The first Meryl Wilsner book I read was Mistakes Were Made. I adored it. I then read their debut novel, Something to Talk About, and adored it as well. Then Cleat Cute came out and WOW it was great. My Best Friend’s Honeymoon, makes their books a four for four for this reader!

Wilsner is excellent at creating a world where queer people are allowed to exist, live, and love. This book, their first with a non-binary lead, continues this trend quite successfully. It was refreshing to read a queer romance with this kind of representation. I loved the characters and found their relationship endearing. Was the book perfect? No, but they never are. There were moments where I found myself unsure of the pacing or character reactions, but Wilsner makes the pay off worth it. I’d recommend to anyone looking for a rom com!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

My Best Friend's Honeymoon tells the story of what happens when you call off your surprise wedding and take off on your honeymoon with your best friend. Elsie has been engaged to her college boyfriend for a few years and he's decided to throw her a surprise wedding. When Elsie calls off the wedding she is offered the honeymoon by her ex-fiancee. She takes her best friend Ginny who has been in love with her forever.

This was a very spicy book (in my opinion) with a lot of LGBTQ representation. Elsie and Ginny's story was lovely and had a lot of real-life problems with real-life solutions.

This was adorable!! Both the nbmc and the fmc were super lovable, the concept was fun and lighthearted, and overall it was a standard but well done little rom com. It doesn’t drag itself down in any one thing too long, and the only time I found myself really questioning if the characters’ actions made sense around a conflict, the story eventually acknowledges that they were being unreasonable. A friends to lovers trope mixed with “for one week, you have to do anything I say,” which was a cute dynamic.

This book started off strong, it was a bit slow, then the spice turned up. I like that the characters acknowledge they’re using their physical attraction to not acknowledge their deeper issues. I love a best-friends-to-lovers trope. This was very sweet and I loved seeing how much these two cared for each other since they were kids.

the ULTIMATE friends to lovers romance

Meryl Wilsner writes some of the best queer romances out there and My Best Friend's Honeymoon is no exception!! This book follows two best friends who go on a honeymoon together after one of them breaks their engagement. On the honeymoon, they begin hooking up but neither one wants to acknowledge that they've been in love for decades.

This book is fun, it's spicy, it's a fresh twist on the friends to lovers trope, and it really made me want to go on a tropical vacation.

By now, Meryl Wilsner has written enough books that I can envision them on a scale, with Mistakes Were Made and Something to Talk About on the low end (as a matter of personal preference—I don't like romance with large age gaps) and 2023's Cleat Cute on the high end. This book, for me, falls squarely in the middle. I liked the friendship between our two main characters, and the way it naturally made me buy into the romantic aspect that developed: the connection here feels more than just "omg this person is hot" because they've been best friends their whole lives, and are each other's most important person. I liked that, despite this friendship-turned-more being an incredibly close and long one, Wilsner pays homage to the importance of discovering ourselves as people outside of our relationships—romantic or otherwise. The Caribbean setting of the honeymoon was fun (I actually read this book while on my own dreamy Caribbean vacation in Jamaica!), if occasionally tossed on the back burner to make way for long scenes of straight smut. And I would be remiss to not mention that this is Wilsner's first book to feature a nonbinary main character—a character whose fat, gender nonconforming body is described as extremely desirable by their romantic opposite. I'll be the first to admit I'm not very widely read when it comes to romance novels, but reading that felt kind of revolutionary, and I have a feeling is going to be really important to people who claim those identities as well.

I really don't have a ton of quibbles about this book except that the falling action felt LOOOONG (there's still like a third of the book to go following the mandatory third act conflict, and while there was some good character development there, the pace felt draggy) and the smut absolutely did not do it for me. Some slightly cringey verbiage, some details that just really weren't my cup of tea—I'm not squeamish about smut, so this is definitely a your-milage-may-vary type of situation, but it was a large, relatively negative takeaway I got from the book, so I figured I'd mention it.

This review is unlikely to make me any friends in the sapphic fiction community but I only write honest reviews and this one won't be an exception.

Meryl Wilsner is one of the best loved authors in sapphic fiction and their books are incredibly popular. When I picked up Cleat Cute last year, I wanted to love it but it missed the mark for me. The same thing for Mistakes Were Made and Something To Talk About. After reading My Best Friend's Honeymoon, I might just have to admit that Wilsner's writing just isn't my cup of tea.

I nearly DNF'd this book barely a quarter of the way in. I stuck with it because I really wanted to find something I liked in it. And I did, but not enough for me to five-star the book.

Elsie was entirely unlikable. I found her backstory to fall short for my ability to empathize with her choices. The further I read, the more frustrated I became with her. I saw a lot of myself in Ginny and it wasn't all good. I was left feeling like their character was almost an afterthought & can't help feeling like they deserve so much better.

