“To fuck around is human, to find out is divine, so allow me to shed some light on the truth of who he is.”

This book did not disappoint in the least bit. It had witty banter, mental health representation and support of a partner who will, no matter what, be there for you.

We meet Eva Kitt in this book in a lull we’ll say in her career, doing a show where she talks to low level celebrities over hotdogs. After one night of drinking, and seeing her ex-situationship having a promising career as a podcaster, Eva decides to spill the beans on her and Rylie Coopers short lived dating by stitching her own video to his. And let’s just say, she did not see having to face Rylie again after 6 years.

Eva Kitt in this book is sarcastic and witty and just plain mean in all honestly. She’s also so refreshing as a character bc she struggles like the rest of us. Yes she’s still mad about what happened 6 years ago with Cooper but it’s much deeper than that. It’s the fact that no one has chosen her in her whole life. She is a woman in this day and age that is always supposed to be strong, not allowed to be gentle but she is human and craves it. She doesn’t want to be strong all the time, nor should she have to be. She should have a safe space to feel what she feels without feeling like no one will choose her in the end.

Rylie Cooper is the definition of someone who life happened to, sunk low and then figured out he needed to rise above it. Cooper is also the only person who finds Eva’s witty, sarcastic banter as foreplay. This man dives deep into his emotions and give Eva that lifeline she has always wanted and needed. Also, love that he unlocked her praise kink. This man thrives off of her bashing him, asking for more.

This book also explores sexuality and not being ashamed of who we’re attracted to. Of overcoming their past behavior and rising above the stigmatism that comes with being bi or pansexual.

I cried during this book bc Eva’s feelings hit so hard. Her describing her home life and even her first kiss and first sexual experience. Her loneliness was so tangible. I cried bc Cooper made up for it all. He held all the hurt in his hands and said, “let’s do this together.” Nothing is more powerful than someone choosing you day in and day out, even if you try to push them away, they say no and fight with you.

This was my first introduction to Mazey Eddings and boy did it not let me down! I loved this book!! What a perfect witty second chance romance this turned out to be! I loved Eva Kitt and felt myself quite literally smiling and giggling throughout reading this book. I could not put it down!! Definitely one that will be sitting on my 5 star Goodreads shelf for this year! I cant wait to go out and buy a physical copy of this when it's out.

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings
4 stars

Tropes:
- forced proximity
- second chance romance
- rivals to lovers
- mean fmc x golden retriever mmc

My first Mazey book and wow this was adorable. I love a book with banter, and Mazey gave us a mean ass sarcastic fmc and the banter was GIVINGGGG. I mean, she dated this guy and had the worst virginity taken experience ever, only to find him 6 years later spewing about how to be an amazing partner. I would be pretty snippy too.

Especially when she calls him out one drunken night and then her boss makes her connect with him via podcast to bring in the views. She is straight up not excited about it, even if he does look cute in his slutty little glasses.

Mazey Eddings's second-chance romance is incisive, humorous, and heartwarming. Rylie Cooper, a well-known influencer, sees an opportunity to demonstrate his transformation through a string of high-profile dates after journalist Eva Kitt's viral tirade about her ex-boyfriend thrusts her into the public eye.
Their energetic banter, heart-stopping moments, and unexpected emotional depth result from their playful collision of charm and sarcasm. Though some parts drag, the chemistry and clever storytelling keep it engaging. A fun, flirty, and heartfelt rom-com perfect for fans of witty banter and redemption arcs. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was my first book from Maizey Eddings and it was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

Eva, who is a podcaster, was drunkenly doomscrolling and saw an old flame, Riley, who is a media star with his platform pointing out toxic masculinity. While under the influence, Eva calls out Riley and the post goes viral. Eva’s team sets up for Riley to be a guest on Eva’s podcast.

This was such a cute rom-com. The characters had so much depth and backstory, the banter was great, and there were many swoon-worthy moments. I really enjoyed how it got into their feelings instead of being superficial. It was almost a slow-burn, which is my favorite. The writing was well-done, and the pacing compelled me to keep reading. This was such a fun book and I highly recommend romance fans to check this book out.

