Reviewing
A Brush With Love
By Mazey Eddings

Yes, yes, yes! This book is full of big truths, big emotions, and big rewards if the characters can just hang in there.

Readers will be moved by the honesty and empathy author Mazey Eddings inserts in all her writings. Characters are vivid in their vulnerability and her first person perspective on general anxiety will be eye opening for many. A beautiful breezy novel that feels so light feels light while successfully tackling some heavy issues.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Fun yes serious stars for this character driven romance

A Brush With Love is a unique debut novel from Mazey Eddings. It is the first book I've read that takes place in the high stress world of dental school. Harper is in her final year of dental school. She is driven and feels the need to be the best wanting to get into a surgical residency. She also suffers from severe anxiety that she masks from even her closest friends. She literally crashes into Dan who is a first year student but is her same age. The meet cute sets up their instant attraction but Harper is not interested in a romance because doesn't know where she will end up when she graduates. Dan has issues of his own. His first choice of study is finance/business and he was successful int it. But after the death of his renowned DDS father his mother pushed him towards dentistry.

What really get your attention is the focus on Harper's anxiety. The descriptions seem realistic and exhausting. Her fear of being labeled as having a mental illness is overwhelming to her. Dan is sweet but has flags of his own. I understood his frustration at his situations but didn't love his pushiness to be the one to pay for Harper, getting into a physical fight over her or that he ignores his mother for so long. (I don't love alpha males.) I'm not sure I would call this a traditional romance because most of the book is spent on figuring out and resolving their own issues. The getting together is icing on the cake. I also love Harper's friend group.

The chapters for the most part alternate between each characters POV. I listened to the audiobook and particularly enjoyed the narration of Emily Lawrence. She really brought Harper's character and anxiety to life. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely delightful romcom

I loved Harper and Dan so much. It was refreshing to read about a very real person who deals with anxiety like me. Harper was hardworking, funny and anxious all the time. I relate to that so much. It was lovely to read a character so similar to me.

Dan was so SWOON worthy!!! I loved his patience, humor, and how easy he slipped into Harper's life.

The classic romcom conflict was a normal, believable concern which added a lot to the story for me. Sometimes conflicts can be so silly!! Overall I really loved this and I'm excited for the rest of the series!

I’m DNFing this as 60%
I started this as soon as I got approved for it, that was a month ago and I have no desire to push through the book any longer.
Both main characters are walking red flags and their relationship progressed too quickly for me. I thought the book was almost over and realized I was only half way through. I didn’t love either character and Harpers anxiety attacks where hard to read.
I liked the concept of the book, just feel like the characters and writing style isn’t for.
I think readers new to romance might love it!

A Brush with Love
A Novel
by Mazey Eddings
Narrated by Emily Lawrence; Vikas Adam

I received a digital audiobook of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ok first off trigger warning for fear of mental health treatment, perceived stigma of seeking mental health treatment, anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks, compulsive behaviors as well as parent death. Props to the author for putting her own trigger warning front and center at the start of the book.

Now as a person who is currently taking SSRIs for my own anxiety/compulsive behaviors and has been to counseling - the whole time I read this I just wanted to pull this girl aside and give her the - normalize mental healthcare/ mental healthcare is self care speech. If you are experiencing untenable moods and thoughts - you do not have to go it alone, even if you do not have understanding friends and family there are understanding and helpful medical professionals that can help you find the right tools to support your mental health. Everyone’s different and may require different methods but seriously SSRIs can make such a difference when you find the right one. Ok Ted talk over.

On the one hand I liked how supportive and persistent and patient Dan was however there were a couple of times where readers who are very concerned about the clarity of consent might have some thoughts but it didn’t bother me personally because you’ve got her inner monologue and know she’s on board even though she’s constantly getting in her own way and struggles to recognize her wants vs needs and that it’s ok to want things that make you happy.
Additionally one of her reasons for fighting the pull to Dan is the theory that if you don’t get close to anyone you won’t get hurt when they leave you because everyone leaves. Conversely she has a circle of three close lady friends she’s let in so far that they have a key to her apartment sooooo….. where’s the line? Is it men? She didn’t know her father but that isn’t really gone into about being a reason for this feeling. The writing was great. I just became frustrated on occasion with the characters when their main problems were of their own making. Additionally the male narrator was good but there was something about the way he did the high emotion or high steam times that made it feel a little cringey to me but I don’t think it would have been if I had been reading it in kindle/book form. Slow build, steamy, open door.
4/5

Rating: 3.5, mildly spicy (2 out of 3)
A Brush With Love is a contemporary romance about two dental students, one in his first year, and the other waiting for her residency placement.

I listened to this as an audiobook. I think the narrators, especially Emily Lawrence did an amazing job!

