This book took me by surprise in the very best way! Such a fun and cute story, didn't want to put it down!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found it easy to pick up and read every day. I have read two of Meryl Wilsner’s other books: Cleat Cute and Something to Talk About. I enjoyed this book much more than Something to Talk About, but not as much as Cleat Cute.

There were a few things that I think could be improved with this book:

First, the use of Ginny’s pronouns. Initially, only “they/them” pronouns are used for Ginny, but every so often there is a “she” scattered in there - it’s infrequent enough that it seems like the author made a mistake. As the book goes on, this happens more and more, such that I wondered if this was intentional, given that Ginny’s pronouns are “they/she” - but it was still pretty infrequent and occasionally confusing in the context of both Elsie and Ginny, and I was left wondering if it was all in error.

Second, the boyfriend/fiancé was SUCH a dud, I finished the book yesterday and can’t even remember his name. I truly couldn’t understand how or why Elsie had ended up with him in the first place. The vibe right from the start felt like everyone rolled their eyes at him and tolerated him. I wonder whether, if he was more likable, Elsie would also be more likable.

Third, Elsie’s sudden request to fuck Ginny came out of nowhere - it was only later that the reader gets more information about how & why Elsie rejected Ginny in high school. This should come earlier, because with the information the reader has at that point, it all feels pretty unbelievable: Elsie was engaged to a boring man for years, and now suddenly wants to sleep with her best friend.

Fourth, the fight about Ginny’s job also came out of nowhere. I absolutely could not understanding Elsie’s reaction or why she was taking it so personally until it was clearly spelled out much later in the book in conversation with Danielle. Some of this context needs to be pulled in sooner.

I think that shifting things around could be very helpful for the flow of the book.

I enjoyed the parts towards the end about each of them finding their own thing: Elsie with her family’s shop and Ginny with their woodworking.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

Elsie Hoffman is preparing to marry her college boyfriend, while her childhood friend Ginny Holtz has been in love with her for years. When Elsie realizes the last thing she actually wants to do is get married, she calls off the wedding and makes a beeline for her honeymoon, best friend in tow. It doesn’t take long for things to start heating up in the Caribbean.

I loved the characters of Ginny and Elsie and friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes so I was really rooting for them from the start. While the spice was incredible (the reason for all three stars if we are being honest), I felt like I was lacking the connection between Elsie and Ginny and I wanted a little more of their story between the spice. I thought the backstory between the two was sweet and kept me interested in the story and the stakes between them. The big argument aka third act break up was a bit overdramatic for my liking and made me honestly dislike Elsie a bit. Nonetheless, it was a spicy little romance and loved the f/nb relationship.

I loved Meryl Wilsner’ precious books so much, but this one didn’t work quite as well for me. That could be because the main characters both just seemed SO young and angsty, and it could also be because the romance felt sudden and rushed (which is a me problem, I think - they both pined for years). But I think my main quibble is that I didn’t have a stake in it. I wasn’t really rooting for them, the hurdle they had to overcome felt kind of silly and forced, and the reconciliation was just… fine? I feel so bad writing this review because, again, she’s a favorite author and I even loved the soccer book, and I didn’t like sports romance much. That said, she’s still a great writer, the sense of place is great - I loved the honeymoon resort - and I did like the bumbling, sweet fiancé character quite a lot (I wish we’d had more of that relationship unraveling, honestly).

Sadly I think this book was a case of "it's me not you". I just didn't really vibe with it, and I really wanted to. I read Cleat Cute by Wilsner and really enjoyed it, and was so looking forward to reading a book of theirs with a NB main character. But, I just didn't see the chemistry between the MC's. I did just read a very similar book, so it could have been the timing, but the entire book I couldn't get into it. I wasn't looking forward to finishing it. I wish I liked it more.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for a copy of this ARC.

This book started out so strong. Fast paced with a great premise. But then we have the jump from platonic best friends to friends who have sex. And a lot of sex. All different kinds of sex. Sex. Sex. Sex.

And don’t get me wrong, I am a smut lover, but in a full length romance novel, I want there to be actual romance occurring in addition to the sex.

And gah. I truly don’t like feeling bad for a straight white man, but here we are. Derrick deserved so much better than to be strung along the way he was. And, without spoiling things, I hated the final scene he was in. He deserved more of an explanation and, in all honesty, he deserved an apology. But that’s just my opinion.

