My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is Meryl Wilsner’s fourth book, cementing their place as a prolific voice in contemporary queer romance. Following their previous works—Something to Talk About, Mistakes Were Made, and Cleat Cute—Wilsner delivers a familiar yet fresh take on the friends-to-lovers trope with their signature blend of pining, emotional intimacy, and steamy scenes that leave readers fanning themselves.
The Plot: When a Honeymoon Becomes the Perfect Setting for Confessions
The premise is both simple and delicious: Elsie Hoffman has been engaged to her college boyfriend Derrick for a year and a half, showing no enthusiasm for wedding planning. When Derrick surprises her with an entirely planned wedding scheduled for one week later, Elsie realizes she’s been sleepwalking through their relationship and breaks things off. But there’s a non-refundable honeymoon to Santa Lupita (a fictional Caribbean island) already booked—and who better to join her than her best friend of fifteen years, Ginny Holtz?
Ginny, who has been secretly in love with Elsie since childhood, agrees to a simple rule for their week in paradise: Elsie can have whatever she wants, as long as she asks for it. What begins as requesting activities and restaurant choices quickly evolves into Elsie asking for kisses, touches, and more—turning their friendship into something neither can ignore, even as they fear what returning to real life might mean for their relationship.
Character Development: The Heart of the Story
Wilsner excels at creating characters whose emotional journeys feel authentic and earned. The dual perspectives between Elsie and Ginny reveal their internal struggles while maintaining tension throughout the story.
Elsie Hoffman
Elsie is a classic people-pleaser who has spent her life going along with what others want—working at her family’s hardware store despite having ideas that are constantly dismissed, agreeing to an engagement she was lukewarm about, and generally avoiding conflict. Her journey toward recognizing that her desires matter is both satisfying and relatable. By the book’s end, when she finally confronts her father about rebranding the store and Ginny about her true feelings, readers will want to stand and cheer.
Elsie’s character evolution feels natural rather than forced. Some key moments in her development include:
- Ending her engagement when she realizes she doesn’t want to marry Derrick
- Growing comfortable voicing her sexual desires to Ginny during their vacation
- Standing up to her father about her ideas for the hardware store
- Taking the ultimate risk by confessing her love to Ginny at the farmers’ market
Ginny Holtz
Ginny is steadfast, supportive, and has been pining for Elsie since they were teenagers. As a nonbinary character (using they/them pronouns), Ginny’s identity is integrated naturally into the story without becoming their defining characteristic. Their decision to quit their job and pursue woodworking full-time parallels Elsie’s journey toward asserting herself.
Ginny’s character growth centers around:
- Learning to make decisions for themselves rather than always prioritizing Elsie
- Creating boundaries when they realize their dynamic needed to change
- Building their woodworking business on their own terms
- Finding the courage to be vulnerable again after their previous rejection
Relationship Dynamics: Why It Works
What makes this romance successful is the fifteen-year friendship underpinning Elsie and Ginny’s relationship. Wilsner effectively demonstrates why these two belong together through:
- Their long history of supportive friendship
- Their ability to communicate (most of the time)
- The way they encourage each other’s growth
- Their genuine delight in each other’s company
The central conflict following their week in paradise feels earned rather than manufactured. Ginny’s discovery that Elsie knew about their job resignation triggers fundamental questions about whether they’ve shaped their life around Elsie’s needs rather than their own. This leads to a necessary separation that allows both characters to grow independently before coming back together stronger.
The Spice Factor: Steam with Emotional Resonance
Wilsner doesn’t hold back on the intimate scenes between Elsie and Ginny, delivering encounters that are both explicit and emotionally resonant. What makes these scenes particularly effective is how they advance the plot and character development.
The progression of their physical relationship mirrors Elsie’s growing comfort with asking for what she wants. Each intimate moment pushes her boundaries a little further—from that first kiss to exploring new desires she never felt comfortable expressing with Derrick. For readers who enjoy steamy content, Wilsner delivers while ensuring these scenes serve the emotional core of the story.
Writing Style and Pacing
Wilsner employs a straightforward, conversational writing style that makes for an engaging reading experience. The alternating perspectives between Elsie and Ginny offer insight into both characters’ mindsets while maintaining narrative momentum.
The story’s timeline is well-structured:
- The engagement breakup and trip setup
- The honeymoon in Santa Lupita
- The conflict and separation
- The resolution and happy ending
This pacing allows for thorough character development while keeping readers invested in the outcome. The flashbacks to Ginny and Elsie’s high school years, particularly the painful moment when Elsie rejected Ginny’s invitation to a dance, provide crucial context without slowing the present-day narrative.
Thematic Elements: Finding Your Voice
At its core, My Best Friend’s Honeymoon explores several meaningful themes:
- Self-advocacy: Both protagonists learn to speak up for their needs and desires
- Identity beyond relationships: Elsie discovers who she is apart from Derrick and her family; Ginny builds a career based on their passion
- Friendship as foundation: The romantic relationship succeeds because it’s built on fifteen years of genuine friendship
- Risk and vulnerability: Both characters must risk rejection to find happiness
These themes elevate the novel beyond a simple vacation romance to a story about personal growth and authentic connection.
Critique: Where the Novel Falls Short
While My Best Friend’s Honeymoon has many strengths, there are a few areas where it doesn’t quite reach its full potential:
- Secondary character development: Characters like Derrick, Elsie’s family, and Sue (Ginny’s woodworking mentor) serve mainly to advance the protagonists’ journeys rather than feeling fully realized themselves.
- Conflict resolution: The reconciliation after their fight happens somewhat quickly given the depth of their separation. A few more scenes showing their individual growth during this period would have strengthened the resolution.
- Setting detail: While Santa Lupita provides a beautiful backdrop, more sensory details about the fictional island would have further immersed readers in the tropical paradise.
- Convenient timing: Some plot elements feel a bit too neatly arranged—Derrick’s sudden appearance after the breakup, Elsie’s family immediately accepting her ideas after years of dismissal, and the speed with which Ginny establishes their business.
Comparison to Wilsner’s Other Works
Fans of Wilsner’s previous novels will recognize their talent for crafting complex queer characters in compelling romantic situations. Like Mistakes Were Made, this novel features significant heat level, though with more emotional foundation than the hookup-turned-romance of that story. The slow-burn aspect of their debut Something to Talk About is somewhat present in the fifteen years of pining, though the actual relationship development happens much more quickly once they reach Santa Lupita.
My Best Friend’s Honeymoon feels most similar to Cleat Cute in terms of emotional depth and character growth, while maintaining Wilsner’s signature steam level.
For Readers Who Enjoy…
This book is perfect for fans of:
- Friends-to-lovers romances
- Vacation flings that become something more
- Characters with years of pining
- Queer representation that feels authentic
- Steamy scenes balanced with emotional connection
- Characters finding their voices and advocating for themselves
Readers who enjoyed books like Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material, Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, or Alexandria Bellefleur’s Written in the Stars will likely appreciate My Best Friend’s Honeymoon as well.
Final Verdict: A Satisfying Romance with Heart
My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is a good read for its compelling character development, steamy romantic scenes, and satisfying friends-to-lovers arc. Wilsner continues to prove themselves as a reliably entertaining voice in queer romance, delivering stories that balance genuine emotional depth with undeniable chemistry.
For readers looking for a contemporary queer romance featuring characters learning to advocate for what they want—both in love and in life—My Best Friend’s Honeymoon delivers a heartwarming, sexy journey well worth taking. Elsie and Ginny’s story reminds us that sometimes getting what we want is as simple—and as terrifying—as asking for it.