Joellen is a woman we can all relate to sometime in our life. Whether it be work, love life (or lack thereof), or unrequited love. Throw in a cocky Scot who runs around in a kilt, with looks to die for and you have the setting of one the best romantic comedies you will read all year. I loved their story and laughed at the snarky comments Joellen and Cameron threw each other. The books is more than a modern day Ugly Duckling, it’s the bringing of two lives together with one kicking and screaming all the way!
A wonderful story that you can’t put down.

Oh my goodness, this book is basically perfection. I started reading it this evening thinking I'd read a few chapters and then put it down and carry on with my night. That definitely didn't go as planned! I read the whole thing in one sitting! Right from the start I was pulled in. There were so many laugh out loud moments, my husband kept looking over at me like I was crazy. I loved all of the Cameron/Joellen scenes although I wanted to yell at Joellen quite a few times. There were lots of sincere sweet moments too, there were a lot of lines that were so good that I found myself highlighting a lot on my Kindle. Overall I adored this book, it was charming, sweet, and so funny! This was only my second book by this author, but I can absolutely see J.T. Geissinger becoming a favorite author of mine!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the advanced copy!

This one far exceeded my expectations. It was super hilarious. The heroine is snippy and in a good way - socially awkward but so appropriate- loved her❤. Cameron has become one of my all time favorite and unforgettable character. Loved him too. They just seemed so right for each other...he had me cracking up too. A damn good read

I absolutely adored this book, beginning to end. The characters were written to perfection, and even though we only got the heroine's point of view, I truly felt like we could see Cam's emotions through Geissinger's writing (which, by the way, is also excellent!) I loved how he treated her, right from the very beginning, and he didn't hesitate to call her out on her negative self-worth... or get fully annoyed when her parents didn't treat her like they should.

It is a quintessential slow burn that gives you all of the subsequent feelings it should, and I devoured it in one sitting. 5 perfect stars from me.

My first book by this author and I give it 5 stars for keeping me entertained and sometimes emotional.

The chemistry between Joellen and sexy Scottish rugby player Cameron is intense and I loved their banter and friendship. Joellen has low selfesteem due to her family and has been in love with her boss for 10 years. Cameron promises to help her land him and gives her some good advise on the way. I loved how he tried to convince stubborn Joellen of her beauty and how she should do things for herself and not to please others.

Not just another book were the heroine loses weight and becomes attractive to everyone. The story is from Joellen's POV and although I would have wished some from Cameron's, it is right for this story.

I requested and received an ARC via Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Starting ‘Melt for You’ was quite an apprehensive step to take, I’ll readily admit.

Considering that I loved the spunk and the unexpected but fun retelling of Beauty and the Beast in J.T. Geissinger’s first book in this series (which made me request this ARC), the blurb to this one—so different from the first—gave me pause. The inexperienced woman vs. the experienced commitment-phobic womaniser CEO/athlete/military man etc. ranging from fun-loving to sleazy is one of the tropes all too common in the romance genre and one that I most dislike with a vehemence that rivals my hate for, say, bad public transport management.

I realise this puts me in the minority and I can’t count myself as one of those readers who claps and whoops for the uber-manwhore and feels triumphant that some lone woman finally manages to ’tame’ him even as it takes a process as elaborate and sensitive as sprucing up her self-esteem or image issues. That, pitted against how much I do enjoy Geissinger’s writing and the promise of the loose retelling of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ however, the latter won out…marginally.

‘Melt for you’ starts off with the kind of self-deprecating, smart-alecky talk of Joellen Bixby that rambles on about Christmas shopping to fatness and hair-colour, done in the uncanny style of Bridget Jones: a stream-of-consciousness type, neurotic mash of ageing fears and randomness manifesting as humour.

