three-year-old with free reign to toppings will put on.

The hot fudge that is miscommunication? Yeah, let’s just drown the ice cream in a whole river of it. Please, let’s also dump a bucketful of drama filled sprinkles on top so you can choke on those anytime you think you get to a mildly entertaining plot point. Caramel. Breaking the fourth wall. Maraschino cherries. More fighting around the actual argument. I swear, there was no plot (or ice cream) left under all, which made for a read that was equivalent to that of melted ice cream soup with suspect chunks of topping residue floating on top.

Ok. Maybe I strayed away from the whole diplomatic part of this review. Taking that as my cue to pivot (PIVOT!!!) and focus on a new point: the characters.

I know their names. They existed. They fought. They were (supposedly?) best friends before they hooked up and burnt their entire relationship to the ground. Beyond those key details, I really don’t think I could say much else.
Maybe this is because everything about the characters felt really 2-D and really in need of the show-not-tell-esque mentality. I mean, we were told that Fallon likes movies. We were told Chloe likes animal crackers. That’s really it, though.

The real kicker of the overdose of telling is the need for a complex tapestry of history when it comes to second chance romance. There’s gotta be history, complications, and a reason things didn’t work out. That is all part of the trope’s package dealio, but there also has to be a reason why the characters are willing to give it another shot. There has to be some sort of underlying chemistry, some level of pining, literally anything that sets off alarm bells to the reader saying hm maybe take two on this relationship is a good idea after all.

No such luck. There was nothing but hate and bickering between Fallon and Chloe; I really don’t think I could tell you why they were friends in the first place, let alone why they wanted to date each other. Their entire relationship seemed like those types of orchestrated playdates your parents set up when you’re young so you can go be a kid and make friends or whatever. Expect they were 18 and 19 and were apparently still friends? Idk y’all, it was weird.

Maybe this would have worked better if the pacing wasn’t so majorly out of whack. Had Fallon and Chloe had their all-feelings-on-the-table-lets-get-through-this-WAIT!!!-we-like-each-other-still?? confrontation way sooner, maybe there would have been more time to gain a vested interest in the romance that was unfolding. Instead, getting that confrontation in the third act made the first two drag tremendously and deprived me of the sugary sweet moments you’d expect in an ice cream-centric romance.

All of this yelling slash rambling is to say this book really didn’t work for me. But who knows, if you are a Jennifer Dugan stan or a sucker for a second chance romance, this may be your vibe. I just hope it is less of a rocky road to get through for you than it was for me.

Book Report for Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan

Cover Story: Book With a View
BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Contemporary Conflict
Bonus Factor: Tasty Business
Anti-Bonus Factor: Meddling Mothers
Relationship Status: Missed Connection

Cover Story: Book With a View
We all know how pervasive illustrated covers are these days, but I do appreciate how accurate this one is to the story within. And I kind of wish I could be sitting up there with those figures, enjoying the sunset and the scenery. It looks absolutely idyllic.

The Deal:
The night before her best friend-forever Chloe left for college, Fallon spent a magical evening with her, leaning into her true (romantic) feelings after years of trying to ignore them. But in the year since, the two have basically become complete strangers, and Fallon’s doing her best to cut Chloe out of her life. When her mother tells Fallon that she needs to step up and drive their family’s ice cream food truck across the country to their biggest event of the year, Fallon reluctantly agrees—but then she finds out that she’ll have to do the drive with Chloe, and Fallon resigns herself to having the worst trip ever.

BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
I know (stereotypically) teenagers are notoriously bad at communication, but Fallon (and Chloe) are unbelievably bad at it. Even when her friends are telling her to be honest and make sure that she and Chloe are on the same page, Fallon holds tightly onto her perceived slights and her side of the story. This conflict was vital to the plot, but it got frustrating long before the end of the book. Were we friends, I’d have wanted to physically shake Fallon into understanding that she was in the wrong, or at the very least, that she couldn’t stay mad without investigating fully.

