⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯, 𝘔𝘰𝘮,’ ” 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘡𝘢𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. “ ‘𝘔𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯.’ 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺.”

if you like these tropes:
○ small town romance
○ brother's best friend
○ sports romance - he's a football coach
○ second chance
○ he builds her dream house without her knowing
○ one tent/forced proximity (not a bed, but damn close)
○ "i sleep better with you"
○ slow burns

you're going to want to move this up in your tbr! hehehe

i'm obsessed with zac and how he treats melody like she's the most precious gem in the entire world. he's so protective and growly over her. i also love how she brought him out of his gloom & into the sunshine again. they both made each other better and it was so beautiful, especially after melody realizes just how cruel and abusive her ex was. do i think melody should've also gone to a therapist? yes, but i choose to believe she did in the future outside of the book!

my only critique, which isn't that big of a deal, was that i didn't quite love the fake dating thing the author snuck in towards the middle, but tbh i ignored it lol. and yes i do understand why she did it, but based on the beginning of the book i was a lil confused.

however, it did not distract me enough from the absolute SMUT this one delivered. we got a man who loves to dine 😉

This book really caught me off guard with how much I ended up enjoying it. At first, I had some doubts—mostly due to the cover. The shade of blue gave off serious hockey romance vibes, which this definitely is not.

Early on, I also struggled to keep the characters straight. With names like Connor, Zac, Brooks, and Parker, it felt like a lineup of basic white boys. But once I got my bearings and could tell who was who, the story really started to click.

The portrayal of the FMC’s emotional state after her breakup felt incredibly relatable. That said, her journey toward self-realization and healing felt a bit rushed, and I wasn’t fully sold on how easily everything seemed to resolve for her. Zac’s unwavering devotion also leaned a little too perfect to feel real.

Still, the emotional vibes were strong, and the story found its rhythm in a way that pulled me in.
Rating: 4.25 stars

"I've never been single, I've always been yours."

Now I don't usually go for second chance romances or brother's best friend but this was such a good read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Zac, by far, is the sweetest MMC I've read about all year. He was so caring and attentive to Melody, from buying stuff around his home to make her more comfortable to buying tickets so that she could come to him when he couldn't come to her was just so sweet and considerate of Zac. I didn't love the fact that they pretended to have Melody dating another man but it all worked out in the end.

Familiar tropes, heartfelt tension, and a generous dose of spice make this an enjoyable if predictable ride. Great for fans of angsty second chances.

“ I have been STUPIDLY, PATHETICALLY feel-nothing-unless-she’s-in-the-room in love with Melody Woods for fourteen years.”

Welcome to the book I have been the most down bad for (almost as much as Zach is down bad for Melody!!) since I first read it last June!!!! (When it was still indie published and Ellie kindly sent me a copy!)

Seriously. I have read this book THREE times since last June. I cannot. Get. Enough. Of these two!! I read it an an indie book, then @atriabooks and @netgalley so kindly sent me the e-arc, and then I also grabbed it on audio because TEDDY HAMILTON narrates Zach!!! 🫠🫠

I could write 600 words about my undying love for these two and this book, but I’ll spare you all the fishy details. These two. Zach and Melody. I’m so glad they found their way back to each other, cause they were always meant to be. They just needed a little bit of help from some very good friends! Melody is able to rebuild her life after her awful ex gaslit her so badly, she had no idea what she wanted from her life or who she was. Zach, bless his heart, was so kind and so patient with Melody, always there to boost her confidence, and help her figure out what she wants to do. But! He has to really work for it cause Melody isn’t just forgetting what happened all those years ago. Zach, is nothing of determined (he’s a football player after all!) and slowly wins her back. (Almost too slowly tho, the slow burn in tho one is TORTURE!!- yet absolutely needed and so worth it!)

My most favourite pert? Other than Zach being so down bad? The red shoelace that Zach kept wearing on his wrist despite what he did all those years ago! Oh and also, the secret tattoos he has on his torso!! These two things show just how in love with Melody he has always been 🥺🥺

And their steamy scenes?! Aka the staircase scene? 🥵🔥🔥 I mean, there’s also the falling in the mud scene during the camping trip and the sharing a bed scene ( cause they can’t sleep without each other….)

Ellie really outdid herself with this one, and the second book! Brooks is next and I LOVE LOVE him! I’ve already read his book and I cannot believe that Brooks is even more down bad than Zach?! He is tho!

This book made me feel all the feels. Crying, laughing, giddy. Love a good friends to lovers and the author delivered this 100%.

