What do you think?
Rate this book
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Podcasters Maeve and Finn have just gotten a life-changing, blockbuster deal for their viral sex and relationships podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel. Unfortunately, given their history, they can barely be in the same room together.
Now, Maeve needs to find a way to keep the show going without letting Finn completely ruin her. But to make things even more challenging, Finn is dead set on winning her back over. Told between flashbacks to the start of their show and the present, Tell Me How You Really Feel follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate their growing celebrity, try to make podcast history, and rediscover what they mean to each other.
Now, Maeve needs to find a way to keep the show going without letting Finn completely ruin her. But to make things even more challenging, Finn is dead set on winning her back over. Told between flashbacks to the start of their show and the present, Tell Me How You Really Feel follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate their growing celebrity, try to make podcast history, and rediscover what they mean to each other.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2025
64 people are currently reading
21690 people want to read
About the author
Betty Cayouette
3 books271 followersBetty Cayouette is an author, viral video content creator and cinematographer. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University in only three years, with a dual-degree in Film, Television and Interactive Media and Interpersonal and Mass Communications, and minors in Creative Writing and English. In 2021, she was named a Brandeis BOLD 9 winner, as an up-and-coming alumni who is sparking creativity, conversation and change in her field. She also won the Sony Alpha Female contest in 2021, for her work getting girls into video production.
In 2021, Betty created @bettysbooklist, the viral TikTok/Instagram account which is one of the top book recommendation accounts in the world and is featured in outlets such as The Boston Globe, Euronews, Fox News, The London Times and Glamour UK. She has over 400,000 followers across platforms and started the viral trend of acting out the plot of the book as the main character.
Betty’s debut novel, ONE LAST SHOT, sold to St. Martins/Macmillan in a two book major deal. ONE LAST SHOT follows a model and a photographer who reconnect on a photoshoot in Italy for one last shot at love. It was released in May 2024, and was the Afterlight book box pick for the month of May, had a 16 stop book tour, and was translated into 7 languages. Her sophomore novel TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL releases May 2025.
Betty also works with fashion and lifestyle brands to create best in class viral video content. Past clients include Aerie by American Eagle, Williams Sonoma, Sony and more. In a single day, a video campaign Betty created for Aerie garnered 50M views and grew their following by over 300%. In her spare times she also enjoys shooting wedding videos.
In 2021, Betty created @bettysbooklist, the viral TikTok/Instagram account which is one of the top book recommendation accounts in the world and is featured in outlets such as The Boston Globe, Euronews, Fox News, The London Times and Glamour UK. She has over 400,000 followers across platforms and started the viral trend of acting out the plot of the book as the main character.
Betty’s debut novel, ONE LAST SHOT, sold to St. Martins/Macmillan in a two book major deal. ONE LAST SHOT follows a model and a photographer who reconnect on a photoshoot in Italy for one last shot at love. It was released in May 2024, and was the Afterlight book box pick for the month of May, had a 16 stop book tour, and was translated into 7 languages. Her sophomore novel TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL releases May 2025.
Betty also works with fashion and lifestyle brands to create best in class viral video content. Past clients include Aerie by American Eagle, Williams Sonoma, Sony and more. In a single day, a video campaign Betty created for Aerie garnered 50M views and grew their following by over 300%. In her spare times she also enjoys shooting wedding videos.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 401 reviews
May 6, 2025
જ⁀➴ 1.5 stars (rounded up to 2)
Thank you to NetGalley, Betty Cayouette, and St. Martin’s Press for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Update: Tell Me How You Really Feel is officially published and out in the world!
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
The title of this story is Tell Me How You Really Feel. You wanna know how I felt about reading this? It felt like I was reading about two adults acting like immature teenagers for 336 pages. I'm honestly going to keep this review short and sweet because there's not really much to say about this ARC in particular.
Maeve just signed a giant podcast contract with Streamify. She should be over the moon, but the contract stipulates that she has to work with her ex-best friend and former fling, Finn. As they're forced to work together, they start to realize that maybe the feelings they had for each other never left. The story jumps back and forth between the past and the present, discussing the creation of the Tell Me How You Really Feel podcast and how they became big, as well as a dual-POV with Maeve and Finn.
The ONLY redeeming quality I would say this book had is that it brought up a lot of good points and commentary about sexism and the pay gap between men and women in the entertainment industry. We see this unravel with the way Finn constantly received more attention than Maeve because of his good looks and superstar celebrity parents, whereas Maeve grew up poor and her family struggled to make ends meet. I also liked the dual timeline and how it goes into depth about the behind-the-scenes of what goes into making a podcast and the amount of time and effort it takes to build a set and set up the contracts.
As for the bad...where do I even begin? For two thirty-somethings, Maeve and Finn were behaving like petty teenagers for the VAST majority of the story. It was infuriating to read. Maeve would act impulsively and never hear Finn's side of the story, but Finn also wasn't a saint in the way he acted throughout either. For two people who run a raunchy, sex-positive, relationship and life advice podcast, they never took their own advice throughout the 336 pages of this book. It was wildly hypocritical of them to give people amazing advice on how to handle rough patches in their relationships, yet off-screen it seemed as if they had this, "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Like, Maeve would say she would be okay with Finn doing this one thing, and when he goes off and does said thing, she would throw a hissy fit and be all, "Well I didn't think you would ACTUALLY do it!" I wanted to rip my hair out. Don't get me wrong, I love a good second-chance romance and the "will they or won't they" dynamic throughout second-chance romance books, but they honestly should've just made separate podcasts for each of them and called it a day.
Overall, I would NOT recommend this book to anyone, unless you're fine with watching 2 grown adults bicker like pre-pubescent teenagers. Maeve and Finn needed to do a lot of growing up before they could even consider a romance. I genuinely think that they broke up after the story ended, and instead of leaving me giggling and kicking my feet, they made me want to smack some sense into both of them. I thought this would be a cute second-chance romance, but I was left wholly disappointed in the way things unraveled.
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: I have a fully-booked ARC reading schedule for May, so here’s ARC 1/8 I need to finish this month and ARC 1/3 I need to finish by Tuesday!🌃♥️💙I forgot I requested this ARC ages ago and I’m on the hunt for a good second-chance romance story but the rating on this being 3.35 stars is NOT looking good. Let’s see how this goes🤞🏼🍀
Thank you to NetGalley, Betty Cayouette, and St. Martin’s Press for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Update: Tell Me How You Really Feel is officially published and out in the world!
”… I'm deciding to be bold and dream bigger. To hope. To believe in myself. And to love hard enough to fall and trust Finn will catch me.”
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
The title of this story is Tell Me How You Really Feel. You wanna know how I felt about reading this? It felt like I was reading about two adults acting like immature teenagers for 336 pages. I'm honestly going to keep this review short and sweet because there's not really much to say about this ARC in particular.
Maeve just signed a giant podcast contract with Streamify. She should be over the moon, but the contract stipulates that she has to work with her ex-best friend and former fling, Finn. As they're forced to work together, they start to realize that maybe the feelings they had for each other never left. The story jumps back and forth between the past and the present, discussing the creation of the Tell Me How You Really Feel podcast and how they became big, as well as a dual-POV with Maeve and Finn.
The ONLY redeeming quality I would say this book had is that it brought up a lot of good points and commentary about sexism and the pay gap between men and women in the entertainment industry. We see this unravel with the way Finn constantly received more attention than Maeve because of his good looks and superstar celebrity parents, whereas Maeve grew up poor and her family struggled to make ends meet. I also liked the dual timeline and how it goes into depth about the behind-the-scenes of what goes into making a podcast and the amount of time and effort it takes to build a set and set up the contracts.
As for the bad...where do I even begin? For two thirty-somethings, Maeve and Finn were behaving like petty teenagers for the VAST majority of the story. It was infuriating to read. Maeve would act impulsively and never hear Finn's side of the story, but Finn also wasn't a saint in the way he acted throughout either. For two people who run a raunchy, sex-positive, relationship and life advice podcast, they never took their own advice throughout the 336 pages of this book. It was wildly hypocritical of them to give people amazing advice on how to handle rough patches in their relationships, yet off-screen it seemed as if they had this, "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Like, Maeve would say she would be okay with Finn doing this one thing, and when he goes off and does said thing, she would throw a hissy fit and be all, "Well I didn't think you would ACTUALLY do it!" I wanted to rip my hair out. Don't get me wrong, I love a good second-chance romance and the "will they or won't they" dynamic throughout second-chance romance books, but they honestly should've just made separate podcasts for each of them and called it a day.
Overall, I would NOT recommend this book to anyone, unless you're fine with watching 2 grown adults bicker like pre-pubescent teenagers. Maeve and Finn needed to do a lot of growing up before they could even consider a romance. I genuinely think that they broke up after the story ended, and instead of leaving me giggling and kicking my feet, they made me want to smack some sense into both of them. I thought this would be a cute second-chance romance, but I was left wholly disappointed in the way things unraveled.
₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ ₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: I have a fully-booked ARC reading schedule for May, so here’s ARC 1/8 I need to finish this month and ARC 1/3 I need to finish by Tuesday!🌃♥️💙I forgot I requested this ARC ages ago and I’m on the hunt for a good second-chance romance story but the rating on this being 3.35 stars is NOT looking good. Let’s see how this goes🤞🏼🍀
May 7, 2025
1.5 stars (might be generous)
To properly explain why I disliked this book, I’m gonna have to fill this review with spoilers so beware.
First having this be both dual POV and dual timeline did this book a huge disservice. I think either single POV and single timeline or have the current timeline be the FMC POV and the past be the MMC might have been better. But this is the first time I wish we didn’t have the male POV at all. Knowing his inner thoughts honestly made me HATE him with a fiery passion. Also I cannot stand during a friends to lovers romance where the MCs are constantly cuddling and sleeping in the same bed and holding hands, that is not a normal M/F friendship.
