I’m really sorry I did not like this book. I thought the dialogue was cringey at times and also the whole middle was just straight up porn. I feel like it was obvious they were gonna end up together so it really came as no suprise.

Damn queer friends to lovers is where it's at!! Ginny is down bad for Elsie and Elsie similarly can't conceive of a life without Ginny. I totally believed that Elsie and Ginny were best friends and more than that, I understood why they were each other's go-to person for all things. This book was full of delicious pining and some extremely hot sex scenes. My favorite part of the story was how the author didn't let the characters jump into a romantic relationship without considering how that would impact their relationship. Having had close friendships, it is so easy to get caught in rhythms that might make the relationship smoother but might not be what's best for each person in the friendship. I adored the fact that Elsie and Ginny had the space to determine what they really wanted in their lives and how to go and get it. The way they were able to communicate with each other was so satisfying to read about. The yearning in this story made me feel so many things. I had a fantastic time with this book! It's definitely one to check out if you're looking for a light and steamy escape.

Both narrators really brought this story to life for me! I enjoyed all the voices they did for the characters in the story and especially appreciated how they both brought out the heart of the story. Listening to this book was so fun I didn't want to stop and I blew through it in almost one sitting.

Ginny and Elsie have been best friends for over a decade, and when Elsie's engagement ends but her honeymoon is non-refundable, who better to take than her bestie (who also happens to be in love with her).
This is a spicy good time! Staying at a queer friendly tropical resort, in a bungalow over the water, is my type of close proximity. And it definitely worked for the main characters. Ginny is the sweetest character. They love Elsie so much and are so fond of her in the cutest way. Elsie had some growing to do throughout the book, but letting Ginny love her and finding her love for Ginny in return was so good.
Their home setting after the honeymoon was topped off by having some very supportive side characters, including a drag queen! I liked that both Ginny and Elsie were able to do some self discovery and figure out what they wanted, both individually and together.
There is miscommunication that happens which is a little frustrating (as it always is for me), but that was eventually resolved. The ending was a little abrupt and I would have liked a little more, maybe even an epilogue a few months into the future.
The audiobook was well done and I thought both narrators represented their characters well.

~Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Meryl Wilsner and NetGalley for this complimentary ALC. All opinions are my own~

Absolutely delicious!

Fast-paced, spice-heavy, and totally heartfelt. Both MCs had some growing up and self discovery to do, and not just in the boudoir.

I love how Ginny was represented as a bigger person. The story never focused negatively/insecure about their size, it’s just part of their characterization.

Per usual, Meryl’s spice had me SAT. Degradation, rimming and squirting, oh my! 🥵

I love a friends to lovers romance because there is always so much angst that comes with unspoken feelings and I couldn’t wait to dive into My Best Friend’s Honeymoon. The setting was phenomenal and getting whisked away to paradise on a gloomy, wintry way was just the escape I needed.

I loved Ginny! They were so sweet and thoughtful and I was rooting for them to finally have their seemingly unrequited feelings be returned. Ah, the longing!! But I really didn’t love Elsie for Ginny. I completely understood Elsie’s uncertainty and need to find her voice and what she wanted in life, BUT her outburst which led to the third act breakup was beyond uncalled for and just hurtful. I know there was a comfort in the history they shared, but I really wanted better for Ginny.

The dual narration of the audiobook was fantastic and narrators really fit Ginny and Elsie’s characters so perfectly.

Okay. So. I liked it.

It a little bit felt like the sex scenes were written and then the rest was like thrown together around the sex as almost an afterthought??
Like yes the sex was hot but the romance and connection of the besties to lovers seemed??? Less developed and a bit disjointed.
I’m not mad I read it. Audio was great.
Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan audio for an alc

Hot hot hot!!! This book was full of spice and steam and it did not disappoint. This was my first book by Meryl and I have to say it will not be my last.

Although I am not usually a friends to lovers kind of reader this book it a great job. I loved that the pining was mutual but not clear and boundaries weren’t crossed until the honeymoon. It made sense and did not feel like it came out of no where. It felt natural and then when more context was given it gave the clarity on why it hadn’t already come up. That being said it definitely went from zero to one hundred really quick and that isn’t for everyone. Often it’s not for me but the spice was really spicing in this book so it really did it for me.

The miscommunication but of the book felt a little much and a bit of a large reaction especially for someone they have known and loved for a long time. I get that it was kept a “secret” but it really felt like there should have been a bigger wedge than there was. I genuinely thought the ex was going to arrive at the honeymoon to win her back and the fact that it was so quick and could hurt people was what was going to be the misunderstanding so I just felt there was more that could have been done there to warranty the response that it had.

