I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This was cute. I liked the setting, but didn’t really jive with the characters. I couldn’t get into the story much. I think the plot was interesting enough but it just took me a lot to get into it and I didn’t entirely settle in. I did notice some spelling annoyances (twirk vs twerk) as well as one or two spelling errors. This needed some proofing.

I really tried with this book. At one point I thought it was maybe a book making fun of romance books. The wording was really cringy. dnf at 30%

A cabin, a secret… and some serious spice 🔥

I really enjoyed everything about this book—the atmosphere was so cozy and immersive. There’s something special about a story set in a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere. It gave the characters space to connect, to really focus on each other. And I loved that.

The “brother’s best friend” trope? Always a win. That hint of forbidden, the tension of something no one can know about… it gets me every time. And this one? Delivered perfectly.

It was my first time reading something by this author, and I’m definitely planning to pick up more of her books in the future. Getting to read this advanced copy gave me a great intro to her writing style, the way she builds her world and develops her characters. I loved how she balanced emotional depth with chemistry.

Oh—and the spice? It was there. VERY much there.

Thanks again for the chance to read this ARC. I’m officially hooked!

Cabin punches, hockey hunk, and wedding drama? Yes please!

Okay, Wild in Minnesota had me grinning, gasping, and googling "how to punch hot intruders" all in one sitting. I mean, Fern and Gabe's kitchen brawl meet-cute?? Iconic. This book is equal parts steamy, hilarious, and wild (pun intended), and if you’ve ever had a messy weekend turn into an unexpected heart-throb love story—with a side of missing bride mystery—then you already know you need to read this. 10/10 would fake-date again. 💋🥶🏒

As a Minnesota girly, I was so excited to find a new book set in Minnesota. I loved getting to meet Fern and Gabe and their group of friends. This story was a wild ride from the moment it started. At some points I began to feel like the Mary Lee Painter included dramatic moments for the sake of avoiding actually having more heartfelt conversations. There were so many dramatic moments throughout the story that happened and then just fell by the wayside. While it kept things interesting, it also felt incredibly extreme. I wish that Fern and Gabe would have actually had conversations about what was happening rather than sweeping things under the rug every time they found their way back to each other. It felt like much of the verbiage was repetitive and overall feels like this book could do with another edit to help flush out characters and bring the story to a little more believable level.

⭐️ 0/5 - DNF’d at 35% (Chapter 7)
Pub Date: June 23, 2025
First person POV, dual narrative
Linear timeline
FMC: Fern MMC: Gabe

This was….. really bad. It should maybe be labeled as Young Adult. The writing is very, very amateur and the dialogue is very immature, and misogynistic; Very dense, shallow, ditsy characters.

I was excited to read a rom-com set in Minnesota since I am a Minnesotan, and there were mostly accurate references. But there were too many things going on and no emotional depth or character development. Gabe is a hockey player with the Minnesota Wild but that’s hardly a subplot.
Fern is super immature, as is her brother. And if I read about someone “being a pussy” or “WTF, bro?!” one more time, I was going to throw my kindle at a wall.
Also the town is spelled Eagan, not Egan.

Overused and annoying words/phrases used in both the narrative and dialogue:
WTF, WTH, BTW, OMG
Puss, pussy, wimp, girly (“that’s so not girly”)
“They’re just yucky”
Dude - used way too much
Bro
The bomb
Giggle - used way too much

Hopefully a lot of changes are made before this is published and if not, hopefully the author (who is sister to Lynn Painter) will learn from this and polish up on her writing skills.

I received an early copy of this book for review consideration from BookBuzz.net via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Writing was juvenile and the plot just never picked up for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

I liked the concept and the cover art but am uninterested in reading beyond after the first chapter. The writing needs heavy editing as the characters speak quite childishly. I would also refrain from including playlists at the beginning of a novel, especially as some of the artists leave a sour taste in one's mouth.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“He was so handsome it made me a little wiggly and giggly”.

This book centres around maid of honour Fern trying to fight her feelings for best man Gabe, who’s her brother’s best friend. I knew I’d enjoy this book when I saw that the playlist at the front contained country music. This book had everything; humour, suspense, love and spice. Dave and Fern’s sibling bond is full of competitiveness and care. The chemistry between Gabe and Fern is instant; I couldn’t wait to see how it progressed with each chapter. Their characters complimented each other perfectly; Gabe and his protectiveness, Fern and her firecracker personality. This book is an easy, funny, chaotic rom-com with a perfect ending that is definitely worth reading.

