Tell Me How You Really Feel has a great premise and there were definitely some things I liked about it. The mental health rep, the pay gap between men and women, and bringing to light how privilege can make you complacent about things you should be paying attention to. Finn and Maeve landed a huge podcast deal, and I enjoyed reading about Maeve's adventures in "the industry."

However, I did not like that the whole plot was based on miscommunication, and that Maeve absolutely REFUSED to listen to Finn when he wanted to talk things out several times. It made her seem very bratty and self-absorbed. We also didn't even find out what happened until much later in the story, which normally I don't mind, but the amount of time we had to wait to even find out what happened seemed excessive. In addition, the story felt like it could have been over at about 75%, but it kept going and took the plot in another direction, which I didn't feel was needed.

Overall I didn't hate the book, it just missed the mark for me. I would still recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a miscommunication trope and wants to read a story about podcasters, someone new to being rich and famous, and the points I mentioned in the beginning of this review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and were given freely.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a fun, fiery romance that follows podcast hosts Maeve and Finn as they navigate their complicated history while trying to make their viral sex and relationships podcast a success. After landing a huge deal, the two can barely stand to be in the same room, but Finn is determined to win Maeve back. The story weaves between their current tense dynamic and flashbacks to the early days of their show, offering a deep dive into their complicated relationship. It’s a witty, heartfelt look at fame, love, and second chances.

Not a fan of Maeve, miscommunication tropes, privilege, and constant breaking up. Was a miss for me, which I was really sad about given the other book comparisons to this.

I thought this was a fun premise of a book. I’ve never really gotten into podcasts so I enjoyed getting immerse into that world. Maeve was so easy to root for and very relatable with her dealing with anxiety. I ended up knocking off a star because it felt like every time Maeve and Finn took a step forward, he would do something dumb to make her spiral and they’d have to start over again. But overall, I did like how their relationship grew and getting to read how it developed over the years.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette is a smart, engaging romance that perfectly captures the chaos of fame, the vulnerability of love, and the messiness of mixing business with personal history. Told in alternating timelines that weave between the start of Maeve and Finn’s podcast and their present-day fallout, the story brims with wit, emotional depth, and the undeniable chemistry of two people who can’t seem to stay away from each other.

Maeve is a standout protagonist—witty, driven, and guarded. Her perspective adds layers to the narrative as she struggles to hold onto the career she’s built while keeping her heart intact. Her sharp retorts and no-nonsense approach to work are often contrasted by moments of emotional introspection, making her feel refreshingly human. Finn, on the other hand, is the quintessential lovable screw-up—charming and infuriating in equal measure. His determination to win Maeve back isn’t just romantic; it’s fueled by regret and a genuine desire to be better, which makes him more than just a reckless love interest trying to right his wrongs.

The podcasting world is a clever and modern backdrop for their relationship, with the format allowing Cayouette to explore how public personas can differ wildly from private realities. Their podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel, focuses on raw and often hilarious conversations about sex, love, and relationships—but the irony is that Maeve and Finn are often the least honest with themselves when it comes to their own feelings. The way their personal and professional lives are intertwined makes their disagreements—and their undeniable pull toward each other—all the more compelling.

The flashbacks to the early days of the show offer a satisfying, slow-burn reveal of how their friendship blossomed into something more and ultimately fell apart. Cayouette captures the giddy excitement of a shared creative passion, the butterflies of early romance, and the devastation when things go wrong. These glimpses into the past add richness to the present-day narrative, where tension crackles with unresolved feelings and the fear that history might repeat itself.

The banter between Maeve and Finn is razor-sharp, often laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s the quieter moments that resonate the most—those beats where the vulnerability slips through the cracks in their armor. The story balances humor and heartache well, though there are moments when the back-and-forth can feel slightly repetitive, particularly as Maeve grapples with whether to give Finn another chance. While the "will they or won’t they" dynamic remains engaging, some readers may wish for a quicker resolution to their emotional stalemate.

Cayouette also does an excellent job addressing the pressures of newfound fame and how it impacts mental health, trust, and identity. The media scrutiny, invasive fans, and career ambitions add layers of complexity to Maeve and Finn’s journey, raising the stakes beyond the typical romance arc.

