I can’t believe this is the first book I’ve read by Ellie Wilde. How have I not heard of her until now? This book is SO GOOD. Emily Henry level good. I am quite literally planning to go back through her previous novels and read them next.

I started this book today and read it straight through, barely stopping to eat dinner. The vision board from high school? What an amazing touch.

Do yourself a favor and read this. It has great characters, a sports romance without being overly sporty, and a lovely HEA. And also- a super smart working woman as the main character (which I always love!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I just want to start by saying that Only In Your Dreams is my first time reading a book by Ellie K. Wilde and it didn’t disappoint. I adored both Melody and Zac's characters so much and I was ready to dive into their story to see exactly where it was going to go.

The prologue had a way of setting up the book leaving me wanting to know more about both of them. It pulls you in and makes you want to know how the story is going to plan out. It was such a nice fun read and I like the small-time vibe that it had! Not to mention I love a good brother’s best friend romance.

I had so many things that I truly enjoyed that it’s hard to list just one, but it was nice to see character development, especially from Melody who was dealing with a lot after the breakup with her ex! Overall I was happy to see her and Zac find a way back to each other because they had a special bond that you could see throughout the entirety of the book!

Zac was a great MMC the way he was patient and waited on Melody showed how much he loved her and wanted to be with her. Both of them were a good pairing and this book shows that. It was written perfectly and Ellie Wilde came up with such a good storyline and plot to keep us all engaged!

I would highly recommend Only In Your Dreams if you are looking for a cute, fun read about a second chance/small-town romance with amazing characters!

Thank you to both Atria Books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review💙

Oh my gosh I loved this story!! Zac was such a romantic, sweet MMC. Loved the storyline, the humor, the romance. Would definitely recommend ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of Ellie K. Wilde’s Only in Your Dreams in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the book. I like how it jumped right into the story, which allowed the reader also to get sucked right in.

Melody comes back home to the small town she escaped from 10 years prior after a bad breakup and realizes he has been controlling and mentally abusing her for the six years they’ve been together. She’s trying to avoid her brother’s best friend, Zac, the boy she had a major crush on in high school who embarrassed her greatly right before she moved to the city. On the other hand, Zac desperately wants Melody back in his life and will do anything to get her there.

I loved Zac’s character. I loved how patient he was with both his players and Melody. I loved how he took care of her and how he was able to sense when a student needed his assistance.

I love how Melody eventually accepted the truth behind her relationship with her ex, figured out how to handle it, and grew from it in her own time. I love how she finally learned to trust that Zac wasn’t going to hurt her as her ex did. The book was charming and sweet, and I really enjoyed it. The only negative thing I have to say is that I thought the book was a little long and could have been cut a little shorter.

Only in Your Dreams

This book was adorable! I really enjoyed the storyline of this romance. Devoured this book in less than a DAY!

This book has:
🍀 brothers best friend
🍀 forced proximity
🍀 Second Chance Romance
🍀 Female Empowerment

Melody, post break-up returns to live with her twin brother. In her healing, she slowly realizes the abusive and toxic tendencies of her ex. She’s also desperate to avoid her brothers best friend, Zac - who she had a major crush for in high school. Zac had his chance with melody and blew it, so he’s doing everything to earn back her trust.

It’s a book full of love, laughs and recovery! I adored it!

Thank you Atria Books, NetGalley, and one of my new favourite Canadian authors - Ellie K Wilde!

Review will be posted close to or on Publication date

This is an amazing mix of a small town romance and sports romance. Only in Your Dreams is the perfect start to the Oakwood Bay series.

As someone who isn't a fan of a second chance romance this book gets a pass, it's more of a missed connection than a second chance.

Melody has some series character growth and the discussion of mental abuse in a relationship was done really well. I loved basically everything about Zac, his regret, his care for her and his patience. The two of them reviving their friendship before starting a relationship gives this characters such a good understanding of eachother. And their banter is top tier.

My only downside is the 10 year gap, it feels too long for someone to be pining.

