I’m a huge fan of anything Meryl writes and My Best Friend’s Honeymoon did not disappoint. I always appreciate when the main characters develop personally on top of their relationship developmen. The personal growth Elsie and Ginny both had to do to make their relationship work was wonderfully written. It was more than a standard friends to lover book. I found myself rooting for both Ginny and Elsie independently as well as rooting for the relationship. Plus, I have a theory-the cuter the cover on a romance book, the spicier it is and this book helped prove my theory, correct.

4.75 rounded up to 5 stars

Having absolutely loved Meryl Wilsner's other books, I had pretty high expectations for this one and they absolutely knocked it out of the park. After her fiance surprise plans their wedding and honeymoon for a week away, Elsie realizes that it's not the life she wants and breaks up with him instead. Since the honeymoon is nonrefundable, Elsie takes her long-time best friend Ginny instead. On this not-honeymoon, Ginny decides Elsie needs to both figure out what she wants AND be bold enough to ask for it and so they decide they'll do anything Elsie wants, as long as she asks for it. What could go wrong??

As someone who also has a hard time figuring out what I want and how to ask for it, I deeply related to Elsie defaulting to whatever felt like the path of least resistance. I loved seeing the ways she grew in confidence and conviction. I want a best friend like Ginny, who struck the right balance of support and challenge. They also had their own journey, figuring out how to prioritize their own desires and make their own path in life.

I loved the pacing - there was just enough tension built before Elsie and Ginny's relationship turned sexual/romantic and they didn't rush through the third act breakup in order to get to the happily ever after.

Elsie's finacee plans their entire wedding without her knowledge and she ends up breaking up with him, realizing she doesnt want to get married to him. Elsie ends up taking her non-binary best friend, Ginny, on the trip with her to an all inclusive resort that caters to non-cis couples. While there Ginny and Elsie take things beyond friendship, but can this new relationship last at home?

It was a good premise, but I did not like Elsie. I thought that she was callous toward Ginny and said some really nasty things to them. The best part of the book was when they returned home in my opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Just based off the cover of this book I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Lesson learned! I started this book this morning and finished within 12 hrs. I have a lot of opinions.

The sex scenes were very graphic. As many reviews also said chapter 18 was a lot. I almost got to a point of wanting to skip forward which I have never done during a book.

The characters had no real connection & it felt forced. Both of them came off annoying & immature.

I didn’t like the ending it was so abrupt. Some chapters were so long and some were so short. Very confused!

Thank you NetGalley & SMP for the eARC.

I loved the backstories on the characters and the two main characters themselves!

My issue was with how the plot lacked because of all of the sex scenes. The romance moved way too fast- I feel the author was too focused on the spice rather than developing the story.

That being said, I will definitely pick up more by them!

I didn’t read the synopsis of this book before beginning. It was an easy read. I just didn’t find it interesting.

This story was good !
Loved the character and world development.
Also enjoyed reading about a nonbinary character
Hoping for an epilogue to show them being happy after they are together as a couple.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

*3.75 stars*

This book is lighthearted but does contain a small amount of possibly triggering content. There is a scene that contains homophobia where a slur is spoken and a scene with unintentional misgendering where the character is corrected.

First of all, I LOVE that this book has a non-binary lead. I've found that there is great trans representation when it comes to YA novels and less when it comes to adult books, so that was an immediate win for this book. I love that this is a lighter romance novel, and that there is adequate focus on Ginny's identity while also giving them an identity outside of being non-binary. Both Elsie and Ginny are fully-developed characters, and I really enjoyed that aspect of this book. I also enjoyed the secondary characters, and I'm glad we were shown scenes that didn't just revolve around Elsie and Ginny's romance.

The plot set-up was good, and the fear from both of them about bridging the gap from friends to lovers was well done. While there was that fear of the dreaded "what are we" for both characters internally after they bridge that gap, Wilsner didn't make that the focus of the novel, and they both communicated their feelings quickly.

I thought the sex scenes were well done too! They were detailed and veered into kinky, so they may not be for everyone, but I was a fan. I also always love when characters communicate boundaries and ask for consent, which they did!

What I wasn't a big fan of was the conflict between Elsie and Ginny. The initial reasoning felt very contrived, and after the good communication they had up to this point, it didn't align with what we were told about the characters. While I understand the underlying issue about why the conflict happened, I didn't think the specific issue warranted such a big reaction, which was acknowledged in the book.

I think they both made healthy choices and communicated well, but it also felt like the conflict was dragged out just a bit too long. Because of where it happened in the novel, it felt as if the book was split in half which made it feel disjointed when comparing it to the first part of the book. The ending of the book also was a bit rushed as a result of this.