Ok incoming rants about this book (I’m so sorry): first calling it a second chance romance when the first chance was only 2 months ago? No. Next the fact that they host a podcast about talking about your feelings and telling people “it’s better not to keep it bottled up” then actively doing the opposite? Jail. And then Finn (the MMC) is constantly saying how he doesn’t understand how Maeve (the FMC) feels or what he did wrong when it was COMPLETELY OBVIOUS. And you have been hosting this podcast for 2 YEARS yet you are completely clueless about not only your cohost (who is your best friend) and women in general is just men menning. How could you possibly give any advice and still do the ABSOLUTE CRAZIEST THING and think “oh yeah this totally won’t ruin our friendship at all.” What is this crazy thing you ask? Well the MCs hookup after 2 years cohosting and in the midst of signing a MULTI MILLION DOLLAR deal, say they love each other this same night, then the next morning he says “hey we can hold off until the deal is signed so we don’t fuck up our future” and she agrees. So this is HIS idea and he says “great I got a month to plan the perfect date.” So when 6 weeks passes by and he hasn’t planned that date AT ALL or talked to Maeve about the next steps, he decides to go on a date with “the one that got away.” During this date he tells her about this situation with Maeve and Cassidy (the date/childhood best friend/one that got away/supermodel) basically says “screw Maeve and let’s date instead” (which like sure Cassidy owes Maeve nothing but also causing a rift between these two could ruin a MASSIVE contract negotiation) and instead of even thinking about it on his own for 2 seconds, he runs to the restaurant bathroom to call Maeve and basically says “hey so we aren’t actually dating so I’m gonna date Cassidy if that’s cool with you.” What choice does she have in this?? You call her IN THE MIDDLE OF A DATE to basically say “this other girl wants me now so bye”. Again, HE suggested the break and HE hasn’t planned their date nor brought up actually dating. She basically says “go for it” because who WOULDN’T THINK he wanted to go for it, I’d rather not be someone’s second choice either. If he actually loved Maeve, this wouldn’t even be a consideration to date Cassidy. So he immediately leaves the bathroom, kisses Cassidy, and ends up all over the tabloids. Way to rub salt in the wound buddy. Maeve blocks him the next day but he doesn’t even notice for TWO MONTHS when he tries to call her after he and Cassidy break up!
These 2 months he is jet setting all over the world with a supermodel because even though he is “playing poor” in NYC, he is massively rich. Talk about EMBARRASSING like poor is not something fun to pretend to be. AFTER he said he left acting behind because he hates the media attention but sure publicly dating a massive celebrity is fine…
Ok so they sign this massive deal but Maeve doesn’t want to be around Finn if she doesn’t have to be. That lasts all of 5 seconds before they are cuddling up at the Met Gala (which also…that’s not happening). They kiss at a football game for the kiss cam and when she freaks out a bit and leaves the game instead of being patient or being an adult, he invites a dozen random women to the box seats and makes out with them to be seen on camera. Great idea, she will definitely forgive you now. Which she does after he sleeps on her porch that night and she is immediately like “yeah I’m ready to be real friends” when he JUST sent you into a panic attack with his selfish and childish behavior. Also during all of this anytime she puts on a brave face at work, he is offended because god forbid a woman be professional. Grow up dude.
Oh after he does the crazy football thing, we then have multiple past timeline chapters like GET TO THE REAL STORY.
Did I mention this woman is a therapist? Yet the complete disregard of every goddamn red flag is astounding.
Ok then they make up during a podcast in her bed and start kissing and saying I love you but I literally yelled out PUKE because whyyyyyyyy?!? And he’s saying to her “it’s always been you” so what about those 2 months you LITERALLY DITCHED HER for a supermodel??
Ok THEN he decides to start acting by starring in a romcom WITH THIS EX and doesn’t even CONSIDER talking to Maeve first. I have NEVER read a more selfish MMC. They are going to have sex scenes in this movie WTF MAN?! And sure if he was a working actor already maybe I could forgive this situation but he hasn’t acted in anything since he was 9, you do not need to be in this movie you fucking ignorant ass nepo baby (because also his dad wrote it and his mom is also a starring role).
Maeve is okay with this despite her FOUNDED insecurities then he shows up to her photo shoot and ends up in the article about her. Way to center yourself man, fantastic job. THEN it comes out that his contract for the podcast was significantly better paid and his excuse was “I didn’t pay attention, and I’m so rich I didn’t even look at the deposits, soz” YOU MORON you are willfully obtuse. “But I apologized why the hell can’t you get over it?” I’m gonna punch you in the top of the head. Not to mention the ONLY work he does on the podcast is the actual recording while Maeve does all of the editing and basically everything else. For less money. Than an already rich man. Ok.
His grand gesture? A shipping container she will have to have on her property. Where he wanted it to have a LIGHT UP FLOOR with listener testimonials. That is the actual dumbest idea I’ve heard. I was actually rooting for them to stay broken up because this man is complete trash.
Other little things that annoyed me, that Finn’s mom never met Maeve until after 2 years of the podcast despite it being mentioned that she visited NYC fairly often. The murder house story changed from killing a neighbor to killing a partner. Maeve’s jealousy of the attention Finn gets as the cohost when she willingly does all the actual work but then resents him for it. She mentions once that they know how to communicate but…where??? The sister saying “you get one fuckup” to Finn when this was his 3rd MAJOR one. And then he proposes on the night of her shows premiere just shows he learned NOTHING this was her night and you made it about you again even if you did it in private. Speaking of the show, she says “a show about people going to therapy has never happened before” like Dr Drew and intervention didn’t happen decades ago.
Anyhow this man betrayed Maeve so many times, he should’ve been named Judas.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC, sorry I hated it.
To properly explain why I disliked this book, I’m gonna have to fill this review with spoilers so beware.
First having this be both dual POV and dual timeline did this book a huge disservice. I think either single POV and single timeline or have the current timeline be the FMC POV and the past be the MMC might have been better. But this is the first time I wish we didn’t have the male POV at all. Knowing his inner thoughts honestly made me HATE him with a fiery passion. Also I cannot stand during a friends to lovers romance where the MCs are constantly cuddling and sleeping in the same bed and holding hands, that is not a normal M/F friendship.
Ok incoming rants about this book (I’m so sorry): first calling it a second chance romance when the first chance was only 2 months ago? No. Next the fact that they host a podcast about talking about your feelings and telling people “it’s better not to keep it bottled up” then actively doing the opposite? Jail. And then Finn (the MMC) is constantly saying how he doesn’t understand how Maeve (the FMC) feels or what he did wrong when it was COMPLETELY OBVIOUS. And you have been hosting this podcast for 2 YEARS yet you are completely clueless about not only your cohost (who is your best friend) and women in general is just men menning. How could you possibly give any advice and still do the ABSOLUTE CRAZIEST THING and think “oh yeah this totally won’t ruin our friendship at all.” What is this crazy thing you ask? Well the MCs hookup after 2 years cohosting and in the midst of signing a MULTI MILLION DOLLAR deal, say they love each other this same night, then the next morning he says “hey we can hold off until the deal is signed so we don’t fuck up our future” and she agrees. So this is HIS idea and he says “great I got a month to plan the perfect date.” So when 6 weeks passes by and he hasn’t planned that date AT ALL or talked to Maeve about the next steps, he decides to go on a date with “the one that got away.” During this date he tells her about this situation with Maeve and Cassidy (the date/childhood best friend/one that got away/supermodel) basically says “screw Maeve and let’s date instead” (which like sure Cassidy owes Maeve nothing but also causing a rift between these two could ruin a MASSIVE contract negotiation) and instead of even thinking about it on his own for 2 seconds, he runs to the restaurant bathroom to call Maeve and basically says “hey so we aren’t actually dating so I’m gonna date Cassidy if that’s cool with you.” What choice does she have in this?? You call her IN THE MIDDLE OF A DATE to basically say “this other girl wants me now so bye”. Again, HE suggested the break and HE hasn’t planned their date nor brought up actually dating. She basically says “go for it” because who WOULDN’T THINK he wanted to go for it, I’d rather not be someone’s second choice either. If he actually loved Maeve, this wouldn’t even be a consideration to date Cassidy. So he immediately leaves the bathroom, kisses Cassidy, and ends up all over the tabloids. Way to rub salt in the wound buddy. Maeve blocks him the next day but he doesn’t even notice for TWO MONTHS when he tries to call her after he and Cassidy break up!
These 2 months he is jet setting all over the world with a supermodel because even though he is “playing poor” in NYC, he is massively rich. Talk about EMBARRASSING like poor is not something fun to pretend to be. AFTER he said he left acting behind because he hates the media attention but sure publicly dating a massive celebrity is fine…
Ok so they sign this massive deal but Maeve doesn’t want to be around Finn if she doesn’t have to be. That lasts all of 5 seconds before they are cuddling up at the Met Gala (which also…that’s not happening). They kiss at a football game for the kiss cam and when she freaks out a bit and leaves the game instead of being patient or being an adult, he invites a dozen random women to the box seats and makes out with them to be seen on camera. Great idea, she will definitely forgive you now. Which she does after he sleeps on her porch that night and she is immediately like “yeah I’m ready to be real friends” when he JUST sent you into a panic attack with his selfish and childish behavior. Also during all of this anytime she puts on a brave face at work, he is offended because god forbid a woman be professional. Grow up dude.
Oh after he does the crazy football thing, we then have multiple past timeline chapters like GET TO THE REAL STORY.
Did I mention this woman is a therapist? Yet the complete disregard of every goddamn red flag is astounding.
Ok then they make up during a podcast in her bed and start kissing and saying I love you but I literally yelled out PUKE because whyyyyyyyy?!? And he’s saying to her “it’s always been you” so what about those 2 months you LITERALLY DITCHED HER for a supermodel??
Ok THEN he decides to start acting by starring in a romcom WITH THIS EX and doesn’t even CONSIDER talking to Maeve first. I have NEVER read a more selfish MMC. They are going to have sex scenes in this movie WTF MAN?! And sure if he was a working actor already maybe I could forgive this situation but he hasn’t acted in anything since he was 9, you do not need to be in this movie you fucking ignorant ass nepo baby (because also his dad wrote it and his mom is also a starring role).
