Ivy’s journey of healing from a public breakup while navigating her complicated relationship with Rynn did have its heartfelt moments, but the rivals-to-lovers dynamic was a tad too much at times. Ivy’s teenage angst felt much younger than her actual age, making it harder to fully connect with her character.

That being said, the summer camp nostalgia, friendships, and s’mores make I Love You S’more a light, easy summer read with plenty of cute moments! If you’re looking for a sapphic romance set against a classic camp backdrop, this could be a fun book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s | Delacorte Romance for the ARC! :)

I first want to thank Penguin Random House and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read I Love you S'more by Auriane Desombre. This review is solely my own opinion. I enjoyed reading this book, and it was a pretty quick read. The story focuses on Ivy, who was just dumped by her TV star girlfriend of four years. Ivy is crushed, and after the breakup, she realizes that she doesn't know who she is if she's not "Ally's girlfriend." Ivy decides to become a camp counselor at her old summer camp. Her first night there she comes gave to gave with her ex best friend Rynn. Ivy and Rynn haven't seen each other in over 6 years since Rynn told her she didn't want to be her friend anymore. The two girls fight to make it known that they are the top counselor and the best pick for the director of the camp play. At least, that's how Ivy feels. Ivy and Rynn's relationship mends and grows throughout the summer. Reminding them what they meant to each other. The book was good. The only negative was Ivy was very whiny at times. I gave the book 3.75 starts and definitely recommend it to all who want to read a cute campy sapphic romance.

i really wanted to love this book i promise but i just couldn't, essentially, the book was alright but nothing really pulled at my heartstrings or made me care about the characters too deeply. i didn't fall for the romance and i think the book could have done so much better if they focused less on the romance

Such an adorable YA romance!! Ivy and Rynn’s rivals-to-lovers story was so fun to read, and the camp setting would make this a perfect summer read!

My one complaint about this book is that it’s not nearly long enough. I wish there had been more time to focus on the build of Ivy and Rynn’s relationship, and less time spent on Ivy’s ex.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book was really cute! I love a good friends to enemies to lovers, and this met and exceeded all my expectations! I’m a sucker for books that explore how characters have both changed and stayed the same in the eyes of another character after time apart, and I’m also a sucker for the celebrity/normie relationship trope, even if that one was more of a past thing. I would definitely recommend this to friends!

This was a cute YA story but I don't feel like you can call it a just Romance because there were so many other things touched on. I felt like there were some inconsistencies with figuring out the main characters age because she just acted so immature all the time even for a ya book. A decent fast read but not my favorite in the YA queer genre but I do love when characters like these are available to a younger audience.

3.5 stars.

This story has a such a cute premise- on the wake of a painful breakup with a celebrity, Ivy Gaines goes back to her old summer camp to escape only to run into her former friend, Ryan. Ivy and Rynn's friendship did not end well and even with the passing of five years, the rivalry between the two threatens to take over. But you know what they say about a thin line between love and hate!

There was a lot going on here. A celebrity breakup (and dealing with not being able to avoid all the gossip related to said celebrity), a fractured friendship, family issues and then there were the tween campers! Overall it was a cute premise and a fairly easy read- but I think there was just too much going on. And a lot of the storylines felt like they were unnecessary and a lot of the "conflicts" were resolved pretty (too) quickly and easily. Regardless, it was still a fun read. Anyone who ever went to summer camp will enjoy some of the nostalgia.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. While I appreciate and recognize the need for queer lit for teens and middle grade readers, I can’t say I loved this one. First, I felt like the family dynamic was fluffed over and just hunted at now and then without enough back story to flesh it out. It needed built on or left out. Next, I really couldn’t tell how old Ivy was. I thought it said not 15 but then sounded like she drove to LA at one point? Her character was quite immature for someone who was supposed to be in such a serious relationship. Last, the enemies to lovers thing wasn’t working for me bc I didn’t really understand what the hate was founded in or how they could go from fighting to swoony so quickly. I can’t say I really liked these loved interests and wasn’t digging how quickly tides turned for them (& then went back and forth some more). I did like the summer camp setting, but I can say there’s not any camps inworkd at that would tolerate some of that snippy behavior with the counselors. The good things were that it was a queer love story that made it no big thing that it was two girls-thank you! The ex being famous was kind of fun and interesting while this girl is a counselor in a camp setting. Overall, this one wasn’t for me and seemed very immature, but young queer people may enjoy it, especially bc there’s so much to be said for representation. FYI several f-bombs that seemed completely unnecessary and forced but fairly clean otherwise with just talk of making out and great acceptance of lesbian and gay relationships, even with the campers knowing and discussing it.

I Love You S'more by Auriane Desombre is the perfect summer read—fun, flirty, and full of heart. This sapphic rivals-to-lovers story had me hooked from the start, and the setting at summer camp made it all the more charming. Ivy Raines is a relatable character, navigating life after a very public breakup and trying to escape to camp for a fresh start. When she finds herself clashing with Rynn, the camp’s experienced and bossy co-director, the sparks fly in the best way. The author really nails the "rival" aspect of this trope with tension and banter that kept me turning pages, and I loved how the chemistry between Ivy and Rynn built slowly but surely.

