I loved Mazey Edding’s A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake lives up to the same hype! I’m a sucker for the instalove trope, and I just adored Rake and Lizzie’s characters. I appreciate Eddings not shying away from the discussions of mental illness and bringing them to the forefront of her main characters. Great read! So thankful to have received this ARC!

"She decided to tear off a corner of her heart, carefully fold it into a tiny paper airplane, and gently toss it at him, letting it glide to a stop at his feet. He could either pick it up or step on it, and she was scared of either option."*


Hi, yes, hello. 911. I need to report that my heart was stolen by Mazey Eddings and I need it back immediately because, ya know. Oxygen and blood and all that.

Dramatics aside (LOL I never stop with the dramatics on Goodreads, it's part of my branding), THIS BOOK IS LIKE RAINBOW CONFETTI CAKE AND THE JOY OF A DOG HEARING YOU COME HOME AND WINNING THE LOTTERY. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

"It was like he’d been looking at life through a peephole, and then Lizzie came into his world and bashed the door down, dragging him out into the sun."


Lizzie loves hookups, feeling another body with hers but not needing to commit to anything serious. She has ADHD, toxic family members, and enough difficulty making it through life that a relationship would complicate things. But her one-night-stand with Rake becomes a three-night-stand, and then he's off to Australia again, and then oops the stick has two pink lines.

Let's ignore the fact that Rake is the strangest name for a love interest ever. He's hot and Australian and that outweighs the name. He is God's finest creation and it's not just the accent that has me thinking so. He was shattered by a past relationship and is not looking for anything like that for a long time, but is emotionally available and a family man.

Lizzie bakes erotic pastries and blows through life permanently late (relatable, minus the genitalia desserts). Rake works for a swimsuit company and is dealing with an insufferable boss, and is currently regretting his decision to move him and Lizzie ~platonically~ into a studio with no bedrooms and the only doors being the bathroom and front door.

(I've lived in one of those spaces before, and it is not a fun time with a roommate. Or even by yourself honestly.)

This is my favorite romance couple of ALL TIME. Don't believe me?

“You’ll probably never fully grasp how wonderful it is to know a person like you exists.”


*insert meme from Mamma Mia that says "Be still my beating vagina"*

"I want to hand over all my old memories because I only want new ones with you."


Forklift. To. The. Heart.

"Because life was a shadow before, but you're the sun."


Is someone cutting onions in here? *looks at the German Shepherd next to me*

"You've busted into my heart and carved your name into every chamber."


Tattoo it to my EYELIDS

"Just because your brain works differently from neurotypicals, it doesn’t mean you deserve to be valued any less. It doesn’t mean your love is a burden or a liability.”


Lizzie's ADHD is handled so WELL and it's PERFECT and the best rep fort ADHD to exist, I'm positive. There's also representation for medication! Always a win.

Other pros for this book: only one bed, let's just get it out of our system x5, accidental pregnancy, dual POV, and telling off that one shitty friend they have whose book is next (sorry not sorry, but she's insufferable)

TW: ADHD, sexual assault in a bar, internalized ableism, slut-shaming (contested), vomiting, abortion, toxic parent, (past) cheating

“And I’m thinking,” Rake said, using his thumb to brush the tears away, “that I value you. On a deep and terrifying level. And it makes me scared to lose you because my life would never be the same without you.”


Cause of death: Lizzie and Rake existing in a book and not real life

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for the early copy. All opinions are my own, and *all quotes may be slightly different in the final version.*

I usually do not love the pregnancy troupe, but this just works for me. 2nd in the A Brush With Love Universe, Lizzie Blake, a Neuro typical, mostly medicated ADHD, self proclaimed mess baker meets Rake an uptight businessman from Australia, in Philadelphia for a work trip, meet by coincidence at a bar and decide to have a one night stand…that turns into a two night stand. (More insta-attraction than insta-love) When Lizzie finds out she’s pregnant, She and Rake make a decision to Platonically co-parent as neither one of them want a serious relationship.
Lizzie has to go on a soul searching g journey to make her ADHD manageable to be a mother while dealing with the mark her own mother left on her. Rake needs to let go of his past and live in the future. While it wasn’t featured often, Lizzie and Indira’s relationship was amazing. Lizzie and Rake’s banner from the beginning was hysterical
The steam, the family dynamics, the friends as your family dynamics are all a great and heartwarming plot of this Novel. I laughed, I cried, I got a little angry. I cannot wait to see what’s next from Mazey Eddings.

This book was seriously amazing. I could not put it down. I love romance books, but this was just so fresh and the storyline was perfection. The author had a natural flow and the storyline was perfectly placed. I loved both the characters Rake and Lizzie. I can not recommend this book enough. One of the best books I've read in a while.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced reader copy for an honest review.

Loved Lizzie Blake . I adored this. Can’t wait for more from Mazey Eddings. Pick this one up you won’t regret it at all. Give me more I adored this one and read it in a day.

“𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.”