That being said I really did enjoy the book and definitely plan to pick up more from this author. I loved the little details that were thrown in such subtle ways making the book descriptive without feeling too flowery.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I will recommend this to anyone looking to throw a spicy queer romance into their TBR

AHHHHH IM SO EXCITED TO SAY THAT THE AUDIO JUST MADE THIS BOOK EVEN BETTER 🥹🩷

my first book of Meryls was last year (cleat cute) and i didnt have the best experience reading it, so i was a little hesitant to give this one a shot but i am extremely happy i decided to give this book a try!! the premise of the book got me so good, this was my first f/nb and i was hooked on these two immediately, i mean who doesnt love a good best friends to lovers?!?!

this book was extremely fast paced which i loved, i love that we didnt have to wait through a bunch of inner turmoil for elsie to say fuck it and give things with ginny a try like shes wanted to for so long. the entire honeymoon trip was amazing, the spice?!?! insane!!! 🥵

now for my reasoning for this not being 5 stars, elsie’s major freak out after their trip was mind boggling to me, i think she was totally out of line and honestly kind of mean… i warmed back up to her by the end but for a hot minute there i did not think that i was going to be able to be supportive of them ended up together in the end… HOWEVER, the way ginny handled this was top tier, i am so beyond happy that they were able to move beyond the hurt they felt and go on to discover the things about themselves that was necessary to their growth and finding what they wanted out of life beyond elsie. i felt extremely proud of them through out the entire separation period 🥹

i also felt a lot of happiness by the end for elsie and how she finally was able to get her family to listen to her and her sister and her husband for encouraging elsie that her ideas do matter and that they are great 🥹

all in all i think ginny was the star of this show for me, i really loved them. i loved the love that elsie had for them and that ginny had for elsie <3

this book felt very different for me in the best of ways in the sense that all of the things that these two were and what makes them who they are was never once an issue for the other person (does this make sense? lmao). we are told that ginny is plus size and not once was that fact made into something that felt defined them in anyway, i personally find that the majority of books with plus sized MCs that i have read the author can make it seem like this is something bad, wrong or something to be insecure of and it was really nice to have a book where the plus sized MC but also the other MC didnt feel the need to keep making internal comments or let it justify or define their attraction to them. it just simply was what it was and both ginny and elsie found each other hot as hell and it was just fucking awesome, thats the best way i can explain it lol

i feel like i am starting to ramble a bit so i just want to wrap up quick that this was an amazing read, i think its going to make one hell of a summer read for a lot of people next year and despite any minor issues i had with elsie i still loved both of them immensely and most definitely will be treating myself to a reread of this as soon as i can get my hands on the audio book because i am already so excited to see these two brought to life by narrators 🧡

Elsie and Ginny end up on a non-refundable honeymoon after Elsie's engagement ends. Ginny is hopelessly in love with her best friend (Elsie) and they must spend the vacation on a romantic, "supposed to be honeymoon" trip.

Lots of spice and longing. I really enjoyed their relationship early on. In some other friends to lovers books, I've had trouble actually picturing the friends getting together. But this was not the case here. I didn't love their main conflict later in the story, but to each their own. Overall, I thought it was a solid read/listen.

I listened to the audio book as an advanced listening copy from Net Galley. I thought it was well narrated and I enjoyed the tone and character voices that were used.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is somehow the first book I’ve read by Meryl Wilsner. I enjoyed it a lot and now I get to go read their backlist. I listened to an advance copy narrated by Blair Baker and Emily Shaw. I thought they did a great job bringing the book to life.

Elsie’s fiancé, Derek, plans and schedules the wedding that Elsie has said she’s too busy and overwhelmed to plan. When he shows Elsie the venue and lets her know they are getting married next week, Elsie realizes she doesn’t want to get married. She hadn’t planned the wedding because she didn’t know what she wanted. They break up and Derek suggests Elsie take the prepaid, non refundable honeymoon with her best friend, Ginny, who is nonbinary. Elsie and Ginny have been friends since junior high school. They are each other’s person and Derek has always supported that. Ginny tells Elsie that she needs to practice speaking up for herself and that she can have anything she wants as long as she asks for it.

Side note about Derek – he is a sweetheart and doesn’t really do anything terribly wrong, he’s just not the person that Elsie wants to be partnered with. He is the easy option that Elsie has settled for. At some point in the future, he will meet someone who values him and have a wonderful life. I love a romance with an ex who is a good person but not the right person.

There is a lot of sex in this book. Ginny and Elsie have freed themselves from the constraints of their normal lives and are cocooned in a private, queer friendly bungalow. As Elsie gets braver in asking for what she wants, the sex gets more intense. Every sex scene in this book is essential to the characters and story. Elsie is asking for what she wants from Ginny for the first time with no fear of judgement from others. Ginny is able to indulge her sexual self with Elsie for the first time. Part of the sexual exploration is testing what works for the two of them as lovers, and also exploring a facet of Ginny’s nonbinary selfhood. Elsie is protective of Ginny’s identity so she asks questions about what language to use about Ginny’s body. The two of them get very vulnerable with each other very quickly, and this vulnerability fuels Elsie’s freak out that leads to the third act break up. The sex is essential to the plot and the characters.