Because of this, Cam obviously stands in sharp contrast to an awkward, thirty-six heroine who has far, far lower self-esteem than a bacne-ridden teen—cocky, obnoxious, and insufferable about his well-earned reputation with the ladies. The build here isn’t quite between 2 protagonists who have their eyes on each other; instead, Joellen’s fixation with her boss while Cameron McGregor with the panty-dropper reputation isn’t the most romantic setup that I can buy into, not when the weird love triangle goes on up until the last quarter of the book.

More disturbingly though, there were many things I found myself wishing. I wished Joellen thought better of herself, from the very start, because those issues of hers struck hard (and too close to home as a family member struggles with this) and made me somewhat heartsick. I wished she saw her own self-worth without the need of some help from a well-known player who’d actually spent the entire book playing reaffirming aunt.

Above all, I wished I laughed more and took this less seriously like the rom-com it’s meant to be, but I couldn’t. Not with the deep-seated issues that I know go deeper than perfect physical appearance being the apparent answer to everything, a commonly-held hypothesis that Joellen was determined to get on board with. Not when I’m passionately against women feeling as though they need to do to extreme lengths so they get noticed by a man. Dour as this review is—which is influenced clearly by what I’ve seen happen to others—, ‘Melt for You’ if anything, throws this starkly into the spotlight and strangely, what mattered more than the HEA is Geissinger’s reinforcement of this past the epilogue.

Melt For You, Slow Burn Book 2, J.T. Geissinger
Montlake Romance
Standalone
 3.5 ⭐⭐⭐

This is the first book that I've read from this Author. Even though this is Book 2, it can be read as standalone.
One-sided. Heroines POV.

Joellen is socially awkward, too nice for her own good, lacks confidence in herself. Due to her family constantly putting her down, just because she's not like them. Lives with her deaf cat. Her inner monologue is hilarious. But she's also smart and witty.
She's had a crush on her married boss for the past 10 years and he tells her that he's getting divorced so tells her that he's noticed her from afar but couldn't do anything about it until now.

Enter Cameron, who's moved in next door to Joellen. He's the Captain of the a Scottish Rugby team. Huge, tattoos, plays loud music and a revolving door of women. He drives her crazy.
Then, he offers to help her get the man she's craved. Getting her motivated, teaching her tips and guiding her to get the guy she wants.

With spending so much time together their back and forth banter between them is great.

Throw in some bumps along the way.
Does all their hard work pan out?
Will she get her HEA?
Is she destined to be a lonely cat lady?

Would have been nice to have read some from the males POV too. But a lovely wee mushy read.

Many thanks to Montlake Romance for providing me with this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

5+++ stars.
"Melt for You" had me in a pool of liquid !
This was one hell of a juicy read. The so very delicious and wickedly sexy banter between Joellen and Cameron is what pushed this rating up, off the charts for me.
I love snarky and biting humor and this book had it, I smiled and laughed my way through this fabulous read.
Perfect slow burn/rom-com. One of my favorite book-couples. The writing is wonderful and everything I could hope for-I read this book in one sitting.
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Cameron McGregor is the cocky, tattooed Scottish rugby captain who just moved in next door to Joellen Bixby . Joellen Bixby is a socially awkward book editor that has a date every Saturday—with her cat, a pint of ice cream, and fantasies of the way-too-handsome Michael Maddox, the unattainable CEO of her firm. But she blends in so well with her cubicle, how is this going to happen? The answer may be closer than she thinks. Cameron's not Jo’s type—at all—but the notorious playboy is offering to teach the wallflower everything he knows about inspiring desire. Though a lot of women have rumpled Cam’s kilt, Jo is special. Far from the ugly duckling she thinks she is, in Cam’s eyes she’s sharp, funny, and effortlessly sexy. Now, thanks to him, Jo is blooming with confidence and has the man of her dreams within reach.
**************************************
Amazing series so far. I had previously read the equally wonderful "Burn for You" and was thrilled to receive an ARC for this book as it has long been on my radar for publication.
J.T. Geissinger, I also award you "5 stars" - you are officially one of my favorite authors.

