Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Summer Prescott and Parker Woods have been best friends since they were three years old ever since meeting inside a pillow fort. Their small town has always joked they’d end up together.
After they both go on catastrophic dates, Summer, naturally suggests they help each other find their perfect matches.
Except the guy Parker sets her up with humiliates her in front of the whole town. Summer doesn’t speak to him for two weeks. And Parker, who suddenly feels like he’s an empty shell of a man, realizes maybe their friendship isn’t all that platonic.
When Summer starts speaking to him again, he’s determined to become Summer’s dream man while helping her train for a surfing competition so she can get her revenge on the guy who humiliated her in front of their entire town.
Ellie K. Wilde continues to be criminally underrated. If Only You Knew has everything I want in a contemporary small town romance, peak tension and yearning, witty banter, hilarious inside jokes that will make you giddy, amazing spice, and B-plots that make you want to read the entire book in one sitting.
Parker, the “nerd” with a filthy mouth and quiet depression, and Summer, who is carrying daddy issues and deep insecurities, are EVERYTHING. They are messy. They hurt each other. And they absolutely belong together. I’m so glad they’re willing to risk ruining the friendship to figure that out.
Read our summary and review of If Only You Knew by Ellie K. Wilde below. This post contains spoilers.
If Only You Knew
Description
Summer Prescott and Parker Woods have been best friends since they were three years old. Now thirty, neither of them feels like they have a good handle on adulthood. While their friends are coupled up and thriving, they’re struggling through career crises and disastrous dates, and frequenting the same old bars and surf spots they’ve been going to for years—until, on a whim, Summer decides to hand over her love life to Parker. After all, who better to help find her soulmate than the person who knows her best?
But when the date Parker introduces her to goes from husband material to dead end in one publicly humiliating swoop, Summer is so devastated that she breaks up with both men. And she decides to embrace a fresh start away from home by entering a surf competition that’ll have her chasing waves around the world.
Parker soon realizes the troubling truth—he’s spent nearly thirty years by Summer’s side and has only just realized that he’s in love with her. Now he’s on a mission to win back not just her trust but her heart, before she slips away for good.
Tropes
- Friends to Lovers
- Found Family
- Repressed Yearning
- Slow Burn
- He Falls First
- Small Town Romance
Review
Overall Impressions 😊
I LOVED IT.
Having never read Ellie K. Wilde before, I wasn’t sure if Only Between Us, the second book in the Oakwood Bay series, was going to be the standard, but it absolutely is. I was giddy the entire time. I couldn’t stop reading once I started.
Friends to lovers is such a special genre because the repressed yearning shows up in the most intimate ways. I’m not just talking about almost kisses or locked looks, but quiet acts of devotion, like wearing Hawaiian shirts or finishing each other’s sentences. That’s the good stuff.
I was feral while reading this. Two people who are clearly obsessed with each other, not together for obvious reasons, slowly growing into the best versions of themselves. It’s maddening. It’s tender. It works.
Ellie K. Wilde should be on every contemporary romance reader’s shelf. You are absolutely missing out if you’re looking for found family, fantastic romcom vibes, peak spice, and just AMAZING love stories.
Perfect For Fans Of… 🧭
Do you love Ruin the Friendship by Taylor Swift? Because it might as well be written for If Only You Knew. If you’ve recently read People We Meet on Vacation and wanted the friends to lovers tension to hit harder, this has officially become my go-to recommendation for friends to lovers romances.
This book is spicy. And I say that as someone who usually does not care for spice unless it has the emotional intensity to back it up. I don’t enjoy insta love, and I hate spice for the sake of spice. Luckily, If Only You Knew understands the assignment. Even though it leans spicier, it handles those first few scenes so tastefully, breaking the tension between the characters at exactly the right pace.
The characters feel real, with real world problems, real flaws, and real growth. If you’re looking for relatable people who actually earn their happy ending, this book is the perfect escape from reality without feeling fake.
