THIS BOOK!! I loved the author's first book so much, I was a little nervous to pick this one up. But I am SO GLAD I did! What a beautifully messy love story. I felt so connected with both of the characters - it was like they leapt off the page. Just absolutely wonderfully written. I wanted to shake them both to just! let themselves! be loved! in a way that felt so relateable, I wanted to scream. I would recommend this to anyone, but especially to a neurodiverse person like me, who sometimes feels like the way their brain is built is just too much. I can't wait to read Mazey's next book!

Lizzie Blake has always had a "messy" life and been unique to her family. After a hookup turns into an accidental pregnancy she gives the dad to be an out if he wants it. Rake is surprised to hear the news but after a great connection with lizzie he's happy to be in her life again.

I really adored the authors first book and felt a little more connected to it than this one. I love the writing style but it felt a bit too "instant love" to me. I also have come to realize I am not a big fan of third person books.

I did really enjoy all the sweet elements, the self discovery and Lizzie accepting who she is!

“Because life was a shadow before, but you’re the sun.”

That basically sums up my feelings about Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake. The sun broke through my metaphorical clouds while reading, and I’ve been changed. I don’t think I can put all my joyous feelings into any more words. Brilliant.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Lizzie Blake's life in Philly is chaotic. Living a life colored by her ADHD, Lizzie finds it difficult to keep a job and form lasting romantic connections. After a unforgettable two-night stand with the handsome Aussie, Rake (and plenty of historical romance jokes), Lizzie finds herself pregnant. After telling Rake, he makes the decision to move state-side to support and help with his child. The two strangers have to find a way to navigate their own feelings and the opinions of others to find out if they can make this work.

To say that I absolutely adored this book would be an understatement. Lizzie is a colorful, bright, energetic human being and it's easy to see how she would be attracted to Rake and his quick wit. You see everything Lizzie has gone through to get where she is and it's impossible not to root for her.

Eddings is a talented writer and the way she weaves this knowledge and understanding of ADHD into the story is just beautiful. You immediately realize that Lizzie deserves to be loved unconditionally and that anyone who can't do that is undeserving of her loyalty. Eddings writing is beautiful and the way that Lizzie and Rake play so easily off each other makes my heart do a happy dance.

If you want a thoughtful, funny romance - this is it. I haven't yet read the first book in this series, but after reading this I will... immediately.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm.

I enjoyed this as I read it, and it went quickly. In the end though, it has some of the same issues that I struggled with in Eddings's debut, although I did enjoy both of them. I think she writes sex and sexual tension and emotions really well; I just think the partnership in both ends up hinging on one being perfect, making near perfect or always explainable choices, etc.

I thought the exploration of Lizzie's ADHD was great, but I struggled to piece apart her personality outside of it, partially because there was such a big focus on it. It would have been difficult to understand the friendships outside of having read the first book, but I don't know if that's all a bad thing.

Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings is a fun and funny unplanned pregnancy turned love story.

This novel is about standing up for who you are and accurately portrays adult life with ADHD.

A quick and enjoyable read 📚

When Lizzie Blake breaks all her rules and has a 2-night stand with a charming Australian, she has no idea that it's about to change her life. Lizzie is used to being alone and jumping from job to job due in part to her uncontrolled ADHD but when she finds out that she is pregnant, suddenly she has more to navigate than she thought possible. The charming Australian, Rake, is used to keeping people at arm's length too but he finds Lizzie worming her way in to his heart. Though they both agree to be platonic co-parents who live together, they soon find themselves being continually drawn to each other.

I really liked Mazey's first book so I was super excited for this one, despite the surprise pregnancy trope, which is not usually a trope that I enjoy. I'm happy to report that this was actually done so incredibly well! Though that plot line is of course important, the book is so much more about Lizzie and Rake's relationship than anything else.

The mental health representation in Mazey's first book was excellent and this book continues that - Lizzie's experience with ADHD and going through getting on meds again and finding people (unlike her family) who actually accept her was very accurate. Mazey has a way of writing mental health representation that really has me thinking a lot about my own life which can definitely be uncomfortable sometimes!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for a review. I highly recommend this one!

alexa, play liability by lorde ~~

oh my GOD this was so much fun!! i adored lizzie so so so so so much she deserves the world i just wanna give her the biggest hug; i want my own rake

the adhd rep was *chefs kiss*

(yes, i like the pregnancy trope) mazey never fails to disappoint!!

