EVA IS THAT GIRL. Everyone is about to hate her with a passion but no no I LOVED IT! And the MMC? What a delight.

Oh this was delightful! My first Mazey Eddings book and it did not disappoint. Eva & Rylie are everything.

I connected so much to Eva and how she felt and reacted to certain situations. Closed off girlies who are afraid of rejection and use snarkiness to hide from their feelings rise! The Bolter coded girlies rise! She is the epitome of a black cat and I'm here for it. While at certain moments I wanted to smack her in the face, I understood exactly where she came from and why she reacted the way she did. I also love how unapologetically herself she is. How she never back down from what she wanted or who she is, while also growing. I just wish we got to see her be a tiny bit more vulnerable.

RYLIE!!!!!!! THE EPITOME OF BABY GIRLLLLLLL. He is so hot omg. I love how he never faltered, how he truly took everything Eva threw at him, how even when she doubted him, he stood tall and never wavered. That is my man! He saw her, accepted her, and never tried to change her. Plus the way he groveled? Elite. The mental health representation and how open Rylie was about going to therapy meant everything to me. We love a man who works on himself!

Great queer representation (Eva is pan & Rylie is bi), amazing banter, so much steam (on my knees for Rylie), elite humor, and surprisingly insightful and emotional moments. I enjoyed this so so much!!

While some parts of the story didn't fully click for me, I did thoroughly enjoyed this and will be recommending it. Thank you SMP for the ARC!!

PS - the toxic work environment part of the story is something I feel a lot of people will see themselves in.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC copy of Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings. First of all this going to be a bit long winded for my typical review but, I absolutely adore this book. It was funny, cute, and somehow also incredibly deep. I related to it more than I thought I would, and it was refreshing to see such an honest and accurate depiction of what it’s like to lose a sibling. Too often, people get uncomfortable and awkward when you mention losing a sibling, and I wish more people would react the way Eva did—by simply caring for you instead of pitying you.

I love that the characters’ quirkiness is highlighted and that it’s being normalized in life. Eva is a super sassy and feisty girl who hides behind sarcasm because of her hurt, and I can definitely relate to that. I just really wish younger me could have met a real-life Riley to help put all my pieces back together and not make me feel bad for being broken at certain points in my life.

I highly encourage everyone to read this book—it’s such a good read!

Grumpy x sunshine, second chance romance. From the get-go the FMC comes off as angry with a giant chip on her shoulder. It made it hard to read and to gel with a character that always reverts to baseline level of bitter.
The MMC makes up for it a bit with his plethora of green flags... he's supportive, emotionally aware and an overall Golden retriever. I like him (even if the author used his first and last name interchangeably throught the book). 🤦🏻‍♀️
Honestly, I was ready to DNF at about halfway but wanted to give the book an honest chance. Once their physical relationship started, the communication became better (she reverted less to the snappy/bitchy comebacks). Overall, I'd give the book 3*.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review an eARC of this book.

⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

🌭🎥🎙️❣️

Enemies to lovers, second chance romance, forced proximity, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine

📖: Eva Kitt, host of Sausage Talk, is set to interview her former college fling, Riley Cooper, leading to a tension-filled reunion on air.

💭: This gave Chicken Shop Date vibes with Amelia and Andrew Garfield—if they had history. Such a fun and fresh take on second-chance romance, tying in relevant and relatable aspects of pop culture.

It was an entertaining read, but Eva could be so guarded and mean at times—it got frustrating. Like, girl, the jokes are going too far! I get that being a bit of a b* was her whole personality, but damn 😭.

Meanwhile, Riley was the greenest green flag book boyfriend there ever was—he’s in therapy, an advocate for breaking down toxic masculinity, and just an all-around good guy using his platform for good. And yet, Eva treated him horribly 80% of the time... for WHAT reason?!!!!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mazey Eddings for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This book was such a great time! I found myself giggling and kicking my feet so often lol! Very easy to binge, can’t wait to read more by this author!

★★★☆☆
(I liked it)

A second chance rom-com set in a "Chicken Shop Date" context.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the story, which is structured to hook us right from the start.