And lastly, the yearning. The quiet devotion. I absolutely adore repressed yearning, stolen looks, and irrational jealousy between two people who have always been there for each other. If you love a feral MMC who is obsessed with making the FMC feel secure because he knows her that well, this one is for you.
Characters 👥
I am not exaggerating when I say Summer and Parker might be my favorite couple of the year so far.
So let’s start with Summer. She’s gorgeous, bubbly, practically a ray of sunshine in everyone’s life she meets. It’s a mask though. She presents herself as someone who is always positive and lovable because she’s been dealt a terrible hand with her atrocious family. Seriously, fuck them. I haven’t been this angry at fictional parents in a minute.
Her growth in her self confidence, and learning that she can be loved and trust her relationships enough that she doesn’t need to be in sight to stay in someone’s mind, was beautiful to watch. You especially see this when she starts self sabotaging during SurfUp because she convinces herself that if she leaves, Parker will just move on without her. That fear of being forgettable runs deep for her, and it hurts to watch.
Which leads me to Parker. WHAT A MAN. He feels lost at sea, suffering from depression, feeling aimless, and like he’s only fully alive when he’s around Summer. That should have been his first clue about his feelings, obviously. But the way he tries to better himself so he can bring his best self into a potential relationship with Summer, after being her best friend for 27 years?
Can we please talk about setting the standard for not taking someone for granted? He even learns how to cook because Summer can’t, and instead of teasing her or letting her feel bad about it, he quietly decides he’ll just handle it so she never has to. That made me swoon.
Naturally, their relationship feels earned because they are literally better when together. Summer learns to find her self worth and believe she is lovable, while Parker realizes he has more to offer the world than he thinks he does. I like them so much individually, but I love them even more together.
One of my favorite parts of interconnected but standalone books in a series is the cameos from previous couples. We get to see Melody, Zac, Siena, and Brooks plenty, and I just love getting glimpses of their lives through other lenses. It’s like having friends show up that you haven’t seen in a while.
It makes the found family even more satisfying. The Oakwood Bay characters will always have a huge place in my heart, and I’m honestly so sad to be saying goodbye to them.
Plot 🗺️
The plot of this book, to me, was Summer and Parker becoming better versions of themselves so they could be together as two people who were made for each other. The SurfUp competition and Parker’s career aspirations were the glue that held that together.
Not only did the competition give us a window into their interactions in a “professional” setting, and allow Denny, aka human trash, to be present enough to stir up conflict, but it also showed who they are outside of their relationship.
I love that Summer actually competed in SurfUp. We see her getting into shape, self sabotaging, then being brave enough to go anyway. My least favorite thing in romance books is main characters who give themselves up so they can be with their significant others, but in this case, Parker empowers Summer to go, making her feel even more secure in their relationship instead of threatened by it.
Meanwhile, Parker slowly builds his rehab facility where he trains athletes, finding meaning in River’s recovery and other athletes realizing he has more to offer to the world than he thinks. That growth makes him the kind of man Summer deserves. It’s just fantastic.
There is no third act breakup in this book, and there shouldn’t be. Instead, the conflict resolves as the couple push past the hurdles holding them back and stick the landing for Oakwood Bay book 3.
Writing Style and Narration ✍️
Ellie K. Wilde’s writing is sharp, funny, emotional, and comforting. The dialogue is funny when it needs to be, emotional when it needs to pack a punch, and spicy at exactly the right times.
The book is written in Parker and Summer’s alternating POVs, and boy do I love a male POV with yearning. I will always, forever be grateful to authors who give us a good old fashioned down bad man, and Parker happens to be that guy. His entire life revolves around Summer, and it somehow feels wholesome, attractive, and deeply romantic instead of overwhelming.
It’s hard to make some of the spicier elements of this book not sound cringe on the page, but I thought they were handled really well. For readers who prefer their books on the spicier side, this delivers without sacrificing emotional depth.