Maeve is okay with this despite her FOUNDED insecurities then he shows up to her photo shoot and ends up in the article about her. Way to center yourself man, fantastic job. THEN it comes out that his contract for the podcast was significantly better paid and his excuse was “I didn’t pay attention, and I’m so rich I didn’t even look at the deposits, soz” YOU MORON you are willfully obtuse. “But I apologized why the hell can’t you get over it?” I’m gonna punch you in the top of the head. Not to mention the ONLY work he does on the podcast is the actual recording while Maeve does all of the editing and basically everything else. For less money. Than an already rich man. Ok.
His grand gesture? A shipping container she will have to have on her property. Where he wanted it to have a LIGHT UP FLOOR with listener testimonials. That is the actual dumbest idea I’ve heard. I was actually rooting for them to stay broken up because this man is complete trash.
Other little things that annoyed me, that Finn’s mom never met Maeve until after 2 years of the podcast despite it being mentioned that she visited NYC fairly often. The murder house story changed from killing a neighbor to killing a partner. Maeve’s jealousy of the attention Finn gets as the cohost when she willingly does all the actual work but then resents him for it. She mentions once that they know how to communicate but…where??? The sister saying “you get one fuckup” to Finn when this was his 3rd MAJOR one. And then he proposes on the night of her shows premiere just shows he learned NOTHING this was her night and you made it about you again even if you did it in private. Speaking of the show, she says “a show about people going to therapy has never happened before” like Dr Drew and intervention didn’t happen decades ago.
Anyhow this man betrayed Maeve so many times, he should’ve been named Judas.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC, sorry I hated it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
stay-away
May 5, 2025If this is a "romance", then I'm the freaking tooth fairy.
Yet another so-called writer who doesn't understand the concept of what a fictional "romance" is. Key word people is ROMANCE. Having your MMC claim to love your FMC in one minute, only to drop her the next for his ex and then proceed to have sex with OP throughout this whole shitfest and ONLY go back to the FMC after OW drops his ass, does NOT a ROMANCE make!
Stop mislabeling and misleading folks!
And if this is someone's idea of "romance", may I suggest therapy STAT???!!!!!
Yet another so-called writer who doesn't understand the concept of what a fictional "romance" is. Key word people is ROMANCE. Having your MMC claim to love your FMC in one minute, only to drop her the next for his ex and then proceed to have sex with OP throughout this whole shitfest and ONLY go back to the FMC after OW drops his ass, does NOT a ROMANCE make!
Stop mislabeling and misleading folks!
And if this is someone's idea of "romance", may I suggest therapy STAT???!!!!!
March 1, 2025
The premise for this read was so promising but the characters left me…annoyed with them.
The miscommunication trope is not my favorite, and this book really stretched it to the limit for me. For as much as these two characters preach honesty/accountability/healthy relationship functionality/and the like, they SUCK at everything having to do with healthy relationships. I for one just cannot get on board with characters who say one thing and then do the opposite. It felt very “do as I say, not as I do” which I think everyone is exhausted by.
While I do love the authors writing style, these characters were completely insufferable for me. I really hope in her next novel she explores something outside the miscommunication trope.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC
The miscommunication trope is not my favorite, and this book really stretched it to the limit for me. For as much as these two characters preach honesty/accountability/healthy relationship functionality/and the like, they SUCK at everything having to do with healthy relationships. I for one just cannot get on board with characters who say one thing and then do the opposite. It felt very “do as I say, not as I do” which I think everyone is exhausted by.
While I do love the authors writing style, these characters were completely insufferable for me. I really hope in her next novel she explores something outside the miscommunication trope.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC
May 10, 2025
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette
Contemporary romance. First person, alternating POV. Second chance and friends to lovers troupes. Dual timeline via memories.
Maeve and Finn get a new contract as podcasters contingent on their ratings. If they win the listeners, Maeve will break the glass ceiling on being the highest paid. But to succeed, Maeve and Finn need their old compatibility back. Finn wants it desperately but Maeve doesn’t believe they can work together without arguing.
Maeve and Finn have known each other and been friends since they were young. She is a clinical psychologist and they use that plus dating trends and issues as their podcast platform, playing off each other. When they crossed the line from friendship to lovers, things were great, until they weren’t.
The beginning scene of the two arguing, was too much for me and I had to put it aside for a week. I’m just not comfortable with confrontational couples. Starting a bit further in, the story became lighter and entertaining with the two personalities and the different times. Fortunately each chapter that is in the past, includes a headline of exactly when it occurs, which was helpful for continuity.
Knowing Finn’s feelings gave this romance a big push towards heartfelt tenderness and love.
Gratifying and satisfying.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.
Contemporary romance. First person, alternating POV. Second chance and friends to lovers troupes. Dual timeline via memories.
Maeve and Finn get a new contract as podcasters contingent on their ratings. If they win the listeners, Maeve will break the glass ceiling on being the highest paid. But to succeed, Maeve and Finn need their old compatibility back. Finn wants it desperately but Maeve doesn’t believe they can work together without arguing.
Maeve and Finn have known each other and been friends since they were young. She is a clinical psychologist and they use that plus dating trends and issues as their podcast platform, playing off each other. When they crossed the line from friendship to lovers, things were great, until they weren’t.
The beginning scene of the two arguing, was too much for me and I had to put it aside for a week. I’m just not comfortable with confrontational couples. Starting a bit further in, the story became lighter and entertaining with the two personalities and the different times. Fortunately each chapter that is in the past, includes a headline of exactly when it occurs, which was helpful for continuity.
Knowing Finn’s feelings gave this romance a big push towards heartfelt tenderness and love.
Gratifying and satisfying.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.
May 9, 2025
This book was absolutely not for me. It delved into some interesting topics like female sexuality and the gender pay gap but the characters were so insufferable that it was sort of glossed over for me. The miscommunication trope was tooo much and they didn’t talk properly throughout the whole book.
But thank you to Evermore for my copy 🙈
But thank you to Evermore for my copy 🙈
November 13, 2024
2.5 stars
All I wanted was something Iight, but I just couldn't get into it. The premise is fun, and fans of Lynn Painter will enjoy this.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
All I wanted was something Iight, but I just couldn't get into it. The premise is fun, and fans of Lynn Painter will enjoy this.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 18, 2024
Maeve has finally gotten the dream podcast streaming platform she's always wanted, but there's a catch. She has to do it with her best friend, the man she loves, the man who knows her like the back of his hand... the man who tossed her aside for a famous model after a single month. Finn is desperate to get back into Maeve's good graces. He realized he threw away the best friend he's ever had, and this is his only shot to get her back. However, she isn't willing to hear it, and he's struggling to find out how he can make amends and bring them back to what they used to have.
*****
It was clear what the author wanted to do with this book and the messages and genuine interactions and growth she wanted to portray. Unfortunately, it got bogged down in endless, detailed therapy sessions and examples of how to communicate and make amends, all while both leads were failing to properly do either. The entire book was a massive miscommunication trope where Maeve let her anxiety and intrusive thoughts run the show. She was cold, dismissive, and constantly jumping to conclusions and putting up walls and barriers despite being a therapist and going to therapy for over a decade herself. Finn is a nepo baby who is also Just A Man (TM) so much so that he can't fathom why he'd get pushed off and given a cold shoulder for asking the girl he was with, if he could be with someone else, while already on a date with the other person.
I was baffled as to why either of them wanted to try to be together when they were in a constant cycle of hurt and repair, to the point we received two second act breakups in this book. In the end, the conflict is overly contrived and pointless, and forming an entire book around it with the underlying message of woman empowerment and gender inequality just ended up with the latter message being missed in the slog.
The authors writing itself is good, but this book missed the mark. I look forward to seeing what else she writes.
*****
Thank you, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Griffin, for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
*****
It was clear what the author wanted to do with this book and the messages and genuine interactions and growth she wanted to portray. Unfortunately, it got bogged down in endless, detailed therapy sessions and examples of how to communicate and make amends, all while both leads were failing to properly do either. The entire book was a massive miscommunication trope where Maeve let her anxiety and intrusive thoughts run the show. She was cold, dismissive, and constantly jumping to conclusions and putting up walls and barriers despite being a therapist and going to therapy for over a decade herself. Finn is a nepo baby who is also Just A Man (TM) so much so that he can't fathom why he'd get pushed off and given a cold shoulder for asking the girl he was with, if he could be with someone else, while already on a date with the other person.
I was baffled as to why either of them wanted to try to be together when they were in a constant cycle of hurt and repair, to the point we received two second act breakups in this book. In the end, the conflict is overly contrived and pointless, and forming an entire book around it with the underlying message of woman empowerment and gender inequality just ended up with the latter message being missed in the slog.
The authors writing itself is good, but this book missed the mark. I look forward to seeing what else she writes.
*****
Thank you, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Griffin, for the digital ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 7, 2025
The premise of a second chance romance between two podcasters was so intriguing, but the execution was a miss for me.
When I’m not feeling the leads, it’s really hard for me to enjoy a book. In this case, I didn’t like the hero, and the heroine wasn’t that far behind him. With the maturity levels of the leads, this book reads more like a YA novel than an adult romance.
Overall, I pushed through because I did enjoy the commentary on sexism in the entertainment industry, but the romance itself was a miss for me.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
When I’m not feeling the leads, it’s really hard for me to enjoy a book. In this case, I didn’t like the hero, and the heroine wasn’t that far behind him. With the maturity levels of the leads, this book reads more like a YA novel than an adult romance.
