After Indira walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her, she is forced to move in with her brother and his fiance. It would be perfect timing to help them plan their wedding if her brother's best friend Jude wasn't also staying there. Indira and Jude have hated each other since childhood, but now that they are forced to spend time together, they realize they might have outgrown their childhood animosity. When Jude's PTSD from his time as a doctor during humanitarian crises makes attending wedding events stressful, and Indira hates seeing her ex and his new girlfriend at every wedding-related event, they agree to be each other's fake dates to the wedding. This was a fantastic romance that did a great job of handling the mental health issues both of the characters struggle with. I loved their relationship and loved their banter! Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, and I loved their fake dating story even more since they knew each other so well before pretending to date. This was a wonderful romance!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was the first book I've read by Mazey Eddings, and I can't wait to pick up the first two companion novels in the A Brush with Love series!

This book healed my inner child and did just as much work for my mental health as my therapist does!

I've been really lucky and picked up a few 5-star reads in a row, but this one is absolutely up there with my favorites of the year. I was lucky enough to have this ARC as both an ebook and an audiobook, and I'm so glad! This is how a contemporary romance should be done! There was just the right balance of humor, spice, and tackling of serious topics. I know it might feel overwhelming to some readers, but as someone who's in therapy, I really appreciated how normalized it was. Mental health still has a lot of stigma surrounding it, and this story made it feel approachable and integrated into day-to-day life in a way that felt really genuine and showed just how important it is to talk about.

I couldn't stop reading this book and devoured it within a 24-hour period! I loved the banter, all the tropes (brothers-best-friend, childhood frienemies-to-lovers, forced proximity), and especially the fact there was no third-act breakup! This book really felt like a soft, warm hug. It's so comforting, I know I'm going to keep coming back to it. I feel like any review I write won't do it justice, but it made me feel so deeply, and I already can't wait to reread it. I feel like it's going to be one of those books that I annotate and keep coming back to certain scenes as well as doing full rereads, too, so that should tell you enough. So if you're debating picking this up, just trust me and read it!

The audio for this book was also incredibly well done. I loved both narrators, but honestly, Joe Arden really made this audiobook for me. Yes, his handling of the spicy scenes is always top-tier, but it really felt like he was Jude, and some of the emotional moments felt almost visceral. I was so impressed, and I was almost sad each time it switched back to Indira's POV because I was going to miss Joe's storytelling.

I can't recommend this book enough, and I feel like I'll be telling people to read it all year long!

What a sweet story!!

Mazey Eddings tackled a lot of heavy topics in this book, but she did it with such grace.

Jude and Indira’s love was steamy from the start- we knew what was going to happen! The pent up energy between them and the love and support they had for each other was everything 😍

After catching her boyfriend cheating, Indira grabs her things and heads to her brother's house. She doesn't know that Jude, her brother’s best friend, and her childhood enemy is in town for her brother’s wedding. Close proximity and wedding festivities bring the two together. With Indira's ex and his new girlfriend attending the wedding festivities, the two agree to fake date.

Indira and Jude’s relationship is more than a cute rom-com. There are plenty of cute situations and quick-witted comebacks. The core of the story is a look at mental health and healing. Told in dual POV with inner monologues the author brings life to her characters. Jude his actions and thoughts were authentic.

The pacing varied. It starts off slow. The beginning of the book focused more on Indira and Jude's mental health and a deeper understanding of the complexity of both characters. I was captivated by Jude immediately. Once they give into their feelings and connect, things move forward quickly. There was a good chunk of steamy scenes toward the end of the book. The romance was a slow burn. Indira and Jude’s HEA journey is beautiful and shows a realistic picture of life.

This can be read as a standalone. It is the third book of interconnected standalones. Favorite characters from the previous two books make small appearances throughout the book.

Mazey Eddings has a talent for writing characters lovable and authentic. She doesn't hesitate to address mental health and the importance of seeking help.

