Do you know what you want in life? Elsie and Ginny are figuring it out in this book.

Lifelong best friends find themselves on a honeymoon planned by Elsie's ex-fiance. Ensue tons of will they /won't they.

This book gives such a realistic look of what it's like to be in your mid twenties, finding yourself looking at the results of a ton of decisions you didn't know you were making.

This book gets 5 stars from me because there were so many little moments that I related to. From being the daughter of a small buisness owner, to all the Midwest references and even the use of Jenifer when that's not your full name (justice for all of us with nicknames for full names lol).

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Friend's to Lovers, miscomunication
Representation: Pansexual, Non-binary character
Spice: Open door, 3/5 🌶

Read as a part of @transrightsreadathon

TW: Flashbacks to childhood bullying, which includes lesphobia

This was enjoyable and well written, just a tad on the spicy side for my liking. However, I did think it was well written.

Elsie and Ginny have been (co-dependent) friends since middle school. When Elsie breaks up with her fiancé after he plans a surprise wedding, she is left with a non-refundable honeymoon to Santa Lupita. It only makes sense that Ginny would join her on the trip. The thing is, Ginny has been in love with Elsie since they were young and one bed in the nice warm Caribbean isn’t going to change that.

I found Elsie to be quite annoying (read:unbearable) but I generally liked Ginny enough to help me get over it. Overall I enjoyed this one! Though it was definitely fluff and I do wish we got a bit more romance and plot.

Blair Baker and Emily Shaw were great narrators for this story!

Writing this review, I feel pretty conflicted. Overall I thought the book was good, but it was missing some key things that would have made me love it.

What I liked:
I thought it was the perfect rom-com set up! Wedding is cancelled, honeymoon is non-refundable, person takes best friend, ultimately leading to ✨feelings✨ Ginny is the absolute best and they deserve all the happiness.

What I wasn’t a fan of:
I just really didn’t care for Elsie. She seemed so in her own world and just had some mean girl behavior disguised as sweet and innocent. Also, while there was a lot of spice (which I didn’t mind) there wasn’t a lot of actual romance. I wanted more from a friends to lovers situation.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Overall Rating | ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve read books by Meryl Wilsner before, and I enjoy her representation of queer characters…and the spice is always good! This one missed the mark a little for me though.

While I appreciate the nonbinary representation, it was really hard to follow in audiobook format. The they/them pronouns were hard to distinguish if the author was talking about Ginny or about Ginny and Elsie together. I think if I were reading instead of listening I might’ve been able to better follow that.

I also really don’t enjoy a miscommunication/noncommunication trope, and this was full of it. So many of Ginny and Elsie’s issues could’ve been solved by having a conversation.

I really liked their relationship, and I loved Elsie discovering her wants and learning to speak up for herself. But overall it was just average for me.

This friends to lovers romance is well written, there is tension and dual POV with dual narrators. However, I disliked Elsie's characters so much and her behavior continued to get worse as the novel went on. She is the most selfish and manipulative character I have read about in a long time and her gaslighting Ginny upset me to my core. I ended up DNF at 70% because of her behavior and how ridiculous the third act break up fight was 🤦‍♀️ It was so immature

I really wanted to like this novel more because friends to lovers is a trope I adore but I just found the characters flat the immature for my taste.

This book was so heart warming. The characters were really well done. I love their journey from friendship to love. Highly recommend for romance readers!

Listened at 1.75x
I am a fan of Meryl Wilsner's writing. It is always clear and concise and very well plotted.

This friends to lovers romcom had it all. The narration was well acted, the story flows seamlessly. Navigating sexuality when so young is confusing and I appreciated that we see how both MCs were able to work through life.

I enjoyed this story and give it 4 solid stars.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this ALC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to receive the arc for this audiobook- the plot was so interesting and it seemed like something I would absolutely love! However, it fell extremely flat. While I did like the character of Ginny (non-binary main character), I hated the trope of her being head over heels in love with her best friend since childhood…especially since the character she was in love with was Elsie. Elsie was a huge let down of a character to me- her character and actions ruined this book for me.

Tropes: friends to lovers, miscommunication (aka Elsie is the most annoying pushover character EVER and I truly didn’t understand any of her actions in this book), queer romance (non-binary representation!).

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook.

Yes. Everything yes. It Cover? Great. Story? Great. It felt relatable, especially to us queer folks that crushed on our grade school best friends. I appreciated the pacing. Although I was predicting the beats, that is where I feel comfort in a romance novel. Of course, I am most happy for the time to live and find themselves separately after the honeymoon. Also, the spice level was just right, could even go a little more explicit!

