Maybe it's the fact that I have two brothers and their friends are some of the most annoying creatures on the planet, but brother's best friend is always an iffy trope for me! BUT...I think this may have sold me.
I love a bit of forbidden-but-not-really kind of romance and this was right up my alley. I also love groveling and grand gestures (THE HOUSE!!!), and this book had both in spades. It was really refreshing that there wasn't a third-act breakup because I always dread them, but I did find myself getting frustrated with Melody (like, girl, open your eyes) towards the end. Aside from that, I adored it. The spice was spicing and the romance was romancing and I had a great time devouring this entire story in one night.
(Also, I cannot wait for Brooks' book!! I need it expeditiously!)

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Ellie K. Wilde for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

- sports: he’s a college football coach
- second chance
- brother’s best friend
- he falls first
- forced proximity
- fake dating… his bestie!
- no breakup
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
- dual pov
- dual narration by Teddy Hamilton and Carly Robins

Premise: after a bad breakup, you return to your small hometown and can’t seem to stay away from your brother’s best friend, who broke your heart 10 years ago.

Zac is a boy obsessed, and we love to see it! From stocking her favourites (including multiple lip balms) to keeping a shoelace tied to his wrist for 10 years to literally building her dream home and keeping the inside mostly blank for her to put her mark on it, he’s the definition of down-bad.

While he tries to keep things platonic with Melody until she catches up to him and his feelings and is all in, the boy struggles 😂. Especially when they platonically sleep in the same bed every night!

Melody has excellent character growth. As she examines her past relationship, she realises it was toxic and that her ex was emotionally manipulative. With Zac’s advice to create a playbook, she takes back control of her life and finds her dream career.

I also like the coaching angle and how Zac takes Noah under his wing. Plot-wise, there are a lot of things happening to keep the book fast-paced and engaging.

Finally, I definitely recommend listening to the audio because Teddy and Carly are the dream team.

4.25/5 stars! We love a man who pines for his woman (10 years?!)

I am a sucker for the brother's best friend trope, and this book was no exception!! I had so much fun reading this book, and I can't wait for the next one. This also had the perfect amount of spice throughout the story. I do feel like the pacing could have been better as some parts felt like they dragged on.

Zac and Melody were so sweet, and I loved seeing their relationship develop from enemies > friends > lovers. I wish their story focused a little more on the forbidden romance/fake relationship and not as much on the miscommunication trope. I did love seeing Zac pine for Melody, and loved the change-up in the "who hurt you" trope.

All in all, I had a blast reading this book! I will definitely read the next one and am so excited since it's focused on Brooks (he deserves everything).

**Thank you to NetGalley & Atria books for the eARC and my honest review!**

It was a cute romance read! I enjoyed the tropes and college setting of the book. It felt like a romantic comedy in a book, which I enjoyed; however, it felt like nothing made me fall instantly in love with it. I kept waiting for the "WOW" moment in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for an ARC of this!

If you like a “one that got away” you’ll love this. Small town, brothers best friend and a second chance romance all wrapped up in one. Melody and Zac have been off limits from each other forever but when she moves home after a devastating break up who knows what’ll happen. Zac is a sweetheart of a MMC. He allows Melody to grow and heal all while falling in love with her along the way.

Such a sweet read!

This was the first book I read by the author and I loved it and can’t wait to read more!
This was such a cute story and I loved Zac and Melody. Melody comes home after years of being away and Zac is determined to get her back while Melody is determined to stay away. But, that doesn’t last long. Melody and Zac are perfect together. Zac is the best and truly loved Melody and would do anything for her. He is so sweet and supportive. Melody has been through a lot especially with her ex. And she had a lot of character growth. The had the best banter, the spice and chemistry was top tier and I just ate this book up!

Rating ⭐️: 5/5
Spice 🌶️: 3/5
Dual POV

🩵 Sports romance
🩵 Forced proximity
🩵 He falls first
🩵 Brother’s best friend
🩵 Second chance

Thank you to Netgalley, Ellie K Wilde, and Atria books for the arc.

Only in Your Dreams was absolute perfection! It was not only a quick and easy read but also heartfelt and swoon-worthy. It had a little bit of everything you could possibly want: a brother's best friend, a cinnamon roll mmc, sports drama, "who did this to you", along with many other great tropes. The spice level was just right—not too much and not too little.

Melody Woods returns to her hometown after avoiding it for the past ten years following her breakup with her boyfriend of six years, who left to go on a six-week boys' trip. She has been staying away since her high school crush, Zac Porter—her twin brother's best friend—broke her heart the night before she left for college in the big city. Zac has been pining for Melody all these years. Can they reunite and forgive each other to move forward in their lives?

