Rating: 1.75 stars

Firstly, I would like to thank Atria Books for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Only in Your Dreams follows childhood friends Melody and Zac as they reconnect when Melody moves back in with her twin brother in their hometown after she goes through a bad breakup with a long term boyfriend. There are residual feelings between Melody and Zac that rekindle after their decade of separation.

Normally, I am not one to pick up a second chance romance, but I was willing to try this out since it was sent to me. Unfortunately I was not impressed with this book at all. I found the plot to be boring and predictable. By the end of the story, nearly every conflict preventing Melody and Zac from getting together was completely self-inflicted and pointless. I wish there was more yearning between the two of them as they grapple with their high school love reentering into their lives; I think that would’ve made their eventual relationship feel much more meaningful. Melody and Zac through the entire book are obscenely horny 24/7 and constantly act on it from 25% in. I’m not adverse to smutty books whatsoever, but given their history I would’ve liked to see more of a slow burn. Also, the word choice during the intimate scenes are definitely not my favorites.

While at times I found their interactions to be cute, but this turned out to really not be a book for me. The combination of the writing style, word choice, lack of plot, and tropes were just not to my liking.

Only in Your Dreams was my first Ellie K Wilde book and OMG I lost it! I completely devoured this book. I fell in love with all the characters!! I’m not the biggest fan of second chance romances BUT this book is PURE PERFECTION!

Melody was dumped by her boyfriend of 6 years and has to return to her hometown to live with her twin brother. He basically forces her to take his spot camping with his group of friends, which includes his high school best friend, who was Melody’s crush back then. Now Melody has to face Zac after 10 years of avoiding him. Zac doesn’t know she is joining the camping trip and sleeping in his tent until she shows up. It’s been 10 years and he still has not been able to get over how he messed his chance with her. He’s been waiting at their hometown ever since and her being back is the perfect opportunity to apologize and show her what they could have.

Zac and Melody are meant for each other and their story is so beautifully written that it keeps the reader engaged and rooting for them to find each other one more time. The book was slow burn, but never felt slow paced and it had the perfect amount of spice.

Overall I completely enjoyed the trama, the bickering between the FMC and MMC, and the whole plot. It is a beautifully told story and I recommend it with all my heart. I was enchanted and couldn’t stop reading. This is honestly my favorite second chance romance book 💜

Tropes
* Forced Proximity
* Brother’s Best Friend
* Second Chance Romance
* Slow burn
* It’s always been you
* Found Family

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for allowing me to read the ARC of this book and provide my honest review.

A fun second chance romance and I always love a he fell first. This story was sweet, romantic with lots of spice.

it was fun but lost me in the latter half! fun romance but felt lack luster and dragged on towards the end.

DELICIOUS.

I went into this book having never read this author so I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. I’m not typically the nugget fan of second chance romance but MAN did this book change my opinion of the trope.

The pacing - perfect.
The banter - giggle inducing.

I read this book in one sitting. Highly recommend for the readers that love when MMC’s are down bad.

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde is a second-chance romance that brings all the feels, with tropes galore, including forced proximity, small-town charm, and a protective, swoon-worthy MMC. Melody and Zac’s love story is full of banter, emotional growth, and scorching chemistry. Zac, a solid yet slightly cold "human fridge," supports Melody through her personal journey, making their reconnection a sweet and heartfelt one. The wilderness camping setup offers plenty of forced proximity moments, and while their ten-year silence is hard to swallow, the romance and chemistry more than make up for it.

Despite a few pacing issues and a weak explanation for their separation, the book shines with its unique characters, side characters that demand their own stories, and a refreshing lack of a third-act breakup. If you’re a fan of small-town, angsty romances with a hint of spice, Only in Your Dreams delivers a satisfying, heartwarming read.

Thank you so much to Ellie K Wilde and Atria Books for the eARC of this book. It is the typical sports romance with a second chance trope. Im not the biggest fan of the second chance trope but this one was quite good. It was a slow burn and the level of spice was perfect.

This has been my favorite second chance romance I’ve read in quite some time! It’s the perfect mix of funny banter and sweet moments between the FMC & MMC. I am a sucker for the “It was always you.” Trope.

The conflict- of not talking to each other for 10 years with such a yearning for each other on both sides seemed a little weak to me.

A typical sports romance, but with a second chance troupe. This was a sweet, fun read. Not only does she find love, she finds herself as well.

