I do adore everything Mazey Eddings writes. The main female character is the same age as me so some of her comments about how she's haggard/almost 30 were a little unsettling, but I deeply enjoyed the relationship between the main characters and how their chemistry progressed.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

From the start I loved Eva Kitt. She's a journalist stuck in a job she doesn't love interviewing "celebrities" over hot dogs (think Chicken Shop Date/Hot Ones), she gives off feminine rage vibes and her idea of self care is daily lattes & Diet Cokes. She's also lonely and trying to figure out what her next steps should be. Cut to being slightly drunk one night and seeing a video of her college ex boyfriend, Rylie Cooper, who's now Internet famous for teaching guys to be non-toxic nice guys. She films a rant, posts it and her life explodes.

Eva and Rylie end up in a work agreement that benefits both of them. He gets a chance to prove he's not who he was six years ago and she gets to prove that she was right. They agree to go on six dates and then talk about it on his podcast. The story really picks up once the dating starts. The dates are so hilarious that I was laughing out loud while reading. Mazey Eddings has such a way with words and I loved every bit of it.

I was emotionally invested in Eva from the start and quickly fell in love with Rylie too. My chest felt tight most of the book while I was reading because I just wanted to know what would happen and wanted all good things for both of them.

There's a work sub plot that provides a common enemy for both characters and I felt like it wrapped up really nicely. There's no third act break up, just two people trying to figure it out and (mostly!) acting like adults while doing it. Super fun read!

I did not really connect with these characters and therefor didn't care as much about the story as I did with other Mazey Eddings books!

But it's still a fun read. I was just expecting something else I guess? I would have liked to see Rylies sexuality more explored. And have Eva go to therapy on her own because we all know she needs it.

The connection between Rylie and Eva was there, but I didn't really believe it. It was unclear to me how Rylie could be so obsessed with Eva all this time and that was the foundation of their relationship. So it didn't really feel believable to me.

Also would have liked to see a deeper dive into the workplace drama. That's where the story got interesting for me and we didn't get very much detail. So I guess this book just wasn't for me, or it was marketed wrong because I did not get the golden retriever vibes from Rylie at all. He was just a player turned simp for Eva. And I don't vibe with that at all.

I did like Eva being 'rude'. It's nice to see a woman not play the overly interested part to be liked on the internet. It's refreshing. But the banter between Rylie and Eva just didn't land for me. Other Mazey Eddings books have better banter! Maybe the humour just wasn't for me. I usually find myself smiling, giggling out loud. And that didn't happen with this story...

So sadly, the newest Mazey Eddings is a miss for me personally. I will be rereading 'late bloomer' instead this pridemonth!

Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Eva's snarky sarcasm was truly comical. I loved her sense of humor. And OMG -- Riley.. yall 😍 He was 100% swoon worthy! By the ending I just about fell in love with him. An amazing book boyfriend. I truly loved the banter and humor in this one. It made me fall in love with all the characters even more. It had a few deeply moving moments as well. I just loved the depth to the characters and their character development throughout the story. It was truly beautiful and spicy!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

I absolutely adored this book! Eva and Riley were such a fun couple and I loved that they confronted their messy pasts together. The spice was also perfection. I also loved the queer rep. I'm super excited for this book to come out in August so the rest of the world can experience how delightful it is! Genuinely couldn't put it down.

I loved loved this book! The male and female main characters were both so interesting and I loved following their separate story arcs and their story of reigniting their love from early college days. The professional aspect with the female MCs job was another interesting perspective as well that I enjoyed!

I started this with little idea what it was about but quickly fell in love. It’s Chicken Shop Date meets all the tropey romcom movies of the early 2000s.

The concept—Eva’s drunken rambling about her ex, Riley Cooper accidentally going viral—was really fun, and the second hand embarrassment was bearable. As Eva and Riley get reacquainted, their chemistry jumped off the page. It was giving black cat and golden retriever vibes as she maintained a hard exterior and he worked hard to earn her trust. It was a lovely journey and I really rooted for them. I only wish Eva didn’t go quite so far with trying to push him away at times.

I’ll definitely check out other books by this author.

Mazey Eddings delivers a great read, again! Well, Actually addresses some very difficult themes, without pulling any punches. Misogyny, bullying, corporate greed, internalized biphobia, and loss of a sibling. However, it is also full of encouragement, empowerment, second chances, and romance. There is plenty of tension and irreverent humor. This is an entertaining, yet thought provoking read for romance lovers everywhere.
Well, Actually was a 3.75 ⭐️ read for me. I struggled a bit with Eva. I wanted her to be stronger from the beginning. Instead, I watched her grow stronger and more self-assured as the story played out. And what’s more encouraging than that?

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings is a beautifully written romance that blends humor, vulnerability, and heartfelt emotion. The story follows Eva Kitt, a neurodivergent sex and relationships columnist navigating life after a very public breakup. When she ends up working with Rylie Cooper, a sweet and slightly chaotic golden retriever of a man, their unexpected partnership leads to a slow-burn romance full of warmth, wit, and mutual growth.

