I absolutely loved this book! Ellie K. Wilde has become one of my auto buy authors and she honestly never disappoints. The way she writes characters and builds the relationships is unmatched. I’ve read all of her books at this point and loved seeing Brooks and Siena’s story unfold after meeting him in Only in Your Dreams. The tension, the flirting, the hate to love, the fake dating, he falls first, and PETE (!!!) this book was just perfect. Thank you so much NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC!

I was so honoured to be picked to read this book as an ARC!

A fake dating romance is not always one of my favourite but it was acceptable here! I loved both characters to a point but sometimes I also really turned against Brook, he seemed like he was missing something that might have made him a really good book boyfriend for me! Though he was sweet and charming.

Piper was a great character and had everything I normally like about FMC! She felt whole as a character to me and I really connected with her and felt bad for her at some parts! (You’ll know when you read it.)

The banter and spice was great in this book and was one of the big things that kept me going through it!

I would recommend this book.

TDLR - book is a full blown touchdown ! proving it's never too late for a comeback—on the field or in love.

Our hero's are a former superstar and a hometown celebrity. He is still smoldering with untapped passion and raw ambition. As he navigates the high-stakes world of a professional sports comeback, he's not looking for distractions—until she walks into his life. Our heroine, strong and grounded with a quiet resilience, finds herself at the right place at the right time or maybe its the wrong place right time. She's not chasing fame or fairy tales - she just wants to keep her business afloat.

What follows is a romance marked by maturity, mutual respect, and a heat that builds naturally but never overwhelms the emotional stakes. The chemistry is electric and undeniable, with spicy scenes that are tasteful yet bold—spaced just enough to enhance the journey without eclipsing it.

But what makes this novel stand out isn’t just the romance or the heat—it's the depth. Both characters carry the weight of lived experience, and their "fake" relationship is built on trust, timing, and the shared understanding that love is what happens when you are busy making other plans and fate decided to nudge you in the right direction of your person finally.

spolier - you don't need to know sports to appreciate the book and we do get a HEA thank goodness its so much better to see those when you are invested in the characters. it is a dual pov which is great to see through the others eyes and pov but I need a book two about the side characters if you know you know.

This is the second book in the Oakwood Bay series which follows an ex-football star who needs to date a fan-favorite woman to get back on his team but they have chemistry they can’t deny. I loved the first book and this was just as amazing. I already was introduced to Brooks and enjoyed his character so it was easy to just fall back in love with him. I loved the conflicts in this story and the cute moments between the couple. This book is told from both Brooks and Sienna’s pov.

Brooks is a sweetheart who wants to be back on the team and be with Sienna. I loved his character and seeing him grow. He’s such a sweetheart with all green flags. Then we have Siena who has dreams of her own and doesn’t want to fall in love with Brooks to leave her parents’ business behind. She also grows throughout her story and I loved seeing her being able to do what she loves. There are many side characters, we get a brief mention of book 1’s MCs but I believe there is something coming for Parker and Summer. The romance is fake dating, forced proximity, and friends to lovers with great chemistry and steamys scenes.

The ending was well done and I am excited to see where this series goes next. Wilde is a fantastic writer and I am loving her books. They have all been so great. I recommend checking this one or the first one out because you don’t want to miss out.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

CRYING SCREAMING LAUGHING. Ellie did it again. I recommended the books to everyone I know again. I love every character in here.
Retired NFL player wants to return after overcoming some fears about the field. He meets a chaotic girl who loves the water and spontaneity. They strike it off well until Brooks (MMC) questions Siena’s (FMC) motives, which puts her off. But there’s pictures….. so now they have to fake date to make Brooks seem like a more wholesome guy.
Absolutely a joy to read, and while I do not know a damn thing about football, I at least learned something about the wide receiver position and who usually ends up doing touchdowns. Thank you so, so much to Ellie and her team, as well as Atria and NetGalley. So extremely appreciated! I CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 3 I PRAY ITS PARKER AND SUMMER eeEeeEeEEe

Was shocked that I liked this sequel better than the first book but WOW!! 🤩 The romance and banter was amazing between the main characters. I always have a hard time when characters fall for one another so fast, like it's hard for me to believe that it's real.

Before I read this book, I listened to the first one. I like knowing the characters and the backstories for any characters that already have their on books. I liked Brooks from book one. He showed that he was a great friend and willing to put his neck on the line for the people closest to him. Brooks and Sienna had a sweet meet-cute that soon turned sour because Brooks had some pretty high walls after being betrayed. He soon learned that Sienna's walls were higher and he worked to break them down. This book was slow burn in the best ways possible. They formed a friendship before forming a relationship. This series is one I plan to recommend in the future to anyone wanting and easy, slow burn, sweet romance.

Ellie K. Wilde scores another touchdown with “Only Between Us,” her new sports romance novel coming out this July. Perfect timing since it’s a terrific beach read!