Overall the book has great trauma rep, a cute slow-burn relationship, authentic characters and a unique setting (dental students). I couldn't root for the main relationship, but I'm still glad I read this for its representation of anxiety and grief. Would recommend for romance lovers who can root for cute but imbalanced relationships and won't be overly triggered by the overwhelming anxiety the MC goes through.

First off, what I loved about this book:
- I really liked that especially the female MC (Harper) was such a successful, and driven character. She knows what she wants, and she goes after it. And I really liked that the male MC (Dan) gave her the space to do so. He loved her more because of how good she is at what she does, and he was proud of her for being so kickass.

- If I ignored all the red flags of their relationship, they were quite cute together. The way they just couldn't help but fall in love, had to fight against it but still ended up

- I thought both of the characters had strong and unique back stories that explained how they became who they are. Especially Harper's driving factor was so realistically built up, it's almost tragic, seeing how everything that happened to her pushed her to be such a perfectionist, especially as you see her drive herself to the ground trying to achieve her goals. This is where I thought this book would have made a pretty good women's fiction. If the focus was more on these two characters and their struggles and their healing, rather than the romance, this would have been a very strong read for me, especially because of the next point.

- I really appreciated the incredible anxiety rep. The book covers grief, panic attacks, therapy, with great authenticity. While I do have general anxiety, it is nowhere near the levels Harper struggles with, so I will leave it to others to say if it was realistic or not.

- I especially liked the focus on therapy, and differing stages of being ready for therapy. And that it's not something that just fixes you outright, but that it helps.

- I really liked Harper's friend group. I thought they also had some missteps, and I found it unrealistic that they didn't already know what Harper was going through, but overall they were there for her, they loved her, and they helped her come out of the hole she dug herself into. They also added a good amount of the comic relief, which was needed!

Note:
- It was plain difficult, at times excruciating, to read through the anxiety attacks Harper was having. This was emphasized even more because of how good the narration was. I felt the walls squeezing her in, even though they didn't need to. I wanted to shake Harper to make her listen to those around her. To her professors, friends, Dan, anyone. I don't have anxiety to her level, so I can't personally say if it was realistic, but regardless, reading through those areas felt like a heavy weight on me. This did impact my enjoyment of the book, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Though it might be quite triggering for some.

Now onto what I liked less:
- My biggest problem, was the relationship. Dan is such a pushover throughout, and worse, Harper treats him so incredibly badly, that I just did not want them to end up together. I wanted Dan to find someone who could actually be good to him. And for Harper to have someone in her life who would stand up to her bullshit more so that she could see when she's being an unreasonable partner. Someone who gives you no pushback and just goes along with whatever you want is not a good partner, and they don't make good relationships. (minor spoiler: Harper viciously mocking Dan's trauma is just not acceptable in my book, and him still bringing up being together after that is a great example of how he is throughout)

- Dan is also not a great partner to be clear. At the beginning he had a bunch of red flags for me, like showing up where Harper is going, forcefully paying for her groceries (what?!), overly protective as far as getting physical with someone (WTF) that would be not okay if Harper wasn't interested in him. But then Harper was so terrible to him later on that most of these got eclipsed.

- I also found the main premise for the conflict in their relationship unrealistic. Harper is not a loner before Dan comes in, she has friends, she (albeit rarely) goes out, she has responsibilities like her cat. And she's able to balance all of these with school. But somehow, when Dan comes into her life, she completely loses herself in the relationship, even forgetting what week it is. I just did not like this implication that you have to lose yourself in a relationship. It would be one thing if she thought it was going to happen, but then once the relationship started, she realized that she can balance things. That would have been a way better and more realistic message then what ends up happening. And like I said above, how she treats Dan when she thinks he's impacting her success is absolutely unacceptable.

- Smaller issues: insta-love, the characters who are 26 acting like they're 20, the way the Dan's narrator did Harper's voice

A Brush with Love is a cute story about 2 dental students with realistic insecurities who turn their crash of a meet cute into a romance. I liked the storyline but felt myself feeling uninterested and I believe it was mainly because of the narration. The voice of Dan had me zoning out during his chapters which made it hard to stay in the moment. I think I will try reading the book instead of listening to it, I have a feeling I will like it much better.

This was such a beautiful love at first sight meet cute story packed with SO MUCH emotion.⁣
⁣
The author wrote about how anxiety consumes you and effects your day to day life, but how you’re never alone. You may feel alone, you may battle the whole day, but you’re never alone.⁣
⁣
Dan and Harper were beautifully broken souls with demons they still fight from their past traumas and pain from past family experiences but they are there for each other and so gentle and so kind and it’s just beautiful.⁣
⁣
While it breaks your heart and gives you all the feels; it also has some super cute and funny parts with dental puns that just make it such a wholesome story.⁣
⁣
The audio was wonderful. I always love dual narrators and felt they really gave an extra oomf to the feels.⁣
⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
Thank you for the gifted ARC @stmartinspress ! ⁣
#bookstagram #books #abrushwithlove #romance

“You don't have to brush all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.”- Unknown

Harper is very serious about being an oral surgeon. She is awaiting placement in op oral surgery residency program. She knows what she wants to do with her life, she has her goals, she doesn't have time for much else.

