Second chance romance? SAY NO MORE. This book was the type of book you’ll love if you are a sucker for second chance romance and literal laugh out loud moments. I love reading books that make me kick my feet and scream in delight as I read it. Reminds me of the meme: “who’s got you smiling like that?” and I’m over here like “my book.” The spice in this book was delicious and I am sad the rest of the world needs to wait until August to read this, because this book is amazing!

A viral video, a second chance, and a love story that proves even the messiest moments can lead to the happiest endings.
If you're a fan of second-chance romance and witty banter, Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings is the perfect summer read. Set to release in August 2025, this hilarious and heartfelt novel delivers a sharp, fun exploration of love, fame, and the chaos of modern relationships.
****

The story follows Eva Kitt, the host of a quirky and beloved show called Sausage Talk, where she interviews celebrities while chowing down on hot dogs (yes, you read that right). Eva’s life takes an unexpected turn after a wild night out, a TikTok video featuring internet heartthrob Rylie Cooper—whom she once dated in college—and a bottle of wine. In a moment of drunken spontaneity, she stitches Rylie’s viral video and shares her side of their relationship, detailing how he ghosted her. To her shock, the video goes viral, throwing Eva into the spotlight in ways she never expected.

Now, with her job and reputation on the line, Eva is forced to interact with Rylie in a new way—on her own show. Her company is pushing for more content, hoping it will drive revenue and grow her audience. The twist? She has to reunite with Rylie, the man who broke her heart, and put her feelings and history under a public microscope.

What I loved about Well, Actually was its delightful contrast of personalities—Eva, a "black cat" type with sharp wit and a guarded heart, and Rylie, the easygoing, lovable "golden retriever" archetype who brings out the softer side of her. Their chemistry is undeniable, and their banter is some of the best I’ve read in a romance novel. The push and pull of their relationship, filled with humor and vulnerability, makes their second chance both thrilling and tender.

Mazey Eddings beautifully captures the complexities of navigating love in the modern age—how social media can both connect and complicate relationships, and how, even when love feels scary, it’s always worth taking the risk. Well, Actually is the perfect mix of laugh-out-loud moments and heartfelt emotion, reminding us that love can come when we least expect it and that facing your past might just lead you to your future.

Nothing I love more than being an absolute menace. Especially to men. Eva Kitt was the biggest ball buster of all time, with the most hilarious comebacks. I want to be her when I grow up. Some might call Eva and unlikable FMC, and to those people I say it’s ok to be wrong.

I fully support women using bullying as a coping mechanism. And I love the men who can take it, dish it back, and still love and support their mean ass woman (small love letter to my husband. gross.)

I loved this one. Laughed out loud. The spice was spicing. And the book boyfriend was book boyfriending.

Ever wonder what if from that person you went on four dates with and got ghosted by? Well this book tells you, while also unpacking the unrealized impact that has on us.

Eva is a very relatable character in her fear to be vulnerable with her partners and feeling just behind in life.

Rylie is incredibly charming and gets to your heart right away, even if he has to work to get back in Eva’s good graces.

Well, Actually is a fun black cat, golden retriever read that will make you kick your feet and giggle.

2.5 stars rounded up because Netgalley still won’t give us half-stars!

I’m giving this a middle of the road rating because I had a lot of fun in the first half, but after Eva and Riley get together everything really fell apart! There’s a scene shortly before they kiss that felt veeery Challengers coded, specifically when Tashi/Patrick have it out in the middle of the night and the wind is whipping around them and the sexual tension is crackling in the air. Eva and Riley had some great banter and push/pull in the first half, but after they finally act on these feelings, it felt like the story just runs out of gas. Riley was a down bad simp the entire time, but at least before they hook up he had a bit of bite in his cheeky banter. After though? All his character brought to the table was grandiose romantic speeches (too many of them), ironic graphic crewneck sweaters and apparently he’s the only man alive still driving a PT Cruiser (with wood panelling no less!)

A lot of other people have mentioned that they found Eva too mean and unlikeable, but her prickly exterior and deeply insecure core was pretty relatable! I love a romantic heroine who is deeply flawed and just doing her best. What I struggled with, is after her and Riley get together she literally relies on his external validation for the entirety of her self-worth. This is not the way to build a relationship being pitched as healthy, soulmate kind of love! Then there’s the frequent references to Riley having a healthy fear of Eva and hoping she fights with him forever. Again, some ribbing and bickering is one thing, being afraid of Eva and framing her as this ticking time bomb only he can dismantle? Not cute! Another weird red flag comment that I hope can be reconsidered, is there’s a moment when Eva needs to be talked off the ledge, but Riley goes about it in a very troubling way, saying it takes 2 people to break up and I refuse to agree to a breakup - again, this feels very troubling, not romantic! If only one person wants to break up, you’re still breaking up!

