<i>Melt With You</i> is a YA sapphic romance that features a road trip and ice cream - what's not to love? Fallon and Chloe are ex-best friends after one particular night, and Fallon has sworn off trying to make amends. But when their moms' ice cream truck business forces them on the road together - alone - they have to at least be civil to each other to keep the business afloat. What could possibly go wrong (or right)?

I really liked the premise of the book; I think it's one that a lot of teens can probably relate to, minus the cross-country road trip and ice cream. Fallon and Chloe have a complicated relationship, and they basically epitomize the importance of communication in any relationship, romantic or otherwise. There are some cool moments scattered throughout between them, and it's clear that neither are perfect characters, which I appreciated.

That being said, I found a lot of the book to be pretty unbelievable, all things considered. The moms are off trying to conduct business deals and let their teenage daughters take over the truck during the most important time of the year for the business, not to mention the fact that both girls absolutely do not want to be there in the first place. I can understand having some trust in your kids with your business, but this seemed like a lot, especially when you reach the twist toward the end of the book.

I also didn't feel like Fallon or Chloe were particularly compelling characters, which was kind of disappointing. I honestly can't tell you anything all that remarkable about either of them, except for the fact that Fallon likes horror movies and Chloe is a college student - and those are facts rather than personality traits. It definitely felt like the focus of the book was on the plot, and considering the fact that the girls are literally cooped up together in a truck for such a long time, I would have loved to see more of their interactions in quiet moments. Instead, it felt more like the book was focused on the destination rather than the journey (pun not intended), so the ending didn't leave me with any grand questions or thoughts.

Ultimately, I can see why people would be into this book, but it just wasn't the one for me; I tend to enjoy books that focus a little more on character than plot. If you're looking for a good summer road trip read, though, this might be a good candidate.

Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

Melt With You is my favorite Jennifer Dugan book yet, filled with so many great tropes and road trip adventures. It follows Fallon, who is forced to drive her mom's ice cream truck all over the country with her sort of ex, Chloe. These two have plenty of frustrating communication problems but they are often overshadowed by all the quirky places they stop. Fallon is a big fan of horror movies and a lot of their stops are related to that, which was super fun. I think this is a great addition to my favorite road trip novels.

Still, there were some glaring issues with this one. A trend in every Jennifer Dugan book I've read is main characters who are horrible at communication. This got really frustrating at points but I did appreciate Fallon's friends constantly calling her out for this. Also, the moms in this book were so weird. They're willing to risk their whole livelihood to fix their teen daughters' relationship?? What. So yeah, a lot of this conflict felt unnecessary but I liked the rest of the book so much I didn't super care.

I'm giving this four stars. It wasn't perfect but it is Jennifer Dugan's best. I can't wait for more from her. Definitely pick this up if you're looking for a light, summery read!

Thank you so much for giving me a early copy of this book. I was looking forward to this book. It was everything I expected, cute fun novel for ya. I wish the whole premise wasn’t just a misunderstanding but I’m glad it was realistic misunderstanding. It was a cute romantic story. I’m so excited to see more from this author.

Melt With You is a fun road trip rom-com! There were some very sweet and tender moments in this book. Fallon and Chloe are best friends, turned something more for a night, then turned into not-quite either of those due to a complete failure to communicate. As an adult, I found their inability to communicate frustrating, but, I remember how hard it could be to share genuine feelings as a teenager, and that is something that I think teen readers will relate to. One small but important aspect I really liked was how consent was worked into normal conversations between characters. I hope that gives teen readers a great example of how to normalize frequent check-ins with a partner.

Fallon and Chloe were the best of friends, but before Chloe left for college they hooked up and ended up with them not speaking any more. When Chloe comes home from school Fallon tries everything not to see, still being bitter, but some how they end up working at the same food truck… which happens to be owned by their mothers. When the ice cream truck decides to join the food truck festival, that’s across the country, it’s even harder to ignore the person you have to be stuck with.

First love, miscommunications, and raw emotions are explored it this story. A road-trip with an ex is never fun, but communication is key. I loved this being an easy readable queer book with food involved. I enjoyed the authors other book, Hot Dog Girl, and these stories are really perfect for a younger youth who is exploring and discovering themselves.

Fallon would love to never see her ex (and ex-best friend) Chloe again after a fateful night before Chloe went off to college. But when Fallon’s mom has to drop out of their festival road trip to get investors to keep the ice cream truck business afloat, Fallon is reluctantly forced to go on a long road trip with none other than Chloe herself, her mother’s business partner’s daughter. As the girls spend time together and old feelings (and resentment resurfaces) resurface and shenanigans ensue, it’s up to them to find their way back to each other before their last chance to reunite melts away.

As a heads-up: this book wasn’t really for me. Much of Melt with You relies on miscommunication which is one of my absolute pet peeves in novels so please take the comments about that with a grain of salt. But let’s talk about the great things first.

