Ever since picking up their first book, I've been a fan of Meryl Wilsner's writing. They balance lighthearted rom-com moments, hot and heavy romance scenes, and themes regarding queer identity very well. And while I still love Meryl Wilsner's writing style after finishing this novel, unfortunately, My Best Friend's Honeymoon just didn't do it for me. I liked the characters and the emotional arcs they went on. My problems mostly fell with the plot.

For one, this novel made me realize I'm not actually a big fan of childhood friends-to-lovers romances. I like when two characters form a friendship before falling in love. But often, with childhood friends-to-lovers stories, the audience doesn't get to see the main characters fall in love. Instead, we just are told that they already love each other from the start of the book. I really wanted to see more scenes of Elsie and Ginny falling in love, even if they were in flashback.

My other issue with this book was, as much as I loved the tropical, summer-y setting, the set up of this book had me feeling bad for the main character's ex. This book's premise is that our main character, Elsie, dumps her fiancée and goes on her non-refundable honeymoon with her best friend. And weirdly enough, I think that this premise would have worked better if Elsie's ex was some cartoonish, over-the-top villain. Instead, he's just a really kind guy. When Elsie cashes in on the vacation you feel genuinely bad for him, or at least I did. It almost distracted me from the plot, as throughout the book I had a nagging reminder that some heartbroken fool is paying for this trip.

Overall, there was a lot I did like about this novel. As I stated, I really liked Meryl Wilsner's writing, particularly of their themes and characters. I just think there were some hiccups in developing the plot.

Meryl Wilsner knocks it out of the park again with My Best Friend's Honeymoon. Ginny, who has been in love with Elsie since childhood, is invited along on Elsie's honeymoon when her wedding is called off. A game of Ginny's design to get Elsie to speak up for herself soon turns from silly to sexual. The two must navigate this new layer of their relationship, especially as they come back to real life after the honeymoon trip. It is an absolute delight with great depth to the characters. The motivators behind the characters actions are interesting and make sense, and Wilsner does a fabulous job of using the setup of a wedding being called off without us having to hate the former fiance or question Elsie's decision making prior to the start of the book. A wonderful read!

• when elsie calls off her wedding last minute after realizing she doesn’t love her fiancé, she takes her best friend ginny on what would have been her honeymoon. little does she know that ginny has been in love with elsie for years. when ginny suggests that the trip be about elsie using her voice to speak up & say what she wants, resort activities quickly turn to the two of them sleeping together. a lot. what happens when the honeymoon is over though?
• my main gripe with this book was how heavily it relied on the miscommunication trope. the reason it takes so long for ginny & elsie to get together is from not talking about their respective feelings for one another, but it drags to the point of frustration.
• the spicy scenes were fine, but their relationship stays in the “hooking up” space for so long, that the plot doesn’t progress much. it’s not really adding to the development of their romantic relationship, which made the HEA feel rushed at the end.

My Best Friend's Honeymoon is about two best friends who are secretly (only to each other) in love with each other. Throughout the honeymoon they fall in love and have a more traditional honeymoon than what they were expecting when it was supposed to be with one of their male fiance's planned trip. A lot of this book is definitely predictable (but in the great way that most romances are) but I appreciated how the character developed. A lot of the situations felt authentic to how real people would grow and develop through these situations. I do wish that Elsie had had a chance to grow separately from her family but at the same time I appreciated that she was able to more positively navigate the situation and get her family to actually listen to her. I also really liked how Ginny was able to find herself. one of the things I love about reading romance, especially queer romance, is how it is about self discovery and this one definitely came through on that aspect. The ending was a bit abrupt but still enjoyable. Just an FYI that the sex scenes were very much open door so if that's not your thing definitely skip this one. Overall a 3.5 star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really liked the story and character development in My Best Friend's Honeymoon and I wish there had been more of that. The majority of the book was the two main characters having sex. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy that part of romance novels, but it was too much. I think the sex was a third of the book. I, personally, would have liked more plot and more character development.

This was so spicy. I loved it. I feel they jumped a little too quickly into everything though. It was like zero to 100 once they finally went for it. Maybe that was the point but I wasn't expecting that.

This was a DNF at 11%. Elsie was giving me the ick. Couldn't even break up with a fiancé she knew she had no interest in marrying. I also think the story being told in third person was pulling me out of it. Won't force myself to finish it.

This was a little spicier than I like so I didn’t finish it. I see the appeal for specific audiences (queer, spice lovers) and would recommend accordingly.

4 ⭐️ | 3🌶️

This is my second queer romance read from Meryl Wilsner (I read “Cleat Cute” earlier this month) and they did not disappoint.

Elsie is set to marry her fiance Derrick and after doing everything else everyone else wants her to do, she realizes she’s actually not going to marry Derrick. With the nonrefundable honeymoon on the horizon, Elsie takes her best friend Ginny. Things turn unexpectedly steamy quickly as they both discover what they want and who they want.