Lastly, I struggled with how tropey and cringe a lot of the second half was! He wears grey sweatpants, there’s arguably too much praise kink, and so many adjectives in the sex scenes that I wondered if I had accidentally been transported into Fourth Wing instead! I can only handle so much “going boneless” or “opening to him”, “moaning/humming into mouths”, or lingering full body appraisals! There was too much of all of these things!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I was not able to get into this book as I had hoped. Though it isn’t for me, I can say the writing style was great!

Well, Actually, follows Eva, host of Sausage Talk, (a show where she eats hot dogs with B list celebrities), as she re-entangles her life with Riley Cooper, a man who once jilted her, and now has a podcast about deconstructing toxic masculinity.

Attempting to capitalize on the stitched video Eva makes, essentially calling Riley a fraud, execs at Sausage Talk plot a face to face reunion for ‘prickly’ Eva and ‘lovable’ Riley. Of course, the reunion goes sideways when Riley asks for a road to redemption, a way to show Eva he’s changed, over six planned dates. Begrudgingly Eva agrees, and the rest… is history.

Well, Actually, is delicuously spicy, funny, and one of the most tender rom-coms I have read in a long time! I loved the disaster dates, I loved the unhinged dialogue, and I absolutely loved Eva and Riley aka Kitten and Baby girl!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an early book review copy of Well, Actually!

Well, Actually releases August 5th, 2025-mark your calendars!

This was a cute second chance, enemies to lovers. I love when the MMC seems broody, but is actually very charming, overprotective and insistent on loving the usually self conscious MFC. I got little flurries reading about Eva and Rylie Cooper, even though I don't like the name Riley. She called him Cooper sometimes so that made it better. She is scarred by an encounter with him six years prior and when she makes a video about it, it goes viral. Cooper uses this as his chance to try and take her on dates and win back into her good graces. It ends up working, even though she constantly tries to push him away. I thought it was really cute! I haven’t read anything by this author before and am excited to read more from her.

Pulled in by the chicken shop date allusions and stayed for the banter. Overall fairly irreverent of a book, in the best way, and I didn’t find it trying too hard to be much else. A little too young for my Millennial tastes, and the pet names were a bit too much.

A second chance, reverse grumpy sunshine rom com set in NYC. Eva has a slightly cringe titled talk show where she interviews B/C list celebs. Big her ideal job. Go make matters worse she watches her college ex rise to podcast stardom on what she believes are lies. She makes a reel calling him out for being the worst in college which goes viral. Cue - dating challenge. The premise was cute but there were a bunch of cringe moments. Overall it was ok. Did like the Lizzie/Rake cameo! 3.5 stars.

This is for lovers of Chicken Shop Date! This is my first Mazey Eddings book, and it did not disappoint!

I really loved the dynamic between Eva and Rylie, from college "fling" to redemption dates. While we go through these dates with them, no matter how much of a disaster some of them were (iykyk lol), we also see how much the ghosting affected both of the characters. We got to understand the depth of their feelings thoroughly and we often don't get to see that, especially from both perspectives.

Their banter, flirting, emotional depth, and laugh out loud moments made this story! Also, the plot and concept of this book are something I haven't read before! So if those are things you're looking for in your next read, I highly recommend!

This wasn't a 5 star for me only because Eva was so bent on this experience not working, when Rylie was giving his all to make things right between them, also Eva's bosses were horrible and not enjoyable to read about. Other than those things, this is a solid 4 star, but if I continue to think about these characters it could become higher!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This one was a mix for me, there were times when I was all in, and some definite cringe worthy moments.

The premise of the story was appealing, second chance romance with a “let me show you I’ve changed” angle. There were times that I felt the MMC was incredibly sweet, but I ran into some chapters when the FMC character was so out of line, I cringed when he was so understanding.

The FMC is written as a tough personality, who feels she has to be, with some pretty intense internalized sexism. She’s got some stuff going on, I get that but at times was just plain mean, and I didn’t get the appeal.

Without diving too deep, this was a good and quick read, with decent spice! If I stop to pull it apart, there were areas with the other characters that weren’t handled well and felt pretty stereotypical. Overall, I was in the mood for a quick read and this book hit the spot!

Another case of a fabulous MMC plagued by terrible FMC…I’m so tired.

Chicken Shop Date, I’m so sorry you’re being compared to this story.

Eva Kitt is our FMC, she’s the host of Sausage Talk an online show where she eats hotdogs and interviews low-level celebrities. She struggles to make it as a real journalist. Then we have Rylie Cooper, his names a lil confusing at times but not too bad. Who ghosted her after sex, um immediate jail, and is a content creator with his own successful podcast. He reeked of Gen-Z ideologies and overly feminist therapy jargon. The therapy scene was awkwardly uncomfortable and did not fit the Rom-Com dynamic. It left me feeling like sometimes you should just let heart break be what it is, and I am a hopeless romantic.
Not my cup of tea but would be a good contemporary romance for the younger generation.


