This was such a fun, lighthearted rom-com with a second-chance twist! The story follows Eva Kitts, a character who feels reminiscent of Amelia Dimoldenberg from Chicken Shop Date. Her ex, Rylie, is now a social media figure known for speaking out against toxic masculinity—but Eva isn’t afraid to call him out for how he fell short in their own relationship. Determined to prove he’s grown, Rylie suggests a series of dates to win her back.

While I personally struggled to connect with Eva as the main character, I still found the premise unique and the execution entertaining. If Mazey just went an extra step to flush out the characters more and build the relationship between the two (the podcast was a perfect setting to do so other than that one recording), it would have gave the book a bit more justice!

I really enjoyed this on audio! It's a perfect narrator- disaffected, vocal fry and all, for this sarcastic and sometimes nearly evil main character and her golden retriever love interest. It is fairly nuanced in how it handles a lot of hot button issues, while also being a very very funny take on modern love and the one who really messed up and got away.

Four stars for fun and the best droll wit- I laughed while listening in my car, which is the height of praise.

When I heard the premise of Well, Actually, I was really intrigued, but I'm not going to lie, I was also worried that it would be a case of a novel that relies solely on it's premise. I feared the intrigue would fizzle out in the first act. But to my utter delight, I was completely wrong. Well, Actually has a really topical and engaging premise, but what carries the story is the characters, particularly Eva. I loved following her and unearthing all her layers. I also really enjoyed reading about Riley - much more than I expected to - and his chemistry with Eva is incredible. But circling back to my first point, the reason I was worried this book was going to lose momentum is because in the synopsis Riley sounded too perfect. I've found that sometimes authors are so focused on making their male leads "the perfect book boyfriend" that they forget to add depth and flaws to them. But without flaws, characters don't feel real. What sets Riley aside in this department is the way he is portrayed in the flashback chapters. He used to be a worse person, and funnily enough, that really works for the novel. It works because it allows us to see his growth. Similarly, in the flashbacks, we see Eva as a much more trusting person, before she constructs her walls, and then slowly takes them down again. What I'm getting at here is that the character development in this novel is really well done. There is so much depth to this novel that I honestly didn't expect from it, and not just in the character department either. There are some incredibly relevant themes explored in this story, such as misogyny in the workplace, office culture, and the cultural importance placed on social media jobs. I found these themes really well incorporated into the story and the author had some profound things to say.

Overall, I really loved this story. Sometimes it can be over the top, with the dialogue and the circumstances the characters find themselves in, but underneath those romcom quirks, there's a really touching story about self-growth and allowing oneself to be loved.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for this e-arc.

Eva's animosity toward Rylie was obvious. He really got under her skin, and it didn't seem like he could do anything to make her believe he was different. Despite the high level of tension, Rylie remained patient and slowly showed her his new self. I enjoyed the book's message: individuals may change with time, and sometimes it's okay to forgive and let go of grudges. Rylie had a valid reason for doing what he did in college, even if Eva didn't realize it at first. I'm happy to have read this book and learned about Mazey's work.

This book made me laugh, cry and feel so much, it’s almost unreal. You know that feeling when you can relate to a heroine so much it feels like the book is about you? That’s how I felt reading this.

It was almost eerie, like the author had crawled into my head and described my emotions and twisted thought processes.

Eva isn’t exactly likable—she struggles with forming connections and opening up. She’s witty and often hilarious, but also sarcastic, snarky, and, at times, just plain mean.

Rylie kinda deserves her constant roasting, and it’s satisfying that he takes it all with a smile. What an adorable cinnamon roll, that man!

Besides, is there anything better than a heroine going for a third-act breakup and the hero just not having it? There isn’t, ladies and gents! This might be my new favorite micro-trope; a hero preventing my most hated thing from happening. You have all my love, Rylie.

I loved this book. It made me cry, but I loved it. I couldn’t binge it, I had to pause and process some of the things it brought up. That’s the beauty of it, though: no fabricated drama, just raw emotion and real healing. That therapy scene—chef’s kiss!

But if you’re into reverse grumpy-sunshine, second chances with lots of groveling, and absolutely brilliant banter, go for it.