I AM SO EXCITED FOR INDIRAS BOOK

2.5 stars

I read A Brush With Love in the beginning of the year and fell head over heels in love with its entire cast of characters, the romance, the mental health representation that made me feel incredibly seen, and Mazey Eddings writing - Eddings is a phenomenal writer who manages to make you feel so much for these characters she created and writes stories that are funny engaging and endearing. Suffice to say, I was so excited for Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, I didn't even care to read the synopsis (a common thing I do when a favorite author of mine announces a a new book); well, that was MY mistake because I went into it without the knowledge that this book has my least favorite trope ever: unexpected pregnancy.. I immediately regretted requestinhg an ARC because i knew that my review wouldn't be that fair, considered my biased opinion, but since loving Edding's first book so much, I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

Honestly, at the end of the day, the trope did hinder my ability to enjoy the story quite a bit. Not only that, but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters at all. To me, what they had was lust. From the beginning of the story to the very end, I didn't feel the romantic love that characters and author attempted to describe, and it felt really hard for me to care about where the romance was going, and led me to care much more about the main character, Lizzie, and her friends.

The writing style paired with the hilarious main character definitely made for an entertaining story and Lizzie was an absolutely charming and lovable character. But that also took away from Rake's POV and made him a boring and depthless character compared to Lizzie's warm and larger than life personality. Every time we got to a Rake POV, I just wanted to go back to Lizzie's. I just feel like there wasn't much to him that made me care. Although the book overall wasn't a favorite, Lizzie will be going into my favorite characters list for sure, and was the best thing about this book for me.

I also always love the way Eddings incorporates mental health into her stories and writes it with a lot of care and respect. Lizzie's personal growth as she struggles with managing her ADHD and the supportive group she surrounds herself with, it was so heartwarming to read about.

At the end of the day, I think this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't necessarily bad and if you enjoy the unexpected pregnancy trope, i believe this to be surely enjoyable to you. I personally just had a hard time believing in the romance, and the pregnancy itself is never something I care much about reading. The male character lacked depth and the romance lacked chemistry, but the main character was amazing and so was her funny and loving friends. I will still be reading anything else that Mazey Eddings releases in the future, as, like I said before, this is more a case of "it's not you, it's me" than the book being truly bad.

This book is very sweet. And I loved the grand gesture at the end. I also love Lizzie's *Found Family*, and I really hope there's more books in this series. (While this is technically book #2, you don't need to read the first one- A Brush With Love.) Mazey Eddings write about neurodiverse characters; I as a reader am not, she writes to help me understand from their perspective. I will recommend this to anyone that love a good romance and neurodiverse readers.

On a side note, I read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, and then proceeded to worry about something happening to Mazey until I read the ending. If you want to know more about the TWs and how they manifest please feel free to message me.

This was a super cute & fun book to read! Lizzie was such a fun, bubbly, and all over the place character - I loved her! Oh Rake, with that Australian accent, *swoon*. This book had humor, spice, and all kinds of emotions. It was a great book to stay up late and read. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital arc of this title!

I really wanted to like this! But I think the accidental pregnancy storyline is just not for me. And I know Lizzie has ADHD, but I didn't like her as a character, mistakes aside. And I wasn't digging Take, so it just made for a difficult read for me, unfortunately!

This book was cute!

I loved how the author was able to convey Lizzie’s ADHD and make the reader able to actually able to understand what’s it’s like living with something so many people live with every single day.

Lizzie and Rake (an Australian accent!) are no doubt going to steal your heart. They both have some baggage from their past and will both struggle understanding their own and each other’s. This is a steamy, messy, heartbreaking/mending story. Don’t skip it!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for a review.

In so, so many ways this was not what I was expecting from this book. This book has, for the moment, changed my mind about my usual anti-surprise/unexpected pregnancy trope stance which is really saying something.

Lizzie and Rake’s chance encounter at a bar ends with a one (erm two) night stand before Rake’s work trip to Philly comes to an end. A few weeks later she realizes she’s pregnant when her roomie makes a run to the store for tampons and Lizzie realizes with a shot that her cycle isn’t mirroring her roommate’s! Enter a frantic around the world call and a whirlwind trip back to Philly where the two of them decide to do this together.

Lizzie Blake embraces her amazing self from the get go and rarely falters - except that people keep putting her down and not accepting her. We watch her lose one job and endure some really awful confrontations with family over her ADHD, personality and life choices. I really admire how the author doesn’t try to make it all happy go lucky at the end (or at the almost end!) because some bridges just can’t be mended (or built) in the last 15% of a novel.