Dan is a first-year legacy dental student. His father was a dentist and there has been HUGE pressure for him to follow in his father's footsteps. But does he have the teeth, err, I mean heart for it?

Harper literally crashes into Dan, and they are off to the races. They form a 'friendship' but both are attracted to the other. So, you pretty much know this book is about the journey and I liked how both characters had their own individual journeys to go on as well as the one they went on together.

This book touches on anxiety, the pressure of expectations - those we place on ourselves, and the one's others put on us, attraction, goals, and romance. There are steamy scenes and heartfelt scenes and all the scenes in between.

I listed to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration as well as the story. I enjoyed both characters and was rooting for them. Plus, there is enough sizzle in this book to melt some snow.

Enjoyable, endearing, and entertaining.


Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Brush for Love was a great debut attempt by the author.

I loved the meet cute between Dan and Harper and I appreciated learning more about what people go through with crippling anxiety. I also liked the fact that there were no games being played on Dan’s end about how he felt about Harper. However, Harper’s indecisiveness about whether she wanted to be with Dan or not was incredibly aggravating and downright annoying.

Also, the protagonists were in the latter half of their twenties and I felt that they came across a bit immature due to the constant talk about sex. While I appreciate how this could have easily turned into an insta-love story but thankfully did not develop that way, it was hard for me to actually like any of the characters because of it. Maybe because the characters’ arcs were not

Additionally, I did not enjoy Vikas' attempt at female voices as it came across a bit cringey and detracted from the story, but I did enjoy Emily’s narration.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the alc. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cute romance novel with some added depth! Dental students Harper and Dan meet and have to navigate school, romance, and their own personal lives in Mazey Eddings' A Brush with Love!

Pros: -Loved that it featured a character that suffers from anxiety and that the anxiety had depth! Despite Harper's anxiety, she also was very successful and had friendships which I appreciated as a reader with anxiety.
-Unique background with the characters in the dental field (I have read a lot of romances with doctors, but can honestly say the is the only book I've ever read that featured dentists/dental students). I always appreciate reading something new.
-More depth than a usual romance with topics such as sexism, anxiety, societal/parental pressures

Cons-I didn't totally buy the chemistry between the two main characters. They seem to fall in love very quickly without a lot of quality interaction between the two.
-I'm not sure Harper and Dan were actually better people when they were together so it made it hard for me to root for them as a couple.
-The first half of the book switched back and forth between Harper and Dan's voices, but towards the end it was just mostly Harper which made it feel a little lopsided. (I also kind of didn't mind this because I much preferred the narrator of Harper to Dan's narrator).

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for granting me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

I think there are many young readers/listeners who will love A Brush with Love. I am not young, and I tired of it very quickly. By 11% in, according to my audio app, I had been told ""no one should have to lose a piece of themselves to make other people comfortable," and had heard, parenthetically, about the recent poor treatment in the U.S. of Asian-Americans, American Jews, and American Moslems. As the title suggests, there is romance here, but there are also hearty doses of politically-correct reminders of how important multiculturalism and diversity are, and encouragement to seek therapy for emotional problems. I agree, 100%, but it's not what I'm seeking in romance. And while there is a tender story concerning an anxiety-ridden young dentist and a troubled young man trying to determine his own future, there are also way too many improbable plot occurrences that drove me crazy, starting with the fall down the stairs at the beginning of the book (the way it was described, she should have needed immediate medical help), and ending with the ridiculous RUN through a mile of downtown New York City in stiletto heels. Again, I think my objections would not bother younger readers, so I wish them enjoyment of A Brush with Love. The narration was fine. I found nothing either objectionable or memorable about it, so consider that a plus on the side of "reading" this book via audio.

I kept seeing friends were reading A Brush with Love and the FOMO was reaaaaaaaaaaal, so when I saw the audiobook available on NetGalley, I IMMEDIATELY requested it.

I don’t think I have ever read a romance with this level of perfect representation to different cultures and ethnicities. I was living for it on that basis alone!!!

I’ve never read a book about dental school, but it brought a whole new level of adoration for those in school for their doctorate. I will/have never wanted to… also mouths are cesspools of filth and I’d rather not have to do anything prolonged to look inside one other than brushing my teeth.😂😂

I really enjoyed the amount and quality of the seggsy time that was in this. Once we got to it, the book really picked up and I was loooooooving it! The second half of the book was far superior to the first and it gave me all the feels!!!