What I loved most was the healing journey that Eva and Rylie undergo together. It's uncommon (though it could be beneficial for many of us:'-)) to engage in a sort of therapy with a former romantic partner. It was interesting to understand each one's perspective and traumas. The author truly succeeds in adding complexity to her characters in this regard, making them more real.

The second part of the book felt much longer to me; it seemed like there were no longer any gripping elements in the story, compared to the beginning.

That being said, I would be curious to read another story by Mazey Eddings, especially to discover more of her characters.

🌭🎧🗽🍂👓

*.✧Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, okay, I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did! 4.5⭐️

The premise starts out really similar to chicken shop date (but with hot dogs). Eva, the host, calls out her ex situationship Rylie Cooper for being terrible when they were together in college. Her post goes viral on social media, her bosses invite him on the show, and it turns into a hilarious, heartfelt, and vulnerable second chance romance.

The first half of this was so fun. The banter between Eva and Rylie: hysterical. The chemistry: off the charts. Eva really said I hate you, and Rylie’s response was I’m going to fall in love with you.

The second half was my favorite. The vulnerability between the two of them wasn’t something I would’ve expected from the first half. I loved learning why Eva put up such a tough front. I loved understanding why Rylie acted the way he did when they were first together. I loved them working through their past together.

Rylie Cooper may be one of my favorite fictional boyfriends ever. He’s silly, witty, emotionally intelligent, loves to give praise… I could go on.

I loved this book! The second chance at dating trope was done well. It was so original and unlike any book I’ve read before. I’ll definitely be recommending this one to my friends. The podcaster and the journalist falling in love while working out their issues was adorable and realistic. This was fast-paced and so enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this arc.

I loved the dynamic between the two characters. I felt like this was one of those dates/conversations that I’ve seen on Tik tok where the girl interviews celebrities. It was funny and I love that he was the ultimate hype guy!

DNF at 22%, this book just isn't for me. Loved the premise of it, but I'm just not vibing with how it's happening.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review

4.25 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The relationship between them is complex, complicated, and compelling, and I loved the development of it. The banter was great. Overall a great read.



*.✧Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!! There's nothing better than when a book makes you laugh out loud, cry and kick your feet all the same time. Well, Actually did that and so much more. I fell so in love with these characters, especially Rylie!! This book is 100% going to make it on to my list of favorites of the year. Everyone definitely needs to pick this one up when it's out in August!

I had never read a book by Mazey Eddings before reading 'Well, Actually.' I like her writing, the wit, and the humor, and you can see how much work she put into this story. I have a lot to say about this book. So be forewarned this review has spoilers.

First, the cover, fantastic and eye catching even though throughout the book I never pictured the characters to look like what were drawn on the cover. But the cover is fantastic. But don't let that cover fook ya because this romance is deep. The cover appears it could be a light-hearted romance, which this is not. This book has all the feels. Because I loved the writing so much, I looked up Mazey Eddings on her social media, and her joy is infectious. You can tell she loves being an author and having this dream come true. Mazey Eddings is also a dentist which I got a kick out of. I'll be reading her other book A Brush with Love. She also states she is neurodivergent which makes a lot of sense since her story focuses highly on the mental health of her two main characters, Eva and Rylie. In the synopsis, it is described as Eva being a black cat and Rylie a golden retriever. But I did not look at the two main characters like this at all. Rylie is a fantastically written character, he's easy going but a very evolved man from his younger self. When Eva and Rylie met in college and dated for a few months, Rylie was immature and in grief from losing his sister. He was distant, aloof, and ghosted Eva. Eva comes from a very neglected upbringing who was not nurtured. Her "black cat' as I saw it was from a deep-seated insecurity from a lack of nurturing and she's probably neurodivergent. Her behavior is a result of self-protecting and the fear of not being lovable and if she loves someone and loses then loses them the pain she'll have to face, which stems from the neglect in her upbringing.
With all this said, this book has a lot of humor from the spectacular writing of Mazey Eddings. It also has spice. The book is not a typical romance, which is in part, why I like it. The story felt more original than most romances, but Eva did grate on my nerves after a while. To me she felt so needly which is part of her neglect in her upbringing but man the character of Rylie had the patience of a saint and also just incredibly gets her and wants a lifetime with her. For him she's it and for Eva she has to work through a lot to get to the stage Rylie has evolved to.

