A Brush With Love

I think this may be a first that I give this low a star rating.

I listened to the audio of this book on NetGalley. I was excited as I thought I’d seen good reviews on it from friends.

I think the narrators just made my experience of this book worse than had I read it myself but even so. This was an eye rolling experience.

I am not trying to be mean but I truly had a hard time with the over acting from the narrators as well as parts of the story line.

I did not love either of these characters and it was hard at times to continue to want to read.

DNF @ 20%

This was not for me. I found it boring and cheesy. I didn't love the narrators, especially the female voice. I think this book was trying to do a lot and include a lot of "current" ways of being, which is fine, but it came off as unnatural. As someone who has dealt with anxiety, I found this a bit triggering. I just didn't love the main characters, they were so into each other so quickly. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

Harper is a hardworking, somewhat clumsy, dental student at the top of her class. When she accidentally breaks Dan, a first year dental student's mold she offer to help him fix it. Both are insanely attracted to each other, but are hesitant to react. They both cant lose focus in the vigorous dental program, but they also can't deny the chemistry between them. Can they have it all? Or will the pressure on their shoulders crush the relationship before it even beings?

This book was so freaking cute. As a woman with anxiety it was so nice to read a book with a character whose issues and thought processes match mine. I found myself saying am I Harper? I also loved the jewish representation and that it wasn't stereotypical JAPPY woman. This book had so much depth and dimension. Not only was there mental health talk, and religious talk, but there was also a strong undertaking of feminism and the pressure of living your family legacy. At the same time, it didnt feel like they too much. I loved that Dan wasn't this knight in shining armor or this "perfect" protagonist. They both had struggles and the story really explored them nicely.

The only one thing I can say that isn't positive is that, Dan came off as a little desperate at times. I feel like in real life men are not that determined especially when a woman shows she isn't interested (even in this case Harper was interested, just got in the way of herself). But maybe that just says more about the people I keep company with.

When I heard the trigger/content warning at the start I was a little apprehensive about going on with the book. 1. Because I was glad there was the content warning and 2. Because of the topics this book contained and I was worried it could be triggering to me. This book has me laughing out loud so many times. The conversations between Dan and Harper were funny but real at the same time. Harper suffer from anxiety and panic attack which she suffers several times throughout the book. Harper has always hid her anxiety from everyone but Dan has seen her during one of her panic attacks. As Dan and Harper lean more and more on each other, they start falling for each other. The story was super cute and funny!
I listened to the audiobook and the only downside was when the narrator who read for Dan would have to do the voice for Harper or her girl friends and I wasn’t a fan. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

This was an adorable debut. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the banter is great, with both characters' viewpoint. So many things to love about a romance with a woman in STEM.

I read this book last year and LOVED it, so I was happy to review the audiobook version. It was just as I remembered, and I really thought the narrations were great. Harper is a great representation for general anxiety disorder, and Dan was a really wonderful character.

Mazes Ending’s debut novel is a smashing hit! I really enjoyed this romantic comedy that centers around two dental students. Anti-social career driven Harper has a not-so-meet-cute with reluctant first year dental student Dan and sparks a romance for the ages. These two have sizzling chemistry and amazing banter that will have readers binging this book all night long. This book is definitely a romantic comedy- I laughed approximately two minutes into the audiobook (thanks NetGalley for the advanced audiobook) but it does cover some really heavy topics. Trigger warning for off the page death of parents, anxiety, and sexism. While ultimately Harper and Dan have a beautiful romance and relationship, there is a section of the book where Harper is truly struggling and in turn treats Dan very poorly which was very hard for me to read. I do appreciate how mature Dan is and his ability to set healthy boundaries in his relationships. Both Harper and Dan are dealing with a lot of baggage but the way that they work through it in this book is incredibly powerful and makes this book great in my opinion. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing and hilarious side characters! I believe Ending’s next book is about Lizzie, one of the side characters from this book, and I honestly can’t wait to read her story! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! Perfect for fans of The Love Hypothesis

