Melt With You is the story of Fallon and Chloe, best friends who hooked up last summer and haven’t talked to each other since. But now they have to help their moms (who are also best friends) out by driving their ice cream truck to a festival across the country… together. Being alone together for this road trip causes both of the girls to face their miscommunications and their fears, as well as their budding feelings for each other.

This book was a fun, sweet, romantic read. Perfect for summer. While I did love how this story ended, I did get a little bit worn down by the constant miscommunication along the way. Like, I really wanted to shake both of these characters and tell them to just talk about their feelings. That can be par for the course in YA, but it was still frustrating. It almost felt like the author just didn't have enough to propel the story forward, so the result was scene after scene of Fallon refusing to even entertain the the idea that Chloe might have slept with her last summer because she actually likes her -- and, in fact, there are multiple OVERT clues that that is what is happening here.

This shouldn't surprise me, though, because I also found Hot Dog Girl to be frustrating (though it's been so long that I've forgotten why?).

Overall, though, Jennifer Dugan’s books are a must read in the YA sapphic canon because she's written so many. I have Some Girls Do up next, along with her adult sapphic novel, Love at First Set, and her YA thriller, The Last Girls Standing, on my Edelweiss shelf. So don't let the three stars confuse you -- this is solidly "good, but not great," but not in a way that won't continue reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Fun, smart, and tender. I love Dugan's YA and this one is no exception--a moving story of first love and second chances.

I love a good road trip novel mixed with a love story, AND YOU ADDED IN ICE CREAM? I mean, be still my heart! But I don’t know. Their dynamic upset me for some reason. It felt like Fallon was taking blame for things that Chloe created in her head. There was a slight twinge of gaslighting in there that I didn’t love.

It was still enjoyable to read!

3.5/5 (rounded up)

I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I started Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan but I was hoping for a sweet but complicated YA romcom and that's exactly what I got. I actually wasn't a huge fan of the miscommunication trope in this book, but I was here for all of the rest. I love books that include food trucks and an ice cream truck? even better. I'm not positive that I actually liked Fallon all that much but that could also be because I wanted her to just talk to Chloe already and stop just icing her out. But I feel like that could easily happen when you are younger, and this definitely felt like a true YA storyline.

The audiobook narrator Jeremy Carlisle Parker did a really fantastic job with it, and I have no idea how she managed to sound so young, but she did, and she nailed it. I could really FEEL her as Fallon and that added a lot to the story for me and my listening experience as well. Melt With You didn't really give me the humor I was looking for, but it was cute and addictive so that's gotta count for something! Fallon is a very dramatic girl that’s for sure, and I loved the way Carlisle Parker changed her voice to get this across in the audio. The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, and I loved the road trip aspect and the way that Dugan had Fallon talking to the reader directly at times. It is a style that I really like, and I thought it worked nicely in this novel. After all is said and done, I would definitely read this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will always be drawn in by a sapphic romance, and this is an author that I have been interested in before, but haven't gotten to yet. I always enjoy the premise of a road trip between two potential love interests, and I thought it was really cute that the two main characters were roadtripping in their moms' ice cream truck. However, the rest of this story did not really work for me. The two main characters are ex-best friends due to one-night stand, and I found some of their interactions incredibly frustrating because there is so much miscommunication. The two really need to just talk to each other, and instead the main character just keeps telling us over and over how she knows they need to talk but she's determined to ice out the other one. Additionally, fourth-wall breaks can sometimes work, but I just found them irritating because I was so frustrated with the characters. I am interested in the author's other works, but this one was not for me.

such a sweet romantic ya book that is perfect for summer! it made me hungry for ice cream for sure. the sapphic romance carried the book, but it did not take away the character development of the individual characters. I do wish that it had both perspectives.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc.

Overall I liked this, but the lack of communication drove me batty. Particularly the main character. Otherwise the romance bits were cute.

Friends to enemies to lovers, the story about growing up and figuring yourself out that everyone needs to read at least once in their life.

A cute sapphic rom-com, even if the MC was a bit obnoxious and hard to read. The writing itself wasn't revolutionary but it was fun for what it was.

I enjoy YA romance and am always looking for more to recommend. And while this is good - and also ends up depicting the young women involved as both capable and in over their head, which is perfect for the age - I do feel like the miscommunication trope is a bit drawn out for the sake of the action. If you're OK with that, then I think you'll enjoy this.

There's definitely a lot to like here. I appreciate how the miscommunication was handled here. I liked how even though it took the characters a while to actually address the cause of the wedge between them it wasn't because of random plot conveniences, but rather character traits that had to do with their own stubbornness. It felt realistic to how people actually communicate in reality when they want to stick to their own perception of an event and have stood their ground on it.

I liked how the moms were used in the story and how their absence was part of the plot in a way that turned out to be layered and added some nuance to the situation that I didn't see coming.

The biggest issue was that I wanted a little more. The epilogue was nice, but I felt that the third act felt a little short changed. I wanted it to be able to breathe a little more. It felt more like the ending you get in a movie because we're approaching the ending runtime and not a book if that makes any sense. Overall though I thought it was cute, I definitely had a fun time.

