My journey as a reader during "Well, Actually" mirrored much of that of the FMC, Eva. She is the host of a Chicken Shop Date type set up involving hot dogs. After some misguided use of social media, she ends up back in touch with an ex from university, Rylie. He's a bonafides podcast star and wants to use this chance to reconnect with Eva to make amends for the past. Eva is overwhelmed on having ended up back in Rylie's orbit and whilst, I was never exactly lukewarm on the story, it worked its competent magic on me until I didn't want to live outside Rylie and Eva's bubble. The story dealt with any miscommunication much earlier than I thought it might and advocated for therapy and the nuance to make mistakes and grow. Neither of the characters were perfect, but they were so much better and gorgeous for it. I shall now be diving in to Maz Eddings back catalogue.

I give this 3.5/5 stars! It had me hooked and interested In How the characters story would develop. I liked this story but as I was reading it, I found the story getting little repetitive and boring. It took me little over a week to finish this as I was gravitating towards it as much as I was in the beginning. I did enjoy reading this and was curious to see how the story ended. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for this ARC.

It was funny, fast paced and an amazing time!

The fmc was genuinely HILARIOUS. Like I would find myself pinching my nose in an attempt to not laugh so loud i wake my family while I’m sat reading this at 2am 😭🤚 I loved her so much. Her vulnerabilities and character spoke to me.

The mmc is where it kinda felt a bit off for me. I enjoyed his character in the present but it was the shit he did in the past that made me feel torn. I’m a big lover of character development but it didn’t feel like I was A PART of that development with him which made me feel a little detached from him. It didn’t give me that same sense of confidence or stability in his character. I mean I can see that he’s sorted himself out with a therapist and everything but I wish we got more detail about what he did in those years he was struggling to get better.

This isn’t to say I don’t like him. He was a decent mmc I just didn’t love him unfortunately.

⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and Headline Eternal for the ARC! ♥︎

Rylie Cooper is down bad, crying at the gym. Eva Kitt is convinced his feelings are fictitious and indeed everything has come out teenage petulance.

The last time I cried reading a romance book was during my Nicholas Sparks phase, and I felt there was a lot of similarity in the aftermath of my feelings after I devoured this book. Do read the trigger warnings before delving completely but I think Mazey Eddings handled it very classily.

The intense, raw, striking vulnerability and growth that Rylie Cooper goes through makes him top contender in my favourite redemption arc fictional boys.

Rylie and Eva’s banter had chemistry which was falling off the pages, and I had to close my eyes all giddy every time he called her ‘kitten’. Yes please, more of this, more of Rylie Cooper. There is a lot of emotional gravitas in their story, internal dialogues which make it seem like you’re watching a gripping romantic movie.

Mazey Eddings dug into their backgrounds, giving them very relatable backstories and contexts. She made them complex characters who are flawed but want to do better. People always say they love complicated FMCs who have faults, until they actually come across one and I can see that from some of the reviews online. But that is what made me love Eva so much. She is highly relatable, the kind of FMC that you know you have been at least once in your life. I can attest that her overreactions in fact are akin to my own and it felt like my personality was laid bare in those pages. I dislike parts of her but I am her, so I understand her.

A special mention to friends who are found families, the adversity you face sometimes in life which involve them, but coming out strong. Important marks of true friendship in my humble opinion.

I couldn’t recommend this one enough, folks!

A very big thank you to NetGalley, Mazey Eddings, and Headline for this arc!

If you’re looking for a book that gives the same vibes as a 90s/ early 2000s romcom, check this one out!
In this book we follow Eva, who after a terrible day at work gets drunk and stitches her college ex in a call-out post. Cooper does dating coach’s podcast about how to be a green flag, however his past doesn’t really reflect that. After getting invited to Eva’s show, he proposes to go on a few dates to show how much he’s changed; did he actually? Or was he lying all along?

I personally loved this book so much, the two main characters were great and showed a lot of growth, both with each other and as individuals. I really liked their relationship, even if I’m not a fan of spice; because it still felt real and heartfelt. Also their bickering took me out! I also really liked how their backstories were dealt with and how the author talked about certain topics like grief and how much that can change a person. The other cast of characters were also good, but I really liked how focused it was on the main couple.
The plot line following Eva’s work and struggles was also spot on with how things sometimes go, especially for women so I appreciated how that was also spoken about.

I cannot recommend this enough if you like reading romance, this was one of my favourites in the genre of this year. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

4✨
Thank you NetGalley, Mazey Eddings and Headline for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review - Well, Actually publishes August 5th.