🏳️‍🌈 queer romance
💜 nonbinary main character
🤝 friends to lovers
🌶️ spicy

I liked this for what it was, which is basically two friends having lots of sex on what was supposed to be the honeymoon one of them. I’m also happy with the separation that occurred before the reconciliation. However, I just found this to be fairly repetitive and I wish I had more of the friendship prior to them adding in the benefits.

I’ve read several books from Meryl Wilsner. They’ve all been enjoyable - very gay, very smutty. This one, My Best Friend’s Honeymoon, was very much the same.

I really enjoyed this premise of the story - best friends to lovers trope. After breaking off her engagement, Elsie is gifted their scheduled honeymoon from her ex. So of course, she asks her lifelong best friend, Ginny, to come along. Over the course of the honeymoon, their feelings for each other come out and the rest is history.

My biggest complaints were really based on the actions of characters, and therefore it’s kind of silly to be mad about them. It’s part of the storyline and people have flaws and make dumb decisions or say dumb things. That’s life.

I have seen a lot of people complaining about Elsie and how she has no backbone. Be that as it may, it provided a space for the story to start and grow. Sometimes it’s hard to advocate for yourself, especially if you grow up in a large family and often go unheard or ignored. I appreciated Elsie’s growth. This book says a lot about learning to ask for what you want - the worst that can happen is someone could say no. But so much good can come of that too.

I loved that Ginny was fat and that wasn’t ever really talked about as a bad thing. They loved their body and so did Elsie. It felt very empowering to see a fat character that was strong and healthy and not treated less than because of their body. I loved that.

The sex scenes in this book were graphic. Wilsner is a very smutty writer, but I think this was more than I’ve noticed in any of their other books. The whole middle part of the book is just sex scenes, and this isn’t a long book. I did kind of feel like it was almost half of the entire book. So reader, note what you’re getting into if that’s not something you’re interested in.

Overall, very sweet queer love story, with a lot of insight into how childhood trauma (even of the less severe variety) can impact folks for the rest of their lives.

if you omit about 20% in the middle of this book and add some plot to the romance and sex then it would be 3 or 4 stars.
This is a fast paced, cute story with likable characters. I think I wanted more in the buildup to the romance rather than what happens in this book. Also, the first little bit is overly angsty. These are just my opinions, and I think I will give more Wilsner works a read to see if this is typical of their work or if it was just the way this book was written.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the earc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I went Into this book with a little bit of excitement as I love a good friends to lovers trope but this fell a little flat for me. The third act breakup wasn't great because of what it was I wouldn't end my relationship let alone my best friendship over it. But I was entertained which is why I gave it 3 stars

I have such mixed feelings about htis one because it started off so strong!! I loved Elsie so much and related to her in such a real way! Ginny's pining was everything and I loved the love they had for Elsie. Honestly I loved it until their argument because it felt so unrealistic to me that these "best friends" would behave in such a way!! Didn't make sense to me given their characters and they spent too much of the second half of the book apart :(

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I will say I enjoyed the beginning of this book. Elsie is engaged to Derrick, but for over a year does not want to plan the wedding. Derrick decides he will remove all the stress and plan everything! This causes Elsie to assess her life and admit she doesn't actually want to marry Derrick. Since their non refundable honeymoon has already been planned Derrick offers Ginny (Elsie's best friend) the ticket to go with her for the week. Ginny says anything Elsie wants during the week is what they do. During one night Elsie decides to make a move on Ginny which she has wanted to do for forever. Ginnny has been in love with Elsie since high school and their fling starts. This is where the book lost me. I enjoy sex in a book, but seriously the entire middle third of the book was sex. There was no substance to this part to the point that I skimmed the pages to move on to more story line.

Sorry this one just wasn't for me.

I really really wanted to love this but it just wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t really feel as strong of a connection between them as I’d expect. I don’t typically LOVE friends to lovers so this is probably on me. If you do love that trope, hopefully you’ll love this book!

Loved all the representation, and enjoyed the spicy scenes for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Elise is engaged to be married to Derrick, and her best friend has been in love with her for at least a decade and a half.

I didn't love this book, and I didn't hate it either. It took me much longer than I would have liked to finish it. It was a slow burn, and then it gets smutty pretty quickly. What I disliked about it the most what Elise's overreaction to Ginny quitting her job, and the overarching need to just be friends. Overall it was a cute queer story.

Book is out now!

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this story and it was definitely worth the read!

This is my first book by this author. They didn’t wow me but it was an easy read. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mind frame to read it.

DNF

Just couldn't connect to the story- relationship was lacking in emotional chemistry and overwhelmed with physical chemistry to me. Might be enjoyable for others, but just didn't work for me personally!