Mazey Eddings’s books are always a delightful mix of emotional moments, swoon-worthy romances, and hilarity that will have you giggling. Jude and Indira’s story had me hooked from page one, and I absolutely flew through the book until I reached the final page. As with all her adult romances, Eddings explores mental health in a wonderful, and essential way, and the way she explores Jude’s PTSD and Indira’s struggles with abandonment, combined with both of their journeys with therapy, was so important to me.

The story follows Indira Papadakis, a psychiatrist who walks in one day on her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman and some bizarre antics revolving peanut butter, which leads her to crash at her brother’s house. The only problem is, she’s not the only one crashing with her brother and his fiancé. No, when she knocks on his door, her childhood nemesis Jude answers, but he’s not the boy she remembers. Not only is Jude frustratingly attractive, but he is haunted by the horrors he witnessed as a surgeon overseas. As the pair are dragged along with Indira’s brothers wedding events, the pair find they need to lean on each other more than they expected; Indira needs Jude to keep her from tearing apart her cheating ex, and Jude needs Indira because she helps him feel a little less broken. As the fake dating scheme that they craft starts to feel like something more, they have to decide if they are willing to give their budding romance a chance, and love each other as they are, scars and all.

Jude and Indira’s relationship was to die for. Usually when I read a romance, I am more invested in the FMC’s journey, but Jude absolutely felt like the main character to me, and I was wholly rooting for him and his path towards healing after all of the horrors he experienced. Naturally, this story was more emotional than most romantic comedies, but that only made me feel more connected to the characters. The connection between the main characters was so natural, and I loved how open and communicative with each other that they were. This story gets bonus points from me because guess what? There was no third act breakup!

Out of all of Mazey Edding’s books, this one might just be my favorite. If you love childhood nemesis to lovers with a healthy dose of fake dating, combined with a story that will make you feel all the feels, then this is the book for you!

I liked Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings so was excited to read Indira’s story. I still need to read book 1 in the series, A Brush With Love,
Although I enjoyed Indira’s story, I didn’t feel as connected to her as I did to Lizzie. I was glad that Lizzie and Rake (and their other friends) did make a few appearances in this one. I love interconnected series especially when a favorite character from a previous book makes an appearance!

Such a stunning book! The plot kept me hooked the whole time, and the characters were so loveable. 5/5 stars!

The Plus One is another adorable read from Mazey Eddings. The characters were fun and the banter was what I was hoping for after reading the first two books in this series. This was the perfect summer beach read and I can’t wait to read more from Mazey Eddings. Thank you netgalley for my free review copy.

TW: Infidelity, Mental Health, PTSD

To Indira, everything in her life is on the right course. That is until she walks in on her boyfriend in a sticky situation (literally) with someone else. While she feels like her life is crumbling around her, she turns to her brother to stay with even though it is weeks before his wedding and ends up coming face-to-face with her childhood nemesis. Her entire life, Indira’s brother’s best friend Jude has always been public enemy number one. The two both have their own struggles and amazingly come to an agreement of a situation that is beneficial to one another: fake dating. As they devise their plan to be each other’s fake plus ones to her brother’s wedding, Indira and Jude slowly begin to realize the true passion behind their heated disputes but are at a risk of losing it all if they cannot work through their struggles and take the risk of finding true love.

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This was book 3 in Mazey Eddings’ “A Brush With Love” series. I really enjoyed the intensity of this book, yes it had it’s hilarious belly laugh moments but it also did a fantastic job of underlining crucial struggles, the major one being mental health. I really loved the slow burn of this one, Jude and Indira’s romance felt more authentic as the tension was drawn out in a true enemies to lovers style. It wasn’t something that just happened overnight as they did grow up being childhood nemesis. I loved their banter and how Indira was patient with Jude and also really enjoyed the return of previous characters from the first two books. I also enjoyed the character development of both characters who both have significantly different personalities but yet perfectly balance each other. I would definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for a slow paced slow burn romance filled with humor and heartwarming moments. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is currently available for purchase!

This is interesting in theory, but i felt like the MCs kinda became their own psychologists (i.e., in their inner monologues), which didn't seem especially plausible given their back stories. I did like the front and center theme that mental health challenges are real and worth treating - the stigma of getting mental health help really needs to go away.

I loved the first two books in the series, but this one just didn’t hit the same. I adore Mazey Eddings ability to write, but I felt somewhat detached from Jude and Indira throughout the story.

I remain a big fan of Mazey Eddings and her ability to craft meaningful, witty romance. The Plus One centers on Jude and Dira. Jude is a physician who travels to war torn areas of the world to provide humanitarian medical care and as a result struggles with PTSD. Dira, on the other hand, has a well balance and ideal life with her dream job. These two childhood enemies come together for a wedding event and their connection is genuine, tender, and healing.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one was an easy 5 stars for me!! I love everything Mazey Eddings writes, but this one was by far my favorite. Indira and Jude may be some of my favorite characters ever. The banter between them was 10/10 and the way mental health was represented in this book was written beautifully. This is a book I’ll recommend to anyone and everyone looking for a romance read with depth.

This story in the A Brush With Love series follows Indira and Jude who end up both staying with Indira's brother (Colin) who is getting married. Jude was super close with Colin growing up and Indira was an annoying little sister third wheel, so her and Jude have a very tense relationship. They are forced together through proximity.

