I cannot believe this is Melanie Sweeney’s debut novel. I am so in love and wrapped up in this story!

Hazel needs to go back to her hometown to attend her estranged father’s wedding and Christmas, and Ash, being from there too and in need of a ride back, goes for the carride with her. The journey back, and the days leading up Christmas, prove to have lasting effects on Hazel and Ash, as well as their families.

Reasons to immediately read this book:
*The slow burn….but the really good slow burn where the anticipation is wonderful, not painful.
*The cinnamon roll male lead (sigh).
*The stuck zipper.
*All the family dynamics and storylines interwoven. Ash’s sisters made me LOL.
*Did I mention our male lead Ash? (double sigh)

I am absolutely preordering a copy of Take Me Home to have in my own library. I cannot recommend this enough!

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam books for this ARC; all opinions are my own.

I ended up really liking this book for the most part. However, I found the middle to be boring and hard to get through but then the last 30% was really good. I wish the author spent more time on the road trip in the first half instead of the family drama.

While I enjoyed this adorable romance for what it was, it was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. Hazel's character, in particular, seemed a little flat for me. For someone pursuing a PhD in Psychology, she was extremely out of touch with her own emotions! *SPOILER* The third-act break-up went on way too long. When I thought about it, they were "broken up" longer than they were together. It was good, just not outstanding.

Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the eArc! I am grateful, as always, to be given a chance to review books.

I love a good enemies to lovers book and this was definitely one of them.

Hazel and Ash has some unfinished business- from the hatred stemming from high school!

A need to come back to their hometown, Lockett Prairie, during the holidays forces them to work their problems out and fall in love?!!!

Once I started I couldn’t put it down! Melanie did a wonderful job with this one. I was hooked right away and that doesn’t always happen. This story follows Hazel and Ash, heading back home for Christmas and a wedding. They have never really been friends, Hazel dating Ash’s close friend back in high school. Now they see each other at the cafe where Ash works and Hazel studies. As they travel together a friendship starts. Being back home isn’t easy for Hazel and she opens up to Ash. They spend more and more time together but fighting their attraction to each other. I read this book in one afternoon. I will definitely need more from Melanie Sweeney. I didn’t want the story to end!

What a debut! This book gave me all the feels! I loved it! This book did something to me, I cannot explain it. The characters felt so real and I loved how the relationship grew throughout the book. I loved that there was more to the story than just romance, you really got to know Hazel and Ash in a deeper way through the family dynamics, as well. This book was so sweet with some spice! I love a good book where the male main character loves the female character unconditionally and from afar for so long. I love the moment he finally tells her how he has felt and this book didn't disappoint! The only con I had with this book, would be that the author didn't specify who's point of view the chapter was in, so sometime I would get confused and forget who's thoughts I was in.

I gave this debut a wonderful five star rating. These characters are so real, there romance, is so similar to my own, and it just made me feel so many things. Highly highly recommend this book, can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy when it releases!

Huge thank you to NetGalley and G.P.

This was a slow burn easy flowing book.
It’s the authors debut novel and I just loved it.
I loved the banter between Hazel & Ash. They were so cute together.
It had such heart. I liked how it really got into the family dynamics of both main characters lives. You couldn’t help but fall in love with them.
So fun and just what I needed, a break from all of my usual thrillers.
Oh and I want to visit the strangest diner in Texas lol sounds strange and fun!

4.5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Frenemies to Lovers
Rom-com
Slow burn
Debut novel
Witty banter
Funny
Heartwarming
A little spice

Thank you so much NetGalley and Melanie Sweeney for this ARC. It was such a fun read

there’s something about romcom books that delve into long drawn out frenemies-to-lovers and complex familial relationships. something about them just draws me in like a moth to a flame, except the only thing scorching is the chemistry between ash and hazel.

this honestly felt like a big hug—something comforting amidst all the ttpd sadness (although these two are the epitome of i can do it with a broken heart, lbr) i’ve been subject to as of late. i love the complexity of these characters; distant, avoidant & commitment-averse hazel vis-a-vis a golden retriever-but-i’m-actually-having-a-tough-time ash. i love how mature the dialogue was, and in some ways, they felt and spoke as if they were much older than they actually were. if you aren’t familiar yet, you know i have a long standing gripe with characters who don’t act like they’re age—here, we have characters much more in tune with how people normally converse and react to situations. there’s a bit of miscommunication here, which i know people dread, but as someone who related pretty deeply with hazel, i really enjoyed it! something about the miscommunication trope makes stories feel a lot more grounded—because nobody in real life communicates everything that goes through their heads!! i found it particularly apt in this setting, especially since both hazel and ash were guarded. getting to see them open up? a real treat.

