This is part of the series, A Brush with Love. It is the third book of the series. The story was full of heart, with realistic characters which were so easy to relate to. Characters that were far from perfect, Indira and Jude really captured my heart and I fell in love with them right from the start. The story brings to light mental health issues, not in a heavy way, but just enough to bring awareness. Jude and Indira knew each other from way back and were childhood enemies. But when fate throws them together at her brother's wedding, they decide to work together to get through it and be each other's fake date. But fake has a special way of turning into real and that's exactly what happens as these two start spending more time together.
This was emotional read to be sure, but also had a lot of fun and humorous moments, too. The story was heartwarming and left me with a smile on my face. I haven't read the previous books in the series, but will definitely go back and pick those up. A charming read!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This is the third book in the Brush With Love series, but can also be read as a standalone. I read it as a Standalone having not put two and two together.

I will definitely be reading the other two in order!

This is a really touching childhood frenemies to lovers with fake dating. It also deals with serious topics, anxiety and PTSD. It has some heavy moments, making it a bit of an emotional read. I really loved all the characters and their vulnerability.

There was amazing banter and spicy scenes too!

friends/enemies to lovers is a great trope

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

I love Mazey Eddings. I adore her books and will always keep her on my auto-read list. Unfortunately, this one was not my favorite. Indira and Jude have known each other forever. They essentially grew up together as Jude, being Indira's brother Colin's best friend, was always over at their home. They never got along. Jude is home for Colin's wedding and is struggling. He is currently paying off his student loans through a program that sends doctors to war-torn countries and Jude has really been affected by what he's experienced. Indira doesn't expect the ways that Jude has changed when she sees him, nor does she expect her reaction to him.

I love how Eddings portrays mental health in her novels. It's impossible to ignore how well she handles the portrayal of PTSD and other trauma. However, this book was just so sad. The struggles that Indira and Jude had really got in the way of their chemistry, making the novel lean more towards women's fiction or straight contemporary fiction than a true romance. There is the idea of fake dating, but the characters never actual fake date one another. This had more of a message of therapy and mental health rep to the book than actual character interactions and plot. The combination sort of fell flat for me.

That being said, I did like this book. I just didn't love it. I think many will, though. If you go into this one looking for a romance that has less of a lighter feel, you may love this book. I will continue to recommend Eddings and sing her praises and look forward to more from her in the future.

I loved the mental health rep of this book, and enjoyed the characters. Indira and Jude have such a playful and fun relationship. I adore how this author writes her books, and the writing style.

This book was everything and then some. I adored learning more about Indira and the introduction of Jude was perfect. They were both so perfectly flawed in their own ways and I loved that. Watching their relationship unfold as they learned to love themselves and ultimately each other just made my heart so happy. This entire series holds such a special place in my heart, I truly don't want it to end.

I LOVED this book. Indira and Jude's relationship was so fun, so funny and so relatable. I didn't like "Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake," the first in this series, but Mazey Eddings has really charmed me with the other two books in this series.

This was such a cute romance read! I love how she weaved in important mental health representation into this book. Childhood enemies to lovers is such a fun trope and the forced proximity and fake dating was done so well. The side character friendships were some of my favorite parts! Mazey's writing is so natural and keeps the book a light and intriguing read. They communicated well and overall this was exactly what I was looking for in a sweet and satisfying romance!

I have read each of this series of books with great enjoyment, and this third installment is the most realistic and maybe lovely one yet. The first was light and funny, the second was very over-the-top (in a way that I really liked, profane baking and all), but this book is much more based in reality. This is enemies to lovers... ish... because it's hard to believe they really hated each other in the first place. Either way, both our leads have significant mental health issues to overcome and the book does a good job showing they can't magically be healed and perfect through each other- but they can mutually support each other through their unique challenges. I thought this was really a nice and nuanced take, and I will keep reading the series. There are more friends in this friend group who need their own happy-ever-after!

This one really surprised me. Having read the first two books in the series, I expected something a little lighter. I appreciated the content warnings on this one, though, and while I did experience a little subject matter whiplash, this turned out to be my favorite of Mazey Eddings’ books. Jude’s PTSD was so vividly written, which could be hard to read, but which really served the character and the story. I loved watching Jude and Indira crash into each other, and I rooted for them so hard. I loved this book!

Mazey does it again. She has created such a fun world with this series and the characters are so fun. I loved this enemies to lovers and the banter they had. It was a cute read.

I absolutely love love loved this book! The mental health struggles were so real, and I loved seeing a healthy relationship between two people trying to figure themselves out! This has been one of my favorite books to read so far this year and I can't wait to see what else Mazey Eddings writes.

I wanted to love this book but I didn't. I think the story would have been better told with a single-POV. I love character-centric literary fiction books, but I just didn't love the heavy romance aspect with the mental health story. This one just wasn't for me!

I freakin' loved this one. It has the best parts of enemies-to-lovers and best friend's little sister peppered with some deep emotions and excellent handling of them. I walked away from it with happy vibes and hope that there is love in the world.
The story is pretty standard rom-com, with Indira arriving home one day to find her boyfriend cheating on her and her day getting even worse after that. She moves in with her brother, Colin, and his fiance just as they're gearing up for the longest and most complicated wedding preparations/celebrations ever. The only problem is that also staying with them is Jude, Colin's childhood friend, and Indira's long-time rival. Jude isn't particularly happy to be sharing a house with Indira, especially because he's suffering from and hiding some pretty epic PTSD after his time as a surgeon in war-torn areas as part of a program he signed up for in order to avoid student loans.
The best kind of sparks fly from the get-go with things getting even better as the story progresses. Irina is the only one who really sees what's going on with Jude and she's not going to let him hide how hurt he is.
There's really a bit of almost every single rom-com cliche that I love contained within the pages of this book, and I'm here for the emotionally satisfying romance that Eddings crafted.
It's the third book in the series and, by far, the best IMHO. It would help to have read the first volumes to better understand Indira's relationship with her friends, but I really don't think it's necessary to get the full enjoyment of this one because it's pretty centered on the relationship.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the wonderfully emotional read!

I love everything Mazey writes! This was no different. A fun rom com that is childhood enemies to adult lovers!!!! My fave trope! I am always a big fan of a strong mental health rep and Mazey always writes it so well.

Super cute. Had me actually laughing out loud with their quirky jokes.
Love that it brings awareness to mental health in the medical field.

I didn't realize if I downloaded it counted towards feedback....I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to read this book....

This was a good contemporary romance novel, that I would definitely recommend to those who enjoyed Mazey's previous books!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I think I would have liked it more if I had read the other two books first. It was still enjoyable and the subjects it touched on really made it worth reading. Very down to earth. The banter and chemistry between characters was great. Spice 4/5 plot 3/5. It was a cute rom com and a good ending of a series book, now to read the other two. This was an arc and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

Despite this book being the third in a series, The Plus One was my first read by Mazey Eddings and I was definitely impressed. I went into this story expecting a silly rom-com, and while there were plenty of lighthearted moments, this book also had depth, with heavy themes around PTSD and mental health.

I really enjoyed the perspectives of both Indira and Jude, and one of the best parts of this novel was the lack of miscommunication - they actually communicated very well and with maturity. While there was no miscommunication trope, there was just about every other romance trope you can imagine = enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, only one bed (er, tent), etc. There is definitely something for everyone.

This was my first book by Mazey Eddings, but it will definitely not be my last.