I absolutely adored this book! After reading several lackluster books, I found myself in a reading slump, but this one pulled me right out of it. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I would highly recommend this book to any fan of steamy romance.

Growing up, Melody was super close with twin brother Parker and his bestie Zac. Ten years after a heartbreaking night with Zac and a subsequent decade of silence, Melody returns to their small town of Oakwood Bay after an emotionally abusive relationship ends and she is forced to face the truths of how she was treated by her ex. After an unexpected camping trip with Zac, she must confront old feelings. For his part, Zac, who has been in love with Melody all these years and is now a college football coach, sees this as his second chance to prove himself to her. As Melody plans her small town escape to head back to the city, Zac fights to rebuild both his team and their relationship—without her brother finding out.

3.5 stars (rounded to 4 on GoodReads)

This one has ALL the tropes - second chance romance (kind of), brother's best friend, forced proximity (one tent!), small-town romance, he falls first (ish), grumpy-sunshine (but she's the grump!), fake dating (assistant coach has a new job to do now), secret relationship and sports romance (football).

It's a bit of a long romance read (over 400 pages), and I still have a few questions (10 years without contact and then not wanting to know what happened that night??), but I appreciated the changes in scenery - the camping trip, the football field, the apartments, etc. The characters have great banter, Melody is rebuilding her confidence and independence post-break up (go girl!) and Zac's underperforming football team has a hopeful new receiver for his kind-hearted NFL-worthy quarterback. You'll be rooting for this whole crew from start to finish.

Thank you so much to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC of this new-to-me author's book!

I could not put this book down. If I had a spare moment to read, I was grabbing my kindle. Miss Ellie Wilde, you truly know how to write a captivating book.

I loved everything about Melody (Clover) and Zac's relationship. The longing and love between the two of them was so well written. I always love the brother's best friend trope, but this went past my expectations. Zac showed his love in huge gestures but continued to let Melody grow into her own person, especially after her ex-boyfriend and moving from the city to her hometown. Melody went through a lot during the time her and Zac were apart, and it makes me so happy to see how much she's grown since the beginning of the book. I was kicking my feet and smiling at my kindle when the meaning behind his gestures were revealed; ex. the lip balms and the house.

Overall, I think this book was very well written and I can not wait to read more of Ellie Wilde books.

Only in Your Dreams is a second chance small town football romance. Zach was the high school star quarterback, now coach at the local college. Melody is Zach's best friend's twin sister. Zach and Melody had a moment before she left for college, but Zach messed up in order to stay loyal to Parker, Melody's brother. Now Melody is back after being in an abusive relationship and finding solace with Zach despite their history. She is trying to get her life together before even thinking about a relationship, but Zach is there for her and she finds herself falling for him. This book has a lot of yearning and it was a pleasure to watch Melody fall in love with Zach again and for Zach to finally get his girl!

Highly recommend this book if you love:
Found family
Small town romance
Football
Quirky heroine
A hero who built his life around her dreams

This was a fun surprise and I only regret that I didn't read it sooner! Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for the ARC!

Thanks again to NetGalley and Atria Books for this read!

Only in your dreams felt like a long lost friend to me and I had no clue why that was..

It was a comfort and a longing I haven’t felt in a long while and I realized it was my second chance romance obsession kicking in and helping me feed my love for the trope.

Zac and Mel were friends who longed for one another for years, when one of them decides enough is enough and confesses their feelings it all goes south. After ten years of built up resentment, hurt, betrayal and hot tension they meet again and it’s completely different.

A couple days stranded in the woods and months rebuilding their friendship makes the story and production of this plot worthwhile!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital ARC of Only in Your Dreams.

This was a quick and easy read. It kept me entertained and I loved the MMC. I had a few character issues with the FMC, but I think it's just personal preference. The spice had my jaw dropping (lol). I'm not sure if I would read another of hers, but I liked it well enough.

Melody moves back to her hometown after a breakup, and is processing the end of a relationship with a controlling ex. She ends up on a group camping trip sharing a tent with the boy who broke her heart 10 years ago. Zac is now the head coach of the local university football team, and has been holding a candle for Melody all these years. This was definitely a miscommunication-based plot, but I enjoyed the relationships between the characters in the friend group, and the chemistry between Melody and Zac was excellent. I think I saw that there's a second book coming, and I would definitely want to continue the series!