The ending delivers a satisfying emotional payoff, staying true to the characters’ growth without feeling overly saccharine. Maeve and Finn’s reconciliation isn’t about glossing over their past mistakes—it’s about learning how to communicate, rebuild trust, and show up for each other in a way they couldn’t before.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is an entertaining, heartfelt story that will resonate with anyone who’s ever struggled with the vulnerability of second chances. It’s a love letter to creative partnerships, complicated relationships, and the catharsis of finally saying what’s on your mind. Fans of contemporary romance with sharp humor and emotional stakes will savor this one.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @stmartinspress for an early copy of Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Release date: April 24th, 2025

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217388084-tell-me-how-you-really-feel?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Y7gGETiOEg&rank=2

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑


Tell Me How You Really Feel tells the story of sex and relationships podcast hosts Maeve and Finn in the middle of a major deal, but are struggling to meet in the middle after a conflict between them – when their friendship almost became something more until it wasn’t.

Told in multiple POVs and timelines, the story got quite confusing at first and I felt like it needed more work in terms of linearity and organization. Though the main characters Maeve and Finn have a lot of chemistry to begin with, the conflict between them wherein they have both liked each other since the beginning but haven’t acted upon it until they said yes to a major major offer for their podcast, didn’t exactly feel like a conflict, just more of a series of miscommunication. It was more of on Finn’s side that got me annoyed. The novel shows him as this super sweet and caring partner but also highlights that he’s the biggest idiot in a novel I have ever encountered to date, and the resolution for his character felt forced and rushed, I honestly still think he’s the biggest idiot despite how he resolved his issues with Maeve.

I would have to applaud Maeve’s character, though. She’s a resilient woman, and the novel shows how hard she works. Through her, the story highlights the gap of privileges between genders and how she wanted to fight for equality in rights.

Though a bit of slow burn and quite long for the story, Tell Me How You Really Feel holds promise of a light romance read.

This is the story of two podcast hosts of a popular relationship advice show, who need a lot of relationship advice themselves. Told with lots of flashbacks that felt disjointed and untimely, this story was a fun read but felt very unserious and immature. I am not a miscommunication hater because let's be real: most people struggle with communication in real life too. But this miscommunication was only for the plot progression and felt unrealistic. I think with more editing, this book could've been a lot better.

I'm sorry, I really tried, but I could not finish. The miscommunication drove me nuts and pulled me out of the story.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette is a dual timeline, dual POV novel, which is a lot. I really wanted to like it and I did like the character of Finn. I had a harder time with Maeve and I really just wanted to sit the two of them down and make them have a REAL conversation because they were being quite dense. Although I enjoyed the concept of the novel, it was a miss for me.

Tell Me How You Really Feel follows two podcasters that have landed a huge contract, but struggle with their personal relationship. While I appreciate the pay equality narrative and women supporting women, it was a little heavy with anxiety, miscommunications, and sometimes characters just being dumb. It's not bad, just not my favorite.

This book is miscommunication trope on top of miscommunication trope. Not only do we start with tension between the main characters (of which we know nothing about for a long time), that tension is relieved by the halfway point of the book, and a new problem arises in the last 3/4 of the book and really doesn’t feel worth it. Maeve is angry at Finn for his actions, but she really should be upset at herself for not being honest, and Finn is so incredibly clueless and careless, it really was hard to root for them to get together in the end.

I really hate how this is how it ended up because I did enjoy this book at first. I love what Maeve was trying to do with her podcast, and how she wants to help people with it. I love the look at mental health in this book and the ways it can affect your relationships with friends, loved ones, yourself. It was just an utter miss for me at the end.

I had such high hopes for this one because everyone was pitching this to me as the next “The Ex Talk”. Sadly, Tell Me How You Really Feel did not meet my expectations and fell extremely flat.

Don’t get me wrong this had the makings to be a successful second-chance romance with forced proximity. But this book didn’t quite land for me. My biggest red flag in this book had to be the freaking Miscommunication Trope. And oh how I loathe it in this book. Let me tell you this trope is full front and center. Normally I can tolerate it, however the use in this book took me over the edge. In regards to our characters, Maeve was not relatable and came off as cold and closed off. Finn had his moments, but not enough to grab me to fall in love with him. He felt so under developed and just existed .

My last. If red flag I’m this book was dual timeline flashbacks. The reader isn’t gently Segwayed Into it. Instead we are just flung into without warning. Which felt jarring and ultimately ruined the flow of the book.

Overall, this book was not for me but maybe it will be a better fit for someone else. Big thank you to Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. these thoughts and opinions are my own

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette was an ok read for me. I found myself not really liking the main characters. I felt the book was a slow read.