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Fallon and Chloe have some major chemistry, but it’s completely hindered—both for them and me as the reader—by their complete inability to talk things through. There are a lot of stops and starts in this book when it comes to swoon, and by the time they got their acts together, I was too sore from the whiplash to fully enjoy the HEA.

Talky Talk: Contemporary Conflict
Dugan has a deft hand at writing contemporary novels with elements of enemistry, and Melt With You is another example of such. And although the road trip adventure was short (only a matter of days, and they only stopped at a couple of places), it was entertaining. The setting(s) and the secondary characters (specifically the lesbian couple they meet at a sketchy campsite) in this book were the best part, however; the main character and her love interest were sadly a bit too insufferable—and their chemistry questionable—to make reading their story fully enjoyable.

Bonus Factor: Tasty Business
Fallon and Chloe’s mothers took a shared love of ice cream and romance novels and created their Love at First Bite food truck, stocked with small-batch, specialty ice cream with names like “I Like Your Boots” and “Beauty and the Feast.” It’s super corny, but exactly the kind of business I’d love to run or patron.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Meddling Mothers
Fallon and Chloe’s mothers think they know best for their daughters, but they’re equally in the dark as to what’s really going on and therefore meddle in a way that goes beyond. (I wanted to Roger Murtaugh the mothers as well as the daughters, and realizing that they’re probably very close to my age made me feel even older.)

Relationship Status: Missed Connection
I wanted to like you, Book, and there were parts of your story that really drew me in. But we’re incompatible on a basic level, and the extras just weren’t enough to make me want anything more than one date.

Fallon is beyond a Type A gal. While working for her mother's start-up ice cream business that has the chance to make it or break it, she still is struggling to cope with Chloe, a girl who she had hooked up with the summer before and ditched her the day after. Oh, and Chloe is the daughter of her mom's business partner. When a business deal risks falling through, Chloe and Fallon have to travel cross country together in the ice cream truck to save the business, and maybe their own relationship as well.

I will admit that I was very much wary of this book since I was not a huge fan of the last book of Dugan's I did an advanced reader's copy of. It seems that Dugan has a tendency of writing messy queer characters, and Melt With You is not an exception. You feel both Fallon and Chloe's ups and downs the entire way, and includes some extremely well-written parallels to exemplify the dangers of a lack of communication and the resulting trauma and pain that can come from it. As someone who has been partially in one of those relationships in the past, it was a tad refreshing seeing that in a new perspective.

Miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes in any media ever. It's easy to just talk it out, but nope. It doesn't happen for a good majority of this story, even up until I want to say about 90% of the story. Even the mothers get involved at some point in this miscommunication web and it sucks. As a result, I wasn't completely as impacted by the ending as I wish I was.

However, the absolute powerhouse dynamic between Chloe and Fallon was what really kept me driving throughout this entire story. There's something compelling about a main character who's already had feelings for the love interest and having them resurfaced through misguided hatred from a traumatic moment that just gets to me. Chloe really does try her best, and then the roles switch in the last fourth of the story, allowing for a great reversal of roles for the realization to kick in that "oh my god I do love her." Chloe is very much the chill one in this relationship and helps to really loosen up Fallon's own anxieties and personalities, so much so that by the end, Fallon is the relaxed one while Chloe is highstrung.

I absolutely loved the plot of the ice cream truck. Food trucks aren't usually discussed in fiction books, so it was nice reading about some of the work that goes into actually running it and the highs and lows that come with it. Will they make it with the sharks, or will they sink? Also I'm just a massive sucker for ice cream and I loved the references in the names. It brought a sweet twist to this new story.

Melt With You is an addicting sweet new romance that you will devour in a few hours, and is a delicious queer romance for June.

I received an e-arc of this story from both NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Well, we’re almost a full week into June, and I finally finished my first pride month read. I guess that just goes to show how busy June is for teachers.

From the bestselling author of “Hot Dog Girl,” Jennifer Dugan’s “Melt With You” is a quick queer summer romance in the same spirit as “The Heartbreak Boys” and “Conventionally Yours.”

