A Brush with Love
by Mazey Eddings
4 / 5 Stars

A minty fresh tale of overcoming obstacles and finding out how to live your best life.

Harper is an anxious woman who is destined to be an amazing oral surgeon.She is smart, driven and with the exception of some misogynistic classmates, respected. She is in her final year of school and hopes to move onto an ideal trauma center, she just has to stay focused.

That becomes harder when she meets Dan. A very sexy first year who is her age. He started late because he didn't want to follow in his dad's footsteps and had pursued another career before being pulled back into a role he didn't want.

They struggle to overcome past trauma and worries in an effort to find the life they want.

Overall this was a cute love story. I love me a strong woman in stem. I enjoyed her passion for a topic and as we learned more about her that passion became more complex. I found that the side characters had personality and were enjoyable to spend time with. Watching Harper deal with her anxiety and manicness allowed me to better understand a new experience. Dan’s struggle with family obligations hit me right in the feels.

My only complaint with the book was the pacing. The attraction was quick and fast but the stories climax and resolution felt slow.

I received this Audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was everything I never knew I needed. I’m amazed that this is this author‘s debut novel. I forget, a lot of the time, that I need to throw in books like these into my rotation. It’s so good to read something that’s real, raw, emotional and something that I can easily relate to. Harper and Dan make such a great couple, I'm not the biggest fan of the ‘insta love’ trope, but for this story in particular it worked out and didn’t bother me. It felt a little jumpy here and there and though Dan and Harper are in their mid/late 20s, which pains me to say since I am in my late 20s 😭, they seem quite immature at times. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book. I had the absolute pleasure of listening to this book on audio and it made the experience that much better. To my knowledge, and at the time of writing this review, I don’t believe I have listened to audio narrated by these two voice actors before. Now I could be completely wrong, but I don’t believe I have. I thought they did a great job with these characters! Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read more books by the author!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨(4.5 stars)

I wanted to like this book, I tried REALLY hard to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. I liked the anxiety rep - but that was about it. I think it's a case of the author's voice just not clicking with me. The hero seemed like a mopey rich boy with daddy issues. I thought the romance was lots of insta-love, not much depth and I just decided not to continue about halfway through. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book!

4⭐️ This book was a cute rom com, but also addressed super important topics. The meeting of the characters was so cute and I really enjoyed this book and its unique story line.

Stop the cuteness of this little love story between Harper and Dan. 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. I’m smitten.

I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book that talks about anxiety disorders but this was so well written, as someone who has battled anxiety I could relate. It felt real, personal, and deeply vulnerable.

Harper was so focused on becoming an oral surgeon, anything outside of dentistry was a distraction. She runs into Dan one day and it turns her world upside down, she can’t stop herself from having all the feels but its distracting her focus. As her anxiety shows and her walls break down.

Dan is a first year legacy student and has no desire to be a dentist. But he feels the pressure to step into the family business from his mom since is father passed.

You are seen.

Super cute book! Learned some about dentistry and loved the realness and vulnerability of the characters from the beginning. Easy beach romance read for sure!

This book was a very heartwarming rom-com. I enjoyed that it gave a close up look with the ins and ours to dental school. Mazey Eddings wrote two very likeable and relatable characters with Harper and Dan. I could see myself in all of the overthinking and carefully planning out as seen throughout the book. The banter between Harper and Dan was perfect and at times made me laugh out loud! I listened to the audio version which had a consistent and steady rhythm between the two narrators. They both made me feel as if the book was a movie playing out in front of me. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This book is cute and funny. I loved the quick pace and found myself laughing out load often. It does touch on some more personal and emotional topics but I felt like the were really well done. I love how much Harper loved her work in dentistry, I never really considered if my dentist was passionate about their work or not.

I wanted to like this book. I truly did. But I couldn’t.

In all fairness, I listened to the audiobook. I liked that there was a female narrator for Harper’s chapters and a male narrator for Dan’s chapters, and each one changed voices to deliver lines of other characters. But “Harper’s” voice came off as a little too high strung (very GiGi from He’s Just Not That Into You) and the breathy pauses just seemed so contrived. The male narrator was much easier to follow in terms of pacing and engagement.

For the story itself, Dan and Harper have a random run-in at dental school, which sets off the tidal wave of strong emotions in each of them that readers then follow through rom-com. Except… it’s not a wave. Each feels pulled to the other, that never changes, and the story catches that first wave, rides it in to shore, and sets off for the sunset.

The verbose confessions, overused descriptions (the number of things that were “fisted”), and lack of genuine conflict made this a chore to listen to. The comedic lines and character interactions were a little more realistic, but sometimes phrases also seemed dropped in just for effect.

I’ll need to tell my students about: language, sex scenes, mental health, trauma, parent death, anxiety, alcohol.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free ALC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.***

This was a cute romance centered around two well-developed characters struggling with their individuals hope/dreams and including love in them. Harper and Dan are a couple to root for, even if some of their romance was a bit cheesy, and I really enjoyed the dual points of view on their feelings towards each other. The plot moved a bit slow for me and Dan's reasoning for becoming a dentist and his family drama seemed a bit unrealistic (his character acts pretty smart and mature to go with his way of handling the situation), but overall this was a fun romance and a great audiobook!