The setting of Melt with You is impeccable. I’m not talking about the ice cream truck per se, but just the descriptions of delicious treats as well as the road trip totally had me enjoying my time reading Melt with You. I mean, two girls, forced proximity and a road trip to help save their parents’ business, who wouldn’t want to read that?

I also really enjoyed Fallon’s friends. They were such fleshed-out characters and I wish we had gotten to see them even more! And while Fallon’s breaking of the fourth wall was unexpected, I think it drew in the reader especially when things were confusing in the beginning as we try to piece together what really happened with Chloe and Fallon all those months ago.

Also, can we talk about Fallon and Chloe’s mom conceptualising and running an ice cream truck business together? I loved the little glimpses we got into this rather unusual (for YA) profession and thought it was so cool to see people in nonconventional jobs be successful—and roping in their children because we’ve all been there.

Now, for the relationship between Fallon and Chloe. Again, this is one of my pet peeves in fiction so you might really enjoy the back and forth between Fallon and Chloe but I was just aggravated at times. Without spoiling too much, after a steamy night together, Fallon and Chloe have a fall out and now that they have to work together, they basically dance around the issue for said falling out—there are wires crossed, things misunderstood and Fallon is determined not to talk about it. What starts as pretty understandable turns frustrating soon as the two of them never really talk things out—there are snide remarks, side-eyes etc. but while Fallon pretends she doesn’t want to know the reasons for Chloe disappearing without a word, Chloe is confused why Fallon is angry at her in the first place. It’s a lot of trouble that could be solved with one conversation but that never really happens. Even once they find their way back to each other, it’s less of a reconciliation and more of a “sweep the past under the rug and that’s that” which just didn’t fly for me.

All that being said, I did enjoy the dramatics surrounding it all. Dugan definitely knows how to write flawed characters that are conflicted and scared of being hurt again. I felt for Fallon because she just wants to protect herself from more heartbreak but I could also relate to Chloe who comes back to a mess she didn’t expect and has to deal with the consequences. There’s also absolute trope galore as we get friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity and the beloved “there’s only one bed” trope! So if you can look past the at times maddening miscommunication and take this story for what it is—a romcom involving a road trip, two girls and a great premise—then this might end up being your favourite read this summer!

With a healthy dollop of beloved tropes such a second chance romance and forced proximity, Melt with You is a summery queer romcom about two girls on a road trip in an ice cream truck. Fans of Ciara Smyth and Dahlia Adler will lap this up like ice cream on a hot summer day!

Miscommunication, cheesy fourth wall breaks, and second chance romance are just REALLY not my thing.

DNF at 20% - arc received for an honest review

Fallon is an extremely obnoxious narrator who acts as though she is extremely self aware but is completely incapable of communicating with anyone. Both just the love interest. She won’t even talk to her mom or her two friends about anything deep. She is wildly unreliable as a narrator and I was angry at her from page one.

The whole idea of the book clearly centers around miscommunication, which is the worst of the romance tropes IMO. And Chloe, the love interest, is already giving toxic manic pixie vibes.

I’ve only read one of their Jennifer Dugan book, Some Girls Do, which wasn’t a favorite but it was enjoyable. I was expecting the same from Melt With You but it just isn’t delivering. The writing style is not up to par with what I’ve seen Dugan write. I’m always interested in queer romance so I’m still hopeful for what she’ll write in the future.

There were a lot of cute and fun things about this book. Like the set up for the situation they were in was great however I found the main characters too frustrating and I'm not a fan of the "bad at communicating" trope. Also, so many books this year have featured a main character that is obsessed with film or wanting to work in film and I'm really getting exhausted by it.

Jennifer Dugan's Melt With You follows Fallon a year after everything went wrong with Chloe, her best friend and maybe almost something more. Fallon has managed to avoid Chloe for a year since Chloe left for college, but she's back for the summer to help out with the ice cream truck that Chloe's and Fallon's moms run together. When they end up on a road trip together, without their moms, to a festival with the ice cream truck, Fallon has to find a way to smooth things over so that they don't accidentally ruin their moms' business. But, maybe Fallon isn't ready to get over what happened last summer, and maybe Chloe is hurting too. This sapphic YA romcom is fun and adventurous, and the characters' inability to communicate is just a little maddening. This is a YA that queer adults wish they had had growing up and that teens need now. The only nitpicky thing was that the narration style was a little bit difficult to engage with at first--it wasn't set up like a diary, but it almost felt like Fallon was writing in a diary or was talking to the reader as a close friend.

This book was fun and had me hungry the entire time. I think I'll reward myself with some ice cream after finishing. I love Jennifer Dugan's writing style and her storytelling really shone in this book. Both Fall and Chloe are great characters, if a little stereotypical (super type A meets go with the flow, kind of messy), but I enjoyed their banter, even when they weren't best of friends. I appreciated the emotional mess Fallon is going through and how her thoughts are always racing as she tries to deal with her broken heart. Love love the forced proximity plotline and of course the ice cream truck - road trip setting. The ending had me squealing and smiling and all in all I really enjoy this book.