I also think it’s brave when authors show characters with realistic facades. Summer’s insecurities and Parker’s depression are not dramatic for the sake of drama. They show up in subtle, self sabotaging ways that feel true to real life. I’ve seen this handled beautifully in The Road of Bones series in fantasy, and I appreciated seeing that same emotional articulation here in a contemporary setting.
Synopsis
Summer and Parker Decide to Find Each Other Soulmates
Summer Prescott and Parker Woods have been childhood best friends since they were three years old. They live in Oakwood Bay, where they both work at the university training facilities. Summer is a physical therapist, and Parker is a trainer.
Summer has been going on bad dates. She recently turned 30 and is trying to find a guy to settle down with. Parker feels like his life has passed him by. As he approaches 30, he worries that everything he wanted to when he grew up passed him by.
Summer and Parker are extremely close best friends. They tell each other everything. After Summer goes on a terrible date that Parker helps her escape from, they agree to find each other the perfect dates. This mirrors a Phoebe and Joey-style setup from Friends, where they bring dates to each other, except in this case, they are obviously going to fall in love.
Parker’s internal monologue makes it clear that Summer is the best thing in his life. She is the light of his life, his phone is full of pictures of her, and he finds her gorgeous. Summer also deeply loves Parker, but they are both in denial about their mutual attraction.
Summer introduces Parker to Trinity, who believes the BDSM rumors about Parker, which usually ends his dates after the women are too forward with him and make assumptions. Parker, meanwhile, forgets he’s supposed to find Summer a date, and at the last minute finds Denny, who is in town for surfing, something Summer loves. Summer and Denny hit it off, even though Parker finds Denny sketchy.
Parker and Trinity fizzle out, but Parker tells himself he is happy because Summer is happy. Denny continues to get on Parker’s nerves because he feels dodgy and untrustworthy. Parker knows his discomfort is not entirely really about Denny, but about something else.
When Summer gets deeper into her relationship with Denny, they attend a friend night where Summer accidentally jokes that she fantasizes about Parker. Everyone laughs it off and moves on. Later, Parker overhears Denny in the men’s room talking to someone and accidentally leaves his phone behind. Parker discovers that Denny is engaged. Parker confronts Denny and they get into a fight.
When Summer was younger, Summer’s parents separate because her mother had an affair. In the small town, this becomes gossip. Parker humiliates Summer publicly by spreading the same kind of gossip about her family. Summer is devastated and stops speaking to Parker entirely.
Parker Realizes He Has Feelings For Summer
Parker falls into a deep depression. Summer tells people that Parker is dead to her but she obviously doesn’t mean it. Summer uses anger as a crutch while also blaming Parker for not protecting her. Parker struggles to get out of bed until his twin sister, Melody, forces him to engage with life again.
Parker’s depression worsens without Summer. Melody and her husband intervene and bring him out for drinks. During this, Parker accidentally admits he is in love with Summer without fully realizing it himself.
Meanwhile, Summer confronts Denny. Denny tells her he would only ever keep her on the side, insults her by saying she is not safe material, criticizes how she dresses, and blames her for being single. Summer is devastated and begins doubting herself.
Before Parker and Melody’s joint 30th birthday party, Parker’s company signs a major league baseball team to the physical training company. The owner takes credit for Brooks’s recovery (from Only Between Us) Parker and Summer worked on. Parker lashes out and quits his job on the spot.
At the birthday party, Parker and Summer speak for the first time since the fallout but they get into a fight. Melody kicks them out and forces them to deal with their issues. They go back to Parker’s apartment, where Summer sees the state he is in and realizes he has been struggling for months.
Parker finds a list Summer wrote detailing everything she thinks is wrong with herself and realizes Denny caused this spiral. Parker is furious but unsure what to do. He wants to confront Denny physically, but Summer instead decides to enter the SurfUp competition where Denny is also competing at.
Summer wants to win the $20,000 prize from Denny and use SurfUp as an excuse to travel the world on the championship tour. She does not tell Parker she plans to leave because she needs him to train her and fears worsening his depression. She is also running away from her problems.