3.75 stars, rounded to 4

This was really fun and the story line was so unique and quirky. I absolutely loved the banter between the 2 main characters. They are equally funny alone but together? I was laughing out loud so much. This book was a little spicier than I had anticipated and the amount of times he called her kitten gave me major ick BUT overall, a great sotry & character growth, especially with Rylie. He gives major green flag energy! This story is full of second chances, forgiveness, and all the romance.

This is the kind of that I feel like I both loved and hated. In a way that I still had a fun time, but I really was ready to just scream at the main character so many times.

The thing is, it is a cute story, and you can feel the inspiration from Chicken Shop Date in the show Eva host. But I did find myself getting annoyed at Eva, as she really felt stuck in her vision of Rylie. And then Rylie sometimes came off a little bland (and I had some major Justin Baldoni vibes, which feels weird with the current timeline, not gonna lie). It just left me on the fence, because there were so many things that worked for me, and so many that didn’t.

I think once we hit the halfway point of the book, and Eva started warming up to him, that’s when I started enjoying it more. Which is why I think I still feel like I can say I enjoyed it. I’m probably going to read another book from Mazey Eddings, to see if it is her style that maybe doesn’t fully hit it for me, but I’m still interested in seeing more from her.

Unfortunately, I could not really get into this one! I am hoping to go back to it at a later date as I've seen rave reviews for it.

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

Well Actually follows Eva Kitt and Rylie Cooper who once had a rather unsatisfying hook up in college but now find each other across the podcast studio exploring this missed connection 6 years later. After a video drunkenly bashing Rylie, a budding social media and podcast celebrity, goes viral Eva is forced to go on 6 dates with him and debrief in his podcast.

This book really surprised me! I wasn’t sure what to expect going in but by 40-50% I was pretty hooked. Eva was deeply relatable (I say this as a flighty middle child who tends to self isolate). And her reticence to exploring anything with the earnest Rylie was so real.

And Rylie. Wow Rylie Cooper is the embodiment of a secure man who can cut through Eva’s shit and not let her self isolate or run away. This came from his own work and growth from grieving the death of a loved one and coming to terms with his sexuality in his younger years. He wasn’t always this way but he grew to be this stable ass man.

I LOVED their banter throughout the book. Eva is so incredibly funny (in an unhinged way) and I loved how much Rylie loved being in the receiving end of her wrath. Truly the “if you see a man getting yelled at by his hot gf, leave him alone he wants to be there” trend.

All in all a fun read that low key made me tear up. This one is for my fellow flighty middle children. Someone will show up for you, you just have to wait for the right one.

This book rewired my brain. Eva is my hero and Rylie is the most charming book boyfriend I have ever encountered. I love when a woman can cut a man down and he eats it up. I am incredibly picky about my second chance romance stories and this was an absolute home run.

Mazey, you are a queen for this story!!! I was cackling 70% of the time. The banter was delicious, the chemistry on fire, and the pacing was perfection. This concept felt so incredibly different to any other romance I have read and truly felt like a breath of fresh air. Not only is this story refreshing, but it also feels incredibly realistic.

I loved everything about this!!!!!

Sadly this was not for me. I just really disliked the characters and found myself kind of bored throughout. Not as good as her other books

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

i'm very disappointed to say that I DNF'd this at about 40%. Eddings has been a hit or miss for me and unfortunately I just couldn't connect with these characters. The FMC came off as really rude and immature in my opinion and I felt myself cringing at some of the things she said. Because of this, I couldn't feel the chemistry between these characters and I just wasn't interested.

If there is one thing I live for—it’s banter. And we get plenty of it from Eva Kitt and Rylie Cooper. We meet these two six years after they had a thing in college and are thrown back together after a stitch goes viral. They go on some manufactured dates where Rylie wants to make up for his behavior in college. Eva reluctantly goes along to help her job, but she absolutely does not go easy on him. While this set up gives us so many funny moments, we also get the characters sizzling chemistry and soft moments. I love second chance romances— all the history and seeing characters work to come back together again. We only get Eva’s POV, but even without being in his head, it’s obvious Rylie is down bad. I had such a fun time reading this one. I need to go grab a copy to add to my Mazey collection.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my early read!

What’s there not to love. Fun romance with insane banter with the love characters. I devoured this book right up.

