Wow!! This book is so cute and puts you in all the feels! This novel follows Zac and Melody’s love story. A sports rom-com, it’s about him trying to get the girl who got away while she attempts to run the opposite direction. Such a sweet book that you will pick up again and again.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

4 ⭐️ 3 🌶️ Zac and Melody. Second chance, brothers best friend, sports romcom. I really loved the premise of this book and how it started with the forced proximity camping trip. The tension was chefs kiss. Zac is swoon-worthy. The way he pines after melody is how every woman dreams to be treated. Big heart eyes. (Some of the 🔥 scenes, wow.) The conflict did feel slightly childish to me and I also feel the book is a little too long. But I was able to look past those because I enjoyed the ride!

Loved all the side characters with the exception of Connor (obviously). Connor is the actual worst ex-boyfriend. An actual villian. Wilde did a really really good job of writing a character the reader will automatically detest. Who nicknames their GF Melly. Why not just call her smelly?

Excited for the next book to release. Hoping Noah gets a book at some point.

The synopsis of Only in Your Dreams sounded so good and I was looking forward to a second chance romance. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the characters in Only in Your Dreams. I love a good second chance romance, but this book dealt with a lot of heavier topics that I felt sometimes made the romance take a back seat. I didn't feel the angst and longing that I wanted between Melody and Zac. And that third act breakup was so frustrating. I usually don't mind a third act breakup if the romance calls for it - but I didn't care for this one.

Overall I would rate Only in Your Dreams 2.5 stars.

Thank you NG & Atria Books for an e-arc!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Melody breaks up with her boyfriend of six years and moved back to her hometown to live with her brother. She meets her high school crush, Zac.
Zac is a football coach, and always loved Melody. He's sweet and caring. He does everything to win Melody back.

I enjoyed this story so much! I loved the banter and the chemistry between them. It was so cute! I loved the muddy scene in the woods🔥and the red shoelaces storyline. I also enjoyed the side characters. They're such good friends for Zac and Melody.
I can't wait for the next book!

I definitely recommend this!

I loved this story a lot. I enjoyed reading it and felt very invested in the characters. I especially enjoyed Ellie Wilde's way of writing common romance tropes in a new way. This spicy, football, small-town romance includes the tropes of second-chance, brother's best friend, fake dating, and one bed. These are all common tropes, but Wilde presents them uniquely, making them all feel fresh. I love reading the fake-dating trope, and Wilde's use is the most offbeat (in a good way!) and interesting way I've read it before. The banter and relationships between characters are great, and I enjoyed the humor intertwined. Likewise, the spice is incredible!

I found this to be okay. There are parts of this that I loved and others that I thought could have gone without. I wasn't a huge fan of Melody. But I liked Zac. I connected with him over her more easily. I think Melody just had experiences that were hard for me to relate to. Others would probably be able to relate to her well enough to enjoy her antics; however, she just wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't particularly enjoy that the back-and-forth was repetitive until the last seven chapters. The entire plot between them took a long time to move on, which caused me to become disinterested. I'm not a fan of slow-burn second chances, so I may not be the target reader for this particular story. However, I would still recommend this to my friends/followers because it has elements I know many would enjoy!

melody and zac u are everything to meeeee!!

this was so so cute, if a little shallow at points. but honestly i can't even complain about that bc it really just reads like a sweet, fun little romcom with a few emotional punches. also the ending is literally the 🥹 emoji.

writing was fast paced and really easy to read, there wasn't a lot of fluff but it also wasn't blunt and unreadable. overall if u want a cute romance then i'd 100% recommend this one!

thank you to atria books for reaching out & to netgalley for the arc! all opinions are my own <3

I loved this book and the way the characters were portrayed. It had moments that made me laugh and cry! I liked how the characters were almost flipped in the way they were as Melody being the “sourpuss” and Zac being the “romantic”. Gave it a different perspective that is sourpuss females needed! There wasn’t a thing I didn’t love about this book.

The pining, the will-they-won’t-they, the misunderstandings!!!!! I was hooked within minutes of starting this book and the story was absolutely lovely to read!!!

This books is full of all the tropes that will take you from giggling like an idiot one moment to sniffling away tears the next. Seriously, I just want my very own Zac to keep forever and ever.

I adored the back-and-forth bickering between Melody and Zac— and I was certainly thrown for a little twist with the whole ‘camping trip gone awry’ (I GASPED WHEN WE FIND OUT WHAT WHAT SHE WENT BACK FOR). Call Wilde a chef, because she is cooking up some *spice* in this book! It’s a sizzling, wonderful read that puts its readers through all the emotions. Please, melody, how are you gonna leave Zac hanging for so long after the mud without an answer (iykyk).