And yeah, it's shitty to plan a surprise wedding but it sounded like Derrick (the jilted fiance from the beginning of the book) was just a dopey golden retriever type. Not malicious. We end up with a premise that feels hollow and unbelievable. I get that it's fiction, but the realm of plausibility has to still be there, right?

When I decided to go ahead and keep reading, I decided to suspend my disbelief as it were and let the story carry me along. Once I did that, it was an (almost) enjoyable slow burn friends to lovers. The tropical vacation setting was the sort of fantasy escapism I was hoping for as an Alaskan in the doldrums of winter. And the spice is... Absolutely hot. Only praise there.

Wilsner is a good writer who wove together a fun beach read that is right up the alley for other readers who enjoyed their previous titles. It's just not my jam. And that's ok.

My Best Friend's Honeymoon is released April 29th.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the
E-ARC! So cute! Fun characters & loved the setting. The romance was so cute too. Will definitely read more from this author.

#MyBestFriendsWedding follows Elsie (she/her) on the cusp of her wedding day - to a man she realizes she doesn’t want to marry. Because the honeymoon is nonrefundable, the would-be groom encourages Elsie to go to the Caribbean anyway, and to bring her long-time best friend Ginny (they/she). Recognizing that Elsie is in her feels, Ginny makes a deal with Elsie to give her whatever she wants; Ginny just never expected Elsie’s desires to be them!

This is the second book by @merylwilsner that I’ve read, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first! It was a fast-paced read, and spins a new take on the classic #FriendsToLovers trope with a non-binary love interest. There were some fun references to queer culture that felt authentic and only added to the chemistry between Elsie and Ginny. I also fully applaud the author for incorporating both they and she pronouns for Ginny, and proving just how easy it is to read/understand/use non-binary pronouns in novels. Fans of queer romance will enjoy their endearing love story.

Spice warning: moderate

Reviewed as part of #ARC from #NetGalley. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review.


(Posted to Goodreads 3/1/25. Plan to post to Instagram on or around 3/28/25.)

I really enjoyed the premise of this book - two best friends going on a honeymoon because the wedding does not happen but the honeymoon is non-refundable. They realize that they actually have feelings for each other, and they fall in love. It was definitely entertaining, and I enjoy sex scenes, but this one had WAY too many of them for my taste. The sex just kept coming and coming and coming (pun intended). It really took away from the book a lot, in my opinion. If there had been half as many sex scenes, I would have rated this much higher. Overall it was a mostly enjoyable read, but there is a LOT of sex.

Ginny and Elsie, two best friends, go on a honeymoon together after Elsie calls off her engagement. On the trip Ginny encourages Elsie to speak up for what she wants. When over the course of the vacation that turns to the two of them hooking up… will there be a way to turn that into a real relationship once they’re back home? And is it worth risking their years of friendship?

In addition to the romance, both Ginny and Elsie had interesting personal journeys that they went on. I particularly enjoyed seeing Ginny work to realize what they wanted for their life in terms of a job and how Elsie could fit into that. I also liked seeing Elsie learning to stick up for herself more within her family. There were also some great flashbacks to earlier times in Ginny and Elsie’s friendship that helped to flesh out their backgrounds and friendship.

However, the book didn’t totally work for me. While I did think that Ginny and Elsie had great chemistry, I felt like the structure of how the romance developed made the book feel a little lopsided. I love a good steamy scene, but once the characters started sleeping together it was just back to back to back scenes that it started to feel a little repetitive. Then the conflict felt so out of the blue and completely blown out of proportion. Part of that is called out within the story, but it still didn’t make for the most satisfying reading experience.

This was a quick, steamy, queer read with plenty of aspects that I enjoyed, even if it didn’t become a new favorite.

Great vacation and summer reading! Spicy, sweet, with memorable and well crafted characters. I think this will be such a lovely addition to our colorful and carefully curated romance section! Can’t wait to hand sell.

As a fan of some of Wilsner's previous books I was so excited for this new queer friends-to-lovers release! I've enjoyed all their previous light-hearted sapphic romances and couldn't wait to get into the next one.

The tension was executed well, life-long BFFs Elsie and Ginny finally admitting their feelings and pursuing a romantic relationship, but was let down by the lack of character development and communication, particularly on Elsie's side, leaving the romance and conclusions less than satisfying.

This may be a hit for those who prefer spice over substance, but as a greedy romance reader who needs both, unfortunately it fell a little short of expectations for me!

Cheers to Netgalley for the ARC digital copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The concept had potential, but the execution didn’t work for me. The pacing felt sluggish, and the story dragged in too many places.

