I almost loved this book! I loved how witty and sharp Eva was, and Rylie was a nice golden retriever. I thought the tension between the two of them at the beginning could have been played up more. Her cheeks immediately heated 900x at every breath he took. The switch from “enemies” to lovers was pretty quick, too. The banter was fun and the story overall was entertaining enough.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC! Was very excited to read this!!!

I really liked Mazey's other books. One of the reasons I loved them so much was how delicately she handled handled tough topics.
In this book, it felt like those topics were kind of swiped over. I missed that from here and wish would have been better covered.

Second, I had a hard time enjoying the MC. She was so quick to judge things and never let anyone explain things.

I liked Riley and found him very charming. He really fought for her and his truth and I appreciate that.

I would still recommend you read this book if you enjoyed Mazey's other books!

This was my first Mazey Eddings book & it was such a good first book to read. The banter was hilarious as someone who also has a super dry sense of humor that can often come off as aggressive. I loved Rylie & his approach to undoing toxic masculinity. At times the chapters felt long…which made it take longer for me to read but that is because I have a short attention span and prefer short chapters so I can feel like I read more than I am. The only criticism I have is how quickly the drama wrapped up at the end, it felt fast but not a deterrent to the overall story of the second chance romance.

I unfortunately had a tough time getting into this one! I read majority fantasy with some dark and contemporary in between and it just wasn’t my jam! It definitely is someone else though!

Okay. Well. Wow. I laughed, I maniacally cackled, I cried, I felt righteous anger, I felt SO MANY FEELINGS. Mazey Eddings, you are BRILLIANT. From the plot of the story itself (because who doesn’t love a good blast from the past jump scare coupled with forced proximity and a man with relentless golden retriever energy in EVERY facet of his being?) to Eva’s, our incredible narrator and FMC, ruthless internal and external dialogue about the state of her late-twenties life. I never, I repeat NEVER, feel the need to use the highlight feature in my kindle app. And well I used it 22 times. TWENTY TWO, because I either didn’t want to forget Eva’s one liners or the writing was just too “I want a man to say this to me expeditiously” to NOT highlight it.

Eddings makes it real and honest and I feel so seen in every one of her books. Thank you for making Eva a mirror for so many of us, both personally and professionally.

I will post on socials as we get closer to release date!

Massive thanks to SMP & NetGalley for the Arc! (Also please check your email.)

Thank you to #NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

Eva Kitt is the host of a pop culture internet show that's maybe not quite her dream job. One night after a few too many glasses of Prosecco, she stitches a video callng out her ex-boyfriend, who is now a podcaster about detoxifying masculinity, for the way he treated her. When the video goes viral, he comes on her show for a publicity stunt and convinces Eva to go out with him again to try to prove he's changed.

This was hella fun. Eva's show is clearly based on Chicken Shop Date and it definitely prompted me down a YouTube rabbit hole, but the story still felt fresh and fun. Rylie was a great MMC and their banter was really funny and their chemistry was great. The ending felt a little rushed, but it did all of the things it needed to do and was a fun ride.

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

At first I was worried that this would be a book inspired entirely by Chicken Shop Date. Thankfully it wasn’t and instead I got to read a very cute second chance story. To be honest it did drag quite a bit around the 70% mark but it came together nicely at the end. The depth and history between the main characters was explained well and also how the experience impacted Eva and Riley was believable. The banter was fun but at a certain point masking real feelings with humor was overdone or maybe could’ve been done better so that it felt more natural. Regardless, it’s a good book with intriguing characters.

I really liked Riley. He was such a thoughtful and measured person. I liked how he was able to admit his past mistakes and really deeply analyzed what was wrong with him. Eva on the other hand was not my favorite. Her personality at the beginning was to push back and be mean and mocking to Riley which was fine as that was just part of who she was. But it all fell apart in regard to her bosses. It made me physically ill the way they treated her and I felt like she didn’t get the triumph she really was owed. I was so disappointed. I am usually ride or die with Mazey’s wonderful books but this one was just not for me. I will probably be discussing in therapy which I think Riley would approve of.

I love a second chance romance and this one delivered! I'm not even slightly surprised either because I've enjoyed all of the books I've read from Mazey Eddings!

I really enjoyed reading this fun book. The characters were fun and engaging.
Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

Ugh, I love Mazey Eddings. Without fail, her books make me feel viscerally seen. I'm not much of a crier, but this one had me tearing up on multiple occasions, bringing the perfect mixture of emotional vulnerability and physical chemistry. I keep typing and deleting and retyping, trying to articulate how much I appreciate the topics discussed in this book, along with the care with which they were discussed, but I honestly don't think I can convey my feelings in a satisfactory manner. I simply loved this book.

Let me start this off by saying I accidentally stayed up until 2:30 in the morning because I was so enthralled following Eva and Riley, and after about a quarter of the way through could NOT put this one down. A certified delight of a romantic comedy - add this to your TBR immediately.

Eva Kitt is a journalist...or she's trying to be as she finds herself interviewing C=list celebrities while eating hot dogs (very Amelia Dimoldenberg inspired) with the support of her producer and best-friend Aida. After a particularly blah day and after having a few drinks, she sees her college ex, Rylie Cooper on social media. He has made a name for himself as a sensitive good guy, and Eva just cannot stand his persona. She drunkenly decides to stitch his video reading him to filth for his hypocrisy and recounts their disastrous relationship. Eva wakes up the next morning only to find the video has gone viral, her bosses are delighted with the additional publicity it's brought her show, and that Riley Cooper has reached out to try and win her over while making a video series about it.