With a strong focus on mental health and a romance that feels rich in its history, this quiet, contemplative love story surprised me - and I'm okay with that. I enjoyed Eddings' debut, A Brush With Love, and remember thinking that there was a ton of potential in her writing. While I'm not the biggest fan of third person POV, it's easy to ignore when I'm immersed in a story. And Eddings' books always have a distinctive feel, which adds a level of unpredictability that keeps me engaged. This plays up familiar tropes (brother's best friend, fake relationship), while also feeling entirely like it's own thing. I loved the foundation that these former frenemies built their relationship on - they've been in each other's lives for twenty years, and that history allows them to see past the surface. While both of their lives are feeling overwhelming when they reconnect, they find comfort their connection. And that's where this really shines.

The story follows Indira, a woman who moves in with her brother 5 weeks before his wedding. After her relationship came to an unexpected (but not overly surprising) end, Indira just wants a quiet place to stay. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that her brother's best friend - and the bane of her childhood existence - is also staying with him. Jude has been a part of Indira's life for over twenty years, but they have never gotten along. He's been working in a Doctors Without Borders-like program for the last few years, and it doesn't take long for Indira to realize that he's come back with some emotional scars. Indira may not get along with Jude, but she doesn't want to see him hurting. And Jude may not always agree with Indira, but her support means a lot. As the two grow closer, their tangled history proves to be a stronger foundation than either would've anticipated.

While A Brush With Love had a focus on mental health, this story takes it to another level. It's the driving factor of Jude and Indira connecting in present day, and it's as much a part of the story as the romance. Maybe more. It's an interesting spin on the brother's best friend trope, and one that I found I really enjoyed. Though Indira and Jude have always bickered in the past and never would've considered themselves friends, they know each other in a way that few others do. They recognize when the other is hurting. And I loved that. They were able to set aside their differences and simply have compassion for each other, which soon transitioned into a romantic connection. Yeah, the transitioned happened rather quickly, but it didn't feel like too much given their past. They know each other so well. I also kinda adored that they found each other's flaws to be endearing - not just their personalities, but Jude smiles at Indira's "too big" feet and Indira says Jude's limbs are "gawky" and his body is "like a rubber band." It all just felt so down to earth and authentic, which was a major win for me. I do think that a first person POV would've helped me connect to the story better, but that would really be my only (personal) complaint. This was a strong 4/low 5-star read for me the whole way through, and a very memorable read.

While “A Brush with Love” has been staring at me from my TBR list for awhile now, this is the first book I’ve read by Mazey Eddings. I have to say 1) I thoroughly enjoyed it and 2) I am kicking myself for having not read A Brush With Love because it and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake are within the same universe. While each are standalone, like most standalone with cross over characters – the stories intertwine and when read out of order, you end up with spoilers of the prior books. Despite the glimpse into the previous books, this one went straight to the bone. The intricate emotions Eddings weaves into the story pulls you in and doesn’t let go. It’s too real and too relatable as it describes moments, situations, and life experiences that anyone can either personally or within two degrees, relate.

Indira couldn’t ask for a better life. Dream job, wonderful boyfriend, and the honor of watching her brother marry the love of his life in his upcoming nuptials. While she knew life was pulling her in different directions, she was determined to reclaim control and refocus her priorities. The problem was one of her priorities was busy with a blond on her couch when she decided to surprise him with a home cooked meal and wine. Completely floored, mainly by the amount of peanut butter involved in the deplorable scene, Indira flees to find solace at her brother’s home – only to be greeted by her childhood nemesis, Jude. There were two things Indira could feel directly to her soul, her love for psychiatry and her loathing for Jude.

Apparently the feeling was mutual from the look of sheer disdain he shared upon seeing her. For Jude, the biggest problem he had with Indira was her ability to see directly into the recesses of the human mind, to the things one wanted to keep hidden. After the ever plaguing nightmare of GHCO that has left him as a shell of his former self, the last thing he needed was her looking at him, seeing him, knowing his secrets.

All they needed to do was avoid each other, so simple yet impossible as they were part of her brother’s wedding party. Add that her now ex was also a groomsmen and Indira couldn’t figure out who she wronged in life for this to be her situation. The one thing she has gotten right is that something is off with Jude. When an incident reveals what lurks beneath, the two agree to help each other survive the pre-wedding events with the goal to come out in one piece. You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer – but how close is too close?