It was such a breath of fresh air to read a book that highlighted what it’s like to be in a toxic relationship— but also how powerful it is to find yourself in the aftermath of said relationship. Not to mention the fantastic humor that was sprinkled in throughout the book!

I struggle with how main characters behave in books and these two just felt a little immature and childish for me. I know that she had a bad relationship, but she treated it like a light switch. It was a fast turn around with very little growth and a whole lot of miscommunication.

Reached for my chapstick and was immediately taken back to this book. I have not been able to stop thinking about these characters! I adore the grumpy/sunshine trope along with a sexy, golden retriever of a man lead character. This book was right up my alley. I thoroughly enjoyed the added sports' touches, side characters, and the added suspense while on the camping trip. Cannot wait to read more from Ellie K Wilde.

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this book. I felt it dragged on and I found the two main characters to be unbearable. Zach still being in love with a girl from high school and trying to prove himself was just super cringy like sir you are a grown ass man now, why are you still hung up on high school? Don’t get me started on the fact he built Melody’s dream house not even knowing if he was going to ever see her again let alone date her. Also Melody was such a boring and frustrating character too. It’s hard to do second chance romance well and sadly this just disappoints.

Spice: 2/5. This book was so much fun to read. I really enjoyed that there was minimal angst and an "easy" problems to solve. The characters were real and showed growth and depth. The surrounding cast of characters were well written and really added to the over all charm of the story. I would highly recommend it.

2⭐️ I really wanted to love Only in Your Dreams because I’m a sucker for small-town romances and the brother’s best friend trope, but this one just didn’t work for me. The story starts with an interesting setup—Melody returning to her hometown and getting stuck with Zac in the woods—but after that, it felt like the plot kept spinning in circles. Melody and Zac’s tension is there, but the back-and-forth got repetitive, and I didn’t feel like their relationship developed naturally until the very end.

I also found some parts dragged on way longer than they needed to, which made it hard to stay invested. Zac’s character had potential, and I appreciated his effort to win Melody over, but overall, the story just didn’t hook me the way I’d hoped. If you love slow-burn romances, it might be worth a shot, but for me, it was just okay.

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

Fun, entertaining, and comical! This book was a friends to enemies to lovers romance, with everyone’s favorite trope, forced proximity and brothers “ex” best friend!

Zac was a great guy and wasn’t too overprotective and overbearing. He was a great boyfriend and a great person to Melody.

It was a little long but definitely got all my check marks. The only thing I thought brought the book down was I felt like the book was a little weak and slow paced at some points, but it was still a great swoony 🫠 💗 read!!!

Overall? Loved the book, just a little slow. The romance was great, and the book was a quick read. I recommend!!!

The chemistry? Top notch!! 🔥🔥🔥 The banter was hilarious and funny, but also romantic and cuteee!!! 💗💗💗

Tropessss🎶🎼🎹
Second chance ‼️2️⃣
Brothers best friend 🙋‍♂️
Forced proximity 😍
Protective MMC💪
Fake dating 😘
Recently in a breakup 💔
Sneaking around 🤫
Emotional healing ❤️‍🩹

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde was a super romantic football romance with twists and turns and a great HEA. I am rating this book 4 stars because I felt it could have been over and done with a lot earlier it was kinda easy to see where things were headed and that there was a lot of build up and extra fluff for book 2 overall I did enjoy reading this story and would check out more by this author if I came across it.

This book was so sweet! From the cinnamon roll mmc to the slow burn second chance romance. This author might have just become an auto-buy author after this book!

5/5 love for me, and I have recommended it to everyone I’ve talked to about my recent reads. Had a book boyfriend crush on Zac, and rooted for them the entire time.

I'm not typically a fan of second-chance romances, but this one felt like a fresh love story. Ellie did a fantastic job of introducing the abusive ex and depicting how the female main character processed the breakup. From the very first chapter, I was rooting for the main couple!

Okay but I was actually obsessed with this read, i couldn't put it down. Zac is a top tier book boyfriend, someone who never gave up on the love of his life, built her dream house and held on to a shoe string he tied around their wrists in high school even years later. Melody's growth from her previous toxic relationship throughout the book was so amazing and the fact Zac was there in the background the whole time... chefs kiss. I would totally recommend to anyone looking for a quick read with killer spice, a little sports romance mixed in, and an amazing couple!