I am beyond grateful to have received this ARC from the author via NetGalley. This is a romance novel set in Minnesota. The MCM is a hockey player for the Minnesota wild hickey team. the FMC is a nurse. The two main characters meet at a cabin to prepare for a wedding of someone they both know. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book especially the way the 2 main characters met. From there I enjoyed how they came together to prepare for the upcoming nuptials. Unfortunately not long after I lost interest in the story. I did try to finish it but I just couldn’t, I did have high hopes however the story just did not hold my attention.

Cabin Fights, Wedding Fiascos, and One Wild Weekend

This book is like crashing a wedding in hockey skates—messy, hot, hilarious, and absolutely impossible to put down!

If you’re looking for a fast paced romance this book is for you.
I love the vibes of this book being one a hockey romance and two set in a cabin.
Fern has some bridesmaid duties to deal with when, she turns up at a cabin owned by her brothers bestfriend and teammate gabe.
They’re a few twists and turns all throughout.
It’s a fast paced book with a lot of action happening rather quickly.
I did finish this book but I have to admit I did think about DNF a few times.
It was overall to action packed for me.
I also feel like the plot of the story was a tiny bit to chaotic for me
But I think for the right reader they would enjoy it.

This is set over a wedding in Minnesota where we follow bridesmaid Fern with her brother’s best friend and NHL star Gabe. Fern shows up to the weekend early to do some last minute prepping and is unexpectedly forced to spend time with Gabe at his cabin. As a fellow Minnesotan and romance lover, I was very excited to request and receive this read.

Unfortunately, I could not make it through this book for a variety of reasons. I pretty much immediately knew I was not going to enjoy this book, but I really wanted to give the book a chance, so I continued reading until 28% where I could not put any additional effort into it.

From the beginning, I could tell this was not well written. First, we immediately start the book with a huge amount of info-dumping. Right from the start, the book overwhelmed me with a barrage of backstory, character traits, and personal history. It felt like reading a summary rather than being immersed in a narrative. Rather than letting readers discover things about the characters through interactions or events, the author spells everything out, which made it hard to get emotionally invested. This choice to do “telling” rather than “showing” really hurt my enjoyment of the book.

Additionally, the characters definitely fall into the insta-love/insta-lust trope. The romance between our characters escalates almost immediately without the tension, chemistry, or emotional arc that typically makes a love story satisfying. It felt like they were in love just because the plot required them to be, not because of any meaningful connection the reader got to witness develop.

Further, the dialogue was hard to read due to poor writing choices and the childish back and forth. The characters often speak in text slang or fake phrases that don’t align with their supposed ages or professions. Words like “bikerish,” “badassy,” and “WTF” appear frequently, making the characters feel juvenile. Other odd choices include using words “like” and “thing” in areas where they were unnecessary (examples: “his member was like right there” and “Tik Tok thing”) which made some scenes unintentionally cringe-worthy.

Another example of poor writing is the unnecessary repetition. The author was presenting facts we already well delved into as new information as if they forgot they already told us or just didn’t read or edit their own book.

Moving on from the writing, the story was also significantly lacking. There was no story plot or side characters we met that added to or enhanced the story. Any potentially relevant characters (like the rest of the wedding party or her brother) were still not presented by 28%. This could have been a great way to improve the “show” not “tell” as I typically appreciate the sideline conversations with trusted friends which builds our characters as more holistic individuals and can be a great way to discuss their thoughts or background without just telling us.

Side characters are usually a great way to build out the world and deepen the main characters’ stories, but here they’re either completely missing or used in over-the-top ways. The few who do appear are caricatures of humans such as an emotionally obsessed stalker neighbor or a pizza guy who wanders into a drug deal and risked the lives of our main characters. These feel like exaggerated plot devices rather than real people, and they vanish just as quickly as they arrive.

Finally, by the time I gave up, there was still no strong central storyline beyond the initial romantic setup. There’s little about the wedding, the family dynamics, or even the hockey life to latch onto, and it made it difficult to remain interested. The interactions or drama included did not add anything to the story and were no longer relevant as soon as we were out of the scene.