The author captures the millennial spirit well. This book feels current without trying too hard in terms of podcast references and the content creator lifestyle. However, Finn, the male lead, lacks authenticity. His inner monologue feels like it was written from the hopes, dreams, and fantasies of every woman ever. Still, an enjoyable read! 3 Stars.

NetGalley ARC Review ✴️

Tell Me How You Really Feel
By Betty Cayouette
Pub Date: 05/06/25

Maeve and Finn are co-hosts of the popular podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel. They land a huge contract and are set to launch their podcast on a new platform but the only issue is Maeve can't stand to be in the same room as Finn. How can they record a podcast when they aren't speaking?

The podcast is all about their dating exploits and offering advice all while trying to find their person. Maeve and Finn were best friends until he started dating his "one that got away". Can Maeve and Finn work through their differences to make the podcast an even bigger success? Or will their feud destroy everything they've worked for?

Can they follow their own advice and get past their issues? Or will their friendship be destroyed forever?

I really enjoyed this story even though I hate a miscommunication trope. I could understand each of their perspectives and felt like this trope was actually well done. I loved the therapy aspects of this story and felt like Maeve gave stellar advice, even if she didn't always follow her own advice. Such a cute story!

I really liked the concept of this book. I loved the podcast duo angle and I loved that glass ceiling and white male privilege were brought up. Normally I like a flawed character. I don't need my characters to be perfect or even good or what have you... but the main female character in this story... I just had a real hard time with her, she wasn't very likeable. Yes, she had severe anxiety, but her personality... I just had a hard time with her, which affected my ability to enjoy the story. This is a friends to lovers book, so if you are into that, which I normally am, give it a shot and don't let my personal views on the MC hold you back.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette had so much promise, but it didn’t fully work for me. Maeve and Finn, co-hosts of a popular podcast about relationships, have to team up again after years of unresolved tension following their failed romance. Maeve is all about keeping things professional, but Finn clearly wants more than that. With a huge podcast deal on the line, the story flips between their present-day struggles and flashbacks to their messy past.

I loved the concept—second-chance romance, forced proximity, and the podcasting angle all seemed like a recipe for success. The writing itself was solid, and I really appreciated the third-act conflict about unequal pay between Maeve and Finn. It was handled thoughtfully and made a strong point about privilege and accountability, which added a meaningful layer to the story.

But overall, this book didn’t quite land for me. The miscommunication trope was front and center, and while I can tolerate it sometimes, it felt particularly frustrating here. Maeve’s inability to express her feelings didn’t align with her role as a therapist, and I struggled to connect with her because of how cold and closed off she seemed. Finn had his moments, but he also felt underdeveloped. The central conflict—his brief relationship with someone else despite being in love with Maeve—felt too weak to carry the tension for most of the story.

The dual timelines could have worked, but they often felt jarring, disrupting the flow and momentum. And honestly, the constant back-and-forth between Maeve and Finn got exhausting. Instead of rooting for them, I found myself annoyed at how often they hurt each other when all they really needed was a proper conversation.

That said, there were parts I enjoyed. Some of the podcasting scenes were fun, and the writing had moments of humor and emotional depth. I just wish the romance had felt more believable and the characters’ choices made more sense. If you’re a fan of second-chance romance or love podcasting dramas, you might enjoy this, but it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this one. I loved the relationship between Maeve and Finn. There was clearly a lot of history between the two, and it took awhile to find out what exactly it was. I enjoyed how it slowly revealed the cause of the tension by flipping back and forth between past and present. The one thing that took me out of the story a bit was how bad they were at communicating. It felt like sometimes they were back to super close one minute, then at the slightest dilemma Maeve was icing Finn out again.

This was a like not a love for me. Betty Cayouette is a talented writer but the will they won't they that Finn and Maeve navigate in the story left me really wondering if they were supposed to be together or not. Both characters prided themselves on being good communicators and knowing the other better than anyone else and then miscommunicated through the entire book. I still enjoyed parts of it but parts left me not excited to get to the next chapter. The discussions on mental health and anxiety brought a unique storyline and character development to the book but overall I'm not rushing to tell anyone to read this one.

I wanted to like this book. There were things about it that I had fun with. I loved the setting of relationship podcast hosts navigating their own rocky relationship.

I think maybe I would have liked this book better as a single first person PoV vs the dual first person PoV. I just had a hard time connecting with the MMC. It was also a little hard to take the feminist undertones seriously when the book ended with their engagement? After making a point that not all female focused mediums needed to revolve around a man?

I don't know. I think readers will have fun with this book, but it personally just wasn't for me.

Content: language, explicit content, misogyny

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.