Member Reviews
OMG! I loooooved this book!!! Please read it! It’s so good!
I will say it has a trope I normally hate but this one was done so well.
I loved Lizzie. As an ADHD millennial who grew up at the start of diagnosis being more common, this made my heart so happy. Lizzie is sunshine incarnate 🌞 and I love how she finds and accepts herself the way she is 🥰
Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
I requested this book because I wanted to give this author another chance. I had read her first book and felt very lukewarm about it. I honestly can’t say I liked this book any better.
This is the story of Lizzie, who apparently uses sex as her coping mechanism, and Rake, who has sworn off sex, but gets tangled up with Lizzie. After two separate one night stands just days apart, she ends up pregnant - while Rake goes back home to Australia.
When she notifies Rake, he flies to Philly to be the best “co-parent” he can be - a very admiral trait. Throw in new jobs for everyone, parents that have never been supportive of their daughter, a strange job baking erotic goods, Lizzie’s odd (and inappropriate) behavior at times that doesn’t exactly scream ADHD to me - and you are left with a strange book. It just didn’t hit the mark for me - I believe there were too many things going on for me to focus on. Sadly, this author just doesn’t cut it for me and at least now I’ll know that I can skip her work in the future.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.
I absolutely loved this book. I was skeptical at first as the storyline felt like it might be too predictable and not have any intrigue. I was pleasantly surprised that the book had more depth, character growth and better character development in general than I was expecting. I quickly realized it was going to be a favorite! I’m also super picky about narrators and I enjoyed these two very much.
What a fun rom-com to read! I love the dual perspectives and could see this becoming a movie. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced listen.
I requested this before I realized that I didn't like the other book I read by this author but I went into it hoping for something I could really enjoy. The problem is that there isn't much of a story here, just a lot of sex scenes or innuendo and very little plot. What plot there is wasn't very good. I actually gave up fairly early on so I missed a lot of the other stuff people complained about but I couldn't connect in any way to Lizzie. DNF
I’ll admit — the first few chapters of Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake had me blushing as I listened to this book while riding the subway. Mazes Eddings knows how to bring the HEAT!! In all seriousness though, this book is a beautiful representation and ode to neurodivergent love stories. Mazey’s writing is inclusive, respectful but also confronting and real. I loved it!
(3.5) I enjoyed this book, this was a good listen. The narrators were great, though I do wish the male narrator would have had an Australian accent the whole time, not just while Rake speaks.
A couple of notes: 1 - this had more smut than expected (some people might love to listen to it, but I got a lil uncomfortable), 2 - the whole reason for Rake not trusting...could have been handled differently?
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the book to review!
According to Goodreads “Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake” is book 2 in the Brush with Love series by Mazey Eddings but it’s really a standalone. You do not have to read “A Brush with Love” to read “Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake.”
When we first meet Lizzie she seems to be floundering in her jobs and struggling to manage her ADHD. I do not have ADHD nor does anyone close to me that I’m aware of so I cannot speak to the author’s description of it. What I can say is that Lizzie is a very sympathetic, likeable character, I was rooting for her from the start. As the book progresses we see Lizzie become more accepting of herself, her struggles and acknowledges her strengthens. I loved seeing Lizzie find a job that she flourished at and a partner who completely supported her.
Lizzie and Rake’s meet cute is a little over played but it worked. Lizzie and Rake’s first meeting and sexual interaction is AMAZING! The author is very descriptive without being gross or over the top. I also love that the author interjected consent throughout without it being annoying.
I loved Lizzie and Rake’s relationship. It was fun to see a guy be (initially) more invested emotionally than the girl. I thought Rake’s reaction to the unexpected pregnancy was a little over the top, just dropping everything to move to a different country but I liked that he was ready to step up. Rake handles Lizzie’s ADHD so well. He doesn’t judge her or see her as different like her family does. He rolls with it and finds joy in the things Lizzie notices that he wouldn’t.
One of my biggest pet peeves with romance novels is that the spicy bits happen too late in the story. I love that this book started off with a bang. I often get annoyed with romance novels because they use the same verbiage and descriptions repeatedly but that was not an issue with this book. Mazey Eddings used a plethora of words to describe the intimate parts and was very creative with it which kept me interested. The sexual relationship between Lizzie and Rake is definitely a theme throughout the whole book but it doesn’t take over the storyline. This book is the perfect mix of rom-com and spice.
