Reviewer: Holly Melt for You (Slow Burn, #2) by J.T. Geissinger
Series: Slow Burn #2
Also in this series: Burn for You (Slow Burn, #1), Ache for You (Slow Burn, #3), Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn #1)
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
Point-of-View: First Person
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 344
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Series Rating:
A wallflower gets seduction tips from a playboy athlete—until love changes the rules.
Socially awkward Joellen Bixby has a date every Saturday—with her cat, a pint of ice cream, and fantasies of the way-too-handsome Michael Maddox. She’d give anything to win over the unattainable CEO of her firm, but how can she when she blends in so well with her cubicle? The answer may be closer than she thinks.
Cameron McGregor is a cocky, tattooed Scottish rugby captain who just moved in next door. He’s not Jo’s type—at all—but the notorious playboy is offering to teach the wallflower everything he knows about inspiring desire. Though a lot of women have rumpled Cam’s kilt, Jo is special. Far from the ugly duckling she thinks she is, in Cam’s eyes she’s sharp, funny, and effortlessly sexy. Now, thanks to him, Jo is blooming with confidence and has the man of her dreams within reach.
Unfortunately for Cam, he’s just helped to push the woman of his dreams into the arms of another man—and now he’s in the fight of his life to keep this beauty from getting away.
Melt for You is the second book in the Slow Burn series. Aside from the “slow burning” romances, I’m not exactly sure how these books are connected. None of the characters from this book were featured in the first book, Burn for You.
Joellen Bixby is a quiet, rather passive woman who has had a crush on the CEO of her company for about 10 years – ever since she started working there. She pines away for him while at work, then spends her evenings at home with her cat. She doesn’t like confrontation, but when her next-door neighbor starts blaring rap and throwing wild parties, she can’t take it anymore. She marches over there and lays into him. Cameron McGregor is a Scottish rugby captain who traded apartments with his cousin for the holidays. He makes a bargain with her. If she cooks him dinner, he’ll turn his music off. She wants nothing to do with the arrogant ass, but she wants even less to do with his blaring music, so she agrees. When Cam finds out she’s been pining for her boss, and said boss just happens to be going through a divorce, he offers to help her win him over.
I really loved Cameron. He was so much fun, and such a champion for Joellen. She has very low self-esteem stemming from how she was raised. Her mother, father and sister are all stereotypical California models, while she’s (according to them, and herself) short, fat and ugly. Cam was great at pushing her to see herself in a different way. I really enjoyed the writing and the interactions between Cam and Joellen. She was sassy and strong when dealing with him. I loved when he riled her up on purpose.
What didn’t work for me was Joellen and her insecurities. I get it. She had a crap mom. She was put down most of her life. But the choices she made because of her low self-esteem really started to get on my nerves as the book wore on. Maybe if she’d come to her senses sooner I would have overlooked it. As it stands, while I loved the first half of the book and Cam, the second half really killed my overall enjoyment.
3 out of 5
Slow Burn
After loving the first book, I was hesitant on this one because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like Joellen. I didn’t, but Cameron made up for how much I didn’t like her. I was just the opposite of you though, it was the first half of the book that I didn’t like. After the 50% mark, it seemed like she was finally growing up, and then it became much more readable for me. It probably would have been a DNF if I hadn’t won a review copy from Goodreads and felt obligated to finish it. I’d take more Cam any day LOL.
It’s funny how we felt the same, but on opposite ends of the book. You’re right that Cam was wonderful. I think where I struggled with Joellen is I thought she’d get better in her feelings and actions, but she really didn’t. While she stood up for herself with Cam as the book went on, she seemed to almost backslide at the end. Still, he made it worth reading.