Thank you St. Martin's Griffin & Netgalley for this eARC. This is my honest review.

This was a complicated book for me to read. In the past I've really loved Meryl Wilsner's books, seemingly with increasing furvor. I enjoyed Something to Talk About, loved Mistakes Were Made and flipped for Cleat Cute, but this one...it feels misbalanced.

I really wanted to love it, and certainly loved aspects of it, like the NB/F pairing of the leads, showing that a fat MC could be sexual and hot. And as usual with Meryl, the sex scenes were hot...except...they are all clumped basically in the second quarter of the book. Ginny and Elsie spend basically 50-60ish pages fucking and then...most of the rest of the book they spend apart. And I get, they needed to deal with their shit, but it makes for difficult to feel for romance if the people we're supposed to love together aren't really together for most of it. It was hard top read, and made getting through this a slog.

One aspect I found interesting...both this and the next Ashley Herring Blake Dream On, Ramona Riley, which I also read the ARC for, both features the stoplight model of consent. I know Ashley and Meryl are friends, so I'm sure that came up in conversation between the two, but I can't help but wonder which one talked to the other about it first. Just a ponder.

I'm sure there will be some people who really loved this book, and I hope nothing for the best for them. It wasn't bad per se, but I think this time around it's a miss from me.

Meryl Wilsner has been pretty hit or miss for me in the past, so I was curious which category her new book would fall in. However, this manages to fall in the middle of the scale for me. There were so many aspects of the story that I enjoyed, including: great queer representation, a wonderful vacation, best friends to lovers, and good sex (very explicit queer sex, which was so refreshing, honestly).

On the other hand though, there was a third act break up, storylines that didn't feel wrapped up (I wanted more discussion between Elsie and her dad & another scene with Ginny and their grandpa), and it was off to a slow start. For example, they didn't even make it to the "honeymoon" until 20% in, which felt fairly late considering everything beforehand probably could've been exposition later in the novel.

Like I said, this was right in the middle of the road. I'm happy that I received this arc from NetGalley because the story was enjoyable during most of it.

3 stars

Meryl Wilsner has been one of my favorite authors ever since I got into romance and it's so special to see them write their first romance with a nonbinary lead. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers, so needless to say I absolutely adored this book! And the spice is just *chef's kiss*!!

Meryl Wilsner is one of my favorite queer authors and needless to say, I've been so excited to read My Best Friend's Honeymoon! I absolutely loved watching Elsie and Ginny fall in love and it was so special to have a nonbinary lead. Their spice is unmatched as always and I can't wait to share this book with everyone!

I'm a huge fan of Meryl Wilsner's work, I think they write fantastic romances with lovable and flawed characters. They nailed this book, I couldn't put it down once I started! There being a fat, nonbinary main lead made my little heart grow three sizes, and I felt all the characters were just so amazing. I cannot wait to see what else Wilsner publishes, because everything I've read from them has been fantastic!

I really enjoyed this book because one of my favorite tropes is best friends to lovers. They did a great job with all of the representation. They did great with the f/nb rep in my opinion. The fat rep with Ginny was astounding in how it is always in the back of your mind. The only reason it didn't reach the 5 stars it could have reached is because the third act break for me was just weird. To me it was more Elsie's fault for me than anything else. I did like the characters taking space but the rest of it was kinda weird for me. The book was phenomenal in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review as always, all words are my own.

I wasn’t able to like this book as much as I wanted. Maybe I was in a reading slump but the writing didn’t really keep me fully invested in the relationship. I liked how fast paced the book was but just felt like the couple needed more chemistry. There was a lot of spice/physical chemistry which I did not hate, however once again, I wish the chemistry was in all aspects of the book.

A fun, steamy romp! I appreciated the genuine love Elsie and Ginny have for each other, as well as their character journeys on their own & together. And this book had me wishing I were at that resort!

Meryl just keeps getting spicier and spicier and I’m here for it. I tried to save this one for my beach vacay next week but read the first chapter and then had no choice but to finish the whole book in a day. Hence the pic of my kitchen table instead of a beautiful beach vista.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by @merylwilsner is a love letter/pep talk to people pleasers and a testament to the power of actually voicing what you want. (Did you know you’re allowed to do that?)