Their friends and her brother add so much without taking away from the mcs. I can't wait for Brooks book and hopefully more of Parker and Summer

4.5 stars

This was such a fun, sweet second chance romance. Mel and Zac had amazing chemistry and their relationship was so cute. Even in the beginning when they “hated” each other you could tell there was so much love buried beneath their unresolved issues. I loved the way they grew closer throughout the book and how they were each others comfort person.
Mel’s struggles with coming to terms with the emotionally abusive relationship she had been in and learning to trust herself were so realistic and I just wanted to hug her and tell her that she deserved good things. Luckily I didn’t have to because Zac was so sweet and so patient with her. I loved how he made her a priority and showed her he loved her through all this actions. I mean, the freaking house?!?! A top tier book boyfriend.
I also really loved how they were so welcoming and caring to Noah, the football player Zac coached. It was so sweet that they made him feel at home and basically took care of him as if he was their childhood. Their dynamic was so sweet and so funny.
The whole reason for Mel and Zac’s initial hatred was… a little ridiculous, i admit. It felt like something g that could have been easily resolved and the explanation didn’t really make up for it. However, I liked how they started over and built their relationship back from scratch (I also loved Zac’s years of pining).

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC!

Only in Your Dreams is a cute rom-com with some of my favorite reading tropes! Such as small town, brother's best friend and forced proximity! The chemistry between Melody and Zac was off the charts. Ellie Wilde has such a great way of telling the story that I could picture every single moment so well in my mind. I definitely look forward to reading more from her!
Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

omg this book!! obsessed with the forced proximity trope! I also loved how this wasn’t an icky brothers best friend situation where the brother gets mad and hates the friend. in this case, Parker had a (secret) part in reconnecting Melody and Zac and I just loved every bit of it!!

Only in Your Dreams was such a sweet and heartwarming small-town romance! Melody and Zac’s journey from friendship (and maybe a bit of enmity) to something deeper was captivating. The small-town vibes were perfect, and the story delivered on so many beloved tropes: brother’s best friend, friends-to-lovers, he fell first, and even a touch of fake dating.

While I occasionally wanted to shake some sense into Melody, I completely understood her hesitations and loved how her character grew. The dynamic between her and Zac, especially their unique way of finding comfort by sharing a bed, added an intimate and charming layer to their story. It’s an adorable romance that left me smiling long after I finished.

Ellie K. Wilde’s Only in Your Dreams is a trope-lover’s dream come true! With a golden retriever hero who falls first, a guarded black cat heroine, second chances, brother’s best friend drama, and open-door spice, this romance hits all the right notes.

Their chemistry is electric, blending fiery wit with heart-melting sweetness, and the second-chance angle adds emotional depth. The steamy moments perfectly balance the heartfelt ones, making their love story feel passionate and real.

Perfect for fans of swoony, trope-filled romances with plenty of heart and heat!

I loved this book so much!!! It was so cute and romantic. The whole story line was amazing and I loved the happy ending!

This was a 3.5 for me (rounded up to 4). Melody and Zac are sweet together, but the constant misunderstandings of their relationship status and the lack of communication became a little too drawn out and repetitive. They were both adults yet they seemed to fall back on childish patterns of miscommunication and false assumptions instead of just TALKING about their feelings. Overall, a sweet story of young love/second chance love that made for an easy, light read. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up because I loved Zac. He & Melody’s relationship was full of great tropes - it’s always been you, he’s obsessed, sneaking around, fake dating, small town, slow burn, brother’s best friend, second chance, etc. They haven’t seen each other in ten years after something went down between them in high school, and the reasons behind Zac’s actions are a big mystery. She’s understandably hesitant to let him back in, and he makes it his mission to earn her trust again.

Back to Zac, he was basically everything you could want in a book boyfriend - caring, thoughtful, devoted, spicy!! I also appreciated Melody’s efforts to find herself again after getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship. However, the reasons behind the big falling out could have been better and this could have been a lot shorter. I was feeling the drag about 2/3 of the way through. I would recommend this nonetheless if you're a fan of steamy sports romances.

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

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute romcom!
Melody and Zac were fun characters to experience, and their relationship was sweet and entertaining. This book has quite a few tropes in it: second chance, brother's best friend, small town, sports, forced proximity, and found family.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K Wilde follows Melody Woods - the twin sister of high school football star Parker Woods - Melody has a huge crush on Parker’s best friend Zac Porter in high school and on the night of graduation she finally makes a move, she asks him to kiss her, but instead he runs away and completely ghosts her!! FOR TEN FREAKING YEARS. In the meantime, Melody moves on and ends up in a relationship with Connor who is emotionally abusive, controlling and manipulative. He breaks up their 6 year relationship so he can be single for a boys’ trip to South America… Melody ends up moving back to her hometown and staying with her twin brother Parker until she figures out her next move…Zac Porter is now a college football coach, and the unfinished business Melody has with him can’t stay bottled up any longer. WHY DIDN’T HE KISS HER THAT NIGHT? WHY HAS HE GHOSTED AND IGNORED HER FOR TEN YEARS? Don’t worry, he will more than make up for it in this *second chance romance* —