This was enjoyable, but not my favorite. I didn’t really start to get into it until about halfway through. I wish that Rylie and Eva had dug into their feelings sooner, as that was one of my favorite parts. I get that for the plot they had to have their walls us and parts of their pasts needed to be revealed, but I would have liked it sooner. I think both of their processing and sharing of their trauma and hangups was done really well, and the emphasis on therapy was excellent. I thought the LGBTQ+ representation was done REALLY well and I loved all the side characters. I loved that there wasn’t really a third act breakup, and the resolution of the whole major conflict was fantastic. I’d love more of Rylie and Eva in their domesticity, but I loved how it ended.

Who hasn't drunkenly called out their ex once or twice?

This drunken call-out is the beginning of a fun, lighthearted, spicy read. The chemistry between Eva and Rylie is so electric and had me kicking my feet and laughing out loud. If you enjoy a good black cat/golden retriever, he-falls-first romance, this is for you. The premise for this book was so good - two podcasters with a history challenged to go on dates together.

Once this one got spicy, it stayed spicy. The one thing I didn't like is how the author called the MMC by his first name & last name, seemingly interchangeably, which got a bit confusing. The FMC's character development had me screaming "girl, go to therapy...again". Overall, I thought this was a fun read and might be one that I pick up to read again soon.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

One thing about me, I love a good call out of the bad behavior of men as much as I love the groveling it takes to get back in the good graces of their truly beloved. Well, Actually has both and more. And with the back and forth jabs and chemistry enough to power an entire city, it made for a good time and most importantly, a new favorite from Mazey Eddings.

Thanks so much to the author and St. Martins for the ARC! This is my first book by Mazey Eddings and it was a joy to read! I loved Rylie as a character. He was so earnest and willing to take Eva’s sass. I appreciate the bi and pan rep and felt the queer identities were well fleshed out. I do wish there was more time on page of Eva processing her abandonment issues.

Rating: 4.5⭐️ rounded up.

Now this... this was FUN. If you are a sucker for banter, add this to your summer TBR. If you like MMCs who fall first and HARD, add this to your summer TBR. If you like MMCs who stick through it even when the FMC pushes, add this to your summer TBR. If you want to laugh and giggle and kick your feet but also shed a tear, add this to your summer TBR.

As a reader deep in a reading slump, a deep dark reading slump, this was a light at the end of the tunnel. Having started and put down 9 books in the last week, this one finally stuck. And not only did it stick, but I DEVOURED it. I usually try to read ARCs closer to their release date but when I picked this one up on a whim, I knew I couldn't wait. It is also making it to my Favorite of 2025 list, no question.

Add it to your summer TBR.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

As a second chance romance this was full of banter and build up.

Eva had a hookup in college with this guy Riley who is now , sexi year later, internet famous for mending his ways and trying to be a better human. She is over his bs and drunkenly posts a video to call him out on it. As someone who also works in media, their bosses determine it would be great ratings for all if they do a show together to unpack this. On episode 1 Riley gets Eva to agree to 6 dates to change her mind. And this book takes you through their comedy of errors and anger and frustration.

Eva was a hard character for me to get into and I almost wanted to dnf the book. But that came around in the end for me. I’m glad I stuck with it.

A good reminder that people can change and sometimes it really can be for the better!

One of the most WITTY, STEAMY, and HEARTFELT romances I've read this year.

"𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐄𝐯𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐭, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.”

Cooper Rylie and Eva Kitt briefly dated in college before going their separate ways after a night that left Eva jilted. Fast forward 6 years - Cooper is a well liked podcast personality and Eva is a journalist on a pop culture beat (enter the chicken shop date vibes).  They are thrust back into each other's lives when Eva very publicly (and drunkenly) calls Cooper out for his past fuck boy behavior. Cooper is no longer the fuck boy that Eva knew. This man is soooo emotionally intelligent, it's slutty as fuck. And he's on a mission to right his past wrongs.

The BANTER between these two is un-freaking-matched. Eva is a fire breathing dragon of a woman and Cooper is OBSESSED with her. He is soooo down bad. Eva could spit in this man's mouth and he would say thank you so much-- stars in his eyes.

Eva is so relatable, she hit a little too close to home at times.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞,”
“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞?”
“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡.”