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde is a heartfelt second-chance romance filled with longing, redemption, and small-town charm. Melody Woods returns to Oakwood Bay bruised by life, only to find herself face-to-face with Zac Porter—the man who let her go a decade ago. Forced together on a camping trip, old wounds resurface, but so does the undeniable chemistry between them. Wilde crafts an emotionally rich story of love, regret, and the courage to fight for a future that once felt impossible. With swoon-worthy moments and a satisfying slow burn, this is a must-read for romance fans who believe in second chances.

Thank you Ellie K. Wilde, Atria Books, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I wanted to like Only in Your Dreams so bad. The description was everything I wanted in a my brothers best friend romance. However, this should have been a DNF for me. I continued to read hoping that it would get better and I wanted to know how it ended. Did I know how it would end, yes, but I still wanted to see. I felt this book was at least one hundred pages too long. It just went on and on and to me really had no substance.

It started off good and I was drawn into it. The close proximity of a camping trip, being stuck with your brother's best friend, the one you had a huge crush on in high school. But from there it really just went down hill. There was a lot of spice with little story line.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K Wilde for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

375 stars!

This is for those who love a good brother's best friend and second chance romance! Zac is cold to everyone but her. He is so protective of her, and I ate it up! Melody is regaining her confidence and recognizing her worth, and I loved going on this journey with her. I feel like we've all been in that place and it's so heartwarming to watch her character arc. The tension between Melody and Zac was PALPABLE. I could tell from the very beginning that they had insane chemistry.

Only in Your Dreams has:
Tropes
💙 brother's best friend
💙 sports romance (football coach x she's a fan)
💙 forced proximity AND SO GOOD
💙 he falls first
💙 second chance
💙 small town romance
💙 secret relationship/hookup

In some areas the pacing just didn't work for me and made the story feel a bit choppy.

I adored this book so much. It was charming, heartwarming, romantic, and absolutely bursting with banter and angst. Zac and Melody had immediate chemistry, and the tension was immaculate. Melody is a great female lead. She’s just gotten out of an awful six year relationship, and needs to find herself and figure out what she wants. I loved that she learned to stand up for herself and go after her dreams. And Zac. Zac is EVERYTHING. He’s been desperately in love with her since he was a teenager, and he’s got it so bad throughout the entire book. He has a cute nickname for her, and does the cutest stuff to show her how he feels. I was swooning. He’s a walking green flag. He’s supportive, gentle, kind, protective, and an absolute cinnamon roll. I adore him. If you want a second chance romance about the one who got away, where the hero spends the entire book pining and longing for his girl, pick this up immediately.
🍀
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
🍀
Read if you like:
▫️small town
▫️brother’s best friend
▫️second chance
▫️football coach
▫️he falls first and harder
▫️great banter
▫️dual POV
🍀
Thank you to Atria Books, Ellie K. Wilde, and NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Melody hasn’t seen Zac, her brother’s best friend, since that night 10 years ago. Now she’s back and Zac has a lot to make up for.

If you like:
- Dual POV
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Forced Proximity
- Second Chance
- Small Town
- College Football Coach
- Pining
- Groveling

I don’t always like second chance romances, but this one was GREAT! So much love, support, humor, and angst! It made me laugh, cry, and feel validated. I need to know where to find a Zac.

Also, Melody has a chapstick / lip balm obsession (purse lip balm, car lip balm, desk lip balm...), so I liked her immediately.

I received an ARC of Only in Your Dreams from Netgalley, and all opinions here are my own.

This one was really cute! Small town, mutual pining, healing from a past relationship, there was a lot packed in here! The story was so good and so well written. The pacing was a bit mixed at times so it definitely felt longer than it should have, but I loved it either way!

I received an advance review copy from @atriabooks on @netgalley for my honest review. Only in Your Dreams is the perfect mix of second-chance romance and small-town charm, making it an absolute win for sports romance lovers. Zac Porter, a dedicated college football coach, and Melody Woods, his best friend’s off-limits twin sister, have undeniable chemistry that kept me hooked from the start. Their history is full of heartbreak and missed chances, and watching Zac fight to prove his love after all these years was both emotional and satisfying. And the theme of lucky clovers woven throughout the story was such a sweet touch, symbolizing the hope and second chances that define Zac and Melody’s journey.

My only complaint? At times, the story felt a little too long, and lagged some in the middle. But even then, I was invested in their journey and rooting for their happy ending. If you love second-chance romance with a dash of football drama and a sprinkle of fate, this one’s for you!

Read if you like:
🍀Small Town Football
🍀Brother’s Best Friend
🍀Second Chance
🍀Boy Obsessed
🍀Spicy Slow Burn