Also, cannot emphasize enough how spicy and delicious this book is, add to your TBR and start preparing now for when it comes out April 29.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
👙🔩🪚❄️👊🏼/5

CW: homophobia, accidental misgendering, Minnesota in February, surprisingly challenging hikes, super fruity cocktails

#readromance #bookstagram #bookish #bibliophile #readqueerallyear

This was a very cute story, and I loved the vibe that the resort/vacation gave to the story. I loved the history that Ginny and Elsie had and the fun they had during this vacation. I’m a sucker for the vacation hookup trope! I’m not a huge fan of third act breakups/conflicts though. The love story could’ve been a little bit more developed, I felt a little disconnected from the characters.

I thought the premise of this book was great and it was a pretty quick read which was nice, but unfortunately it had a number of issues that meant I couldn't get invested in it. The MCs have been best friends since childhood, but their relationship felt like a lot of the author telling me they mean everything to each other, instead of showing it. The transition from them being friends to having sex felt very abrupt, and then the book genuinely spends so long on just sex scene after sex scene with barely any breaks in between. I'm not adverse to spice or anything, and maybe it's my fault for not looking into the level of spice before reading, but I just wasn't expecting it and it made the pacing feel weird. After they get home from the trip, I appreciated that they spent some time apart to focus on their own lives and desires separate from each other, but it didn't feel realistic for them to fully grow and "find themselves" in the span of like... 3 weeks. That development felt very rushed, and because I already was annoyed with the MCs most of the book for being immature and refusing to communicate, it didn't feel meaningful to me. I wanted to like this one so bad but it just didn't hit unfortunately :/

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC.

Elise and Ginny were destined they just didn't know it yet. Here's what I dislike about Elise, people are doing everything for her, including think for her, and she's ok with it. Up until she realized she's not ok with the proposal, engagement, and wedding to Derrick. Now, don't get me wrong Derrick is a dork, but a heads over heels in love dork. He planned the wedding thinking it's because Elise is busy, not because she is not interested. When she broke it off, he sent her and her BFF (Ginny) to their awesome honeymoon.

First off, way to go Derrick, not because he's the bigger person and sent the ex with her bff to their would-be honeymoon. It's because the honeymoon is the awesomest for any couple. But that's where it gets interesting. What happens with you put to very angsty, pining people in the romantic bubble? Yours or someone else's? Well, things happens. Ginny, much like Derrick wants Elise to have everything, whatever that is. I do dislike how everyone caters to her and treat her like a porcelain doll, and she's so clueless and self-center. Ginny tries just like Derrick tries.

Anyway, once she realized Ginny is doing so much for her, Elise flipped out. You waited till now to flip out? Turns out yet another if you would just talk and not dance around it, you guys would've figured it out. Luckily all wells then ends well.

I would say, I love Ginny's side of the friends and family, they get her. They understand they were unhappy about their lives, doing things they don't want just for a paycheck. They are supportive and find ways to support them indirectly so that they have space to figure out the quarter-life crisis. I do hate Elsie's parents who are high school sweethearts and therefore think their children should be too, and put alot of pressure and press their agenda on her. But when she speaks, they want to treat her like a toddler.

Overall, the plot is predictable, a good weekend read. This is my first non-binary love story, but do appreciate the representation. Took a little bit getting used to on the pronouns, but once we get going, also appreciated it. Made it easy to separate the feelings and actions. Speaking of actions, the sex scenes are spicy, but after they first get together, the scenes was just felt gratuitous as opposed to moving the story along, which aren't my cup of tea. The pacing started out strong at the beginning but dragged during the characters' cool down period. I know what the author wants us to feel, but it was not connected well. I don't feel the melancholy you wanted me to feel, I get that's the idea, and that thrust both of the MC to the next phrase, but it felt disjointed.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

MCs are pan and nonbinary
Friends to lovers
Queer rep
23 year olds

Ginny’s longing for Elsie. Oof. That’s rough. They were in it for the long haul, but the way it was written made me uncomfortable. I get that it was made to seem one sided and unrequited, but it gave me full on ick. They deserve better.

Elsie’s complete disconnect from her relationship and engagement to Derrick is tough to read through. Not just through the eyes of Ginny, but from Elsie herself. In the end, I feel bad for Derrick. He gets blindsided by Elsie never being mature enough to communicate. This is not a confidence issue. Elsie is just complacent and hides behind not being able to ask for what she truly wants because she’d rather not deal with the conflict or disagreements.

