This book was so cute!

This is the first book I have read by Ellie Wilde and won't be my last. I loved the second chance romance x brother's best friend trope!

I was pleasantly surprised by this one!

As a football fan, I knew I would enjoy it, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do! Mel & Zac’s second chance at love was beautifully presented and their relationship was so precious! Zac would literally do or give anything for Mel!

I’m going to be adding Wilde’s books to my TBR more often!

Holy new book boyfriend, Zac Porter is everything. He is everything you want in a boyfriend, life mate and future husband. From his tenderness to his protectiveness to his jealousy, I could keep reading his story all day long! Melody is one lucky girl.

This is must read and I can't wait for the next book in the series. I just know that Brooks Attwood is going to be an amazing book boyfriend. especially since he was willing to fake date Melody for his best friend.

This was my first book by Ellie K. Wilde and she is now up there with my other favorite authors!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the e-ARC!

I went into this one blind. It’s a small town, second chance romance. I eat those tropes up! This one however, I struggled a bit. I wasn’t able to connect with either character. I did appreciate Melody’s growth and how she ultimately rebuilt her confidence. Zac was likable but I wasn’t swept off my feet.

The pacing of the book was a bit off, especially when it came to the side characters and the plot wasn’t focused on the relationship between Zac and Melody. The side characters were a lot of fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was cute and spicy all in one and had me zoned in from the very beginning. This is a good book for those that enjoy sweet contemporary romances, and makes for a good read when you are looking for a palette cleanser as well.

Some of the tropes I noticed were: second chance, brother's best friend, small town romance, football romance.

Likes: The character development was good and I felt like I had an idea of who they each were, even the secondary characters. While there was some spice, it was mostly tension for the first half of the book. While I got as annoyed as Zac did every time they were interrupted, it made the first spicy scene that much more spicy. Now Zac, I loved Zac. He gave perfect golden retriever boyfriend energy. His loyalty and love for his Clover was unwavering and they built each other up. It was a healthy relationship with no third act break up (which I cant stand). Melody was strong, but also realized what she had when it was right in front of her and didn't spend the entire time going back and forth on whether she should be with Zac, even though putting a title on it did take awhile.

Dislikes: I felt that the reason for Zac leaving in the beginning was predictable before the story even got that far. I also found Parker slightly annoying, but since he was a secondary character I could overlook it.

Overall, I was able to finish this book while staying engaged the whole way through. I liked the characters enough that I would read the other books in the series as they come out and from the author in general.

THIS. BOOK. OMG.

I didn't know I needed this second chance romance. I was hooked from the first page. When I was a teenage, I was the grumpy girl who gifted people smiles and laughter. I was skeptic of anything happy aka I related the Mel so hard. I felt seen and loved anytime Zac would say he loved her scowl. I've never read a book with man so down bad for a grumpy woman. I love it. So many perfect moments: he took care of her when they were stranded, the shoelace, their first time, Zac messing up Connor. I really loved that we got to see Melody slowly realize all things Connor did that was a red flag. Sometimes we are truly blinded by love to see that the person that "loves" us is actually hurting us, especially when they isolate you from anyone you know. The secret clover tattoos and all the saved clovers truly pulled at my heartstrings. Poor Zac was pining for Mel for 14 years. He got his second chance and truly didn't waste a single moment. Thank you for this story <3

This book had everything I love, sports, banter, and spice! While football isn't my sport, I was fully invested in this and may have to give the sport another try. I loved the second chance romance between Melody and Zac and that it was a small town romance!

This book was DEEPLY sweet and quite possibly one of my favourite romances I've ever read. Looking forward to anything coming from Ellie in the future.

incredible!!!!!! second chance and brother’s best friend are two of my favorite tropes and together they made for a near perfect book.

i loved melody and zac’s relationship so much and their chemistry was off the charts from the start. their relationship was intense but in the best way. zac was a man down bad and i will never not be obsessed with that!!!

this was an unforgettable read and i had the time of my life with it.

thank you to netgalley for inviting me to read this book and introducing me to another incredible author!

I liked this book a lot. It sucked me in, kept me entertained, and made me miss the characters when I was done.

I'm not sure I've ever read a leading male character as love-struck, sappy, and endearing as Zac. It seems like it's usually the female leads that are written this way. It was fun to see it from a different perspective.

I would recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Only in Your Dreams is a funny and amazing second chance romance! I was not expecting to like this very much, but this book was so easy to enjoy.

