After Eva’s drunken bashful Tiktok stitch towards ex crush Rylie Cooper goes south, she has no other option than to agree to do a couple of her talk shoes with him.

Yo me this screamed second chance with a hint of enemies to lovers and comedy.
I enjoyed Eva’s dry humor and how very forward she was with pretty much everything! Such a smart mouth this one has. It’s giving black cat vibes yes sirrr

And Rylie is such a sweet golden retriever omgggg we love him okay? We must defend him at all cost!

Aside from a great story both characters touch basis on trauma, losing a family member, issues with self esteem, feelings of not accomplishing goals/success parent separation among others.

Definitely give it a try! Especially now for summer, I feel like it would be perfect

Baby girl is my favorite nickname now.

I struggle to appreciate books that are founded on something going viral on social media, but I found myself really enjoying this! I had a goofy grin on my face for easily the first 20%, smiling like a fool having such a good time. I found Eva’s prickly, frosty exterior to be very relatable, with a good amount of time given to the background for why. I love that she struggles to be vulnerable, and that is her primary arc in the story.

I felt the conflict and resolution was rushed, and I did question the blatant unprofessionalism, coercion and abuse of power from management (although I realize this has to be played up a bit in a short book). I love, love, love though that the conflict was external to their relationship.

I loved this book! I actually finished it in one sitting. I was actually giggling out loud at so many points my husband looked at me like he had no idea what was going on. Riley and Eva dated 6 years ago and then Riley ghosted Eva. Eva is not one to let things go easily and being forced to collaborate with him. Riley Cooper just wants to prove he's not so bad a guy. I love a character with a dry sense of humor and this book delivered. Definite black cat and golden retriever energy with these two!

I’ve enjoyed Mazey Eddings’s books before, so I was excited to read Well, Actually. The story finds two people going viral online when they take swipes at each other about their past dating history, and since both of them have some level of influencer status, they work together to maximize their celebrity. Old feelings rekindle, etc. It’s a cute premise with plenty of steamy scenes, but something about the book left me a bit underwhelmed. I think some of the work drama wasn’t appealing to me. I’ll still look forward to reading more from Eddings in the future, though.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5

This book was such a great rom com to read! It took me a bit longer to finish it than I’d like because I don’t think the plot entirely grabbed the reader and pushed them to finish it. Overall, I think my main issue with this book was with the main character, Eva. I absolutely love female main characters that are independent and get it done on there own without a man. However, I do not like the characters that are rude to everyone and everything because they’re not happy with their life. I honestly found Eva to be very annoying. I understand she had a lot of trauma and history with Rylie but the same we acted sometimes wasn’t warranted in my opinion. Absolutely loved Rylie though, he was my favorite character throughout this book. Some of the side characters were also phenomenal, which bought more attractiveness to the male main character

There were so many funny scenes/people throughout that made this book so enjoyable. I loved her talk show name. The author was creative with that and the hot dog water.

Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC! It was a very funny rom com and I was happy to share this book with friends to purchase when it is released.

4.5 stars
WOWWOW
I didn’t realize how much I needed a black cat FMC and a golden retriever MMC until now. This book was hilarious, heartfelt, and lowkey (highkey) a second chance romance that I actually enjoyed???? I will be honest though the first page was for some reason rough for me to get through. I just did not enjoy the visual in my head of her job revolving around hotdogs (and I disliked all susbsequent mentions of it) but I probably just really hate hotdogs being mentioned in books. On the other hand, I actually really enjoyed the TikTok aspect of this book, I know some people hate any mention of social media, real life, ect. in books but hello we need art to reflect reality!!! And Mazey did this really well imo. This was a cute, CUTE, CUTE read with a MMC who will make ur heart melt and a FMC who is snarky and slighlty bitchy but you love her in the end. Can’t share any quotes since this was an ARC but just know that I have 21! highlighted phrases. Like this book is just that girl in terms of laugh-out-loud one liners.

Arc review! Thank you.

This book I had such high expectations for. I really loved late Bloomer, but this book I could not get into in the same way. The female main character is insufferable. She can’t communicate her feelings and acts like a toddler. I really liked the male main character, but I feel like he was constantly getting put down by the female main character and it was disheartening. I may give this book a second chance once it’s done being edited and published but for now it sits at three stars.