Overall, I pushed through because I did enjoy the commentary on sexism in the entertainment industry, but the romance itself was a miss for me.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 3, 2025
If Finn was supposed to be this actually good guy, the book failed at accomplishing that. He lacked basic nuance and common sense with what women face. He also needs to stop using his mental health or whatever he’s facing as an excuse. Men like Finn should actually be the antagonists because they act like they’re good but will put absolutely no effort in being so
April 6, 2025
Gosh I love this author’s writing style so much! The playful banter between the main characters makes you feel like you understand their inside jokes and their entire backstories with minimal context because they’re built so thoroughly. I thought this plot of having them be co-hosts of a relationship/sex podcast was so interesting and unique, and I loved the angle of having Maeve be an actual therapist with real mental health and relationship advice! Other things I enjoyed include the emphasis on anxiety, the double-standard for women in everything, emotional intelligence for men, and the power of money. What fell a little short for me was the intensity of the miscommunication trope; admittedly, it’s one of my least favorite tropes, and while I loved the second chance and friends to lovers elements, the miscommunication got me frustrated with the characters at times! Overall, this was such a great palette cleanser and this author is always going to be an auto-read for me. So thankful to have received this ARC!
June 3, 2025
thanks to NetGalley for the eAR
⭐️=1 | 😘=5 | 🤬=4.5 | 🍺/🚬=2 | 18+
summary: it’s like a second chance/situationship-type thing with a nepo baby celebrity MMC and a just-an-ordinary-girl FMC who met in college and have this podcast together and need to get over their past drama and fall in love or whatever??
thoughts: I’m so sorry, but this is such an irredeemable, jobless MMC. biggest turn off in a romance novel is when the guy (and this happens overwhelmingly in straight romance novels) gets depressed halfway through because the FMC doesn’t like him and he gets drunk and makes out with or has sex with someone else or a bunch of someone elses and then I’m just supposed to like… forget about that by the end?? literally doesn’t matter if he and the FMC aren’t together yet, it’s still absolutely unacceptable as a plot device within the context of a romance novel. like how am I supposed to believe that the FMC would forget about it or forgive him for that???? especially bc in this book he kissed her right before then?? be serious.
80% through (!!) the nepo baby MMC has a convo with his famous actress mom where she’s like “son you need to start acting again and/or get a real job” and he’s like “the podcast is my job!!” and she’s like “…you do that one day a week that’s not a job??” and like the mom is SO right!! and also the FMC does most of the work for their podcast anyway????? so what am i supposed to like about this man????????????? imagine putting the “you need to get a job” conversation 80% of the way through your novel instead of near the beginning or maybe at the halfway point where it could serve as the inciting incident for some character development?? 80%????? and then at the 91% mark she says, and I quote, “Finn, you’re an adult” and like IMAGINE your love interest needing to be told that at the END OF THE NOVEL?? he never truly had a nepo baby glow up arc and it’s so embarrassing
also he can’t communicate to save his life or read emails or make sure that he and his COHOST ARE BEING PAID THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY which is a very frustrating addition to the third act!! i hate him!! he uses his rich parents to solve all his problems!!!!!!!!! yikes!! tbh in another timeline this book was haphazard general fiction about a toxic relationship and celebrities and the pay gap or something
also he’s super whiny?? and his “grand gesture” wasn’t something he had been working on for a lot of the book so it didn’t feel like a specific apology????????????? anyways i hate him!
⭐️=1 | 😘=5 | 🤬=4.5 | 🍺/🚬=2 | 18+
summary: it’s like a second chance/situationship-type thing with a nepo baby celebrity MMC and a just-an-ordinary-girl FMC who met in college and have this podcast together and need to get over their past drama and fall in love or whatever??
thoughts: I’m so sorry, but this is such an irredeemable, jobless MMC. biggest turn off in a romance novel is when the guy (and this happens overwhelmingly in straight romance novels) gets depressed halfway through because the FMC doesn’t like him and he gets drunk and makes out with or has sex with someone else or a bunch of someone elses and then I’m just supposed to like… forget about that by the end?? literally doesn’t matter if he and the FMC aren’t together yet, it’s still absolutely unacceptable as a plot device within the context of a romance novel. like how am I supposed to believe that the FMC would forget about it or forgive him for that???? especially bc in this book he kissed her right before then?? be serious.
80% through (!!) the nepo baby MMC has a convo with his famous actress mom where she’s like “son you need to start acting again and/or get a real job” and he’s like “the podcast is my job!!” and she’s like “…you do that one day a week that’s not a job??” and like the mom is SO right!! and also the FMC does most of the work for their podcast anyway????? so what am i supposed to like about this man????????????? imagine putting the “you need to get a job” conversation 80% of the way through your novel instead of near the beginning or maybe at the halfway point where it could serve as the inciting incident for some character development?? 80%????? and then at the 91% mark she says, and I quote, “Finn, you’re an adult” and like IMAGINE your love interest needing to be told that at the END OF THE NOVEL?? he never truly had a nepo baby glow up arc and it’s so embarrassing
also he can’t communicate to save his life or read emails or make sure that he and his COHOST ARE BEING PAID THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY which is a very frustrating addition to the third act!! i hate him!! he uses his rich parents to solve all his problems!!!!!!!!! yikes!! tbh in another timeline this book was haphazard general fiction about a toxic relationship and celebrities and the pay gap or something
also he’s super whiny?? and his “grand gesture” wasn’t something he had been working on for a lot of the book so it didn’t feel like a specific apology????????????? anyways i hate him!
May 18, 2025
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette is a slow burn second chance romance with a dual timeline and dual POV. This book had a lot of potential, but it just didn't live up to it, and that's how I really feel.
The book follows Maeve and Finn who are trying to navigate Finn's truly incredible f-up after signing a multi-million dollar deal with a Spotify-like streaming service for their Call Her Daddy-like podcast. For context, the f-up was that Finn calls Maeve while they are "on a break" to ask her for permission to date "the one that got away." Then in the middle of the book it is revealed that While he does apologize and seems sincere in both instances, I think that his f-ups are too big to be looked past so I didn't like him.
I think we started where the third act should have been and then the entire second conflict of the book should not have existed. I would have been less likely to absolutely hate Finn if we weren't fed how he's just a chill guy who doesn't realize when he messes up. Another thing that was weird was that I think it just regurgitates therapy concepts but neither of the main characters use any of it. On the bright side I thought that that the family scenes for both of them were sweet. I also enjoyed their friendship when they were just being people not falling in love. Sadly, I don't know who I would recommend this book to.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Betty Cayouette for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The book follows Maeve and Finn who are trying to navigate Finn's truly incredible f-up after signing a multi-million dollar deal with a Spotify-like streaming service for their Call Her Daddy-like podcast. For context, the f-up was that Finn calls Maeve while they are "on a break" to ask her for permission to date "the one that got away." Then in the middle of the book it is revealed that While he does apologize and seems sincere in both instances, I think that his f-ups are too big to be looked past so I didn't like him.
I think we started where the third act should have been and then the entire second conflict of the book should not have existed. I would have been less likely to absolutely hate Finn if we weren't fed how he's just a chill guy who doesn't realize when he messes up. Another thing that was weird was that I think it just regurgitates therapy concepts but neither of the main characters use any of it. On the bright side I thought that that the family scenes for both of them were sweet. I also enjoyed their friendship when they were just being people not falling in love. Sadly, I don't know who I would recommend this book to.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Betty Cayouette for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
April 27, 2025
Maeve and Finn are old college friends with a love, relationship and sex podcast that has just taken off with a huge contract. However, they are on the outs. After taking their friendship to the next level, the two decided to pause things to focus on the contract and Finn got together with another woman. Maeve hates him. The two can hardly salvage a professional relationship, let alone a friendship. But is there still hope for something more?
Let me start this by saying I HATE MAEVE! She is terrible. She loves to be the victim. Finn did nothing wrong and is such a sweetie, so obviously trying to prove himself to her. She's too ridiculous and as much as she's a therapist and an expert on giving advice, she needs serious help. She made me want to throw the book I hated her so much!
But I though Finn was the sweetest male lead, such a good choice. He was right for Maeve. Who else could put up with her?! Even though she herself annoyed me, I really liked this book and their relationship. I don't always like books where I hate a main character so much, but this one still worked for me! Their chemistry was amazing. The hatred, then the friendship and easy fitting together they had- it was perfection and readers will believe it. You can fall into their relationship and believe their years of shared history quickly.
The podcast was also fun, as were certain publicity events. The Met Gala was a cool section and something many readers daydream of attending! The ending did drag a little and got to be too cheesy for me, but overall, I still enjoyed this book.
Thanks so much to both St. Martin's Press and Betty Cayouette for my free advanced reader copy. My review is unbiased and opinions my own.
This book releases May 6, so keep an eye out!
#SMPEarlyReader #tellmehowyoureallyfeel #bettycayouette #friendstolovers #workplaceromance #romancepodcast
Let me start this by saying I HATE MAEVE! She is terrible. She loves to be the victim. Finn did nothing wrong and is such a sweetie, so obviously trying to prove himself to her. She's too ridiculous and as much as she's a therapist and an expert on giving advice, she needs serious help. She made me want to throw the book I hated her so much!
But I though Finn was the sweetest male lead, such a good choice. He was right for Maeve. Who else could put up with her?! Even though she herself annoyed me, I really liked this book and their relationship. I don't always like books where I hate a main character so much, but this one still worked for me! Their chemistry was amazing. The hatred, then the friendship and easy fitting together they had- it was perfection and readers will believe it. You can fall into their relationship and believe their years of shared history quickly.
The podcast was also fun, as were certain publicity events. The Met Gala was a cool section and something many readers daydream of attending! The ending did drag a little and got to be too cheesy for me, but overall, I still enjoyed this book.
Thanks so much to both St. Martin's Press and Betty Cayouette for my free advanced reader copy. My review is unbiased and opinions my own.
This book releases May 6, so keep an eye out!
#SMPEarlyReader #tellmehowyoureallyfeel #bettycayouette #friendstolovers #workplaceromance #romancepodcast
July 4, 2025
This entire book was the two main characters not communicating (which is ironic given they co-host a podcast which is essentially about communicating) but, I’m not going to lie, I was entertained for the first 85% or so until I truly started to get annoyed with the MMC (Finn). This dude makes like three massive transgressions throughout the book and I do not get why the FMC (Maeve) keeps forgiving him! He’s this entitled, rich boy who has gotten everything he has ever wanted and it shows. Maeve had her own issues but I could overlook all of them compared to the glaring red flag that is Finn.