I adored this book. ADORED it. Joellen is a character that I relate to a little too well minus the gorgeous Scottish neighbor. Cameron, the gorgeous Scottish neighbor, drives her crazy as he insinuates himself into her life and offers to help her win the man she has had an unrequited crush on for a decade. It is a slow burn romance with witty banter and some surprising emotional depth. Definitely one for the keeper shelves.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At work, Joellen was the yes woman. Never declined an assignment and always on time. Then there’s the unfortunate fact she’s been in love with her married boss for a decade. And all I was thinking was girl, please get a life! There’s so much more out there! Outside of work, she had this snarky vibe that I just felt was hiding someone who had the potential to be more, except she lacked the self confidence to find and explore it. When her new neighbor Cameron offers to help her catch her divorced boss’s attention, she takes a leap of faith.

Cameron was my absolute favorite character hands down. He’s got the brains, self confidence, emotional acumen, brawn, cocky arrogance, and holy heck he’s Scottish, but seriously, his intelligence was a beautiful thing to see in action! He was an annoying neighbor, yet his boyish charm made him a little irresistible. Celebrity status aside, he’s also just a guy with ghosts in his closet, so he’s not perfect by any means, yet smack me silly because it took Joellen freaking forever to see past the perfection to a regular guy with his own issues. His lessons with Joellen were hysterical and spot on and I looked forward to whatever bit of advice he tossed out, because it meant tantalizing banter would occur!

Joellen was hard for me to like and I really wanted to! She wasn’t naive, she was just really unaware of her potential. She lit the room on fire with her passion, but was blinded by what she perceived as perfection. I struggled waiting for her to wake up and smell the roses, not just about Cameron, but more so about her own self image. I completely understood her reasoning of not being good enough, but it didn’t mean I had to enjoy the pacing of her decision making process.

Cameron was a one man cheerleader and positive support group. His cocky remarks kept things at a reasonably lighthearted level and balanced out Joellen’s heavy self-berating, and their banter?! It was the best! Granted, it oozed one sided awareness sexual tension, yet I looked forward to whatever off the wall remark would pop out next!

Overall, I liked most of the story. This was an ugly duckling tale full of snarky quips, sexy banter, and steamy kisses I loved. There’s the topics of body image and self esteem that sent a good message. My only issue was that the story dragged on plot progression and the ending just hit out of nowhere.

And I wished Cameron could have kicked Michael’s overinflated, snotty ego across the room.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the first book I have read from this author and I really enjoyed it. It is very one sided and we really only know Joellen's thoughts. It starts out where she has a neighbor she hates, Cam, and he drives her crazy. Joellen has had a crush on her boss for ten years and so when he is suddenly single again, she wants him and she finds that he wants her too. Cam offers to get her into shape and teach her to dress better and that is how they get to know the other.

It is a slow burn story but it really worked and I really enjoyed it. It took me a bit to get into it as it took time to get to the main plot of the story but when I did OMG it was fun, sweet and so romantic.

Melt for You by J.T. Geissinger

“The ugly duckling and the rugby player, 5 stars”



Joellen is not classically beautiful like her sister or model mother. Her whole life she’s been put down by her family for not fitting their standards and being “sensitive”. She’s been secretly in love with he boss for over ten years and has never really given anyone a chance until Cam. Under the ruse of helping her score her dream guy Cam takes her under his wing and turns her into the swan she really is. The question is will she stay with Cam or go for the guy she really doesn’t know but believes she loves?

I loved Cam. He was a freaking champ and honestly, I don’t think I’ve read a character in quite some time who can play the game like Cam can. He was worming his way under her skin without her ever noticing and it was brilliant. The question is will it click into place before his time is up in the states?

Plot-5/5

Characters-5/5

Heat- 5/5

Writing style- 5/5

Overall- 5/5

**SBR Reviews**

Melt for You, Slow Burn: Book 2,  J. T. Geissinger

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction ( adult) , Romance

I loved the first book in this series, and looked forward to this one. I really liked it, just not quite as much as I loved book one.

