This was a very fast paced read for me once I got sat down and into it, the writing is so easy to follow along and was a fun read. I love a good brothers best friend romance, no matter how many times it is done, I'll never get over it and devour them all!! and throw in FAKE DATING TOO!!!! YES PLEASE! this was a lot of fun to read and had quite a few cute moments between the two.

I specifically remember loving the winter vibes in Off the Beaten Path! And here's another super tender addition to the series that perfectly captures all the summer feels with lake swims, funnel cakes, and carnival rides!

At its heart, this story is about learning to feel enough. I loved seeing Finley and Grey find that sense of comfort in each other. With Grey being her brother’s best friend, there’s already an established connection between them, making their banter extra fun and layered with history. Finley doesn’t hold back the sass, and Grey has that effortless charm and easy flirtation that gets me every single time!

It’s a relatively low-drama romance with lots of sizzling tension, and I really love how natural the tropes felt. And can we just take a moment to appreciate a romance where the brother isn’t annoyingly overprotective? The real conflict comes from Finley and Grey needing to be honest with their feelings, pushing past their own hesitations. It was so soft and heartfelt.

This was a quick and cute read and I enjoyed it! I really liked Off the Beaten Path when I read it so was super excited for this one!

Omg this book!!!!! I loved it so much! This is such a swoon-worthy book from start to finish. I knew I was gonna love it since I loved off the beaten path last year and it did not disappoint💗💗

cheesy. lighthearted. fast paced. low angst.

if this sounds up your alley, the i highly recommend picking up this book from miss wright! after enjoying the first book in this series, i was ecstatic to receive the sequel and these characters are honestly too cute. while it wasn’t anything mind blowing, it passed the time and i had fun reading it!!!

4 stars!

swoony, sweet & charming!

Grey & Finley's story was so cute & had some of my favorite tropes:
- brother's best friend
- fake dating
- he falls first
- secret tattoo
- small town

I love this series & I can't wait to see what comes next for Fontana Ridge!

Thanks so much to Madison Wright & NetGalley for the ARC!

“I think you’re worth staying for.”

This book was pure sunshine and happiness, it had me smiling the whole way through! Finley and Grey’s love story is one of my absolute favorites. Grey has loved Finley for years, and seeing him finally get the chance to show her that love was everything 🥹🤍

Finley is so relatable, and seeing her get the love she’s always deserved made my heart so happy. Their connection is full of joy, humor, and warmth, and it’s easily become one of my all-time favorites 😍

It’s not just about romance though, it’s about finding your people and realizing you deserve all the love in the world 🤍

I had the pleasure of meeting Madison Wright at a book signing and I was so excited I had the opportunity to read Only in Your Dreams in advance!

This was a quick sweet read. I wasn't expecting the layers of depth and serious topics that this book discusses (it was certainly moving to read). I also loved the chemistry between both main characters. I loved Grey - he is such a swoony male MMC and he had it bad for Finley.

If you love books that are: brother's best friend, he falls first, fake dating, found family, frenemies to lovers, small town, and firefighter x florist.


I look forward to more from Madison Wright!

This was such a amazing read. Starting from the characters, plotline and scenarios, everything was on top notch and the pace was well maintained throughout the whole book. The characters were penned down brilliantly, not only the protagonists shine throughout the story but also the side characters too. The spotlight was given to each and every character to shine and contribute to the book.
I had a great time reading this one.

I've been a fan of Madison even since the original cover and release of 'Just go with it' and it has been amazing to read book after book and see Madison grow as a writer. I enjoyed every one of them and this fifth publication might be tied with 'Just go with it' as my favourite.

I adore the fake dating trope, and it was executed so incredibly well in 'Only in your dreams'. The chemistry was amazing and the longing tangible. I love it when he falls first and when she secretly had a crush on him as a teen. I love it when people seem to be made for each other and find their way to each other in the end. To see them figure it out. They might need a ruse, a sense of safety to figure it all out. But they figure it out and learn to become vulnerable with each other.

Madison did an amazing job at writing a man who supports his lady with everything she wants to do. And one who actually voices his thoughts and compliments. But the compliments are not to get in her pants, they are genuine and supportive of her and her dreams and choices. It gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings. Madison Wright is one of my go to authors for cosy books to pick me up after a hard day.week/month/etc.

In the author's note she toned real vulnerability. And I loved the symbolism in this story. It really was a safe, happy place and hug. A safe haven in a chaotic time.

If you love small town romance, brother's-best-friend, a florist with a big dream to open a bookstore, fake dating and a loving friend/family group, this is the book for you!

Content Warning: pregnancy (important side character)

Older brother's best friend, forbidden romance isn't my favorite trope ever but Finn and Grey did grow on me. I felt like the majority of their issues could have been resolved just by talking (sooo frustrating) but on the whole, this was still a sweet, small town, dual POV, fake dating turned real, small town romance. I especially enjoyed cameos from Finlay's brother and fiancé and the florist slash aspiring used bookstore owner FMC! Good on audio and recommended for fans of authors like Sarah Adams, Julianna Smith or Kelsey Schulz. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Read this book if you like:

- brothers best friend
- Childhood crushes & secret pinning
- He falls first
- Secret tattoos
- Fake dating (that becomes very real)
- Found family & supportive community
- Surprise trips

For the hopeless romantic that lives DEEEEP inside of me. This book was for you. It was sweet, funny and sad. The perfect recipe for an amazing romance book.

Grey and Finley were so special and are the definition of loves dream. They are so in love with each other it hurts.

This book was definitly so cute!