What I like about it: First, while I understand it is standard formula for many authors, I am so grateful we skipped over the breakup, make up rigmarole in this one. What I also celebrated was continuous message projecting the power of understanding, acceptance, trust, being seen, and asking for help. Yes, this was a romantic comedy and quite humorous (the running gag about the peanut butter was a nice touch) but Eddings took it so much further than that. She used the love story as the foundation of two people struggling to survive the world around them, finding each other and still acknowledging that the struggle exists – that love isn’t going to conquer all but having a support system does make an impact. Doing the work, sitting through the hard parts, failing and trying anyway despite the plague of self doubt – that is what you saw in this story.

What I love about it: I love the issues of mental health that were tackled in this book. From Indira’s abandonment issues and need for extrinsic validation to Jude’s struggle with PTSD. It was gut wrenching to have the easy brush off of mental health highlighted in this book. Eddings is right – it is an invisible disorder, disease, illness that isn’t treated with the same sense of urgency as a broken bone or an infection. The mind is sick, broken, fractured, take a pick but because we can’t look at it and see it for ourselves, only witness what people are experiencing (or say they are experiencing), we have the right to invalidate it.

There were so many moments of Indira sharing knowledge on how to embrace the struggles that one may experience. Her constant reminders that no one is broken, helpless, and that you can be a multitude of things – happy and sad, struggling and forgiving, there wasn’t a moment where one of her diatribes shouldn’t have been made into a presentation and shared with the world. So many could benefit from her message.

Asides for the philosophical rollercoaster, the sensual scenes in this book were intense! It wasn’t even the explicit scenes that were hot, the make out and building up moments were scorching as well. The amount of attention shared between two people was never lost. Every touch, every thought, every moment – you bore witness to all of it. You felt the love and connection well before the characters verbalized it.

I have every intention of going back and ready Edding’s books from the beginning. I can’t gush enough over how much I enjoyed this book, how immensely I value what it taught me, and the imprint it has made on me as a whole.

I’ve loved every book in this series but I think this one is my favourite!!! Definitely a 5 star read! Mazey Eddings has such a talent for writing about mental health but weaving it into a beautiful love story. This one had ALL of my fave tropes - childhood friends (well more like frenemies) to lovers, fake dating AND forced proximity! The banter and bickering between Indira and Jude was top-notch but watching them slowly build this trust and then this realization of love between them was sooo good! I think the author did a great job of writing about Jude’s PTSD, and how Indira was there for him to support him, but not fix him and their journey with therapy - it was all just a really refreshing and healthy take. Seriously loved this one and highly recommend it!

4⭐️ for me on this one! This is book 3 in the Brush with Love series (each can be read as a standalone) and while I enjoyed this one more than Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, I think it still doesn’t top A Brush with Love for me.

Jude and Indira are both struggling with their own mental health issues (and once again Mazey does a great job portraying their struggles). There’s forced proximity, childhood “enemies” to lovers, and brothers best friend.

Overall, this was a great way to round out the series and I love that it featured the couples from the previous books!

The Plus One
by Mazey Eddings
4 star

Indira doesn't usually like Jude, and Jude doesn't usually like Indira but when one thing leads to another, and they're in the same house together, they find out they don't hate each other as much as they thought they did.

Friends to Lovers
Brothers best friend
Fake Dating
Forced Proximity
PTSD

I have read this whole series and have loved every minute. This group of amazing women, the struggles each one faces. Jude is in a program that takes him to the extreme areas around the world as a surgeon. He suffers from PTSD and doesn't know how to handle it too well.Indira is so sweet and understands Jude very well.. They joke around so easily; the digs for each other are harmless and funny. Indira finds a way to get into Jude's head and helps break down his walls. This book gave me all the happy feelers.

Thank you, Net Galley and St. Martins Press,, for the eARC for an honest review

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings

Mazey Eddings stories are exactly what I look for in an audiobook. Entertaining, thoughtful, unexpected and spicy!

