First off i want to thank St. Martin’s publishing for reaching out to me to read this e-arc.

The book features Maeve and Finn who have been friends since college. While they were living in New York they started a podcast and it went viral for how real it was. Sure enough, a streaming platform picks them up and suddenly their lives are much bigger than before.

Maeve had to work hard to get where she is. She went through university and has struggled as a women in the media. Finn on the other hand is a nepo baby in pure definition. Honestly this part of him is what drives my review to be lower. I found him to be overly obnoxious with this. Like he's just privileged and doesn't really think beyond that which absolutely causes him issues.

Now the miscommunication trope is something I don't love a lot of. For two people who talk about feelings a lot these two are the WORST at talking to each other. The book is largely driven on the fact that they had a misunderstanding and then never talked about it. Overall the premise was interesting and I loved that Kennywood made an appearance (I'm from Pittsburgh).

This book was an okay read for me. I enjoyed the storyline and the podcast but I just couldn’t connect with either of the main characters.

I loved the story of this. I enjoyed reading their podcast and their behind the scenes happenings. The pacing of the story was just right and the chemistry between the characters felt very real while drawing attention to many issues within sex/relationship and the workforce. Really enjoyable read!

Maeve and Finn have been friends since college and started a podcast with each other while living in New York. The podcast takes off and they get a huge deal with a streaming platform. This book goes through the ups and downs of their relationship, and the couple of blowups they have.

I thought this was a really cute book, but it felt like their relationship had too many ups and downs to be realistic. At times I felt Maeve was being overly dramatic and bratty, and should have just given Finn the benefit of the doubt. I did like the supporting characters in their families, and I wish that we saw and heard more of them.

While miscommunication for me is not a "trope" is real life, this book had too many of it. A therapist feeling disposable with no self awareness and a nepobaby being insecure and constantly needed his ego stroked wasn't what I was expecting. Lacked romance and feel good moments.
Thank you Netgalley for this Arc

Allow me to tell you how I really feel about this book - frustrated as hell. The MCs are people I simply do not understand. He’s a himbo-nepo baby, but even though he’s kind of dumb, at least his heart is in the right place. She has the most insanely high expectations for the people in her life, and not a lot of grace when they don’t act as she expects. I think I see what the author was trying to do here, but I never truly understood why these two people wanted to be together so badly. 2.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to SMP for the ARC.

I absolutely love this book. I love the romance and how the characters are. I can't until the book comes out, I will be buying it

The premise of this book is super fun—sex podcast hosts fell out of love right before a big deal that they have to fake it through. I love therapy rep, but something about the way the privilege of Finn was handled rubbed me the wrong way.

Terminé enojada con todo lo que Maeve tuvo que soportar por parte de Finn; ella merecía algo mejor.


Maeve y Finn se hicieron amigos en la universidad, se volvieron muy unidos y años despues terminaron haciendo un podcast sobre relaciones y cómo encontrar a tu pareja perfecta. Durante dos años mantuvieron las cosas platónicas, hasta que un día se dieron cuenta de que sus sentimientos no eran fraternales y cedieron a ellos. Todo parecía perfecto, pero él cometió una estupidez y se fue con otra. Meses después, Maeve sigue con el corazón roto. El problema es que tendra que aguantarse, fingir que toda esta bien y trabajar con él, mientras él intentaba explicarle sus acciones y recuperarla.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sinopsis en español:

Los podcasters Maeve y Finn acaban de conseguir un gran éxito de taquilla que cambiará sus vidas para su podcast viral de sexo y relaciones, Dime cómo te sientes realmente. Desafortunadamente, dada su historia, apenas pueden estar juntos en la misma habitación.

Ahora, Maeve necesita encontrar una manera de mantener el espectáculo sin dejar que Finn la arruine por completo. Pero para hacer las cosas aún más desafiantes, Finn está decidido a recuperarla. Contado entre flashbacks al comienzo de su programa y el presente, Tell Me How You Really Feel sigue a Maeve y Finn mientras navegan por su creciente celebridad, intentan hacer historia en el podcast y redescubrir lo que significan el uno para el otro.



Reseña:

No me gustó.
Maeve merecía algo mejor, lo que le hizo Finn no tiene perdón.

