Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just not what I was expected on any level. The "romance" was non-existant and the cheating was just rampant. To the point where I gave up and DNF'd this book at 22% It was just so bad.

Can't really comment on the author herself as I have not read her work before, but this book was just not it.

Maeve should be living the dream, she's sold her viral sex and relationship podcast for more money than she could have ever imagined. But her co-host treated her terribly, and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him anymore, let alone sit in the same room and talk about feelings and relationships. Finn knows he screwed up with Maeve and is willing to do anything to make it up to her, but can he overcome the blindspots leftover from his privileged background to show Maeve how he really feels?

I should have liked this more than I ended up doing because it's right up my alley, alas, Maeve and Finn were already a long-time couple in denial who just needed to communicate and mature to advance with their relationship. It kept annoying me that they couldn't solve it. Most of the conflict stems from their inability to voice their feelings, which is ironically amusing since their whole claim to fame is a podcast encouraging people to express their feelings. It's an interesting juxtaposition that what they do for a living can't help them solve the issues in their life, but happens so many times that it gets repetitive.

Otherwise, it's an interesting rom-com that puts a lot of emphasis on the way women are treated in the workforce, media, and even in relationships. The message is solid and well-represented without ever feeling like you're getting lectured. It's a fine line to manage and I commend Cayouette for doing it.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the emotional read!

This book was a complete mess and I honestly can’t believe I finished it. The MMC is a train wreck and super toxic. The FMC is immature and lets him walk all over her and treat her terribly. I am so mad that I wasted my time with this one. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC.

The editor's blurb/description sounded great. I enjoy a good enemies to more, second chance romance. There is something wonderful about people getting out of their own way and finding their way back to each other. We typically meet two characters who are forced back together with zero choice in the matter and have to figure it out. A little will they, won’t they, some romance, snark, wit and humor that lead to a happily ever after. We did get that, but for me the two main characters, Maeve and Finn were quite unlikable. I found her somewhat less annoying, but mostly found both of them pompous, obnoxious, immature and obtuse. I like her writing style, but this one was a bit of a let down for me. Would have rated 2.5 if half stars were available.

I didn't love this but also didn't hate it. Very slow start for me and the MFC, Maeve, made me want to pull my hair out.

Maeve and Finn are old college friends (the best of friends) who cohost a popular podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel, where listeners can go for all the sex and relationship advise with no filter. The podcast was great for both of them until they had their own personal falling out. Now, the show must go on, with them working together and attempting to put the past behind them.

There were parts of this I really enjoyed:
*Advocating for women's pay equality
* Fun banter and playful relationship during a good portion of the book
* The Podcast, I think anyone would love to listen to Maeve & Finn's podcast IRL and not just read about it!

Maeve is quite infuriating. Overall, I didn't enjoy her character- she was quick to get angry with the MMC, Finn, and there was a complete lack of effective communication between them. Maeve is the queen of walking away and avoiding. This is one of my least favorite tropes (miscommunication) and it was a recurring theme in their story.

This is definitely not your fun, light romance read. It is really quite stressful when you're the type of reader that fully engages with the characters. I would still try future work by Betty Cayouette and I appreciate this advanced copy gifted by NetGalley and St. Martin's press in exchange for my honest opinion!

I loved the podcast aspect of this book, I need to check to see if there's anything out there like it. I loved having the different timelines in the book. Getting to see present day and then going back and seeing how things began and how it all went wrong. I loved that she chose to live in a murder house and how they brought it up constantly in the book. Some of the drama in the book made me want to pull my hair out, but overall I really enjoyed this story.

This one wasn’t for me. It has a good premise but I just couldn’t connect or feel interested in the characters or their stories. Stick to Betty’s first book. I enjoyed that way more. Maybe this is a case of the sophomore slump

There is nothing wrong with this rom com. I think it’s me the reader. I have aged out of the contemporary romance. I don’t connect with Gen Z and its nuances.

I would love to see a contemporary romance com with a Gen X navigating the world.

Synopsis Two podcast stars must navigate their relationship ups and downs. Both are in love with each other and just won’t communicate.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the storyline and thought the characters had great growth. I would definitely recommend this book.

Very slow start to the story and was difficult to connect with the characters. Had a difficult time getting through it and the ending felt super rushed compared to the rest of the book.

I found the MMC so irritating for the most part. Sure, he was trying his best to get the FMC the recognition she deserved, but whenever he was called out about something, he would go about it the wrong way to try to fix the situation. I loved that we witnessed the FMC's growth as she became more comfortable in who she was and the fact that she deserved to take up space in the podcasting industry.

