I absolutely adored this book. It was hilarious. It was had great banter. The chemistry between the characters was off the charts, The side characters were great. The plot was reminiscent of current social media pages and hosts but that’s what made it all the more charming.

4.5⭐️

I had such a fun time reading this. It was cute and funny. When I tell you I was literally laughing out loud at some of the stuff in the book! I was hooked from the first chapter and could not put it down.

Eva and Riley are cuties. I liked both of their characters. Eva is a strong fmc. Although Eva is outspoken and may present herself with a strong exterior, she feels deeply and wants to protect her heart due to past experiences. I loved seeing her character growth. Riley is gentle and caring. He was supportive and I felt like he helped Eva feel at ease, like she could be herself around him. The chemistry between them is undeniable. Riley was so down bad hehe!!

I also enjoyed that there was background on their past and that there was depth to both of the characters.

Thank you for the arc!

aaahhhh i loved this book! the banter had me giggling and kicking my feet. eva is such a well written character who has me sobbing i love her so much

excuse me but this book had no right being this good!! The romance, the banter, the STEAM ugh it was all top-tier.
I think one thing that was so special about this book was Eva as a FMC. she was harsh and mean and so funny and I thought it was a breath of fresh air for a genre that says they like strong FMC's but only so strong as to be palatable and acceptable. She went all out on being harsh and it was great to see. But she also had range and dimension. Under that tough exterior was a lot of hurt and insecurity, especially around her career. I also thought it was an interesting and cool choice to have her boss be a woman and kind of expose that aspect of internalized misogyny in corporate culture.
As a side note, I aboslutely love the micro-trope of a character using the LI's last name until a big emotional moment, and this book did that so well with Eva referring to him as Cooper until Rylie slipped out in a heated moment.

I absolutely devoured this one. Holy shit I loved it. Eva is so prickly and witty and everyone that is bashing her for being too mean... please be serious. she isn't a simpering, palatable FMC but that's what makes her so interesting and unique to the genre. this one is up there as a fav rom-com of all time

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Edgy, funny, sexy, emotional! I loved this second-chance romance between a grumpy FMC and the sweetest golden retriever MMC. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 :)

"It wasn't because I didn't want you, I just didn't think I was allowed to have you."

"All of this is because I want to know you, be around you. Because I fucked it up once and saw a second chance. Because now I'm so deep in this I would crawl through hell on my hands and knees over a bed of broken glass before I let you go again."

"You mean something to me. You did back then, and you do now. I was too cowardly before to tell you that simple truth, but I'm not going to let you go another day believing anything but the facts. I like you. I care about you. I've lost my goddamn mind over you and I'll repeat it over and over again until you are able to trust it. Trust me."

"You can call me any name you want, as long as I can call you mine."

"Every part of me is yours, if you want it."

"Im yours, it's okay to be afraid. I'll be brave for us both until you learn to trust it. Trust me."

4.25 ⭐️
y’all I ate this one up!!! Think Andrew Garfield and Amelia on the chicken shop date, but second chance romance style 💃🏻💃🏻

Rylie is a successful podcaster, Eva’s hosting a show where she eats hotdogs with mediocre celebrities. When Eva accidentally makes a drunk video discrediting everything Rylie claims to be, the only choice is to invite him on her show to mend bridges. While there, Rylie convinces Eva to go on 6 dates with him to try and make up for the man he was in college- what could possibly go wrong??

MMC golden retriever, FMC black cat, and second chance romance- I flew through this book!!! definitely, definitely recommend. Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

OMG!!! I devoured this and read it in one sitting. This had me giggling and kicking my feet and laughing so hard! I love a good romcom where one of the main characters has a dry sense of humor!

I thought this was super unique! Riley Cooper & Eva dated 6 years ago and Riley ghosted Eva. She is definitely the type to keep a grudge because she doesn't forget what he did and LOATHES him for yet. But now she has to collaborate with him and interview him and Cooper is on a mission to prove to her that he isn't a bad guy.

Riley Cooper is perfection. That man is smoooooth and I was dying over his sense of humor. Eva was a tough cookie. She was protecting her heart so hard and I honestly loved her for it.

The character growth for Eva was perfection!!

quotes:
“God, you’re so fucking lovely when you beg.”

"Because now I’m so deep in this I would crawl through hell on my hands and knees over a bed of broken glass before I let you go again.”

“Sweetheart, I’d rather spend every day getting in a pointless argument with you for sport than have to be bored and complacent with someone else.”

“Watch, baby,” he says. “Watch how perfectly you take me.”