Eddings writes with incredible care and clarity, especially in portraying Eva’s experience with chronic illness and neurodivergence. Rylie is a standout love interest who meets Eva with patience, understanding, and respect. Their relationship feels real and grounded, filled with tender moments and thoughtful communication.

This book is both hilarious and deeply moving. It celebrates self-acceptance, love in all its forms, and the importance of showing up for yourself and others. A feel-good, emotionally resonant read that I will be recommending to everyone. When I tell you I cried tears of joy and sadness in this book and it’s very rare for me to cry I really resonated with Eva and Mazey does an amazing job at portraying the characters back story. Thank you Mazey Eddings and Netgalley for providing me with such an amazing read! I can’t wait to meet Mazey at romance con in Orlando!

DNF @ 72%


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. In Well Actually we follow Eva who is a host for a YouTube show where she eats hot dogs while talking to random celebrities( I believe it is a take on the girl who does chicken dates while interviewing celebrities). One drunken night she films a video exposing Rylie Cooper stating she had a couple crappy dates and a horrible one night stand years ago and was ghosted by him. The video goes viral and she is forced to do an interview with Rylie and during the interview Rylie asks Eva to go on a couple dates to make up for lost time.
That’s as far as I will go so as to not spoil the book.


Umm I’m not sure how I feel, I was 13% into the book and felt like I was wanting to DNF it. I felt like Eva was just too cranky for me. But I wanted to give it more of a chance, so I continued. I really started enjoying the novel more as Eva and Rylie went on a couple dates. However I still never really loved the book. I feel like Eva felt flippy floppy with her emotions with Rylie. It was hard to read how harsh she was being towards him. Not that I’m giving Rylie leeway for the way he had treated her. But idk it just felt like a lot. Their banter was really good, some of it felt cringy (like calling her kitten). I just felt like I really didn’t care about the book overall, so I decided to DNF at 72%. I feel like the chemistry was rushed toward the end and I didn’t fully believe in it because Eva would be so harsh to him and then a minute later be vulnerable with Rylie. Idk maybe it’s me 🤷🏽‍♀️

Well, Actually was such a fun and romantic read! I absolutely loved the dynamic between the main characters, Eva and Riley. Their chemistry jumped off the page, and I found myself rooting for them from the very beginning.

Eva is a strong and confident woman, but what made her especially compelling was how the author showed her emotional depth and vulnerability. Her moments of insecurity made her feel real and incredibly relatable. Riley, on the other hand, is soft-hearted, charming, and the kind of love interest who makes your heart melt.

One of my favorite aspects of the story was watching them work through their past miscommunications. It was beautiful to see how they grew, learned to understand each other better, and eventually rebuilt their trust. Their journey was a touching and heartfelt portrayal of a second chance at love.

If you're a fan of second chance romances with a great mix of humor, emotion, and sizzling chemistry, this book is definitely worth the read.

In Well, Actually, Eva is forced to work with Rylie, a man that treated her like trash in college. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, and for Eva, it is: she interviews him in a Hot Ones/Chicken Shop Date-style interview show over hot dogs, but when she snipes at him he seems… pleased? Excited, even?

Rylie sets out to prove to Eva that he’s a better man now, and while forced to spend time together for work, Eva starts to see that maybe he’s right.

I was so excited for this book! The delicious dynamic, the prophetic cover, the Mazey Eddings of it all! And it started out great - I was eating it up, etc etc. But eventually, Eva started getting on my nerves. She’s a b-word by trade and that’s great, I love that for her. But there were a couple of parts where Eva treated Rylie terribly and it didn’t feel like she properly atoned for that. That didn’t sit right with me. Rylie was doing so much physical and emotional work to prove himself to Eva and I got such whiplash from her treatment of him that I honestly at one point thought he should stop trying. That’s what’s holding me back from giving this book five stars - otherwise I did love the characters and the humor and the story, and would recommend to folks with a little disclaimer. Still love Mazey! Still will eat up whatever else she writes!

**Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

Sadly, I DNF’d at 25%.
Eva and Riley both felt very immature, I was picking up on Eva’s defense mechanisms and black cat energy, but it wasn’t an enjoyable read. It made me feel awkward reading their interactions and dialogue. It’s clear there’s some past trauma that will likely get unpacked and explain everything, but I’m not emotionally invested in their journey given what I’ve read so far.
Sorry and thank you for the arc in exchange for a review.

I love Mazey Eddings, but this book was just okay. The slow burn-ish second chance romance was good and I liked the dynamic between Eva and Rylie. I know some people might think she’s just mean, but I respect a woman’s right to be grumpy and appreciated her snarky banter. However, I personally didn’t feel very strongly about the characters in this book. I just think the social media and toxic workplace environment plots had the book trying to do a little to much and it fell a little flat as a result, especially with the way the the workplace conflict imploded at the end of the book. It was cute to see characters from the author’s other stories appear though.