I love Meryl and will always read their books! This one was better than Cleat Cute but not as good as Mistakes Were Made in my opinion. Loved how fast-paced it was; I found it refreshing for a friends-to-lovers plot to leave out all the pining! Ginny is the star for sure. I want to be friends with them. Solid 4-star read that I hardly put down in 24 hours! Thanks for NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely adored this book! Friends to lovers with a side of pining and unrequited love is my jam!

The spice was spicing! I would happily live at that honeymoon resort!

Honestly so good!

Unfortunately, this just didn’t work for me, for many reasons.

I didn’t love the romance.
- the was no build up or tension, just a sudden shift and all of sudden they were having sex, and unfortunately it was mostly just sex for most of the story. I wanted to actually see on page yearning, realizing their feelings went deeper than friendship… it needed time to build a bit, time to feel a bit more real. But all we got was lotsa sex, with very little intimacy outside of that. It made it hard to care, or get invested because I felt like there were no emotional stakes for me.
- it didn’t feel like Elsie cared about Ginny, at least not in the same way as Ginny did for Elsie.
- the spice was meh? I’ve read the authors other book, and the spice was immaculate.. but these two didn’t have enough chemistry. And some of it just wasn’t my taste either, to be honest but that’s just personal preference.
- their “fight” was a bit hard to believe. I don’t think two people who have been best friends for that many years would be that upset over something like that.. even when their relationship is changing into more and they are trying to figure out what all that means. It felt like it was blown way out of proportion and their reactions didn’t feel realistic in their situation.

There’s more, but those are my biggest issues that ended up affecting my enjoyment of the story.

I also felt like the pacing was off. It started off way too quickly.. then dragged too much on the latter half.

On a positive note, I enjoyed reading a queer-centred story, and I loved that one of our MCs in non-binary! It was also great to see friendships that were so inclusive and diverse.

Sad I didn’t love this one.

3.5 stars rounded up. The structure didn't work for me. It almost felt like three books: 1. before 2. sex 3. after. I didn't feel like I knew who Elsie and Ginny were as people, and so I didn't feel a real build in tension between Elsie and Ginny. When they hooked up, there wasn't a big payoff for me.

However, I am rounding up because I love: that this book features a non-binary lead, that the ex-fiancee wasn't an evil or bad guy and was super supportive of Elsie's identity, and that Ginny wasn't lovable in spite of their body but because of it. Not only was it quietly acknowledged, but Elsie found it sexy that Ginny was both fat and strong.

There’s one flaw with this book, it ended. Friends to lovers is a trope I love but childhood friends to lovers is even better. This whole book is so tender and sweet and THEN smacked me in the face with all kinds of sexy things I often want in a book but never get. No. You don’t understand, there are sexy things we don’t usually get in a book…in this book! I enjoyed it so much and really was sad to see it end…especially right when it does. Meryl portrays the loving friendship between Ginny and Elsie that is so charming and trusting. Their inclusion of a main character that is not only non binary but plus sized is icing on the cake of this beautiful friendship romance.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon had a unique premise and was full of amazing representation.

Throughout the story, I enjoyed the representation and different perspectives Wilsner provided. Ginny is a lesbian enby who is STRONG! Both mentally and physically. Elsie’s character is Jewish and pansexual, and I enjoyed the inclusion of the chuppah when discussing weddings!

I thought the premise of the story was also very unique! It was a fun take on the traditional rom com plot.

However, I thought the pacing of this story was a bit off. It went extremely fast at some parts, and I thought the first sex scene was abrupt and didn’t make sense in context. Because of the weird pacing, I also felt like I couldn’t connect well to our main characters. I didn’t understand the main characters, and sometimes even found them annoying because of their lack of communication. Specifically, one character kept jumping to conclusions, which irritated me. The end of the story was extremely sudden, and I didn’t feel like it was a good end for the book. Within what felt like less than ten pages, the conflict was resolved and we got a happy ever after, which made me question whether the conflict was worth it in the first place.

