I first requested this book because it reminded me of Andrew Garfield on the Chicken Shop Date. It totally didn’t disappoint!!

I was SUCH a fan of Eva and Rylie. I enjoyed how Rylie redeemed himself by realizing his mistakes and how this book normalized people (especially men) going to therapy. Sometimes Eva was a little insufferable, however, with her family history I can see why she turned out like that.

I had a really fun time with this book and recommend it if you’re wanting something you can eat up because this book left me hungry for more!

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings is a heartfelt and refreshingly honest romantic comedy that explores neurodiversity, identity, and the search for belonging. The protagonist, Gemma, a neurodivergent woman navigating a new chapter in her life post-divorce, offers readers a deeply relatable and endearing lens through which to experience personal growth and vulnerability. Eddings masterfully blends humor with emotional depth, creating a narrative that feels both light and substantial. The romance is sweet and well-paced, but it’s the nuanced character development and representation of mental health that truly stand out. This is a smart, compassionate, and empowering read that lingers long after the last page.

4.6 ⭐️ I think I loved everything about this story. The characters growth, their complexities, their stark differences but yet how they complemented each other so well. Riley's growth and want to be better was so healing for every girl who has been heart broken by a situationship before. I did get a little confused by the back and forth of calling him Riley vs Cooper, not sure why she went by his last name so much but I'm still here for it. I LOVED the LGBTQ representation in this story. Showing how different/difficult it can be coming out really was comforting to feel seen. I wish there was more of the side characters in the story than the brunch/fundraiser. Like Riley's other roommate, where did he go? Eva's character growth for me was almost better than Riley's, and I think a lot of readers can resonate with her. The sex scenes were also very well written, and not too much/little. Perfect balance of spice/story. I personally cannot wait to purchase this book after release!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an engaging read! I enjoyed the plot and would read it again.

To be perfectly frank, I sometimes struggle with a heroine who puts up a front to hide their gooey center. BUT, Mazey Eddings did such a fantastic job creating a heroine that I understood, was proud of, and just really wanted to hug! Seriously, by the end of this book, I was just so damn proud of Eva and her character growth! I adored Rylie, our male lead, especially when I learned WHY he ghosted Eva those years ago. I literally guffawed, loudly, several times while I was reading this book and it absolutely brings me so much joy when I can laugh whilst reading romance books. The spicy scenes were wonderfully descriptive (we're talking a whole chapter for the first scene), the villain was an absolute tool that was easy to hate, and the third act drama was resolved pretty quickly and satisfactorily (which I ALWAYS REALLY APPRECIATE. There's no need to drag the drama out). Do yourself a favor and add this book to your TBR. It was fantastic!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved it!

Well, Actually is the first book I've read by Mazey Eddings, and I am in love. I dont think I've laughed this much while reading in a long time. The writing is so good! I even had a few tears. Give me more Eva and Cooper

Eva Kitt is the host of Sausage Talk - where she interviews almost celebrities while eating hot dogs. One night, she posts a drunken rant on social media about her ex, Riley, who runs a platform about deconstructing toxic masculinity. During an interview, RIley convinces Eva to go on a few "dates" to try to make up for how he messed up long ago.

I loved the banter (Eva is SASSY!), the LGBTQ rep, the unfolding story, and the absolute golden retriever with a dirty mouth that was Riley. I NEED to hear this in audiobook format....

I devoured this one - I had been in a rom-com drought and this gave me life.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the ARC!

thanks netgalley for the arc!

i dnf'd this around 75%. i cannot care enough about this book to finish it. this isn't to say that it's all bad. i was actually really rooting for it but unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations for a few reasons:
1. the plot. it's a very creative idea but it felt obvious that the author had this plot set in mind and then had to create characters to back up the tropes. i'm not saying this is wrong. it just felt inauthentic to me. on their first date (spoiler), cooper plans to take eva on a helicopter ride and she freaks out. he comforts her. this should be so romantic! but we just met them! this could have happened many chapters later and it would have felt more genuine, cute, and real.
2. therapy. do i believe therapy is an important and necessary tool in life? yes. do i believe we had to read a chapter of couple's therapy? no.
3. my own personal bias against podcasts. cooper's podcast resembles justin baldoni's "man enough" podcast, which for reasons concerning his professional misconduct, is a major turn off for me. i see the significance of having media like cooper's fictional pod to counter all the toxic masculinity and andrew tate incel brainrot out there, but cooper's therapized wisdoms are not connecting with me. neither are his quirky sweaters. nor the jean comforter. which leads me to
4. the characters and their chemistry. i did not feel for them as individuals or together as a couple. i'm also writing this review over a month after i stopped reading so it's likely that there were parts that i was enjoying myself during and i just don't remember them. however, i wrote this point on their chemistry while reading.

