A fun romcom twist featuring a nonbinary main character and some spicy scenes. It feels like it fills in a missing section of the RomCom category and is a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. DNF. I will not be finishing. I don’t think I’m liking the two main characters. I thought I would give it a shot because of the vacation aspect, but I’m not a huge fan of friends to lovers especially how their history together is. I’m only rating because it makes me in reviewing so it doesn’t hurt my feedback ratio.

Meryl Wilsner is the deity of queer pining. They write with the most thoughtful representation and pretty much every relationship they capture leaps from the page with a clarity and a reliability that you just don't see from a lot of authors in the genre...sometimes it seems like folks can write friendship-love, family-love, OR romantic-love, but not all three convincingly. Given the plot of this book: "two besties secretly pining for each other share one of theirs would-be-honeymoon and, whoops, they're more than friends," Wilsner captures it all.

I was delighted to receive an arc of this book, even though Friends-to-Lovers is a trope I always struggle with. And while Wilsner got me fully invested, kicking my feet, and having a great time, they also walked into what I feel is the biggest trap of F-to-L: the mcs not just having a freaking conversation. The miscommunication trope is tried and true, I get it, and Wilsner's 'Cleat Cute' honestly has my favorite semi-subversion of the trope ever, but it feels cheap in an F-to-L story. Wilsner really immerses us in Ginny and Elsie's friendship from the jump. They have my total buy-in. I love the banter, I love the lore, I am here for the wild support and "quit your job" energy. They are each other's champions (and crutches) from the start, Wilsner paints all their complex and anxiety-ridden nooks and crannies so vividly. Which is why I struggle to accept a conflict hinged on a simple omission/overreaction. I just don't believe Elsie and Ginny wouldn't be able to talk to each other? Wouldn't be able to define what was going on between the two of them before jumping into bed. Wouldn't 'be able to have a semi-difficult conversation after the "lie."

It felt like we flipped a switch from friendship to filth and then again to a worlds-shifting falling out. The friendship was sweet, the filth was *chefs kiss* and the falling out was ??? And all of the shifts so intense and instantaneous?

I love how Wilsner writes with a self-awareness of "trope," and I felt like every time I was about to roll my eyes, they gave me the nugget of "why" and justification that I craved, it just didn't fully defeat my peeves. A valiant attempt. But the F-to-L + miscommunication peeve dragon lives on. After the creme de la clever creme of miscommunication in 'Cleat Cute' I was expecting Wilsner to win me over on another heavy sigh of a rom com standard.

That said: the pining, the representation, the big hard self reflections, the big REAL relationships, the spice. Big swoon.

My Best Friend's Honeymoon is a lovely story of self-discovery, romance and friendship. I always enjoy friends to lovers stories and was excited to read My Best Friend's Honeymoon. Wilsner wrote a wonderful, devourable story that will leave you with all the feels. While I don't mind spice in my books, this one definitely had more than I was expecting. A really good book!

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5/5 rounded up

Thank you St. Martin's Griffin for the advanced reading copy!

Ughhhhh i wanted to like this one so much more. It felt so rushed and forced in like every way. The friendship was believable and sweet, but it was so obvious that both of them were just in love with each other their entire friendship without any real reason why they didn’t do anything about it? The internal monologues were repetitive and lacked depth. It’s not often that i think a book should have been longer, but that’s how I feel. The intro felt rushed, the jump into sex felt rushed, the fight and makeup all felt rushed. The spicy scenes were good but intense after a short build up. Those took up too much room in the book as a whole imo. Just not what i wanted out of this one :/

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is a light and breezy friends-to-lovers romance. After Elsie calls off her engagement to Derrick, he generously lets her use their nonrefundable honeymoon trip — and naturally, she invites her best friend, Ginny. Known for being a people-pleaser, Elsie is told in no uncertain terms that this trip is all about her desires — and she intends to make the most of it. The pair hike, go horseback riding, snorkel, and most notably, hook up. Their week together is filled with steamy moments, though a few scenes veer into cringey territory for me. The dialogue flows effortlessly, and the setting is richly described, but I found the emotional connection between Elsie and Ginny lacking. Despite the heat, I never quite felt the spark that was supposed to pull them together.

If you’re in the mood for a breezy friends-to-lovers romance set against a gorgeous backdrop, this one’s worth a try.