Personally, I’ve had some physical issues going on for a while that made some of the sex they have unappealing to me personally. As I realized they were going in that direction, my body tensed unpleasantly and I hit the advance button until they were past those particular scenes. That was me protecting myself. It doesn’t mean those scenes don’t belong, shouldn’t have been written, or that the author is a bad person. It just means that I fast forwarded through them and got on with the book. To recap: there is a lot of sex in the book, it is all important to the story, I didn’t want some of it in my ears, so I fast forwarded and kept going.

Meryl Wilsner did such a great job of sowing the seeds of both the break up and the reconciliation into the whole story. Elsie and Ginny both need to do some growing up. Elsie still needs to learn to speak up for herself with her family and figure out who she can be separate from Ginny. Ginny needs to figure out what they want from their life that’s not centered around Elsie. The part of the book where they are giving each other space is as important as the sex. I thought the story was so well crafted.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is out at the end of April but I’m choosing to review it now as part of the Trans Rights Readathon. Meryl Wilsner is out as a nonbinary author who writes romances about loving women. In the last few years as I’ve consciously read books by trans and nonbinary writers, I’ve deepened and strengthened my understanding of identity, selfhood, and bodily autonomy. So much of my understanding of myself has come from the identity and gender roles I was assigned at birth. I am a cis woman, but my understanding of what that means to me is more authentic for having to consider how other people have experienced their bodies and identities differently. I’ve read some truly excellent books that I might not have found if someone hadn’t pointed out that my reading was pretty narrow. The personal growth is the cherry on top.

I received this as an advance listener copy from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Elsie has been putting off wedding planning to her college boyfriend for over a year and a half. After taking matters into his own hands, Elsie's fiancé surprises her with their wedding and honeymoon, with only a week's notice! Suddenly, Elsie realizes that she doesn't feel ready to commit and cancels the wedding. Per her ex-fiancé's insistence, Elsie ends up going on the honeymoon with her best friend, Ginny, who has been in love with Elsie since childhood. Pretty soon the accidental romantic getaway blurs the lines of friendship between Elsie and Ginny, leading them to explore the possibility of transforming their relationship.

This was my first Meryl Wilsner book and I enjoyed their friends-to-lovers take! Wilsner engages the audience with the awkwardness and affection between Elsie and Ginny when they begin questioning their friendship and wanting more from each other while on the trip. I will say, the spice came in like a wrecking ball early on in the book and I was not prepared! LOL! Wilsner also managed to showcase well why Elsie and Ginny hesitated to explore a romantic relationship after their stay in paradise. Beyond their relationship, Ginny needed to figure out what she wanted in life and Elsie had to learn to ask for what she wanted. I appreciated seeing both of the characters' growth throughout the story, especially Elsie's journey of exploring and coming to terms with her sexuality. However, I do wish we could've seen more of Elsie and Ginny falling in love and it not feeling so rushed. Lastly, Blair Baker and Emily Shaw were wonderful narrators for this audiobook! They kept me engaged and really brought Elsie and Ginny to life!

The charming premise drew me to this book and it definitely delivered. A canceled wedding, a luxurious honeymoon, and two best friends navigating unexpected feelings. Wilsner's signature wit and honest dialogue kept the chemistry believable and the relationship engaging. My only drawback was the miscommunication did not feel significant enough to cause the severity of relationship fall out. Otherwise, I appreciated the gender diversity and queer representation.

The narrators were incredible and really brought the characters to life! I found them engaging and natural.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

Meryl Wilsner’s My Best Friend’s Honeymoon shines even brighter in its audiobook format, with narrators Blair Baker and Emily Shaw adding a rich, emotional texture to an already sun-drenched, spice-laden sapphic escape. Their performances elevate the story’s simmering tension and playful beats, making this a truly immersive listen. From the very first chapter, Baker and Shaw breathe life into Elsie and Ginny’s dynamic—capturing years of friendship, unspoken desire, and emotional longing with nuance and charm. Each voice is distinct yet complementary, helping to deepen the emotional resonance in ways the text alone didn’t always achieve.

The premise still hooks like a charm: a canceled wedding, a tropical honeymoon up for grabs, and a challenge to ask for what you really want—cue the slow burn and emotional combustion. As the characters dance around their feelings amidst turquoise waters and island breezes, the narration makes the Caribbean setting feel vivid and alive. You can practically hear the rustle of palm fronds and the crash of waves in the background of every conversation.