After agreeing to train for SurfUp, Summer and Parker spend the night drinking and planning. They fall asleep together. The next morning, things get heated, but they pull away. Summer leaves, and Parker sinks back into depression.
Parker Begins Working on Himself
A father and his injured high school son named River who had great football prospects until the accident arrive seeking Parker’s help. The son, River, has a limp and is bitter. Parker reluctantly agrees to train him and empathizes with his pain.
Summer continues training for SurfUp and repeatedly calls her father, who never answers. She does not tell Parker she wants to leave Oakwood Bay. Parker decides he needs to become someone Summer can depend on. He begins following Summer’s dream man list to improve himself.
Parker trains Summer, and they sneak into their old high school pool. In an old classroom, Parker tells Summer he wears Hawaiian shirts because they make her happy. They almost kiss but stop.
At SurfUp, they are forced to share a hotel room. Parker confesses his desire for Summer. They hook up partially but stop short of going all the way.
During the competition, they run into Denny, who mocks Summer as non-competition. Parker intervenes. Summer struggles during the competition because surfing reminds her of her father and she self sabotages her performance. Parker supports her throughout.
Back at the hotel, they have to share a bed and things escalate, but Summer runs away. They fool around in the hallway instead.
Back in Oakwood Bay, Parker builds a pillow fort for Summer. Grant, a SurfUp volunteer, asks Summer out. She says yes despite admitting to Shy that she has feelings for Parker.
Parker sees Summer on the date and crashes it by faking illness to remove Grant. Summer and Parker fight, and she kicks him out. Frustrated, Summer goes to Parker’s apartment and they finally sleep together.
They agree to be friends with benefits until the end of summer even though Parker is all in. Summer still has not told Parker she plans to leave.
Over the next few weeks, they continue hooking up. Parker’s work with River improves, and Brooks encourages Parker to start training injured players independently. Parker begins building his own business.
Summer continues struggling with her father and self-sabotages her SurfUp training because winning would mean leaving Parker.
One night, Parker cooks for Summer and plans to confess that she helped him out of his depression. Summer accidentally invites their friends over. Melody walks in on them. Parker blurts out that Summer is competing in SurfUp.
Summer assumed no one would show up for her. Instead, Parker’s family and their friends rearrange their schedules to support her. Summer realizes she has found herself a family.
Summer competes and places fourth. Denny taunts Parker and reveals Summer plans to join the tour, leaving Oakwood. Parker is devastated.
If Only You Knew Ending Explained
During Parker’s 30th birthday weekend, the group goes to a cabin. Summer and Parker hide their relationship, but everyone seems to know.
At midnight, Summer sneaks into Parker’s room, accidentally climbing on Noah. Parker makes Noah promise to stay quiet silence.
Summer and Parker go to a bar together. Summer gives Parker matching Hawaiian shirts and a scrapbook documenting their relationship from childhood to SurfUp.
Parker confesses his love.
Parker admits he knows about the tour and that Summer has been intentionally failing barrels to avoid leaving him. He tells her that he will always be in her corner.
They sleep together. The next morning, their friends walk in on them and then confront Summer and reassure her of their love and support.
Back in Oakwood Bay, Parker gains more clients, and Summer continues surfing. Parker helps River ask out Macy, a girl he has a crush on.
Parker convinces Summer to go on the tour and promises to wait for her. Summer cuts off her father by leaving a voicemail and blocking his number.
Summer finishes SurfUp at second place and qualifies for the tour. Her life feels full, and she feels ready to be loved.
She builds Parker a pillow fort and tells him that she loves him.
They travel together while Summer competes and Parker builds his business. Three years later, they elope on a Polynesian beach.
Ten years later, they have a six-year-old child, a dog, a bit of gray hair, and are living happily ever after.
Spicy Chapters
How Spicy is If Only You Knew by Ellie K. Wilde (Oakwood Bay Book#3): 4🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 45
Ellie K. Wilde continues to be an underrated author who should be in every contemporary romance reader’s shelves! What did you think of If Only You Knew? Let us know in the comments!
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