I honestly really enjoyed this book. It really felt like it was based off Amelia Dimoldenburg but that just made it even better for me. I really enjoyed the story and the writing, along with the Queer representation in the book.

well, actually made up for a really entertaining and quick read. the chemistry between eva and rylie was instant and so electric I couldn’t stop giggling

tho, as much as I was entertained, I’m a huge fan of icy queens and second chance romance and I felt like these two elements weren’t 100% well done. but I can acknowledge that these two “tropes” are difficult to write especially for an author like mazey who never wrote anything like that

I still recommend cus it was a fun time and I really enjoy mazey’s work, it’s just not my favourite take on both icy queens and second chances!

ratings: 3.75⭐️ 3.5🌶️

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! all thoughts and opinions are my own ✨

this was my first mazey eddings book, and honestly, i had a great time with it. well, actually follows eva kitt, a certified hot girl™ in charge of hosting an interview segment with various b-list celebrities (think something along the lines of hot ones or chicken shop date). everything sort of goes to shit when one of eva's videos goes viral, and she winds up in the middle of a media storm with her ex-fling from college, rylie cooper.

if i could choose only a single dynamic to read about for the rest of my life, it would be the one where the FMC is a bitch (affectionate) and the MMC is absolutely enamoured with her. eva was unapologetically cunty, and rylie was head-over-heels for all of it. i also just love seeing a calm, dopey man who perfectly balances out his spitfire of a girlfriend—in that way, it felt as if this book was written solely for me.

this was one of those rare instances where the second half of the book was a lot stronger than the first. i really enjoyed watching eva let her guard down and allow herself to be vulnerable around rylie; contrary to popular belief, most formidable, no-nonsense women do in fact need a shoulder to cry on every once in a while. i also loved how rylie refused to let eva sabotage their connection, and instead stood by her side even when she tried to push him away. a messy woman and a patient, steadfast man—it doesn't get any better than that.

my one complaint with this book is the fact that, despite eva's initial hatred of rylie, a lot of their early interactions were drowning in insta-lust. i get it, they're exes, so it's safe to assume that they were attracted to one another at some point. but given how badly rylie hurt eva back in college, it felt weird to me that she claimed to loathe him, yet she couldn't stop talking about how handsome and/or hot he was. it didn't really fit with the rest of her characterization, and it often took me out of the story.

aside from that, i really liked this novel! the banter was fun, the angst was executed perfectly, and the steamy scenes were magma-level hot. now that i've familiarized myself with mazey eddings' game, i definitely intend to check out more of her stuff.

Well Actually by Mazey Eddings is a breezy, fun, low-stakes romp about two former lovers set up on a path to publicly hash out the failings of their past relationship.

Eva is a bisexual mess, currently working as the trendy, mouthy host of Sausage Talk, a show that interviews B celebrities for a mid-level network. Think Chicken Shop or Hot Wings, and you'd be on track. When Eva is faced with a video on her feed of the first guy she really fell for in college, a charming, infuriating "white guy with a podcast" named Rylie, she takes to her social media page to stitch a video and blast his dating habits and his bedroom abilities. The network she works for quickly picks up the viral reel and negotiates several dates and time on Rylie's podcast for the two to work through what went wrong. Unfortunately, Rylie is determined to prove to Eva that not only has he changed but that he's willing to go the extra mile to win her heart.

While Eva's ball-busting routine does get old after a while, the way she pushes back and teases Rylie is a delight up against his golden retriever, eager-pleaser routine. He's clearly mad about her from the get go, making the soft burn of Eva letting down her guard the true story along with the tease of WILL THEY EVER HOOK UP? Sometimes the hot and cold nature of their interactions ran lukewarm, but overall, it was delightful, biting, and funny.

I loved that the friend groups were queer as fuck and that there was honest discussions of mental health. My biggest frustration was at the midpoint when Rylie co-opted one of their dates and took Eva to a couples counseling session without explaining why. He gave her a heads up that it's where they were going to go and the therapist made several things clear up front, but it seems like an easy thing for him to clarify: that he needed a safe, healthy space in which to converse about certain things. Overall, it seemed like something he was blindsiding her with. The opposite of healthy dialogue.

It pains me to say this, but also, the sex scenes, of which there were multiple at the end all tacked together, lacked any tension and I found myself skipping them, ready to get to the conclusion of the story.

It was a fun, light read. One I will definitely recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press who issued me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately as much as I wanted to love it I couldn’t. I had to DNF. It looked like such a cute little read but unfortunately at this time it’s just not for me. Many thanks for this arc!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy, I’m absolutely telling everyone to read this. I loved this one, 4.75 for me! It would be a 5 but the pacing got a little off about 2/3 into it but still great. I was laughing the entire time. This felt different than the romances I’ve been reading and just a unique slow burn while working through some serious relationship trauma. Gotta love a head strong funny FMC and the fact the author was able to encompass so many different topics felt much more than your basic romance.