Book Review – Melt For You (Slow Burn #2)

J.T. Geissinger has delivered us a totally relatable female lead in the form of Joellen Bixby in Melt For You. Joellen’s self-esteem, or more accurately, lack there-of, is so incredibly relatable. Even those of us whose confidence issues are less extreme have definitely experienced those moments of self-doubt, negative self-talk and unrealistic comparisons. Sometimes we get caught up in comparing ourselves to our peers on social media, our idols in mainstream media or even to characters in books or movies, but we forget that we are comparing our normal, and sometimes lowest, moments to other people’s highlight reels. J.T. gets more gritty and real than the #nofilter selfies your ex-bff from 12 years ago is always posting on Instagram.

Melt For You is a re-telling of the Ugly Duckling fairy tale . Joellen suffers from an extreme case of low self-esteem, which keeps her from going after what she wants or standing up for herself. When Cameron moves in next door, she finds him infuriating, but can’t help but admit he can help her with her problem. She agrees to keep him fed during his holiday, as long as he helps her to win the man of her dreams, the CEO of the company she works for.

Joellen doesn’t see that she’s hilarious, smart, caring and a great cook. She sees herself through a veil of low self-esteem and really molds herself into what she thinks she is instead of embracing who she really is.

Cameron is already a force to be reckoned with based on his easy going personality, sense of humor and his undeniable ability to make others feel like the most important person in the room. Add on his shockingly good looks, incredible athletic ability and that Scottish accent and women everywhere are in serious trouble. What really makes Cameron such a perfect specimen of man is that instead of pushing Joellen toward what he wants, he focuses on helping her get what she wants. He doesn’t make her feel better about herself by flirting, but by helping her help herself. The way he supports her and truly sees her is what really sets him apart from so many other male leads.

As always, J.T.’s dialogue is on point and her writing flows so elegantly, yet casually, that it’s easy to get sucked into the world she has created and forget reality exists at all. This book was refreshing and addicting. A year later it’s still frequently on my mind. Cam is literally book boyfriend goals. 

Melt For You is the second book in the Slow Burn series, which is a series of three standalone novels, including the first book, Burn For You and third book, Ache For You. Each book is loosely based on a well-known fairy tale story.