Fallon is left heartbroken after losing her virginity to her best friend the night before she leaves for college, and it seems like her bond with Chloe has been forever changed. And not for the better.

When her mom makes a last-minute trip to Texas to win over some stubborn venture capitalists and expand their ice cream empire, Fallon and Chloe are thrown together for a wanderlust summer adventure.

But will their time spent together aboard the "Love At First Bite ice cream truck bring the former friends closer together, or drive them apart for good?

This new YA release has all the makings of the best road trip reads, from fifty-two states of spaghetti to a quirky duo of trailer park lesbians and everything in between.

But I found the protagonist, Fallon, to be irrational and mostly unlikeable. She kind of treats people like garbage, and I just couldn’t get on board with that.

Still, the pacing and writing style were pleasant enough, and I’d be interested to check out "Hot Dog Girl" and "Some Girls Do."

An adorable journey. Lack of communication is always a very aggravating plot device. This would be a great book to recommend to LGBTQ+ teens. I adored Chloe and felt very bad for Fallon since her insecurity kept causing her to put her foot inside her mouth!

Summary;
Fallon is Type A, looks before she leaps, and always has a plan (and a backup plan).

Chloe is happy-go-lucky, flies by the seat of her pants, and always follows her bliss.

The two girls used to be best friends, but last summer they hooked up right before Chloe left for college, and after a series of misunderstandings, they aren’t even speaking to each other.

A year later, Chloe’s back home from school, and Fallon is doing everything in her power to avoid her. Which is especially difficult because their moms own a business together—a gourmet ice cream truck where both girls work.

When a meeting with some promising potential investors calls their parents away at the last minute, it’s up to Fallon to work a series of important food truck festivals across the country. But she can’t do it alone, and Chloe is the only one available to help.

Tensions heat up again between the two girls as they face a few unexpected detours—and more than a little roadside attraction. But maybe, just maybe, the best things in life can’t always be planned.

Review: This was a fun summer YA read. The only negative was the miscommunication, but that is just a pet peeve of mine.

Fallon and Chloe were best friends, working together on their mother's shared ice cream truck. Last summer they had a massive falling out when they hooked and and Chloe left for college. A year later, Chloe is back and Fallon can not longer pretend she doesn't exist when their mother's take an opportunity to further the business. The girls must work the truck together at a very important festival out of town without chaperones to keep their cool.

This entire book could have been solved within two pages if Fallon and Chloe had ONE conversation. But I get it, their teenagers and for the most part this age has a difficult time talking about their feelings. But, I have the biggest dislike for the miscommunication trope, so it put a big damper on this book for me. I think this would have been better if we also got Chloe's POV as well, as it was mostly just Fallon complaining about how much she disliked Chloe. I did enjoy the road trip aspect of the book, and the shenanigans the girl's got up to.

A summer romance that shows that love can be a rocky road.
🍦
Fallon just graduated high school and is ready for a big trip to Montreal with her BFF at the end of summer—she just has to earn enough money working her mom’s ice cream truck to afford it. When Chloe, her ex-BFF and one night mistake, comes back from college, Fallon doesn’t want anything to do with her. However, since Chloe’s mom also owns the ice cream truck they end up working together, even having to drive the truck cross country for a festival while their moms have financial investor meetings. This time on the road only heightens the tension between the two girls, even though hilarious things happen on their trip. Will they clear the air and figure out where their friendship (and relationship) went wrong?
🍦
This is the perfect summer YA romance! Dugan is one of my favorite go-to authors when I want to read a really good sapphic romance. There are so many good tropes in this one: forced proximity, second chance romance, childhood friends, enemies to lovers, and one bed! Join these two on a road trip you won’t forget!

CW: abandonment

Jennifer Dugan writes the best summer YA Romance novels. Melt With You was a great blend of a summer road trip, falling in love with your best friend (friends to lovers to enemies to lovers?!) and ICE CREAM. I want to try every flavor mentioned. The story was fun but after a while the lack of communication exhausted me. I just wish the whole story didn’t completely ride on miscommunications.
3.0 stars
Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the advanced egalley in exchange for an honest review.