i can see why people love this. yet sometimes books you want to love you just can't! and that's okay!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

In this second-chance, black cat/golden retriever, enemies to lovers, its-always-been-you, Mazey Eddings delivers yet another stunning love story that had me cackling and swooning at the same time.

After a rough "breakup," Eva is shocked to see the reputation that her ex, Parker, has created for himself as the God of dissolving toxic masculinity. A drunken video is posted online, and their unlikely reunion creates a tense, charged, and beautiful reconciliation.

I. Loved. This. Book. So much. I loved everything. I loved the relationship between the two main characters and how they evolved, I loved the workplace setting, and I loved the spice.

More than anything, I LOVED the banter between the two main characters. It felt unbelievably real and joyful. I was so thrilled with the HEA.

I want to read this book over and over and over again.

Not going to lie, this book had me at Sausage Talk, which is why it earned a spot on my most anticipated new romance books of 2025 list, and it did not disappoint.

This happened to be my first Mazey Eddings book, and I was SO impressed, not only by the storyline, but also by the quality of writing, the humor that is top-notch, the rawness of the characters, and more.

Mazey uses a fun story about a podcaster and journalist who’s stuck in a pop culture interview show eating hot dogs to explore important topics such as toxic-masculinity, sexual exploration, communication in the bedroom, as well as workplace and cyber bullying.

Much to my surprise, the humor and snark are what captivated me with this novel right from the start. Who knew that Mazey was this funny, y’all?! I mean Eva could really dish it out, and Rylie would honestly just take it with a smirk and occasionally dish it right back just as good. I loved their banter, and it was totally their love language.

Their first date was so atrociously bad that I couldn’t help but laugh and feel so bad for Rylie. Mazey must have had so much fun creating that scenario.

As much as I liked this book, Eva did start to get a bit on my nerves, but my feelings about a character shouldn’t take away from how good this book is. I felt like she was pretty harsh with Rylie throughout the book but hey, if he liked it, then who am I to judge? But I did enjoy how Mazey gives us some of Eva’s introspection to understand why her guard is up and to see her growth throughout the book.

Eva’s backstory, that you get glimpses of, was truly heartbreaking given how she was never shown any love in her family so it was understandable how she’d be crushed when Rylie ghosted her and how she was always wary of being pushed to the side and/or left.

Rylie’s backstory was just as heartbreaking, though I truly liked how he wouldn’t let Eva push him away, and he was so earnest in his attempt to make up for past wrongs and do right by her this time around.

This book was so enjoyable, and I highly recommend it!

*I received an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this!! This book gives BIG black cat x golden retriever energy and it was so fun to read, especially since it’s not a trope I read that often. I think the story was fairly engaging throughout and I really liked getting to see Eva accept her feelings for Riley. Their banter was so funny, to the point where I audibly laughed out loud at times. I know some people didn’t love the whole toxic workplace storyline this had, and while it was meh to me at times, the other parts of the story were able to shine enough that I didn’t really mind it. The ending of the story was pretty satisfying, and I liked the way everything came together!

Normally, I don’t always love a borderline rude/sarcastic MC but I did feel for Eva, and I think she was written in a way where it worked! I also really loved Riley as a MMC, so patient, and obviously in love with Eva. Overall, really really enjoyed!!!
🌭👓🗽🚕

3.75 Stars

Certain aspects of this book resonated with me, while others appeared inconsistent with the overall messages and themes.

