Genre 📚: Adult Contemporary, Romance
Tropes 💁♀️: Second chance romance, Talk show host x Influencer, Black cat x Golden retriever
Rep ✔️: Pansexual main character, bisexual love interest, BIPOC and queer side characters
CW ⚠️: Off-page death of a loved one, grief, internalized biphobia, workplace abuse
Rating ⭐️: 4/5
Yes, yes, I was one of the many people who got swept up in the Andrew x Amelia Chicken Shop Date craze. I’m a simple woman, and I swoon over simple things, even if they’re social media stunts. (“It’s called flirting, Amelia!”) So, imagine my delight when Mazey Eddings wrote a whole damn romance novel with a similar premise.
Well, Actually is just as ridiculously fun as it sounds. We have Eva, an aspiring journalist who works for Sausage Talk — a show where she interviews B-list celebrities while eating hot dogs. Then, we have Rylie, a successful YouTuber who gives relationship advice. Eva hates Rylie more than anything, finding his mansplaining hypocritical when he, in fact, broke her heart years prior. She airs all their dirty laundry online, only to be faced with the consequences of… well, the internet. Because of course that shit goes viral.
Eva’s bosses capitalize on the situation real quick, forcing her to interview Rylie for views. And, let me just reiterate that she absolutely despises this guy. Like, as soon as they reunite, she goes for the fucking jugular. Rylie, however, claims to be a changed man and is determined to prove it. Their banter would get annoying at times, with Eva being so relentless and Rylie being so unserious, but it eventually made sense with their respective traumas. I enjoyed learning about their history and seeing them actually work through it (!!!) to move forward. Vulnerability + communication = one happy reader.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Well, Actually will be released on August 5, 2025.
Sara Bechtol 