Eva Kent and Riley Cooper went on just four dates in college. 6 years later, while doom-scrolling one night and sees him giving advice on how to rid your life of toxic masculinity. She may or may not have had a drink (or two) and stitches his video determined to set the record straight about how he really is. She puts him on blast for how he treated her when they were dating, but doesn’t think anything will come of it, that is until the next morning when her phone alerts her to the new viral status of her video. Now she has to host him on her LIVE-STREAMING INTERVIEW SHOW and he proposes a plan to take her on 6 dates to turn his red flags from college all to green.
This book was funny, there were so many laugh out loud moments that had me in stitches. It’s was also a great reminder to give second chances.

I really enjoyed the female empowerment and discovery in this book. This second chance romance follows two characters who had previously dated, and now were dating again for a show and podcast. Eva hosts sausage talk, which is basically like hot ones but with hot dogs instead of hot wings. And Riley runs a successful social media account. They are thurst together once again when Eva drinks a tad too much and bashes Riley online.

There is plenty of spice throughout this. Lots of confrontation and uncomfortable moments our FMC needs to overcome. Through the support of her friends, Riley, and rediscovering her self worth she comes out the other end much better.

Eva is an up and coming journalist, trying to make her way through a complacent position. After a few drinks one night, she reacts to a social media video of her college ex, which goes viral and changes the trajectory of her career and relationships.

There were many aspects of this story that I liked and respected: LGBTQ representation and awareness, grief, college decisions, etc. However, I would have like to know the trigger warnings before reading, and I hope that readers pay attention to them.

I did receive a digital galley from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (thank you!) so my copy was still in the editing process. After another round of editing and some character arc clean up, I think this could be a great story that many readers will enjoy.

I heard great things about Well, Actually, but really didn’t know what to expect. Now I know that my first Mazey Eddings will certainly not be my last.

I flew through this book and I’m saying this as a compliment. It’s very rare that I forget to check where I am in a novel as I’m reading, so when I realized I was getting to the end, I couldn’t believe it. I was having so much fun and I was so in love with these two and I didn’t want it to end.

Also, let me just say, I am constantly amazed by authors that take a fun, potentially silly idea and turn it into something so deep and meaningful. This is not just a book about two social media personalities and a hot dog talk show. Mazey uses the premise to delve into much more serious topics plaguing our capitalistic, queerphobic, and sexist society in such a delicate and introspective way and I think it’s really important!!!!!!

I’m gonna stop yelling now, but please read this book because I loved it and so will you!

Thank you to @youhadmeathea for the early access in exchange for an honest review!

Kudos to the palpable chemistry between Eva and Rylie. Again, you know a man is good when a self-proclaimed lesbian is wishing to be a part of his life adventures. I shifted from being seduced to getting a little bored at their relationship progress. I love Mazey Eddings characters, but occasionally I roll my eyes at how convenient a plotline presents itself. Love the nod to Tilly from her debut YA (my favorite book of hers!).

Mazey Eddings is such an underrated author. I think her characters are so captivating and real. Eva was intolerable at times, but I saw myself in her and I know that’s why I was so frustrated by her. Her walls were built up so high and she’s so afraid to let anyone in at all. I really related to her fear and use of sarcasm as a defense mechanism.

The real star of the show though was Riley Cooper. He’s Mazey’s finest work so far. He is everything a girl could want from a man. He is so down bad for Eva at every turn, and his unwavering support for her decisions is so beautiful. I really enjoyed how open and honest he is as it parallels how closed off Eva is quite nicely.

I didn’t super love our supporting characters in this book as much - not you, Lilith, I love you. They just felt a bit one dimensional and Eva’s friends kind of sucked in my opinion.

Overall, Mazey handled sensitive topics so eloquently and wrote a really great love story. I loved reading this and read it in one night. I will definitely be recommending this one non-stop.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! It was not my favorite book I’ve ever read, but it was still cute.

It's so refreshing seeing an FMC who's so unapologetically herself (aka bitchy in the best way) and a man who encourages that.

A cute modern romance tale. I did find myself skimming through some of the stuff at the end to get to the conclusion and the happily ever after, but overall a nice second chance romance story.

This is DNF within the first chapter. Probably the fastest DNF yet. The content warnings kind of gave me the ick and didn’t give me good vibes. In the first chapter there was so much self depreciation, including implying that a 27 year old woman was decrepit. It was just negative vibes all around. The choice to DNF was definitely due to the ick I got.