I also did NOT appreciate how Derrick was treated in this book. Although he made some stupid decisions, he came off as one of the most kind people in this book and it was weird that they kept making fun of him behind his back (I understood occasionally but it was too often). I also didn’t like how Elsie kept comparing Ginny to Derrick internally; it felt like her romance with Ginny didn’t stand on its own.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite of Wilsner’s books—Cleat Cute still has that title by far.

Thank you to Net Galley for an early copy in exchange for a honest review!

4.5 ⭐️Friends to lovers always hits for me. These two have been pining for each other for a long time but learned to shove these feelings down.

A couple of days in paradise and it becomes harder to deny what they truly want. The spice hits hard and quickly but in the context that these two had these feelings for so long it worked for me.

Just as the third act break up made sense. I’m usually not a fan. But both Elsie and Ginny had growing up to do to be honest. It wouldn’t have made sense for them to just walk off happily into the sunset after the trip.

I do wish we got to see them happy together more at the end.

Thank You to the author Meryl Wilsner & NetGalley for the advanced reading copy, all my opinions are my own.

Meryl Wilsner's books always bring the heat, and this one delivered on that front, but the story itself didn't grab my attention like their previous books. Ginny and Elsie are best friends who find themselves going on Elsie's honeymoon after she calls off the wedding, that she knew nothing about.
The romance between the two best friends felt entirely too rushed. I would have liked to have had it move a little slower.
As always with Wilsner, there is laughter and moments of deep introspection and vulnerability. And I really love the nonbinary representation. It just wasn't enough to make this one a favorite. I will, however, eagerly await their next release.

An ARC was received from NetGalley for an honest review.

YES MORE DECENT SAPPHIC REP! The girls can build chemistry too!!

Loved this, after a broken engagement two friends go on the pre booked honeymoon. The way that the chemistry and the pre I’ve built here was just tantalizing, auto buy, please.

This book has such a strong start, and I loved the problem and plot presented. However, I think overall it just fell flat for me.

The romance between Ginny and Elsie was rushed (and dare I say nonexistent). The spice… amazing! 10/10, would read again. But overall, the believability was what was lacking for me. Rated it a 2.5 but will round up to 3.

I love this author and other works I’ve read by her, so I am extremely grateful for this ARC. I just wanted more from the story is all. Still, a large thanks to both the publisher and author!

<b>Ginny knew they were a lesbian before they knew they were nonbinary. It was before they met Elsie. They don’t have a specific ring-of-keys moment so much as there was never a time in their life they remember not being awed by women... <i>Their alarming devotion to Sally from Cars.</b></i>

Honestly, about time Sally from Cars got the proper recognition she deserves. This book was super cutesy and the line about Sally roped me in so hard, I cannot fully put it into words. I hope Meryl’s next book shouts out Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2 for being a the gay awakening icon she is. <i> I need a herooooo!</i>

Ok, icons aside, this was cute. Predictable, but cute. Going to try keeping things as spoiler-free as possible here… Because while I enjoyed this, I found both main characters so absolutely frustrating (specifically and especially during the climax of the book). Elsie became so dreadfully unlikeable, intentionally so. But I <i>did</i> have thoughts of DNFing the book. Glad to say that was not the case though!

Overall, very cutesy quick sapphic smutty read. While I had times of disliking the main characters, I was still thoroughly rooting for them both individually and as a couple. This is probs more of a 3.5-3.75 star read for me but rounding to 4!

<b>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review! </b>

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the arc!

I discovered Meryl's books last year when I read Cleat Cute. At the beginning of the year I read Something to Talk About and Mistakes Were Made and they quickly became an auto buy author. I was so excited to get approved of this one!

This had all the secret pining and friends to lovers vibes. It reminded me of On the Same Page by Haley Cass which was a favorite from last month. I loved seeing the POV's of both Ginny and Elsie and how they pined secretly, but in very different ways.

This was a super easy read. I finished it in less than 24 hours. The plot might've moved a little too fast for me. Especially the spice for the main characters being best friends for so long.

Overall, I'm excited to read more by this author!

Love the nb representation in this one, but truly struggled with the MCs. They're kind of annoying?
Sweet story that doesn't reinvent the wheel. Great spice if you're into that (I am)!!

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, but there was something about it that bugged me the whole time that I can’t quite put my finger on. I think it may be that I found Elsie a little annoying throughout. I did absolutely love Ginny and the storyline. It’s a cute best friends to lovers story with plenty of spice.