Tell Me How You Really Feel follows podcasters Maeve and Finn as they navigate newfound fame after landing a blockbuster deal for their hit sex and relationships podcast. Told in a dual timeline that flips between the early days of their show and the tense present, the story explores the friction between them as Maeve fights to keep things professional and Finn attempts to win her back. While the premise is fun and full of potential, the execution falls a bit flat—the relationship feels like it’s stuck in a perpetual third-act grand gesture, with most of the chemistry and emotional development happening off-page. As a result, the romance lacks the spark and buildup needed to make their dynamic truly compelling. It was a solid 3-star read for me, and while I absolutely love Betty Cayouette’s booksta content, I didn’t love this book as much as I had hoped.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and the plot held my attention. Yes, the story line was somewhat predictable, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. Definitely an entertaining romance.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Betty Cayouette for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book. The Hollywood nepo baby finds a genuine friendship while living a low key life in college. But then his clout helps propel their well done podcast to success. But add in one big miscommunication trope and it all goes to hades. Friends to lovers, will they won't they, second chance-- all that good stuff. The subplots on the gender pay gap, value of therapy, mental health issues and more were what I really appreciate seeing in a story.

Maeve and Finn have some things that get in their way while trying to start and then thrive in a romantic relationship. I really enjoyed that their love was complicated and that the MCs but especially Finn were flawed and had to grow from their flaws and mistakes. I loved that there is a mental health snd anxiety rep in this book and that therapy is shown in such a realistic and positive way. Thank you to the author Betty Cayouette and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book early.

While I really wanted to love this one, it didn’t really land on the mark for me. The adults were too immature and acted too much like teenagers. And I’ve never really been a fan of the miscommunication trope and that’s what it felt like this book was. Plus, honestly, I didn’t love the MMC at all. Oh well. Every book can’t be for everyone.

I wanted to like this book, but I struggled so much.
I think my major issue is you have the main female character who supposed to be a psychologist specializing in relationships she’s running a relationship advice podcast. But she struggles so much to have healthy communication with somebody who is supposedly her best friend and on top of that she tells him to do certain things and then gets angry with him when he does for two people giving out relationship advice they had such an unhealthy dynamic.

I found the characters to be fun and felt real. They had a lot of depth. The switching between past and present worked for the most part, but I did occasionally forget which I was reading. The story was entertaining and kept me invested in what was going to happen. I liked how everything was resolved. I would definitely read more by this author in the future. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I'll try to write this review without cursing.

I loved the premise - friends to lovers, college crushes, meant-to-be and all that.

Maeve was just ... insufferable. I get all what she was trying to accomplish. I get the gender gap issues, I get the "all men are trash" vibe, I get it all. It's not all true, but I see what the story was trying to teach us.

And there lies the problem - it felt like the plot was supposed to be a teachable moment (why? it's romance) and turned into preaching.

I find a lot of romance books written in the last few years have such hatred for men, By the time I get to the end of the stories, I wonder if any of the characters are even supposed to like men.

*** spoiler alert ***

How many times did Finn apologize to Maeve? At least two dozen times and did she apologize at all? Maybe once??

The back-and-forth with her was too much. When they became engaged, my first thought was if they were real life to-be-married couple they wouldn't make it three years. He would inevitably do something to piss her off and she'd leave without explaining to him "how she really feels". And she's a therapist!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy of TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL to review.

I rate TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL three out of five stars.

Two podcasters, Finn and Maeve who hit the big time getting a contract with Streamify. But they must work together and at the moment things are difficult between them. The story includes flashbacks to them starting out and being together. Although the podcast was her idea Finn gets the bulk of the attention because of his wealthy celebrity parents and star making good looks. Maeve comes from humble beginnings. The story makes very good points about pay equality and sexism in the entertainment industry. But the main characters aren’t great. I at least liked Maeve although she is impulsive and didn’t always communicate well. But Finn was intolerable. Even at the 90 percent point he is whining because he isn’t getting enough credit for saying he is sorry about something that he did. They both act immaturely and I wasn’t rooting for them as a couple. (2.5 Stars)

i was sadly not able to read and review this by its pub date today due to a massively endless tbr, but i adored her previous book and look forward to her next release!!