Read if you enjoy:
🌭Second chance romance (sorta)
🎙️Black cat/golden retriever
🌭Strong chemistry
🎙️A Succession easter egg that got me
🌭Hot ones videos but for hot dogs
⭐️3🌶️3

I’ve never read a rom com and thought, “you know what this needs? an awkward therapy scene.” This book may have put me off contemporary romance for good, because this was agony. It has the strangest combination of dated late 2010s girl boss energy and super current chronically online references. It’s so bizarre, I almost want to say it’s satire.

Eva Kitt is an FMC so unpleasant, she gives Feyre Archeron a run for her money for most unbearable inner monologue. She’s the host of Sausage Talk, an online chat show where she interviews low-level celebrities over hot dogs. But Eva wants to be a real journalist, and is unhappy being subjected to wiener-based double entendre and eating four hotdogs an episode. (it’s not totally clear why they can’t use a spit bucket after the first one.) As we all know, journalism in 2025 is a field where beggars can be choosers and jobs fall into your lap, so instead of doing anything about it, like looking for another job or hustling and networking, she just whines and mopes about her life instead.

MMC Rylie Cooper—yes he has two first names, and they’re both used interchangeably with no explanation, but I’ll be more consistent than the author and just stick to one—is Eva’s fling from college who committed the jailworthy crime of ghosting her after sex. Rylie is now a mildly successful content creator with a podcast on “deconstructing toxic masculinity” and is a caricature of the gen z female gaze, complete with novelty crew necks, slutty glasses, and enlightened male feminist therapy speak.

And the self-conscious therapy speak is constant in this book. No one talks like this unless they are an author using their characters as a mouthpiece for a PSA. (Nuance and trusting the reader are for losers.) At one point Rylie takes Eva to couple’s therapy—with HIS therapist! when they aren’t even together yet!—for the two of them to hash out Eva’s resentment for him, and Eva cries because she’s confronted with the fact that sometimes situations are complicated and not everyone is a piece of shit forever. The craziness of this situation in-universe aside, I can’t fathom how this manuscript was reviewed by multiple people who thought putting a therapy scene in a rom com is good reading. I don’t need this scene to understand why Eva is the way she is, and after suffering through it I have even less patience for her behavior.

Eva is an unbearable combination of pathetic and petty. I’m not about to pretend I’m some paragon of forgiveness and I’ve never harbored resentment over an ex for too long, but Rylie “scarred her love life for eternity,” and Eva hasn’t bothered to do anything to address this capital-t-Trauma—by her own admission. The author makes it very clear that Rylie accepts fault for his actions and has worked to change, even going so far as to get a master’s degree in counseling in the time they are apart, but what has Eva done to address her own stuff? Spoiler: the answer is nothing, and we are trapped inside her head to suffer, while Rylie does 100% of the work getting them together and keeping them together. When they have sex for the first time post-reconnecting, Eva rebuffs Rylie emotionally and leaves his apartment without telling him while he’s in the bathroom. After all her whining about Rylie ghosting her, she suffers zero consequences for this behavior, and he chases her down to make sure she is okay and fights for their relationship. It was around this point that I checked my kindle percentage, realized there were a little over a hundred pages left, and almost quit then and there. (I didn’t, because I don’t have a lot of respect for myself and how I spend my time.)

I love unlikable, messy women, and I understand the fantasy of your partner loving you unconditionally and accepting you at your worst. But this black cat/golden retriever dynamic I keep seeing in CR where the non-stop sniping is entirely one sided and the conflict is 100% internal just doesn't work for me. I get that it’s a defense mechanism for Eva, but she is so unrelentingly rude to Rylie, long past when he reveals the understandable circumstances around the ghosting. I know her zingers aimed at Rylie are meant to be charming, but not every line of dialogue has to be constant back and forth yes-anding in an attempt to go viral on Booktok in a slideshow of recs for “good banter.” I don’t find the majority of her “teasing” fun or flirty. Once they are together, Rylie emails Eva’s bosses, voluntarily taking the blame for them shirking their contractual work responsibilities, and she edits it to tell them he has explosive diarrhea. At one point she puts a non-removable bumpersticker on his car (the car she constantly makes fun of) to embarrass him. He is constantly showering her with compliments, and I can’t remember a single time she said something nice to him.

It's not that l'm not into men being bullied; quite the opposite, I picked this up because I like it, but either raise the stakes so the anger feels justified or commit to the bit and make it horny. We are repeatedly reminded that Rylie is into Eva being mean to him and her taking charge, but it doesn’t play out in the bedroom dynamic. Turns out Eva’s a stereotypical people pleaser who likes praise kink and wants to be pinned down, all that babygirl/princess nickname stuff is just a tease, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

I can’t even dive into the tedious toxic workplace drama or the diversity checkbox zero backstory friend group or we’d be here all day. (The gay best friend who only shows up to gossip about the FMC’s sex life, and the trans woman named Lilith who has dedicated her life to running the charity for trans kids? What year is it?)