I'm a big, big Ellie K. Wilde fan from her indie days, so I couldn't be more excited for this series. The tropes in this specific installment tend to push my buttons in the worst way (personal preference!), but the writing was as good as ever and I loved the vibe. There's some great emotional depth, plenty of sexual tension, and "it's always been you" vibes. Their history was a little messy for me, but anyone who loves a second chance romance is sure to enjoy it. And I am absolutely looking forward to more from the series!

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

This one hits alot of your favorite tropes.
-Brothers best friend
-sports romance
-he falls first
- second chance.

This one was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I loved everything about it. and No Third Act Breakup!!!

4.5 STARS ⭐

Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde was such a fun start to the Oakwood Bay series. If you love small-town, brother’s best friend, sports romance this one may be your cup of tea.

This was my first book by Ellie and I loved listening to the audiobook and reading along. Melody Woods is back in her small hometown of Oakwood Bay after being gone for 10 years. Her life is turned upside down, her boyfriend of six years dumps her, she's broke, and on top of that her twin brother, Parker is pushing her to take his spot on a camping trip.

Zac Porter has been pining for his best friend's twin Melody since they were in their teens. She has always been off-limits, after messing up his chances ten years ago, Zac believes he's lost her for good. But life works in mysterious ways, when Melody shows up at the campsite instead of Parker, he knows he must fight and prove he's worthy.

Gosh, these two were so cute. Their chemistry and banter were top tier. The way Zac was obsessed with Melody was everything 🙂‍↕️. Only in Your Dreams was sexy and funny with wonderful secondary characters. I'm excited to read the next book in this series.

This is a great brother’s best friend, enemies-to-lovers story with plenty of spice. After leaving a six-year, mentally abusive and manipulative relationship, Melody has nowhere else to go but back to her hometown — a place she hasn’t been in ten years. Staying with her twin brother, Parker, is her only option.

On a camping trip, Melody reunites with Zac — her childhood crush who broke her heart after graduation. Forced to share a tent, they have no choice but to get along. Zac, who has always had feelings for Melody, had kept his distance for years out of loyalty to his best friend’s wishes to stay away from his twin.

Watching their connection slowly blossom as they spend more time together (while trying to keep it a secret from Parker) was so much fun. Their chemistry felt natural, and the tension between them made it impossible to put the book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free advanced copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Only in Your Dreams was a really sweet book. I was a little frustrated that it took them this long to find each other again. It wasn't super believable that this guy would be pining after her for all those years, would try once, and then drive away. I still enjoyed their story though.

4.75⭐️ 3🌶️ 🎧4.75

Relationship dynamic: MF
Tropes/Microtropes/Vibes/Reps:
🏡 Small town
🏈 Sports (he’s a coach)
🧢 Brother’s best friend
🫶🏻 Childhood friends to lovers
💖 Second chance
♾️ It’s always been you
💞 Mutual pining
🧎🏼‍♂️He falls first and hard
🤫 Secret relationship
🏕️ One tent

Book Publisher: Atria
Audio Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Narrators: Carly Robbins + Teddy Hamilton
Narration type: dual
Writing perspective: first person, dual POV
Standard length (pages): 431p
Standard length (time): 12:38
Listening speed: 2.5x
Listened via: LibroFM
Read via: Kindle
ARC/ALC provided by: Atria + NetGalley / Simon and Schuster + LibroFM

📖 I loved this book! ‘It’s always been you’ is one of my fav tropes and Ellie absolutely slayed here with Zac and Melody. Zac really, really epitomized the idea of pining and he hit the “he falls first” twice over. And after what Melody went through she deserves someone like Zac to absolutely worship her. I loved their friend group, and Mel’s sneaky twin. The camping trip at the start of the book is truly exceptional! I laughed so hard, I had second hand embarassment, and I also had to fan myself. This book had all the vibes!

🎧 Carly and Teddy sounded amazing as Melody and Zac. Carly has such vocal clarity while maintaining a softness to her sound. She also has such a great pitch range, with a rich medium tone that can easily drop lower for male voices and also goes higher for female dialogue.
Teddy sounded naturally cast as Zac and did a fantastic job expressing Zac’s grumpy demeanor and complex emotions surrounding his job and Meldoy. I highly recommend giving this a listen or diving in for an immersive experience!

Melody Woods left the small town she grew up in with a broken heart and a determination to get over her brother's best friend. Finding herself back after 10 years due to a breakup that has her realizing she's not happy with her life was not in those plans. Neither was being thrust into the arms of the boy that broke her heart via a camping trip gone wrong. Zac Porter became a college football coach for the local university after staying in the hope that the girl he fell in love with but couldn't have would return. She's his best friend's twin sister; he already let her down once, but he's not letting her get away again.