Well, Actually had me giggling the whole way through. I loved the humour and banter and it was such a fun time! The plot and characters felt very unique with the podcast premise and is nothing like I’ve read before! It’s rare to actually get me laughing out loud throughout a book and this grumpy x sunshine delivered!

I really enjoy Eva’s personality, but Cooper is the stand out for me. He’s so down bad for her, but he’s confident in himself, recognises his growth and wants to show that to Eva. He never ever gave up even when Eva’s sass could be relentless at times. He’s now the definition of a walking green flag and we love to see it.

I thought the therapy scene was incredibly powerful and was a really interesting addition to the story, deep diving on what happened in the past for both characters and is again something I’ve not seen before in a book.

I did feel deflated at the hate comments scene, and the reality of Cooper’s experience vs Eva’s - this felt very real life with social media at the moment so was pretty hard hitting, particularly William’s behaviour. And let’s just state for the record that Landry and William are the worst.

There were a couple of times I felt like Eva came off quite harsh / rude towards Cooper (or were jokes that seemed a little too far) but I recognise this was largely her insecurities talking, given her history with him.

Overall, I really really enjoyed this heartwarming read and I’m so glad I got an advanced reader copy. I’ll be picking up the physical on release as a trophy for my shelves! I’m looking forward to reading more from Mazey Eddings!

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for this arc.

I really enjoyed this book. I found that both the female and male main characters were witty and funny.

Eva’s character definitely has depth and I personally related to her. Yes she may come off as rude at times but over the course of the story we get to see her sweet side come out which definitely hooked me to continue reading it. Cooper is such a sweetheart of a character. He’s so patient and he’s a great fit for Eva and helps show her walls slowly breaking down throughout.

I definitely would recommend this to others!

LOVED THIS! So much so that I went back and downloaded the whole back catalogue - really great friends>lovers>enemies>lovers - style book. The sex was raunchy and real and the characters realistic, relatable and FUN! A real romp - I loved this.

3.5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for this arc.

I really enjoyed the first half, it was witty, funny and I loved the chemistry between the two main characters.

For me, the second half wasn’t as enjoyable. I found the actions the characters (main and side) to be annoying or toxic, which detracted from my enjoyment.

Overall though this was a fun, quick read.

This was such a feel good book- I was laughing out loud often.
I definitely see the chicken shop vibes but it holds its own. Eva is so chaotic that I saw a lot of myself in her because I too would shit talk my ex and then wake up like huh?
Rylie is a golden retriever little cutie pie and you will fall in love with him. The banter and the dating and slow burn as Eva lowers her walls! Delicious!

Well Actually is a fun, modern loathe-to-love story. It’s obviously inspired by the Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date but the interview show is where the similarities end so you don’t feel that it’s just copying real life.

I really loved Eva, I can see why she wouldn’t be for everyone (people say they want FMCs to have flaws until they actually do) but I thought she was a well rounded character. She’s funny, smart and knows what she wants, she’s just insecure and needs a bit of love. Rylie is a podcaster who teaches men to be better humans and GOD can I understand why Eva hates him at first, I mean what idiot gave men microphones and told them to make podcasts??

I loved the premise of the six dates for Rylie to prove that he has changed since they dated at college, it was such a fun play one the fake dating trope! I don’t really like insta-love but their backstory meant there was a base for their relationship and meant we got more of a story than them just falling in love.

This was the first book by Mazey Eddings that I’ve read and I’ll definitely be adding her other books to my TBR!

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for the ARC!

Summary in Brief

Eva is the host of *Sausage Talk*, where she interviews celebrities and eats hot dogs (lol). One night, while doomscrolling, she sees a video from a college ex about “how to treat women right.” She responds with a video of her own, telling everyone he did exactly the opposite of that. Then said ex wants to take her on six dates to change her mind. Everything is totally fine.

Genre + Plot

Tropes: Second Chance Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Golden Retriever x Black Cat, No Third-Act Breakup

I was very excited for this one. The premise seemed entertaining, and I knew the banter would be top notch. The banter definitely did not disappoint, let me tell ya!

Our FMC, Eva, is a spitfire of a woman: strong, witty, smart, and she doesn’t take any bullshit. I will say I didn’t fully agree with her decision to post a video in response to her college ex, Rylie. It’s been six years, my girl. People *can* change in that time, and there’s no need to publicly call someone out on social media. That said, I get that she was deeply hurt, also drunk, and just acted out. We all have our low moments. After the video goes viral, her work brings in said ex for a *Sausage Talk* episode to hash things out. Pretty entertaining.

I’m not gonna lie, I was expecting Rylie to be a typical bad boy, but nope. I was absolutely *delighted* to see that he was a Golden Retriever!! Yes, please!!! He wears glasses, blushes, is smart and witty, and *loves* when Eva calls him out on his BS. He actually handles the whole ordeal very maturely for someone who was publicly humiliated online. You can tell he’s genuinely sorry for how things ended between them and wants to make it right. Our boy tries *so* hard on the first date, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Then they start meeting to recap each date on his podcast and track his “progress.” Our boy tries so hard to impress her.

Rylie is being completely genuine the whole time, and it’s freaking Eva out. He’s not the 22-year-old she used to know. He’s (gasp) changed! That’s wild. She starts to fall for him all over again, *as will every single person reading this book*. He eventually opens up about what was going on in his life back then. It doesn’t excuse how he treated her, but he was dealing with a lot of family issues and feeling completely lost. He just wasn’t in a place to love her the way she deserved, and you can feel how much he regrets that.

After that, they begin a tentative friendship, and of course, fall *hard* for each other. It takes Eva a while to fully open up, she definitely uses humor as a shield and probably should be in therapy for her family stuff (but hey, baby steps). The ending of the book went in a slightly different direction than I expected, focusing on how awful the internet can be to public figures. That’s all I’ll say there. But we do get our happy ending, and our couple doesn’t break up—*mostly* because Rylie refuses to let Eva break up with him. Which I loved.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a quick, fun read that I devoured in one sitting. While I didn’t love the initial internet trolling Eva did, there was meaningful character growth on both sides, and the witty banter? Oh so satisfying.

This book is well written, the plot was interesting and the dialogue was well done but unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of Eva. She was just too mean for me and I just didn’t root for her as much as I would want to for a main character. She improved throughout the book, and demonstrated character development, but I still wasn’t sure I like her at the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fun banter between our two main characters and a romantic story that is told with thought and care into mental wellbeing, LGBTQIA+ considerations and promotion of therapy and evolving and learning about gender and sexaulity and done well enough to feel like you are not being lectured or condescension.
However, Eva does also come across as a little woe is me, childish and 'pick me' with little evidence of maturity or learning from this on page. Cooper is a definite winner and all round good guy, there's not much to dislike, except when it seems he is willing to be a complete doormat because of his feelings for Eva.
I really didn't like Eva's workplace, especially when you take into account she reports into her best friend...it is certainly a toxic work environment and friendship combo.

I received this book as an ARC and provide an honest review

I likes this book, very much, but I did find myself struggling to no DNF it at the beginning. Some of the hooks for the podcast felt awkward and the dialogue a bit non-organic. But I gave it a shot and did chuckle every now and then. It's a good read, overall.

4.5/5 rounded up to 5

Thank you to Headline Eternal, Mazey Eddings and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings, releasing 5th August 2025.

It took me a bit of time to get into this one, but when I did. It was everything I needed in a book. Black cat x golden retriever is a trope that I absolutely eat up (like the hotdogs in the book 👀). This is building on the pop culture references from Chicken Shop Date but instead of chicken and London, it’s hot dogs and New York.

Well, Actually is a second chance romance between Sausage Talk host Eva Kitt and her ex Rylie Cooper who has become a loved social media star in the time since they both left college.

The premise of them going on dates and then talking about them on his podcast is a refreshing take in this contemporary novel.

All in all, I would recommend this to my friends and followers!

Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me, which is disappointing because I have read and loved other books by this author.

I really loved this one! I loved the chemistry between the two MCs. A black cat x golden retriever dynamic is one of my favourites - I eat it up every time and this one was no exception. Can't wait to add a physical copy of this to my shelves once it's released so I can re-read and enjoy all over again.

This is a very, very fun time. However, (and I hate to be like this) I had a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief for a big chunk of it. The chemistry and banter is perfect and hooks you right in, but the "dates-debriefed-on-a-podcast" bit got lost on me. It felt too performative and it annoyed me how many times the sentiment of "trying not to let a smile show" or "being so caught up in his eyes" repeated.
Overall: a good time with characters that were a bit too tropey and situations I had a hard time buying into.
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Did someone say Chicken Shop Date, but with a load of emotional trauma thrown in?
That said, this book was SO much fun. I adored the premise and how Eva and Rylie find themselves surprisingly pulled back into each others lives.

A moment to talk about Rylie Cooper, our feminist icon: I adored him and his sweater collection. The character growth from both him and Eva was wonderful 👌🏻
Both are flawed, but it was great to see them work through this (the moment when they go to therapy together!), and learn from each other. I also loved that Eva was so unapologetic about being herself and sticking to that, as well as highlighting the contrast between this and how a man would be treated for the same behaviour.
I would have liked to read more Sausage Talk interviews, but overall such a fun read!