The spice kept me going in this one. The book got really repetitive with Melody going on and on about how horrible her ex-boyfriend is. There is a satisfying scene between Zac and Connor which although a bit juvenile was interesting haha. There are parts of this where the author seems to be outlandish just for the sake of shock value - like for example Melody’s friend Summer recalls a bad date she had where the guy didn’t know how to eat spaghetti…. But these are almost 30-year-olds, so it’s hard to believe someone could go that long without learning how to eat spaghetti. ANYWAY - this book is WICKED FREAKING CHEESY but maybe that’s your thing. Zac was definitely my favorite character - but he’s definitely the kind of man that ONLY EXISTS IN ROMANCE NOVELS.

This book did read a bit young for me - these almost 30-year-olds acted and spoke like high schoolers— but I still enjoyed it for the most part. The sports stuff did kind of bore me a bit though. I would recommend this to romance readers for sure.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I would like to read more from Ellie K Wilde in the future.

First, I want to thank NetGalley and Ellie Wilde for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first experience reading Ellie Wilde’s work, and it exceeded all expectations. She has officially become an auto-read author for me.

The story was incredibly sweet, and while it featured some familiar tropes, the plot felt refreshingly unique—even with a subtle nod to The Notebook. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a single day.

Zac and Melody were childhood friends, with Zac also being the best friend of Melody’s twin brother. In high school, they both harbored feelings for each other but never realized the other felt the same. Life took them in different directions—Melody left their small town for college, while Zac stayed, playing football at the local university before becoming the head coach of the team.

Zac’s character is wonderfully written. He’s the ultimate sweetheart, and his pining and adoration are so deeply conveyed that it’s both swoon-worthy and heart-wrenching.

Melody, often seen as the “grumpy” one of the duo, brings plenty of wit and humor to the story. Her sharp banter adds a lighthearted balance to the deep, emotional love story.

This book literally reminded me why I love romance books. With breathtaking swoon-worthy moments, colourful characters, spice that is *spicy*, and a plot that actually delivers, Ellie K. Wilde is now an auto-read romance author for me. This book was filled with some of my favourite tropes, including brother's best friend, friends to lovers, second chance romance, fake dating but with a twist, and a golden retriever MMC. I didn't find the "sports" aspect to be overpowering as I sometimes find in sports romance books. It was easy to read and I enjoyed the pacing of the writing and the flow of the plot.

There was depth to the characters and I found myself loving the side characters just as much as the MMC/FMC. Can we also just take a minute to talk about Zac, the MMC? If I was not reading this book digitally, I would have run out of ink in multiple pens by simply highlighting the MAN that he is. UGH. And no third-act breakup?! THANK YOU.

A couple things I could have done without was Zac's bedroom talk (personal preference as that's just not my cup of tea), and how often Melody was referred to as "small" or "tiny". I would have also enjoyed seeing a little more of Melody's spit-fire, take no nonsense personality, but I really enjoyed the character development that she went through and seeing her heal from her previous relationship.

A solid 4 stars from me, and I already plan on reading the second book in the series. Also, Ellie, my love, my fellow Canadian, I am BEGGING you for Noah's story. Please.

If you love the trope friends to lovers with another trope, second chance mixed in, you’ll LOVE this one!! Zac is the blueprint of all book boyfriends. The amount of love, patience, care, and GROVELING he does for Melody is beyond any other book I’ve read with these tropes. Melody comes back home after 10 years of being away due to a breakup with a controlling manipulator. She goes on a healing journey while also mending fences with Zac; her and her twin brother’s childhood best friend. I don’t want to say much more due to spoilers, but everything about this book was so sweet and I enjoyed the entire ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!
I don’t usually go for second-chance romances, but Only in Your Dreams had me hooked! Zac Porter is the ultimate swoon-worthy hero—patient, caring, and hopelessly in love with Melody, who’s navigating her own journey of heartbreak and rediscovery. Their banter is sharp, their chemistry electric, and the spice? Absolutely spicing!
Ellie K. Wilde perfectly blends heartwarming small-town charm, romantic tropes, and steamy moments in this delightful start to the Oakwood Bay series. If you love brother’s best friend or small-town sports romances, this one’s for you!