More than 1/3 of this book are the MCs holed up having sex in what was set as Elsie’s honeymoon suite: an over the water Caribbean bungalow. I felt there relationship had little no substance in the switch of friendship to unable to leave their bungalow.

While Elsie “learns” to ask for what she wants, everything falls apart BEFORE they return to Minnesota. We’re talking a 3rd act breakup 65% through. I mean, are we technically in the 2nd act still?

The 3rd and 4th act have Elsie and Ginny finding themselves (over the course of mere weeks) without another for the first time since they were tweens. While it was nice to see some character development, it didn’t feel natural or in true progression. This story would have been better served allowing Elsie to grow up over years, not weeks. Also girl, you need therapy more than your ex does.

I did not enjoy this read; from the plot to the FMC Elsie to her family to the writing. Again, Ginny deserves better.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this eARC.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. I made it 50% of the way through, but couldn’t finish it. It was way too much sex for me and not enough plot. Someone else may be okay with that, but it’s not my thing.

I've enjoyed Meryl Wilsner's other books but this one was not for me.

The book starts out with a good premise Elsie breaks of her engagement and ends up going on the honeymoon with lifelong best, Ginny. On trip Ginny says the two of them will do whatever Elsie wants as long as she asks for it. I did the love the LGBTQ+ representation. I loved how Elsie corrected people who used the wrong pronouns for Ginny.

The switch from friends to more happens about 1/3 of the way into the book, and then the flip happens and that's all you get. And then it gets SPICY and the middle third of the books is all spice and nothing else. I wanted more depth to their relationship and discovery of each other. everything felt very surface-level which made it hard to connect with the characters.

I am a huge fan of Meryl Wilsner. Their books have been great to read. That being said this is probably my least favorite. I am excited to see nonbinary representation and a best friend romance. I just feel that the book had emotional pieces missing within it. It came across like the intimate scenes were out of place and forced. I hope that their next books are more similar to their earlier books. I would still recommend this book to people looking for a non-binary romance.

This is a story I thought I would like. I didn't realize I would LOVE it. I'm always thrilled when a book takes tropes I'm not crazy about and makes me eat my words.

Elsie and Ginny are great friends. Ginny's been pining for her since middle school, but a life with Elsie as friends is better than one without her at all. While the broken engagement is a major plot point, I appreciate that Meryl didn't make Derrick a villain in this story. It kept the tone light, and made Elsie and Ginny's relationship believable. I felt like he deserved a little bit better than the final conversation he had with Elsie, but for the stake of the story I get it.

Back to Ginny and Elsie. You can see the holding pattern that they've both been in. Ginny in love with Elsie. Elsie holding onto Ginny the only way she thinks she can. Ginny wants what's best for Elsie. They push Elsie out of their comfort zone on this trip. I love the rule of whatever Elsie wants as long as she asks for it. It feels like Elsie has been coasting in her life. Allowing people to tell her what to do without taking stock of her own wants and needs. Her relationship with Derrick was just one of the many ways she coasts. Having to express her wants and needs with Ginny makes her ask the hard question "what do I want?" The, of course, is Ginny.

I'm going to pause and say, WHAT IN THE EVER LOVING SPICE?! I was not expecting the shift from pining friends to pages and pages of spice. I'm not complaining. I loved it!!! Watching their friendship evolve into their intimacy was incredible. It reassured them that they were in a safe space, but also gave me, the reader, the feeling of rightness. They were meant to be together. Their soul deep connection as friends gives them permission for no holds barred sex when they finally give into it.

The emotions of the trip lead to some rash decisions, but ultimately being in a relationship is not the same as being best friends. They have to change. They have to break the patterns they've been holding onto. It's not easy realizing that what has been letting you coast for years is not what will keep you moving forward. I appreciated that their path wasn't emotionally easy. Commitment isn't easy. Life isn't easy. They need to evolve so that they could be ready for the long term.

The queer rep and body positivity was on point. The only book of Meryl's I've read is Cleat Cute. With two soccer players, you're not getting a lot of plus sized characters. Meryl wrote Ginny's experience as a plus sized person well. There are struggles that people in smaller bodies don't experience, or even have to think about. (Like bringing seatbelt extenders for an airplane.) These are part of life, but rarely shown in media. These moments aren't "unsexy." They are real.

