Overall, this was a very sweet and refreshing romance read!

The book follows two friends who have a bumpy romantic past trying to focus on the future of their podcast. Barely being able to be in the same room together, they have to figure out a way to make it work for both of their sakes.

If you like second chances, dual pov, enemies to lovers, or friends to lovers I definitely suggest giving this book a try!

I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

This book will be released May 6, 2025!

I enjoyed this for the most part but a lot of the conflict felt forced. A miscommunication trope where the main FMC is a literal therapist helping people communicate clearly? Nope, not for me. I also felt like the MMC was framed as this loveable amazing guy who until the last 20 pages didn't know he was an ignorant and borderline harmful person and then magically does an "oops, my bad" for the third or fourth time and then we get a happily ever after. I mostly liked the characters and the themes but I think this had a chance to frame more of the discussion around the wage disparity, societal disparagement, and the harsher treatment of women but it uses them as plot points and throwaway conflict. Finished the book feeling mostly unsatisfied with the dragging one-note conflict and quick but shallow resolution.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to review this early!
Maeve and Finn, best friends, have a viral sex and relationship podcast, but as it truly takes off and catapults their careers, they grapple with extreme tension that has stemmed from an interaction a few months prior.
I really loved the back and forth timeline so we could feel the extreme tension between Maeve/Finn in the current timeline and the simmering sexual tension in the past timeline. I loved the dual POV between these two characters, in particular Finn, who has such a unique perspective on fame and nepotism. Their relationship is so well done and that transition from friends to lovers is so perfectly nuance and layered. Maeve could potentially be seen as a little difficult, considering how hard she 'punishes' Finn, but at the same time I can also really relate to her layered response to being rejected.
What I think also makes this so enjoyable/realistic is the portrayal of anxiety (both for Finn and Maeve), career discussions (particularly for Maeve as she tries to break out from Finn / gender stereotypes), and overall the tenderness of sex/relationship discussions between men and women. Every part of this was just brilliant and I WANT to listen to this podcast. I need this podcast. I could see myself having this podcast.
I DO think this is slightly long. I loved the characters and enjoyed being in their world, but man I wanted them together even earlier.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Betty Cayouette for the early access copy of Tell Me How You Really Feel.

Tell Me How You Really Feel tells the story of Maeve and Finn, who are growing celebrity status from their sex and relationship podcast. After a friendship ending situation and massive miscommunications, Maeve and Finn went from best friends to barely being able to be in the same room as each other. Maeve is unwilling to trust Finn, but Finn is set on winning Maeve back. Told through dual point-of-view and flashbacks, this is a second chance romance.

The podcasts in the story were interesting and insightful to read. Betty Cayouette does a great job of addressing mental health situations such as panic attacks and anxiety with a realistic depiction of the experience. The main conflict of the story felt a bit repetitive and unforgiving. Therefore, it did pull me out of the story. However, this book would be a great fit for those who like a miscommunication trope, he falls harder, second chance romances.

Podcasters Maeve and Finn have just gotten a life-changing, blockbuster deal for their viral sex and relationships podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel. Unfortunately, given their history, they can barely be in the same room together.

Now, Maeve needs to find a way to keep the show going without letting Finn completely ruin her. But to make things even more challenging, Finn is dead set on winning her back over. Told between flashbacks to the start of their show and the present, Tell Me How You Really Feel follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate their growing celebrity, try to make podcast history, and rediscover what they mean to each other.

Loved it. Will recommend to others.

‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’ by Betty Cayouette is a delightful second-chance romance that will leave you wanting more. The story follows long-time best friends and co-hosts, Maeve and Finn, as they learn how to navigate a groundbreaking podcast deal all while trying to heal their crumbling relationship. Told from dual points of view, and dual timelines, Betty Cayouette reeled me in from the first page and had me rooting for Maeve and Finn to find their way back to each other. Alongside the chemistry, banter, and genuine love, there is also the needed hard conversations, self-reflection, and self-growth between the two. I absolutely loved ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel’, and would highly recommend it.

I’ll tell you how I feel… exhausted. This book felt a lot longer than it was. Plot points were being rehashed throughout the book and the main characters were on/off both in present time and flashbacks. Also, I felt like Maeve was a bit unlikable. It seems like she was always looking for something to be wrong with Finn. And he did mess up some, but tried to apologize multiple times without luck. I understand trying to show the feminist pov and how men have privileges that women don’t. However, in this romance book, it created so much conflict that I was questioning them being together. His love felt stronger than hers. In the end, I wasn’t rooting for them to be together, which isn’t great for a romance book.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you St. Martin's press for the arc.

