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NetGalley Review of Well, Actually

Posted on July 29, 2025February 9, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-02-08 at 9.35.19 PM

title: Well, Actually

author: Mazey Eddings

publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

publication date: August 5, 2025

pages: 384

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: death of a family member (in past), divorce, alcohol

summary: In a drunken fit, Eva Kitt, whose job it is to snark her way through video interviews of eating lukewarm hotdogs with C-list celebrities, posts a response video to a post by Riley Cooper, a man she dated briefly and was ghosted by in college. When the video clip goes viral, her bosses decide that she should meet up with Riley on air, at which time he proposes that they go on six dates to give him a chance to make up for his past wrongs.

tropes:

  • second-chance romance
  • enemies-to-lovers
  • it's all for the ratings
  • your job is on the line

what I liked:

  • great dialogue when they're fighting
  • humorous situations
  • clever set-up
  • spicy scenes

what I didn’t like: none of it

overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • NetGalley Review of Villa Coco
  • 388. Why Not “Could Potentially”
  • NetGalley Review of You Won’t Forget Me
  • NetGalley Review of The Valencia Expat Club
  • 387. Why Give Speeches
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