Adored this book. Great for big fans of the Friends to Lovers trope.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner is the kind of romance that makes you want to book a vacation just for the excuse to fall hopelessly in love. It’s soft, steamy, and achingly tender—packed with moments that will make you grin into your pillow one minute and absolutely combust the next. And honestly? Wilsner nailed the combination of spice and emotional stakes.

Elsie and Ginny’s dynamic is a classic case of mutual pining with a tropical twist. Elsie is the kind of character who sneaks up on you—reserved and maybe a little too good at blending into the background of her own life until she’s forced to take the reins. Breaking off her engagement (to a guy who planned a surprise wedding without her input, I mean… really?) is the first brave thing she’s done in a long time. And who better to whisk her away on the nonrefundable honeymoon than her best friend Ginny, who has been quietly, devastatingly in love with her since forever?

Ginny, meanwhile, is the perfect foil—bold where Elsie is hesitant, steady where Elsie is uncertain. Their chemistry is undeniable from the second they step foot in the Caribbean. Wilsner’s decision to introduce the “ask for what you want” rule is genius—not just because it’s the perfect excuse for some slow-burn tension and, let’s be honest, ridiculous levels of steam, but because it turns the story into something deeper. It’s not just about physical attraction (though, wow, the spice in this book is next level); it’s about Elsie realizing she’s allowed to want things, to claim joy and pleasure without guilt or hesitation.

And speaking of the spice—Wilsner writes intimacy in a way that feels authentic, inclusive, and wildly sexy without ever losing the emotional throughline. There’s something so satisfying about seeing Elsie step into her desires, and Ginny’s softness beneath their swagger makes every moment between them feel earned. It’s not just about the heat—it’s about trust, communication, and knowing that sometimes your best friend has always been the one.

If there’s a nitpick, it’s that the conflict toward the end felt a little too predictable—miscommunication and fear of rejection rearing their heads, as they tend to do in romance stories. But even then, Wilsner handles it with such care that it doesn’t feel like unnecessary drama, just two people who have spent their lives protecting themselves finally learning how to be vulnerable.

Four stars because it’s fun, emotional, and scorching in all the right ways. It’s not just a swoony honeymoon fling—it’s a love story about finding yourself in the messiness of what you’ve always wanted. If you’re here for best-friends-to-lovers with tropical beaches, heart-melting declarations, and unforgettable heat, this one’s a must-read. And honestly, we all deserve someone who will book the excursions and remind us we’re allowed to take up space—and maybe kiss us senseless while they’re at it.

This was everything I thought it would be and I loved it. The chemistry was fantastic and I was just so entertained the whole time. I love a good rom com but this kind of trope is new for me. Definitely unique and something I would seek out in the future. It was well paced, entertaining and irresistible!

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Mary Wilsner is an LGBTQ romance about main characters Elsie and Ginny. Elsie, having been engaged to her boyfriend for a year and a half, suddenly breaks off their engagement. This leaves Elsie with a whole honeymoon planned, and no one to go with. Enter her best friend: Ginny. Ginny (they/them) has been Elsie’s best friend for years, and yet has never told Elsie their true feelings for her. What will happen when Ginny agrees to go on the trip with Elsie? Will their feelings for one another change, or will they decide it is best to remain friends?

Wilsner presents this book with a question: what do I want and will it make me happy? I appreciated the way Wilsner wrote Ginny as a nonbinary character. Being nonbinary myself, I didn’t feel as if their identity was over the top (as it sometimes tends to be). It felt like a very realistic experience. The book doesn’t focus too much on Ginny’s gender identity (which I appreciate) and instead presents it as a fact, and moves on with the story.

I didn’t feel entirely interested in the overall story. I can appreciate a casual romance, but there aren’t many events that moves the story along. Instead, we are often told Ginny’s thoughts and Elsie’s thoughts as well, nothing too complex. The story is fast paced which I can appreciate, but didn’t allow for me to feel entirely connected to the characters. We don’t exactly know how they both have acted prior to the honeymoon vacation. I would’ve been interested in seeing their friendship more before the vacation, and compare that to how they develop throughout the book.

This is good if you want a very casual romance to read, but this isn’t something I would exactly go out of my way to read. I appreciated reading a romance starring LGBTQ+ characters, and I especially appreciate the publisher (St. Martin’s Press) for lending me this as an advanced copy.