I absolutely love Eva and Rylie. From the very beginning you’re hooked by Eva’s dry wit that can borderline on being rude. Which is honestly part of her charm. Then comes in Rylie, her first crush that did her wrong, who has a podcast on how to be a better man and overall, treat women better. Eva decides to call him out, because clearly that wasn’t the case for her, and of course it goes viral.
Now Eva is forced into an impossible situation when her boss requests her to interview Rylie, and hints that if she does this, she’ll have an opportunity tomorrow be promoted.
Navigating her company problems (and there are quite a few) and the budding relationship with Rylie keeps you on the end of your seat. It’s such a realistic issues, and you’re rooting for her every step of the way. Rylie is the sweetest and his dynamic with Eva is amazing. He doesn’t try to change her and accepts her as she is. They both had me laughing and kicking my feet. There IS spice, and oh it was spicy. Never will I look at the monster mash song the same again. No context quote from Rylie pretty much sums it up “You headstrong fruit loop”
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings follows Eva Kitt, an aspiring journalist stuck interviewing mid-tier celebrities over hot dogs, and Rylie Cooper, a podcaster who deconstructs toxic masculinity, as he tries to make things right with her after ghosting her in college. Their second chance, grumpy/sunshine romance develops as they each learn to be vulnerable with each other, confront their past relationship (both what ended it and how it impacted their relationships since), and spend a fair amount of time making fun of each other. The banter between Eva and Rylie was at times a little too much for me - even though I understood that Eva's tendency to use humor and bite was a protective instinct, sometimes it made me uncomfortable. I did appreciate how their communication improved as their relationship developed, and that they didn't expect the other person (or their relationship) to "fix" them, Rylie and Eva both needed to do their own self work, with the other's support, to get to a healthier place.

You should read this book if you like sharp banter, he falls first, black cat/golden retriever energy, spice, and characters just trying to do right by themselves and each other.

4.5 ⭐️
Eva and Cooper 😍😍😍
I want a man who blushes at me the way Cooper blushes for Eva ❤️ if there’s one thing I love, it’s a man who is an absolute simp for his woman! The black cat and golden retriever vibes were so strong in this book and I ATE IT UP.
If I could pull a man out of a book to keep for myself in real life, it would be Cooper 😮‍💨❤️
The smut in this book was divine, the banter was fantastic and the love was heart melting! Cannot recommend enough!

Thank you to NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc copy of Well, Actually.

I like the premise of Eva and Rylie and the he-sunshine/she-grumpy, second chance troupe. But overall, this was a pass for me. There were alot of trendy social media/internet things that just felt like a miss for me overall.
And I really did not enjoy Eva. Her grumpiness and bitterness were not endearing to me. Especially next to Rylie’s optimism and character growth. I feel like Rylie was written well. He went from a messed up frat boy who knows he made big mistakes. He did the hard work of becoming a better person. All the green flag energy for him. But Eva used Rylie as an excuse to become bitter. I’m not saying Rylie’s character is innocent of wrongdoing. But for six year Rylie did the mental health work and Eva ruminated in disappointment. I wish her character would have had some emotional awareness to her childhood issues and how her history with Rylie compounded on that, and worked toward healing for herself. Idk. Maybe that’s just me. Maybe she can continue seeing Roberta (was that her name?) now for real?

Anyways. The overall premise was good. Eva’s job was complete crap. Rylie was a great MMC.

If LGBTQ+ representation matters to you in your reading selections, this has that in spades.

2.75⭐️

This book was really good. I enjoyed the dynamic between Eva and Rylie a lot. Rylie was really good at holding her accountable. I think Eva showed great character growth when she let down her walls. She was still fiesty, but the truly mean parts of her that were purely her defense mechanism slowly faded the more she trusted Rylie. I loved Rylie's back story, everything he went through and his journey to a super healthy place. I wish we got more of Eva's relationship with her siblings now. The work conflict and being an internet target was so hard to read, and the ending was really satisfying.

Um HELLO?! This is adorable? A bi-panic fever dream?!

As someone who didn't watch (or really knows anything about) *that* interview with Andrew Garfield, I completely understood where the inspiration was coming from, but quite frankly, I'm in love with this book. Which surprises me, because I hate pop culture references in books. But honestly, I simply cannot handle Rylie Cooper - he is a KING among simps, my absolute kryptonite.

Love love love !!
Such a pretty cover
This is my first Mazey Eddings book. It won’t be my last. The banter was chefs kiss, the chemistry was there. I really liked how they knew each other in college. Their slow burn pace was perfect.

This was such a fun read! The concept was funny and intriguing from the start. I love a second chance romance but having this lean enemies to lovers with a fake dating element as well made it more interesting (and incorporated some of my favorite tropes). This is going to be a perfect summer read.

Eva is wholly unlikeable -- she's constantly mean, she always wants to get her way, and she has one of the least traumatic traumatic backstories I have ever read. Naturally, I loved her, because she's basically me. This was a very emotional book (kind of like therapy in that it's kind of falling a false path that's not actually emotionally useful sometimes, and in that they literally go to a therapy session together), and every inch of it was relatable.

I simply did not connect with these characters, and it's hard to put my finger on any one reason. There were some fun banter moments, but the plot felt thin and I think this book was just not for me.

This just didn't do it for me. There was nothing outstanding about it. I found myself just trying to power through it. I needed more from the characters. 2.5 stars.

Oh the feelings in this book! The angst, the passion, the tension. I wasn’t sure how the second chance was going to play out by the black cat-golden retriever vibe and set up just worked. It really did. There are some uncomfortable moments in here but Mazey Eddings leans into them and when I say there are a lot of feelings, you get to feel them, too. This book was a ride in the best way possible!

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the an early copy in exchange for this review

I thought this one started off strong and I loved the concept… but it started dragging for me and I began to lose interest unfortunately :( I couldn’t relate to the characters or connect with them and I just wasn’t enjoying it after the half way mark