Brett Attwoods is on his way back to the NFL, except the team he wants to play for may not take him after a stint of questionable choices. Siena Pippen, fresh of the break up of her NFL boyfriend, isn't looking for a relationship, much less with someone so drawn in the spotlight. But when a social media post makes it seem like the two are dating, they decide to lean into the image to help both of their lives.

First and foremost, this book was so fun. I really like Only in Your Dreams, but I may like this one just a bit better. Brett and Siena were hot from the get go and I loved that. You can feel the attraction without it feeling forced and I couldn't wait to see how they fell for each other.

Both Siena and Brett have gone through tough periods that make them second guess their worth. Seeing both of them care for one another and see each other is charming to read. The way Brett showed Siena love and reassurance, even when she was willing to continue to "play pretend," ugh I love. He was a man OBSESSED with his girl and I wouldn't want it any other way. Also these two were so hot? I was unprepared for how spicy these two were, but it did A LOT for their dynamic and how much you wanted to root for them to be in a real relationship.

Such a strong second book, I can't wait to read more if she continues this series!

Thank you Atria Books, Netgalley and Ellie K Wilde for an eARC. All thoughts are honest and my own.

The chemistry? Off the charts.
The banter? Chef’s kiss.
The slow burn tension that explodes into full-on spice? So worth the wait.

What starts as a transaction turns into late-night confessions, real feelings, and a realization that maybe their “fake” relationship feels a little too real. Brooks is the perfect blend of cocky and soft once his walls start to crumble, and Siena is a firecracker of a heroine you can’t help but root for.

I loved how the story balances swoony romance with high-stakes drama, but also dives into themes of redemption, family loyalty, and learning to trust again without ever losing its fun, flirty edge.

If you’re into sports romance with heart, heat, and a whole lot of tension, this one’s a touchdown. 🏈🔥

✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ Football Romance
✔️ Small Town
✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ One Bed

Brooks has one goal - to get back into the NFL team he left when he was injured. Siena has one goal: to make enough money to continue to run her dad's bait shop. Wouldn't you know it - to meet their goals, they need each other's help. However falling in love complicates everything.

Siena and Brooks had a fascinating dynamic. She is definitely a black cat but he is no golden retriever. He's not optimistic enough for that; he's emotionally brittle too, which made their coming together so sweet.

There was also a very clever plot twist that happened during an emotionally vulnerable moment that made me gasp and whisper oh noooooo!

Highly recommend this one and I cannot wait to see what Ellie comes up with next. 5⭐️

Steam 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

I enjoyed this book! Some of my favorite tropes include fake dating, so this was right up my alley. The banter and tension were too good. The characters had great chemistry. I loved all of the side characters as well.

Thank you for this arc Netgalley!

A spicy sports enemies to lovers with emotion and depth!

I genuinely liked both MCs. I just felt like the book was slightly too long and too focused on the spice. The character development and plot were lovely, and I think the spicy scene took away from the plot vs adding to it.

My Ratings:
🧍🏽‍♀️ 4/5 Characters
🌶️ 4/5 Spice
🎬 4/5 Ending
🧩 4/5 Plot
💫 3.5/5 Overall

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Adored it! So cute! This book is a touchdown of a romance, pun intended.

Brooks Attwood, a former NFL star with a comeback on the line, and Siena Pippen, the fiery ex of a league darling, are forced into a fake dating scheme that’s as combustible as it is charming. What starts as a media-savvy ruse to salvage reputations soon spirals into a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers perfection.

The banter was bantering, the tension palpable, and the spice left me blushing and cheering for more. If you’re a fan of fake dating, football, and a romance that tackles both humor and heat, this book is your MVP.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc!

This book was so freaking cute! I knew I would adore Brooks because of his name alone. It had been a long time since I read the first book in this series. And all I could remember was that I adored the characters. And the author didn’t disappoint with making me adore these two. It was so witty and banter filled. It made you laugh and feel like you could relate to the characters overthinking and fight at the same time. The loyalty in this book was so prevalent. Such a solid read to get you out of a slump!

Only Between Us is the second book in the Oakwood Bay series from Ellie K. Wilde. The first in the series, Only in Your Dreams was one of my favorite books in 2024, and I was so excited to get the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the continuation of the series. Note: you don’t have to have read Only In Your Dreams to enjoy Only Between Us - it totally can stand in it’s own.

Two years after retiring from the NFL, Brooks Attwood is trying to make a comeback. After some NSFW photos of him leak, he finds himself needing to scrub his image to appeal to the team of his dreams, the Rebels. To do that, Brooks enlists the help of the former girlfriend of the face of the league and internet influencer, Siena Pippen. Siena agrees to fake date Brooks to increase her status so she can garner more brand deals and make more money - Money she needs because her rent just increased, her car broke down, and she is trying to keep the fishing shop she inherited from her father alive.

Siena assumes Brooks is an egotistical player like her ex. Brooks assumes Siena is an air headed gold digger like his ex. In order to sell the fake dating, they need to get past their dislike for one another and fake (date) it till they make it.

The banter between these two was everything. Brooks has such a mouth on him, and Siena matches his freak at every step. I loved the push and pull of their relationship as they learned more about each other. Going from interest to dislike to friends to more. It was a scorching will they/won’t they/why won’t they just kiss already?!??!! And then when they finally do - the chemistry is off the charts.

When the fake dating lines start to blur, the complexity and vulnerability Brooks and Siena show for each other, letting their walls down was so emotionally charged. It had me tearing up!

The pacing did get a little slow in the middle, and I kept waiting for something more to happen. Like a little more conflict or something. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly to feel real and didn’t feel like it matched the rest of the story.

