Thank you @youhadmeathea for my gifted finished copy and thank you Macmillan Audio for my #gifted listening copy of Well, Actually! #MacAudio2025 #macmillanaudio #YouHadMeAtHEA #stmartinspress #mazeyeddings #WellActually

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐌𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐲 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

𝟱★

Mazey Eddings has once again delivered with her latest, Well, Actually! Each one of her books has been so different from the last, yet I end up loving each one of them so much! She is so talented and I love her characters so much! Eva and Rylie had my heart the entire time in this one! Eva is the host of Sausage Talk, where she interviews B-list celebrities and eats hotdogs. Rylie Cooper is a social media personality that has built a platform over teaching men how to be good partners. When Eva calls out Rylie for his toxic behavior when they were in college, who happens to her ex, he comes on her podcast and asks her on a series of dates to try to redeem himself. Eva reluctantly agrees, hoping that the dates will help her advance her own career. After a while, the dates start to feel real, and the boy that broke her heart just might be the one only one who is able to put it back together.

🌭Second Chance Romance
🌭Workplace Romance
🌭Mental Health Rep
🌭Bi/Pan Rep
🌭Black Cat/Golden Retriever
🌭Sausage Talk Podcaster x Social Media Personality
🌭Great Banter

🎧The audiobook was narrated by Ariela Crow who was such a great pick for this one! This was my first time listening to Crow narrate, and it won’t be my last! Crow nailed it and did such a great job bringing this one to life! I was so impressed by her ability to bring forth such great emotion and banter and it was pure perfection! I cannot recommend this one on audio enough! 5★ performance!

Posted on Goodreads on August 4, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around August 4, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on August 5, 2025
**-will post on designated date

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the #advancReviewCopy of Well Actually

Genre: #romcom

Release Date: Aug 2025

Summary: A second-chance romance filled with hot dogs, social media stars and a huge broken heart.

Eva is the host of Sausage Talk, a show where she interviews B list celebrities while eating hot dogs. This is not the career in journalism that she dreamt of, but it pays the bills.

When Eva posts about her Ex, the internet star, Riley, the post goes viral! Eva must then face not only him again but also the opportunity her boss sees in the situation she accidentally created.

My Thoughts: Okay, the whole hot dog thing was a bit weird. I still don’t understand that. Was it meant to be a sexual thing? That aside, I enjoyed this one. The main characters were well developed and had chemistry which had me rooting for them.

I had a few minor issues with the workplace drama and its execution but I can forgive that.

Overall, it was cute, and entertaining.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.25 ⭐️

the BANTER!!!!! so good. i was immediately drawn in from the first chapter. rylie was so vulnerable with eva. i love when a mmc opens up and gets deep with his emotions and feelings. i will say there were moments when i felt eva was a bit too mean to rylie. i really liked him and his character growth and healing process through his trauma. this story was funny and cute, but it also had serious moments so i do recommend checking content warnings.

eva never expected to be the host of “sausage talk” interviewing b-list celebrities over writers instead of pursuing her dream journalism career. one night, eva publicly calls out her college ex rylie for ghosting her and the video goes viral. her ex being a beloved social media personality who built a platform teaching men how to be decent partners by “deconstructing toxic masculinity”. eva is now forced to confront rylie on a live episode of sausage talk where he makes her a deal: allow him to take her on dates to make up for his behavior and debrief them on his channel. will they be able to fix what happened all those years ago?

tropes: second chance, lgbtq+ rep, workplace romance ish, black cat x golden retriever, fake(ish) dating, hate to love, single pov

5⭐️

One of my new fav books! There are some cringey lines in there but I still could not stop giggling and kicking my feet. I also loved the queer representation in this book. Once I finished, I immediately recommended it to a friend and her mom!

I love Eva so much, she’s who I want to be when I grow up (iykyk). She’s so sassy and not afraid to put people in their place, especially Riley. But I love that if you’re truly her friend, she shows you who she is. I know she might not be for everyone, but I did see a lot of myself in her, which made me love her all the more.

Riley is literally the perfect book boyfriend to me. Him and his slutty little glasses. He is literally a golden retriever. He was DOWN BAD for her and he always let her know it.


read if you like:
🌭 black cat x golden retriever
🌭 second chance romance
🌭 snarky banter
🌭 fake(ish) dating
🌭 workplace romance
🌭 pan x bi rep

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

If Mazey Eddings writes a book, you can rest assured that I will be reading it.

This book is no exception. This is very much a black cat-golden retriever read with Eva Kitt becoming one of my favorite characters in romance. She is a Hot Girl to the max, takes no prisoners, and will absolutely not deal with any of your mediocre man nonsense. She is quick and cutting, brutally honest to a fault, and so, so much like someone that I would aspire to be. All of that prickliness hides a tender-hearted people pleaser who uses her tough-gal exterior as a fortress to guard her heart from being hurt. If she hurts you first, you don't get the chance to wound her back, right?

