Ten years after Zac broke her heart by not making a move before she left for college, Melody returns home to her small town, fresh off a breakup, hoping to start over. Her brother immediately folds her back into his friend group, which still happens to include Zac.

And Zac? Well, his feelings for Melody never went away. This man has been in love with her since the age of 14.

At a glance:
- Dual POV
- Second chance
- Brother’s best friend
- Sports romance
- Teenage crush
- Long-term pining
- Only one tent
- Small town
- They sleep better next to each other
- Secret relationship
- Toxic ex

Y’all, this man has been carrying a torch.

Read it for
- The thoughtful gestures
- The treasured mementos
- The heat between Zac and Melody
- The tattoos 🥹
- To see Melody regain her confidence
- The women in STEM rep
- How Zac serves as a role model and safe place to land for his team’s quarterback
- How supportive Zac is of Melody’s dreams

Here are few of the things that irked me:
- I understand that a big part of the brother’s best friend trope tends to hinge on worrying that the brother will not approve of the relationship, but it feels like that is taken to the extreme here. As teenagers, especially with the found family relationship, I can understand why Zac felt the need to heed warnings, but as adults in their late 20s, I wish certain discussions had happened much earlier in the book.
- I would have loved to have seen more open communication. Melody is worried about what may be said, so she avoids conversations.
- Overall, it feels like the story could have been tightened up.

3.5⭐️

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Atria Books. All review opinions are my own.

4.25 ⭐️
2 🌶

🔹️Brother's best friend
🔹️Second chance
🔹️Found family
🔹️Golden retriever MMC
🔹️Secret tatoo
🔹️it was always you
🔹️life "playbook"

This book was SO cute! This was my first Ellie K. Wilde book and I will absolutely be reading more.

This second chance, slow burn, childhood friends to lovers had me kicking my feet and GIGGLING throughout my entire read. The MOUTH on Zac caused me to blush on more than one occasion and his nickname for Melody? SWOONING.

Melody went through a journey through out this book and it was so beautiful to see her finally choose herself and grow into a strong woman.

My only thought was that it was just a tad too long? This didn’t bother me too much because it allowed me to stick with Zac and Melody for longer:)

BOOK REVIEW: Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde⛺️🫠🏈❤️⛈️🐿️📊

“I don’t understand how you’re single.”
“I’ve never been single. I’ve been yours.”

After a messy breakup leaves Melody back in her small hometown of Oakwood Bay, the last thing she expects is to run into Zac—the guy who broke her heart a decade ago. He’s her brother’s best friend, her first love, and, as it turns out, the man who’s never stopped wanting her.

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Brother’s best friend
🏕️Forced proximity (helloooo tent scene😅)
💞Fake dating
🏈Sports romacne

Zac and Melody’s chemistry was ELECTRIC, but what really stood out to me was the balance between spicy moments and the sweet heartfelt ones. Zac is the kind of protective book boyfriend dreams are made of, and watching Melody rediscover her confidence and shine on her own terms was SO satisfying.The found family vibes, especially with Noah, added so much depth, and their banter had me grinning nonstop!

This was my first Ellie K. Wilde book, but it definitely won’t be my last, I’m already counting down the days to Brook’s story!!

Only in Your Dreams is fun, emotional, heartwarming, and everything you could want in a small-town romance. Huge congratulations to Ellie on such an incredible book and release🎉👏—don’t walk, run to Oakwood Bay!

Kate’s rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 (rounding up to 4⭐️’s on GR!)
Spice:🌶️ .5

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the copy of this eARC

Calling all sports romance lovers!! This is for You!

📖 Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde

Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is an adventure from the very first chapter! Let me tell you -- it's worth the ride!!

Melody is a fiesty investment banker who was recently dumped by her ex-boyfriend Connor. Melody moves home -- a place she's been avoiding for many years. Zac is a tall, handsome, golden retriever who coaches college football. Melody and Zac have a heated past and haven't seen each other in years. They are put back together at an annual camping trip with friends. The wild ride starts here.