Clearly I should have paid closer attention to one of the characters having basically her entire ass out on the cover because I was shocked at how much heat was in this (compared to the other Meryl book I’ve read). This book is best broken down into its 3 parts:

Part 1, The backstory: Ginny has been in love with Elsie pretty much the entire time they’ve known her. But after Elsie turned down their ask to a high school dance they’ve pined from a distance. Elsie works for her family business where they don’t listen to her ideas and she’s engaged to a man that she isn’t all that crazy about. When he plans a surprise wedding and honeymoon, Elsie calls things off and takes Ginny instead.
Part 2, The f-fest: While on the trip, Ginny tells Elsie she can have anything she wants as long as she asks for it. Which yeah that means hiking and snorkeling but ends up turning out into things that they don’t need to leave their cabin for…. This is some of the most sex I’ve read in a trad pub romance book. If you want degradation, rimming, period sex, squirting, FISTING; this is the book for you.
Part 3, The over-reaction: The writing on the wall for the 3rd act conflict gets set pretty early on in the book, but it’s still pretty much the biggest complaint I have about this book. Elsie is pretty rude and a bit of a brat, but things come together for the pair by the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for an arc of My Best Friend’s Honeymoon!

My Best Friends Wedding by Meryl Wilsner had so much potential to be the book that I would be recommending to everyone and their grandmother's dog this summer, but it fell a bit flat. The humor that was attempted was just that - an attempt. The characters felt flat, especially Elsie for some reason, and this just wasn't my favorite. It's giving "book that I wish was written by a different author", maybe.

This was a super SPICY friends to lovers romance that sees Ginny, a nonbinary Butch lesbian going on her recently single pansexual Jewish bestie Elsie's Caribbean honeymoon where the two acknowledge they've always had more than platonic feelings for each other and they decide to go for it - HARD!

Things get HEATED fast but cool off just as quickly once the two return home. I wasn't a fan of the mid-plot break up but I did think there was a lot of great character growth and fantastic queer rep. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Spicy and Sweet have never described a book better! I absolutely adore Ginny. They are exactly what I needed and I have such a book-crush on them

I wanted to enjoy this so much more seeing as I've read Meryl Wilsner's other books and found them to be delightful, but MBFH didn't stack up for my unfortunately. I'm super appreciative to see more NB romances out there, and did love that representation. However, I was left unsatisfied by the build up of the romance and them finally making the transition from longtime friends to lovers.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance audiobook! This was cute and also extra hot- a full middle third is just the characters fucking in extremely sapphic ways. If you’re expecting there to be a plot, there’s not much of one. Elsie kind of annoyed me but I LOVED Ginny. I both wanted them and want to be them. Great Masc non-binary lesbian rep.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. All I can say is I was unable to get through this story. I didn't find a connection with the characters. I didn't finish.

Tried digital first, then tried audio and unfortunately i just wasn’t invested at all. I didn’t like the FMC and i think that ultimately led to me deciding this one just isn’t for me. I got to 35% in the book when i decided to DNF. sorry!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook ARC of My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner. These are my honest thoughts.

This was my first LGBTQIAP+ novel, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience. While I haven’t naturally gravitated toward this genre in the past, I wanted to step outside my usual reading preferences and give it a chance. I’m grateful for the early access to this story, as it allowed me to explore a new perspective in romance.

The novel follows lifelong best friends Elsie and Ginny. Elsie is engaged to her fiancé, Derek, and was been taken aback when he has planned every detail of their wedding—including the honeymoon—without much input from her. All she has to do is find and be in a dress. However, as the wedding approaches, Elsie begins to feel conflicted about everything, leading to a heartbreaking decision to call it off. With the honeymoon already booked, she decides to take the trip to the Caribbean anyway—this time with Ginny. What starts as a getaway between friends soon turns into something more, as long-buried feelings surface and their relationship takes a romantic turn.

Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, not only because of its inherent slow-burn and yearning but also because of the deep emotional connection it builds over time. I loved seeing Elsie and Ginny’s dynamic evolve, and Wilsner did a great job capturing the tension and uncertainty of transitioning from friendship to romance. The audiobook narration was also well-executed—I never felt lost or disconnected, and the story flowed seamlessly. The pacing was steady and natural, without feeling rushed or dragged out.

Overall, My Best Friend’s Honeymoon was an enjoyable read and a great introduction to Meryl Wilsner’s writing for me. I’d rate it 3.5 stars—charming, heartfelt, and a solid choice for fans of the friends-to-lovers trope.

Elsie has been engaged for a year and a half but hasn’t started planning the wedding yet. She gets the surprise of a lifetime when her fiancé reveals they’re walking down the aisle in a week. That’s not the future Elsie wants for herself so she breaks things off and convinces her best friend to join her for the honeymoon. It’s high time for Elsie to be a little selfish and ask for what she wants so they make a deal. But Ginny never expected Elsie would want them.

My best friend’s honeymoon is a queer f/nb romance with an idyllic vacation setting, the friends to lovers trope and plenty of steam. What’s not to love.

Something I took with me from this one is that it’s alright to ask for what you want and knowing your worth. What’s the worst thing that could happen? It’s a powerful message.

I wish the mcs communication was more straightforward but other than that I have no complaints. The narrators did a great job. The time flew by while I listened. I highly recommend it!

Read this if you like
🩷Friends to lovers
🫶🏼LGBTQ+ romance
🔥Spice
🏝️Vacation setting