The story starts with Eva making a video post, which goes viral, about Rylie, who is a successful social media influencer with a popular podcast. He talks about toxic masculinity and during the time Eva knew him in college she viewed her relationship with him as toxic because of how he treated her at the time. So she calls him out as being disingenuous in her video. Again, the writing has humor, heart and a whole lot of drama. I'll be reading more of Mazey Eddings writing after this book.
Perhaps this isn't a romance for everyone but it is original, heartfelt and deep.

Got this as an ARC from NetGalley and wasn’t sure if I’d like it because I could never finish a Brush with Love. But this was thoroughly enjoyable! I even considered giving it 5 stars.

I think my favorite part was the main character’s struggle with vulnerability and how she postures with confidence even when her self-esteem is low. It’s a bit extreme, like most of these types of books are - but there was something incredibly relatable in her not wanting to be seen by those around her, at least to me. I found myself reflecting on what aspects of myself I lie to myself about - and I rarely do that when reading rom-coms, they’re meant to be nice and full of spice, not reflective insights.

But speaking of spice, the chemistry is off the charts, the banter is excellent, hate to love story is really satisfying, the love interest is a boyfriend dream, and once it makes sense in the plot - there’s a lot of spice.

I didn’t give it 5 stars because of the work sub-plot. She was a bit too stuck on some of the elements there ( no spoilers) which made some parts less fun to read. The villains are a bit unidimensional and what happens there is a bit too simplistic and neatly wrapped for my liking.

But overall - a super fun read during a one day trip. Fully recommend.

Oh and it has some truly funny bits. I laughed out loud at the following astrological joke which I’ll just leave here as a nugget:

“Every planet must be out of order with Neptune double penetrating Uranus because something unbelievable is happening: I’m actually having fun at work.”

Mazey Eddings keeps on writing the exact right book in the exact right moment. Even as someone who doesn't tend to appreciate second chance romances from a realism perspective, this was perfectly handled and felt very real and true to each character's learning process. Riley was the most perfect cinnamon role who had taken the time to heal the parts of himself that had hurt other people. Eva was snarky and wonderful and my heart ached at how much she felt like a burden or an afterthought to the people around her. It was so healing to engage with her story of discovery as she finally got to experience what it was like to accept being cared for. The banter was A+ and running in the background was a story of a toxic work environment that was thoughtfully handled and expertly resolved. I also love how rooted all of this was in queer community. I sincerely hope we get to see more of the side characters in future stories.

I have loved everything Mazey has ever written and this is no different! When Eva Kitt, host of "Sausage Talk", calls out her college ex on social media and the world implodes. Said ex, also has a social media following and wants redemption for the way he treated her back then. The two agree to go on 6 dates and discuss on their platform. What Kitt doesn't expect to happen is to actually like Riley Cooper after all this time.

This book will keep you entertained while hitting on some heavy topics, but with the usual humor we all love and expect from Eddings. The easter egg of Lizzie Blake was *chefs kiss*. Perfect book to escape reality!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mazey Eddings has done it again! This book had me in a chokehold from start to finish. Completely obsessed. She’s raw, messy, and deeply relatable—using sarcasm as armor, never pretending to be soft, yet full of heart underneath. Watching her and Rylie push each other, challenge each other, and slowly break down their walls was everything.

The relationship dynamic took center stage, and I adored how naturally their vulnerability unfolded. Rylie showing up for Eva exactly when she needed it? Beautiful. Beyond the romance, I loved how this book handled trauma with care, embraced feminism and representation, and celebrated women in all their complexity. Mazey’s writing is addictive, and I'm SO happy to read more of her work.

A man on a podcast truly gives me the ick, but Mazey managed to write a man so pure, reflective and self-possessed that I was eating my words! Mazey has a talent for writing characters with open communication, really diving into the psyche of two people fighting to make it work. I adore her writing and WELL, ACTUALLY is a standout. Such a unique premise that really delivers through the power of her strong writing!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The dynamic between the black cat and golden retriever was fantastic, and Mazey Eddings really nailed it. The characters were relatable, especially Eva, and I can't wait to buy the paperback just to showcase that beautiful cover on my shelf.