Eva Kitt is stuck in an unfulfilling job as the acerbic host of a talk show interviewing b and c-list celebrities over hot dogs. After her late-night rant about a college ex goes viral, Eva must confront him publicly again during her show's interview. What she finds is the Rylie Cooper, who once treated her poorly and ghosted her, is now a social media personality who has a regular podcast deconstructing toxic masculinity. And more so, is more interested in making up for his previous bad behavior than he is in being confrontational towards Eva regarding her video. An agreement is made for them to go on a series of dates to prove whether Rylie has changed or not.

This story has some fun banter and wit. Many moments made me laugh or gasp in horror. I loved the text conversations that flew between the FMC and MMC, along with those that took place between the friends. The dialogue was quick and sometimes sharp. These characters have bite.
With the FMC and MMC, I loved that Rylie did not play Eva’s game. He threw her off time and time again by not lashing out at her demeaning and confrontational behavior. The backstories of both characters were presented in a manner that, while not excusing their behaviors, allowed for an understanding of how their past experiences contributed to certain defense mechanisms they exhibit.

I appreciated that every character wasn’t cis and Caucasian. There was representation in this book that you don’t always find in a rom-com book. The story also addresses biphobia and depicts a character’s journey from rejecting their sexuality to eventually accepting themselves.
Imperfect people was a theme in throughout this story. Rylie sees a therapist. Eva’s friend and producer, Aida, sometimes fails to protect or support her and must acknowledge her responsibility in those moments. Eva constantly lashes out due to not feeling like enough. We got to see all the rough edges and observe the growth made over time.

There were some areas that felt like they did not support the gender positive, non-misogynistic messages certain characters were touting. For starters, Rylie talks to Eva before she comes on his podcast about how he tries to not feed into societal norms of size or certain looks of genitalia appealing or accepted than others. He also has an entire podcast about deconstructing toxic masculinity. This all sounds pretty accepting and not gender norm-y. Rylie nicknames Eva "kitten" as a play on her last name, Kitt. When Eva comes up with a nickname, she picks one specifically to antagonize Rylie, which leads to her referring to him as “baby girl.” This just feels icky that the one thing she would call him to bug him is a girl. It bothered me all the way through the book.

Another aspect that I keep going back and forth about is Eva’s talk show “Sausage Talk.” It just felt like a series of dick jokes that came across as off color with the acceptance and gender equality themes we saw in other areas of the book.

The last piece that chafed was Eva’s overall personality. She is not very nice. She has moments with her friends where she is warm and loving to them, but the scenes we see with her interviewees, she is dismissive and borderline rude. She is blatantly rude to Rylie and seeks out ways to be condescending and judgmental. Fortunately for her, he eats it up. Unfortunately, I did not. She is a hard character to love.

Overall, the positive themes overrode the dissonance in this story. The fun parts were fun and the trainwreck parts made me audibly react. This is an imperfect book about imperfect people, and I appreciate it for that.

Thank you to Mazey Eddings, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this eBook.

definitely not how I expected this book to unfold- but I have to say I’m not disappointed! Honestly I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and how the ending came about. I initially thought we would get more of the silly dates and him trying to swoon her and her icy heart slowly melting more eat time they were together- but instead we got 3 dates, a spicy hookup, and then them just auto enamored with each other. It just turned out to be faster pace than I was expecting but this timeline ended up feeling more genuine to their personalities.
I was nervous at first I was going to have a hard time liking Eva- her tongue was a little too sharp and Riley was a little too kind to see these two ultimately becoming a match but overtime Eva true personality and feelings had me rooting her on in her love life and career life
Would give a solid 4.5 if I could!

I had so much fun reading Well, Actually. The first half was absolute perfection. Eva and Rylie were hilarious together, their banter had me laughing out loud, and the chemistry was electric. I was actually giggling and kicking my feet while reading. The black cat and golden retriever dynamic was adorable, and Eva being called “Evil Kitten” was just the cutest thing.

The second-chance romance was everything I hoped for. Their past felt real and believable, and the way they talked through their feelings instead of spiraling into miscommunication was so refreshing. Eva was messy and prickly at times, but she was also incredibly self-aware and strong. I really connected with her.

The second half did slow down a bit. Some parts felt repetitive and lost the spark of the beginning. I also wasn’t a big fan of the social media angle, but that’s just personal preference.

This cover is what caught my attention, the graphics were just to cute and had me curious!

