Lizzie and Rake are a charming team. Lizzie is a fireball and whirlwind of energy, undercut by a childhood that has left her scarred and believing that she is not deserving of real love and attachment - more like a constant f*ck up who can't get anything right. She meets Rake at a bar and they have a steamy hookup before he returns to Australia after his business trip. I don't want to spoil too much here, but he ends up back in Philly as they navigate their partnership and through the deep-seated issues they both thought they could just shove away and not deal with. I loved the shout-out and inclusion of other romance authors in an authentic way, and how their relationship developed. It was also unique and insightful to follow Lizzie, navigating the world with ADHD and really showing that she may not be neurotypical but that does not mean she is lazy or somehow broken. Her brain just processes things differently. Loved this book and will absolutely go read A Brush With Love.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first time reading Mazey Eddings and I enjoyed every moment. The portrayal of ADHD was so real and honest and made me feel seen in a meaningful way. The book started hot and heavy with steamy scenes and a surprise pregnancy.
But the character development and Lizzie ultimately learning to manage her ADHD and realize her own worth really kept me enthralled.

I am so happy this book exists. It is so warm, filled with laughs, and a perfect way to spend a Sunday or a few days in the sun on spring break. That does not mean though that it is without flaw. I really felt connected to our titular character. Lizzie seems like such a work of love from the author, however, in comparison Rake really feels not fully fleshed out. While I understand he is meant to be more reserved & starchy, I think it is still possible to let us as readers in more. It just felt like the Lizzie show. In addition for whatever reason this book read very young to me. As a huge fan of Eddings' debut this just did not live up. We are in the same friend group as her debut, yet the friends felt noticeably absent for the majority of the book. I wanted more of that female friendship. I will say I really enjoyed how things did not wrap up perfectly with Lizzie and her mother, that felt so real and not like something I often find. Lizzie's relationship with her brother also felt authentic. There are so many things to love in this book and Eddings' writing that I really think people will go crazy for and might connect more with the romance than I did. Looking forward to the next book in this series and hoping that the romance will sweep me off my feet like A Brush with Love did.

I loved lizzie in a brush with love and this book SO lived up to her!! I loved this. It's not entirely what I expected but it was really, really good nonetheless. Im not a fan of the pregnancy trope but I really liked this one.

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake was *chef’s kiss* in my book. It was witty and I found myself giggling while reading this book, which I love! Lizzie has ADHD and makes a lot of mistakes. When she and Rake meet at a bar, they have a two-night-stand and find themselves building a connection they weren’t expecting. Theeeeen a few weeks later, Lizzie’s finds she’s pregnant and decides to do the right thing and tell Rake, who lives oceans away in Australia. She wasn’t expecting him to transfer over and want to be part of the whole thing. They decide to be platonic co-parents and take it from there…

The story is well written, the characters are flaws but they go forward together and love grows with time. This story is about is impactful, unconventional and very different than your usual rom-com and I think that that is what makes all the more special.

Lizzie Blake is a young woman with ADHD and she just wants to live her life. She enjoys sex and isn’t ashamed of it. Enter Rake, sexy Australian man. Whoops she ends up pregnant.

Accidental pregnancy isn’t my favorite trope, but I enjoyed this book. Lizzies family super sucks, even if her brother is trying now. I liked her relationship and how it blossomed with Rake.

Overall, a quick, easy read. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars. I haven’t read Eddings’s debut novel, A Brush With Love, yet, but after reading Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, I will most definitely be cycling back. To be fair, this book took me a minute to really groove with. Lizzie is kind of an eccentric character, which ultimately becomes part of her charm. Also, I didn’t read the blurb so I had no idea this was a surprise baby trope. Normally those are pretty easy to spot, but I may have been more surprised than even Lizzie was when she found out she was pregnant. I know that trope isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it’s done really well here.

I loved that Lizzie is a neurodiverse character. She has ADHD, and although she lives with the fact that her brain processes things differently, she hasn’t accepted it. In large part because her parents are garbage people and always made her feel insignificant and abnormal. Like I said, garbage people. Rake was kind of perfect for Lizzie… he loved everything that she hated about herself. And in the end, helped her realize her own awesomeness. Rake too had his own issues, and was emotionally closed off. Ultimately, their relationship made each of them a better person. Can you really ask for more? I hear you, and I know you’re saying, “why yes Erica, we do want more. Where is the steam?” I’m happy to report that Lizzie and Rake had great chemistry, and although SMP is a traditional publisher, it’s def got some steamy scenes. Finally, this book also had one of my favorite things ever in romance novels… a grovel/ conciliatory gesture. Yes please! It wasn’t over the top, but it was satisfying. All in all I’m super glad I read this. I look forward to reading the romances featuring the other girls in this friend group. And I’m happy to recommend this!