I’m not always the biggest fan of 2 POVs in a romance novel but it worked well here. I enjoyed seeing how their relationship blossomed from both sides and it was fun to see how they were longing for each other while trying to keep it platonic. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for two people more than Lizzie and Rake.
Now for the things I didn’t love: I’m not the biggest fan of the unexpected pregnancy troupe. I understand it and I even have friends who have experienced it in real life but it’s just not for me. My daughter was conceived through fertility treatments so unexpected pregnancies tend to make me cringe for personal reasons. I also did not like Lizzie’s parents. I kept hoping they’d come to their senses and be grateful for their daughter but they never did.
I highly recommend this book and/or audiobook to people who enjoy rom-coms, a little bit of spice and happily ever afters.
Audiobook Review: I enjoyed that the audiobook was read by 2 different narrators, Summer Morton and Will Peters. Having a female and male (with an Australian accent) narrator really helped with the 2 point of views. Overall I thought the audiobook was well done.
While I’m not sure if the unplanned pregnancy trope is really my thing, this was such a steamy yet charming story. Lizzie was relatable, humorous, and tough. Rake was sensitive and swoon-worthy. I enjoyed following along as the characters overcame their respective struggles and fell in love. I also loved that it was told through dual POV and the ADHD representation. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was good - a have-playing-in-the-background kinda good. I appreciated the content warnings at the beginning. Male narrator was good, but not sure about the choice to only voice the Australian accent when the character was speaking. Would recommend if you're looking for something sweet and a bit instalove.
In the audio version the author states the following content warning: pregnancy, discussion about abortions, ableist language about ADHD
Book 2 in the A Brush With Love series, but definitely can be read as a stand alone (and I never say that, so it must be true).
Dual 3rd person POV.
Lizzie has made quite a few mistakes in her life, but having a two night stand with the hot Aussie, Rake, is not one of them. When Rake heads back to Australia after his business trip is over he doesn't think he'll ever hear from Lizzie again...until she calls out of the blue to say she's pregnant. Without even hesitating he hops on a 36 hour flight to have this conversation in person.
Rake is like the sweetest ever ~ love him so much. I was rooting for these two from their first hot night. I still gotta call this a slow burn because even though we get some good action pretty quickly we have to wait quite a bit for them to get their act together before they do it again.
Overall, a super fun read. I can't wait for Mazey's next book.
Side note ~ I am so happy she finally stood up to her toxic mother, that was an emotional few pages there.
I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I started out listening to it, then switched to the e-book, then back again and ultimately my favorite was the audio, so that's how I tackled most of it.
Narrated by Summer Morton and Will Peters for 9 hours and 15 minutes, easy to follow at 2x. It was interesting that for most of the narration Will was speaking in an American accent, but the dialogue parts were in an Australian accent. Summer's Australian accent was great.
Lizzie Blake finds out she’s pregnant after spending a weekend with Rake, who happens to live on another continent. The two of them work together to figure out how to coparent, fighting their feelings along the way.
I know I have mentioned representation a lot lately, but this book made me cry because I just felt so SEEN. Lizzie has ADHD and even if I didn’t know the author had it too, it would have been obvious upon reading about a character that at times felt like I was reading from my own journal. I was diagnosed with ADHD this year, at 29, in large part because neurodiverse girls are often ignored because they don’t present the same as boys. I think this book could help a lot of people understand ADHD a lot better. I mean hearing “Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria” described in a romance novel?! Groundbreaking.
I loved the way Mazey Eddings wrote Rake as seeing Lizzie for exactly who she is and supporting her while she tries to work through some of her challenges. I can’t say the reveal of Rake’s backstory was my favorite part of the book, and I do feel like Lizzie’s character was a lot more developed than his.
I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the audiobook and I think the narration was great. The story alternates between Lizzie and Rake’s perspectives, so there were two different narrators. The only thing I found confusing about the narration is that Rake is Australian and the narrator was not. The narrator did an Australian accent when Rake had dialogue, but the rest of his chapters were all in an American accent. I think an Australian voice actor would’ve improved the audio.
I really enjoyed this book and I read it in like two days. It comes out 09/06, so consider picking up a copy! Thanks to Netgalley for my free copy of the audiobook version of Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake.
Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmilliam.audio for a free download of the audiobook.
If you fell in love with Harper and Dan in Mazey Eddings first book, you’re going to be head over heels for Lizzie and Rake in Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake. This book is steamy and funny! There is great chemistry between the two main characters that will make you swoon. Lizzie is a hot mess struggling to keep her life together. Rake is a dreamy Australian in town for business. What could go wrong……besides sex with expired condoms?