I was happy and giddy, frustrated, near tears, and on the edge of my seat throughout this entire book. Zac and Melody's story is five stars and worth the read. You get sports, drama, adventure, romance, and spice all in one place!

📚 Read if you like: brother’s best friend, sports romance, childhood friends, mutual pining, spicy romance, it’s always been you
I did not want to put this one down because there was so much tension. I thought this was really cute and I adored Zac and Melody. I just want to give Melody (aka Clover - y’all know I love a nickname!) a hug because of her past 6 year relationship with a manipulative asshole. Zac is a man OBSESSED - he pined for her for 14 years y’all and never stopped. I love an “it’s always been you” book because there is so much mutual pining and tension and that results in some really fun spice 🥵 It’s also a sports romance so the football has me cheering for a fictional team again 😂 There was also a silly fake dating subplot which was fun because of the side characters (I’m so excited to read the Brooks book which comes out in July - Only Between Us). All in all, I thought this was really fun and entertaining!

Thank you @elliekwildeauthor @netgalley @atriabooks for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Only in Your Dreams was a delightfully fun rom-com that came at the perfect time in my 2025 reading journey. My favorite tropes of brothers-best-friend and forced proximity were executed wonderfully. Throw in a bit of forbidden love and second chance romance and it was nothing but fun from start to finish. I enjoyed the spice in this book too! It was fresh and unique. (Unique sounds like the wrong word here but its what fits the best for what I am trying to convey, ha!) Overall I enjoyed this story and the writing style of Ellie K Wilde. Thank you to Netgalley. Atria Books and author Ellie K Wilde for the ARC!

Heartbroken and looking to start over after a break up, Melody comes home to live with her twin brother and get back on her feet. When a disastrous camping trip pushes Mel and the boy, now man, she was head over heels for in high school (who rejected her) together things couldn't be worse. Meanwhile Zac is frozen in time replaying the mistake he made on repeat turning him into a grumpy man full of regrets, so when his opportunity to prove himself lands in his lap, well tent, he doesn't want to miss it. It takes old feelings coming to light, past chances being revealed, pain and hurt getting aired out for these two to take their fling into forever. The realization that Melody and Zac have both let those around them control their happiness is full of obstacles but maybe this time they might just get lucky.

Thank you Atria Books and Ellie K. Wilde for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Only In Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde is a steamy, small town, brother’s best friend sports romance. After getting dumped by her ex and starting her life over, Melody moves in with her twin brother Parker. He quickly pushes her to take his spot on a camping trip with his best friend Zac. Which is ironically the guy she’s been avoiding for ten years. After reluctantly agreeing to help Parker, Melody finds herself in a forced proximity situation with Zac. Zac quickly realizes that he wants to make up for lost time! Will spending all this time together lead to a flame rekindled? From the beginning, I knew I would be be able to really immerse myself in the story, and throughout I was able to enjoy the characters and plot.

This story is packed with football coaches and players, spicy moments, and love! I really loved Zac. I enjoyed having a MMC who would do anything for his FMC. I really appreciated the way he loved Melody loudly. I’ll be honest, I didn’t love Melody right away, but as I read further along I found myself really applauding her for making the choices that she wanted in life.

I’m a sucker for an off limits, brother’s best friend romance. So watching Zac and Melody’s undeniable chemistry unfold was really nice to see. I also love a spicy, steamy book and this book will have you warmed up! You’re in for a treat! The beginning was a good pace me, quickly had action but it also took its time to unfold in terms of the characters relationship, which is why I rated it the way I did, but as the story progressed, I was hooked with the character development, drama, and romance.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book! Wilde really brought to life a story filled with romance, spice, and football players. I rate this book a 4 out of 5. I would recommend this book to those who love sports romances, spicy scenes, and young adult books. If this sounds like something you like, I recommend you check it out!

Thank you again to Atria Books, NetGalley, and Ellie K. Wilde!