I did not finish this book. It sounded so interesting but I lost interest very quickly and became annoyed instead.

Maeve was/wants to be a counselor but she's mad at one of her closest friends because he dated someone else and she had a crush on him and now he has to apologize and be forever sorry because he dated someone other than her?..........are we in middle school?

And I'm sorry but I'm over the whole, "woe is me, my life is hard and blah blah blah because I'm a woman" trope. I just can't do it anymore.

I saw this on goodreads thought it looked interesting. It's a cute read and a bit of comic relief. I really liked the character development and how the story flowed flawlessly.

I really liked the premise of this book and I was excited to read it, but unfortunately the pacing kept taking me out of the story. As the reader you’re dropped into the story where events have already taken place and then are supposed to understand the fallout of an event that happened before the story began. Without the event ever being discussed or stated beyond allusion. I found myself incredibly frustrated with this, as well as, the dual timelines. It might be for some, but it ultimately was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review.

This was such an entertaining & insightful novel on a wealth of important topics. Overall, I loved the characters and their journey to HEA. What really spoke to me though were the big topics covered in the book - therapy, sex education & pay equality. The story was a good vehicle for discussing these important themes in a relevant manner. So thankful for NetGalley in letting me ready an early ARC of this one. Warnings - there is a LOT of sex talk & a few somewhat graphic sex scenes in case that's not your thing.

Maeve and Finn were initially two friends who started a sex and relationship podcast that goes viral. The story is told with dial POV and dual timeline which fills in the pieces of why the two friends are now struggling to work in close proximity. I loved the podcast, in fact wish this were a real podcast because I would definitely listen to it! I really enjoyed the humor and the inclusion of some feminist energy. I found Maeve to be rather intolerable by the end. I initially liked her as the FMC, but by the end I felt she handled the whole “miscommunication” rather immaturely. ESPECIALLY given the fact that she was a therapist! I loved how the forced proximity created so much tension between the two.

Tell Me How You Really Feel immediately drew me in with the witty banter between the two main characters. Maeve and Finn were initially two friends who started a sex and relationship podcast that goes viral. The story is told with dualPOV and dual timeline which fills in the pieces of why the two friends are now struggling to work in close proximity and have become enemies . I loved the podcast, in fact wish this were a real podcast because I would definitely listen to it! I really enjoyed the humor and the inclusion of some feminist energy. I found Maeve to be rather intolerable by the end. I initially liked her as the FMC, but by the end I felt she handled the whole “miscommunication” rather immaturely. ESPECIALLY given the fact that she was a therapist! I loved how the forced proximity created so much tension between the two. Overall, I enjoyed the podcast element, humor and some of my favorite tropes in this one.

If you enjoy podcats with a side of romance, this may be the book for you. I really enjoyed this one and I appreciate the opportunity to read it early. Thank you very much!

I think it was perfectly fine. It scratched a certain itch I normally only find in fanfiction, and yet I can't help but I just felt odd after reading it,