And Rylie is such a perfect foil to her. He continuously shows up for her, which for someone who is used to everyone leaving because she is too mean/difficult/guarded/driven/etc. is more precious than gold. He accepts his faults, he apologizes and owns for his hand in her hurt, and does what everyone wants their partner to do, which is to show up for them, give them the safe space to be themselves, and help them understand that their love, by itself, *is* enough.

This is truly a love story for the ages. I fully believe that this is Eddings' best book to date (although Late Bloomer is a close second), and that there is nothing about her books that I will ever dislike. This book is especially great for people who, like me, believe that roasting someone can also be a love language, and for people who need a bit of reassurance that they are enough.

I wanted to love this one sooo badly! Unfortunately, I just couldn’t relate to the FMC and the MMC was not redeemable for me. I also felt the plot got lost in too many random side plots and I couldn’t connect the pieces enough to be sucked in. There was some really funny banter at times and good trending topics, but overall wasn’t for me.

Eva Kitt never expected to be the host of Sausage Talk, interviewing B-list celebrities over lukewarm hot dogs, instead of pursuing the journalism career she dreamed of. But when Eva’s impromptu public call out of her college ex goes viral, she’s thrust into the spotlight. It doesn’t help said ex is Rylie Cooper, a beloved social media personality that has built a platform on deconstructing toxic masculinity and teaching men how to be good partners.

Forced to confront Rylie on a live episode of Sausage Talk, he offers Eva a deal: allow him to take her on a series of dates to make up for his toxic behavior, then debrief them on his channel to show he’s changed. Eva refuses to play nice, but agrees to the scheme to advance her own career and continue defaming Rylie’s good name. When these manufactured dates start to feel real, Eva has to wonder if the boy that broke her heart has become the man that might heal it.

I've got mixed feelings on this one. The story was fun, the banter was great, but I'm not big on guys who use (what to me are) questionable terms of endearment. If that kind of stuff doesn't bother you, then you will love this! 3.5⭐ from me!

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

✨WELL, ACTUALLY by Mazey Eddings✨

I am a huge Mazey Eddings fan and this book did not disappoint!!! One of my favorite things about her writing is that I always feel like I meet characters I’ve never met before in other books, and the same can absolutely be said about Eva and Rylie.

Eva wanted to be a serious journalist, but instead she interviews B-list celebrities over hot dogs and generally hates her life. When a video of her ranting about her college ex goes viral, he reaches out to try to make amends. Now the host of a popular podcast, Rylie wants to show Eva—and his listeners—that he’s grown since he ghosted her in college. Hopeful that it will help her career, Eva agrees to go on five dates with him and recap them on his podcast. But as it turns out, five dates doesn’t feel like enough!!!!

This book has all the humor I love in Mazey’s other books. I laughed about forty separate times about hot dog jokes. It’s just *that* funny. And I loved getting to be in Eva’s head as she weighs choices about her career and tries to decide whether to open her heart back up to the man who broke it years ago. I was rooting for them!!!!

Go get your hands on this fabulous book ❤️❤️

The premise of this book was very funny. Eva and Riley end up on Eva's ridiculous hot dog segment after she calls him out for being terrible six years ago. Through lots of mayhem, they slowly learn more about each other and that maybe, there is still a spark. I had a hard time relating to any of the characters, and I felt like her friends were not as supportive as the story should make them. There is also a lot to be set about journalism in this book, and how it can be so negative and twisted sometimes.

Seeing her former lover on social media telling men how to be better lovers and partners, inspires a drunk Eva to record a stitch of her own about his performance. Never expecting it to go viral, it now propels Eva and Rylie together to protect their careers.

Mazey Eddings had me laughing out loud for Well, Actually. There are so many funny moments that I actually wanted the romance to go on for a while longer (something I rarely say). The banter between Eva and everyone, including herself, is hysterical. I think everyone wishes they had the comebacks she does. Then there are the actual physical scene comedic moments that not only had me shaking my head, but chuckling.

Rylie is still an idiot and that makes for good reading. The first date is such a fiasco and such a guy thing that I’m sure that many readers who have dated a “puppy” will completely understand. Luckily for Eva, he’s trainable. He is also absolutely adorable in his falling first attempt at romance.

The secondary cast is amazing. I love this diverse cast. I think what I like best is that it reflects real-life. Some might say that there are too many queers, but the reality is that we attract them no matter where we sit on the spectrum. I was actually talking about this with a new neighbor who, you guessed it, is a rainbow. As I was talking about our old neighborhood, Miss Isabella and I were friendly with all of the rainbows. We really didn’t talk to heterosexuals - not by choice, by happenstance. Like attracts like, so I think this cast reflects what we see as we look around us.