This book has so many tropes that it would probably be easier to say which ones it doesn't include, but it's the predictability of the plot that made it so enjoyable. The stakes never feel too big because you know they're going to end up together and happy no matter what, so as they go to silly lengths to keep secrets from friends and loved ones and push each other to attain what they want even if it will break them apart, it's just the bumps along the road that make the trip fun.

Zac and Melody are great together, and the light sprinkling of other characters Wilde introduces manages to inject different voices to keep things from getting monotonous. It helps open up the story and make it about more than just their drama and doubts.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the fun romance read!

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

✨Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde✨

Genre: Romance
Pages: 432
Series: Oakwood Bay, Book 1

📚Ten years after one of the most heartbreaking nights of her life, Melody Woods is back in her small hometown of Oakwood Bay, broke, jaded, and unceremoniously dumped by her big-city boyfriend. To top it all off, her twin brother, Parker, is pushing her to take his spot on a camping trip with the one guy she’s spent a decade avoiding.

For college football coach Zac Porter, his best friend’s twin sister, Melody, has always been off-limits. And after fumbling his chance ten years ago, a devastated Zac was sure he’d lost Melody for good. So, when Melody shows up at the campsite instead of Parker, Zac realizes that now is the time to prove to her that they were always meant to be, no matter how long it takes to make up for his teenage self’s mistake.

Reeling from the truth of her last relationship, Melody plans to stay in town just long enough to get back on her feet. Then, she’s gone again. Meanwhile, Zac is facing an uphill battle to coach his team to its first winning game in years, to show Melody how she deserves to be loved, and to keep Parker from ever finding out. Maybe then, being with her will be more than just a dream.

📝A small town, sports romance that was pretty spicy! Now, do we buy the initial plot line of the MCs being stuck together at a campsite for days because their friends forgot them? No we do not, but we are going to accept it because I love a good forced proximity trope😂

Tropes: small town, second chance, forced proximity, sports romance

💫Thabk you @atriabooks for my #gifted copy 💫

This book was so adorable! I loved how much Zac helped Melody and encouraged her to be her own person after her previously emotionally abusive relationship. I love their love story and just couldn’t get enough of them!

I was zoned in the story as soon as I began reading. Melody hates Zach for standing her up ten years ago while Zach decided to let her go after five years when he sees her holding hands with a guy. These knuckleheads are clearly not over each other but have a lot of growing to do in order to keep the other. A favorite trope of mine, brothers best friend or best friend’s sister, with fake dating but not with the MC and it was hilarious.

This book was cute. I’m a sucker for a forbidden/best friend’s sister trope. I enjoyed reading it. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for that trope or a cute football type romance.

"Only in Your Dreams" is a delightful blend of second chances, brother's best friend, and small-town charm. The story centers around Melody Woods and Zac Porter, pulling readers into a heartwarming journey of rediscovered love and personal growth.

Ellie K Wilde crafts a narrative that is both cute and sweet, striking the right balance between romance and personal exploration. The chemistry between Melody and Zac is palpable yet tender, making their interactions thoroughly engaging. While the book isn't heavily spiced with romantic scenes, the ones it does include are expertly and tastefully written, adding depth to their emotional connection.

I would highly recommend "Only in Your Dreams" to anyone who enjoys a captivating second-chance love story, especially those who appreciate the themes of brother's best friend and the allure of small-town life.

I adore small-town romances, so the chances of me enjoying Only in Your Dreams were pretty high—and for the most part, it delivered. Ellie K. Wilde gives us a trope-filled treat with small town charm, brother’s best friend, sports romance, forced proximity, and yes… one bed. Add to that a stunning cover and a perfectly intriguing description, and you’ve got a recipe to pull in romance readers.

What I appreciated most was how the story tackled psychological abuse in relationships—highlighting how it can often be disguised as care. That kind of emotional depth isn't always explored in romance, and it stood out here. Plus, no third-act breakup? Yes, please.

That said, there were a few things that didn’t quite work for me. The characters' behavior often felt much younger than their age, more like college freshmen than adults nearing 30 which made the relationship dynamics feel more YA than I was expecting. Melody, especially, was a tough character to connect with, and her indecision got frustrating at times. Her brother came across as controlling, which didn’t help things. Zac, on the other hand, was definitely the highlight; loyal, patient, and the most grounded of the bunch.

Also, the book felt longer than it needed to be. A little trimming could have made the pacing tighter, especially since some plot beats became predictable over time. The spice was plentiful, but I found myself wishing for more balance with emotional build-up and pining.

All in all, it’s a solid read. I think fans of Hannah Grace or those who enjoy trope-heavy romances with a high spice level will find a lot to love. It wasn’t a perfect fit for me, but it still had its enjoyable moments.