YES! I was here for this from the cover, to the blurb and finally landing on the story. I love a black cat female x golden retriever man . And Mazey delivered with her usual quick witted humor and banter. I want more from her asap

This was a delightful book, and I had a good time reading it! Certainly the grumpy/sunshine, black cat/golden retriever it was said to be. I think Eva Kitt will resonant with many women, and certainly the premise of dreading seeing an ex who ghosted you hits its intended emotional mark. The author has mentioned intentionally writing an unlikeable woman as her FMC for this book, but I think many women will see a bit of themselves in Eva and her journey. This book made me laugh and cry! And then feel uncomfortable while reading steamy content while still crying about the emotional content! I'd rate this book a 5 star if it actually felt like Riley had to work for it a bit more. Sure, Eva is mean to him and she's jaded and outwardly withholding, but in her internal narrative she's hot for him literally the entire time the moment she sees him again. We get our HEA, of course, but it almost felt too inevitable from the jump. Overall, would read again, and I'll buy it when it comes out.

I was not a fan of the fmc. She was rude and slow. Just seemed obvious at times that some people were against her. Don’t want to spoil it.

I really liked the concept of the book when I read about it. And I know I’m basically going against what the author was trying to do, but Eva was too mean for too long of the book. Like I love sarcasm and biting words more than most, but it was a bit much. Also, I took a star off simply because I hated the spelling of Rylie.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was kind of just all over the place. At times I found Eva to be a "I'm not like other girls" type of character, after getting over that though the book. the MMC goes by two different names which honestly just got annoying. The overall concept of the book was great, and had the potential to be super funny. I just found myself being dragged through the book though because of the two main characters.

I'm so upset I didn't like this book. I almost DNF'd it multiple times (and probably should have). Gives major chicken shop date vibes. Eva was insufferable as an FMC for me and I couldn't get past her tantrums and childish behavior. She was such a shitty friend. She was so mean the entire time. I wanted her to be more witty and clever, but she was just mean. Rylie, as our golden retriever MMC deserves better. Their relationship felt rushed and toxic. And even he was forgettable. The random therapy session (that Eva didn't see the point of when she's the one that needs therapy the most) felt odd to me. When they started hooking up, I felt like the sex took up the majority of the story after that and I just skimmed past most of it. I did like the resolution of the work storyline. So many people I know have loved this book, but it just wasn't for me. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

super cute and swoony! the banter was absolutely everything! a quick new favorite, i adored everything about this book!

I was excited to dig into Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings and at first, it delivered with it's sharp humor and fast-paced writing. The first half kept me engaged but as the story went on it started to feel repetitive.

Eva's snark and defensiveness made sense given her backstory but it NEVER let up. The book is also overloaded with pop culture references, if I never see the word "vibes" again it will be soon. I was also really frustrated with Eva's friend and producer. She cared more about her job than the way Eva was being treated.

That said, I did enjoy the cameos from character's in Mazey's other books!! It was fun seeing familiar faces.

Overall, the story felt very surface level and by the end, I just didn't feel invested. Not my favorite from this author but others may enjoy the humor and pop culture more than I did.

This was a fun light easy read. I think Eva could be a bit irritating at times, and it definitely suffered pacing wise from the middle on. Really loved the chicken shop date vibes though.

This was my first book by this author. Eva and Coop met in college, where they had a very brief relationship before Coop ghosted Eva. A few years later, they're both working in New York City with social media careers. Eva bitterly realized that her dreams of being an actual journalist aren’t being realized on a podcast involving hot dogs and low-level celebrities. Meanwhile, Coop's own career as an advice podcaster has taken off. After Eva posts a drunken, resentful tirade against Coop on social media, they end up having to do some podcasts together to capitalize on the resulting viral publicity. Their story touches on multiple topics, such as the social media industry, diverse sexuality, family traumas and even therapy. The book has a lot of well-written banter along with some steamy scenes. I would downgrade its rating by two stars because Eva seemed excessively mean and immature, and it’s hard to be engaged with a story when you actively dislike a main character. I restored one of those stars, because of sympathy for Coop and for Eva’s eventual attempts at personal growth. Ultimately, this story does provide interesting insights into Gen Z and a book club may also find this book an excellent choice for discussion. I received an advance copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.