Eva for all of her prickly demeanor is a softie. She is also a snappy talker and Rylie gets off on their repartee - so does she. They truly are a great match.

I had the best time within the pages of Well, Actually. It’s funny, romantic, steamy, and hits all of the right spots. This is your second-chance rom-com beach read. It’s hot!

Mazey Eddings is an auto-buy author for me. Her books have such great mental health representation and have made me feel seen ❤️

Eva Kitt is the host of Sausage Talk, where she interviews B-list celebrities while eating hotdogs 🌭 after drunkenly calling out her college ex and it going viral, Eva is thrown into the spotlight.

Her ex, Rylie Cooper, is popular on social media for his platform of deconstructing toxic masculinity. Eva’s employer wants to capitalize on the publicity, and force her to go live with Rylie on an episode of Sausage Talk.

I’m a sucker for the second chance romance trope. The emotions and angst that come with a couple who already knew each other always tugs on my heartstrings 🫶 Eva and Rylie had such a fun dynamic with constant back and forth banter 👏 Eva was quick-witted and Rylie could give it right back to her.

When Eva and Rylie found each other back in college, it was a case of right person, wrong time. I loved seeing how they opened up about what went wrong between them and how they hurt each other.

🌭 second chance
🌭 fake dating — sort of!
🌭 workplace romance
🌭 black cat x golden retriever
🌭 bi & pan rep

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an early copy of this book! There was a lot I liked about this and many points where this lost me. I loved the Chicken Shop Date inspired show and the “he has 6 dates to win her over” trope. This got a little too repetitive for me and kind of started suffering from lots going on but nothing going on at the same time. The characters were a little too immature for me. Not a bad book just didn’t completely work for me.

Eva Kitt, FMC of Mazey Edding’s latest contemporary romance Well, Actually, wants to be a serious journalist. And yet she has somehow found herself the host of Sausage Talk, a Hot Ones/Chicken Shop Date style podcast where she uses her dry/cutting humor to interview/skewer low level celebrities. She skyrockets to fame (or is it infamy) when she uses her personal social media account to take down the super successful podcaster Rylie Cooper who just so happens to be her college ex. You see Rylie’s success is built off combating toxic masculinity and helping men be good partners, but given their history Eva is sure he’s a fraud. When her takedown goes viral, her boss wants to capitalize on the exposure and Rylie wants to prove to Eva he’s changed so she reluctantly agrees to go on a series of dates, after which they will debrief together across their various platforms. What could possibly go wrong?

There was much to like about Well, Actually. The banter and humor were top notch and there were a host of terrific side characters as well. I enjoy a black cat FMC and golden retriever MMC quite a bit and Eva’s tough girl shell that secretly hides her soft marshmallowy center was, I thought, done well. That said, there were a couple of things that would have made this work even better for me. One, we get a feel for Eva’s challenging childhood/family which has certainly contributed rather significantly to her relationship worldview and yet I’m not sure it was given enough due (can I believe she is able to have a successful, healthy relationship without dealing with her own stuff?). Second, the climax of the story was more about Eva’s toxic workplace than her relationship with Rylie which did not seem quite right for a Romance. And finally, I think we needed Rylie POV to get the full sense of the romantic arc in this one. Nevertheless, I found Well, Actually to be quite fun and would recommend as an entertaining read!

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Publishing for the -ARC; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

So I have been sitting on this review for days not knowing how I was going to rate it or what to say.
First off for context, I have no clue what Chicken Shop Date is. I mostly picked the book because I loved the cover so much. Still it is my favorite part of the book. It took me days to finish it. Every single time I picked it up I groaned in despair. I really should of put it aside and not finish it. But in all actuality I am glad I did. I did enjoy the ending more then the rest of the book. I just did not care for the characters much. I had no emotional attachment at all. They just got on my nerves. But actually finishing it and getting to the end took a 2 star book and just almost pushed it to three.

This was my first book by Mazey Eddings so I'll give her one more chance(never base an author on one book).

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a gifted copy in exchange for a honest review.

I didn't love this book. I was so excited to get it because I've loved other works by Mazey, but this one fell flat for me. I did like Eva's witty comments and Riley's desire to grow and be a better person. But that was it that I liked, it was way to tongue and cheek for me. I was super disappointed. I hope others like the content and storyline.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

4.25 stars -and way too many laugh out loud moments!!

A hilarious and emotional love story that's Chicken Shop Date meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a story of a man making actual growth and amends, a story of a woman that's tough as can be because she's had to be, not because she's wanted to be.

Drunk one night, Sausage Talk (Chicken Shop Date but with hot dogs) host Eva sees a video of ex-situationship Rylie (who hosts a podcast centered on upending toxic masculinity), stitches it, and immediately goes viral. Her network decides to capitalize on the moment and brings him on as her next guest - where he wrangles her into a deal for 6 dates to prove he's changed.