I actually really enjoy the author’s writing style and I liked her first book. I think she can come back from this with another solid romance. She does a great job writing banter and the chemistry between the characters was legit.
The theme of gender pay equality was great. Really loved that the author highlighted that and how overlooked it is but the more were too many problems with the rest of the book from a thematic standpoint for me to truly enjoy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I actually really enjoy the author’s writing style and I liked her first book. I think she can come back from this with another solid romance. She does a great job writing banter and the chemistry between the characters was legit.
The theme of gender pay equality was great. Really loved that the author highlighted that and how overlooked it is but the more were too many problems with the rest of the book from a thematic standpoint for me to truly enjoy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 28, 2025
oh i just loved this wow
October 3, 2025
Overall, 2.5 Rounded. I’m glad this wasn’t Betty’s first book as I wouldn’t have continued to read her works if this was my only example. I really enjoyed the her debut, so I was excited for this second novel. Sadly, this one just didn’t work for me and was a huge disappointment.
The constant pity party Maeve continues to throw for herself gets old really fast. I think I would like Maeve more if she wasn’t constantly reminding herself and the reader how her sisters are better than her, how any woman she meets is better than her, or how any woman Finn mentions is better than her. It was exhausting. The book could have been 20% less if a quarter of the pity party was cut. There where several instances while reading where I threw my hands up in frustration wanting the party to end.
The whole break up “incident” is mentioned all the time, but when we finally find out what happened I was let down. It is built up as this huge moment where Finn messed up and in the end it ended up being a moment were they were BOTH scared and all the blame was put on him. Again Maeve has a constant victim mentality and doesn’t ever take responsibility for her choices. In my opinion she is just as much to blame for the “incident”.
For large parts of the book, Maeve doesn’t come across as a woman in her late 20s and a professionally trained therapist. Instead she appears immature/childish. She offers great advice to the guests on their podcast, but she never applies it to herself. When something happens instead of talking it out she literally walks away and slams a door. This happened more than once. I don’t recall her once apologizing for any of her actions until the 99% mark and that apology felt rushed/insincere compared to the MANY times Finn apologizes or the examples Maeve helps others compose.
Several parts and phrases were very repetitive. The same phrases were used over and over again instead of using new wording to say the same thing. There is a lot of miscommunication and mixed signals. I also wonder if Maeve is an unreliable narrator as her internal monologue was very repetitive and she missed a lot of things in the real world while she was always belittling herself.
I’m not trying to say the gender pay gap isn’t a big deal, but the way it was forced into this narrative was awful. As a reader we are beat over the head with it over and over and over again. I really don’t think we needed the chaos that happened post 90%. At that point the gender pay gap point had been made enough times and pushing it again so late in the story felt preachy and disingenuous.
At the end of the day, I didn’t believe the HEA. At best they have a HFN. The whole fact that Maeve was still massively insecure with herself, their relationship, and him at the 90-95% mark isn’t a good look. Even after a decade of therapy she is still too insecure to be with someone who is remotely successful or knows successful people. I really think that it will only take one slight hiccup for her to be back to slamming doors and walking away from a conversation when she is upset.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The constant pity party Maeve continues to throw for herself gets old really fast. I think I would like Maeve more if she wasn’t constantly reminding herself and the reader how her sisters are better than her, how any woman she meets is better than her, or how any woman Finn mentions is better than her. It was exhausting. The book could have been 20% less if a quarter of the pity party was cut. There where several instances while reading where I threw my hands up in frustration wanting the party to end.
The whole break up “incident” is mentioned all the time, but when we finally find out what happened I was let down. It is built up as this huge moment where Finn messed up and in the end it ended up being a moment were they were BOTH scared and all the blame was put on him. Again Maeve has a constant victim mentality and doesn’t ever take responsibility for her choices. In my opinion she is just as much to blame for the “incident”.
For large parts of the book, Maeve doesn’t come across as a woman in her late 20s and a professionally trained therapist. Instead she appears immature/childish. She offers great advice to the guests on their podcast, but she never applies it to herself. When something happens instead of talking it out she literally walks away and slams a door. This happened more than once. I don’t recall her once apologizing for any of her actions until the 99% mark and that apology felt rushed/insincere compared to the MANY times Finn apologizes or the examples Maeve helps others compose.
Several parts and phrases were very repetitive. The same phrases were used over and over again instead of using new wording to say the same thing. There is a lot of miscommunication and mixed signals. I also wonder if Maeve is an unreliable narrator as her internal monologue was very repetitive and she missed a lot of things in the real world while she was always belittling herself.
I’m not trying to say the gender pay gap isn’t a big deal, but the way it was forced into this narrative was awful. As a reader we are beat over the head with it over and over and over again. I really don’t think we needed the chaos that happened post 90%. At that point the gender pay gap point had been made enough times and pushing it again so late in the story felt preachy and disingenuous.
At the end of the day, I didn’t believe the HEA. At best they have a HFN. The whole fact that Maeve was still massively insecure with herself, their relationship, and him at the 90-95% mark isn’t a good look. Even after a decade of therapy she is still too insecure to be with someone who is remotely successful or knows successful people. I really think that it will only take one slight hiccup for her to be back to slamming doors and walking away from a conversation when she is upset.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 13, 2024
The plot: The Tell Me How You Really Feel podcast is breaking new ground with a huge studio deal, primarily due to the sizzling chemistry between its co-hosts Maeve and Finn. The only problem? It's difficult to continue to film a top-notch sex and relationships podcast when you're not on speaking terms anymore. Maeve is a charismatic licensed therapist, but she can't find the words to process her fight with Finn. And Finn's a handsome, former actor accustomed to getting everything he wants.. until what he wants is second chance with Maeve. Can the pair find a way to rebuild their relationship and give the world the second season of the viral podcast they want? Or will they crash and burn in epic fashion, forced to forfeit a multi-million dollar deal and a chance at podcast history. I recommend this book to fans of second chance romance, forced proximity, and general romance.
Maeve and Finn have been best friends since college, inseparable until their recent rift. The book takes us through the journey of their relationship in flashbacks from the the podcast's humble beginnings up until present day, at the peak of their careers. The "big reveal" of the reason for their feud comes toward the end of the book, bringing us along in suspense as to the details behind the clearly romantically-driven falling out. Along the way, we get to hear from both Maeve and Finn in alternating perspectives that complete the narrative.
My opinion: I liked this book. The strongest elements were the deep emotional scenes (scenes describing anxiety disorders, panic attacks, feelings of low self-worth) and exploration of serious topics (pay and gender inequity, sex disparities, and more.) I really liked the focus on mental health and therapy throughout the book, as it's important to destigmatize both for readers. One aspect I struggled with throughout the book is the inconsistency of both characters from one scene to the next. For example, in one scene we see Maeve and Finn as best friends who can talk about anything, and in the next they are breaking up over a small miscommunication because Maeve isn't clear with her words and Finn doesn't bother to clarify. Ditto with Maeve as the badass feminist icon who stand her own ground with difficult people, but refuses to say a word when Finn crashes her magazine set and steals her big photoshoot. The Finn of flashbacks also seems inconsistent (and much more likable, considerate, and caring) than Finn in the present day. I'm not sure if those inconsistencies were deliberate, and a comment on how our personalities and actions can fluctuate, or something that could have been smoother with an additional edit. . Overall, I enjoyed reading this and found it a unique spin on the "podcast book" and second-chance romance. I'll read anything Betty Cayouette writes because there's a sweet yearning in all of the books that's not easy to find in other romance novels.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
Maeve and Finn have been best friends since college, inseparable until their recent rift. The book takes us through the journey of their relationship in flashbacks from the the podcast's humble beginnings up until present day, at the peak of their careers. The "big reveal" of the reason for their feud comes toward the end of the book, bringing us along in suspense as to the details behind the clearly romantically-driven falling out. Along the way, we get to hear from both Maeve and Finn in alternating perspectives that complete the narrative.
My opinion: I liked this book. The strongest elements were the deep emotional scenes (scenes describing anxiety disorders, panic attacks, feelings of low self-worth) and exploration of serious topics (pay and gender inequity, sex disparities, and more.) I really liked the focus on mental health and therapy throughout the book, as it's important to destigmatize both for readers. One aspect I struggled with throughout the book is the inconsistency of both characters from one scene to the next. For example, in one scene we see Maeve and Finn as best friends who can talk about anything, and in the next they are breaking up over a small miscommunication because Maeve isn't clear with her words and Finn doesn't bother to clarify. Ditto with Maeve as the badass feminist icon who stand her own ground with difficult people, but refuses to say a word when Finn crashes her magazine set and steals her big photoshoot. The Finn of flashbacks also seems inconsistent (and much more likable, considerate, and caring) than Finn in the present day. I'm not sure if those inconsistencies were deliberate, and a comment on how our personalities and actions can fluctuate, or something that could have been smoother with an additional edit. . Overall, I enjoyed reading this and found it a unique spin on the "podcast book" and second-chance romance. I'll read anything Betty Cayouette writes because there's a sweet yearning in all of the books that's not easy to find in other romance novels.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
June 5, 2025
I just finished Tell Me How You Really Feel by Betty Cayouette and here are my musings.
Maeve and Finn have a hit podcast… All about sex and relationships… He has the star quality and she has the knowledge… They are about to be brought but they cannot be in the same room. Maeve feels betrayed and Finn wants to prove himself to her but can they get past themselves to be honest with each other… The way they are honest with their audience?
I actually enjoyed this one more than others seemed to. I thought it was lighthearted and super fun! I did a lot of laughing which is exactly what I want from a rom-com. Now, I will confess there wasn’t much in the way of romance but I did like the build up. Friends with sexual chemistry is always a win for me.
