Eva and Rylie thought their quick, almost-non-existent relationship was over, until six years later, they reluctantly re-enter each other's lives. Forced to face who they were and are now, and all that has happened in-between, they discover there might still be room for each other. What could be better than another book by Mazey Eddings, and the Easter egg to Lizzie Blake is so fun! A perfect summer read!

Holy banter, Batman!
Let me start off by saying I will now read anything this author writes just for the character dialogue alone. I found myself highlighting one liners and quips and laughing out loud. (Then, obviously looking around to see who saw me laughing out loud…)
Themes:
2nd chance, late 20s protagonists who ACTUALLY have some life under their belts, he falls first, found family, “Good girl” and “so f**king perfect”, discussion of therapy, bi/trans characters, horrible bosses, and obvi a HAE.

My fav lines (no spoilers):
A few slutty little curls tumble
I give lactose-intolerant energy? What does that even mean?
…for all of Pedro Pascal’s internet to dissect and comment on.
…asking in a deep, calm (hyperventilating-adjacent) breath
I don’t think she ever grew up, Aida says kindly. That’s probably the secret to it all.
I slow (more out of cardiovascular necessity than conscious choice)
Rock bottom is fun like that.
Families, in the nuclear sense, are made up of genetically connected, emotionally scarred people doing their best not to strangle each other at any given time.
I am tough. And I am really f**king sick of having to be. I deserve softness, goddammit. I deserve tender moments and gentle caresses and whispered sweet nothings. I deserve someone, somewhere, wanting to like me for me.

my first thought after finishing this book is…it was not written for me. this will be one of those books that people love and will say to me “you just don’t get it.” and honestly yeah i just don’t get it.

first off, it didn’t give chicken shop date. i dunno if she was really going for that but it didn’t give it if she was. sausage talk is unpopular filled with “c list” celebrities and chicken shop date is viral with paul mescal and andrew garfield flirting away! also i dont think that amelia dimz is very rude or monotone?? idkkkk

i understand the whole “being mean and acting unbothered” coping mechanism, i really do. i mean i do it with humor! but there were points where i thought she took it too far. im here for being a dick to a man and for the first 40% when we didn’t know why he ghosted her and why he had an attitude problem in college, i was very okay with her being rude to him! but once she found out, i feel like she could have let up atleast a little! but then she runs away after sex and is still rude to him. so yes, as a certified people pleaser, i do not get it. it’s awful what she’s been through but i think there comes a point in life where people learn to mask that and grow up. tbh once they were in a relationship was when i FINALLY understood the dynamic between the two of them but honestly it took way too long for me personally. i like when i get it right away.

rylie is just too kind and patient. and i think he has a degradation kink. she hates on him in every conversation they have and he just takes it like a champ. so maybe it’s one of those cases where that’s how he wants it to be. but we don’t even get her being the dominant one in bed? even with the whole baby girl thing?? CMONNN it would have made so much sense and honestly been very hot.

still debating my feelings on the nickname kitten. i know it’s not supposed to be said in this way but it’s giving mafia boss age gap/young naive woman. NOT cute skinny guy with glasses and feelings.

couples therapy??? when you’re not a couple?? i’d run. so far. away!

BUT believe it or not, the last 25% while they were a couple was so nice but it felt like a 180 for Eva. she was much more calm and nice, is it because she found someone to ground her? let her be herself. that’s probably the case. but that drama at the end with landry and william was honestly too much. my face turned red i was so embarrassed for her and they were way too harsh (like unrealistically harsh, this felt way too fake/written/obviously fiction) i HATE when side characters are overtly terrible because i just feel like it’s too much sometimes and this might have been the most dramatic one ive read… but this is just another example of why i just don’t get this book. if i had an employer treat me like this, id gladly walk right out the door! i get it’s her dream but girl don’t let yourself be so vulnerable infront of these horrific people! it’s just so unnecessary and there are other actions you can take!

okay that was a LOT of shit talking here’s what i loved:
-the i love you scene was so perfect honestly their whole dynamic during their relationship was PERFECT (i just wish i felt that throughout the entire book…)
-it picked up a lot during the scene about him talking about his sisters death. that whole conversation had me glued to the kindle.
-i liked the last chapter, they were cute in it. but once again didn’t feel like the same eva from the beginning of the book at all!

okay i cant think of anymore YIKES!
i’m so sorry but i just had so many thoughts and had to get them out. but this is still ALL PREFERENCE and this is coming from a mazey eddings fan! i was so sad i didn’t connect with this but i know already (from the views ive read) that a lot of people are going to LOVE THIS BOOK!

