I absolutely love this whirlwind of a book! Rake and Lizzie are so relatable and I was rooting for them the whole time!

Lizzie Blake has a hard time hanging on to a job because of her ADHD, but she doesn’t let it get her down. She also doesn’t let her diagnosis let anyone else get close to her and bounces from hookup to hookup. That is until she meets a handsome Australian named Rake on a work trip. His charming accent leads to a second night which leads to… a baby?!

Lizzie doesn’t find out about the baby until after Rake leaves for the land down under again. But she calls him in a panic and Rake being the stand up guy he is, moves to the US. Luckily Rake is a 🇺🇸🇦🇺dual citizen! The book finds them falling in love while learning to parent and Lizzie finds a job she loves that she dedicates herself too.

Usually a surprise pregnancy is my least favorite romcom trope, but it works wonderfully in this book. It definitely matures Lizzie and helps her focus on what’s important. Rake is absolutely incredible and should be everyone’s new book boyfriend. (The audio has his charismatic Aussie accent!) I also absolutely loved Rake’s parents!

Thank you to @goodreads and @stmartingspress for my gifted ARC. Lizzie Blake is on sale now and keep an eye out for Mazey’s next book, the Plus One out in April 2023!

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by @mazeyeddings was so much fun…
I might be partial, as I too met an Aussie who chose to stay here with me forever, but that’s not a requirement in order to love this story!
How could you not love Lizzie and all her quirkiness? And now I want to find a bakery like Bernadette’s to have a fun, embarrassing giggle as I eat those pastries!
#ilovetoread #sometimesireadadultfictiontoo #advancedreaderscopy #netgalley #newrelease

I went into this book blind and soon discovered that it had one of my least favorite tropes in it-the surprise pregnancy (not a spoiler because it's in the summary of the book). When I discovered this I became very nervous since I usually stay away from books like that, but I was pleasantly surprised. I absolutely loved Lizzie in the first book and I loved her even more in this one. I loved seeing how her ADHD affected her and how she learned to accept it and work with it in order to get what she wanted to get done done. I also loved Rake and how he instantly was into Lizzie and protective of her and the baby. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I didn't love it as much as the first one, but I still really liked it and highly recommend it.

i hate a pregnancy trope moment. it’s never been my thing. BUT i loved ‘a brush with love’ and decided it would be the same thing to continue on with the series and holy wow, i LOVED THIS BOOK!

THIS!!! is how you write a pregnancy trope my friends! wow. mazey eddings never misses. gonna send her my bills for the journals i’m gonna have to buy to fit all my thoughts about her writing. also gonna need that money to buy everything else she writes. my bookshelves will never look better.

didn’t know it was possible to love a couple more than harper and dan, but apparently it is because i loved lizzie and rake even more. they were just so cute. the way that rake cares for lizzie is the reason i think I’ll be single forever bc how am i supposed to accept a love that is anything but what i read on these pages???

i love a good “sticking up to the parents moment” and mazey served. not once, not twice BUT APPARENTLY THREE TIMES? i loved rake standing up to lizzie’s parents but lizzie standing up to her mum was everything to me. knowing she was gonna end the cycle and love her daughter in the ways her parents didn’t love her, made me happy. she finally has the family she deserves. pregnancy trope and the found family trope in one?? so so good. gonna need her next book asap pls and thank you.

5/5

Lizzie has had a chaotic life, she has ADHD and can not seem to keep a job, her parents treat her badly, and her self esteem is shot.. She had decided that long term relationships are not for her and to stick with one night stands. She meets Rake at a bar and hooks up for a two-night stand. Rake returns to Australia. Lizzie winds up pregnant. The rest is history in a roundabout way. I enjoyed reading this story, but would have liked it better if the sex scenes were not so descriptive. I prefer story line to porn.

This book is the definition of a romantic comedy and if that's what you're looking for, then 'Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake' is the book for you! Without spoiling the story, the plot is original, the banter is hilarious, and the chemistry is magnetic to say the least. I devoured this story once I picked it up and I will absolutely be making all of my friends buy and read a copy because mine is off limits to them!

Thank you St. Martins and NetGalley for providing me with this arc.

Romantic comedies with a dash (or three) of spice are usually my go-to additions to the TBR, but I truly struggled to love this one.

Our heroine, Lizzie Blake, is a self-aware human disaster. When she meets a handsome Australian in a bar, their one night stand turns into a second and a third and a fourth…until life throws a real wrench in their nonexistent situationship.

I never would’ve thought that the spicy scenes in a novel would be my favorite parts of the story, yet here we are. Mazey Eddings carefully balanced sweet and sexy in the toe-curling smutty sections of the book. But as soon as we returned to the actual plot, I felt disconnected from the characters, Lizzy herself in particular.

I do want to heap loads of praise of Eddings’ depiction of Lizzie’s ADHD. As an adult that’s paddled through life with her own neurodivergent struggles, it was wonderful to see a character experience and share many issues that have plagued me on both a personal and professional level. I have yet to read a story that takes such care to explain how these differences cause us so much trouble and that not every reaction to them is going to be a good one (i.e. Lizzie’s distant mother).

But outside of the spice and the ND awareness, I just never found myself actually enjoying the novel no matter how hard I tried. The romance felt odd and wildly unrealistic, despite their forced proximity. Halfway through, I considered DNF’ing; I stopped myself just to see if I’d eventually enjoy it with mixed-to-negative results. The banter between Lizzie and Rake felt natural, a real treat of Eddings’ style, but sometimes it seemed like it was too much as soon as normal conversation resumed.