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: lizzie is the queen of one night stands. one weekend she has a two night stand with rake that leads to an unexpected pregnancy.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: mazey eddings is definitely becoming one of my go to romance authors! i absolutely adored this one. lizzie struggles from ADHD and has never really made the effort to get it under control but when she finds out she’s pregnant she does everything she can to learn to manage it better. i loved her character, her randomness, her energy, and her growth throughout the book. she was so lovable and i felt for everything she had been through due to her ADHD. then there’s rake. at first i wasn’t the biggest fan of rake but once we learned more about him and he started to open up more to lizzie and stand up for her he was just the best. and the love he has for lizzie is so precious - loving ALL of her. definitely recommend this one when it comes out in september!

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: i loved it!

special thank you to NetGalley, St, Martin’s Press & Mazey Eddings for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings was one of my favorite reads this year. Lizzie is a baker who has dealt with the people in her life putting her down because she doesn't act the way society wants her to act. Rake is an Australian, who has dealt with his own situation with betrayal and loss and how he has kept to himself for a long time. These two meet and sparks fly and in such a sweet way. This story was well paced and the writing was detailed in the best way. I loved Lizzie because I too have ADHD and it was nice to see someone deal with the same things that I do on the daily and how it makes me feel. This book was spicy within a few chapters in and I loved it. The story between the main characters and their relationship felt like drinking a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate slowly. These characters built a foundation and a friendship with each other and I ate it up. It was a book that I needed because it was kind on my heart and just a pure book of happiness, issues, and how they were solved/shown in such a soft way. The author really put her heart into this book and really cares about her characters. She shows what friendships are truly like and how complicated life can be. This book was funny and just soft and surprised me because you experienced the situations with both characters. I can't wait to have a hard copy of this book in my hands.

This book starts with what I think the author intends to portray as an empowered female, but she is making so many dumb choices. It quickly dissolves into porn. The book is not for me.

This is such an entertaining, spicy, cute and funny story, I couldn't stop laughing and the sweet moments caused a swarm of butterflies in my stomach, it is an unputdownable RomCom that made me even shed tears.

Lizzy is such a refreshing character, her vivacious personality enchanted me, a very different heroine, she made me laugh out loud, Rake is so sweet, he made me swooned so hard, he made me fall in love with him from the first scene. The scenes between them are epic, the slow burn and the tension between them is deliciously addictive, and as the story unfolds and they get to know each other and resolve the mess that is the unexpected pregnancy, feelings come to bloom and it's wonderful.

This is a great story, a lovely mix of spicy, emotional and funny scenes, the characters are so lovable, couldn't get enough of them together. Super recommended for fans of RomCom, slow burn, unexpected pregnancy, forced proximity, one bed.

This cover perfectly sets the tone for this book. Sunny, bright, joyful. And Lizzie is all of those things as well. She is immediately so lovely and endearing and her love story with Rake is the sweetest, softest, most tender, gushy, and wonderful thing. I loved their ups and downs and their journey to each other. The first 60-70% of the book is near-perfect to me. But I had a hard time with the dark moment (even though it's kind of a classic one). I'm not opposed to third-act break-ups/dark moments and enjoy them in romance. But to me, they work best when the dark moment pokes at something that has been hinted at being a problem for one or both characters in the past. The reason for this dark moment kind of came out of left-field (there's a tiny, tiny hint about it earlier, but I still didn't think that the underlying issue was tied closely enough to Lizzie or Rake's doubts/fear/insecurities/etc).

But this book was so lovely and so wonderful that my grievances with the dark moment felt minor. It's still a 5-star read to me and I think people will really love this book! And Mazey does a fantastic job with mental health rep, as always.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I completely adored this book. Lizzie was such a relatable and likable character. I loved her quirkiness! And Rake was so perfect for her! I highly recommend rom com lovers to read this one. 5 stars through and through!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of the ebook!

This book was a breeze and made a perfect summer afternoon read.

Lizzie is an extremely likable character. She feels too much and expresses too much (can relate!). She is chaotic yet there is a rhythm to her chaos. On the other hand, we have Rake, an emotionally stunted person who is trying to do better. (Although, I am not completely sold on his reasons for being emotionally unavailable) I love how understanding and supportive he is. He is open to making amends which is the most important trait in any human because none of us are perfect.

Lizzie’s mom is really a nightmare! She made me scream out in frustration. Her passive-aggressive nature is too much. But I do get that there are such people in real life. Though she was a frustrating character, she was a genuine representation of certain sections of people.

This book highlights the challenges faced by a person with ADHD. I do not have or know anyone who deals with this. So I cannot speak to the authenticity/intricacies of the issues mentioned in the book. However, I was impressed with the treatment of the subject. The sensitive touch that both Lizzie’s friends and Rake have towards her was really heartwarming.

PS: it’s a romance novel and delivers well on its trope. But beyond that it puts forth its message very clearly - “Every person is special and different, they need to be valued for who they are.”

