I had a lot of mixed feelings on this.

I thought the story was well written and kept me entertained and interested throughout. I read it in one evening. The various themes were cute, and I liked the little lessons of life the characters went through. It showed a lot of growth.

I didn't love some of the slower parts of the story that hashed a lot of backstory. I did love every fun moment between Rylie and Eva. Their banter was great. I'm not a walls up type person and had a hard time relating to Eva, but I could see how it worked for their story, and it made me appreciate Rylie more. The voice felt young as well, so as an older woman, 41, I didn't know some of the tech terms, but it didn't mess up the meaning of the story. I also had a hard time understanding Rylie's investment in Eva, so it made me not really trust his intentions. I wanted something to guarantee they are happy ever after, and he's actually happy in the relationship. I guess there's enough there, but it just didn't click all the way to 100% for me. He just wasn't believable as a character, and I'm not entirely sure what it was. Maybe too many ideas were trying to get painted, and they didn't all come together.

While I super appreciated the story and enjoyed it, it's probably not a full 5 star for me.

LOVED it. Had to literally throw my kindle across the room at one point to stop myself from reading another page lest I end up reading until 3 am on a weekday.

Loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the setting.

AND THE BANTER! 27/10. Excellent. Perfect. No notes.

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. I found zero connection with the characters and while I had hoped to find their banter funny, I just didn’t care for their connection. The chemistry was off and after so much time hating the guy, the girl gets over it very quickly. So what was the point? I can’t definitely see what some people will love this book, but it was a no for me.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Griffin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of this book. I actually loved the characters too, both of them! Their banter made me laugh and the character development was nicely done.

I do think the plot was very heavy with smut towards the end, something to consider if that isn’t your thing. While the ending started off hazy, it ended nicely.

I've loved every single book of Mazey's, so I had high expectations - and she once again met them! These two were so fun and often had me laughing out loud. 100% picturing him as Andrew Garfield. As always, I love the representation in Mazey's books. I'll be recommending this to everyone!

I’m usually not big on second chance romances, but I absolutely LOVED this book. I truly could not put it down once I picked it up. Eva is in the category of “difficult” female main characters, which are my favorite to read about. Her previous relationship with Rylie has left her guarded in a way that I think is totally understandable. I love the way she protects herself with biting humor, particularly in her interactions with Rylie. Despite his previous bad treatment of Eva, you come to understand why Rylie was that way and come to love him too. His patience with her, his admiration of her whole essence and the fact that he stands strong and doesn’t let her push him away is all so perfect. This book is just really entertaining as a whole, loved it!

Mazey Eddings has crafted a lively, witty second-chance romance that feels both modern and deeply heartfelt. The story follows Eva Kitt, a journalist who never imagined her career would involve interviewing B-list celebrities about hot dogs instead of chasing serious stories. But life has a way of throwing curveballs, and Eva’s takes the form of a heated on-air rant about her college ex, Rylie Cooper, who’s now a famous influencer. When the rant goes viral, Eva finds herself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Rylie, who’s built his brand on teaching men how to be better partners, sees an opportunity to prove he’s changed. He proposes a deal: a series of dates where Eva can put his redemption to the test, documenting each encounter for his audience. It’s a ridiculous idea—one Eva is more than happy to use to her advantage. But as their playful back-and-forth starts to feel real, Eva has to confront whether the guy who once broke her heart might now be the one who truly understands it.

Eddings absolutely nails the “black cat/golden retriever” dynamic here. Eva’s sharp, sarcastic wit clashes hilariously with Rylie’s eager-to-please energy, and their chemistry is electric. The snarky banter, ridiculous antics, and moments of genuine vulnerability make their relationship feel authentic and engaging. The social media angle adds a fresh twist to the classic second-chance trope, and while some parts of the story felt a little drawn out, the charm and humor kept me hooked.

Overall, this is a fun, flirty, and surprisingly introspective read. It’s perfect for fans of banter-filled rom-coms with a touch of emotional depth. I’d give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for its cleverness and heart.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This may be my new favorite Mazey Eddings book! I devoured this book and fell in love with all the characters, but especially Eva and Rylie. Eva is definitely black cat, independent, cool girl energy, but I love the Eddings also made her relatable. She has the insecurity I, and many women, feel in their late twenties as it feels like every one ha their life together except for you. Her back story gives you insight into what made her react the way she does, but doesn't excuse her being callous or mean to people. It's called out and allows her to grow throughout the book. I also love that Rylie is equally as complex despite the reader never being in his head, only seeing him from Eva's POV. You start the story only knowing what Eva has built him into from her memories and slowly get to know more of his story and understand how things happened in their past and where misunderstanding came into play. Overall, the story is a fantastic take on the fake dating story and I loved watching these two come together and grow! What I also love about this book, and Eddings' other works, is the representation of LGBTQ+ characters without making that their entire personality. They're real people and their sexuality is not all there is to them. I just really loved this book! I'm so excited I got a chance to read it early!