I really enjoyed Indira and Jude’s story. I love the depth of emotions she gives her characters and appreciated the honesty between them. As far as the storyline goes, (spoiler alert!) some huge applause from me for 1 - getting right into the plot from chapter 1, and 2 - no silly misunderstanding/break up!

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the audiobook! Kept me entertained through a significant portion of a huge road trip.

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4.5 stars. I absolutely adored this book! The writing in regards to PTSD was so well done. Very few books actually cause me to cry but this one did. Indira and Jude are truly couple goals. I was initially hesitant in regards to Indira with how she was presented in the first chapter, but she really grew on me throughout the book. I do not have PTSD myself, but with dealing with mental illness I understood Jude’s struggle to initially want to seek help. I resonated with his feelings of being “broken” and helpless. Indira was a incredible support to him. This book had plenty of spice, and overall was a great well rounded story. I was thankful that there was not really a third act breakup,. Would recommend!

Another awesome read from Mazey Eddings! I love her writing style and the other books in the series. It was equal parts funny, steamy, and emotional. I loved Indira and Jude’s relationship and the way they leaned on each other and learned from each other. They were a perfect fit for one and other and the story showed that.

4.5 - “What we have is the here and now. We have our feelings and emotions and the best thing we can do is honor those pieces of ourselves.”

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read the last 75% of this book in one sitting because I just could not put it down. I was so engrossed and Jude and Indira’s story, and it did such a great job of pulling at my emotions.

Indira and Jude have never particularly liked each other, but they’re trying to set aside their differences ahead of her brother’s wedding. Indira’s working through a breakup and Jude has spent the last three years traveling the world treating patients in difficult situations. They make a deal to be each other’s dates to the wedding, but forced proximity and displays of affection start to feel too real.

The way that this book deals with Jude’s PTSD is incredible. It’s so jarring for him to be home instead of in the midst of humanitarian crises, treating patients and seeing carnage that he was not prepared for. Indira, a psychiatrist, immediately does her best to help him, even when he’s trying to push her away. It’s so heart-wrenching to see Jude open up about his feelings and how his work has affected him. He is stuck feeling like he doesn’t deserve happiness. And when he starts to really unpack his trauma, it’s a really beautiful, raw moment.

I love the way the relationship develops between Indira and Jude, especially in the moments where the reminisce about their childhood. They have such lovely moments and seeing them realize what has been in front of them for so long is amazing. Indira has this incredible way of anchoring Jude without pushing him too far, and he starts to realize what she does for him. I just adore them.

We also got to see Lizzie and Rake with their daughter, Evie. I loved them so much, so seeing them going strong made me so happy. The friend group is solid and they have some truly funny moments. I also loved seeing the friend group stay being so supportive of each other. We don’t always see groups of women stay so supportive of each other so the portrayal here, and throughout the whole series is excellent.

This book confirms why Mazey Eddings is now an auto buy author for me… 🥹 All of her books have everything I absolutely love in romance books; humour, heart, real life issues as well as amazing spice!

I will start off by saying that the tropes in this book are amazing… 🤭 Enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, fake dating… So many great tropes and I thought all of it was so well done! Also, the mental health rep in this book was amazing. It was so well done and I loved the openness about therapy in this book and the way PTSD was depicted and shown. I was able to feel everything Jude felt and I love when a story can bring awareness to issues.

What I loved most about this book was the connection that Indira and Jude had… I loved how they got to know each other and became friends before they were lovers… They also had incredible banter and I loved how they interacted with one another; I loved their communication and how they helped each other. To me, their connection seemed really real and genuine and I really loved them together and what they brought out in each other.

It was so nice to see all the characters we know and love from this series, as well as other characters, like Indira’s brother Collin and his fiancé, which I really liked.

This book is a great rom com that’s filled with many funny moments (I also still have questions about the peanut butter 😂), really life issues and problems as well as amazing representation and a fun romance story that’s filled with banter and spice, and no third act break up, this book is definitely for you!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Out April 4th.