4.5/5 stars

This was a really fun romance! The banter between the two MCs was *chefs kiss* and I was pleasantly surprised to see the bi rep! The pacing felt a little off somewhere in the latter half, but the ending made up for it I think.

TW: child death/grief, internalized biphobia, bullying/harassment

Warning: clear your schedule to read this book. It is unputdownable, and you will be tired for work the next day.

Mazey Eddings never fails to deliver a stunning exploration of romance and mental health. Well, Actually also discusses misogyny, homophobia, and toxic workplaces, all in a book about a hot dog-themed interview show. I was laughing and giggling (very different fyi) and gasping and almost sobbing. The amount of emotions I felt should be illegal under the Geneva Convention or something.

First of all, Eva Kitt is so precious. She deserves the world, but the world does not deserve her. Her character development and her willingness to open up and trust people had my heart crying. She shows that a tough exterior often hides a soft interior, but that's not something to be ashamed of. Additionally, her determination to achieve her dreams is inspiring.

Rylie Cooper is Eva's perfect match. They fit so well together, I can't even compare them to puzzle pieces. Puzzle pieces wish they fit together as well as Eva and Rylie. He never shied away from her sharp edges, but he also never tried to dull her shine. He loves every part of her, and he supports her the way she needs to be supported. One can only dream of having a partner as supportive as Rylie. He also had wonderful character development, although his was more off-page than Eva's. Either way, I really appreciate how Mazey dedicated so much time to her characters and didn't let Rylie get away with his past behavior. He may have a reason for that behavior, but he's since learned from it and grown.

Mazey Eddings also fed us with cameos because she is actually the best person ever. She effortlessly wove characters from some of her previous books into the plot without it being disruptive. These cameos were so seamless, I wouldn't have caught them if I wasn't her biggest fan (not to brag or anything but I bought A Brush of Love the day it released).

The moral of the story is to always trust Mazey Eddings because she knows how to write a tender romance with lots of emotions and filthy spice, with deeper topics all handled with the utmost care.

Well, y’all, this is another Mazey Eddings hit. Her writing style and prose just resonates with me so much and this book was absolutely a banger and checked every single box! I love how much the main characters ribbed each other. I also really loved that Eva was a black cat but really well rounded as well. She wasn’t just grumpy and hard to get along with to be a bitch. She had loads of layers. I also really appreciated how grief was talked about in this story.

Also, 90% of my my highlights in this book are just about Rylie being a hot dork with slutty little glasses or an absolutely out of pocket knee weakening line.

Thank you SMP, netgalley, and Mazey for the opportunity to read this book early with an eARC.

Mazey's writing always has me both swooning and cackling, and this was no exception. It was a perfect exes/rivals to lovers. Her banter is top notch and so so so funny. I loved the concept of the misconceptions from their past and the "righting of wrongs" and Rylie is just so fabulous. Highly recommend, especially if you have liked her previous books. I think she keeps getting funnier. (and sweet little Lizzie Blake cameo!)

This is a novel about second chances at love following Eva who goes viral after posting a video about how bad her relationship was with love guru Rylie Cooper. For their job and capitalizing on the popularity they agree to go on dates and talk about them for the internet to see.

I loved the banter between the two of them and the plot was a great idea. It fell off about halfway when they decided to just get back together. It became so focused on the spice of the romance that the plot turned into a secondary thought. This one had a lot of promise but like a girl in her first relationship everything got ignored to focus on her infatuation. It wrapped up in a random way that gave closure to the characters at least but left me bored.

The audio was hard to listen to as the narrator sounds like she was slurring her works even thought I had it sped up. The tone changes for the characters was good but it was hard to get past the slow slurred words.

This one had a lot of promise, I don’t know if I would recommend this one. There are just better romance in the spotlight books out there.

Well, Actually was a pleasant surprise of a read for me. I read Mazey Eddings’ first book a few years ago when it first came out but I haven’t gotten around to another one of her books since. Nonetheless, the premise was interesting and the banter throughout this book was amazing. Riley is definitely making it to my list of MMC’s with personality that jumps off the page. I also liked the fact that we could see how the MMC had done the work to change over the years to juxtapose the work that the FMC needed to do. All in all, this was a fun read that I will definitely be recommending to anyone who loves complex and demanding FMC’s as much as I do!