This is another one of those YA books that feels like it's written with some crossover appeal in mind, and due to the actual plot it makes more sense for the characters to be the ages they are, but it's also a book that I think readers at the younger end of the YA market could connect with more and when so many conversations these days are about pushing those readers out I'm happy that they can have something as cute as this was.

This was a funny feel good novel about two people forced to find themselves with the help of each other. The prose was written nicely and I really enjoyed the pacing.

"Melt With You" is a fantastic, sapphic YA romance with road trips and ice cream trucks, friends to lovers to enemies to lovers dynamics, and miscommunication tropes if that's you're thing.

Be still my melting heart. Dugan can do no wrong when he comes to writing books that tear my feelings apart. I am convenienced that she writes with magic in her veins. Whatever voodoo she uses, it works. I loved the unspoken tension between these two characters and how many almost-moments they had. It was so frustrating but in the best way possible. I devoured this book but wish I had taken my time because now I have to wait that much longer for a Dugan book.

Thoughts and Themes: I have such mixed feelings with miscommunication as a trope because I get frustrated that they just don't talk but then when its YA it reminds me that this is really what its like to be that age. The miscommunication trope is done well when it is with teenagers because it reminds me of what it was like to just keep everything to yourself rather than ruin anything between friends. But then again the whole time I am yelling at both characters because they both knew that a conversation needed to happen.

I'm glad that I listened to this one on audiobook because I don't think I would have gotten through it otherwise. I really enjoy the moment these two finally have the conversation that they needed to have. I thought this part was done well and I love the honest response we get from the both of them. I like that they both were thinking of the worst when it came to the other but they both had different responses to this.

As this book carried on I was so worried that I was going to end up hating the book the closer we got to the ending of this book. I was quite surprised that we don't get a generic ending which is what I was so worried about. I really enjoyed the way that this story wraps up and how things aren't just great between everyone who was involved.

Characters: In this book you are introduced to several characters through their interactions with our main character, Fallon. You get to meet her ex best friend, Chloe, her friends, her mom and several people they meet on their road trip.

I really like the relationship that we get to see between Fallon and Chloe and how confusing it is for the both of them. I like that we get to see slices of their friendship through Fallon's perspective before things fell apart. I also like that we get to see Chloe trying to fix this friendship even though she doesn't know why Fallon is being cold to her.

Writing Style: This book is told in the first person through the perspective of our main character, Fallon. I really like that everything is told through her perspective because we have to wait until she talks to Chloe to know both sides. I also like that Fallon does occasionally break the fourth wall to let the reader know what she is thinking.

Melt with you by Jennifer Dugan was a very quick and fast paced read, that I read in one evening. I liked the immediate juxtaposition of romance and horror. I liked the storyline. I had a like/dislike relationship with the main characters of Fallon and Chloe. At times I was rooting for them and other times I just kept thinking move on from each other. For me that was hard because I really wanted to and usually like to root for best friends to lovers. It bothered me that these two could not talk out their differences, issues, opinions, etcetera. Communication and being vulnerable and open with your significant other or friend is paramount, and these two just could not do it. The adventures these two go on is quite fun and minus the arguing, bickering, and awkward silences I would have loved to have been on that trip to experience all the fun activities. I thought the ending was incredibly sweet and I absolutely loved the happy endings in this book. It was a great summer read.

While this book was a okay read for me, I think anyone who likes roundtrips, ice cream, and complicated characters might enjoy this book. I gave this a 3.5/5 stars.

I received an eARC from Penguin Teen. All opinions are 100% my own.

Sweet & quick summer read 🍦☀️🛻

What I loved…
-sapphic romance! Both main characters are on the older side of YA (summer after highschool, college freshman).
-I’m a sucker for second chance romances & enjoyed learning about the main characters previous close relationship.
-ROAD-TRIP!!! The forced proximity of Chloe & Fallon was clever. Their little stops throughout were sweet & the anti bed trope was clever.
-Chloe’s relationship with her friends throughout the novel was refreshing. It was nice seeing her get their honest feedback about the situation & have them call her out when needed.

Why it’s only 3 stars…
-Jennifer Dugan’s last novel, “Some Girls Do” was wonderful—the duel POV made the book super special. Gallon’s POV sadly got repetitive and I found myself wishing I knew more about Fallon’s inner thoughts. Feel like this could’ve broken up Fallon’s angst a bit more.
-The mis communication trope was x5 & overstayed it’s welcome all the way until the last 10 pages!
-I loved a good fourth wall break, but it was awkward at times.

Solid 3 ⭐️ summer read! Will be carrying this on my shelf at school & recommending it to my students!

Thanks NetGalley & the the publisher for the ARC! ❤️

Thank you to Netgalley and PRHAudio for the ARCs!

I thought this was a cute YA read with some fun tropes. It has a bit of friends to lovers, but these friends have become enemies. Then they’re forced into close proximity to try to save their family business…an ice cream truck! How fun is that?

This is YA, but sex is mentioned often, so keep that in mind when recommending to younger readers.

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!