I am so appreciative that I was able to get an ARC copy of this book.

I laughed. I cried. It gave me ALL the feels.

It is beautifully written and sensitive. The ADHD representation is empowering. Lizzie and Rake are adorable and relatable characters. I didn't want this book to end. I was engrossed in their story from start to finish.

I've seen some criticism for the insta-love trope. But that's the whole point. She was easy to love. He loved her despite all of her "flaws" with no hesitation. He saw the parts of her that she felt were wrong, and he adored them. He showed her what it is to be loved unconditionally.

I'm going to start crying again. I love them so much.

Her conversation with her mother was a tearjerker. I felt so proud that she finally stood up for herself. And then she leaned on her found family... ugh.

In summary, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake broke me and healed me all at once. It's my new favorite!

after reading a brush with love i knew i needed lizzie’s story! kasey endings has quickly became an author i’m obsessed with and will always be reading books from! i loved this story so much and hope that the series will continue with the rest of the friend group! the whole group overall is so relatable!! she writes the best romance with the perfect amount of spice!

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this in advance.

Omg this book was everything! It had the perfect about of steam and comedy. Lizzie was a character! I am so happy that this author showed the struggle of those with ADHD. It’s no joke.

I would highly recommend this book to my bookish community. If you’re looking for a fun quick read, this is the book for you!

I just want to start by saying that if you enjoy the pregnancy trope you will probably enjoy this book. Now it’s definitely my bad that I didn’t read the description good enough to realize it was based around the pregnancy trope which is something I do not enjoy. I enjoyed the author’s last book so as soon as a saw this book I instantly wanted to read it. Once again my bad. The first half of the book was slow and was a little difficult to get through. I did enjoy the ending though. I thought it was sweet. Lizzie and Rake are a cute couple I just thought it was missing something.

4.5 ⭐️

my first mazey eddings book and i really enjoyed it. i’m not going to lie it took me a little bit to warm up to lizzie and her character and understand why she acted the way she did, but oh boy once i understood her and read her inner monologues i felt this connection with her.

“lizzie wanted to do well. she wanted to impress the people in her life so damn badly, her bones ached with it.” this quote, this quote i felt in my soul with how much i relate to it.

i was fully captivated by the story mazey tells. i love when authors write sex positive characters (especially women), who know what they want and don’t regret going out there to get said thing. lizzie, i wish i was like you and i wish i had this book a few years ago because i feel like that is so important for people to read like hey! yes, let’s talk about sex and how that makes us feel!

the progression of lizzie’s and rake’s relationship i felt was very natural. i didn’t think it was weird that rake uprooted his life to move to philadelphia, especially after i learned the why behind his decision.

i really enjoyed the slow burn their relationship was and how a majority of the book was them learning about each other and discussing their pasts before realizing they weren’t actually platonic and they had real feelings for each other.

yes, this book is so good and yes you should definitely read it! i know i will be reading a brush with love very soon!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars

This is the first book that I have read by Mazey Eddings and I absolutely love her writing. I had heard so many good things about A Brush With Love and now I want to stop all my other reads to read that book by her.

I first have to give love to the dedication because it really spoke to me. I really wish this was said more to people and people learn that they are enough.

“For anyone who’s been told they’re too loud.
Too emotional. Too much.
You are the perfect amount of enough.”

I adored how Eddings depicted Lizzie and her ADHD. I think this is something that is definitely not talked about as much because females are underdiagnosed when it comes to ADHD and it often gets missed in females. I loved how this novel focused on Lizzie’s growth and her learning to love her neurodiversity and how this is a part of her and it’s not something that she should be put down because of. I think Eddings did a fantastic job at depicting the journey that Lizzie had to go through to get to that point, especially with being raised in a home where she is constantly being told she isn’t good enough or she is too much. I love how this was also incorporated into her relationship with Rake and how she finally gets to experience the love and acceptance of her and her brain. Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book and cannot recommend it enough!