I really enjoy this book! I loved the main character and that she had a little bit of a spicy personality. I loved that the main male character was kind, and constantly verified the female main character through words of affirmation. I could feel the chemistry between these two. This book had me giggling and kicking my feet while reading it. I read it so fast too. As someone who works a corporate job there is nothing better than getting a book that makes you crave reading, and this book was that! This author has an amazin writing style, and this is the second book of hers I have enjoyed. I am so thankfuk I got to read this book early. Right now this book is a 4.5 stars but I could definitely see that changing to a five!

Really enjoyed this one by Mazey Eddings. She's such a good writer of banter and wit it's so impressive to really see her dig her teeth into that.

Solid book by Mazey. Not my favorite from her, but she will always still be an auto-buy author. I love her characters and the complexity to their whole being. Can’t wait to see what she does next.

This was a quick and enjoyable read. Social Media can be wild and for Eva she was able to dish on a bad time but it also landed her with Rylie. Over time ditched her emotionally draining and unhealthy job and had her HEA.

I really enjoyed the dates Rylie planned, including the one with the couple therapy session. Rylie definitely grew up from his college ways and was patient and waited for her. I would recommend this book to my friends and will once it is released!

Pleasantly surprised with how much I like this book. The story is about Eva, a sarcastic and closed off journalist and Rylie, a podcaster focused on bettering himself.

Eva and Rylie dated in college. Things didn’t end well and they unexpectedly reconnect.

I liked Eva’s hard exterior and how much she grew throughout the novel. I am probably biased because I could really relate to her as well. Rylie was also a winner. Overall, it was a fun and quick read.

4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 20% because I just cannot handle the lack of formatting for text messages, especially when there are full text conversations happening in a chapter. Having them mixed into sentences and multiple texts / non-text sentences in the SAME paragraph is infuriating. I did like the overall book, but the lack of formatting just got so frustrating/annoying that I don't want to read the book.

Well, Actually was a great book. I enjoyed the spunky yet heartwarming connections. Mazey Eddings did a great job with this book, and I will be going through her back log real soon!

I so wanted to like this one as a big Mazey Eddings fans. Okay, I was intrigued right away—Eva’s call out of ex-boyfriend and Rylie who wants to prove he’s changed. I had fun with in but the black cat/golden retriever characters were so over the top that this just felt way too unrealistic to get into it. Eva, girl, you didn’t have to be so difficult. On a plus side, I loved the queer rep! I probably won’t review this on my bookstagram page. 2.5/3 stars

Maze Eddings is at her finest with her latest title, Well, Actually! Loosely inspired by internet famous YouTube show Chicken Shop Date and *those* viral chemistry and banter-filled interviews with Andrew Garfield Well Actually had me laughing out loud and kicking my feet as I devoured it in a single day! Highly recommend for fans of he falls first and emotionally intelligent heroes!

The banter is SPARKLING and her voice/prose is envy inducing. Couldn’t recommend more!

4.5 stars

I was laughing, kicking my feet, and swooning over this book! I loved the black cat and golden retriever our main characters had going on. The banter between Eva and Rylie was on point and their chemistry was great. The two meet at college and have a brief fling that is a hot mess. One drunken night Eva comes across one of Rylie's video posts and decides to make her own about how Rylie treated their relationship. It goes viral and the next thing Eva is faced with having him at her show and then going on dates to help with their image and her job.

I loved Eva and her boldness and black cat energy she had going on. I do think, at the beginning, she was a little mean to our sweet Rylie and I know where she is coming from but that is just my feelings on that and part of the reason why I did not rate this 5 stars. The other reason is that I would have liked that Eva would have spoken more about why she gets defensive in a mean way to Rylie. We learn throughout the book what Rylie had going on for him in his past when they first meet and hooked up but the conversation that I feel Eva needed to have with Rylie never happened.


Rylie is the perfect golden retriever book boyfriend. I could not get over how much he loved Eva being mean to him and their banter back and forth. How he tells her he would rather have her over a boring complacent relationship. He was so good at reading her and reassuring her when she would start to get in her head and be mean in a way to push him away.

The spice in this book is perfect. Rylie might be all good boy vibes but not in bed!! He was all about pleasing, and being in charge, and the praise talk was delicious!!!

I highly recommend picking up this book! Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Mazey Eddings for the arc!

Well, Actually was such a fun and refreshing read! I typically don’t gravitate toward second-chance romance stories, but I absolutely loved the relationship between Eva and Cooper. The banter between them was witty, relatable, and packed with emotional depth. It’s the kind of back-and-forth that had me laughing at any moment.

What I really appreciated about this book was how it addressed topics that aren’t often explored in romance novels, particularly its inclusive portrayal of LGBTQ+ communities. While I’m not personally part of this community, I truly appreciated how the book approached these topics in a thoughtful and respectful way something that’s often missing in many romance books. It made the story feel even more well-rounded and relevant to a wider range of readers.