I didn't get a chance to read yesterday, and woke up this morning dreading having to push through the end of this. I realized I didn't even remember the main character's name after one day off from reading. That's a sign that it's time to pack it in.

I found the FMC completely insufferable. And although she admittedly did grow on me as the story went on, it was hard to get past the beginning. She is simply not my kind of gal. A completely unbearable mix of pathetic and petty. Social media in books is bad enough on its own, but a public "call out" and attempt to "cancel" a guy you knew for 2 months, 6 years ago when you have like 400 followers is so embarrassing. She felt like the universe owed her a high powered journalism career but was doing nothing to get there except whining that her job sucked. The best part of the book was when her mean boss called her out for watching too much Gilmore Girls as a kid and wanting to be like Rory and finding out who Christiane Amanpour was and saying that was the job she wanted lmaoooo. I don't think I'm supposed to be cheering for the mean boss though? I had thought we left "eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man" white feminism in 2018 where it belonged, but no one told Eva (the name just came to me!), apparently.

I also thought we left white authors writing books with white main characters but including one-dimensional side characters who just so happen to be transgender BIPOCs in a gay throuple for "representation" points somewhere in the last decade too, but no one told Mazey, apparently.

The spice was good, I'll give it that. But as soon as the sexual tension was resolved I was left with no reason to care about the rest.

If you liked other Mazey Eddings books, I'm sure you'll love this one. I didn't like other Mazey Eddings books and I found this generally tolerable, just nothing to be excited about.

Thanks Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings did NOT disappoint. I was delighted to get an early e-arc and devoured it in two sittings; Eddings nailed this black cat x golden retriever, second chance romance. Eva and Rylie had met and briefly dated in college and had a lasting (albeit not a positive) impact, on each other. Six years later they reconnect, due to a viral social media video and through a lot of grovelling and vulnerability on the part of Rylie, Eva gets the closure / understanding of what happened all those years earlier. Eva is a strong, brash and deeply vulnerable character who I thoroughly enjoyed and based on some of the reviews I’ve read seems to expose a bias in society re: a strong female character.

The banter between Eva and Rylie is top tier. The book touches on some very real and important topics such as toxic masculinity, work place toxicity and mental health.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press | St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Eva and Rylie, from enemies to coworkers to… The concept of double standards in the workplace against women vs men is really well done, and I appreciated the well-developed minor characters as well! Some of Eva’s personality felt so harsh, and I love that Eddings exposes our bias against strong female women and expectations of a male role instead. Overall, it is an engaging story that explores how we treat others has long-term effects and also, second chances might be our best opportunity for love!

While reading this book, it's important to understand that the Male Lead is 90% gold retriever, and the Female Lead was Gritty in another life.

This was a really excellent book. It had a lot of emotional pain in it for a romance, and was on many levels not an easy read, but it was so good, and so funny, and watching Eva fall in love with Rylie (see, even his name is a golden retriever name), and watching how Rylie already loved her was just a wonderful experience. Several times Eva catches Rylie rubbing his chest after interactions with her and I get that, Rylie, this book made my heart hurt sometimes too.

3.5 but rounding up because the way Rylie showed up for Eva was amazing.

A Nesta-coded FMC (Black Cat) and Theo/Isaiah coded MMC (Golden Retriever) get a second chance after their failed "relationship" in college caused by trauma and led to more trauma. Now two online personalities, they come together to help move forward her career and give him a redemption arc. The book dives into self loathing, queer sexuality, mental health and work place toxicity.

They had great banter, but most of the conflict came from the FMC getting in her own way which I didnt love, but it was a good read!

This was an incredibly funny, heartfelt sexy novel about two people finding love and overcoming insecurity! It was tender when needed and laugh-out-loud funny when needed. Eddings created the perfect balance of plot, romance, and steam! It was incredible and a must read for romance lovers!

We said bring back yearning and Mazey said “okay bet”.