I truly love this author's writting and how sweet she can turn the story in.

This book from the start was really good and I loved to share my time with both of them - totally worth it if you are a romance person!

This series is so sweet. It gives you all the warm cozy vibes. It leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

HANDS DOWN - my favorite book by Madison Wright! I absolutely loved everything about this!

I’m slowly being turned into a lover of brother’s best friend trope because when the brother is NOT crazy defensive of the situation and is for the relationship it’s so much more wholesome and enjoyable, and this one had allllll the things you need to be cheering on your MCs!

Madison writes in a way where you truly fall in love with and root so deeply for her characters. They’re relatable, enjoyable and bingable. I sat down with the book and didn’t get up for 3 hours and it was finished.

It’s giving - small down romance, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, fake dating AND she’s a small business bad a$$ owner. 👏🏼

ALSO - my absolute favorite part of the book…..
THE PROPOSAL! 👏🏼 that’s all i’m going to say because i don’t want to give anything away, but I literally texted every single person i know and swooned over how he proposed. My bookish loving heart was freaking out.

I also just want to touch on the vulnerability Madison showed in the acknowledgment section of this book. You’re such a strong woman and you’re not alone. 🖤

3.5 / 5 stars

This turned out to be a surprisingly quick read for me, and I didn’t expect to get through it so fast (especially since I have been pretty slow with novels recently!)

The writing itself was quite solid and I enjoyed the author's narrative voice quite a bit. It flowed smoothly, and I found it easy to follow along without any major confusions or plot contrivances which in all made the overall experience pretty enjoyable.

The characters were interesting enough to hold my attention, but I didn’t find myself fully invested in them. I think for me, dialogue is THE most important thing to buy into a character relationship especially when it comes to romantic relationships, but they just didn’t draw me in completely, I may just being picky and this couple may work much better for other readers, but I just wasn't fully sold on their dynamic and so as a result I wasn’t able to care about them as much as I’d hoped to.

As for the fake dating trope, it's nothing new and I’ve read plenty of stories with this plot before, but (although I admittedly did have higher expectations that there might be a unique twist on it to make it the author's own), this one didn’t quite deliver. I found it did drag a little and, especially in the second half I did find myself putting the book down more due to it feeling a bit anticlimactic. I think it just wasn't holding my engagement to be honest.

The romance did have some appeal, and I liked some of the moments between the characters, but overall, the romantic development felt a bit stale (I think because I never really felt their connection in the first place so it didn't feel earned). There wasn’t much of the tension or emotional pull that I usually expect with this trope and I NEED the tension, otherwise it can end up feeling a bit 'easy' or too insta-love-y. It was honestly just a bit hard for me to stay invested in it for the entire book because of this.

All in all, it was a decent read with a few good moments and I think the average reader would eat this up quickly and rate it decently, but it could have been more engaging and exciting and it fell a little flat for me personally. Still a good book, and I would love to see more from the author, I just think the character dynamics need work.

This was quite a quick read for me. I wasn't really expecting to read this fast at all.

Writing wise, it was quite good, in my opinion. I did like it and thought it was pretty easy to read. I didn't have problems getting through the writing and following the flow of the story

The fake dating plot wasn't something new to me tbh. I've read tons and have faves with this trope. As for this one, I was really expecting more from it to give this exciting execution. However, I find the last half pretty anticlimactic and dull.

The characters were decent, and at least they were interesting enough for me, but it really failed to immersed and make me care towards them in full.

Although the romance was pretty cute in some parts, I also did like some of their moments, I think the romance wasn't that developed for me? It was pretty stagnant for me, and I didn't have these intense moments. It really did lack the exciting and pinning and attracting element of the fake dating trope. I wasn't really that invested enough for like half of if.

Overall, I think this was at least a decent read for me me? There's some good moments and some moments that's just 'meh' for me. I think I would have liked it if it was more engaging and exciting.

Thank you, author Madison Wright, for the e-arc via Netgalley.

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Date Published: September 27, 2024
Date Read: October 18- October 19, 2024
Ratings: 3⭐️

Out On: September 27, 2024

If Madison Wright writes it, you know I'm going to read it, buy it, and rave about it!

Another super sweet romance book from an author who has progressively been climbing the ranks as one of my favorites! Everything about this book was wonderful (even the parts that were sad) and I loved reading it.

Finley was very well written and while I think holding onto a grudge about your brothers best friend calling you annoying is a little silly, I can see how as a teenage girl that could/would impact you in a heavy way if you had a crush on said brothers friend... In terms of a conflict that keeps our main characters apart for a bit, it was pretty harmless, which is what I needed honestly.

The alternating chapters in romance books are always my favorite because I adore that we get to have an inside look at what's going on in the brains of BOTH of our main characters and I love to snoop on their feelings haha!

Grey is honestly adorable and I think he stands to be added to the list of favorite book boyfriends as well here. So sweet, so underappreciated and so dreamy tbh!

Overall, you need to read this book because it's adorable, discusses hard topics well, and will make you smile as you read through it. So go check this one out when you get a chance!

Thank you so much to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this advanced copy on NetGalley! 🤍

This was my first Madison Wright book and it absolutely will not be my last!

Finley and Grey are so special to me, but especially Finley. I was able to connect with her on a pretty deep level and seeing her find her happily ever after gave me a little bit of hope for myself.

I love the world that Madison builds and can't wait to go back and read even more of her books!

3.75 / 5

such a cute, cozy, fun read. It was so easy to fall into and get lost following Grey and Finley along. I really enjoyed how their story came together. It was so sweet and cute.