4/5 stars
2.5/5 peppers
1/5 buzz buzz

Thank you netgalley for this chance to review this.

This is my first Ellie K. Wilde book. To be honest I went in it blind and thankfully I did because what a ride!!

Years ago, Melody took a chance to tell her brother's best friend that there more feelings for him than just a friend and when given the chance to show her he feels the same, Zac never returns to tell her. Then fast forward ten years when Melody comes home to restart her life after a six year relationship breakup.

Only her brother just "happens" not to be able to go on a friend's camping trip and has his sister take the place only to find that within this friend circle is the man that broke her in the first place all that time ago.

Zac and Melody will fight the elements (iykyk), rekindling a relationship, and even the tension that builds between them for Zac to show her that it's been her for the longest time.

What you'll find:
- second chance
- coming home to the small town
- fake dating (but not really to the MMC)
- Braving the elements while trying not to unalive the man that broke your heart
- reverse grumpy sunshine
- "I have no choice to be close to you"
- it was always you and forever you
- brother's best friend
- found family
- I'm keeping shirt on because you're not ready to see what's underneath.

I loved this book to be honest. I loved the tension and the building of making things right. And when she finally pieces things together, realizing that he never let go of her, it just made my heart melt.

The spice was good, wasn't over the top and I had some respect for him not going allll the way because he waited for her to believe him and not make it a "getting it out of our system". Chefs kiss.

3.75⭐️

Melody has just returned to her hometown after her 6 year relationship ended. She has no money, only a part-time job and no where to live, so she has to move in with her twin brother. And now, she is back in the orbit of the one man she has avoided for the last 10 years, her brother’s best friend Zac.

Zac thought he ruined his chance with Melody 10 years ago, now that she’s back he is going to do everything he can to prove to her he’s sorry and that he wants her, while also trying to keep his football coaching job!

So when I say that Zac is down bad I mean he is Down Bad for Melody. He has spent 10 years in love with her and he has done things over those 10 years to prove it if he ever got the chance.

Melody is hard to trust, separation from her ex has proven that her relationship was toxic and controlling. She doesn’t trust herself and she is still heartbroken over Zac.

I loved Melody’s journey in this book, she had to slowly gain back her confidence and learn to trust herself to make her own decisions. Zac was so incredibly supportive and their communication was so great through this book.

I also loved the side characters in this story, their friend group was so much fun. The relationship Zac has with his players was really sweet as well.

If you like books where he is obsessed with her, there are secret tattoos, and great character development then you should definitely read this book!

I absolutely LOVED this book! The relationship between the main characters, the side characters, the elements that were a surprise and the ones that I sort of saw coming! This was so much fun - and with great tension. The MMC in this book reminded me of the MMC from “The Wall of Winnipeg and Me” but if The Wall of Winnipeg was a golden retriever!

This is probably one of the sweetest second-chance romances I've read in a long time. I loved everything about it. The small-town vs. big city vibe, the football talk, and all of Zac Porter's swoonworthy moments - like the dream house he built?! SWOON. The way he never stopped loving Melody and yearning for her was so well written. Can't wait to read more of this series.

♾️/⭐️; 3🌶️
I am in love with this book. This story follows Melody and Zac in a small town, brother’s best friend, second chance romance. I was instantly sucked in to the storyline of these two. The author made them very relatable and I caught myself laughing out loud so many times as well as gushing during some scenes. I really connected with Mel, her backstory and how she worked through some past experiences to come out the other side. Zac fell first and never stopped. He is everything you want in a romance book boyfriend. The author had the main characters actually talk to each other, which is always refreshing. There was no third act break up and a Great HEA. I can’t wait to read about Brooks’ story in book two!