Highly recommend picking this up as soon as it releases on March 1st!!!

(My review that's up on GoodReads):

** spoiler alert ** (Kinda) spoilers ahead:


Check the trigger warnings if you pick up this book!
Thank you Netgalley for early access to this book!

This book was AMAZING and i was pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed it. If you love The Love Hypothesis, i recommend this book to you.

It’s strangers turned friends turned lovers with supportive friends and no miscommunication….. um yes please.

Harper and Dan are perfect for each other and it was so much fun watching them fall in love with each other. Also let’s appreciate the amazing friends Harper has and their understanding instead of turning things into a petty argument.

Harper's relationship with anxiety and grief is presented a lot in this book, so warnings for that. Watching her finally accept her mother’s death was heartbreaking, but also amazing that we got to see her grow from it too.

Loved this book and can’t wait to read more form the author!

This is my second audiobook experience!! I finished this in a day and the narrator was fun to listen to. I really appreciated that the narrator wasn't monotone and that the protagonist is extremely opinionated.

Having almost no expectations sent me in with a wide open mind and the ability to totally love it. This is the story of Harper and Dan. Both are in a highly intense and competitive school for vastly different reasons. Her focus and drive and goal of oral surgery put them together on a project that leads to friendship. Best friendship and proximity that leads to all of the best tension and romance. Dan was the actual best hero. The actual best. He was so supportive and fun and encouraging of Harper. Harper has such a good anxiety rep that as a person with threads of this in her life, I felt incredibly seen. (maybe a little too clearly. lol). From the romance to the friend group, Maezy E provided fun and heat and all the things we crave in a great rom com with all of the real life emotion that we need

Harper wants nothing more than to secure a highly sought after place in a top oral surgery program. She is hyper focused on it as she is with everything in her life. She lives by a set of rules and beliefs and never strays for them for control is how she keeps herself together. Or does she? She lives each and every moment of her life in fear of…almost everything. Dan is a classmate who isn’t living his best life. He has given up what he wants to do to keep his mother happy. She wants him to keep up his fathers legacy. He wants nothing to do with dentistry and even though he is dead, hates his abusive cold despicable excuse of a father. Harper and Dan literally bump into each other and so begins a rocky road to romance. So many different issues within this romance and all handled gracefully. It is clear that the author did her research and didn’t just write them in for shock value or to gloss over them. There’s a thought/saying that whatever the maturity level people enter med school at (or the like) is the same when they finish, which is not a good thing. Harper’s friends and most of their classmates are book smart, but immature children. The ridiculous almost constant immature comments (6th grade level ones), the bullying were over the top and the only thing I wanted less of. I look forward to more from this author. This was a great listen and I look forward to whatever comes next from this author.

I’m gonna start out by saying that I think a lot of people are going to LOVE this book. I was not one of them. I liked it fine, but there were parts that I didn’t like and they weigh heavily on my mind as I write this. But again, I think I may be in the minority.
Harper is a hyper critical, stress and anxiety filled dental student who does all she can to keep people at arms length after the loss of her mother leaves her with panic attacks and makes her feel weak and not wanting to let people into her safe world of studying and working. She has a few close friends that have been with her all along, but doesn’t let others in until one day she literally crashes into Dan at school and he crashes her whole world apart. She fights against letting him into her life so he won’t see her vulnerability and think less of her, but he persists until she breaks down her walls and let’s him in. It doesn’t last long before she pushes him away and goes back to her same old life, but now with a broken heart, leaving her friends to try and help get her and them back together.
There are some triggers-death, anxiety, panic attacks and they are very thoroughly addressed so this may not be for everyone. There’s also lots of steam, so if you like things clean, you need to know that too.
I didn’t mind the narrators-I’ve heard them before on other books but at times I wanted to turn the woman off. She came across as so whiny at times it grated my teeth. Again, it may be just me. There were parts that really worked for me and overall this was a good way to spend my morning.
Thanks to St. Martins Griffin and MacMillan Audio for this arc in exchange for my review.
Publication date: March 1, 2022

I really appreciated the trigger warnings statement in the beginning of this story. That being said, just because you’re expecting something, doesn’t always make it easier to deal with - the author’s descriptions of Harper’s anxiety, well, I had to forward through some of it because it was so bothersome.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but I couldn’t connect with it. The whole weirdly intense (and seemingly unrealistic) experience in the lab just threw me. Insta-love isn’t a favorite of mine and I likely wouldn’t have read this, had I known that was what to expect. Perhaps I might have enjoyed this more if I was reading it instead of listening to the audiobook.

I appreciated the dental school setting and the realistic portrayal of an anxious character.

I loved reading the story of Harper and “Dental Dan”. The intro by Eddings was a trigger warning and insight into how carefully she treated anxiety. The insight into Harper’s mind was great.