While this wasn’t the book for me, I’d recommend giving it a shot if steamy, romcoms with the pregnancy and forced cohabitation tropes are your faves, because unfortunately they’re not my cup of tea and it shows!

Mazey Eddings has quickly become an auto buy author for me after her second book proved her writing continues to shine.

While accidental pregnancy is not a favorite trope of many, I loved that the author turned this into a main plot point vs becoming a “surprise pregnancy trope” with Rake being there to support and experience the pregnancy with Lizzie.

Lizzie could be exhausting at times as a character. But that really highlighted what it can be like living with ADHD which opened my eyes so much. She was written with such bluntness and honesty, hiding none of the ways in which her ADHD often labeled her as too much, too loud, too everything. I adored how Rake accepted Lizzie for who she was and not what the world wanted her to be. These 2 were perfection together.

I loved this one for the chemistry, laughs, and emotion and am eagerly awaiting book 3.

I was lucky enough to receive both an eARC and ALC. Initially I switched back and forth but found I loved listening to the narration best of all. Summer Morton and Will Peters did a fantastic job narrating both POV.

I love Lizzie Blake! Loved the wittiness of this one. Just a good ol' fashioned rom com with a 21st century icon.

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake 👶🏼🍼

I wanted SO badly to love this one. I think I was really let down because I was actually in the mood for a pregnancy trope being post partum. This was legit smut with very little mention of pregnancy or romance or character development. Anyways, maybe if I went in with different expectations I would have liked it more.

2⭐️

this book is funny, steamy, wholesome, nuanced, and heartfelt. Mazey Eddings has a way with words that is coupled with joy and creates lovable characters that are entirely unique. The characters were immediately captivating with their natural chemistry, and even from their first meeting I loved how lighthearted and carefree they were with one another.
This was a lovely read.

I loved this book so much! Her writing is always spot on and this was no different! Such a great story and strong characters

This wasn't a poorly written book but I thought the plot was pretty weak. The characters and their love story drive the novel but the connection isn't developed much initially. I found it hard to believe that they would love each other so quickly. Other readers may enjoy this one more than I did. It is steamy and romantic, but didn't feel believable to me.

I adored this book! Book involving unplanned pregnancy would not be my usual go-to, but this book was done so well. The characters had depth and great chemistry/banter. I highly recommend!

Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake is the second installment in Mazey Eddings' A Brush with Love series, but having read the first installment, it can easily be read as a standalone or the series out of order. Lizzie has uncontrolled ADHD, struggles with medication adherence (key point here... trust me, I'm a pharmacist), has toxic mommy baggage, and is floating along through life with no real plan. Lizzie can do wonders with her pastry brush, if she can get to work at the bakery on time. A chance romantic encounter with Rake, an Australian marketing analyst in Philly on a business trip (who sounds like he could easily be a performer in the Thunder Down Under), changes her life overnight (literally and figuratively). Can Lizzy get her act together, channel her energies in a positive way, boot the toxicity from her life, and open herself to a different future? Well, you have to read on to find out! Sometimes our biggest mistakes turn into our biggest blessings!

Mazey Eddings in a neurodiverse author who incorporates neuroatypical characters and mental health into her stories in a positive and destigmatizing way. Definitely check out this or any of her other refreshing and delightful books!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators did such a great job bringing this story to life. This was such a relatable book for me. As an adult diagnosed with ADHD I felt Lizzie's pain at trying so hard to get things right the way other's felt she should and coming up short every time. Rake's patience and enjoyment of her colorful personality allow her to be the person she can be and bloom and grow from a place of love. I found the same in my husband and this book will always have a special place in my heart.

Lizzie Blake is a wonderful character and I found this book to be a really good read as well. She has ADHD and having a child who has this I found the way the author told the story about Lizzie to be true to form and not done in a hurtful or condescending way. Her steps at working at trying new things don’t always work out hence the title best mistake and that is what this book is really about. I found the characters to be good as well as the story, very much worth the read.

Just finished A Perfect Pairing on Netflix, cute movie but lacking steam... especially because of the Adam Demos click-baiting!

(That's the guy and yes he's an Aussie dude.)
Fortunately and fatefully Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake had just landed on my kindle after the movie and with Mazey Eddings promising face sitting in the first 25 pages on social media I knew this book and I would make a fine pairing indeed. Adam Demos, Aussie accent, and 👅 Oi!

(Yes, yes I was picturing Demos the whole time.)

Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings has:
👀 face sitting 25 pgs in
🧁 an erotic baking scheme
🛏 only one bed
🚿 only one shower
🚪 no doors??
🤰 accidental pregnancy
🧠 ADHD rep!!!!!
🦘Aussie accent

If you're trash for an Aussie hero, opposites attract and enjoy the accidental pregnancy trope, this one is pure delight.
The steam is there, the cuteness factor is there, the banter is great, the quirky humor is there and the character development was nicely done with bonus point for solid secondary cast and female friendship. I've read this one in one day and I was sad it was already over.

"For anyone who's been told they're too loud. Too emotional. Too much. You are the perfect amount of enough."

Lizzie Blake lives her life on the edge - traveling, booking up, taking each day as it comes, and just rolling with the punches. Struggling with ADHD her entire life means she’s used to this, used to letting people down, and to deal with this she tells raunchy jokes and talks…sometimes too much. When she meets Rake after being stood up by a one nightstand at a bar her life changes - in so many ways. She’s not looking for a relationship, neither is he, but for some reason they keep running into each other, and life just happens.

This book made me blush, laugh, cringe, and smile along with Lizzie. I recommend this, especially for fans of romance, rom-com (with steam), and relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.