A (kind of) second-chance romance with a dual timeline is normally a sure thing for me, but this one didn't quite make the mark.

Maeve and Finn have just signed a huge contract for their sex and relationship podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel, which should have them over the moon, but it's hard to celebrate, let alone record a podcast, when they can barely stand being in the same room. Maeve is set on fulfilling their contract with as little contact as possible, but when an opportunity to become the highest-paid podcast hosts requires them to keep their ratings at an all-time high, she has to find a way to let Finn back into her life. Meanwhile, Finn is determined to do whatever it takes to win Maeve back, even if they never move past friends.

Let's start with what I enjoyed about this book. I thought the author did a great job of tackling some difficult/controversial topics, like the pay gap, mental health (specifically anxiety), impostor syndrome, therapy, sex positivity, and generally the double standards that women face. My favorite parts of this book were when they were filming the podcast episodes, regardless of whether they were solo or with a guest. Maeve's character always gave great advice, and these scenes are where Finn and Maeve have the best banter.

Now let's talk about what I didn't enjoy so much. I wouldn't say that I love miscommunication in a romance, but I typically don't mind it. As someone who has a hard time expressing myself sometimes, I actually find it very human. That being said, the level of miscommunication in this book was incredibly frustrating, considering that the two main characters literally make a living talking about sex and dating. I found it a little confusing how they could go from having such a great conversation for the podcast and then shut each other out irl. Also, both characters had some behaviors that gave me the ick and made it hard for me to even root for them to work things out.

Overall, I do enjoy this author's writing, but I hope that her next novel will feature characters who are capable of having productive conversations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a smart, emotional, and sharply written contemporary romance with the kind of chemistry that crackles off the page. It’s a friends-to-lovers, opposites-attract story with a podcasting twist that feels both fresh and intimate.

The main characters couldn’t be more different: she’s a grounded, hardworking clinical psychologist who grew up in a noisy, accomplished family, while he’s a laid-back, charming former child actor from Hollywood royalty. And yet, their friendship feels so genuine and layered that you can’t help but root for more.

I was especially drawn in by the podcast element—it’s clever and insightful, and I loved how it wove dating commentary with real psychological grounding. There’s also a powerful thread about inequality in media and the way power and privilege can quietly shape outcomes, even between close friends. That added a lot of depth to their dynamic.

The story uses a now-and-then timeline that builds just the right amount of tension—it kept me turning pages late into the night. And while there is some back-and-forth and a bit of miscommunication, it felt realistic and in-character (especially given her communication strengths as a psychologist). For me, it never crossed into frustrating territory.

This book made me laugh, made me tear up, and left me thinking about what it means to really support someone you love. If you like slow-burn chemistry, a behind-the-scenes peek at creative careers, and characters who feel fully real, I can’t recommend this one enough.

This was a struggle for me, and I really wanted to like it. Second chance tropes can be annoying and this one was that. I also didn’t feel like there was much time between the first time and the second chance. The main characters were not the best versions of themselves most of this book and really turned me off. I’m sorry this one didn’t work for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

This book was not it for me. The second chance romance of it all was a little thin as they were together less than 2 months before the start of the book and then the MMC dumps the FMC for a childhood girlfriend but it doesn’t last and he wants the FMC back. The FMC is having none of it. It was over 300 pages of the main characters acting like teenagers instead of 30 something adults. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more by this author unless I hear some amazing things.

I was super excited to read this based on the premise but it fell flat for me.

I think utilizing both a dual POV AND a dual timeline did the story a disservice. It made the narrative clunky and confusing.

I also had no connection to the romance because I didn't really like Maeve or Finn. Finn made so many dumb mistakes and his excuse was always "meh, I didn't know, sorry." I did like that his family called him on his crap but he definitely should have known better.