Great characters once more, though to begin with I thought Cam was an obnoxious, arrogant ar se. Soon saw his softer side peek through and got a glimpse of that steely determination and fierce intelligence that has taken him to the top of his game despite his poor start.
I love characters like Joellen too, she's a sweet girl, tries to please everyone and somehow her own personality and wants take a back seat. She's got that loving family who just aren't really supportive, she doesn't fit the family beauty mould and feels inferior, too tubby, too dark, too unsocial, and that constant criticism from her childhood ( for her own good of course!) spills over into the rest of her life. She always feels the unwanted one, the one on the outside of a group. I know that feeling, I guess many of us do.
She's had an unrequited love for her married boss for ten years now, and then he tells her he's getting divorced and – wow – he really seems to see her, to be attracted to her. Somehow Cam catches on to her self improvements and along with fitting him into her life by way of meal bribes for keeping the music down, he's now training her to make the best of herself. He's not keen on her “air diet” so helps her to take up fitness training, and they end up spending more and more time together.

Its a read full of humour, some of it very subtle and some – Denny's jokes – more overt and in your face.
There are some great secondary characters too, Joellen's cat, Mrs Dinwiddy her neighbour, Portia and others from work. They all add to the “real” feel of the story.

There were some minor irritations though, small things but they niggled at me. Lassie – we know her well in UK, and Cam being a Scot he'd be well aware of the story. After all it takes place in Yorkshire and Scotland so Joellen wouldn't have needed to explain that to him. You can't just sweep up your cat, board a plane in an ordinary carrier with it, and the UK has pretty strict rabies Laws, and there's a plethora of paperwork.
Set against those though was the fabulous humour, and this bit really made me snigger. Joellen is talking about a former date's comment on her rather aggressive kissing “That was my lung you just licked” - loved it!

Great read, cleverly written and after the story ends the author has written a bit about negative body image and the harm it can do to some people. Very thought provoking and something I fully agree with, having always had that issue myself.

Stars: Four, a perfectly written transformation story, sensual and heated, but not Sex all the Way as so many stories are, and with some terrific characters.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

3.5 stars... Mostly loved the banter...and the story was the opposite thing and then they attract. I have experienced the set up before and so it was a repeat of loud neighbor etc...but lots of humor and spark worked.

And I just melt.

What happens when a wallflower gets seduction tips from a manwhore athlete?

Trouble.

Joellen has been in love with her boss for a very long time. But how can he possibly notice her when she blends into the wall just perfectly? Her social life consists of having dinner with her neighbor, petting her cat, eating ice cream and fantasies hat starred her boss.

Everyone knows who Cameron McGregor is, except Joellen. He’s one hot Scottish rugby captain with all those swoony accent that just moved in next door. He knows how to push her buttons. He’s annoying. He’s definitely not her type. No way! But then, he offers to teach her everything he knows on how to get her man.

Jo is something else, and Cam knows it. He hates it when she thinks so low of herself. She’s funny, she doesn’t know she’s petty and sexy. After a while, and all those 5-am wakeup calls, Jo finally bloomed! And she’s about to get her man! Sorry for Cam, he just pushed the woman he wants into the arms of another man. How to get her back? He will surely have the match of his life.

I love, love, love this book. Not just because of the hot-emotional and sweet romance, as well as the amazing characters but the issues that has been tackled as well. I love the fact that this book deals with one of the most sensitive topics of this generation with regards to body issues and body shaming.

Although I would have killed for Cam’s POV!!! I would have love to know his innermost thoughts.

Melt For You is a spectacularly written novel with REAL, imperfect characters, real emotions and amazingly-paced romance that will steal your hearts in no time.

A Slow Burn Novel

Wowza....I fell in love with J.T.'s work when I stumbled upon her Bad Habit Series.  

Melt for You is the story of Joellen and Cameron.