Rake is an accepting, high achieving Aussie who embraces life with Lizzie - no matter what it seems to bring. Read this if you want to have your mind changed about unexpected pregnancy stories, if you love it when he falls first or if you enjoy foodie angles (minimal but present through Lizzie’s work as a baker of erotic pastries!).

Oh wow! Mazey Eddings can do no wrong. I would give this more than 5 stars if I could! I just adored Lizzie and Rake! Please give this a chance even if unexpected pregnancy isn’t your favorite trope! It was so masterfully done! I just wanted to hug Lizzie. There were so many moments that made me laugh out loud or tear up. I cannot wait to read more books by Mazey Eddings!

Format - E ARC (NetGalley)

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- A Brush with love #2

Troupes- just a hookup, surprise baby, forced proximity, one bed, opposites attract

CW- Toxic parents, off page cheating

Representation- ADHD

I’m not normal one to like the surprise baby troupe in fact it’s one of my least favorite, and yet Mazey has somehow made me love it (for this particular story, let’s not get a head of things here…).

Lizzie is an endearing mess of a human I mean aren’t we all, but she’s also got so much heart and conviction. She’s been told her whole life that she’s too much too rambunctious too loud, makes too many mistakes, so when Rake just accepts all of her she has not idea what to do.
Rake was living in black and white till the rainbow of color and light that is Lizzie enters his life and flips it upside down. His been hurt and broken by love and never wants to feel it again. But now there’s a tiny human on the way and all that he thought he could never have is suddenly in his reach, all he can do is reach out and try to hold onto it.

I love these two very different dummies, they are so opposite but open minded so they fit like puzzle pieces! They have chemistry that it off the charts and the Spicy times happen very quickly but then settle into a steady burn while that try out this 'platonic' co-parenting thing.

Needles to say despite the main conflict not really being I thing I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and probably just need to trust Mazey’s ability to love her writing style, characters and story telling. Can not wait for the next in this series or anything she has to give us!

I usually don’t like the surprise pregnancy trope, but this is the second book I’ve read by Mazey Eddings that takes one of my least favorite tropes and does it right. I loved Lizzie and Rake both so much. Lizzie feels like someone I want to be friends with and Rake is a top tier book boyfriend. Their third act conflict felt realistic, as did the way Lizzie felt around her family and ultimately stood up to them. And we got more really great mental health rep from Mazey, this time in the form of ADHD representation! Loved this book and will very happily continue to read more from Mazey.

I truly am speechless after finishing Lizzie Blake. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD (at the age of 31!!) and this is the first book I've read since that made me feel seen. I learned how my brain works through Lizzie and Mazey. I cried so many times realizing that I was still a good person even though my brain makes me act out of control sometimes.

Lizzie Blake, who has ADHD, has a one night stand with a hot Aussie named Rake and what happens after makes me laugh, cry and seriously smile so big! Rake was such a special person and gave Lizzie so much patience and love through all the ups and downs.

I'm so happy I read this book and it changed my life!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc!

This was such a cute book! I was really rooting for Lizzie and loved being able to go on her and Rake’s journey. Their relationship, while very insta-love, was fun to watch progress. I also appreciated that this book focused on Lizzie’s growth as a person and learning to love herself instead of only focusing on her love life. The negatives? (Spoilers ahead) I’m not a fan of the third act breakup scenes. I think that could have been done without and we could have had more time to see Lizzie and Rake’s relationship throughout longer of the pregnancy. Also, the inclusion of Rake’s ex having an abortion wasn’t needed-not because it’s a bad choice, but Rake could have just said she cheated and left it at that. It didn’t add to the story and left a bit of a bad taste because of how the ex was portrayed. All in all, this was a solid book and I would recommend it to others!

This was a fun listen that follows Lizzie, our messy heroine who accidentally gets pregnant and decides to pursue platonic co-parenting with the Aussie father.

Off the bat there is a lot of open-door steam in this one, but I appreciated getting to know Lizzie and Rake throughout. Lizzie is so chaotic, but I loved seeing the ADHD representation and learning more about how she copes with her struggle to focus. I also loved Rake who immediately steps up to take responsibility and his tenderness taking care of Lizzie as they figure things out.

It's a quick and easy listen overall as we see our characters bring out the best in one another. I'd recommend for fans of Tessa Bailey/Rosie Danan.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for my advance copy.