Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Not me finding out this was published over a year ago when I went to Goodreads to rate it, lol.

Sooo this book is like my literal dream? Friday Night Lights is one of my favorite shows of all time simply for the fact that I am forever longing for a relationship like Eric & Tami Taylor. There were a lot of typical tropes in this book but I didn't mind it being a bit cookie cutter. I thought the MMC was very likeable and the FMC took a bit to win me over. I really enjoyed the sports element, especially with the team being a bit of a "bad news bears" assortment. Overall, the writing was good and the ending was sweet, so this was a solid three and a half stars for me, so I'm rounding up to four.

This was such a cute and swoony romance!

I’ll admit, I struggled a bit to connect with Mel and Zac in the first couple of chapters. For a second, I thought we were heading straight into an instalove situation (which I’m not a fan of), but false alarm! 😅

Mel really grew on me as the story went on. She went from being a little annoying to totally owning her life, and by the time the “who did this to you” trope hit, I was all in. Seriously, nothing tops that. The character development was so well done!

Overall, this was a quick, fun, and totally adorable read. 🍀🍀🍀♥️

I’m super excited to dive into Brooks’ story next—Only Between Us can’t come soon enough!

Second chance brother's best friend small town romance? That checks a lot of boxes and sounds really promising. Unfortunately, this was a mess all the way around, including right off the bat with the unrealistic forced proximity. It's like the author wanted to throw in every trope and see if they stick (don't forget fake relationship and found family). It was also more than 100 pages too long. I'll pass on the rest of this author's books. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

This was a cute and spicy small town sports romance. The plot was interesting and the characters were super likable. I’m always a sucker for a he-falls-first situation and he definitely fell first here. An entertaining enough read!

He is her brothers best friend and he broke her heart 10 years ago and now she has to camp with him in the woods by themselves. There are so many fun tropes in the book as well as 10 years of our MMC pining. If you like the classic one bed moment, this book does one better and gives you one tent! Zac is an excellent book boyfriend! I had a couple of issues with this book such as miscommunication that kept them apart for 10 years and sneaking around for most of this book instead of communicating and acting like adults but other than that I really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the sports element to this romance novel and how it worked in this story. I thought the characters felt like they were supposed to and worked with the story being told. I enjoyed the way the romance was written and worked with the overall story. Ellie K Wilde has a great style for the genre and am excited for more.

It was a cute Brother’s best friend, small town sports romance 💕
Not my favorite but a good palette cleanser in between books 🥰

I found the characters likeable but the plot absurd. It was fine enough to finish but not something I'd recommend.

“Maybe we weren’t meant to be back then. Maybe we were supposed to wait for these very raindrops in this very parking lot, to finally come together.”

What I liked:

Zac - Our guy is down bad: getting meaningful tattoos and building Chloe’s dream home type of down bad, and I loved every second of it.

Chloe - I really enjoyed Chloe. She came back to herself throughout the book, and I love how she learned to stand back up for herself and those she loves.

The second-chance - Zac was never overly pushy to Chloe, and I freaking loved that. Nothing will ruin a second chance for me more than an overly pushy partner, bulldozing their way to forgiveness.

What didn’t work for me:

I didn’t love some of the things with Chloe’s brother.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

10 years ago, Zac left Melody after she confessed she had feelings for him. 10 years later, she’s back in town after a bad break up. Zac was Melody’s brother’s best friend and didn’t want to lose the friendship. But he wants to try to win Melody back.

After years of pining for her, they’re reunited on a camping trip. When he makes his intentions clear, Melody is against it due to how much pain he caused. They began to hook up though. I felt it took Melody too long to forgive Zac. It was clear he was obsessed with her. I think if Melody would’ve been more receptive to Zac, I would’ve rated it higher.

I was graciously sent this book by Atria Books. And all I can say is thank you! This is the new cover for Only In Your Dreams. This book had me swooning over Zac. He is everything and more. The moment he saw Melody he was done for. And I honestly loved how Melody held that grudge. She had a right to be angry and hurt and I am glad she didn't just cave. The tension and love grew and it was beautiful to read. The writing was beautiful and I think the chemistry was built up perfectly. And this cover is gorgeous. The shoe lace is my favorite thing about it!

Mel is reeling from a breakup with a gaslighting, controlling man and heads home for comfort. Her twin brother sends her on a camping trip in his place with his best friend, Zac. The problem is that Mel and Zac don’t exactly get along after high school heartbreak, and there’s only one tent. When they return to town, they realize they can provide a lot of comfort to each other and maybe those feelings never left.

This was a fun read with lots of spice and loaded with romance tropes. Readers can expect to find brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, only one bed, and fake dating in this book. It’s a longer read for a rom com, coming in over four hundred pages, but flies by in a blink. It’s a sports romance because Zac coaches football, though the sports focus is pretty small. I anticipate follow up books with some of the other characters! My only (minor) critique is that the conflict between Zac and Mel’s brother seemed a bit overblown given how close they were and that the conflict lasted for a decade. However, the overall feel of the book isn’t impacted by this and is still an entertaining, feel-good read!

Thank you to Ellie K. Wilde and Atria books for arc and the chance to be an early reader and reviewer.

Loved this brother’s best friend second-chance! Felt there was appropriate groveling, so happy to see Melody regain her confidence after an abusive relationship, and always loveeee a hidden tattoo. This was such a sweet, fun story with great spice. Can’t wait for Brooks!