Rylie is walking around like the human embodiment of the heart eyes emoji and Eva is this one 🤺, which, coincidentally, is also the emoji I most closely resemble emotionally.

Their entire present-day relationship is an unsteady and chaotic dance of Rylie holding his heart out to Eva and her reaching for it, panicking, and running six to twelve blocks in the opposite direction (before jogging back and being like “I may have overreacted”). It’s a sharp reversal of their brief but impactful history - in which Eva fell fast and hard and Riley all but disappeared as soon as she did.

But boy HOWDY does our boy know how to grovel. He does make an absolute mess of it a few times because he is a boy but he is doing his best and I love him. And Eva truly does want to be loved and safe and vulnerable, but also is understandably hesitant given their past and also that nearly every person in her life is objectively terrible to her for reasons I cannot comprehend since she is great. Scared and overwhelmed and quick with the snark, but great. She deserves the world and Riley will give it to her if it takes everything he has.

And most importantly, all of their friends are also super into them being into each other, which is the true mark of a successful relationship. I enjoyed every moment of this book even when I cried a little.

This was such a cute book im obsessed with these two.

I loved how determined Riley was to do anything to win eva over.
Their road to love was definitely a very steep difficult uphill battle but it was so worth it in the end

This is my first time reading a book by Mazey Eddings, so I was eager to get started. While the premise was intriguing and some topics/conversations had were deeply moving, there were several components that didn’t work for me.

I struggled the most with the FMC. I suspect her dialogue was intended to come off as quick-witted and humorous, but I found it occasionally cruel and juvenile, much like her actions of literally running away several times when a mature conversation needed to be had. We’re given backstory as to why she feels/behaves the way she does, but not enough depth to make me emotionally invested. Her character did improve in the last third for me, but I was tempted to DNF halfway through.

My affections towards the MMC grew as he began to open up about why he behaved the way he did and aimed to genuinely right his wrongs. I really appreciated his communication and support of the FMC. His vulnerability definitely struck a chord. I had a difficult time, however, understanding his character for the first half of the book. He alternated between intense moments of cautiousness and apprehension to being dominating and confident, which made the first intimacy scene a little jarring for me. Perhaps having his POV would’ve helped me to better grasp his character and better connect with him.

The friendships presented, while initially interesting, didn’t progress all that much and felt very surface level to me. I was hoping for more from them.

Also, the amount of attention given to detailing characters’ physical reactions to situations and the repetitive way in which they were described turned me off. There was a lot of winking, blushing, nostrils flaring, glasses askew, and staring, and I didn’t think it was all entirely necessary.

While the cover and synopsis drew me in and I found some parts to be strong and/or endearing, I’m not sure if I’ll seek out this author’s work again as I don’t seem to be particularly compatible with her writing style.

** Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. **

Mazey Eddings hits it out of the park every time! This book is so funny and sexy and fun while balancing heavier topics like mental health struggles, grief, and toxic work environments. Highly recommend for fans of Chicken Shop Date, men in slutty glasses, and black cat/golden retriever pairings.

From the moment I saw the cover I knew I had to read this!

Mazey really nailed the black cat/golden retriever vibe with our main characters Eva and Rylie. Eva Kitt, a mid-twenties media personality (think oAmelia from Chicken Shop date), calls out Rylie, a beloved podcast creator, for treating her poorly and ghosting her in the past. This quickly gains viral traction leading Eva to interview Rylie on her show… only for Rylie to ask for a chance to redeem himself and prove her assumptions about him wrong.

I loved the premise of going on their dates and then the post re-cap review on his podcast. The banter and quips between the two on and off camera was genuinely clever and so fun to see their give and take.

TY NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for this ARC - I had such a fun time reading this one!!

This book was hilarious! After a short relationship that culminated in one (awful) night, Eva has held on to her disdain for Rylie for six years. So when he’s an influencer famous for calling out toxic masculinity Eva speaks up about her experience with college Rylie.

But, oopsies, her video talking about his lackluster performance and subsequent ghosting goes viral. This story follows the couple as they “date” to help her acquire views and for him to prove that he isn’t the jerk he was back then.

The banter between these two is top tier as Rylie lives his best golden retriever life while Eva thrives in all of her black cat glory. Through a disastrous date, surprising vulnerability, and a comical cast of side characters, things become more real for these exes.

This book will have you laughing, feeling swoony, and at moments so frustrated you want to scream as you can’t help but cheer on these two and their love story.