I wasn’t a fan of Finn. He was an epic nepo baby and he was a bit of a brat but I do think he was balanced out with Maeve which pleased me immensely. Now I am well known for my hatred of miscommunication and honestly, they were both the issue here. She put the brakes on, asked for space for a set amount of time and then the time crept passed and still she didn’t give him an answer. She basically ghosted him. So when someone points this out… he asks, and she sends him to be with someone else. So he did. UGHHHHH. It is not my jam but there was enough good stuff that I could get past the miscommunication.
I thought the writing was good and I will look for more from this author but I was hoping for a bit more. Maybe less drama and slightly more likeable characters then this would have been a true win.
I bet the audio would have been great!
3.5 stars
Maeve and Finn have a hit podcast… All about sex and relationships… He has the star quality and she has the knowledge… They are about to be brought but they cannot be in the same room. Maeve feels betrayed and Finn wants to prove himself to her but can they get past themselves to be honest with each other… The way they are honest with their audience?
I actually enjoyed this one more than others seemed to. I thought it was lighthearted and super fun! I did a lot of laughing which is exactly what I want from a rom-com. Now, I will confess there wasn’t much in the way of romance but I did like the build up. Friends with sexual chemistry is always a win for me.
I wasn’t a fan of Finn. He was an epic nepo baby and he was a bit of a brat but I do think he was balanced out with Maeve which pleased me immensely. Now I am well known for my hatred of miscommunication and honestly, they were both the issue here. She put the brakes on, asked for space for a set amount of time and then the time crept passed and still she didn’t give him an answer. She basically ghosted him. So when someone points this out… he asks, and she sends him to be with someone else. So he did. UGHHHHH. It is not my jam but there was enough good stuff that I could get past the miscommunication.
I thought the writing was good and I will look for more from this author but I was hoping for a bit more. Maybe less drama and slightly more likeable characters then this would have been a true win.
I bet the audio would have been great!
3.5 stars
May 7, 2025
La autora debe creer que yo voy a defender a una protagonista femenina que durante UN MES no le habla al protagonista masculino porque no esta lista para tener una relación romántica después de tener sexo porque el protagonista empieza a salir con otra chica. Pues no. Ella no se merece una disculpa ni que el tio este durante TODO el libro cargando con la culpa de las decisiones que tomo ella al NO DECIDIR NADA. Primero de todo porque no es justo. Y segundo porque es completamente absurdo. No puedes estar todo el libro diciendo que la protagonista es muy consicente de sus emociones, se le da muy bien la comunicación...porque no lo estas demostrando. Es que ni siquiera es un personaje complejo, es bastante plana.
Sobre el protagonista masculino: es complemente plano y vacío. No tiene nada. No entiendo que especie de atracción produce si es un pan si sal. Lo único que tiene es que es rico. Y ya. Y se nota lo plano que es porque a mi no es capaz de convencerme de que le gusta la protagonista. No tienen conexión y si la tienen en algun momento es porque la autora te lo recuerda cada x líneas. No hay sensación de atracción ni si quiera me pueden convencer en las escenas spicy (no hay muchas, gracias a dios. Es que estas dos personas jamás han estado en una sala solos en plan no hay forma no hablarían de nada son lelos.
Pues eso no me ha gustado, la trama es floja, las movidas que pasan cogidas con pinzas y slowburn mis huevos.
Sobre el protagonista masculino: es complemente plano y vacío. No tiene nada. No entiendo que especie de atracción produce si es un pan si sal. Lo único que tiene es que es rico. Y ya. Y se nota lo plano que es porque a mi no es capaz de convencerme de que le gusta la protagonista. No tienen conexión y si la tienen en algun momento es porque la autora te lo recuerda cada x líneas. No hay sensación de atracción ni si quiera me pueden convencer en las escenas spicy (no hay muchas, gracias a dios. Es que estas dos personas jamás han estado en una sala solos en plan no hay forma no hablarían de nada son lelos.
Pues eso no me ha gustado, la trama es floja, las movidas que pasan cogidas con pinzas y slowburn mis huevos.
April 23, 2025
Polarizing Podcasting & Swoonworthy Romance!
Betty Cayouette builds a truly fantastic (and harrowing at times) romance that readers are going to love! It has all the staples: enemies-to-lovers, a pulse-pounding plot, and positive feminist messaging that people need to hear. This story follows two friends as they launch the dating and relationship advice podcast of their dreams. It is raw and vulnerable while maintaining some delicious tension that will keep readers' mouths watering.
The plot advances at a steady pace by switching perspectives and providing background on our two love interests. There are times when I felt the story was rushing by, and then other times, the story slowed down to give the characters time to breathe through their feelings. It felt nice to sort of have that unique pacing because it made the book seem so real.
I think this is such a great love story. There are plenty of vulnerable emotions, and they give characters a breath of life. Readers are going to resonate with this story. You absolutely should check it out!
Betty Cayouette builds a truly fantastic (and harrowing at times) romance that readers are going to love! It has all the staples: enemies-to-lovers, a pulse-pounding plot, and positive feminist messaging that people need to hear. This story follows two friends as they launch the dating and relationship advice podcast of their dreams. It is raw and vulnerable while maintaining some delicious tension that will keep readers' mouths watering.
The plot advances at a steady pace by switching perspectives and providing background on our two love interests. There are times when I felt the story was rushing by, and then other times, the story slowed down to give the characters time to breathe through their feelings. It felt nice to sort of have that unique pacing because it made the book seem so real.
I think this is such a great love story. There are plenty of vulnerable emotions, and they give characters a breath of life. Readers are going to resonate with this story. You absolutely should check it out!
July 14, 2025
Maeve and Finn are cohosts of ‘Tell Me How You Really Feel,’ a sex and relationships podcast that just earned them a huge three-year exclusive contract with Streamify. Just before signing, these college besties stopped asking themselves “what if?” and finally leaned in to their physical attraction for one another, but their assumptions and lack of openness afterward puts a huge strain on their professional relationship and makes returning to the way it was between them nearly impossible. Now navigating the aftermath of being cohosts that went from ‘best friends to lovers to ex-flings,’ the pair must find a way to work together and keep up their #1 ratings despite the tension in their once-perfect friendship and the different ways they will handle all the doubt, insecurities, and sexism the spotlight brings.
Spoilers incoming…
The miscommunication trope was stretched to the absolute limit here. I was a bit shocked when the switch between the past and present timelines finally revealed what happened after Maeve and Finn’s one night together: Finn asked for clarification about the weird month+ break she immediately asked for and then got upset when he did exactly what she told him to. I absolutely get that any woman would WANT the man you’re in love with to not have to ask at all, but she made him doubt what they had in asking for the extended break and *ahem* is an actual THERAPIST who can’t say what she really thinks and feels to the one person who needs to hear it when he explicitly asks! Finn is a beautiful, privileged dumbdumb for so many of the choices he makes, but this one was on her much more than she took accountability for because the complex she has about her humble upbringing and never feeling like she’d measure up to his pedigree. For two people who make millions upon millions of dollars podcast-preaching honesty, accountability, and healthy communication in relationships, they… didn’t do any of that until wounds really festered. Maeve expected Finn to be a mind-reader and then when he wasn’t (and even made you doubt if he had a single thought in his head), her anxiety and insecurities went through the roof.
Despite the miscommunication train being how this entire story goes from beginning to end, the author does a great job of calling out many forms of sexism in the media/workplace and tackles the double-standard women face. She also gives some great representation for anxiety, imposter syndrome, therapy, and sex-positivity. I will still read whatever she writes next to see how her writing style and characters grows with each book!
Spoilers incoming…
The miscommunication trope was stretched to the absolute limit here. I was a bit shocked when the switch between the past and present timelines finally revealed what happened after Maeve and Finn’s one night together: Finn asked for clarification about the weird month+ break she immediately asked for and then got upset when he did exactly what she told him to. I absolutely get that any woman would WANT the man you’re in love with to not have to ask at all, but she made him doubt what they had in asking for the extended break and *ahem* is an actual THERAPIST who can’t say what she really thinks and feels to the one person who needs to hear it when he explicitly asks! Finn is a beautiful, privileged dumbdumb for so many of the choices he makes, but this one was on her much more than she took accountability for because the complex she has about her humble upbringing and never feeling like she’d measure up to his pedigree. For two people who make millions upon millions of dollars podcast-preaching honesty, accountability, and healthy communication in relationships, they… didn’t do any of that until wounds really festered. Maeve expected Finn to be a mind-reader and then when he wasn’t (and even made you doubt if he had a single thought in his head), her anxiety and insecurities went through the roof.
Despite the miscommunication train being how this entire story goes from beginning to end, the author does a great job of calling out many forms of sexism in the media/workplace and tackles the double-standard women face. She also gives some great representation for anxiety, imposter syndrome, therapy, and sex-positivity. I will still read whatever she writes next to see how her writing style and characters grows with each book!
May 4, 2025
This is an ARC review thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press.
This is my first book by this author. I was really excited to be approved for this arc. This book is an easy read, very predictable. Idk why, but I knew the twist was coming. It was a cute story. Perfect beach read.
This is my first book by this author. I was really excited to be approved for this arc. This book is an easy read, very predictable. Idk why, but I knew the twist was coming. It was a cute story. Perfect beach read.
April 1, 2025
I love when a B+ man becomes an A+ man with the help of a woman's friends and family and his own family who all agree he doesn't deserve her!!!
July 2, 2025
Boy oh boy, where do I begin. I judged this book by its cover and I was right. This takes the cake for my least favorite romance book (Kiss Her Once For Me has been dethroned!) I almost didn't want to admit on Goodreads that I read this book, but I must further my yearly reading goal. I wish I was at least able to give a 0 star rating to properly convey my feelings towards this book.
First of all, the book is about podcasters. Knowing that, I am not sure what compelled me to check this out from the library. The synopsis alone was everything I hate in a book. I feel like the last thing we as a society need is to hear MORE about people who do not need podcasts but somehow have podcasts. And the podcast in this book was a sex podcast. Could it be worse? By the time I finished the book, my mind was melted from reading the word podcast so many times and it had lost all meaning.