Nicknames that Cooper has bestowed on Eva that will live rent free in my brain: little demon, contrarian witch, headstrong fruit loop 🥺🥺 (it's so freaking cute I swear)

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟-𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

Tropes: second chance, man obsessed, she hates his guts and his *insert slutty attribute here* even more

My only complaint: this book is soooooo good, it deserves a more iconic cover tbh

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Griffin for the ARC! What a treat of a book. I loved Eva from the minute she drunkenly shared her dating history with Internet personality ex Riley with the whole world. The moment was cringey but the follow up of sorting through their communication issues, dealing with employers, and just trying to figure out what they mean to each other after all this time…it was fantastic. Mazey is such a wonderful storyteller and I truly enjoyed every bit of this book.

This is like the NYC book that no one knew they needed. There’s a light airiness to the story with the banter between friends and a long lost ex. It gets deeper as you dig into the backstories of the both main characters and learn so much about past trauma and how it comes it out in their relationships.
It’s a sweet redemption story where a douche ex shows how much growth and maturity he’s experienced since college. You can’t help but root for him and want the best for him.
I love the diversity in this book, as well as the undercurrent of mental health and seeking professional help when needed. I enjoyed how the ending wrapped up a thread that ran through the whole story but was never the main focus. You’ll have to read to see!
I would definitely read more books by this author.

I just finished an Advanced Reader Copy of “Well, Actually” by Mazey Eddings, and it was a cute enemies to lovers romance. It’s about a former couple who dated in college who end up back in each other’s lives six years later. The female main character, Eva, works for a media outlet and is working on her career when she sees a post from her ex, Riley, a successful podcaster, on social media and in a drunken state, drags him terribly. Riley then tries right the wrongs he did to Eva back in college, but she’s not letting him off the hook so easily.

The first half of the book was difficult for me to read since I did not find the female main character, Eva, very likable, but she got better the second half of the book. The author is quite gifted with her vocabulary but was quite acerbic with the dialogue of Eva, which I found a bit off-putting.

I’m glad I kept reading the book though since it ended great and I got to see a softer side of Eva. All in all a cute romance and 3 stars from me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of the book!

I appreciate the opportunity to review this novel for NetGalley.
For starters, I love the author's voice, her writing is fun and clever and snarky. The story was interesting and kept me reading, The relationship between the protagonists was fun and believable (mostly!). He was likable.
Now the other part of it--I found the heroine to be just a bit too whiny--at first I found her amusing but soon I kinda wanted to smack some sense into her.
I know, I know, to make a book long enough writers sometimes drag out conflict that doesn't have enough legs to drag out that long. But it just started to feel like kicking a dead horse. The other thing was that the hero did a lot of emotional bloodletting with the heroine but she did not reciprocate a lot. I don't recall her ever talking to him about the inadequacies she felt from a childhood in which she felt marginalized. He sort of deserved this information, considering how much she was obsessed with protecting herself emotionally because of this.

‘Well Actually’ is a fresh, fast-paced witty second chance romance. Eva Kitt is the host of an online show called ‘Sausage Talk’ (seemingly inspired by ‘Chicken Shop Date’, which I love). When she publicly calls out her college ex (now a famous influencer) for how he treated her, they make a deal to go on a series of dates and debrief them on his platform.

This book was so modern and funny and fast paced, but also so incredibly heartfelt and full of depth. I adored Eva and how incredibly feisty she could be, and Rylie is the perfect golden retriever character.

Something that really stood out to me was the representation of a pansexual FMC, bisexual MMC, conversations about internalized homophobia and SSRIs. These topics were really treated with care and it was wonderful to see such raw representation, as I can relate to all 3 of them.

The spice was great! Loved that it was second chance but also enemies to lovers, both of these aspects created so much tension and pining throughout the book. Their flirty banter was perfect.

I will say that him calling her kitten definitely gave me the ick, even though it’s a little bit better that it derives from her last name. I just couldn’t do it, but that’s definitely personal preference!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s for the ARC!

This was sweet but had some depth, I really enjoyed!

My only beef was with the inserted gen z slang to make it relatable. The references were already dated and the book doesn’t even release for another six months, so they just did not work for me.

This was perhaps my favorite Mazey Eddings yet! The voice leapt off the page, full of unhinged jokes and references, and yes this entire book has massive Chicken Shop energy. The exploration of old mistakes, trauma, and redemption was nuanced and well-drawn, but it was coupled with romance, heat, and so much joy. A total delight!

I really liked this book. It had me laughing and kicking my feet the whole way through from Eva and Rylies humor. I would deff recommend this read