3.5⭐️

Hazel y Asher son buenas personas, ambos están pasando por problemas familiares.

La vida le a enseñado a Hazel que no debe encariñarse con nadie y cada que se vuelve cercana a una persona, ella sale huyendo.
Lo del asunto de su padre me dolió el corazón por ella.

Asher esta decido a ayudar a su familia y darles todo lo que tiene incluso si eso significa que el a penas y tenga dinero para sobrevivir.

La escena de la cena sorpresa fue dolorosa y quería golpear al padre y a la prometida porque en su diminuto cerebro no se les ocurrió como dañaría a Hazel.

Odie al padre de Hazel, no fue un padre para ella, pero si es un buen padre para los hijos de su prometida. Sus excusas fueron tonterias, no fue el padre Hazel porque no quizo esforzarse y cuando vio que tenía la oportunidad de empezar de cero la aprovecho.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for and honest review.

This is so so so good. I can't even begin to tell you. Okay Hazel and Ash are from the same hometown. He used to be friends with her high school ex and they really haven't spoken since. The blurb is accurate in that when Hazel burns bridges she's done so when her and her ex were over she did not want to be friends with Ash throughout undergrad. Their status when the book starts is when they are both in different grad programs and like to use the same chair at a off the college campus beaten path. It's a situation of polite rivals for this chair and space at the shop where Ash also works. I knew based on how this set up was written that this was going to be a 5 star read to me and I was not wrong. Melanie's writing sucks you in and you are totally there and you absolutely care about these characters.

I loved that this book got started immediately. The roadtrip premise is in like the first 5% where Hazel begrudgingly agrees to drive Ash back to their hometown, a place she really goes but has to this year for her dad's wedding- to a woman who she hasn't met yet. Cue ~daddy issues~ Hazel is telling herself she is absolutely okay when you as the reader know the truth.

I loved the roadtrip shenanigans, how cutely awkward Hazel and Ash are dancing around each other a bit. Yes there's a snowed in only one bed moment. There are quirky inside jokes developing between them, it's all so CHARMING. But then it gets so real. So the roadtrip is really only like 30% of this book. There is so much else that goes on that I highly suggest just experiencing for yourself and let it all unfold.

This covers a lot about family dynamics while also still weaving in romance with the heightened emotions and activities around the holidays for their two families. Ash has a certain dynamic with his parents, one of which has a chronic illness, MS. They have their own reckoning to come to as well as Hazel with her perceived indifference from her father.

This is wonderfully open door. It is a bit of a slow burn but you don't really notice because 1 the payoff is absolutely worth it (about 2-3 scenes) and 2 it makes sense for their relationship and history and they will entertain you with banter while you wait.

Thank you so much to Penguin Putnam, GP Putnams and NetGalley for this eARC. Again, this book is SO good.

This book was such a great read! Ash and Hazel are one of my new favorite duos now! The banter was perfect, the struggles they each dealt with were relatable and realistic - nothing felt fake or forced. The tension between them had me flipping through pages so quickly just to see what would happen next. A great, feel good romance and one I would recommend highly. I am excited to see what else Melanie Sweeney comes out with next!

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book at this time. While I truly did enjoy it while reading it didn't hold my attention and I haven't felt drawn back to reading it. I loved the concept about this book. The idea that the MMC seemed to be harboring feeling for the FMC since high school. Also, I loved the enemies to lovers aspect. It really added dimension to the store. I do hope I can come back to this store in future and really enjoy it.

This book was all the good things about close proximity, hometown frienemies found elsewhere, returning home for the holidays tropes while talking about hiding family illness and family trauma. It seemed like a fluffy read but it dealt with some big issues in good ways.

#arc
#netgalley
#takemehome

I just read Take Me Home by Melanie Sweeney and I must say, I loved everything about this novel! The book is a unique blend of enemies to lovers and small-town romance, which is both heartwarming and hilarious. It's a fresh take on the genre and definitely deserves a full five stars.

The story revolves around Hazel and Ash, who are both grad students at the same university and grew up together in the same small town. Hazel had dated Ash's good friend in high school and they haven't had any meaningful contact since then. However, when they end up sharing a ride back home for Christmas break, they get reacquainted and are both surprised by the chemistry between them.