This book is the follow up to “Only In Your Dreams,” in which Wilde introduced readers to the small town of Oakwood Bay. I loved that book so much that I was so excited to see what the next installment would bring. I was not disappointed! It’s a fun, funny, well-written story that should appeal to lots of romance readers.

“Only Between Us” follows Brooks Attwood, an former NFL star who lost his career due to a bad injury and has not been handling it well. His goal is to make it back to the league, but his image needs a makeover.

Even though she’s miserable, Sienna Pippen runs her family’s bait & tackle shop out of an unending debt of gratitude to her adoptive parents. While Sienna had dated a pro football player in the past, she was not looking for a replacement. That said, she has a meetcute with Brooks at the football stadium which winds up going viral. The two end up in a fake dating agreement, and well, you can guess what happens!

This is a sweet and sexy book that also deals with issues of betrayal and loss, plus the baggage people can hold on to for so many years - either out of thanks for being rescued from a horrible situation, or out of anger from being scorned. The characters have issues with trust, stability, and more, and it’s beautiful to see how they help one another heal and move forward into a healthy and loving future together.


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Slow burn, Only Between Us is book two of Ellie K Wilde’s Oakwood Bay series. Definitely can be read as a stand-alone, (I plan to read book one once my library has it in stock) I was able to seamlessly learn the character dynamics of our core group, most likely introduced in book one. Both our FMC and MMC are so relatable, even though MMC is an NFL player he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve. His sensitivity was heartwarming to me, especially since I usually pick such anti-hero’s to throw my hat in for. Brooks had been hurt before, badly, and erected some pretty big walls, but after meeting Siena he can see her walls are even higher. I love a good Slow burn romance, but there was a bit of a lull midway through, but it picked up soon after. You definitely get the HEA Brooks and Siena deserve, and were set up for the next in the series which will be Parker and Summer I believe. Can’t wait for that one as well.

Glad I picked this up and thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free ARC for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was a fun romance novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you Netgalley for the early access on this one!! I absolutely loved it. Rivals to lovers isn't typically my go to trope but this one is definitely an exception. Reading how our FMC worked through her stuff to be able to be present in her relationship with our golden retriever MMC??? My heart couldn't take it. 10/10 recommend!

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the main characters and Brooks friends in the story. I loved the chemistry between Brooks and Sienna.
I had a hard time keeping up with the some other characters in the story. I didn’t know who they were and I didn’t feel like they were properly introduced.

Ellie K Wilde has quickly become an auto-buy author for me. She has this very incredible ability to hook the reader in the first few pages that really sets her as one of the next great romance authors writing in this space. This book was the perfect follow up to Only In Your Dreams - I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

I didn't expect to love this story so much, but I truly fell in love with Siena and Brooks. Their banter is humorous, while also heartwarming. The spicy scenes were well done, and the book was an easy, make you feel good, kind of read.

I am obsessed with this book and the whole Oakwood Bay series!! These books are the perfect sports romance. It has everything you need. The romance, the spice, the banter, it’s there!!! Everyone should go read this!

Only Between us was such an epic, heart-melting story! It was giving meet cute, enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity ??? Only one bed available at the inn?? It had everything my heart desires in a romance book. I loved everything about Siena and Brooks love and how easily yet difficult this was for them. It was such a hot and heated read!

This was so cute! Fake dating can be hit or miss for me but I actually really enjoyed it in this book (probably because it didn’t last that long 😅). Brooks is a new fav MMC for me despite a couple corny lines I had to overlook. The spice made up for any cringeworthy lines ;) I also liked seeing the characters from the first book and watching Siena join their crew, and meeting some new characters on Siena’s side. And PETE <3

I loved being back in this world, and I definitely enjoyed this book more than Only In Your Dreams, but I will be reading anything else Ellie K. Wilde writes (especially a Parker/Summer romance)! Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the eARC!

I ate this up so quick. I'll be honest, the story was kind of predictable but it was still fun and enjoyable. I really liked the characters and the banter between them, the chemistry was there and it was also emotional. There was also a good amount of spice to it, so beware if you're not into spice.

I'm pretty sure Brooks and Siena are the definition of soul mates. They were the perfect couple, you couldn't help but root for them. This book had amazing banter, tension, and chemistry, but it was also emotional and vulnerable. The main characters were likeable and you could really empathize with them. This was a really a good book, I loved it so much!!

It was.... fine. I remembered next to nothing about the previous book, so I went in pretty much blind. It introduces another set of people to likely setup a third book, and I kept getting the potential third book couple mixed up with the couple from the previous book.

Brooks is a former pro football player with an axe to grind with relationships. When his less than stellar reputation risks his chances of being drafted by his former team (or was it his "goal" team?), fate intervenes. Enter Siena who needs... someone to help promote the fishing bait store she runs since her father left? I don't know. All of that was a bit murky to me.

It was fine. I'll likely forget it in a week.