Objectively, this is two stars. It’s readable. But I hated every second of this, so it’s getting a one.

Would I re-read this: Absolutely not

Who should read this:
Millenial humor fans
Ali Hazelwood girlies
Readers who want to imagine the MMC as a stand in for every dude who ever ghosted them

Similar Books:
Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandra Bellefleur - anxious avoidant fmc with boundary issues, gen z “written by a woman” mmc who tolerates the insufferable fmc (the smut in this one is good though)
Just For the Summer or anything by Abby Jimenez - millennial humor
How to End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang - zero chemistry “romcom” built around weird trauma bonding, unlikable fmc

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Griffin for a copy of the eARC.

4.5 stars (rounded up to 5)

Not me adding Mazey Eddings' entire backlist to my TBR based on this book alone.

I was thrilled when I was approved to read an e-galley of <i>Well, Actually</i>, and not in small part because I assumed this was loosely based on Andrew Garfield and Amelia's Chicken Shop Date. As a sentient woman in 2025 I am semi-devoted to fangirling over Andrew Garfield, so it speaks to exactly <i>how fucking good</i> this book is that I immediately forgot about Andrew and his (very charming) British accent and was entirely, all-in on Eva and Rylie.

What you can expect:
-Second chance romance (ish)
-Black cat/golden retriever
-Laugh out loud hilarity
-Out of control chemistry
-Hot ones but for hot dogs
-A Succession easter egg that had me kicking my feet and giggling
-Open door
-3/5 spice

I am obsessed with Rylie and Eva. As I neared the end of this novel I found myself falling into this sense of dread because I only want to read about them. I want day-in-the-life fanfiction about these two.

The banter? The wit? The chemistry? OFF the charts. Aaron Sorkin, eat your heart out. This book is honest to god laugh out loud funny. Eva's wit is razor sharp, and Rylie is so <i>fucking charming</i> and I have such a picture of him in my head. The open-door scenes are so good -- so sexy and so sumptuous -- that they even got my nonexistent, five months postpartum libido going.

I'm already feeling the hangover from this one and will honestly read a dark thriller next because any romance I read next will suffer for being compared to Eva and Rylie and how much I love them.

Mazey Eddings, please write six more books about Eva and Rylie being hilarious and about Eva being mean but sexy and Rylie smiling in his slutty little glasses. There is no limit to how much I will read about these two.

(And if this ever makes it to a movie, WHICH IT SHOULD, Andrew Garfield is honestly maybe too old for the part of Rylie, but cast him anyway.)

And as always, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed reading this! I had several laugh out loud moments. The banter between Rylie and Eva was fun. It’s endearing and sexy. I highly recommend it!

This book was alright- not super bad but not super amazing either. The story kind of felt jumbled to me. To be quite honest, I almost DNFd after the first chapter or two. I persevered and was glad I did! My attention was hooked after Rylie was introduced and I was interested for quite a while afterwards. I do feel like certain story lines started getting a little messy in the middle and by the end it was dragging. Eva was a complex character but I feel like the idea of her emotional character development suddenly was forgotten once they started hooking up. There were still parts of this that were great though! I am glad I ended up finishing it. 3.5/5 rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s, and Mazey for the ARC!

Rating-
3.5/5 stars
(Rounded up)

Genre-
Contemporary Romance

Age Rating For It-
18+ because there are some explicit sex scenes in this, and also just as like a side note it does contain internalized biphobia, workplace abuse, toxic masculinity, internalized misogyny, and grief after loss of a loved one.

Tropes-
Second Chance
Banter
Black cat x golden retriever
Forced Proximity

Thoughts/Would I Recommend This?-
I really like this book, but I also didn’t at the same time for some reason. I am a sucker for a good romance book, but I almost wish they had gone more into the whole job aspect of the whole thing, especially for Eva. This is because I felt after a certain point in the book It wasn’t as much of a key focus as it was in the beginning, which I didn’t love because I really enjoyed that entire aspect of the book. I thought it added more to the book so that it had more to it than just the romance plot, and then I felt it kind of pulled away from it to more so focus on the romance, and I wish it hadn’t. All in all though, a good cute romance book that I recommend you guys look into reading.

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

I really enjoyed this book!! I thought it was fun and just a classic romcom (which I never get tired of). Did I sometimes find the FMC a little abrasive (I think that is the word I am looking for -- I want something more than "much" but not unlikable), sure, but I still really enjoyed this and am looking forward to getting a trophy copy for my shelf!