After the literal first date from hell, I was not sure these two crazy kids would make it - but with deep conversations and revelations, a lot of time and gentle touches, and truly menacing snapbacks received entirely with love and new nicknames - I was bought in on their love story!! It was Eva + Rylie against the world, and I was fully in their camp.

This story also took a great look at the double standards women face for being in the public eye! The way Eva was perceived vs. Rylie was astounding - but not really, because that's unfortunately how it is on the internet these days. The bigger issue they faced was with Eva's boss being the main source of their harassment - and my only disappointment in this book was her not getting her moment to stand up to him and respond in kind to the way he spoke to her!!

Thanks so much to Mazey Eddings, St Martins, and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the second chance romance with black cat and golden retriever energy. It was great to see how what started out as a drunken hate video ended up turning into a very healthy communicative relationship of 2 people working through their issues. Eva's constant insecurities sometimes got really annoying because it seemed she was using them as a crutch instead of trying to make changes, but that's real life sometimes. The side characters were amazing and really added to the story as well.

4 star rating, thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy for my honest review.

“Nice isn’t really my style.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Did I originally request this ARC for the Amelia Dimoldenberg/Andrew Garfield vibes? Yes. Did this book actually end up being incredibly funny, emotional, and ultimately one of my favorite books of 2025? Also yes.

Eva Kitt could step on my throat and I would say thank you🙂‍↕️ Yes she’s mean, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Between what happened with Rylie in college and how she grew up, no duh she can be mean! She is a human being with flaws and feelings; god forbid a girl has a trauma response! LET WOMEN BE MEAN!! She is also incredibly clever and a soft girl at heart who just wants someone to choose her. It made me so happy to watch her grow throughout the book without losing who she is or watering herself down. She is a soft, vulnerable woman who is also snarky and incredibly witty. These traits are not mutually exclusive, and I love that she never lost her fire.

Rylie Cooper, the ultimate babygirl! I love all of the layers we get to see from him throughout the book. He is so incredibly sweet and patient, but he is by no means a doormat! He is so funny and can give back whatever Eva dished out. He knew when to push Eva and when to give her space, but he always showed up for her. While he has his reasons for how he behaved during college, he didn’t use it as an excuse. He genuinely cares about being a better man and putting in the work to grow. He is such a complex and vulnerable character; I love a man who can wear his heart on his sleeve!

Eva and Rylie are by no means perfect. They’ve made mistakes and have regrets, and they will have to find ways to manage their triggers and trauma responses. But they will always try, they will communicate with each other (even when it’s hard), and they will always show up for each other. They are so wonderfully human and flawed, it is impossible to not fall in love them and their story.

Well, Actually is out August 5th!❤️🌭🎙️

Thank you to SMP and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so stinking cute and fun! I loved Eva and her black cat personality SO much! I loved the talk show aspect and loved her having to bring her ex Rylie on the show after she outed him for being a terrible lay.
But Rylie Cooper is such a kind and selfless person that you can’t hate him- and I’d say he changes Eva’s thoughts from the years past LOL

Overall, lots of laughs with tons of emotion and giddiness!

3.5⭐️ rounded up!

Well, Actually follows Eva Kitt, a journalist who hosts a show interviewing B-list celebrities over hot dogs (very much like Amelia’s Chicken Shop Date). One night, Eva gets drunk, records, and posts a rant about her college ex, Rylie Cooper, who is now a famous podcaster who tries to deconstruct toxic masculinity. In the aftermath, Riley proposes a deal to Eva: go on six dates where Riley can redeem himself in her eyes while they film joint podcast episodes. As the dates progress, Eva begins to wonder if the man that broke her heart in college is still the same man in front of her in the present.

Mazey Eddings pulled off the black cat/golden retriever dynamic so well with these two. Eva and Riley were funny together and had great banter and chemistry on all of their dates/interactions together. Eva is sharp and sarcastic and Rylie is playful, attentive, and caring. I really enjoyed Rylie’s character, he stole the show for me!! I also loved ho this book handled some of the heavier topics in this and gave the necessary context for both of the characters actions in the past.

The main issue that I had with this was Eva’s character individually. While I know it was her whole thing was being a black cat, I found sometimes that she was just too MEAN. In the beginning she is snarky and rude to Riley and often times reading I was getting mad at her because she couldn’t communicate without lashing out. She does have character development as the book progresses and becomes more self-aware, which I appreciated! I just didn’t care for her character as much as Rylie and that’s okay.

Overall, this is a fun second chance romance with great bisexual/pansexual representation!! This was my first Mazey Eddings book and I’m interested in trying out her other ones!!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!💛