Ginny, the non-binary main character, has been in love with their best friend forever, but after being rejected, they continue to fixate on them. Meanwhile, Elsie, the female lead, lacks any real agency—she doesn’t stand up for herself, avoids important conversations, and hesitates over things that should be clear-cut. Her reasoning for not confessing her feelings felt weak, making the miscommunication trope even more frustrating.

On top of that, the flashbacks were poorly integrated, making the timeline feel disjointed. The POV shifts were unclear, adding to the confusion. The romance itself didn’t feel well-developed, as the book spent more time on sex scenes than on building emotional depth between the characters.

Overall, I was expecting to enjoy this book a lot more than I did. The slow pacing and lack of engaging storytelling made it difficult to stay invested.

I really wanted to like this book but I think I’m the end it just wasn’t for me. I instantly disliked one of the main characters and was annoyed by her throughout the rest of the book. The theory and plot behind the book was cute but something was just missing for me

Elsie (she/her) and Ginny (they/she) have been in love with each other for as long as they've known each other, yet they have each kept their feelings to themselves almost entirely. When Elsie finally realizes the lack of emotional intelligence and the "ho-humness" of her relationship with fiancé Derrick after he plans their wedding without telling her, she calls off the relationship. However, there's an all expenses paid, non-refundable honeymoon at a truly breathtaking resort and Derrick tells Elsie to take it and bring her best friend (Ginny). Ginny's focus on Elsie saying what she wants added to her recent break-up, lead her to finally admitting to herself the love and attraction she's felt for Ginny for as long as she can remember. Their love and emotional intimacy has always been there, so the book explores both their sexual awakening with one another (lots of it and very hot!) and the ways that having been attached at the hip since childhood kept them from fully exploring their wants and needs as adults. And, of course, there's an HEA.

Reasons to read this book:
- one of very few romances out there with a nonbinary MC
- social commentary about gender identity, but also lots of normalizing the ways that sexual orientation and gender identity don't fit into neat little boxes
- a fat MC who the author does a beautiful job describing the beauty of, not in spite of their size, but because of it
- a beautiful setting that will make you want to pack your bags and book a trip

Thank you so much to Meryl Wilsner, SMP, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yeah no, this is not for me. Sorry Meryl Wilsner, sorry Net Galley since you provided me with an ARC for this, but just no.

I got 10% in and I'm already rolling my eyes with these characters. Ginny is incredibly selfish and self important, and Elsie is a doormat. I understand that this is barely 10% and there's probably some character development along the way, but I don't see myself caring for their journey. I can already tell where this is headed with all the emotional longing and the wishing, but meh. SNOOZE!

Elsie is Ginny’s favorite person. Ginny is Elsie’s favorite person. The only reason that is known is because they each think and say it more times than you can count. But very little happens in the book to substantiate their relationship. There is little to indicate why they are so close other than the fact that they’ve been close since childhood and weathered a few bouts of conflict by completely avoiding it. Given the flashbacks we do get of their upbringings (primarily from Elsie's perspective), I would have liked a greater underpinning for their friendship (their early friendship/first meeting, more key memories together, etc). Additionally, their respective interiority seems unbalanced. We get far more context into Elsie’s life than Ginny’s. And given how open and communicative Ginny’s family does seem from the small snippets we get, their own avoidance is confusing. I would have loved to get to know a bit more about Ginny’s family, though I liked the friendships they began to build toward the end of the book. I really enjoyed Cleat Cute and Mistakes Were Made from Wilsner, but for me this story lacks the fleshed-out characters (in both the leads and any supporting characters) and depth to the central romance that made their past books so enjoyable.

I love the idea of asking for what you want but I just never really connected with the story. There were moments to hang on to but overall the story felt flat and I had trouble rooting for the main characters.

There is a story here worth telling and I do believe there is an audience for the book.

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for This Arc in exchange for my honest review.

As the parent to two LGBTQAI+ children, I wanted to read this book not only because I found the premise interesting ( a non-binary friend goes on their best friend's honeymoon after the wedding is spectacularly called off) but also because I wanted to understand life from their perspective better. I have always turned to books for more information, and this did not disappoint. While not a research book by any stretch of the imagination, My Best Friend's Honeymoon had real characters that were fully developed, well-plotted, and felt like friends by the end of the book. The author never shied away from anything and allowed for emotional exploration throughout, which was quite refreshing. I loved how it started out as one type of book (MF rom-com) and ended as another (F-NB rom-com) without missing a beat or a reader. It was just smooth and engaging, keeping my interest throughout. I really liked this book and will look for more Meryl Wilsner books to enjoy soon. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes well-thought-out, planned, engaging, character-centric novels. It will not disappoint on any level.