But overall, I enjoyed the book! I liked Elsie and Ginny as individuals and as a couple, and I feel like they were reasonable but also showed growth. The LGBTQ+ (which should include the P) representation was stellar, and I'll definitely be looking more into this author's works!

Elsie Hoffman calls off the wedding that her fiancé planned for her as a surprise. He offers her the non-refundable honeymoon and she takes her best friend, Ginny Holtz. Ginny wants to help Elsie speak up for herself and offers to do anything during the week as long as Elsie asks. It starts with a hike, swimming and snorkeling but soon takes a more personal tack.

Elsie and Ginny are still figuring out adulting. Elsie has always known she would work for the family hardware store and I like the storyline of her trying to get her dad to hear her ideas for improvement. Ginny likewise is still figuring out what they want to do. They took the first job offered out of college but it isn’t their passion. Elsie is pan but has only been with her college boyfriend/fiancé. Ginny is a nonbinary lesbian. Ginny has had a crush on Elsie but settled for being a best friend after Elsie turned them down when asked to a high school dance. I love that Ginny is described as being solid or sturdy sized but is never shamed for it.

To celebrate the New Year I treated myself to this book by Meryl Wilsner. I have given her five stars previously for both “Mistakes Were Made” (Oct 2022) and “Cleat Cute (Sept 2023). They both care for each other so it is hard to see so much internal struggle about being more than friends, after the fact. The story is light and not overly angsty. And I do appreciate the heat Wilsner brings, especially in a mainstream publication. I like that the cover fits the book. And I found it very quick to read and enjoyable. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC and I am leaving an honest review.

After the delight that was Cleat Cute, I was very much looking forward to Wilsner’s follow up novel, My Best Friend’s Honeymoon. Sadly, I found myself utterly disappointed.

This book was just…not good. The character development was severely lacking, as was chemistry between the two mc’s. I thought perhaps it would get better once it got to the steamy part, but if anything it got worse. It was at that point that I gave up and stopped reading.

Still a Wilsner fan, but this one wasn’t for me.

I want to be able to give 3.5⭐️ because I did enjoy this way more than I thought I would. Ginny was the star for me here. Yes, they’ve been “secretly” pining after Elsie for a decade or more but they are such a good person and friend and sounding board.

Elsie I found really hard to like. She knows (on some level anyway) that she is responsible for the path of Ginny’s life and remains a very selfish person with her own feelings. It’s easy to stick up for the people we love but neither of them know how to be honest with themselves out loud.

The spicy scenes were pretty steamy and it was an abrupt transition from best friends with pent up feelings to ALL IN. But i was able to accept that they have had many years of lying to themselves before the floodgates open. Could have done without the period scene but, no judgement.

This was the first book of Meryl’s I’ve read and the first f/nb story as well. I would read others as I think the writing was well done and the element of humor worked.

Okayyyyyyy. Nothing by Meryl Wilsner will be a dissapointment and My Best Friend's Honeymoon was anything but!!!!!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC becasue truley, I needed a palate clenser after a couple of romantasy books I've read.

As one can predict, when you go on a honeymoon with your best friend because she is the one that cancels the wedding, you know what is going to happen. Best friends to lovers trope. Female/Nonbinary main POVs. This is the first book that I've read with a NB character and let me tell you, I feel more educated in that aspect of calling someone by their prefered pronouns and it helped me self-reflect.

Growing up, Ginny and Elsie did everything together. Ginny has been in love with Elsie for all her life but they got turned down when they asked Elsie to a school dance. Ever since, Ginny was too afraid to speak her mind. When Elsie cancels her wedding that her fiancee planned without her knowledge as a surprise, he still wants Elsie to go on the honeymoon with Ginny.

Being best friends, they do everything together, see each other every day and together is where both Ginny and Elsie feel the most comfortable. Which, shouldn't that be a red flag, knowing that they love each other but are too afraid to do anything about it. Thankfully, the honeymoon, at a LGBTQ+ all inclusive resort pushes them together in more ways than one.

When a fall out after the honeymoon happens because they are both stagnant with their lives, Ginny, quitting their job so that they can go on this trip with Elsie and Elsie, not being listened too at the family store, figure out their lives for the better.

This novel is about growth, love, friendship and going after what you really want in life instead of being scared. Meryl Wilsner does it again with this amazing, spicy novel about best friends to lovers. It is a must read and I'm thankful I got to read it early!

