Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings: Book Review

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake is a funny and emotional romance book featuring a baker with uncontrolled ADHD. I highly recommend it.

[book-info]

From The Publisher:

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.

My Thoughts:

This is a romance novel that tackles some heavier topics. When we are first introduced to Lizzie, we see a woman who is high-energy, spontaneous and speaks without a filter. She has a habit of being late, likes one-night stands and rarely attaches herself to others. She has a trio of friends who support her but can see that while they have grown up she has not.

We also see a woman who is living with ADHD and doing her best. Lizzie is constantly looking at ways to remind herself to take her medication which will decrease her symptoms. She is estranged from the family that was trying to make her be someone she clearly could not be and one that reinforced her failure.

Rake is an Australian businessman in town for a few days. He is just out of a long-term painful relationship and is focusing on his career. When he meets and then rescues Lizzie from a violent date in a bar, the two decide to hook up. The one-night stand turns into a whole weekend with the mutual understanding it was short-lived because Rake will be returning to Australia at the beginning of the week. What they don’t know is that weekend of passion would result in Lizzie becoming pregnant.

As the title alludes to, this accidental pregnancy creates a whole new turn of events for both Lizzie and Rake. Without giving too much away, each undergoes a significant transition as the pregnancy progresses. There are some very funny moments which brought some levity to the emotional feelings I felt while learning about Lizzie’s childhood.

The fact that the author also lives with ADHD comes across in her detailed development of Lizzie’s character. This in turn provides the reader with an enhanced level of understanding and empathy for those who live with ADHD.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the second book in the author’s A Brush With Love series but can certainly be read as a standalone. I recommend this book to those that appreciate romance novels, or stories of characters that live with life challenges. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

What I Liked:

• The detailed character development written in OwnVoices
• The level of care and empathy the author uses to describe Lizzie’s childhood
• The use of humour to provide levity.

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings

Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron

The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon