Wow, Mazey Eddings has done it again! I absolutely adored A Brush With Love when I read it earlier this year, and Lizzie was so fun in her small amount of page time that I could not wait to get my hands on this book, and it did not disappoint! This story follows Lizzie, who has been told her whole life by her family and those around her that she was "too much" - too messy, too chaotic, and too difficult to deal with because of her ADHD. She meets Rake, a scratchy, hot Australian man, at a bar one night and they decide to have a few one night stands before he travels back home to Sydney. Cut to a few weeks later when Lizzie finds out she's pregnant, and Rake wants to be a part of it every step of the way. This story is about how they handle this unplanned pregnancy, and how they want to handle their own complicated relationship.

Lizzie and Rake were some of the sweetest and funniest characters I've read about. An amazing thing about Mazey Eddings is her ability to write humor into these stories that deal with neurodiversity and mental health. Lizzie has always felt feelings of inadequacy because she's never lived up to the expectations of those in her life and never felt worthy of love, but even from her and Rake's first interaction, he was nothing but calming, patient, and supportive. They truly are a fantastic match, and I loved reading about them figuring out their feelings for each other, as well as Lizzie learning to understand that no matter what, she is deserving of love and support.

Overall, this was a stunning addition to this stand alone romance series, and I can't wait to get my hands on Indira's book whenever I get the chance!

“I want to hand over all my old memories because I only want new ones with you."

Did Mazey Eddings write my favorite book of the year? Probably, yes.

This book was phenomenal, and I don’t think my review will do it justice, but I am going to try.

Lizzie and Rake’s relationship begins with a two nightstand while he is traveling for work. Rake is instantly drawn to her beauty and charming personality; Lizzie loves his Australian accent and flirty quips. He returns to Australia, trying to push down his thoughts of Lizzie and their weekend together. A few weeks later Lizzie reaches out to him and “surprise” there is a baby! Together they will have to navigate pregnancy, sharing space and maybe sharing feelings….

Lizzie is chaotic and messy, weird, and wonderful; I just adore her so much. Rake is a reserved, organized and a creature of habit. They are opposites in every way but somehow, he sees her, truly sees her. He sees her heart of gold, her humor, her determination and all the other wonderful parts of her. Lizzie brings out the best parts of Rake, makes him feel things again and they balance each other perfectly. Their love is pure and comforting.

The personality dynamic in this book reminds me of Hook, Line and Sinker. Like Fox, Lizzie has been told an unfair and untrue narrative about herself by her parents, teachers, and employers her whole life; that she is lazy and irresponsible. Rake is consistently encouraging Lizzie, reminding her of all her accomplishments and talents and helping her change her internal narrative. Lizzie’s growth in this book is so special and I am so proud of her.

Eddings shows us again, through another delightful novel, that we all deserve love, all parts of us. The neurodivergent parts, the messy parts, the anxious parts, the depressed parts. This book is a love letter to anyone whose family doesn’t get them, to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, to anyone with ADHD, to anyone who is constantly aware of their shortcomings. Mazey, thank you.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

*I will add this review to my Amazon page on release day and re-share on IG.

I went into this one fully knowing I hate the unexpressed pregnancy trope but for some reason, I didn’t that’s this. Mazey Eddings just has a thing where she writes great characters you care about. I just didn’t love this like I loved A Brush With Love.

I absolutely loved A Brush with Love and could not wait to get my hands on this book! Don't get me wrong, I really do not like the surprise baby trope but I thought Mazey did a really good job with this one. The book was more about Lizzie and Rake's journey together and less about there being a baby. I mean of course there is a lot of pregnancy talk but in my opinion that was not the main focus.

I will also say that I hated her friends reaction to her pregnancy (besides Dan, I love him and he can do no wrong). Thu, I'm looking directly at you. We're looking for just a little support here. Thankfully they all made up and were very supportive aunts when the baby was born. And her parents?! My gosh. Horrible people. Her mom can totally shove it.

Loved this book and cannot wait for Indira's book, The Plus One, coming out in April!!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this book!

⭐️: 4/5

Lizzie Blake has made mistake after mistake in both her personal and professional lives, so when she ends up pregnant after hooking up with an Australian she met in a bar, it’s just another mistake to add to her total. Rake doesn’t do intimacy or feelings after being burned in the past, however Lizzie makes something inside of him want to open up, and when he finds out she’s accidentally pregnant and he’s the father, he knows he wants to be in the child’s life…and maybe open up his heart to Lizzie in the process.

Going into this one knowing that the main trope is an accidental pregnancy, I was unsure how I’d end up feeling about the book as a whole. There was a bit of early on spice, which is always promising, and the relationship progression between Rake and Lizzie felt more organic than I originally expected it to be. It ended up being surprising how well the accidental pregnancy trope ended up working for this story and these characters though. Lizzie was an interesting main character, and the addition of her adult ADHD made her memorable. However, a lot of the parts of the book from Lizzie’s POV read a little like an educational program about how living with ADHD feels. Toward the beginning of the book, it was so overdone that it felt like Lizzie’s entire personality was “I have ADHD”, which didn’t feel genuine. I understand that the author was attempting to spread awareness and visibility to reduce stigma, but it definitely could have felt less clinical. I did appreciate the resolution of the conflict between Lizzie and her mother though, because any other result would have felt contrived, convenient, and unsatisfying. I also learned that this is the second book in this “series”, and the first concerns the relationship between Harper and Dan, who are two of Lizzie’s friends in this book, and I’d be interested in reading that one, as well as any follow ons to this one! Not having read the first in the series did not take anything away from this book though, since it effectively functions as a standalone novel.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

OMG I loved this book! I "liked" the author's debut, but this book? This book was absolutely adorable and riveting from the first page to the last. I was incredibly invested in Lizzie, whose ADHD was represented so beautifully, and Rake from their meet-cute to their HEA. There were so many hilarious moments with sassy dialogue, but it was Lizzie's struggles with self-love after growing up with simpleminded and simply horrible parents that pierced my heart until I was almost crying. Such a beautiful love story with found friendship, lots of steam, and plenty of laughs. Highly recommend.

5 stars
I LOVED THE BOOK. I LOVE THE PREGANCY TROPE AND THIS BOOK IS NOW ONE OF FAVS BOOK WITH IT .
I loved Lizzie and Rake . Rake is an AUSSIE HOTTIE.
I hated Eddings' debut book, but decided to give this one a try and I am so glad I did. It was the perfect combination of everything. The representation was perfect executed. I would love to see more of them in the next book of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, & Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

There was a lot to enjoy about this book, and I can totally understand why it already has such a good rating on Goodreads - but for whatever reason it didn't hit me the same way it seems to be hitting other people.

I appreciated the representation of ADHD that was presented, and I liked watching Lizzie explore ways to better manage it for herself so that she could be happier. Her relationship with Rake was cute, and although he definitely had some learning to do I liked where they ended up at the end.

Lizzie's pregnancy is a big part of this book, and I know that for some people that aren't a fan of the unexpected pregnancy trope it really didn't work for them - I didn't mind that part so much, but again, there was something that kept this one in the like rather than love category.

Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake was such a lovely read. Lizzie has ADHD and her whole life was problematic. Growing up she was always told she was too much, too messy, etc. She has walled herself off to protect herself from further hurt. Instead of getting deeply involved with people, she has a few close friends and lots of other brief encounters with men, etc. Until she meets Rake who is traveling to Philly from Australia. What starts out as a one night stand turns into much more.

I loved this book. Lizzie and Rake are the sweetest couple. I really truly felt that I identified with a lot of Lizzie's life. Rake is the perfect partner for her. I love that he loves her unconditionally and that they power forward into what is scary, but ultimately have a great relationship. They compliment each other so well. Rake is dreamy!

I don’t mind a well-crafted romance. I’m getting used to the sex in the modern day romcoms. But, what I am not used to is the constant mention of sex throughout the book. One would think the characters cannot think past their bedroom desires. The main characters are Lizzy and Rake. Lizzy is a woman suffering from ADHD. Rake is the man from Australia that she met at a bar. The thing is that I did not find the characters believable. I didn’t even like Lizzy all that much. She was more of a caricature to me. Rake, I found to be very unrealistic. Even in a dreamy man type romance situation. The book needs to have half a foot rooted in reality and this book was floating in some world with a whole bunch of sex and desire and a little bit of story. I do not think I will read another book by this author.

After loving A Brush with Love I was soooo excited for this one but I had to DNF because the plot was just too ridiculous. I hope there’s time for Eddings to go back and edit the male MC’s backstory and make him from Philadelphia. There is just truly no reason for him to be from Australia in the midst of a pregnancy trope book and it made it so much more unrealistic that he flew literally across the world after hearing that someone he knew for 5 seconds is pregnant??? I DNFed this one at 40% (let me just say I did love the beginning romance and sex scenes) but I did read another review that said that the book ends up vilifying the male MC’s ex for getting an abortion and I hope the publishers and the author will reconsider publishing this book with that content in this political climate, when Women’s rights are under attack.

Mazey Eddings, second novel "Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake" is a cute follow up starring outgoing, bubbly and full of emotions - Lizzie. I was very excited to read her latest novel and found it to be just as cute and charming as her first book. Eddings has a wonderful writing style that is quick witted and charming, making her romance's a breeze to get through. I once again enjoyed her neurodiverse characters, this time bringing a woman with ADHD as our main character. I thought she did a great job explaining the thoughts and actions of a person with ADHD, and all the ways it can affect someone's life. While some of the plot points were a little too perfect and unrealistic, it is what I expect for a fun rom-com. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun and easy read.

How many times do I have to try the accidental pregnancy trope before I finally admit that it's just not for me?

I didn't relate to the heroine and found her to be flighty and immature, but I appreciate the fact that she is flawed and imperfect and still deserves to be loved for who she is, as we all are.

I didn't really feel the connection between Lizzie and Rake outside of lust, though. And I found it really unrealistic that you'd uproot your life, move across the globe and magically co-parent with someone you had only previously known for a handful of hours.

Not my personal favorite but still a cute read.

Spunky, chaotic, beautiful tornado that is Lizzie Blake. This story had laughs, crying, naughty desserts and a beautiful Australian man with his own bag of issues. I loved Lizzie and Rake's story. Their ups, downs, insecurities, passion, fire, banter and the city they lived in. Lots of spicy parts in this book!

I read Mazey Eddings first book “A brush with love” and I couldn’t wait to read Lizzie Blake’s chaotic love story. We meet Lizzie and know she’s got adhd in the first book and then we see how it affects her life in the second book. I was rooting for Rake and Lizzie! He’s the perfect hero.

What happens when you have accidental pregnancy trope and Mazey Eddings? Magic. This is how you write a pregnancy trope book. Lizzie is a strong female character, she goes after what she wants and she doesn't let a precious bun in the oven stop her from working on her dreams while the babe is in there cooking. Rake is the best kind of MC even if he is blonde. He would move mountains for Lizzie and this new little family, and his story of why he is the way he is was so precious and warmed my heart. Lizzie deals with so much in this book, and Mazey tackles all of it so well. Rake is the supportive person of your dreams and he helps Lizzie so much. I love their dynamics, and all the heat filled spicy moments were just what I wanted. This book was not as funny as A Brush With Love, but it was deeper and sweeter and I loved it even more. I can't wait to continue to read more from Mazey and see what all she has in store in the future.

The mental health aspects really hit home as my 4 year old as ongoing sensory issues and is being worked up for conditions. Although the pregnancy trope is not my favorite I did enjoy this book. I felt like the side characters were weak and did not bring tons to the game. The audio was perfect esp the Australia accent parts. Thank you for the arc.

Thank you so much for the preview of this book. I really wanted to like it, but it was so hard to read and feel empathetic for Lizzie. I know she was suffering a lot, but it didn’t feel like she was doing anything to help herself and that just made it difficult for me to want to continue reading.

Loved the chemistry between Lizzie and Rafe - it was a fun read from start to finish. I’ve loved all that Mazey Eddings has to offer. Would recommend this series

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, recommend it.