I'm a sucker for a good road trip story, and a road trip story in an ice cream truck? Well it cant get much sweeter than that!

Melt With You is a sweet sapphic romcom about Fallon and Chloe, who are ex-best friends. After hooking up the night before Chloe leaves for college, they don’t talk for a year. However, their moms are best friends and co-owners of an ice cream truck. When Fallon and Chloe are forced to go on a road trip to a huge charity event with the truck, they’re forced to talk to each other and rekindle their friendship (and maybe something more…).

I thought this was a pretty cute romance. While miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes, I ended up enjoying the book regardless. Especially because I know how scary it is to fall for one of your best friends and not know how they feel.

Chloe and Fallon are both likeable characters (in various degrees), even though I did want to scream at them to just talk to each other half the time. I also loved the creativity of the ice cream truck and the ice cream names (i was also anxiously waiting to see if they would forget to run the generator and have the ice cream melt). I will say that Fallon is one of the most stubborn characters I have ever met.

A (very) small pet peeve is that this book breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader multiple times, which I know some people might like. In my opinion, it kind of takes me out of it when it says something like “You might be wondering how…”. It fortunately doesn’t happen super often so I could ignore that and still enjoy the book.

Overall, I think this was a fun and easy read that a lot of people may enjoy!

LGBT Rep: bi or pan main character, bi/pan love interest, wlw relationship, side wlw relationship

I really wanted to love MELT WITH YOU by Jennifer Dugan, but it never clicked for me. Part of the issue for me was the beginning. As Fallon reacted to Chloe being back from college--and becoming her co-worker again--I could hear my students saying "Just have a conversation already!" In other words, this seemed like a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up quickly, but was drawn out so long it lost its sense of conflict and drama.

One aspect of the book I really enjoyed, though, was that Fallon was not a lone queer character in a sea of straight characters. The economic situation for Fallon, her mother, and the ice cream truck was also very believable.

In Melt With You, Fallon would love to spend the rest of her life never seeing her ex (best friend) Chloe again after one fateful, steamy night. But alas, they end up having to go on a week-long road trip with each other to save their mothers' ice cream truck business. Miscommunication, drama, and oh-god-there's-only-one-bed shenanigans ensue.

The premise of this book is absolutely adorable, and I found myself craving ice cream for pretty much my entire read-through. The chemistry between the girls is good enough, and I love love love that both of them are bisexual. The mc, Fallon, is bi with a preference for girls (which I LOVED), and her love interest Chloe is bi with no preference, at least none stated to the reader. The relationship between Fallon and her best friends, Jami and Prisha, is also so adorable and the absolute definition of healthy friendship.

I've never wanted ice cream so badly in my life. So be warned, you'll want to read this one with a spoon. We follow Chloe and Fallon, a pair of best friends to lovers to enemies to lovers (yes, it's a mouthful), as they navigate a road trip and their tumultuous relationship. While at times it read a bit immature, there was nuance to the conflict that initially tore their friendship apart. But I fell in love with the atmosphere - from the animatronic dinosaurs to the forest of mutilated teddies. It's the perfect summer road trip read!

*Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review*

A lot of breaking the fourth wall narrative that I found way too cheesy. The non communication, different expectations of the MCs lead to a lot of assumptions which lead to the entire mess. I could not fully connect to either character but especially the love interest. Everything just felt surface level.

Super cute sapphic rom com road trip that will be making you crave ice cream! Ex best friends Fallon and Chloe have to go in a road trip in their mothers fancy ice cream truck to a good truck festival. Craziness ensues and romance tropes galore make it a fun and easy read.

Melt With You is my second novel by Jennifer Dugan (the first being the graphic novel Coven). I really wanted to love this story because I love YA romances and this premise sounded so fun. Unfortunately, it was incredibly hard to get through. I found the main character's perspective, Fallon, to be really hard to read from. Something about her character felt really off. I understand she was dealing with heartbreak, I've been there, but her unwillingness to express that at all to Chloe was very frustrating. The miscommunication, or lack entire lack of communication, between Chloe and Fallon, made the first 60% of this book unenjoyable. However, I enjoyed the road trip aspect and felt like the adventures they had were a nice touch to the story. All-in-all, it was not my favorite sadly.

This is my first time reading Jennifer Dugan and I am pleased to have a new author to my list of loves!

Melt With You is everything you want in a second chance romance, it's sapphic, it's sweet and there's ice cream!! What more do you need!

I am usually not a YA reader so went into this book a bit skeptical but was completely immersed in Fallon and Chloe's story from the jump. Loved it!

This is an absolutely delightful sapphic YA contemporary with summer vibes all over it. Really like the characters and the story, though pretty mad at the moms for <REDACTED>. Parental manipulation is the worst! Thank you, Penguin Teen, for the widget. I will definitely recommend this to folks looking for a fast-paced hate to love contemporary.