Literally everything in this book was unrealistic and annoying. Within the first chapter, I found out the main girl had anxiety and I could already tell it was going to make her an insufferable character. Even worse, the main boy ALSO had anxiety and it also made him insufferable. Both of them were incapable of doing anything whatsoever because they just sat around with their anxiety all the time. It was cringe and stupid. I think romance authors need to be banned from using anxiety as a plot point from now on.
This book was way harder to finish than I would expect from something of its low caliber. However, I was literally bored to death and found myself doing anything but reading this book. I literally could not have cared less about the idiotic characters, but I was too far in to stop reading. I was also irritated because there was literally not a single reason for the woman to take the man back. He did every single thing she was worried he would do and then frequently doubled down and refused to apologize. He was actually a total pathetic manchild and the woman was a total loser for taking him back. It was especially annoying because she was supposed to be this badass feminist who preached independence and self worth on her stupid loser ass sex podcast. I read this more than two weeks ago and I'm getting angry all over again thinking about how much I hated this book and its stupid characters.
First of all, the book is about podcasters. Knowing that, I am not sure what compelled me to check this out from the library. The synopsis alone was everything I hate in a book. I feel like the last thing we as a society need is to hear MORE about people who do not need podcasts but somehow have podcasts. And the podcast in this book was a sex podcast. Could it be worse? By the time I finished the book, my mind was melted from reading the word podcast so many times and it had lost all meaning.
Literally everything in this book was unrealistic and annoying. Within the first chapter, I found out the main girl had anxiety and I could already tell it was going to make her an insufferable character. Even worse, the main boy ALSO had anxiety and it also made him insufferable. Both of them were incapable of doing anything whatsoever because they just sat around with their anxiety all the time. It was cringe and stupid. I think romance authors need to be banned from using anxiety as a plot point from now on.
This book was way harder to finish than I would expect from something of its low caliber. However, I was literally bored to death and found myself doing anything but reading this book. I literally could not have cared less about the idiotic characters, but I was too far in to stop reading. I was also irritated because there was literally not a single reason for the woman to take the man back. He did every single thing she was worried he would do and then frequently doubled down and refused to apologize. He was actually a total pathetic manchild and the woman was a total loser for taking him back. It was especially annoying because she was supposed to be this badass feminist who preached independence and self worth on her stupid loser ass sex podcast. I read this more than two weeks ago and I'm getting angry all over again thinking about how much I hated this book and its stupid characters.
May 19, 2025
The story follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate the aftermath of their brief romantic entanglement that ended badly when Finn began dating his childhood crush, Cassidy. Now faced with a lucrative three-year exclusive deal with streaming platform Streamify for their sex and relationships podcast "Tell Me How You Really Feel," they must find a way to work together despite their painful past.
What elevates this premise beyond standard romance fare is Cayouette's sharp examination of gender dynamics in the entertainment industry. Through flashbacks interspersed throughout the narrative, we witness how Maeve and Finn's friendship blooms into something more as their podcast gains popularity, only to splinter when miscommunication and assumptions tear them apart. The present-day storyline tackles the challenges they face as they attempt to maintain their professional relationship while dealing with unresolved feelings and industry-wide sexism.
Character Development: Flawed, Fascinating, and Fully Realized
Cayouette excels at crafting multi-dimensional characters with relatable insecurities and authentic growth arcs:
Maeve is brilliantly realized—a clinically trained therapist who ironically struggles with anxiety and imposter syndrome. Her character embodies the challenges many women face in male-dominated industries, constantly questioning her worth and wondering if her success stems from her own merit or simply proximity to someone more naturally privileged. Maeve's journey toward claiming her accomplishments and speaking up for herself resonates powerfully.
Finn starts as somewhat frustrating but grows substantially throughout the novel. His privilege blinds him to many realities Maeve faces, yet his genuine desire to understand and be better makes his character arc satisfying. His struggle between wanting normalcy while being drawn to creative pursuits adds compelling complexity.
The supporting cast shines equally bright:
- Maeve's sisters provide crucial emotional support while calling out both protagonists when needed
- Finn's celebrity parents (particularly his mother Evangeline) offer nuanced explorations of fame and its impact on family dynamics
- Cassidy, rather than being a one-dimensional "other woman," emerges as a thoughtful character with her own agency and insights
Writing Style: Witty, Warm, and Wonderfully Balanced
Cayouette writes with confident pacing, shifting between past and present seamlessly while maintaining narrative momentum. The dual perspective structure allows readers to understand both protagonists' internal struggles, creating empathy for each even when they're at odds.
The dialogue sparkles with authenticity, especially in the podcast scenes and banter between the protagonists. Cayouette has an ear for how people actually speak, and this extends to her representation of anxiety—Maeve's intrusive thoughts and spiraling fears are rendered with painful accuracy that will resonate with many readers.
Strengths That Make This Novel Stand Out
- Representation of anxiety: The novel portrays anxiety not as a quirky character trait but as a complex condition that impacts relationships and decision-making. Maeve's coping mechanisms and therapy journey are integrated organically into the narrative.
- Exploration of privilege: Through Finn's character, Cayouette examines how privilege operates—not with heavy-handed messaging but through realistic blind spots and gradual awareness.
- Modern career aspirations: The podcast setting feels contemporary and well-researched, avoiding common pitfalls of "glamorous job" romances by showing the actual work involved.
- Meaningful conflict: The conflicts between Maeve and Finn aren't contrived but stem from genuine character differences and real-world issues like pay inequality and credit distribution.
- Sex positivity: The novel handles discussions of sexuality with refreshing frankness that aligns perfectly with the premise of a sex-and-relationships podcast.
Areas for Growth: Where the Novel Falls Short
Despite its many strengths, the novel isn't without flaws:
- The resolution of the pay gap storyline feels somewhat rushed, with corporate mechanisms conveniently falling into place to address the inequality
- Some readers might find the numerous podcast celebrities and industry jargon occasionally distracting
- The final chapters move at a slightly accelerated pace compared to the thoughtfully developed earlier sections
- A few side plots (like Maeve's murder-scene house) are introduced with emphasis but don't fully pay off narratively
Thematic Richness: More Than Just Romance
What elevates Tell Me How You Really Feel beyond category romance are its thoughtful explorations of substantive themes:
- Gender inequality in media: The novel doesn't shy away from examining how women must work twice as hard for half the recognition
- Mental health stigma: Through Maeve's journey, Cayouette normalizes therapy and anxiety management
- The cost of fame: Both protagonists grapple with the personal price of public exposure
- The power of genuine apology: The novel distinguishes between performative contrition and meaningful accountability
- Finding purpose versus finding success: Finn's character arc particularly delves into the difference between external validation and internal fulfillment
Final Verdict: A Smart, Sexy Second-Chance Romance
Tell Me How You Really Feel delivers exactly what the best contemporary romance should: compelling characters whose journey toward each other parallels their personal growth, authentic obstacles that feel grounded in reality rather than contrived for drama, and emotional catharsis that feels earned rather than gifted.
Cayouette's sophomore effort confirms her talent for crafting relationships that feel modern and relatable while exploring timeless emotional truths.
What elevates this premise beyond standard romance fare is Cayouette's sharp examination of gender dynamics in the entertainment industry. Through flashbacks interspersed throughout the narrative, we witness how Maeve and Finn's friendship blooms into something more as their podcast gains popularity, only to splinter when miscommunication and assumptions tear them apart. The present-day storyline tackles the challenges they face as they attempt to maintain their professional relationship while dealing with unresolved feelings and industry-wide sexism.
Character Development: Flawed, Fascinating, and Fully Realized
Cayouette excels at crafting multi-dimensional characters with relatable insecurities and authentic growth arcs:
Maeve is brilliantly realized—a clinically trained therapist who ironically struggles with anxiety and imposter syndrome. Her character embodies the challenges many women face in male-dominated industries, constantly questioning her worth and wondering if her success stems from her own merit or simply proximity to someone more naturally privileged. Maeve's journey toward claiming her accomplishments and speaking up for herself resonates powerfully.
Finn starts as somewhat frustrating but grows substantially throughout the novel. His privilege blinds him to many realities Maeve faces, yet his genuine desire to understand and be better makes his character arc satisfying. His struggle between wanting normalcy while being drawn to creative pursuits adds compelling complexity.
The supporting cast shines equally bright:
- Maeve's sisters provide crucial emotional support while calling out both protagonists when needed
- Finn's celebrity parents (particularly his mother Evangeline) offer nuanced explorations of fame and its impact on family dynamics
- Cassidy, rather than being a one-dimensional "other woman," emerges as a thoughtful character with her own agency and insights
Writing Style: Witty, Warm, and Wonderfully Balanced
Cayouette writes with confident pacing, shifting between past and present seamlessly while maintaining narrative momentum. The dual perspective structure allows readers to understand both protagonists' internal struggles, creating empathy for each even when they're at odds.
The dialogue sparkles with authenticity, especially in the podcast scenes and banter between the protagonists. Cayouette has an ear for how people actually speak, and this extends to her representation of anxiety—Maeve's intrusive thoughts and spiraling fears are rendered with painful accuracy that will resonate with many readers.
Strengths That Make This Novel Stand Out
- Representation of anxiety: The novel portrays anxiety not as a quirky character trait but as a complex condition that impacts relationships and decision-making. Maeve's coping mechanisms and therapy journey are integrated organically into the narrative.
- Exploration of privilege: Through Finn's character, Cayouette examines how privilege operates—not with heavy-handed messaging but through realistic blind spots and gradual awareness.
- Modern career aspirations: The podcast setting feels contemporary and well-researched, avoiding common pitfalls of "glamorous job" romances by showing the actual work involved.
- Meaningful conflict: The conflicts between Maeve and Finn aren't contrived but stem from genuine character differences and real-world issues like pay inequality and credit distribution.
- Sex positivity: The novel handles discussions of sexuality with refreshing frankness that aligns perfectly with the premise of a sex-and-relationships podcast.