I love you, I'm sorry...
This book was a roller coaster. I had signed up to be on Ellie's arc team because I loved her last book, but this one was rough for me to get through. I skipped the sex scenes because they were cringing me out, which made the book significantly shorter. The love story was there, but it felt like the characters fell in love off-page, and we only saw the aftermath. I want to feel empowered after I finish a book, and this book left me feeling unsatisfied. The characters were cute but lowkey undeveloped. (Also the fact that they used the title as the last line?) I'm really bummed about this one because I wanted to like it so much!

This is the perfect rom-com. I absolutely ATE THIS BOOK UP! Devoured it. Melody is such a relatable character and I loved her. This follows her story, and in a way is a second chance romance. Melody was 18, getting ready to leave for college, when she admitted she had a crush on her brothers best friend. Only it didn't go the way she thought it would. She left and never looked back. That is until her abusive 6 year relationship ended and she found herself back in her hometown shacking up with her brother until she could get back on her feet. Will all her feelings for her brothers best friend resurface? Will she finally get her one true love? Seriously go get you this book and read it! You will not be disappointed!

Only in Your Dreams checked a lot of the boxes of what I am looking for in a romance novel. There was balance between the spice, plot, and character development as Wilde tackled emotional growth and difficult perspective shifts.

Melody Woods left town after high school graduation (and one of the most heartbreak nights of her life) and didn't really look back. BUT after an unexpected break up she moves in with her twin brother Parker. Parker pushes Melody to take his place on an annual camping trip, the one catch is its with the one guys she's been avoiding. Zac Porter fumbled the night of graduation and it's been his biggest regret, faced with a second chance Zac is on a mission to prove to Melody that they are in fact end game.

I absolutely loved the forced proximity camping trip scenes and the unique take on fake dating. I loved the banter between Zac and Melody and the tender moments that they shared. Wilde found a wonderful balance in depicting the development of Zac and Melody's relationship. Zac's full support of Melody and the reminders like "Just so you're aware, it's not required that you preface your feelings by calling yourself names. It's not your job to keep my ego intact, least of all, by minimizing the way you feel" made him a new favorite MMC.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book!

Amazing! I absolutely loved this book. I loved the story line and the characters. I loved everything about this book.

Formerly published independently, Canadian author Ellie K. Wilde's first in the Oakwood Bay is now rereleased through Simon Schuster and I enjoyed it SOO much!!

This was a second chance, forced proximity, twin brother's best friend, second chance romance where football coach, Zac has regretted his decision to walk away from Melody ten years ago and has been pining for her ever since. Fresh off a breakup where her ex was a master manipulator and emotionally abusive, Melody is trying to start over back in her hometown. She unexpectedly strikes up a friendship with Zac and the two bond, slowly finding their way back together.

A SPICY slow burn with fake dating, found family, a smart, bad ass FMC and a dirty talking cinnamon roll former Football player, this book delivered on all the things. If you liked Friday night lights and are a fan of authors like Tessa Bailey or Meghan Quinn you won't want to miss this one!!

I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. It was also excellent on audio narrated by two favs, Teddy Hamilton and Carly Robins.

4/5 stars

Thank you Atria Books for the advanced reading copy!

TW: abusive rx/gaslighting/emotional manipulation

Overall I really loved this book!! Spice, romance, character growth & development, conflict, and resolution all A+!!

What I loved about this one —
🤍 so many fun tropes!!! Brother’s best friend, second chance, one bed, etc. woven together very nicely
🤍 instant chemistry between Melody & Zac — and it was believable too!
🤍 steamy moments were very well done imo - this is definitely open door romance!!!!
🤍 Zac’s character was so sweet one second and then had such an unexpectedly dirty mouth — that juxtaposition is so fun
🤍 I’ve never read a brother’s best friend before and thought that added sm to this story. Will be seeking that out again!!
🤍 miscommunications were not annoying and the conflict was typically quick
🤍 both MC’s were so lovable

What I didn’t love —
🤔 really my only complaint is I hate when there’s secret characters won’t talk about, like “I can’t tell you yet” or “we can’t have that conversation yet” like as the reader I want to be put out of my misery on that one lol