Oh Harper! Harper is a little bit of a hot mess. She is a perfectionist, but there are deep rooted reasons as to why she acts the way she does, even if she doesn't share them with everyone. She just has to get through dental school and be the best so that she can pursue her dream career and help others.
Dan is in dental school, but he really doesn't want to be there. He is feeling a deep sense of familial duty that is crushing him. He is supposed to take over his parents legacy, but has no passion and it is leaving him very flustered.
They meet when both are at a place where they can't have distractions, but are instantly attracted to the other. Harper is a lot more hesitant and insists on just being friends and Dan likes her so much he will take whatever she offers just to be with her.
I found myself annoyed with how many times Harper pushed Dan away and how Dan just kept staying through it all. He had so many people taking from him, trying to please everyone, it was a wonder that boy didn't have a full break down. I really enjoyed the conflict of the story and it raised my rating of the book because it felt so authentic and real. People are flawed, people are broken and love doesn't magically fix any of that. We have to work on ourselves to be ready to be with other people in a meaningful way.
Thank you to Macmillian Audio, Netgalley and Mazey Eddings for an early audio copy.

This was the sweetest book, it gave me a toothache. The anxiety representation was incredible, the emotional connection between the two main characters was MINDBLOWING and palpable. I loved the friend group and the support that the main character received throughout the book. I also loved how much Dan supported Harper through her anxiety attacks and episodes even without the whole context. This was such a sweet book and I can't wait for the next in the series!

Harper is in her last year of Callowhill University’s School of Dental Medicine and at the top of her class. She is great with patients and does well in the lab or classroom. She has problems with anxiety and claustrophobia but is keeping it from her three best friends. The day she falls down the steps and into Dan, her ability to stay focused on her studies falters. The attraction between Dan and Harper is endearing. His concern for her to continue her journey even though he wants to spend more time with her shows how much he cares. She fights the attraction, but he is persistent. I thought the descriptions of the painful claustrophobia and anxiety gave the reader insights into those afflictions. Dan’s torment of giving up what he wants to do to please his mother, whom he loves, is something that all can relate. Great story, characters and lessons learned.

SPOILER ALERT!
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this audiobook.

The narrator was great and was very engaged in the novel.

This was definitely a fun and engaging rom-com about two dental students who fall in love, fall away from each other and then try to find each other again. This novel did not have too many characters and I really loved following Harper's journey and learning more about her and the relationship she shared with Dan. The complicated lives they had to endure to be together and how they were able to figure it all out in the end.

I wish the novel would've stood out a little more than it did, but it was still a great read.

Did I request this book thinking it was about an artist? Yes. Do I hate teeth more than anything in the world? Also yes. Did I keep reading this book about a woman in dental school because it was too good to put down? The biggest yes!!

Harper and Dan are couple GOALS!!! Books with the male POV add such a intimate second layer for me and this one was no exception. The individual growth that both characters find throughout the book is incredible and individual but also done together in so many ways which makes it even more special. The side characters add in so much fun, love, and support. So well written, fun, and beyond sweet. Even for this tooth fearing individual!

Review will be posted to Instagram @literarylu_ on Feb 24

This is such a cute love story! First of all, I absolutely love student romances and this dentistry school was a fresh kind of student I haven’t read yet.

I swear I would go from laughing at something Dan had said to crying over Harper’s feelings in five seconds flat. The audiobook was the best way to listen to this, I got to experience all the funny dialogue as if I was actually there. There’s one moment where Harper asks Dan if he has a “license to drill” and I swear I told like six people about how perfectly timed it was.

Did I relate to Harper super intensely because I’m also an anxiety ridden ashkenazi girl who’s obsessed with school? Yes. I’m in love with the author for bringing this character to life. Mazey Eddings is my new favorite romance author.

This is one of my favorite romance novels that I’ve read this year.

4.25 stars

This was a cute, funny, and intriguing little story. I loved that the characters were smart and hard-working, and, as difficult as it can be to experience in a book, I loved the depictions of anxiety and panic disorders. Scary, for sure, but also accurate and meaningful inclusion. I also liked that the protagonist was managing her anxiety in a variety of ways by the end of the book but was still herself and wasn’t magically “fixed” or “cured” of her mental illness. This was a sweet romance that caught my attention pretty much from the first lines. I’ll be looking forward to more fun reads from this writer in the future.

I really enjoyed reading about Harper and Dan. This book, with some cute/funny elements, has a lot of seriousness - harsh family situations, anxiety and panic attacks, drive to be successful, and more. The story is fantastic, though, and I recommend it for readers of Rachel Lynn Solomon.