Tell Me How You Really Feel starts off relatively strong. Every now and then, I get a craving for Notting Hill/Celebrity AU fanfic-style stories, and this seemed like it would be perfect to satisfy that, For a while, it did. The main character was a GirlbossTM, and for better or worse, comes with all the trappings of that. I can put it aside because there is some nuance, some tension that is simmering beyond the obvious attraction happening/happened between the fmc and mmc. A power and privilege imbalance that actually does drive the story forward. The fmc wants to eventually branch out and do her own show, but the studio executives seem to be offering that to her male cohost and not interested in that from her at all. Why? Because he is a man, maybe, or because his parents are somewhat of legends in the entertainment industry, or possibly both.
On top of their career struggles, the two of them seem to be at odds. Why? Miscommunication over mutual attraction. The fmc and mmc hooked up before the start of the book, after years of will-they-won't-they type behaviour, and it apparently ended in disaster. I love a second chance romance, I do, but this was not it. I was furious at both of them. I was furious that the fmc was so pissy, but she was blatantly cold and chilly after them hooking up, brushing aside any conversations that should have been had, then spent the entirety of the book acting like an actual child, pretending like she wasn't going to eventually forgive him. That what he did was so unforgivable, but she literally was giving so many off-putting signals, and then when given the chance to clarify her intentions, gets hurt that he had ask and when he decides to actually try having a relationship with someone open about what they want from him. If the genders were switched, the audience would 100% be siding with the mmc in the situation. Except, he was kind of awful too. It was all very Ross-Rachel "we-were-on-a-break" coded. Like, I don't blame him for going for the clear signals, but I could never imagine feeling so in love with someone, then asking for clarification in the worst, most hurtful way possible- by asking to go out with someone else. I think the intention was good, but the execution was awful
Now, not to belittle the fmc. I wouldn't have put up with his shit either, but I think the constant haranguing about how he could never possibly like her, that she wasn't beautiful or talented enough...I'm sorry, I just think that if you're that insecure, it's not the other persons fault. It's your own. Like he very obviously is in love with her, so clearly trying to show that he erred, and instead of just giving him a clear path, regardless if it was a path out the door or a path back into her heart, she continued to give up mixed messages.
One thing I did really appreciate in the book was the third act tension which comes in the form of some good old fashioned situational blindness. Spoilers, it's revealed that the mmc is making more money than cohost, the fmc. The reasoning for this? It did not occur to him to think that they would be getting paid differently. It seems innocuous enough. You could argue that it makes him a decent person, for thinking that of course a woman should be making the same! It's not even a question! Except, as the book illustrates, by not acknowledging the reality of the world, you let gross inequalities happen. It's not just enough for women to be vigilant about their equality, but also for men to be taking an equal part in that conversation. He should have communicated better with his agent, with their studio, it should have been written in the contract. It was a major failing on his part, and it's actually framed as that. The mmc has to learn that too, that it's not just enough to think he's a good guy for believing in equality, but to make sure he's actually participating in making it that way.
Despite the final messaging being a real win in my eyes, I still finished the book feeling little sour on it. The way that these characters were supposedly so in love, such good friends, cared about each other such an inordinate amount, they both chose to hurt themselves and hurt each other at every single roadbump. If they were real people, I don't think they would make it in the long term, and quite frankly, I don't think their drama was quite fun enough to justify the drag of the middle bit.
Also, I think the transitions between the current timeline and the past anecdotes felt a little choppy to me. I feel like they were mostly thrown in as a "reveal" what happened between the characters, and I think it could have worked, but it mostly just made whatever momentum the story built just ground to a halt.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins for this ARC.

Loved this friends to lovers/second chance book about two best friends turned viral podcast hosts. Both characters are flawed and yet I rooted for them despite their mistakes and insecurities. There were times in this book I wanted to shake them, but ultimately the story kept me engaged and I read it straight through in a day.

there was so much explanation within the two chapters i read that i gave up. unlike some people, i do have reading comprehension skills. i don’t need things to be spelled out for me. and i certainly do not need things to be spelled out to me in every other paragraph!!

hanks so much to netgalley and st martin's press for this ARC!

second chance romance, about two best friends who have started a podcast together, and have to continue to do their podcast together despite their past and the way that they have hurt each other.

i really really really enjoyed this book. i gave it four stars rather than five purely because i wasn't a huge fan of the third act breakup, i think that the reasoning behind it made sense, but that after so much back and forth with maeve and finn it was unnecessary. i enjoyed the talk about feminism and being a woman, i liked the way the author spoke about anxiety and therapy, but most of all i just loved maeve and finn's friendship. i like that they had been in love this entire time, and yet neither of them fully realized how deep that love ran. the intimacy of their relationship (platonic and romantic) was beautifully done. you could feel the way that they knew each other, the way that they were so comfortable with each other, the way they were both so heartbroken.

Two podcasters dream comes true and they are given a blockbuster deal for their podcast "Tell Me How You Really Feel". Maeve and Finn have history together and they find it hard to get along and sometimes even be in the same room together. Maeve doesn't want to let her dreams die so she tries to keep the podcast deal going while trying to stick handle FInn.

I really liked the idea of this story. I wish I could actually listen to their podcast cause it sounds amazing! There were moments in this that I absolutely loved and other times that I wanted to throw my kindle across the room just because the to main characters where making me so mad! I'd think that Maeve and Fin would finally get their lives together and be together, but then something else would happen! It was frustrating! But overall, it was a cute story! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!