One of the standout features of this book is how real the characters feel. Ivy and Rynn act their age, and their reactions to situations are exactly what you'd expect from teens navigating heartbreak, rivalry, and first love. The post-breakup angst that Ivy experiences is so well done—it’s awkward, painful, and yet somehow hopeful all at once. However, the ending left me a bit frustrated. Ivy’s quick forgiveness of her ex, Ally, felt unearned, especially considering how badly Ally had treated her. I was hoping for a little more exploration of that dynamic, but the narrative rushed through it too quickly. The big play they were working towards all summer also felt like an afterthought, which was a bummer because it could’ve added some extra emotional weight. Despite those issues, the book is still a solid 4 stars for me. It’s cute, it’s fun, and if you're in the mood for a light, swoon-worthy read, you can't go wrong with I Love You S'more.

Also, can we talk about how spot-on the camp setting was? The whole summer camp vibe, with s’mores, campfires, and late-night chats, gave me all the nostalgic feels. So if you’re looking for a heartwarming, rivals-to-lovers, sapphic romance, this one’s a perfect pick!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Romance for the ARC! <3

I went into this book completely blind but it was super cute and fun! It's a very typical contemporary YA romance story, but sometimes that's exactly what you need out of a book. I felt like there was a unique spin on the rivals to lovers trope that I really enjoyed.

The author does a great job with making the unfortunately relatable post-breakup feeling come across so vividly through the story. I also feel like the author wrote the characters in a refreshingly intentional way - this is a young adult book with young adult characters and they ACT like their ages. It is really easy to try and make characters more "likable" my having them react maturely or in "better" ways but its just not realistic.

My only complaint is that I really didn't realize that this was a YA book when I first noticed it, I thought it was at least college age if not a little older. It's still a great book but I wouldn't want readers to pick up something (and rate it unfairly) due to not realizing what they were getting.

3.5
this book was okay? it’s not doing anything incredible but it could be fun if you’re looking for a summer romance. However, the romance was not very appealing to me. it would’ve helped if i had cared about the main character more but she was honestly annoying. i liked her throughout most of the book but then she decided to forgive her cheating ex and kind of blame herself for ever hating her like that’s a bad thing.
“let’s be friends” “i’m sorry for posting that” umm no? you can’t just portray ally as mean and a cheater and then just act like it’s okay and try and convince the reader that she’s actually not that bad without showing it. i understand forgiveness is important for a lot of people but the sudden “ally is friendly and wasn’t that awful” vibe was really annoying. she treated ivy poorly and undermined all of her worries and her dreams and then cheated on her? you can’t just “i should’ve handled it better” your way out of that.
the ending was also so rushed. i would have liked to see more of the big play that they had been preparing for the entire summer but instead it was only about a page or two.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you Random House Children's publishing as well as Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Summer camps and romance are such a perfect pairing, very much like s'mores! I loved getting to meet Ivy and the complex character she was even with her struggles with a very public romance which she doesn't seem to have any control over. This is definitely a book I would have my younger self read to help understand my own feelings. While this is a cheesy romantic summer teen read, the characters grow through a lot during the summer, I would have loved to see a little more towards the end of the summer? After all the ordeals it was just a little lack luster. Overall a cute and cozy summer read!

title: I Love You S'More

author: Auriane Desombre

publisher: Delacorte Romance

publication date: April 8, 2025

pages: 256

peppers: 1 (on this scale)

warnings: breaking up, cheating on a girlfriend

summary: Ivy is happy to be back working at her childhood summer camp after getting dumped by her long-distance, television-star girlfriend. Unfortunately, what should be her safe space becomes unpleasant when she finds out that her ex-friend Rynn, who friend-dumped Ivy five years earlier, also works at the camp. And what's even worse, the camp director makes them co-direct the summer musical.

tropes:

enemies-to-lovers
famous girlfriend
forced proximity
back to camp

what I liked: great LGBTQ representation without making same-sex couples seem like something that needs to be explained.

what I didn’t like: Ivy is quite brooding and lacking in self-awareness for almost all of the novel, and in the end, all of a sudden, she understands everything.

overall rating: 3 (of 5 stars)

I really don't know what it was, but I just couldn't get through this book. Maybe I'm just not into YA right now (or maybe just not this one), but I was disappointed because I always want to read more sapphic books!

This book brought me back to being a teenager (and in the best ways). The summer camp setting, the rivals to lovers, and the apparent pining made this book a win for me. The characters were lovable, the plot was enjoyable, and the pacing was perfect. This is a super sweet, young adult sapphic summer romance book, and I totally recommend it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

It was an easy enough read but the rivals to lovers trope isn’t really for me. I stuck with it just to find out why they were rivals in the first place. It wasn’t really worth the work to find out.

It could have been a cute second chance romance. But it wasn’t.

4.5!!!

this was such a sweet and swoony time. YA romance sometimes can feel a little cheesy and predictable but this one had me hanging on every chapter until I finished!

Everything about this, from the camp setting, the teenage angst, the incredibly hilarious side character, to the drama and character arcs, kept me so tuned in and gave me such a fun time.

Thank you to Random House Children’s and Netgalley for this arc!

I really enjoyed the plot of this book and the love story was very sweet. I gave it four stars instead of five because some parts fell short for me, but that might be on me. I found myself skimming through some of the first third or so of the books, because I wanted the characters to stop fighting, so I could finally see them be cute together. Once that happened, it was pretty short-lived before there was more drama. The parts where they got along were SO CUTE and I loved the story of the two main characters. I also really enjoyed the side characters.

I also loved getting to see Ivy recover from her first heartbreak. It was a very good representation of what it’s like to lose your first love - that constant struggle between wanting to let go, but being afraid to.

Overall, this was a very well written book and the sweet scenes with the main characters had me swooning. I just wish we got more of them!

I LOVE YOU S'MORE by Auriane Desombre is an absolutely adorable sapphic rivals-to-lovers YA romance and I had such a good time while reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for the advanced copy!