4.5⭐

This was my first Mazey Eddings book and I know so many of my friends have raved about A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, so I was going in with high hopes but I didn't really like The Plus Ones.

I normally love fake dating and brother's best friend but this just felt off to me. They kinda fake dated for all of 4 seconds and everyone was like finally when they started dating. Also, this book was a lot heavier than I was expecting with the main male character's PTSD and mental health storylines for both main characters. The pacing was so slow, the book never really went anywhere and the characters were pretty juvenile to me.

I know so people have absolutely loved this book, but it wasn't for me.

<i>Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I was so excited to nab a copy of the third in [author:Mazey Eddings]’s series that previously featured anxious dentist Harper and ADHD erotic baker Lizzie.

In [book:The Plus One], we get psychiatrist Indira and emergency physician Jude. Jude is best friends with Indira’s older brother, Collin, and they’ve known and (loathed) each other since they were kids. So when Jude comes back for Collin’s wedding, and Indira catches her boyfriend smeared in peanut butter and screwing someone else on the couch, the two end up living under the same roof.

Here we have a little enemies to lovers, a little fake dating, and a little grump and sunshine. There’s relatively little drama between Indira and Jude as they realize their childhood animosity has transformed into attraction and something more. Instead, the angst comes from Jude’s PTSD from working overseas in horrifying conditions, treating (and failing to treat) people whose lives have been torn apart by conflict and disaster. I appreciate that Indira mostly resists the temptation to speak to Jude as she would a patient. And I always enjoy when the third-act crisis develops logically from the plot (it does here) and avoids turning one or the other MC into an idiot or a villain, but simply victims of circumstance (it does that here has well). (And thank <i>goodness</i> Eddings doesn’t give us one of my least favorite tropes, when it’s a huge deal that the hero and the MC’s brother were friends first, and the brother feels the need to “protect” his sister from the man who is supposedly his best friend. The worst)

These two also have off-the-charts chemistry and when they get together it is HOT (but also very respectful!). They have excellent communication inside and outside the bedroom, which rules.

[book:The Plus One] by [author:Mazey Eddings]
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🫣 Downsides to staying with your brother
🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 No wilted flowers here
🎃🍳🧻 Trick or treat
🏕️ There’s only one <s>bed</s> tent
🥜 🛋️ That peanut butter was organic!

I loved everything about this book. From the characters to the writing, I felt it was amazing. I did not want it to end. Indira and Jude’s relationship was beautifully written, I laughed out loud so many times at the back and forth digs at each other. I loved it. The progression from nemesis to love was great brilliant, fake dating might be my new favorite trope.

The Plus One is the third book in the 'A Brush with Love' series. This book is cute and more or less follows a typical romcom template. & there are no shortage of tropes!

-Brother's best friend
-Enemies to lovers
-Close proximity
-Fake dating

The Plus One deals with mental health issues as well as strained family dynamics & I feel like it's pulled off well. Encouraging, hopeful, and minimal miscommunication. The characters mesh well and there are plenty of spicy scenes! There were several laugh out loud scenes as well...two words: peanut butter.

Although I enjoyed the book, overall, it just feels forgettable and nothing really stands out to set it apart from the countless other romcoms out there.

I decided to pair the ebook with the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrators. I feel that both Imani Jade Powers and Joe Arden are super talented and kicked this book up a notch!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Mazey Eddings does it again! I love how this author combines many of my favorite tropes with thoughtful mental health representation to deliver fun and emotional reads. Indira and Jude are goals.

I’m a Mazey Eddings fan through and through!! This series has definitely been a favorite for me and I’m so glad we got Indira and Jude’s story!

The mental health rep felt so authentic and well thought out in this book. I loooved the conversations between Indira and her therapist as well as Indira and Jude. I really appreciated the care Eddings took in this book to portray two characters with mental health concerns.

I love me a brother’s best friend trope AND forced proximity! The premise was great and loved the character development. I started to get the slightest bit bored in the middle but it quickly picked up again,

Also, no third act break up? Sign me up!!!! No mis comm??? Sign me up again!

To no one’s surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!