This best-friends-to-lovers romance is VERY spicy, and the representation (f/nb) is great to see. It's a quick read, but maybe a little too quick. I didn't feel all that connected to the characters or their story or their motivations. It's hard to put my finger on why, but I think part of it was 1/4-1/3 of the book was sex scenes. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But it kind of got in the way of getting to know the characters. Towards the end of the book, I realized I didn't even like Elsie (again, not that there's anything wrong with that, but she felt underdeveloped to me). Ginny was easier to understand, though I would have liked to get to know them better, too. The resolution at the end happened so quickly (like in the last few pages), and I wanted more. One thing I really loved was the dialogue -- Meryl Wilsner writes dialogue so well. Overall, it was a decent book and we need more books with representation like this.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this ARC! This is my first Meryl Wilsner book, but it won't be my last. My Best Friends Honeymoon is exactly what you would expect from a sapphic, friends to lovers book. The spice was amazing, if a little excessive at times. Elsie and Ginny are at a queer resort in the Caribbean, and I couldn't help but be frustrated with them for not going out more, even if that might have been a boring read.

The queer representation in this book is great. Elsie is a pansexual woman, and Ginny is a nonbinary lesbian. Ginny used they/she pronouns, but they are the only ones who use she/her. There was a great discussion that even though they are fine with she/her pronouns, people shouldn't rely on looks when greeting guests because not everyone is fine with it.

There was a lot of growth for both characters. They both needed to learn about who they wanted to be, and Meryl Wilsner did a good job exploring that.

From the first pages, this book made me wish I was sitting in a hammock with a smoothie or frothy drink while I got lost in the drama of someone else’s life. I loved the idea of the plot, but struggled to connect with the characters on a level that would truly pull me out of my own reality. However, I would still recommend this to someone looking for an easy, relatively low stakes read.

This book starts off amazing, I was sure it would be a five star read, and then it just died out and plot was lost and it was just spice. It’s an easy read, and overall it was decent, I think the romance just progressed too quickly for there to feel much chemistry.

It is better than Cleat Cute but that's not too hard. As opposed to Cleat Cute where the characters shouldn't have ended up together, I believe that Ginny and Elsie may have gotten at a point where they should have at the end. A lot of needed character development happens either off screen or very quickly so it's hard to evaluate how much the characters have changed.

If I start with the positive: the beginning is strong and convinced me I could enjoy this one. I do love a good friends to lovers and I was served good pining, bad decisions made out of hiding your love, and a past rejection in high school which has changed the friendship. Very good.

But then it turns in a sex montage and I must say I hate how Wilsner writes smut. It's too fast-paced and not descriptive enough to be really spicy so they overcompensate with quantity that is just so repetitive. Like Cleat Cute we don't get an emotional build up arc but instead just a lot of sex for the characters to be like okay I'm into you let's date. This is not characterization that's just horny.

Of course Elsie realises that Ginny is a fucking pushover of a character and rejects them again and that's when Ginny decides to find some time to find themselves (where most is off screen).

None of the pacing is satisfying. Everything is frustrating especially given the strong beginning. I'm reading a romance I'm here for feelings not badly written sex.

I do say I really liked the woodworking part it rounded Ginny up because they suffer from being less developed to make up more time for Elsie a common trope for masc character.

A big part of Elsie's part at the beginning is being young and not knowing what she wants. Is this addressed? Not really no.

Also this book fascinatingly doesn't recognise the unwanted manipulation of Elsie's boyfriend. The combo of public proposal and inviting everyone to the wedding he planned without telling her js a common technique to trap women into marriage whether he is fully aware that this is what he is doing or not. But you know whatever at this point.

Also i refuse to believe that queer American millennial really speak in this cringy way. However I would like to ask for the end of that trope where the nonbinary mc must have a paragraph dedicated to them explaining their identity to the audience

I’ve never read a Meryl Wilsner book I haven’t loved, and this one was no exception. This was my first book of 2025, and it was such a fun way to kick things off!

This has everything you could wish for in a romance - queer joy, a friends to lovers ARC, size rep, gender rep, and is half set in a beautiful tropical location.

Like all of WIlsner’s books, there’s a few good spicy scenes, enough to get a feel of the character’s dynamics, but not so much that it feels like it takes away from the plot.

If you’re looking for a feel-good heartfelt romance, definitely pick this one up!

I enjoyed My Best Friend’s Honeymoon. I love an idiots to lovers story. I liked the central relationship a lot, I just didn’t totally buy the third act breakup conflict. But overall enjoyed it as I do with all of Wilsner’s books.

In all honesty, it was really difficult for me to get into this boom! I love a spicy book and especially one that has representation and isn’t your washed up heterosexual repeat, but for some reason I felt so disconnected to these characters and felt that their chemistry wasn’t there! I did enjoy most of the book and found parts funny and enjoyed the overall premise, but it wasn’t necessarily for me and that’s okay! I know so many other friends and readers who will love it!!