Lizzie and Rake are a charming team. Lizzie is a fireball and whirlwind of energy, undercut by a childhood that has left her scarred and believing that she is not deserving of real love and attachment - more like a constant f*ck up who can't get anything right. She meets Rake at a bar and they have a steamy hookup before he returns to Australia after his business trip. I don't want to spoil too much here, but he ends up back in Philly as they navigate their partnership and through the deep-seated issues they both thought they could just shove away and not deal with. I loved the shout-out and inclusion of other romance authors in an authentic way, and how their relationship developed. It was also unique and insightful to follow Lizzie, navigating the world with ADHD and really showing that she may not be neurotypical but that does not mean she is lazy or somehow broken. Her brain just processes things differently. Loved this book and will absolutely go read A Brush With Love.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first time reading Mazey Eddings and I enjoyed every moment. The portrayal of ADHD was so real and honest and made me feel seen in a meaningful way. The book started hot and heavy with steamy scenes and a surprise pregnancy.
But the character development and Lizzie ultimately learning to manage her ADHD and realize her own worth really kept me enthralled.

I am so happy this book exists. It is so warm, filled with laughs, and a perfect way to spend a Sunday or a few days in the sun on spring break. That does not mean though that it is without flaw. I really felt connected to our titular character. Lizzie seems like such a work of love from the author, however, in comparison Rake really feels not fully fleshed out. While I understand he is meant to be more reserved & starchy, I think it is still possible to let us as readers in more. It just felt like the Lizzie show. In addition for whatever reason this book read very young to me. As a huge fan of Eddings' debut this just did not live up. We are in the same friend group as her debut, yet the friends felt noticeably absent for the majority of the book. I wanted more of that female friendship. I will say I really enjoyed how things did not wrap up perfectly with Lizzie and her mother, that felt so real and not like something I often find. Lizzie's relationship with her brother also felt authentic. There are so many things to love in this book and Eddings' writing that I really think people will go crazy for and might connect more with the romance than I did. Looking forward to the next book in this series and hoping that the romance will sweep me off my feet like A Brush with Love did.

I loved lizzie in a brush with love and this book SO lived up to her!! I loved this. It's not entirely what I expected but it was really, really good nonetheless. Im not a fan of the pregnancy trope but I really liked this one.

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake was *chef’s kiss* in my book. It was witty and I found myself giggling while reading this book, which I love! Lizzie has ADHD and makes a lot of mistakes. When she and Rake meet at a bar, they have a two-night-stand and find themselves building a connection they weren’t expecting. Theeeeen a few weeks later, Lizzie’s finds she’s pregnant and decides to do the right thing and tell Rake, who lives oceans away in Australia. She wasn’t expecting him to transfer over and want to be part of the whole thing. They decide to be platonic co-parents and take it from there…

The story is well written, the characters are flaws but they go forward together and love grows with time. This story is about is impactful, unconventional and very different than your usual rom-com and I think that that is what makes all the more special.

Lizzie Blake is a young woman with ADHD and she just wants to live her life. She enjoys sex and isn’t ashamed of it. Enter Rake, sexy Australian man. Whoops she ends up pregnant.

Accidental pregnancy isn’t my favorite trope, but I enjoyed this book. Lizzies family super sucks, even if her brother is trying now. I liked her relationship and how it blossomed with Rake.

Overall, a quick, easy read. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars. I haven’t read Eddings’s debut novel, A Brush With Love, yet, but after reading Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, I will most definitely be cycling back. To be fair, this book took me a minute to really groove with. Lizzie is kind of an eccentric character, which ultimately becomes part of her charm. Also, I didn’t read the blurb so I had no idea this was a surprise baby trope. Normally those are pretty easy to spot, but I may have been more surprised than even Lizzie was when she found out she was pregnant. I know that trope isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it’s done really well here.

I loved that Lizzie is a neurodiverse character. She has ADHD, and although she lives with the fact that her brain processes things differently, she hasn’t accepted it. In large part because her parents are garbage people and always made her feel insignificant and abnormal. Like I said, garbage people. Rake was kind of perfect for Lizzie… he loved everything that she hated about herself. And in the end, helped her realize her own awesomeness. Rake too had his own issues, and was emotionally closed off. Ultimately, their relationship made each of them a better person. Can you really ask for more? I hear you, and I know you’re saying, “why yes Erica, we do want more. Where is the steam?” I’m happy to report that Lizzie and Rake had great chemistry, and although SMP is a traditional publisher, it’s def got some steamy scenes. Finally, this book also had one of my favorite things ever in romance novels… a grovel/ conciliatory gesture. Yes please! It wasn’t over the top, but it was satisfying. All in all I’m super glad I read this. I look forward to reading the romances featuring the other girls in this friend group. And I’m happy to recommend this!

I am so appreciative that I was able to get an ARC copy of this book.

I laughed. I cried. It gave me ALL the feels.

It is beautifully written and sensitive. The ADHD representation is empowering. Lizzie and Rake are adorable and relatable characters. I didn't want this book to end. I was engrossed in their story from start to finish.

I've seen some criticism for the insta-love trope. But that's the whole point. She was easy to love. He loved her despite all of her "flaws" with no hesitation. He saw the parts of her that she felt were wrong, and he adored them. He showed her what it is to be loved unconditionally.

I'm going to start crying again. I love them so much.

Her conversation with her mother was a tearjerker. I felt so proud that she finally stood up for herself. And then she leaned on her found family... ugh.

In summary, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake broke me and healed me all at once. It's my new favorite!