Areas for Growth: Where the Novel Falls Short
Despite its many strengths, the novel isn't without flaws:
- The resolution of the pay gap storyline feels somewhat rushed, with corporate mechanisms conveniently falling into place to address the inequality
- Some readers might find the numerous podcast celebrities and industry jargon occasionally distracting
- The final chapters move at a slightly accelerated pace compared to the thoughtfully developed earlier sections
- A few side plots (like Maeve's murder-scene house) are introduced with emphasis but don't fully pay off narratively
Thematic Richness: More Than Just Romance
What elevates Tell Me How You Really Feel beyond category romance are its thoughtful explorations of substantive themes:
- Gender inequality in media: The novel doesn't shy away from examining how women must work twice as hard for half the recognition
- Mental health stigma: Through Maeve's journey, Cayouette normalizes therapy and anxiety management
- The cost of fame: Both protagonists grapple with the personal price of public exposure
- The power of genuine apology: The novel distinguishes between performative contrition and meaningful accountability
- Finding purpose versus finding success: Finn's character arc particularly delves into the difference between external validation and internal fulfillment
Final Verdict: A Smart, Sexy Second-Chance Romance
Tell Me How You Really Feel delivers exactly what the best contemporary romance should: compelling characters whose journey toward each other parallels their personal growth, authentic obstacles that feel grounded in reality rather than contrived for drama, and emotional catharsis that feels earned rather than gifted.
Cayouette's sophomore effort confirms her talent for crafting relationships that feel modern and relatable while exploring timeless emotional truths.
December 28, 2024
So I have to be honest and say I won the advanced copy in a Goodreads giveaway. I had never heard of this author before but the story sounded like could be good. I was honestly blown away. This book was incredible. The tension, the content, just the right amount of spice! As soon as I finished it, I bought Betty’s other book. Maeve is incredibly relatable and likeable and you spend the whole book pulling for her and a happy ending. I cannot recommend it enough!
Want to read
November 11, 2024"Maeve and Finn, co-hosts of the groundbreaking sex and relationships podcast Tell Me How You Really Feel, have just landed the deal of a lifetime. But the excitement of this new venture is dampened by one slight problem: Maeve and Finn absolutely hate each other."
March 17, 2025
Thank you to Random House UK for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Podcasters Maeve and Finn have just gotten a life-changing, blockbuster deal for their viral sex and relationships podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel. Unfortunately, given their history, they can barely be in the same room together. Now, Maeve needs to find a way to keep the show going without letting Finn completely ruin her. But to make things even more challenging, Finn is dead set on winning her back over. Told between flashbacks to the start of their show and the present, Tell Me How You Really Feel follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate their growing celebrity, try to make podcast history, and rediscover what they mean to each other.
Maeve is, undeniably, an extremely hard worker. All she does is to achieve her dreams and support her family. I absolutely loved that we got to see her raw vulnerability with her anxiety. It endeared her to me immediately and I could empathise with her struggles. I deal with anxiety too and when it spirals uncontrollably, it feels like everything is going to implode and you cannot be saved. Seeing Maeve overcome these hurdles was amazing, as was the renewed determination she fought back with. She is such a strong and independent woman who deserves to be celebrated.
Finn is someone who gets everything handed to him and is rather oblivious to the struggles of others. So he gets to be in the position where he is at a complete loss and it cannot magically be fixed. It was certainly interesting seeing these different versions of Finn. He is charming, charismatic and confident - until he isn’t. Seeing him more vulnerable and confused was a brilliant switch for him. It allowed us to connect to him more deeply and understand his thought process. I think he ended up in a brilliant place come the end of the book. He gains a deeper understanding and recognition of the feelings of others, and his own.
When I saw this one available to request, I found myself rather intrigued. I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts, but they are growing on me a bit and the thought of seeing the other side had me eager to read. And this book did not disappoint. This plot is brilliant, switching from current day and to before the podcast blew up in its massive way. There is this brilliant flow that utterly swept me away in the story, leaving me desperate for more and frustrated when I had to put it down. There were so many relatable moments included too that just made it feel so real and engaging. The characters were brilliant. Largely focusing on our main duo, there wasn’t a huge cast of others. However, they were well crafted and none felt like an afterthought. They helped to propel the story forward and also added extra depth to Maeve and Finn’s emotions. There is of course a lot of talk about romance and sexiness. But is there much action in those departments here? YES OF COURSE! The romance moments were oh so fluffy and wonderful to read. Those soft moments brought such a grin to my face, wishing for a relationship as intimate and deep as that. The spicer moments were delightful yet still remaining so deep rooted in the emotions that the characters were experiencing, keeping those as the focus instead of the actions which was brilliantly in keeping with the theme of the entire book. The ending was a little choppy there for a moment but I rather liked that. Proof that not everything is smooth sailing but it is so, so worth it in the end.
Overall, Tell Me How You Really Feel is the ultimate friends to lovers book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thank you again to Random House UK for an advanced copy of this book.
Podcasters Maeve and Finn have just gotten a life-changing, blockbuster deal for their viral sex and relationships podcast, Tell Me How You Really Feel. Unfortunately, given their history, they can barely be in the same room together. Now, Maeve needs to find a way to keep the show going without letting Finn completely ruin her. But to make things even more challenging, Finn is dead set on winning her back over. Told between flashbacks to the start of their show and the present, Tell Me How You Really Feel follows Maeve and Finn as they navigate their growing celebrity, try to make podcast history, and rediscover what they mean to each other.
Maeve is, undeniably, an extremely hard worker. All she does is to achieve her dreams and support her family. I absolutely loved that we got to see her raw vulnerability with her anxiety. It endeared her to me immediately and I could empathise with her struggles. I deal with anxiety too and when it spirals uncontrollably, it feels like everything is going to implode and you cannot be saved. Seeing Maeve overcome these hurdles was amazing, as was the renewed determination she fought back with. She is such a strong and independent woman who deserves to be celebrated.
Finn is someone who gets everything handed to him and is rather oblivious to the struggles of others. So he gets to be in the position where he is at a complete loss and it cannot magically be fixed. It was certainly interesting seeing these different versions of Finn. He is charming, charismatic and confident - until he isn’t. Seeing him more vulnerable and confused was a brilliant switch for him. It allowed us to connect to him more deeply and understand his thought process. I think he ended up in a brilliant place come the end of the book. He gains a deeper understanding and recognition of the feelings of others, and his own.
When I saw this one available to request, I found myself rather intrigued. I’m not the biggest fan of podcasts, but they are growing on me a bit and the thought of seeing the other side had me eager to read. And this book did not disappoint. This plot is brilliant, switching from current day and to before the podcast blew up in its massive way. There is this brilliant flow that utterly swept me away in the story, leaving me desperate for more and frustrated when I had to put it down. There were so many relatable moments included too that just made it feel so real and engaging. The characters were brilliant. Largely focusing on our main duo, there wasn’t a huge cast of others. However, they were well crafted and none felt like an afterthought. They helped to propel the story forward and also added extra depth to Maeve and Finn’s emotions. There is of course a lot of talk about romance and sexiness. But is there much action in those departments here? YES OF COURSE! The romance moments were oh so fluffy and wonderful to read. Those soft moments brought such a grin to my face, wishing for a relationship as intimate and deep as that. The spicer moments were delightful yet still remaining so deep rooted in the emotions that the characters were experiencing, keeping those as the focus instead of the actions which was brilliantly in keeping with the theme of the entire book. The ending was a little choppy there for a moment but I rather liked that. Proof that not everything is smooth sailing but it is so, so worth it in the end.
Overall, Tell Me How You Really Feel is the ultimate friends to lovers book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thank you again to Random House UK for an advanced copy of this book.
April 18, 2025
I’m going to be honest.. I genuinely did not like this book.
I do not have time to walk on eggshells around people who are determined to interpret actions to mean that no one cares about them, even after they verbally state that said action is completely fine and they understand and even encourage said actions… and that’s who Maeve was. She drove me insane. And while Finn was a bit daft to the point of being a caricature of a clueless man, Maeve unfairly judged him because she thought she sucked and needed constant reassurance from everyone that she did not suck. She could not rise above anything that she interpreted as proof she sucked. When I found out the details of their initial falling out, I wanted to scream. Like that’s what happened?
I was annoyed that she consistently believed the worst about herself, to the point where at the very end, she found a balance and allowed herself to be filtered positive comments about her show and never negative ones and that was somehow “healing”.… She was a therapist and had been going to therapy for years, but I felt she was in no way ready for a relationship, especially with Finn because she couldn’t seem to get over the past.
I just can’t with people like this.
I feel that perhaps people who enjoy the miscommunication trope and want their books to highlight anxiety and gender inequality as well as focusing on positive reinforcement and growth through small steps may enjoy this, but that person is not me. This book was the opposite of the fun story I thought I was getting myself into.
I do not have time to walk on eggshells around people who are determined to interpret actions to mean that no one cares about them, even after they verbally state that said action is completely fine and they understand and even encourage said actions… and that’s who Maeve was. She drove me insane. And while Finn was a bit daft to the point of being a caricature of a clueless man, Maeve unfairly judged him because she thought she sucked and needed constant reassurance from everyone that she did not suck. She could not rise above anything that she interpreted as proof she sucked. When I found out the details of their initial falling out, I wanted to scream. Like that’s what happened?
I was annoyed that she consistently believed the worst about herself, to the point where at the very end, she found a balance and allowed herself to be filtered positive comments about her show and never negative ones and that was somehow “healing”.… She was a therapist and had been going to therapy for years, but I felt she was in no way ready for a relationship, especially with Finn because she couldn’t seem to get over the past.
I just can’t with people like this.
I feel that perhaps people who enjoy the miscommunication trope and want their books to highlight anxiety and gender inequality as well as focusing on positive reinforcement and growth through small steps may enjoy this, but that person is not me. This book was the opposite of the fun story I thought I was getting myself into.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 401 reviews