This should be the blueprint for books about returning to your hometown and falling in love with your childhood crush, bonus points for brother’s best friend. This book was so charming and perfect! Theres a lot of added depth to this book with the side characters and melody dealing with getting over her ex / trauma from that relationship that I appreciated and made this story more than just a romance. My only complaint is not getting a cute woodsy cover out of this but I do think the cover is very cute as is.

- Forbidden romance
- brother’s best friend
- He falls first
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Childhood crush / one that got away
- College Football coach
- Slow burn
- Found family

This was such a great read. I really enjoyed the characters and the story. It was a good level of spice as well. I enjoyed this more than I expected. Great read

Melody has just been dumped by her boyfriend of 6 years, and is quickly realizing the relationship was not a healthy one. She moves back home with her twin brother Parker, which leaves her needing to face the boy who left her hanging 10 years ago. Zac was Parker’s best friend in high school, and he stuck around Oakwood Bay for college and life after. He realized he made a huge mistake walking away from Melody 10 years ago, but wasn’t able to figure out how to fix it, so he waited in their home town in hopes she would one day return and he could make it all up to her.

This is kind of a second chance romance, I mean they were clearly into each other in HS but nothing ever came from it because Zac was Melody’s BBF. The book felt a little long to me, there were definitely parts where the pacing slowed. I enjoyed that we could tell how gone Zac was for Melody almost immediately, so there wasn’t a long waiting period for him to start some groveling to win her trust again. Melody was frustrating at times, it felt like she was so oblivious to Zac’s obvious quiet declarations of love at times. I liked the side characters- specifically Brooks and Noah, but would have liked to see a little more out of Summer. I think it would have been good for Melody to spend some more time with a girlfriend after this rough breakup situation. The spice was good, and there was plenty of it! All in all I enjoyed the story and will probably keep an eye out for the next book in the Oakwood Bay series because I’m interested to know who the story will focus on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the opportunity to read an advance e-copy of this book and share my honest opinion.

A brother's best friend, found family, it's always been her (and for her it's always been him) slow burn second chance after 10 years

When melody returns to her hometown after a bad breakup, she quickly reconnects with her old friend group, including being set up on the group camping trip with her first (and let's be honest, only) love in one heck of a reconnect meet not cute.

When the two return from the trip after being unintentionally abandoned in the woods due to a storm, they can't keep their feelings at bay and it only heats up from there!

I loved watching Zac and Melody reconnect, address past hurt and meet each other in the space where they need each other the most. They had such sweet moments and times of growth and, plenty of spice. I'm really invested in the rest of the group finding love and really hope for an interconnected series with the rest of the found family/friend group.




Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my review!

The second chance at love trope gets an upgrade with the addition of a woman finding herself. This is a feminist romance with some excellent analysis of overcoming mental abuse. Only in Your Dreams has all the things a romance needs, with the uplifting message that a good relationship is one where you can be yourself. So good!

A classic sports romance!! Cute, funny, and a wonderful representation of some of romance's most fav tropes. Excited to have this one in store.

This second chance, brothers ex best friend romance was everything! The chemistry between Zac and Melody was so captivating. It was the perfect amount of spice to go with the plot. I really love a gold book with not only dula POVs, but dual timelines as well. This was done really well. And can we just talk about that lake scene. Ugh. I’m excited for the next book!

“I’ve never been single, I’ve been yours.”

“She’s that first ray of sunlight after a bad storm. Peeking through the clouds.”

This was ok and somewhat forgettable. I love a sports romance, especially hockey or football, but I felt the characters were underdeveloped and the plot was lacking. There were situations between the two main love interests that were funny, hello campground and forced proximity, but the romance just didn't continue to build correctly.

thank you to netgalley and atria books for the e-arc of this book!

this is a super sporty, second chance romance book about Zac and Melody! there's tons of great tropes in this book like brother's best friend, forced proximity, reverse grumpy sunshine, and more. i would even argue this is a she falls first but he falls harder scenario. Zac is such a sweet and loveable MMC as well. the spice has great emotional depth, it's equally sweet and hot. i also loved that there was no 3rd act breakup, sometimes i hate those in romance books.

what didn't quite work for me is the reason for the 10 year silence between them, i felt like it was a little weak, and i could kind of see it coming.

overall, you should definitely should check out this books when it comes out january 21st if this sounds up your alley. i can't wait to read more of this author's books!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for sharing this ARC!

I had super high hopes about Only in Your Dreams, but I found myself struggling to finish this book. It felt like the author was throwing every possible plot point at the wall and seeing what stuck.

This was such a cute novel!! Twin's best friend, forced proximity, forbidden love, this one had it all. The sports storyline was a cute touch that didn't overpower the message of second changes.