If you are someone who likes banter - this book is absolutely for you. Eva is acerbic and unrelenting in her sparring with Rylie and I just ate that up. Of many highlights, one of my favorites was when she calls Rylie "the human equivalent of comic sans." But for all of the bantering, the book has so much heart and there is so much lovely character development. We learn so much about why Eva and Rylie are each the way they are, which is catalyzed by a date that is actually a couples therapy session. The sex scenes when they finally come (also bless Mazey for the shoutout to SSRIs and the fact that they make orgasming difficult) are incredibly satisfying and so good. All in all, I just adored this from start to finish and I will absolutely be going back through Mazey Eddings' catalog to go devour the rest of her books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

THANK YOU NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC of “Well, Actually” in exchange for an honest review!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2025, and I’m happy to report it lived up to the hype.

Mazey Eddings delivers a sharp, tender, and delightfully chaotic rom-com that makes you feel things against your will. Eva is the kind of heroine who says what you’re thinking, only funnier, and Rylie? He’s an acts-of-service king with golden retriever energy and the emotional fluency of a man who’s definitely been to therapy (a fantasy, obviously). Their banter snaps, the chemistry simmers, and their dynamic gives big “Amelia Dimoldenberg Chicken Shop Date” energy in the best way.

Some of the emotional beats hit a little fast and heavy, and the pacing drags here and there, but the charm and vulnerability pull it all together. It’s messy, romantic, and sneakily introspective. Eva’s sharpness, softness, and self-awareness make her a standout. If you love second-chance romances, emotionally available men, and heroines who could destroy you with one well-timed zinger, this is for you.

And then there’s this: “You’re an enemy of the state,” he says against my mouth. “What state?” “The state of my mental health.” Honestly? That sums it up.

My first Mazey ebook (vs audio) and the writing is so fun! There is something about seeing the style with your own eyeballs vs hearing it from audio. Word choice and punctuation add to the experience, especially with characters as sardonic as our girl Eva.

If ‘mean’ was a whole ass love language, it would be Eva’s numero uno. Just as ‘grovel’ would be Rylie’s. He messed up big time, and I am obsessed with the way he earned her trust and love (ew, gross).

The work setting was Chicken shop date vibes, but with totally poignant commentary on living/working in a capitalist hellscape, I LOLed many times.

Thanks you Net Galley for ARC!

4/5 stars! I thought this was so sweet!!! Eva’s struggles were so relatable and I appreciate reading that in a book. The chemistry! It was so palpable from the very beginning but didn’t feel like “insta” love or forced! I can’t wait to have the physical copy.

This book was such a fun, chaotic ride—in the best way. We start off with a main character who gave me major *Amelia Dimoldenberg meets Chicken Shop Date* vibes… except our FMC, Eva, doesn’t exactly love her job and isn’t quite as successful (or unbothered) as Amelia. She’s messy, relatable, and very much a product of her generation.

After one too many drinks and an unfiltered TikTok rant about her ex—who now gives *dating advice to men* (yes, really)—Eva accidentally goes viral. And just like that, we’re off. Cue the hilarious situations, sharp dialogue, and moments that will hit way too close to home for anyone living in the age of social media and public oversharing.

This book is for you if you love:
- Enemies to lovers
- TikTok gone viral
- A reformed (but still a little cocky) man
- Characters unpacking their emotional baggage
- Sharp humor balanced with real vulnerability
- *The Chicken Shop Date* energy
- Rom-coms that feel like they belong in *today’s* world

Eva and her love interest have crackling chemistry, but it’s the character development, emotional exploration, and social commentary that give this rom-com real depth.

Thanks to St Martin's Griffin Press for the ARC

This was just a fun read, honestly, with characters both likable and dislikable at the same time. Just like real people.

Best of all, the writing is actually funny. Witty and sharp, sometimes sarcastic, definitely made me laugh out loud.

"I always expected my career would revolve less around weiners than it does." 🤣 And that's the first line! Eva is truly funny, if darkly humorous and sarcastic, and maybe that's why I found the story so enjoyable.

It's a quick read and a fun romp (with a touch of a serious side for those looking for it).

After reading Mazey Edding’s Well, Actually I can honestly say to all young women out there you are going to be ok and also to find someone that will make you mac and cheese because it is your love language. On the surface this novel is a true enemies to lovers story between jaded Eva Kitt and former fraternity screw up Rylie Cooper. Everyone in their early twenties has that one relationship where they should have seen the red flags, but in reality were too young to grasp the problems until it was already over. This is that relationship for Eva and Rylie. Meeting in college, Rylie was the perfect example of the kind of boy not to date. Distant, immature and mysognistic he left Eva with so many scars in college. Now both of them find themselves in the social media world; with Eva hosting a “chicken date” type celebrity interview show and Rylie being the go to podcaster for deconstructing toxic masculinity. After a few too much wine Eva posts on her Instagram calling Rylie out for his contradictory behavior in college. Determined to redeem himself and prove that he is not the same stupid twenty two year old idiot Rylie challenges Eva to critique him on his podcast after a handful of dates. With funny jokes and witty banter this is a story that celebrates growing up and finding who you really are in your late twenties. Both characters were fun and likeable. A simple story that turns into a deeper conversation about sexism in the workplace and in social spaces. It dives into issues such as sexuality, mental health, and grief in what can only be described as a beautifully modern second chance romance. I seriously loved this book so much.

This is giving Chicken Shop Date in the best way. Loveddd the banter. Great pacing. Hooked me right away.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! I found myself rooting for the characters , I love Eva and Rylie!! This second chance romance was very heartfelt, fun, and flirty .