“Every part of me is yours if you want it.”

-romcom
-ex-situationship
-bi + pan MC’s
-black cat x golden retriever
-second chance
-right person / wrong time
-a+ banter
"stop being so mean to me or I’m gonna fall in love with you” vibes
🌶️🌶️

Thank you Net Galley, Mazey Eddings, and St. Martin’s Press for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

This was my first book I read by this author and I noticed I have some others on my TBR list. I enjoyed the main characters and the relationship between them as they pick back up from a failed relationship attempt in college. There were some themes in the book that are not typically what I gravitate towards reading but I still found myself enjoying this book. I love how both of the characters had some self discovery they needed to work through and focus on their mental health from past traumas. The social media piece of their jobs was interesting and but also annoying on how it proves to be damaging for one character and positive for the other.

Dnf @10% - thank you to NetGalley for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I do not think I can rate having read so little, but the type of humor from the first page alone makes me feel that this book is not for me.

I have been hit or miss with Mazey’s books but I really liked this one a lot. The characters were fun. I loved that the fmc was kind of a bitch. Also, the whole thing gave me Andrew Garfield and Amelia Dimoldenberg vibes and I’m HERE FOR IT.

To be totally honest this book has stayed in my thoughts almost every day since I've read it. It was a fun, angsty read that brought up a lot of cultural things to think about and consider. I appreciated the brutal honesty going through the emotions the characters felt in real time, and also while reminiscing on their past experiences.

4.25⭐️ I’m honestly pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! After not being the biggest fan of Eddings' Brush with Love, I went in with low expectations, even though the premise sounded promising. But wow, I had a great time! Eva was such an interesting character—she's tough and witty, yet incredibly vulnerable underneath it all. It was really refreshing to see that balance. And the chemistry between her and Rylie? Their banter was so much fun to read; it felt natural, which made the book feel even more engaging. And Rylie—talk about baby girl energy. He brought this sweet, charming vibe to the whole thing, making it hard not to root for him. Overall, I didn’t expect to have this much fun, but I definitely did. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

WOW, did I not want to put this book down! Throughout the whole story, I felt everything the characters felt. I enjoyed the redemption story for Eva and Rylie, and also really appreciated that the climactic portion of the book was not relationship based. This was my first Mazey Eddings read and she will be a certain auto-buy author for me in the future!

Not going to lie I hated this one. I hated Eva and Rylie equally and for lot of the book I didn't really know what I was reading. However, I am still willing to give the author another try.

4.25/4.5⭐️

Wow okay pop off Mazey!!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!!

This is the standard for enemies to lovers(in my humble opinion)😅 I loved the dynamic between Eva and Rylie. This is a second chance, enemies to lovers AND they’re forced to work together?? It’s messy, it’s real. I loved the mental health representation and the depth of the characters.

AND THE BANTER??? Pop the freak off. I loved it. Will definitely be getting a physical copy when this releases in August!!!

I'm only 23% of the way through this book and already it's going to be one of my top romances for 2025. If someone was to say that they were going to take all of my crappy college romances and make them not feel quite so cringey in my memories while also getting to say the things I wanted to say... man, it would be this book.

- There's also so much here about making oneself over into the prettiest version of oneself and working on becoming what one wants to see in the mirror. These parts of the book were illuminating and made me feel heard. I could go on - but again, I'm only at 23% of the way through this wonderfully catty/witchy/ black cat/golden retriever energy read. More soon!

P.S. This is the kind of writing that will make me a forever fan as I try to recapture some of the magic from reading Edding's work for the first time.

Thank you, NetGalley and Mazey Eddings, for the opportunity to read this ARC. The banter between the characters was somewhat enjoyable, and the dynamic between the leads was intriguing at first. However, as the story progressed, the female lead’s attitude became increasingly frustrating and off-putting. It was hard to connect with her, and it dampened the overall experience. While there were moments of chemistry, it wasn’t enough to make the book easy to get through. Unfortunately, this one didn’t live up to my expectations.

Thank you to St Martin’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this prior to its release! I was hooked from the synopsis and I was not disappointed.
What happens when your past comes back into your life? This romance focuses on love, career, and the balance of both. We get to follow Rylie and Eva through a journey that keeps you laughing and wanting more. Their friends are all colorful characters that could have their own stories (hint hint Mazey).
This was absolutely a 5 star read for me and I can’t wait to read more by Mazey.

This book was super quirky and I loved the headstrong main character! I always enjoys when a book has banter between characters that is actually funny 😂