Story: The storyline was great. The characters were relatable, enjoyable and had good character development. It reminded me of my college days and how stressful college life can be. While I didn't study to be anything in the health profession, I could relate to the stress and anxiety of trying your best.

In the beginning of the story the author mentions the triggers, which I like. She hoped that she did the book justice in how it was portrayed and handle. I thought her execution with how it was written into the story was well done.

Audiobook: I liked that this audiobook was dual narration and both of the narrators were great overall. They brought the characters to life through the story. My only complaint is when they have to narrator the other character. Often times the male gives the female a different vibe/personality or vice versa. It doesn't always work well. This isn't specific to this book, just a general observation. It didn't deter me from enjoying this book.

Highly recommend adding to your audiobook TBR!

Thank you MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I appreciated the different narrators for the two main characters. I felt for both Harper and Dan, living in the loss and shadows of their parents, both in two very ways. I didn’t love the character of Harper, and until the very end I did not like Harper’s friends. I felt like they were too harsh with her. I’m glad they both had their happy ending and were both happy with their chosen paths.

*Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This book was a lovely slow burn into passionate fire between the two main characters. I’ve never had a story be about dentists but it was fascinating. I enjoyed this love story and how real the two characters felt. They showed real problems and how to get past things that are difficult.

Nine out of ten dentists agree, Mazey Eddings's rom-com A Brush with Love makes your smile brighter!*

*not scientifically proven

Harper is anxiously awaiting placement into a top oral surgery residency program when she crashes (literally) into Dan. Harper would rather endure a Novocaine-free root canal than face any distractions, even one this adorable. A first-year dental student with a family legacy to contend with, Dan doesn’t have the same passion for pulling teeth that Harper does. Though he finds himself falling for her, he is willing to play by Harper’s rules. So with the greatest of intentions and the poorest of follow-throughs, the two set out to be “just friends.” But as they get to know each other better, Harper fears that trading fillings for feelings may make her lose control and can't risk her carefully ordered life coming undone, no matter how drool-worthy Dan is.

Blood, gore, and extra-long roots? No problem. The idea of falling in love? Torture.

I loved this book and the narrator very much. I loved the light shed on anxiety and the romance was beautiful.

3.5 Stars for this adorable friends to lovers story. Harper and Dan are both dealing with their own challenges and have moments where they bring out the best and the worst in those challenges. For Dan is people pleasing and living up to his parents standards and for Harper it is intense anxiety. I can feel each of those personal challenges in such a real way, while I may not have a disorder we all have these feelings and emotions at different times or stages in our lives. It's a very raw depiction of how it can consume you. I love the way that they create a safe space for each other to work through it. I believe the author intended to make us feel discomfort, it had me really uncomfortable with what each character was willing to "settle for" but in retrospect, think it is more them working through their own challenge in a way that makes them comfortable.

The audio itself was 'tinny' and hard to listen to. It may have been bc it was playing through net galley app.

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the audio copy. The review and opinions within are all my own.

I LOVED IT! I related to Harper so much. I love her. I love Dan. Harper and Dan are everything. I cannot wait to read more by Mazey Eddings. Her writing is amazing. I loved the narrators. They did great. The netgalley app still has an echoing but it wasn’t too bad.

After finishing the audiobook, A Brush with Love by Mazey Edding, Narrated by Emily Lawrence; Vikas Adam, I wished it was longer, which means I loved it! I love the story of Harper, an oral surgery student getting ready for what comes next, a residency. She builds walls and perfectionism to control her anxiety and not have to deal with her childhood traumas. Dan, a first-year student, wasn't part of her plan but became the person that made her silly and happy, but also made her forget about her #1 goal of becoming an oral surgeon. This story has many twists and turns and shows how anxiety and panic attacks can take over your life. I recommend this to those who love a cute love story, live with anxiety, and can connect with the main character's struggles of being a student and just a person in the world.

This audiobook was super cute and I officially love Mia Sosa! This one was funny, witty, romantic, and captivating.

Somehow Mazey Eddings written probably one of the least sexy professions into a passionate romance novel. I loved this book from start to finish. It was a modern romance with a raw description of anxiety of panic attacks. Mazey took the time to develop the back story of the characters which made them so real to me. Looking forward to recommending this to my friends, thank you for the free ARC!

Such a cute love story! Anyone who might be a bit of a work-a-holic or type A achiever can relate to Harper, our main character who is a very ambitious dental student with big plans. She simply does not have the time right now to fall in love, but as one can expect - love doesn't wait. I'm a sucker for cute love story - starts with the classic meet cute and progresses from there. You learn to love the characters and connect with them via personal life experiences.
I really enjoy the multiple point of views in books because I believe that it really adds to the dynamic of the story. Mazey Eddings does a great job playing with the dream life while staying in the realistic and making you feel like you're living the story.