This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

I absolutely loved this book! I had fun, I laughed, and I learned. Lizzie and Rake were an absolute JOY to read about, as was their journey. The first chunk of this book is chaos, with messy moments and a ton of shenanigans, but none of it felt inauthentic to the characters or their story. In the final stretch, we take this unexpected, deeply emotional turn that I did not see coming, but needed in order to completely believe in Lizzie and Rake's connection. I think Mazey so spectacularly depicts the realities of ADHD and does so carefully, which I appreciated, especially in seeing her connection with Indira.

This was a winner and I cannot wait to snag a physical copy! Mazey Eddings, you have a fan in me!

It was great to see AHDH represented in a rom-com! It was almost too perfectly wrapped up, but a fast easy read.

Mazey Eddings is one of those authors that I will read anything from and I’m so happy to say that Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake was not a disappointment. Quite the opposite, it was fantastic!

Lizzie Blake is a 27-year-old baker in Philadelphia who struggles to hold down a job, mainly due to her unmanaged ADHD. At a bar, she meets Rake Thompson and is immediately attracted to his good looks, his jokes, and his Australian accent. After a two night stand (because they can’t resist another night together), Rake returns home to Australia and soon after, Lizzie realizes she is pregnant. Who knew condoms could expire? Well, apparently Lizzie didn’t.

Rake, who is hiding a past hurt, tells Lizzie that he wants to be in his child’s life, so he packs up and moves to Philly to be close with Lizzie. So close that they end up moving into a loft together, which incidentally leaves very little privacy. Together, Lizzie and Rake try to navigate how they will be co-parents and partners. I won’t spoil the ending for you, so I’ll leave it there.

I was a huge fan of Mazey Eddings’ debut novel, A Brush With Love, which is part of this same series. Eddings did a wonderful job with the anxiety representation in ABWL with the character of Harper, and the ADHD rep with Lizzie in LBBM is no different. Just like with Harper, Lizzie learns how to manage her ADHD and accept that her neurodiversity is a part of her, but a part that is worthy of love and is not a burden. Lizzie has been told her whole life that she’s “too much” and she doesn’t think that she’s worthy of love after her family, especially her mother, denied her the love that she wanted as a child. But Rake’s love and acceptance of her and her brain is so beautiful.

I can’t wait to read this one again and again! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, but not for the reasons I expected.

This book follows the story of Lizzie, the friend of Harper from “A Brush with Love” that confided about her use of therapy and psychiatry to show Harper it’s okay to need help. Lizzie has ADHD and it significantly impacts her life. Jobs are hard to keep when she shows up late or forgets to complete tasks. Medication is hard because it requires remembering to actually take it. Her family has a low opinion of her. And she actively avoids intimacy to protect herself from the opinions of others but solely engaging in one-night stands. Until she meets Rake, a visiting Australian in town for a quick business trip. Rake also rejects intimacy, and feelings in general, after a heartbreak that he didn’t quite recover from. Yet he can’t resist Lizzie’s immediate draw and energy. The two bend their rules and have a passionate two days together before Rake heads back, thinking that’s that. However, when Lizzie finds out she is pregnant, she is stunned to learn that Rake is willing to drop everything and move to the US to support the baby.

I should probably break here to note that this story isn’t very realistic. If you can accept that, it makes the book much more fun. It also has insta-lust and unexpected pregnancy tropes, which are not my favorites. But the characters are made it interesting. For me, the enjoyment came more from the characters and how they reacted to the developments in story.

Surprisingly, the romance was not what I loved most about this story. It’s actually Lizzie’s journey. I love that we get to see the hard parts of having ADHD as well as the parts that make her magnetic to others. I love that she wasn’t painted as the manic-pixie dream girl. I love that she gets to find love without being “fixed.” Too many stories would take someone like Lizzy and give her a perfect medication to make her conform to the expectations of others, and have her be relieved that she’s not different anymore. But she doesn’t have to change who she is because Rake loves her as she is. Lizzie is extremely confident in her body, but doubts anyone wants to love her because of her brain. It’s a refreshing twist to see in a romance. There is a great quote Indira about this- “I think that you’ve heard a story about yourself for a very long time. I think the people that were supposed to love you the most actually hurt you the most. I think you were told so many times that you were destructive that came to believe it. And I think it’s always stopped you from pursuing relationships. The loving, romantic kind that you deserve.” Additionally, I felt like the author did such a good job setting me into Lizzie’s mind and understand her, which works very differently that mine.

For Rake, Lizzie provides a burst of energy and passion that he’s closed himself off from and it helps him figure out what he wants in life. That said, I couldn’t give it five stars because I felt like Rake didn’t get enough of his development and growth. I was left feeling like I don’t know much about Rake outside of his relationship with Lizzie and his past heartbreak. Whereas Lizzie, I feel like I understand her at a much deeper level. It still works as a romance, with both steamy and swoony moments. It’s just not the main takeaway for me, personally. But I’m okay with that because I love Lizzie and I’m glad she has Rake.

"But what I am saying is, just because your brain works differently from neurotypicals, it doesn't mean you deserve to be valued any less. It doesn't mean your love is a burden or a liability."

Despite having two of my least favorite tropes (insta-love and surprise pregnancy), I really enjoyed this book! Told in a dual POV format, this adult contemporary romance was a well-paced and entertaining read.

I absolutely loved the ADHD representation in this book and how it conveys a neurotypical experience. The main characters were both entertaining and I enjoyed their growth and character arcs as they embraced their attraction and unconventional situation. This book contains a messy and unconventional romance that makes it unique when compared to other contemporary romance books. Mazey's writing is once again vibrant and makes for a quick read due to how well the story pulls you in.

On the other hand, I did think it was a little unrealistic in terms of how quickly Rake was willing to drop everything and leave Australia for Lizzie after only knowing her for a few days. I also would have liked to see a better balance of plot and romance since it was tipped more towards a heavier romance with other plot points like both characters' job struggles became a little overshadowed.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book and will certainly be recommending it to people as it's a fun read that kept me entertained! I look forward to seeing more of Mazey's work in the future as both her books have been fun reads so far!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fun, romantic, hot & steamy, romp through Lizzie Blake's life. Just when I thought that the book was going to be a series of pornographic pastries and hot Australian men (aptly named Rake), I found that Lizzie's story was going a bit more deep than all of that.

I didn't read the first book in the series so I missed out on the romance that affected Lizzie's friend group, but I was able to quickly catch up and feel some sympathy for Lizzie and her ADHD issues. She was a very sympathetic and interesting character but Rake was a bit harder to get a read on.

The book contains a lot of the standard romance tropes, but it was fun and lively and kept me occupied on my trip to Scotland over the weekend.

*I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4.5/5 stars to sunshine in book form.

*This Review Contains Minor Spoilers*

When “one night only” turns into “two nights only”, which then turns into a surprise pregnancy, Lizzie Blake finds herself faced with more changes than she can fathom. Coupled with her unmanaged ADHD, Lizzie isn’t sure if she can do this alone but she knows she wants to. Hot Aussie baby daddy Rake wants to be involved and won’t take no for an answer. He leaves behind his life in Sydney to come to Philadelphia and be involved in his baby’s life, which also means being a partner to Lizzie. From platonic friends/roommates to something more, these two navigate their changing lives together as their baby grows.

When I read Mazey Eddings’s first book, I knew she was going to become one of my favourite authors. “Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake” has once again proven that she is a breath of fresh air in the romance genre. Her writing is fresh, fun, and oh-so enjoyable. Watching Lizzie’s personal journey, as well as her and Rake’s shared journey was sometimes sappy, sometimes steamy, and constantly funny. Eddings’s humour is splashed across every page and I LOVE that she can make her readers belly laugh one second and tear up the next. She also perfectly conveys the freneticism of ADHD, something I found myself relating to with a wince more than once!

Lizzie’s biggest roadblock in her life are her relationships. More specifically, how she perceives her relationships. One of the most emotionally impactful moments in this book was when Indira sat Lizzie down and forced her to examine where, exactly, she had screwed up her relationships. Lizzie had this skewed idea that she didn’t deserve a relationship because she always ruined them, but she couldn’t name a single instance where that was true. These moments where Lizzie examined her own RSD really resonated with me, and I recognized a lot of myself in Lizzie’s ADHD story.

I also loved that the peripheral relationships are just as important as the romantic relationship. While Lizzie’s relationship with Rake is the main plot, it is surrounded with other relationships that are just as important to Lizzie and to the plot. Her relationship with Bernadette is possibly one of my favourite boss/employee relationship ever, and I love that it gives Lizzie that maternal figure she’s always wanted without Bernadette trying to be her mother. Bernadette believes in Lizzie, and sees her potential, which is what Lizzie needs. And speaking of maternal figures, Lizzie’s mother is a piece of work and the fact that Lizzie puts her foot down and cuts the relationship was more powerful than a reconciliation or apology, which would have felt contrived.

If you like found family, sunshine in human form, and a *sprinkle* of only-one-bed, I highly suggest you pick up “Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake”.