Take Me Home is an outstanding book that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves sweet and original romance novels. Melanie Sweeney has done a fantastic job with this novel and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

I haven’t even finished this book, but at 72% I need to document somewhere how thoroughly wrecked this book has me. I see Hazel and her barnacle-feeling ness in the mirror every day when I remember being 23 and feeling like this. The big big big of life and how suffocating and freeing it can feel, as well as how small it can feel when other people don’t witness your big big big. From the first page this booked invoked feelings that I’ve only ever felt reading Emily Henry or Julia Whelan, and I am so, so thrilled to add another author to this list. Ash Campbell is the mold for future book men everywhere, and Hazel girl, I’ll see you in the mirror. Thank you so much for the chance to read this eARC, it will be with me for…ever, probably.

Well this book certainly took me and my emotions on a ride. I was so sucked into Hazel and Ash’s lives that the world ceased to exist until the book was finished. Their relationship was enough to get my heart invested but the added familial pressures they both faced put my heart in a vice, especially poor Hazel. Enemies to loves, just one bed, and all kinds of romantic goodness with added emotional heft, just one book put Melanie Sweeney on my must read authors list.

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

I'm genuinely surprised that this is Melanie Sweeney's debut — this is one of the best contemporary romances I've read in recent memory, and while it does deal with some heavier subjects (for instance, Ash's father has been diagnosed with MS and is dealing with early symptoms), the rivals-to-lovers dynamic between Ash and Hazel is brimming with so much tension from the beginning that it's a wonder my Kindle didn't catch on fire. From the early road trip elements (including an only-one-bed + power outage scenario) to what happens when you're forced to go back to your hometown and navigate all your new, transforming feelings for someone you thought you couldn't stand, <i>Take Me Home</i> is full of hilarity and heartbreak in equal measure. You'll definitely be rooting for these two to make it work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This debut novel starts out as a road trip and then evolves into something much more. Hazel Elliot and Ash Campbell are from the same small town in Texas. They knew each other in high school when Hazel dated Ash’s best friend, Justin. Hazel felt badly mislead and used by Justin and wants nothing to do with him or his friend.

Hazel and Ash wind up at the same college, but have little interaction until Hazel is in grad school and she finds a refuge in an off-campus coffee shop where Ash works part-time. They start to get to know each other when Ash needs a ride home for the holidays and Hazel is reluctantly going home for the first time in years to attend her dad’s wedding.

Prickly is an understatement regarding Hazel. She gets along by saying everything is fine and accepting less than she deserves from her family and colleagues, and then shutting herself off from any emotional investment in relationships. Anytime she feels a relationship might go south, she withdraws and doesn't look back. Essentially, she feels that all relationships are temporary.

Ash, on the other hand, is a true caretaker. He is kind and supportive of both his family and Hazel, whom he has quietly had a crush on since high school. Ash shows up for Hazel multiple times on their road trip and once they are back in their home town.

While traveling and spending time back in their small town, Ash and Hazel navigate both their growing attraction, and a number of family issues, including Ash’s seriously ill father and Hazel’s dad’s history of emotional detachment.

#TakeMeHome is an enjoyable first novel that is often touching, and sometimes funny, detailing how Ash and Hazel deal with these challenges while trying to reach out and build a true relationship together.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Penguin Group of @PutnamBooks for the ARC.

An absolute delight. A slow burn romance that’s also surprisingly deep. Ash is a delicious cinnamon roll and Hazel is complex and delicious. I thought Taylor Swift had the monopoly on red scarves… not so 😏

I would like to thank Net Galley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. This is an interesting book, a rom com with some nice twists. Hazel and Ash knew each other in High School, and went to the same college.But Hazel has broken up with her High School boyfriend-Ash's best friend, and she wants nothing to do with Ash as well.Fast forward 4 years later, Hazel has to go back to her home town for the first time in years, and Ash needs a ride home for Christmas. It starts as the ride share from hell, and navigates the twists and turns of hate, friendship and romance. It is an interesting premise, and the characters are engaging and appealing. There are a few areas that bothered me. There are a lot of characters, family, friends and acquaintances of Hazel and Ash populate the landscape, to the point that when a character we met in an early chapter reappears, I was hard pressed to remember who they were. There is a lot of family angst on both sides, and it was a bit hard to navigate at times. All in all , however, it was a fun, well written book. book. This is Melanie Sweeney's first novel, and I look forward to her next one.