To include some positives about the book: This book includes reference to hockey if you are into hockey romance (however, it is not a main part of the book, more just mentioned as his profession), this is insta-love/insta-lust if you like that, and it is brother’s best friend.

Ultimately, there is potential this book could get better. I was really trying to at least make it to where other characters show up to see if it would get better once we got into the plot, but when there was still no one else and no semblance of a story at 28%, I gave up hope. I may skip a couple chapters and try to pick it up again if other characters are present or if we get to the actual wedding weekend, but I will definitely not be seriously reading this entire book.

I wanted to like this book. And I knew when I read the opening scene - Fern, the maid of honor in her cousin Tawnee's wedding, is hot gluing flowers to a board to make a photo backdrop in the cabin of her brother's hockey teammate when he walks in unannounced and she physically attacks him before macing herself - that I wouldn't be able to finish it. I normally try to read the entire book before writing a review, but I just couldn't with this book.

After the altercation between Fern and Gabe, she stays at the cabin, then he helps her with her Pinterest projects. (What kind of bride makes her bridal party do handicrafts for her wedding without her?) Then they go out to eat where he's hit on by two women, they're allowed to tag-team in an eating competition, then she wins some hula hooping beer drinking contest where she gets $50 and they randomly give her an extra box of tampons (but she doesn't take the box, she shoves handfuls of tampons in their pockets - WHAT?!? Who does this?!?!?).

In chapter three, they're driving home from dinner when they stop to pick up a pizza delivery guy who accidentally delivered to the wrong house and caught a drug deal happening so they get chased by the drug dealers and get their windows shot out. This is where I stopped reading.

It's books like this - poorly written and even more poorly edited - that give contemporary romance a reputation for not being a legitimate genre.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 & 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

❀.* 1 💫
╰┈➤ no spoiler review

⇒ I'm sad because this was the first arc I've ever received, and because it's my second dnf in a row. The plot felt nonexistent, and the romance was confusing. I'm hoping the final printed edition will feel more finished and things will make more sense then, but as of right now, this was not my thing.

ೃ⁀➷ However, if you're a fan of these tropes, maybe give it a looksie
↬ He plays hockey
↬ Brothers Best Friend
↬ Temporary Roommates
↬ Spice without being super explicit
↬ He's super protective

So grateful for this arc and I wish I could've enjoyed it more :(

Ultimately not the book for me, but I think this was a cute read. I just wasn’t as big of a fan of the premise in action as I was based on the description. Probably wouldn’t reread but I enjoyed my time!

This book was just so much fun from start to finish. I think Fern and Gabe were hilarious and the whole brothers best friend and fake dating tropes really brought me in. I didn't want this book to end and I'm really looking forward to more from this author in the future.

3.25⭐



Fern Novotny regresa a Minnesota para ser dama de honor en la boda de su prima, a pesar de que eso implique enfrentarse a sus torpes habilidades con las manualidades y a sus catastróficas decisiones pasadas en el amor. Cuando llega sola a una cabaña para adelantar los preparativos del fin de semana de despedida de soltero/a, un malentendido con un supuesto intruso, que resulta ser Gabe Wolkowski, jugador profesional de hockey y amigo de su hermano, desata una caótica y desternillante pelea en la cocina. Fern termina con gas pimienta en la cara, y Gabe con un ojo morado.


Gabe arrastra el duelo por la pérdida de su esposa y la carga de un pasado difícil. Mientras Fern es una enfermera con espíritu viajero, vive decidida a aprovechar cada momento tras sobrevivir al cáncer. Ambos son personajes tienen muchas cosas que sanar.

---

No le puse una calificación mayor porque me canso el estira y afloja.

Como disfrute cuando apareció Brandon y como Fern decidió darle una lección a Gabe.

¿En que pensaba Gabe al darle a quien sabe cuantas mujeres el código de acceso de su casa??

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

Unfortunately I DNF this book at about the 15% mark. I really wanted to like it because I love hockey romance and this one even had cabin in the woods vibes. However, the dialogue and chemistry between the players felt really awkward. I actually felt like maybe there was another book in this series that I missed but I don't think that's the case. We need more character building before they get thrown together and fall into insta-lust. I also thought that the character's pasts were revealed super fast and in an unrealistic way.