Really liked the premise but didn't think the book started in the right place. Found myself confused by the historical relationship between the 2 leads.

I thought this was a cute story that tied in elements of real issues women face in the workplace/world. We meet Maeve and Finn, who had been close friends since college but recently weren’t on speaking terms. They got a big contract for their podcast – which was Maeve’s dream but she couldn’t stand to be in the room with Finn any longer. As they try to find ways to make things work, we learn more about their history and how they got to where they are. The book is told from both POVs and has occasional flashbacks to the past. I like that the book addressed issues such as anxiety and gender pay gap issues. The pacing of the book was good but there were points where both characters irritated me because they kept having miscommunications despite their ability to give others great advice. I was able to overlook some of this, but it kept happening. Overall, I enjoyed the book and was rooting for Maeve (and Finn). Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Popular podcast between friends who maybe want to be more than friends. A miscommunication lead to him getting back together with his ex and left a lot of awkwardness and hurt feelings. I enjoyed the plot.

Miscommunication abounds. I wish that we would have seen more of a story arc for the characters growth.

I did enjoy the idea of the plot and it's fun to see more modern jobs like podcast.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book wasn't for me! I thought there was way too much miscommunication between the two main characters in this story. It took me from enjoying it and left me frustrated most of the time.

I think the idea of this book is really fun and interesting, but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I also feel like it felt a bit out of touch as a whole. A lot of the things I read made me annoyed than anything else.

I really did enjoy the light that was shone on the sexism / gender bias that is in may workplace and that a lot what you see in the news and on your tiktok scroll / podcasts are fake hate / love. I think so many people in today’s cultures base their opinions on what influencers and podcasters say and I truly believe alot of what we hear and see is just for the numbers like we saw in this book.

Our MCs didn’t feel like they had any growth for me. They began the novel acting very immature and childish (they’re in their 30s) and ended the book the same way IMO. they bickered like teenagers and they gave a lot of really good advice to their viewers and i feel like they followed none of it and then came off as childish hypocrites the entire time.

While i didn’t “hate” this book because that’s a super strong word. I didn’t really love it either. It wasn’t good or bad for me and because of that i don’t think it’ll stick with me.

I really love a book that showcases anxiety because i feel as though it makes me as well as so many others feel seen. I loved that addition to this book and almost wish we got more of it - on page therapy, more showing of support from the MMC, etc.

With all that, I did find the writing style to be bingable and easy to read and I would consider giving this author another try in the future.

You’ll find:
-Miscommunication
-Anxiety Representation
-Discusses Gender Equality
-Podcasters
-Enemies to Lovers
-Second Chance Romance
-Slow Burn

*3.5 stars*

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette is a standalone romance and was a cute story overall.

While I wasn’t too fond of the style and the amount of complaining vs action being taken, it had a solid story there and had space to build up from.

I liked the idea of the forced proximity to the person Maeve hated the most while all he wanted to do was apologize and make up for his actions. This is one of the things that dragged on a bit much and maybe if the beginning developed them a bit more before diving into the problem, it may have flowed a bit easier. IDK…

I loved the idea of the sex and relationship podcast as well as Maeve being a psychologist all while accidentally falling into success. Between the enemies to lovers trope and second chance romance, there’s something for many readers to enjoy. It was also nice to see and point out the double standards for men and women as well as everything being due to misunderstandings and lack of communication.

If you’re looking for a quick and fun dive into a quirky romance, this is for you!

*This was an honest review for a complimentary copy of Tell Me How You Really Feel from Betty Cayouette via NetGalley

I loved Betty Cayouette’s debut and this one is just as amazing!!!! the story is unique in the subgenre’s of ex-friends to lovers, podcasters, and forced proximity!

I loved the characters here, especially that we get dual pov, to see how they each react to their past and current situations, professionally and personally. there’s so much love and tenderness in this story, I especially love how dedicated Finn is to Maeve, truly trying his best to give her what she wants even as she’s pulling away from him.

the miscommunication between the two is the main conflict here and that got a little tedious at times because it kept being the barrier when it didn’t always need to be.

overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this story!!! thank you for the arc :)

After reading the synopsis, I knew this book had the potential of winning me over big time. Reading it however, was a completely different experience. I have big issues with people in their 30s behaving like unsupervised teens. And don't even get me started on their chemistry and dialogues. How many times can the miscommunication trope be used in the same novel. I actually lost count of how many times I actually rolled my eyes.