Eddings way of addressing and explaining the challenges that people face when they have ADHD are enlightening and eye opening. The noise in Lizzie’s head, the pinpoint focus, and the drowning feeling when one gets overwhelmed resonated with me. I felt seen. I love that this is being addressed in books in a positive light.
The narrators were fantastic!
5 stars
Believe the hype❣️I. Loved. This. Story!! It’s steamy, funny and they had great chemistry and banter. It was the kind of sweet story that had precious moments that I had to reread again before I could continue reading. The half way mark made me wish that the book would never end. Yes it was that good.
Rake was dreamy and every-time he was in Lizzy’s presence I smile. Lizzie was a hot mess, honest and fun. I thought these two were perfect for each other. I’m going to be thinking about this one for awhile.
I had an ebook and audiobook version and I would highly recommend both. Summer Morton and Will Peters co-narrated together and they were awesome. Loved listening to their voices. You need to read this book!
Thanks St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley.
Lizzie and Rake were so fun to listen to, with a romance that was cute and steamy but still had depth, I found this book overall quite enjoyable. There was discussion on Lizzie's ADHD and how that adds challenges to her life, but I appreciated how this was done tastefully and how Rake was portrayed to never see them as a downfall, but rather just added a uniqueness to Lizzie that he adored. I found their relationship totally swoonworthy and I was here for it. The narrators I think contributed a large amount to this as well, as their flow was seamless and I think Rake's accent portrayed in the narration was dreamy.
Okay, some parts required a little suspension of disbelief, as they totally would not happen in the real world (i.e. Rake dropping everything and moving to a different country IMMEDIATELY), however I do not mind this in a book if it is done well, which in this case I think it was. I read the story for the escapism, and I think this book provided that. Overall I found it a quite funny and entertaining read.
My only qualm was a brief portion of time that explained the above, and why Rake was so quick to jump on this opportunity with Lizzie, and that was a discussion about abortion (trigger warning for some). While this was a short part of the book, I just wish his cause could have been compelling but maybe not a topic that is so triggering in order to not distract from the overall tone of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Griffin for an ALC in exchange for an honest review. Full review on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts on pub day, 9/6!
A cute and surprisingly heartfelt read! The chemistry between the two characters was top notch and the treatment of Lizzie’s ADHD was well done.
⭐️ Book Review ⭐️
Book: Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake
Author: Mazey Eddings
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Format: Audiobook
Pub Date: September 6, 2022
This was a cute and fast read with a touch of spice! I love how the author portrayed a character with ADHD as it is not often written about. I loved Lizzie and Rake's relationship. Rake accepted Lizzie for who she was and was very supportive about the pregnancy from the beginning, but Lizzie's friends were not which made me instantly not like them, especially Thu.
I know the accidental pregnancy trope is not well liked, but I actually liked how this one was written. I haven't read the accidental pregnancy trope before, and while it's not one I would choose read, I definitely didn't hate it.
I listened to it on audio and I loved how the narrator spoke in an Australian accent for Rake which made it a lot more enjoyable and I was really able to picture the characters.
Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my #gifted audiobook.
This was a contemporary romance that I did not want to end! I loved everything about this book, but here are the top three things I loved (and could not get enough of):
1. Lizzie makes this book unputdownable. She is funny and real. She has real struggles and you are on her journey of being unapologetic when she makes a mistake. LOVE!
2. This book has some real spiciness, but in the best way.
3. Lizzie and Rake are just a beautiful couple.
There is nothing I would change about this book. Easy five stars from me.
A rom-com that made me laugh out loud. Heavy on the steam factor. Sure, the reality of the romantic story line is possibly a bit far fetched, but I loved every minute of it! The ADHD storyline seemed honest to me. I was able to connect and empathize. Would definitely recommend this book to others.
This one was cute! I definitely enjoyed the second half a lot more than the first. I almost stopped reading a few chapters in because Lizzie's disorganization and sex obsession drove me crazy at the beginning of the book, and I had such a hard time connecting with her. After meeting her family and hearing about her childhood, I felt like I understood her a lot better and could empathize with her a little more.
All in all a cute read with a few laugh out loud moments and a few cringey moments. I found Lizzie and Rake's relationship to be too good to be true at times, but it's a work of fiction so I can't complain about that. I wish we had gotten more background on Rake so I could understand him better.
For the audio, I really appreciated that there were two different narrators for Lizzie and Rake! I thought they both did a fantastic job!