Review: Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake

I hadn’t read Mazey Eddings’s A Brush With Love, which was released earlier in 2022, and didn’t even realize Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake was part of the same world when I requested it to review. A trusted blogger had said she loved it and that was good enough for me! The novel was fun and sexy with some heavy undertones that gave the romance some depth.

Here’s the book’s description:

Lizzie has made endless mistakes. Kitchen fires, pyramid schemes, bangs (of the hair and human variety), you name it, she’s done it… and made a mess of it too. One mistake she’s never made is letting anyone get closer to her than a single hook-up. But after losing yet another bakery job due to her uncontrolled ADHD, she breaks her cardinal rule and has a two-night-stand that changes everything.
Once burned, twice shy, Rake has given up on relationships. And feelings. And any form of intimacy for that matter. Yet something about charming, chaotic Lizzie has him lowering his guard. For two nights, that is. Then it’s back home to Australia and far away from the pesky feelings Lizzie pulls from him. But when Lizzie tells him she’s got an unexpected bun in the oven, he’ll do whatever it takes to be a part of his child’s life… except be emotionally vulnerable, obviously. He’s never going to make that mistake again.
Through a series of mishaps, totally “platonic” single bed sharing, and an underground erotic baking scheme, Lizzie and Rake learn that even the biggest mistakes can have the most beautiful consequences.

So, here’s the thing. I had absolutely no idea that this was an accidental pregnancy story. I don’t know if I missed it in the description when I requested it, didn’t read the description, or had read a totally different and not yet finalized description (I requested the book way back in March or April). Whatever the reason, I did not know going in that Lizzie would end up pregnant. Was this a total dealbreaker? No. But I tend to avoid any books that are about pregnancies or include kids. It’s not my kind of read and there are too many other books out there. But by the time Lizzie realized she was pregnant (and, my god, sex ed really needs to be stepped up if (spoiler alert?) a 27-year-old woman who has lots of sex doesn’t realize that condoms expire and should not be kept crumpled at the bottom of a giant purse.), I was already pretty deep into the story. I am glad I continued because Eddings wrote a fun romance, but I still can’t help but be frustrated that I didn’t pay closer attention. *shrugs*

Eddings writes in her acknowledgements that she, like Lizzie, has ADHD. It hurt my heart that Lizzie’s family were so horrible to her and that her mom seemed to think that more medication and being “less” (lazy, loud, wild, etc.) would “cure” Lizzie (I was also thankful that Eddings’s mom was not like that, as also noted in the acknowledgments). I will also admit that things made a lot more sense when it was revealed (really early on) that Lizzie has ADHD. This is not really an admission I’m proud of because Eddings had a really great line later in the book where Lizzie was essentially saying that it’s hard to be a diagnosis and that her personality, what makes her HER, only makes sense to people once they realize she has ADHD. Ableist much, Kaley? In a perfect world we’d be accepting of all sorts of personalities and abilities, but our society is just not set up like that.

As for the actual romance in this romance novel? Oh, it was so fun. Rake and Lizzie are thrown together in circumstances that scare the ever-living shit out of me (if you haven’t figured out that I don’t have kids and don’t want them, you haven’t been paying attention) but they were able to work out a system through the chaos. And chaos it was. I loved that they were both, mostly, honest and were both really committed to making the co-parenting thing work. Of course, they were totally lying to themselves when they were trying to keep their hormones in check. Injuries would have been avoided if they had just given into their desires (seriously…there’s a bit of a mishap involving masturbation, a shower, and a pair of underwear). But both Rake and Lizzie had some commitment issues to work out and, to be totally fair, they hardly knew each other. It was so great to read, though, as they did get to know each other. You could tell that they were so well suited because Lizzie opened Rake up and he, in turn, understood her beautiful brain and they just worked so well together. If only they would realize it!

I had a good time reading Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings over the course of a summer long weekend. It kept me entertained and I think I’ll have to check out her backlist and whatever novel she comes out with next!

*An egalley of the novel was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*