This book almost lost me in the first quarter of the book because I really was not into the “lost in the woods” plot line, but it reeled me back in once they got rescued. it almost feels like it was two separate books, and I don’t really think there was anything from the camping storyline that affected the second half of the book besides them seeing each other again and the excuse of them needing each other to be able to sleep.

The characters also took a while for me to actually relate to or like, but I saw the potential in them and the side characters if she ever wants to tell their stories.

I always love a good second chance romance, especially if it’s he falls first/he falls harder, but there was just something about the way his Zac‘s love for Melody was just so unwavering. That’s what really sold it for me, them getting to dive deeper into the love that was there for them 10 years ago and build upon that.

Overall, it turned out to be a solid romance and I’d want to see what else she comes up with for these characters.

“Only in your dreams” by Ellie K. Wilde is really great story. Mel and Zac were so sweet together. The couple is easy to love and had many funny moments. It had the perfect balance of character development and spice, keeping you on the edge of your seat! I’m definitely adding more books by this author to my reading list and can’t wait to dive into the rest of the Oakwood Bay series!

Definitely miscommunication so cute how he waited for her reminded me of the Notebook. Ellie K. Wilde your novel is amazing I very much enjoyed it definitely would love to read more novels from you in the future.

Rate: 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favorite Quote ✍🏻📝

“Why he built himself a beautiful home and left it almost completely blank on the inside, like it wasn’t his to finish.” “Mom,” Zac says softly. It sounds like he wants to warn her to stop speaking, but doesn’t have the heart to do it. I stare up at the house. It’s the first time I’m really looking at it from a distance. The stone façade, the wraparound porch. The porch swing facing the bay. The patch of daisies we’re sitting by.

He didn’t speak to me for a decade after. Men don’t go and build the dream home of a childhood friend they no longer speak to.

Mini Summary :
- Sports romance
- Small town romance
- Forced proximity
- Brothers best friend
- He fell first
- Secret relationship
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

First a thank you to NetGalley for an advanced e-book copy of Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K Wilde.

Only in Your Dreams follows Melody and Zac from an ill fated last encounter the night before Melody leaves for college until ten years later when they are thrown together again under crappy circumstances thanks to Melody’s boyfriend of six years dumping her to go on a guys trip (so he can be single) and her twin brother pushing her to take his place on an annual camping excursion. There she meets up with her long time friend Summer, the new guy Brooks and Zac who she hasn’t had contact with since the night he broke her heart. After a big storm, being abandoned in the woods, shenanigans with a chipmunk and only one air mattress, can Melody come to terms with the realization that her ‘perfect’ relationship may not have been all that perfect? And can Zac finally win the heart of the love he’s never truly let go of?

Overall impressions of this romance was positive. It was cute, humorous and touched on deeper emotional and relational issues that helped flesh out both the plot and characters which adds to the readers experience. The pacing, for the most part, was well done and the writing was engaging and interesting as well. Some of the biggest positives were the unexpected turn of tropes and the feeling that the reader couldn’t fully predict the outcome of the story, which is hard to do with romance especially since most novels follow a very cut and dry plot development line.

Some negatives, the conflict that carries throughout the entire plot and is the axis to all the angst and tension was not in any way believable. Somehow the reader is supposed to agree with the MC that one small incident that happened before college would somehow tear a rift into a very deeply connected, basically found family, friendship to the point where all involved lose contact for ten years. A person who is considered a brother suddenly is not present at all? She doesn’t even see him during huge family events, such as deaths of loved ones, holidays etc. That’s silly and very unbelievable.

The antagonist ex-boyfriend was also an issue. There is something to be said about the subject of manipulation and emotional abuse that was touched upon but it was so nuanced and underdeveloped that it made our MC seem extremely naive and immature in many aspects. She is supposed to be 28 with 6 years of a very close (if abusive) relationship under her belt. Yet, the very sparse interactions we see with her ex seem superficial and legit ridiculous without a real understanding of how they interacted, outside of the explanation that he controlled everything and she just followed along. I am all for depicting emotionally deep topics in romance because that builds depth of character and tension but you got to flesh it out a bit more.

Negatives aside, I loved Melody and Zac’s relationship. I enjoyed Zac’s assurance in his love for her from the get go and that he spent his time and efforts being the best for her. Super romantic and very fun to read despite my critiques of the overall conflict. Great read and very entertaining. I will definitely recommend this book to others.

Tropes you can find in Only in Your Dreams
*Brothers best friend
*Slow burn
*Spicy
*Only one bed
*best friends to enemies to lovers
*fake dating (but not what you think)
*sports (but he’s the coach)
*cinnamon roll MMC

4.5⭐️. This was absolutely everything. I just want to thank NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was filled with angst and tension in the best possible way. Wilde perfectly executed a second chance romance in the best possible way. This has absolutely everything you could want out of a romance. Forced proximity, brothers best friend, sports romance; golden retriever MMC and semi black cat FMC. I adored this and can’t wait for more from Wilde in the future.

Zac is so swoon worthy I can’t even. Melody recounting her relationship to her friends after the fact was pretty rough. I loved how Zac was sensitive to her healing journey but also showed her stability.

Zac and Mel are cute and all but Zac and Noah is amazing. I enjoyed their relationship and Noah in general. He was so funny.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was genuinely a fun read. I was pleasantly surprised that although the second chance romance isn’t my usual favorite trope, and it was pretty insta-lovey, the author did a good job keeping it entertaining throughout this book. I did have trouble understanding the 10-year gap (it felt like the reasoning was a little weak on Zac’s end), but it was a fun, small town sports romance to read!