Maeve y Finn fueron amigos por años hasta que se dieron cuenta que se gustaban, se acostaron, pero como trabajaban juntos ella tenía miedo de que terminara mal (su trabajo), entonces le pidió una pausa de unas semanas para poder arreglar la situación y que su trabajo no estuviera en peligro. Pero el tarado de Finn decidió irse con su ex novia para no quedarse con el “y si” y tiene la desfachatez de decirle a Maeve que si estaba de acuerdo, ¿qué esperaba que le dijera? No vayas con ella, quédate conmigo, o sea al tener esa duda de decidir entre Maeve y Cassidy era obvio que realmente no amaba a M y, bueno ella le dijo que se fuera con Cassidy.

Betty Cayouette has quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

The tension, longing, and angst in One Last Shot and in her latest, Tell Me How Your Really Feel, are top tier. I also love the mental health rep (though in my opinion, maybe Maeve should’ve laid off the gummies a bit). It’s friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, with forced proximity and groveling, so it has everything you could want. It’s also very of the moment, with a Joe Rogan-like villain and central topics like the pay gap.

Oof. I so badly wanted to like this one but it just was not for me. It was way too much back and forth

Thank you to St's Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for a free review!

Tell me How You Really Feel follows both Finn and Maeve who are podcast hosts of the relationship centered podcast Tell How You Really Feel. On the podcast, they give relationship advice to people while also struggling with their relationship themselves. Finn and Maeve have been friends for a significant length of time. When they decided to take the next step in their relationship - it ended poorly. Now, they cannot stand each other; however, they still have to record their podcast due to their contract. Things to expect in this book are miscommunication, dual POVs, flashbacks, and mental health representation.

I would give this book 2.5 stars. I did not like either of the main characters. They both had their flaw - therefore, I did not really care for any of the tension or conflicts in the book because I did not like either main characters and a lot of the secondary characters as well. I thought it was kind of a superficial book. This book comes out on May 06, 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Betty Cayouette for the opportunity and receiving an e-ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

💌 Dual POV
💌 Enemies to Lovers
💌 Mental Health Rep
💌 HEA

Although I enjoyed this book, I found myself completely pulled out of the story because it had so many “real world” references. Also, the couple reminded me of a Friends episode, and because of that, I wanted to see it resolved. It was a love/hate because you want to know what happens but also end up frustrated with BOTH characters. It felt a lot longer than it needed to be. I did appreciate the FMC and her experience with mental health. It felt raw, ugly, and true. It's hard to empathize with characters, but I felt so much. My favorite thing about this book was the mental health representation and how she went about it, not rushing through it and finding a quick solution, but going through the motions and finding what helps.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I wanted a fun and easy romcom and I got that-sort of. There were several times I could not get into it. I felt like since Maeve and Finn's prior issues weren't revealed until about half way thru it made the first half frustrations kind of hard to understand. There was just too much and and forth for me to truly love it. I felt like we could have done with a lot less of their bickering.

However, I did love Maeve and Finn! They were well developed characters who you could tell really cared about each other even tho neither of them knew how to communicate like adults and say it.

It was a dnf for me. I could not get into it. The cover is beautiful and it’s drew me in… and that’s about it.

Tell me how you really feel
Publish date: May 6 2025

This ARC was adorable! It takes a huge writing talent to compose a fairytale romance with a healthy dose of real life.

Meave and Finn are not perfect. They screw up in life and in their relationship. I like the “real” feeling of the characters .

I connected with this book, and adored it immensely! If you’re looking for a book that makes you feel - this is it! Plus I will always cheer for a book where the sisters have each others backs no matter what!

Also the moment where everyone claps for Meave had me bawling ! (In public!)

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Betty Cayouette for this ARC!

What originally appears to be a friends to lovers, second chance romance and call her daddy similar podcast turns out to be a novel with lessons about equal pay, feminism, therapy/mental health, and sexuality.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

The vision of this book is there, I really can see it. But I don’t think the execution was as strong as it could’ve been. The story felt blocked by all the back and forth and going around in circles with therapy and miscommunication. I actually hate miscommunication as a trope and didn’t realize that would be such a prominent theme in this book. I’m not sure I liked either of the MCs at all or was rooting for them to be together. I think this had promise and maybe will be for people who enjoy more dissonance in a romance, but I unfortunately do not.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to love this book, but I could not get into it. I had to force myself into it. Once I was there, I thought the writing was done well, but that took me a bit.