4.5 stars rounding up! This book was so cute! Dan and Harper first meet after a run in at school. There’s obviously some chemistry but Harper is a no nonsense, study all the time student and Dan tries to get a date any way he can.
I’m a sucker for a guy falls first love story and while maybe they both fell at the same time Harper wasn’t ready to admit those feelings as quickly as my new book boyfriend Dan. We had some cute dates, some spices scenes and we saw both our MCs struggle with mental health issues.
I would definitely recommend this book to my romcom loving readers who also like some spice. I will be 100% buying this book when it is released!
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my advanced listening copy!

I enjoyed Mazzy Eddings debut novel. While marketed as a rom-com, it was so much more than two characters meeting and falling in love.

Harper is finishing up dental school and applying for residency. She’s top of her class and has no time for distractions. On top of that, she has crippling anxiety and is dealing with grief from her past. Dan is a first year dental school who is struggling to keep up with his courses and lab work. Dental school was never his dream, but he has a family obligation to uphold. Like Harper, he’s sworn of love. Harper and Dan’s lives collide and at first, they promise to just be friends. However, it doesn’t take long for them to fall fast and with that, learn about each others past and anxieties.

Read if you’re interested in:
-Jewish representation
-Dental school setting
-Instant attraction
-Mental health / anxiety rep
-Slow burn romance
-Dual POV
-Great group of friends that will soon be getting their own novels

Of note: While the characters were in their mid 20s, they acted as if they were younger and in college. While I love NA type books, the immaturity in this book made it hard for me to get fully invested in the romance.

A Brush with Love is the debut novel of Mazey Eddings. It tells the story of Harper, a final year dental student, and Dan, a first year medical student. Harper is dealing with the intense pressures of dental school and severe anxiety. Dan is dealing pressures of fulfilling his family’s dream of him becoming a dentist when he really doesn’t want to be one. The pair become friends and eventually fall in love.

I really liked how the book handled Harper’s anxiety and panic attacks. As someone who has both, I found the depictions of both very accurate, but never triggered my own anxiety which is always a concern when I read books with this at the forefront. I was pleased to find that while, most of the story takes place at a dental school, the descriptions didn’t get too graphic. I did find that some of the pacing of the book was off, especially in the back half of the book, which seemed to drag. I do think that some of my issue with the book was that both Harper and Dan were so much on their own journey’s that they never were really working toward the same goal. While it was a romance, I wasn’t left feeling that these two absolutely needed each other to be happy.

I was given the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. I listened to it on 1.5 speed while doing puzzles and it kept me entertained. I did find the woman voicing Harper a bit better than the man voicing Dan, especially when it came to voicing characters of the opposite gender. I do think that only having the audiobook kept me from skimming some parts that I would have had I been reading the book.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the the ALC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the journey of mental health this book takes you through. The characters had a lot going on but their growth arc was amazing and they were just super cute together, their friends were great support systems too and I loved that. The book is cute but nothing notable in the romance part but having MCs with anxiety and depression was extremely relatable and refreshing.

I received an advance listening copy from macmillan audio and netgalley in exchange for my honest review

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a romance novel set in a dental school, so I was immediately curious about A Brush With Love. (Full disclosure: I’m married to a now-retired dentist!) The set-up: two dental students meet cute (Harper slips on wet floor, tumbles down the stairs and hits Dan, breaking his tooth model, and it’s pretty much instant love or crush); she’s a 4th year, stellar student, with anxiety, who loves what she’s doing; he’s a 1st year, non-traditional student, who used to work in finance, and is only in dental school because of family expectations, and hates it.

Harper has a lot of anxiety, to the extent that it is really debilitating, affecting most areas of her life, and the author does a good job of portraying this, along with unresolved grief over the death of her mother when she was about 12. You can also tell that she is very familiar with dental jargon and dental school procedures! I just didn’t relate to Dan having given up a job in a career that he loved to go to dental school just to please his mother (both of his parents are/were dentists). Harper’s friends seemed a bit too adolescent for 26-year-olds. Their actions and dialog seemed more like teenagers to my mind. And the ending was a bit too rushed.

I’m always happy to read books with solid Jewish representation, so that was a plus.

The audiobook was narrated by two narrators, Emily Lawrence and Vikas Adam. The narrator changes depending on the chapter, but I think it would have been more effective if the female narrator spoke the Harper dialog in the Dan chapters and if the male narrator spoke the Dan dialog in the Harper chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.