I love Meryl Wilsner and I love this story. But there are so many sex scenes and so much use of the c u next Tuesday word, this was a DNF for me at 56%. I was also a little annoyed about how cis-het relationships were described as seeming less adventurous that LGBTQ+ relationships. If a cis-het person said that about LGBTQ+ relationships, it would be clear how offensive that is.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This book was fine. I loved the inclusivity and representation in this book: Ginny is nonbinary and Elsie is pansexual. I loved their friendship and seeing it progress over the years into something more. It was nice seeing both of their backgrounds and how they each figured out their futures in the end.
However, I was struggling with the pacing of this book. The beginning we have Elsie breaking up with her fiance and going on their nonrefundable honeymoon with Ginny, and that whole part moved very fast. And once they were on the honeymoon, their friends to lovers relationship moved VERY fast. And then we hit a lull because everything is fine and dandy between the two of them. And then s%#t hits the fan and the inevitable third act breakup ensues, which leads us to seeing how Ginny and Elsie figure out their futures on their own. But this is a romance, so we still get the HEA.
Honestly, I was kind of bored with this book, but I do think it has its audience. Friends to lovers fans will eat this up! The tropical setting for the honeymoon was also portrayed well. The story just fell flat for me.

Set against a breathtaking backdrop, this trope-filled friends-to-lovers romance shines with heart and authenticity. Ginny, a fat and nonbinary lead, steps into the spotlight as a truly refreshing and compelling protagonist. Through Elsie’s eyes, Ginny’s charm and beauty radiate, brought to life with Wilsner’s signature warmth and depth. A must-read for fans of Wilsner and anyone craving a tender, nonbinary love story that doesn’t shy away from realness or romance.

3.5 stars.

"My Best Friend's Honeymoon" by Meryl Wilsner is a bit of a mixed bag, though it's mostly good. The story is 100% sold on the chemistry between Ginny and Elsie, which is top-notch. Their banter is delicious, sexy, satisfying, and unapologetically queer. I loved their friendship but wanted to pull my hair out soooo many times because they were so clearly in love with each other that it made me sick to see them futz around with other people (Elsie I am looking a YOU!!!!!!!!). They are both a mess. They are both their own biggest enemies. They constantly stand in their way (both of them!) and, subsequently, in each other's way. That being said, I think the friends-to-lovers aspect works here (which usually isn't the case, in my opinion). The spice in this book is spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicy, y'all, and even a tad k1nky, too! I like how Elsie grew as a character where her s3xuality was concerned, but that stops there. Both of their character growth didn't feel super earned at the end of the day. This is a book that leans waaaay into the physical aspect of the story as opposed to the romantic, emotional one. Ginny and Elsie's characters' relationship is exclusive to a vacation bubble until it's not, and it's obvious what's going to happen when they leave their love nest for the real world. I never felt like their relationship grew on their vacation; I only felt like the physical aspect was explored. Low emotion, high s3xuality. I'm also not sure I loved Ginny and Elsie getting together just two weeks after Elsie broke off her engagement to someone else. I get that they have been lusting after one another for years, but it still felt pretty messed up, considering her ex was a decent, nice dude. Like I said, a bit of a mixed bag! I will say, I loooooved Blair Baker and Emily Shaw's dual audiobook narration. Their voices were perfect for this material. They play off of one another well and kept me engaged throughout the audiobook with their fast-paced, snappy, fun narration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Meryl Wilsner, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

What starts out as a very steamy friends-to-lovers tale transitions into a story of growth and maturing into adulthood by figuring out what you want and going for it.

Ever since she was ostracized at school after admitting to a crush on a girl in the third grade, pansexual Elsie has made an effort not to make waves. That included the time her best-friend-for-life Ginny asked her to the homecoming dance, rejecting her even though it was what she really wanted. Ginny (she/they) has spent a decade and change pining for Elsie, telling herself she's fine with it just being a friendship; she'll take as much of Elsie as she can get. That is, until Elsie breaks up with her fiancé Derek when he decides to spring a wedding on her after two years of her avoiding setting a date.

Derek insists Elsie go on the honeymoon, and suggests she bring Ginny, who quits her job when her boss won't give her the time off. While on the honeymoon, Elsie decides that what she really wants (and has always wanted) is Ginny and their love affair begins. However, at the end of the week, their mutual anxieties about their burgeoning relationship undermine it, with Elsie blowing up once she finds out Ginny quit her job, and they lose not only their romantic relationship, but also their friendship.

The final act is both of them figuring out who they are separate from each other and working towards new personal life-goals and professions. After a month, with significant changes, they come back together in a pretty-Hallmark-y conclusion.

This is the second Meryl Wilsner book I've read, and like the first (Mistakes Were Made) the heat in this book was intense, with graphic description of sex once our two protagonists finally give in to their feelings for each other. I generally don't have much a reaction when I read sex scenes in books beyond noting the style and level of explicitness, this definitely had me pulling at my proverbial collar and sighing and pulling at my neck as I closed my eyes. It's a lot, and very much themed as explicitly queer. This takes up a sizeable portion of the middle of the book, and satisfyingly does not let up.

However, I did feel like the interpersonal conflict between the two leads in the last act felt somewhat artificial. I'm not necessarily against the idea that these two would separate at the end of the "honeymoon" out of fears or emotional stagnation, I felt that using it as a catalyst for growth into adulthood felt rushed and flat. It was great to see them come back together, but I felt this element didn't make sense, especially when they could have been supports to each other through that initial growth, and external conflicts instead of a relationship conflict driving them apart.