Oh Joellen, I feel your pain! When you hear the negativity all the time it becomes you.  Her world before was dull and gray.  She felt her life was settled, she felt like she was as content as she could be.  She had unrequited love, that she kept to herself for YEARS!  Her self esteem was shattered and she needed a bright dose of color. She could be so much more. 

Enter Cameron, Scottish, rugby player and alpha swooniness. He has such a dose of fresh air and color! His bravado and his ego was fantastic! He knew he was hot stuff and wasn't afraid to share it. But under all that alpha swagger, beat a heart of gold and a beautiful soul.

Joellen and Cameron's interactions and quick dialogue in the beginning was hilarious! I could just picture them squabbling in Joellen's apartment.  It was refreshing to see how the reader didn't know ages until later, and then I fell for Cameron harder.  I wanted to smack Joellen upside the head and tell her to really see how hard Cameron was working to make her fall in love with her. Cameron helped Joellen realize that she was perfect, just the way she was!

J.T. call this series Slow Burn and it totally is with Joellen and Cameron.  It was slow, it was delicious to see it play out and the ending was so lovely.  Thank you for your words! Your stories are phenomenal!

I really enjoyed the first book in the Slow Burn series by J.T. Geissinger, so I was excited to be able to read the next in the series. Melt for You was a truly enjoyable read. The chemistry and banter between Jolene and Cameron was fantastic - there were a few times where I found myself laughing out loud!. Melt for You is a title that I will definitely recommend.

Oh my word, this author. I love everything Ms Geissinger writes. She has a knack for making her characters so real that even the unreal circumstances that they find themselves in are something you could totally see yourself or your bestie in. Joellen *IS* parts of every woman I know. Body issues, her sass bordering a little too closely to snark, her attitude towards exercise, unattainable and awkward crushes, the adoption of weird neighbors, ALL OF IT. And Cam is the guy we wish had set his sights on us. He's flawed enough to be real and hot enough to keep burning up the pages. He loved her for HER, and built her up unconditionally. I mean, where are guys like this?? I laughed out loud so many times I felt like I was with friends, I cried and I cringed and I had a definite book hangover when this story was finished. I re-read all the Geissinger on my kindle and looked for more. I really, REALLY enjoyed this book. Thank you so much.

***4.5 stars***
I found the relationship between Joellen and Cameron totally fascinating, and loved following their story. The author has a brilliant writing style that had me laughing aloud on a few occasions. The story was fun although a bit slow at times.
I did have a very significant problem with this book though; I missed Cameron’s POV. I’d love hearing both sides of the story and understand better his strong feelings for Joellen. Cameron is one of the most sexy characters I have ever read, Scottish, handsome, great body, funny but unfortunately I couldn’t get to see everything play out between these two through both of their eyes and to understand both of their feelings and doubts.
Joellen was a perfectly flawed character with a good heart. Cameron saw through her low self-esteem, helped her love herself and made her believe she is worthy of love. The sex scenes, which came toward the end of the book, were super hot steamy, the banter between the two was hilarious and the sexual tension was palpable.
Overall, this is a great book that will melt your heart and I would recommend people who love slow burn romance books to read it.


In short:
Hero 4/5 | Heroine 5/5 | Plot (Point, Originality) 4/5 | Writing Style 5/5 | Steam 4/5 | Romance 4/5 | Angst-Suspense 3/5 | Darkness 0/5 | Humor 4/5 | Secondary Characters 4/5 | Drama-Conflict 4/5 | Mystery 0/5 | Twists 4/5 | Pace Steady | Action 3/5

ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.

Joellen likes to sass her man, “what I want is to finish my dinner and not have a wet, half-naked stranger with more muscles than manners standing in my kitchen.” Cameron just loves to goad his woman, “starin’ at my baby maker again, lass,” says the Mountain with a low chuckle. “It’s becomin’ a bad habit of yours, innit?” Cameron is sensitive about certain things, “we already had the talk about you disrespectin’ the family jewels by callin’’em‘junk,’ darlin’.” I loved this book, Cam and Joellen had a great relationship.