The writing was beautifully done thoughtful, clever, and with a lot of heart. That being said, there were a few moments where the story felt a bit over the top, and at times, the main character, Eva, did have a bit of a cringe-worthy energy. However, the humor and realness of their connection more than made up for it. There were plenty of moments that had me laughing out loud, which kept me thoroughly engaged.

Overall, Well, Actually is a great read for anyone looking for a witty, heartfelt romance with a good dose of humor. It’s definitely one I’d recommend when it’s released!

I received an advanced copy of Well, Actually in exchange for an honest review.

So I’m imagining Amelia Dimoldenberg (Chicken Shop Date) and her banter with Andrew Garfield but Andrew Garfield is actually Adam Brody, but really Seth Cohen (The OC).

The main character, Eva, said “hot girl isn’t a look or style, it’s a commitment to doing whatever makes you feel unstoppable” and I fell in love with her.

And the banter between these two characters is the stuff my Gilmore girls heart dreams of. The conversations made me laugh out loud and cry tears when it got real.

Eva reposts a video calling out a popular podcast host doling out relationship advice about her very unfortunate hookup experience with him in college, alluding he’s the last person that should be giving out advice.

In what Eva thinks is an attempt to clear his name, he agrees to appear on her own internet show. He pleads with her for another chance over the course of 6 dates to prove that he’s changed and soon she can’t tell what’s real and what’s for show.

Highly recommend this when the book is released!

Second chance. Forced proximity. Witty banter.

I also cannot tell you how much I laughed at “do you curl up in the pocket?” An absolute MUST in the published version.

Only critique : I really want her best friend Aida to be a bit more likable. She does get on her side at the end but would really love a little bit of humility from her at the gala. What they were asking Eva to read actually hurt my heart a little.

Well, Actually is witty, heartwarming, and impossible to put down! Mazey Eddings perfectly balances humor and emotion, creating a story that feels fresh and relatable. A must-read for romance fans!

4.75⭐️
What an entertaining read! I loved it! This has to be my favorite second chance romance I have ever read. I’m usually not a fan of the trope but, the author did an amazing job with weaving the past and present timelines!

The FMC, Eva, was a delightful mess. There was a rawness to her chaotic behavior. I was able to connect to her in a way that surprised me. The MMC, Riley, was a ball of quirky sunshine. ☀️ He was the typical golden retriever boy in the best way. The BANTER between these two characters was off the charts! I don’t think I’ve read better banter in my life. And if you like a slow burn this one is for you! 😮‍💨

I loved the mental health representation in this book. Getting to see the characters work through the trauma we read about was refreshing. The communication that these characters have with one another is also delightful! I love when I don’t have to read a 3rd act breakup because the characters refused to talk to each other! 🙂‍↔️

Overall, I loved this book! Besides a few eye-roll worthy #millennialcore jokes, this book had me laughing out loud and giggling kicking my feet! Highly recommend! 🤭

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review honestly! 🫶🏻

I'm excited about this book since I've been a fan of Mezey Eddings from her previous books. My takeaway from her books are someone neurodivergent falling in love. This one, however is not the case. This is more of a Second Chance trope. Eva had a drunken reaction of her ex- from college who is now an internet sensation. In response, Riley (the ex) called her bluff. If her experience with him was so bad, let's give it a second try.

Riley is charming and smart. His calculating is in there, but you don't feel any malice from him. Eva is beating herself up because where she imagine she should be at 28 is not her reality. Meanwhile, she crave the belonging to a job, to friends, to family. First of all, let's talk about her job, it's not journalism that she was trained for, she's doing dumb podcast to pay the bills. Yet, she put her boss on this pedestal and both her boss and depo-prince gaslight her to no-end. And Eva kept taking it. For someone who is so full of sass and attitude acting like a bad-ass, taking crap from her boss who she supposedly worship is a very conflicting trait. Don't get me started on her supposed best friend/producer, Aida. Most of the time in the book I'm begging her to switch best friends. Luckily Aida came thru in the end.

God bless Riley though, he grew up, he worked on himself, and he realizes what he was missing, and what he needed. He build himself back up from the bottom, and is better for it. He became the support Eva needed and then more. He recognizes her need to protect herself, to build walls, and to avoid the situation, and he came at her strong and unmoved from his spot so she can come to terms on her own. Bravo to him for realizing that, and is willing to do that work and be there for her.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC. p.s. Lizzy & Rake makes an appearance, YKIYK.

This was such a fun book! Although the FMC was prickly, she wasn’t unlikable and the MMC was adorable. It was a quick and light and had great representation!

The banter in this is perfection. Love the way Maxey Eddings works mental health and is so inclusive!