Meryl Wilsner is writing some of the best queer romance today, and My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is no exception. I’m perhaps a little biased — I’ll read anything Wilsner writes — but I can confidently say that this friends-to-lovers destination romance is their best yet. My Best Friend’s Honeymoon has plenty of Wilsner’s trademark elements: impeccably written sex scenes, quips galore, and characters you’ve just gotta root for! But notably, this is their first novel that features a nonbinary main character, one who is also fat! In a sea of skinny sapphic romance novels, I found Wilsner’s latest to be a refreshing change for the genre.
Ginny and Elsie have been best friends for the past 15 years, and they’ve been in love with each other for most of that time (classic). Despite having intense, confusing feelings for each other (love, one might argue) they’ve written off these feelings as deep friendship. However, after Elsie’s fiancé plans a surprise wedding for her, she realizes he’s probably not the one for her. Left with a honeymoon and no spouse, Elsie instead brings Ginny, her best friend, her constant companion. After all, who else would she bring? Finally free of a relationship she never wanted to be in, and thousands of miles away from the demands of her family’s store, Elsie starts to practice asking for what she wants (at Service Top Ginny’s suggestion, naturally). Turns out 1) Elsie is good at asking for what she wants, and 2) she might actually want Ginny after all.
Wilsner does so many things well in this novel. The world-building is superb: The honeymoon takes place at a resort that caters to queer couples, which, in a way, gives Ginny and Elsie the permission to fully inhabit the role of honeymooners. The pacing is consistent, zippy! I took this book from a hair salon, to the Q train, to Coney Island, to a soccer game, and even to an “is this a date or are we friends?” hang (jury’s out, but I think it was not a date), and the novel kept pace with me. Ginny’s experience as a fat person shows up in several places throughout the novel: They bring a seat belt extender on the plane, they recall a yoga class where the cues weren’t as inclusive of their body shape, and most importantly, Elsie’s desire for Ginny is so physical, and includes their body. In an era when mainstream media is shifting back to a “skinny is in” approach, I appreciated how intentionally Wilsner wove in these moments.
But my favorite thing about this novel is how well Wilsner writes intense queer friendship, expansive love that grows beyond the boundaries of platonic, erotic, romantic, and all the other types of love the Greeks wrote about. About a third into the novel, Elsie and Ginny are at a swimming hole. They take a selfie to show others where they are, but the resulting picture is just them in the frame. Elsie invokes her favorite pet name for Ginny, “Ginnifer” (not their real name), and they try to dunk each other in the swimming hole. The entire experience is full of giggles, deep understanding, and shared history, and we see this throughout the novel. They’ve been best friends for the past fifteen years. They know what makes each other tick, where every last mole is on each other’s bodies. Their friendship is so precious, so beautiful. It’s no wonder that they’re scared about doing something more with each other! Wilsner has created impossibly high stakes in giving us two characters who have a lot to lose if this doesn’t work out.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the sex in this novel. Wilsner excels at writing sex scenes. Their website bio even calls out the sex in Mistakes Were Made, which, by the way, is a frequent reference in my life. My best friend is on their fourth re-read. The sex in My Best Friend’s Honeymoon blew me away. Even just from a craft perspective, as someone who is writing queer romance, I want to write sex scenes the way Wilsner does. This time, they introduce gentle power play, safe words, and a whole lot more, and I have to wonder if the shared history between Ginny and Elsie is what allowed them to explore less vanilla sex with each other much sooner because they’re starting from a baseline of trust. Whatever the reason, just know that the sex in this book is really fucking well done.
My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is a fun romp and would be equally at home in your beach bag or on your morning commute. I can’t wait to see what Wilsner writes next.
My Best Friend’s Honeymoon is out now.
lol not me literally crying reading this book review #cancerMoon
Adding to my TBR, thanks!
Mistakes were Made absolute fave so ready for this!