Melt for You (Slow Burn, #2)

by J. T. Geissinger

[EBookObsessed]

Cam and Joellen engage in a delightful battle of wit and the ultimate winner is the reader.

This is a perfect novel for any romance reader because every woman will empathize with Joellen Bixby, or more truthfully, everyone woman is Joellen Bixty. Like Joellen, we each see our own flaws like a glaring beacon (too fat, too scrawny, too busty, not curvy enough, too shy, too awkward, too intimidating) and those flaws are the reason we can’t ________ (find love, get that perfect job, lose weight, finish our education). Even the most “perfect” woman you know fights her own internal demons. And if we don’t notice them for ourselves, there is always someone there to point them out for you. In this story, Joellen has grown up with a Miss America runner-up sister, a former model mother and a fashion photographer father. No matter how pretty Joellen is, she is always the ugly duckling in the group, and she is reminded of it constantly, whether it is the off-hand “were you adopted?” comment or reminders from her own family of how she is a catastrophic failure.

Joellen has spent the last ten years pining for her perfect man, who unfortunately is her boss. Michael Maddox, the CEO of Maddox Publishing is Joellen’s Prince Charming, and even if he was not already married, she knows that someone like her would never have a chance with someone as special as Michael.

Enter bad-boy Scottish Rugby star Cameron McGregor who is taking some time off from the spotlight before the season begins and traded apartments with his cousin in New York. The only thing larger that Cameron’s muscles would be his ego. He turns heads whereever he goes and women follow him with only the crook of his finger.

Well, all women except one particular quick-witted, salty lass across the hall who has caught his attention. Cam delights in all barbs thrown by Joellen, except for the ones she throws at herself. It is Cam who forces Joellen to see herself for all her glorious traits rather than allowing her to wallow in what she sees as her failings.

And when Joellen announces that Michael’s marriage is doomed for divorce, it is Cameron who offers to show Joellen how to win her heart’s desire which he hopes she realizes isn’t a perfect Prince Charming, but a shaggy, rough Mountain man who can’t get enough of her. Just because he is always surrounded by people, doesn’t mean that Cameron isn’t as lonely as Joellen, and he is setting his heart on the smart-mouthed, kind-hearted beauty.

I couldn’t get enough of the Cam and Joellen moments, but (and I hope to express this to you effectively), while their chemistry was off the charts, their sexual passion took way too long to show up. Each moment between Cameron and Joellen sparkled and I smiled and laughed with each encounter. But this was written as a first person POV from Joellen and Joellen was romantically focused on Michael with only an occasional pique of interest in Cameron and the romantic interest we know is supposed to be coming from Cam is muted through Joellen’s eyes because she isn’t catching it. Part of that is her Michael-blockage and part of that is still her inferiority complex. We only get our first whiff of sexual attraction between the two when Cameron convinces Joellen that she should practice kissing with Cam so she doesn’t mess it up when she finally gets to kiss Michael, and it is not Michael who fills her thoughts while doing it. I just would have liked to see more internal conflict in Joellen as she got to know Cameron better and as we see her esteem growing for Cam while wiping a little more shine off of Michael as she got to know him better as well. Cameron’s interest was there from the begining and Joellen’s realization of her feelings turned so sharply it was almost jarring. These two develop an incredible bond but the hot and sexy doesn’t show up until very late which is the only disappointment.

This was a stunning and entertaining story of two lonely people finding a love they never expected. Melt for You has definitely made a place for itself on my re-read shelf.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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