I struggled because Indira is a therapist and Jude has some very severe PTSD and it was a really heavy book. It took me a while to get through it because it was not necessarily the most fun to read the constant struggles. Reading the author note at the end made a lot of this journey make sense and I do commend Eddings for putting this content out there. Mental health representation is so important. It was not what I was expecting for this series and I wasn't prepared for how heavy it would be.

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲!

3/5 ⭐ ＯＶＥＲＡＬＬ
2.5/5 🌶 ＳＴＥＡＭ

"𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎. 𝑺𝒐𝒇𝒕. 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈."

If you enjoy:
- Brother's Best Friend
- Forced Proximity
- Deals with Mental Illness
- Character-Driven

When I saw the next installment was coming out for this series, I immediately requested this book from Netgalley. I loved Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, so I couldn't wait for this one. I wanted to love this one just as much, and maybe I just had my hopes too high because this book was just ok to me. I gave it 3.5 stars for the characters because they truly were lovable.

Unfortunately, the storyline was a drag. I found myself uninterested and frankly bored. I tend to enjoy character-driven novels, but I wasn't connecting with the book at all. This is definitely a me thing, so don't take my word for it, because you could enjoy it.

Again, characters were lovable, and I enjoyed their interactions and growth throughout the novel. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the review copy.

Happy Reading! 💗

This book was everything I was hoping it would be when I picked it up - it was heartfelt, emotional, touching, and made me feel so happy inside at the end.

I loved the banter between Indira and Jude. They were so fun together, but once they began to open up to each other I really loved seeing them grow and how that impacted them individually and their relationship. The mental health rep in this book was done so well, and I think it’s such a good portrayal of how trauma can impact someone personally and their relationships with others.

This was my first book by Mazey and I’m excited to read the other books in this series!

Thank you to St. Martins Griffin & Netgalley for an eARC of this book!

I was so happy to be able to read another of Mazey Eddings books. Every time I see she is coming out with another book I am in line! She is a must read for me.

Enemies to lovers; Grumpy/Sunshine; Fake dating. Do I need to say more? Indira and Jude are adorable and their journey is sweet, steamy and heartwarming. I also continue to love the representation in Mazey’s books.

I want to thank NetGalley, Mazey Eddings and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

Cute! But not for me, you know? These tropes just didn't align with what I tend to like and gravitate towards in romance books. As usual, I appreciate the spice! I'll definitely continue to read whatever Mazey Eddings puts out, and I continue to love her MH representation.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations going into this book. It was my first by this author and I barely read the synopsis. It ended up really being a great read. I listened on audio as well reading my eARC and I really enjoyed both the narrators for the audio as well.

This is a full on enemies to lovers trope book but with a little fake dating, brothers best friend, grumpy sunshine, oh and amazing mental health rep! Between Indira being a psychiatrist and Jude’s struggles you get a lot of incredible representation of different areas of mental health.

Jude is so well written and I wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in a big ole hug and love on him. And indira does just that and gave me all the feels!

I laughed out loud on multiple occasions and loved the banter and prankster vibes between Dira and Jude.

Oh yeah and the spice, whew sooo good!

first of all… enemies to lovers is just the *chef’s kiss* of romance tropes! Mazey Eddings totally killed it! the tension was super believable and I honestly felt it while I was reading. and then there’s also some fake dating and forced proximity which just amplifies their chemistry. honestly my three top fav tropes right here!!!

Indira goes through some rough times in the beginning of the book, and I was routing for her to be with Jude, who was also doing some soul searching. their dedication to the fake dating situation gave them a glimpse of what their relationship could look like for real.

just UGH 🥰😍👌🏼🫶🏼

the only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because Jude was suppose to be the guy that didn’t have anything together but like he’s a doctor who goes on humanitarian trips… which sounds pretty put together to me. I imagine someone who has nothing together as an unfashionable guy who lives in his parents’ house and works as a pizza guy while failing his one yoga class. so kudos to Jude for not being that up-put-together 🫡

This was a cute romance. I enjoyed it but it didn’t really keep my attention so I had to read it a little at a time. I love the trope of falling in love with the brothers best friend. It did however feel too serious for a rom-com.

Thank you for the gifted copy!

Cute, feel good, darling characters ~ perfect summer read!
Thank you @NetGalley@StMartinsGriffin@ThePlusOne

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but “The Plus One” was terribly boring. The only winning factor was the mental health themes that the author touched on but otherwise, the amount of cliches and lack of real chemistry between Jude and Indira didn’t do the book any favors. The history was there but the author failed to execute in making the relationship authentic or believable.

Additionally, the storyline fell flat and was drawn out (basically a whole lot of nothing happened), and the writing style was very repetitive. It didn’t feel like we were moving forward with their story. To be blunt, reading this was a waste of time and if I could go back, I would.

This novel served as my introduction to Mazey Eddings, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite not having read the previous two books, I still found immense pleasure in this third installment.The way the main characters supported each other throughout the story was truly remarkable. Indira, despite battling her own inner demons, displayed remarkable patience with Jude as they both coped with their individual traumas. While the book did become intense at some point, I felt that these moments were crucial for both the story and the development of the characters. The focus on communication and remaining true to one's feelings was a theme that resonated deeply with me.