The one thing I do feel the book does well was touching on important topics like anxiety and mental health. It also shines a spotlight on sexism and pay inequality in the entertainment industry.

The title of this story is Tell Me How You Really Feel. You wanna know how I felt about reading this? It felt like I was reading about two adults acting like immature teenagers for 336 pages. I'm honestly going to keep this review short and sweet because there's not really much to say about this ARC in particular.

Maeve just signed a giant podcast contract with Streamify. She should be over the moon, but the contract stipulates that she has to work with her ex-best friend and former fling, Finn. As they're forced to work together, they start to realize that maybe the feelings they had for each other never left. The story jumps back and forth between the past and the present, discussing the creation of the Tell Me How You Really Feel podcast and how they became big, as well as a dual-POV with Maeve and Finn.

The ONLY redeeming quality I would say this book had is that it brought up a lot of good points and commentary about sexism and the pay gap between men and women in the entertainment industry. We see this unravel with the way Finn constantly received more attention than Maeve because of his good looks and superstar celebrity parents, whereas Maeve grew up poor and her family struggled to make ends meet. I also liked the dual timeline and how it goes into depth about the behind-the-scenes of what goes into making a podcast and the amount of time and effort it takes to build a set and set up the contracts.

As for the bad...where do I even begin? For two thirty-somethings, Maeve and Finn were behaving like petty teenagers for the VAST majority of the story. It was infuriating to read. Maeve would act impulsively and never hear Finn's side of the story, but Finn also wasn't a saint in the way he acted throughout either. For two people who run a raunchy, sex-positive, relationship and life advice podcast, they never took their own advice throughout the 336 pages of this book. It was wildly hypocritical of them to give people amazing advice on how to handle rough patches in their relationships, yet off-screen it seemed as if they had this, "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Like, Maeve would say she would be okay with Finn doing this one thing, and when he goes off and does said thing, she would throw a hissy fit and be all, "Well I didn't think you would ACTUALLY do it!" I wanted to rip my hair out. Don't get me wrong, I love a good second-chance romance and the "will they or won't they" dynamic throughout second-chance romance books, but they honestly should've just made separate podcasts for each of them and called it a day.

Overall, I would NOT recommend this book to anyone, unless you're fine with watching 2 grown adults bicker like pre-pubescent teenagers. Maeve and Finn needed to do a lot of growing up before they could even consider a romance. I genuinely think that they broke up after the story ended, and instead of leaving me giggling and kicking my feet, they made me want to smack some sense into both of them. I thought this would be a cute second-chance romance, but I was left wholly disappointed in the way things unraveled.

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette delves into the complexities of workplace romance and candidly addresses the gender pay gap, making it a valuable read. The novel offers a perfect blend of sweetness that makes the eventual happy ending well worth the wait. It is not just a love story, but also a profound exploration of personal and societal challenges.

I was so excited to see Betty wrote another book (and so soon after her debut)! I right away loved the premise of a romance between two podcasters and it felt so relevant for 2025, yet isn’t something I’d seen as a storyline for a romance before.

Maeve and Finn were both like able characters and I enjoyed both POVs and the dual timelines. Betty’s contemporary romance pov is so unique on celebrities, fashion, and stylists from her past work experience, and I particularly enjoyed all the information on those topics she weaved within the story.

While I really enjoyed the story, some of it felt very repetitive, and while I get that they were working through some trauma and serious hurt feelings, I personally felt less invested hearing some of their feelings repeated again and again.

Overall this one was endearing and a lot of fun and I’ll definitely continue to read what Betty writes!! Thanks for the arc st martins press!

This book sounded amazing, but it kind of fell flat. I found Finn to be incredibly annoying and flat. Maeve was likable enough, but couldn’t save the book. I appreciate some of the story arcs that were included, but everything just felt slightly off to me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This was a fun and cute read. I liked the podcast aspect and highlighting the gender wage gap. I wanted them to both communicate with the other so much better. That grew tiring. But overall a sweet read!