The side characters in the friend group were amazing, as usual. If the next book isn’t about Summer and Parker I will riot!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay okay okay. Loved this one. I’m only knocking it down a star because I’m not here for the spice. There was a lot of skipping. Which is fine for some but not for me.

With that being said, I LOVE BROOKS & SIENA SO MUCH. Omg. I loved their whole beginning interactions and how it was truly based on getting to know each other. Idk, I just really loved them. I loved how well their personalities meshed and I loooooved the third act “breakup” because it wasn’t even one. THATS WHAT I WANT. I want the MMC to not back down when the FMC pulls away and that’s exactly what happened. Because that’s reality sometimes. I loved that she promised she’d figure it out and followed through with it. I didn’t even have to question how the book would end. ❤️

There were some things that felt random and thrown in but I also appreciated the grief moments because my dad has passed as well.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS.

The chemistry and banter between these two characters is off the charts. Silly moments without feeling cheesy. Spicy scenes that left me sweating. I loved every word of this.

Only Between Us is now one of my favorite books. Brooks Atwood makes me swoon! Siena Pippen and Brooks have the most delicious chemistry and banter is off the charts. Love all the spice!!! This book may have put me in my football era!!! Bring me more Brooks Atwood please!

Now I am hoping for a follow up book. Oakwood Bay Series Book Three please... maybe Summer and Parker need a story!!! I am ready!!!

Love love love! Brooks and Siena had a very realistic relationship in terms of overcoming their baggage and I really appreciated that, It was fun, sexy, cute, and heartwarming

this was fake dating with actual tension—like snapping at each other one minute and almost kissing the next kind of tension. brooks is the walking disaster you somehow trust anyway, and siena? absolute queen. the chemistry??? off the charts.

it’s messy, it’s fun, it’s got just the right amount of heartache and heat. if you love sports romances with enemies-to-lovers energy, scandal, and characters who feel real even when they’re pretending—add this to your list. immediately.

I literally finished this book with a big smile stuck on my face.

I love the fake dating trope. Especially when fake feelings slowly turn into something real, and this book did not disappoint.

The banter between the two main characters was on point, and I absolutely loved seeing a strong, sharp-tongued FMC who doesn’t take crap from anyone. Siena’s had a rough past, but despite everything she’s been through, she’s grown into a confident young woman, even if a part of her is still haunted by what she’s been through.

And Brooks? He’s the kind of man every woman deserves. Funny, driven, protective… He’s the first to fall, and he’ll do anything to make sure the woman he loves is safe, even if he’s a bit too possessive for my taste sometimes.

I’ll be honest. Whenever a book promises a lot of spice, I tend to hesitate. I’m in it for the romance, and too often, steamy scenes take the spotlight at the expense of emotional depth. That wasn’t the case here. The romance completely swept me away and made me smile like an idiot more times than I can count.

I might have wanted the breakup scene to be a bit more dramatic. I live for drama in books (not in real life) and that’s probably the one tiny thing I felt a little let down by. But in the end, the way the author wrote it actually stayed true to who the characters are, so it made sense.

Bottom line: I loved this book. And yes, I even teared up a little when Siena decided it was time to finally move forward.

If you're into sports romance, this one’s a must-read. And personally? I can’t wait to see where things go between Parker and Summer.

4.5 ⭐️

I should have liked this book but I just couldn't get into it - it was a DNF for me, which is very rare.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me, story was good and writing was good just too spicy and I didn’t love the characters.

This was such a satisfying, well-crafted romance. The characters felt real and layered, the emotional beats landed beautifully, and the love story unfolded in a way that was both believable and swoony. I was completely invested from start to finish.

It’s the kind of book that reminds you why you love this genre—heartfelt, romantic, and full of just the right amount of tension. A definite 5-star read.

I enjoyed Only In Your Dreams, so when I was sent Only Between Us, I was excited to continue the Oakwood Bay series. But overall, I thought this book relied too heavily on tropes, something was off about the pacing, and it was trying to do too much at once.

- fake dating
- sports romance
- explicit scenes

A lot happens upfront between Siena and Brooks, but then plateaus for a long time? This is where the pacing just felt off to me. I found the plot a bit flimsy too that her publicity with a pro football player would help save her parents business. I get that she has a platform and it would make her more popular, but something about that premise just felt a little...convenient? Brooks came off a bit flat, nothing about his character really drew me to him. It took me over a month to read it, which to me generally signals that I'm not loving it.

I have really been enjoying sports romance recently, and Wilder's sophomore novel was a nice addition to my repertoire. Only Between Us follows Brooks, a NFL player who was forced to retire after an injury and is trying to get back into the sport, and Siena, the ex-girlfriend of another NFL player with whom Brooks crosses paths in a small town where she runs the family business. I know barely anything about the NFL, but Wilder takes a more fictionalized approach, having Brooks play for a made-up team, so knowledge about American football is optional to enjoy this book. Brooks has to clean up his public image in order to get signed by his dream team, so he and Siena arrange to fake-date in order to make him look more wholesome and committed (Brooks comes across as pretty cinnamon roll-y to begin with, but we learn he wasn't always that way).

It alternates between Brooks's and Siena's POVs, so we are able to get to know both of them. They are both 3-dimensional characters who have some emotional stuff in their past, and I liked the exploration into that in the context of their fake-dating setup. Siena deals with what appears to be abandonment issues after having had to be taken in by her adoptive parents as a teenager, and Brooks is still reeling from his ex-girlfriend's infidelity. I always appreciate romances where the characters have been burned before (because those stories helped me cope with a bad breakup many years ago) and Wilder depicts that so well.

Equal parts entertaining and emotional, I just really liked this one

Thank you for the arc!

Ellie didn’t again. This was just so cute! Fake dating blurred lines just it never gets old. Lots of feet kicking and out loud giggles for sure with this one.