Melody and Zac are just such great characters. I loved the angst and tension! It was definitely frustrating at times, but I still enjoyed this book so much. I was rooting for them the entire time. The side characters are fleshed out. I loved Brooks and Noah!!

The writing is detailed and very easy to read. I liked the snark and groveling. I would say this book is more character focused, but it is still a lovely story about growth, leaving a toxic environment, and finding happiness.

Overall, I had a great time reading this. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I liked it, but I can’t say I loved it. Honestly, it just felt too long. There were whole sections that could’ve been cut without losing the heart of the story, and it would’ve kept things moving a lot better.

I loved the beginning, the camping and getting stranded part was fun and felt pretty unique. I mean, as wild as it was to believe that their friends just up and left without noticing they were missing (seriously, how?!), I was into it. But once they got back home and things shifted to their day-to-day lives, it started dragging. It just got a bit boring and repetitive.

I tried to connect with Melody, but it just didn’t happen. I did appreciate her growth and how she rebuilt her confidence after a toxic relationship, and I loved how she found herself on her own. Zac helps her out but never steals the spotlight, quietly supporting her while she finds her footing again.

Zac was likeable enough, but he didn’t exactly sweep me off my feet, either. Their romance had sweet moments, but it felt a bit forced at times, and I blame that on the pacing of the story more than anything else because they had chemistry.

I wasn’t sold on the reason for their 10-year silence; it felt pretty weak. But hey, at least it didn’t lead to a third-act breakup, so I’ll take the win where I can.

On the bright side, the supporting characters were a lot of fun, and I loved the found family vibes. Those moments were heart-warming, and I’m definitely curious to learn more about their stories. But overall? It was just okay. Not bad, not great, just... fine.

The tale of Melody and Zac was entertaining to me. One of my favorite clichés is second-chance romance. I had a great time reading this one! I was completely captivated by Zac and Melody's second-chance romance. I adored how Zac allowed Melody the room she needed to rediscover herself; it gave their relationship a genuine and significant sense. loved this one!

Although I've read and enjoyed plenty of romance books in the past, I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of the genre. Nonetheless, when I began reading Only in Your Dreams I was so excited for a light, fun, and saucy read! Unfortunately, as you could probably tell by my rating, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I had hoped to. It's not often that I don't manage to finish books, but I just had to throw in the towel at around the 50% mark with this one despite how hard I fought to continue reading Only in Your Dreams.

First of all, the most nerve-wracking part of reading this book for me was the excessive cursing. Mind you, I'm not at all a prude. I can stand to read some curse words. Because I was curious, I counted how many times some variant of "fuck" is used in this book: 396. That's an average of 9 "fucks" a chapter, including the prologue and epilogue. This is definitely something that should have been edited out and I can't stress enough how irritating it was to read the characters talk like they just discovered that curse words exist.

Next, the protagonist, Melody, was seriously unlikable and immature to me. I believe Melody is around twenty-eight years old, almost thirty. I'm eighteen, but I would never behave the way she did in this book, and she has (or should have) ten years of maturity and experience on me. That's an issue. Why is an almost thirty year old woman acting like the people I went to high school with, but somehow worse? And Zac, the love interest, was no better than her. He randomly tells Melody that he thinks of how she looks naked (this is before they're together, mind you), that she has sexy legs, and thinks about stealing her panties from her backpack while she isn't looking. If I were Melody, I would have been clutching my pepper spray for dear life whenever he was around. I don't think I'll ever understand how Melody wasn't absolutely terrified of Zac, especially since they were trapped in the middle of the woods with one another while he was behaving like this. In all honesty, I felt like I was reading a true crime novel in some sections because of the way that Zac was written.

Finally, some parts can get sort of preachy and dramatic, like when Melody talks about her ex. It seems like he was supposed to be this controlling, abusive character but, to be honest, none of the things he did seemed all that crazy to me so the scenes where all the characters are freaking out about how "evil" he is just made me roll my eyes. Compared to Zac's creepiness, the ex, at least to me, seemed like a walk in the park. Also, there are also brief mentions of "rich white men" and "the patriarchy" which I feel aren't at all relevant or necessary in a book like Only in Your Dreams. Personally, I don't read romance books to hear about class disparity and sex-based discrimination, nor do I think a lot of other people do, either.

To say the least, Only in Your Dreams left me feeling very agitated and confused. Again, I wish I could have enjoyed reading this one and I really did try to.