What stands out most in audio is how well the narration underscores Elsie’s quiet growth and Ginny’s vulnerability. Shaw’s portrayal of Ginny as both confident and tentative is particularly affecting, while Baker gives Elsie the kind of soft strength that makes her journey feel earned. Their chemistry feels tangible through tone and pacing, amplifying even the quietest moments of intimacy or hesitation.

That said, the story still stumbles a bit in its emotional pacing. The miscommunications linger longer than necessary, and the third-act breakup—though grounded in years of emotional backlog—still feels more frustrating than cathartic. I found myself wanting more honest dialogue sooner, especially given how powerful some of their quieter moments were when the narrators let those feelings breathe.

Still, as an audiobook, My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is a highly enjoyable, spicy sapphic romcom with heart. Baker and Shaw’s narration makes it easy to get swept up in the tension, the heat, and the charm of it all. If you’re in the mood for tropes like “there’s only one bed,” “friends to lovers,” and “just ask for it,” this is an easy pick for your next audio escape. A solid vacation read that’s even better when listened to.

***4.5 Stars***

Overall,
This is the third book I have read from this author and it hits every single time. This is a spicy sapphic romance, best friends to lovers fantastic book. I have found that it can be difficult for authors to really give a good sense arc sometimes when the characters have none each other for years. That is not the case in this book. The pineing is fantastic! The spicy scenes were steamy. The only reason im not giving it 5 stars is that I wanted a little more for/from Jenny. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good steamy queer romance story.

I listened to an Audio Arc of this book. The narrator did a great job.

***I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my free and honest review***

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars rounded up - this book really delivered what I was looking for; a fun queer romance with some really good spice and characters that I cared about! It did feel like there was more focus on their physical connection with less depth created for their romantic one which I didn't mind too much but is worth noting. Also, the pacing of this book felt a little off. When our first spicy scene started, I quite literally thought they were going to wake up from a dream but nope, we were just jumping into it without much warning!

And OMG can we PLEASE get rid of the 3rd act miscommunication trope?! I never like this trope, but the "conflict" within this one felt a little forced.

TLDR; if you want something queer and hot without having to focus too much on the rest of it? Pick this one up :)

Wow, this book was a rollercoaster, in the best way. The f/nb, pan, sapphic rep in this one everything I hoped for however the spice exceeded expectations and I gotta say I didn’t hate it. Lol. Another thing I didn’t hate was our third act breakup, admittedly this trope often makes me anxious cause I’m impatient and just want them to be together lmao, but Meryl does it so subtly in all the right ways where we really start to root for them independently, just as friends, but *hopefully* as a couple. Again, this one is packed with spice but I think the story of Ginny and Elsie weaves well throughout making it feel fast paced but full of heart. I hope it’s added to your TBR cause it’s going to be the perfect addition to heat up your summer reading list.

3.5 rounded up.

Fast-paced, sexy, and fun! The pacing was a bit weird because we got a lot of plot and character development, a long period of basically only sex, and then more plot and character arcs being wrapped up. But I enjoyed both characters and was rooting for them!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is a 3.5 rounded down. I really wanted to love it. I was confused about why Elsie would ever be with Derek in the first place. Even though Elsie did the dumping, she was surprisingly okay afterward. Also, there wasn’t enough to keep Elsie and Ginny apart once they started catching feelings for each other. The third act break up felt like of thrown together. I did like the body positivity, queer joy, and humor throughout the book. I will definitely read what Wilsner writes next even though this one didn’t quite hit for me.

Wilsner did it again. I love this book and this is the first time I heard an audiobook of their book. I was hooked. The voices were perfect for the characters. I really think Ginny was speak in my head!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC via NetGalley! These are my honest thoughts.

This was a quick, spicy read between two best friends. Ginny is queer and has always known it. Elsie is... confused? She's pan, but she's only ever been with her fiancé, and when he takes it a step too far by planning a surprise wedding for Elsie and sending out invitations for one week from the day, Elsie finally breaks. Selfishly, Ginny is SO happy, because they have been in love with Elsie since they were nothing more than pre-teens. When Elsie asks Ginny to go on the honeymoon with her, Ginny immediately agrees. And they help Elsie learn to ask for what she wants. It's horny. It's spicy. It's very inclusive and informative about the LGBTQIAP+ community.

It was just a little *too* much for me? If all you're wanting is a smutty little sapphic romance, read this one vacation and it will be so easy to get through.

The audio was... decent. Not my favorite. Not terrible. I got through it with ease, I was just... very distracted.

This is my first from Meryl Wilsner, and this review and book leads me to maybe pick up a book of theirs in the future... just not, with a dying need to read it. 3 stars.