From the very first chapter I was hooked. I was laughing out loud, and simply GUSHING over the words that came out of Rylie + Eva’s mouths. These two had c-h-e-m-i-s-t-r-y!!!!

BUT....

Well....ok look, I wanted Eva to be THAT BITCH, and Eddings just did not deliver. Eva’s snark was inconsistent and lackadaisical, and even though I thought she was fun, her character left me wanting, waiting, and wishing for more: more sass. For a book that was based on socials and all the current hypes, i would of thought Eva would have been a bit more bold when it came to her career and sticking up for herself!

I would possibly give Mazey Eddings another shot....

I have not laughed this hard at a book in a minute. Since I read several books a week it can feel like an eternity between BANGERS.

This book delivers some heavy laughs. I loved it so stinking much.

I don't want to spoil the story, but MY WORD does she nail the banter and the tension. This couple is so realistic, they practically jump off the page. Their animosity kept me intrigued from start to finish.

And most importantly, I didn't want it to end. The blurb is an accurate representation of what you're getting. No bait and switch here.

Tropes/stuff I liked:
🥰 Not too heavy on the flashback stuff
🥰 Banter so good I laughed loudly - like a real lol
🥰 Spice that felt real
🥰 She's mean and he likes it
🥰 Slutty glasses
🥰 Forearm appreciation
🥰 Social media hints but not in a cheesy way
🥰 Good supporting characters
🥰 The villain was a real villain. Like I hated him!
🥰 Mental health rep (more than one scene)
🥰 A Bi-King! (More than one scene. He openly talks about a past relationship with another man.)
🥰 They actually communicate
🥰 I could keep going, so this is just an etc. love note since this book is flipping fantastic

This is my first Mazey Eddings book. It will NOT be my last.

I need everyone to read this book pronto. Go in for the laughs and vibes. It will deliver.

Huge thanks to Mazey, NetGalley, and the publisher (St. Martin's Press) for the early copy.

Ah!!!!!!!! I loved this so much. I was truly cackling so hard at parts and then sobbing uncontrollably at parts. It made me feel so much... and I loved every second of it!


Links to come.

Another Mazey Eddings novel, another five star read!

Every time I read a book by Mazey I feel like I could be best friends with both the MC and the author, herself. She did a fabulous job taking a character with many qualities one might construe as "unlikeable" but making her so perfectly relatable.

I loved how much tension there was for the MC and love interest to overcome! They truly had such a terrible start to their relationship and it kept me turning the pages to see how in the world they could ever overcome them. It was obvious from the beginning how much Rylie Cooper was in love with Eva and how badly he wanted a second chance, but it was entirely believable to assume he was faking it for social media cloud and to maintain his "feminist good guy" personality.

In addition to sweltering heat, angst, hilarious banter, fabulous running inside jokes, and a twisty-turn plot, Mazey delivers on delivering a deep dive on the problems women face in the media. Even feminist-seeming businesses run by women are still faced with the same dilemmas women have always had to deal with, but sometimes they just aren't as obvious. Eva and Rylie's comparisons to how they faced public scrutiny as their fake dating turned to real dating and then was publicly outed was very well done.

TROPES:
- Fake Dating
- Enemies to Lovers
- Second Chance Romance
- He Falls First

Five stars! Can't wait for another Mazey Eddings novel!

Mazey Eddings has done it again! This story had me giggling from the first few pages, and the chemistry between the leads was *PALPABLE*. I am obsessed with the characters and cackling at the premise of Sausage Talk. Eva and Rylie's vibes are immaculate, and I will be thinking about this book constantly for the forseeable future.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the arc of this book!

What a fun book! I haven't read any Mazey Eddings books before, and the premise of friends to enemies to lovers is always a trope I enjoy, especially with good banter between the main characters. Well, let me tell you, the banter was bantering in "Well, Actually"!

Eva is your class black cat- snarky, sharp, and untrusting. Rylie is a golden retriever- he just wants Eva to love him- but with some baggage. It was interesting to see their story unfold, and for the reason it didn't work out the first time to reveal itself.

Overall, I ate this book up. The Sausage Talk premise is completely unhinged and I love it. I am going to add Eddings to my "must-read" authors list.