This book is the first from this author and the first in her planned "Oakwood Bay" series. It was pretty good for a debut! I definitely felt chemistry with Melody and Zac. I just felt there was a bit too much pushed in there...the camping trip that goes horribly awry, the very serious issue of escaping a narcissistic long-term relationship (which I don't think was handled well, TBH), the 10 year gap of the main couple not speaking over a minor misunderstanding, so many references to her lip balm, and the drama with one of Zac's players. I did like how Zac let Melody learn to love herself and trust herself and her choices. I would likely pick up the second book in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

ARC Review
Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley, for the early copy.

This was so good! I was on the edge of a reading slump, but this book pulled me right back. The story was engaging, and I absolutely loved the characters—Mel working through her past relationship struggles and Zac trying to make up for all the lost years was just so adorable.

What kept this from being a higher rating, though, was the reason behind those missed years. I expected something bigger, something that truly justified all that time apart. It just didn’t feel like enough, and that frustrated me a little. But then I reminded myself—they were teenagers, and teenagers make impulsive, sometimes dumb decisions.

That being said, the way this book wrapped up and everything leading up to the ending made me so happy. Final rating: 3.75⭐️

this book was very cute. to be honest I kinda hated the FMC, melody, I have no idea why she was... I don't know but. the MMC Clark he is obssesed with her. Normally I would have hated him because of what happen, and I understand melody to be honest... but I dont know. besides as separate characther were different than together they are an amazing couple like their chemistry its over the top. I love them so much.

thank you atria for sendime this book!

Ellie K. Wilde’s debut novel “Only in Your Dreams,” the first in the “Oakwood Bay” series, is a brother’s-best-friend romance between a football coach and his childhood love.

Ten years ago, before Melody “Clover” Wood was set to leave for college, she invited her twin brother’s best friend, Zachary “Zac” Porter, into her bedroom and asked him for a kiss. Zac promised to return that evening, but first, he had to run an errand—one that is clear to the reader but not to Melody.

Now, at twenty-eight, Melody returns to Oakwood Bay, heartbroken after her six-year relationship with Connor ends. As she processes the breakup, she begins to realize how manipulative Connor was, love-bombing her and using his gifts and housing to control her actions.

When Melody’s twin brother, Parker, cancels last-minute on the group’s annual camping trip, she is forced to go in his place. She hasn’t seen or spoken to Zac since that fateful night ten years ago, but when she finds out she’ll have to share a tent with him, she resolves to keep her distance.
However, after a rainstorm traps them on the campgrounds for a few days, the two begin forming an unexpected attachment, though they must hide their growing feelings from Parker.

Meanwhile, while Melody is trying to rediscover who she is outside of Connor’s influence, Zac faces a challenge of his own. He needs to secure a win for the University of Oakwood Bay Huskies by their sixth game, or he risks losing his job as head football coach. With Melody’s help as a data analyst, the two begin collaborating, and Melody may have just found the perfect job for herself.

Wilde’s novel contains explicit sexual scenes, with the first one occurring in chapter eleven. The main characters are well-developed, with each grappling with themes of belonging and acceptance, though some secondary characters—who will play larger roles in the series—are underdeveloped. The novel could have been more concise, as its length feels unnecessarily padded, and at times the redundancy makes it a tedious read. For instance, Melody’s lip balm is mentioned thirty-two times, receiving more attention than her career goals. Wilde attempts to tackle several heavy topics, including addiction, temporary child placement, emotional abuse, and manipulation, alongside a campground disaster, but the multiple themes don’t always mesh well together. The campground scene, while vivid, feels disconnected from the rest of the novel, creating a clash between outdoor survival and the football and town life that dominate the story. The novel would have benefitted from a clearer focus on one or two of its central themes, rather than spreading itself thin across multiple tropes.

I enjoyed the story of Melody and Zac. Second chance romance is a favorite trope of mine. Sometimes I feel as though the development of the characters could have used a little more depth, but overall I really enjoyed.

This one was such a fun read! The second-chance romance between Zac and Melody totally hooked me. I loved how Zac gave Melody the space she needed to find herself again, it made their relationship feel so real and meaningful. The premise was really great, and the plot kept me turning the pages. I was totally invested in their journey. Now, I’m just hoping book #2 is Brooks’ story because I’m so curious to see what happens with him! Definitely giving this one 3.5 stars!