Narration: Amazing. I loved the dual narration and felt like the voices and performance matched their respective characters perfectly. Honestly, the quality of the audiobook was a major high point for me for this book.

Content: I love Meryl Wilsner. They will continue to be an auto-read author for me. Friends to lovers is my favorite trope. Unfortunately, this book just didn't land with me. It actually had me defending a man ?? Elsie ends her engagement at the start of the book and he kindly goes out of his way to suggest she still go on the honeymoon HE planned and he went through the effort of changing his ticket to her bff Ginny, that was his idea to take her. Yes these characters act immature and honestly it makes sense since they are 24ish so there was a lot of messiness I was fine with, but it was just a step too far for me when they are making fun of him and barely discussing this long relationship of Elsie's while they are on said honeymoon. And Elsie never spoke up during their relationship so I don't see why it was so heinous for him to plan a wedding and honeymoon when Elsie never corrected him about being in love, for all he knew it was smooth sailing having communicated with her directly checking in about it throughout the years.

The spice was fun. I didn't mind they spent a lot of the trip exploring that. I even enjoyed the side plots of Elsie's place in her family business and Ginny's work. Overall, I am happy to have read this I just feel overall lukewarm about it. If you want to give it a try and enjoy audiobooks, definitely go the audio route. Thank you to SMP for the eARC and Macmillan audio for the ALC.

The way the story just jumped right in with no introduction threw me through a loop. I found myself playing catch up, even though the story had just started, making it hard to connect to the characters throughout the story.

Overall pretty cute story line, but the execution was lacking in my opinion.

Wow, a Meryl Wilsner book that I actually loved?! Color me surprised as usually their books are hit or miss for me.

It honestly breaks my heart to say this, especially since this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but it ended up being a major letdown. The writing felt choppy and disjointed, and the plot struggled to hold my attention—it was just… boring. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the spice (which was definitely a highlight), it simply wasn’t enough to carry the rest of the story.

I did like the characters at first, but by the end, I found myself losing interest—especially when it came to Elsie, who started to really grate on me. Nothing felt truly resolved, and I struggled to see any meaningful growth or development in the characters. I wanted to love this, but unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver.

This was just okay. I’ve learned to not get my hopes super high with Meryl Wilsner stories because they’re so hit or miss for me, but the idea of a friends to lovers story really intrigued me. I had a hard time with this one because it was so short. Generally I like a short romance but this one struggled with two things. The first being establishing a connection between Ginny and Elsie that the reader could feel and the second being the length of time the third act conflict lasted. I felt like I was dropped into a slice of life story more than a romance. I just didn’t feel the years of connection between these two and it also felt like there was so real lead up to the physical aspect of their relationship so when it happened it felt like a plot point vs something I was truly rooting for in the moment.

DNFing at 55% after 3 straight chapters have been just sex. I don’t mind spice but I like some story too. This one really lacked the plot and story element. Once the characters got together there wasn’t anything else to the plot.

'My Best Friend's Honeymoon' centers around two best friends, Elsie and Ginny. The story starts out with Elsie's boyfriend surprising her with a proposal and a wedding, and because she's a people pleaser (and a bit of a doormat), she almost goes along with it. Luckily, she breaks things off before it's too late. Unfortunately, he had already bought them a non-refundable all inclusive honeymoon, which he encourages her to still go on. Elsie decides to take Ginny with her on the trip. Ginny has been in love with Elsie since high school, but like a good best friend, they use the trip to encourage Elsie to speak up for herself.

What I didn't love was that as soon as Ginny started encouraging Elsie to speak up for herself, Ginny became the doormat. Although it was nice to see Elsie find her voice, it felt like it was at the expense of Ginny using theirs. I also got a little frustrated at the lack of character development in the middle of the book - basically, Elsie and Ginny are just having sex. And while the spicy scenes are good, there's nothing else there, so it gets old pretty fast. I also felt a little frustrated by the lack of detail about Elsie and Ginny, generally. I was very interested in Ginny's woodworking, and we did not get a lot of details about that. I was also interested in Elsie's relationship with her family and their family business, and we did not get a lot of details about that, either.

So where did I land on this? I really like the premise and the story, generally, but did not like the lack of detail and character development, so this one is a middle of the road 2.5 star (rounded up to 3) read for me.

Not a -WOW- book, but still good! This books was cute, fun, perfect for the summer and LORD THAT SPICE!!! Way, WAY spicier than I would have ever expected.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc of this book! I truly wanted to love this book, it had so much potential but ultimately it just fell flat. Elsie was too indecisive, and immature at times which really affected the story for me. She never knew what she wanted and could change her mind about every other second. The scenes at the hotel where excessive, and i felt like i wish there was more there emotionally in those scenes. The book was okay and some will love it, but it is really not for me.