(4.25/5 stars) This book has me going back and putting the first two in the series on hold at the library. Mazey Eddings has a real talent for writing characters with depth and issues who are able to grow over the course of the book in a way that is very real and raw. If you're looking for a fluffy romcom, perhaps look elsewhere. It had me highlighting notes on addressing trauma and caring for people who have experienced trauma, all while putting big goofy smiles on my face -- at one point I audibly squealed.

This book has EVERYTHING:
💕 childhood enemies to lovers/brother's best friend
💕 forced proximity
💕 fake dating
💕 hilarious pet names
💕 heart-bursting tender moments
💕 no third-act breakup
💕 mental health/trauma awareness

I was sent the eARC of The Plus One by the publisher and I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press for the opportunity!

The Plus One is Mazey Eddings's writing at her best. I've read all three of the novels in this series so far and this one might be my new favorite of the set. I knew I was an Indira fan from the moment she showed up in A Brush With Love (the first of three books) so I was ecstatic to find out she was getting her own novel!

The Plus One centers on Indira and Jude, former childhood enemies, being reunited for Indira's brother's (and Jude's best friend's) wedding. After a disastrous end to her previous relationship, Indira finds herself temporarily moved in with her older brother Collin, and much to her dismay, Jude. What starts out as going back to their bickering ways blossoms into an unlikely friendship that allows them both to see that they had secretly appreciated each other's presence in their lives all along. As the weeks leading up to the wedding unfold, deeper feelings are discovered as Indira and Jude slowly begin to let their guards down and open up, accepting that being known alongside their flaws and mistakes and insecurities allows them to also welcome love into their lives.

Ultimately, The Plus One is a story about vulnerability and the joy that can be found when we open ourselves up to not only giving, but accepting love. It is also a story about how sometimes what someone needs has been right beside them all along (you simply just had some growing up to do). There are mentions and discussions of characters experiencing PTSD and anxiety but Eddings approaches their story with so much love and care that it's evident as a reader. I'm such a fan of this trilogy and I genuinely cannot wait to see what else Mazey Eddings writes in the future!

Fake dating, brother's best friend, banter, and mental health rep.

Indira is a phycologist who seems to have it all together, and when she walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her, she has enough packs up what she can and heads over to her brother's house. She is not expecting for Jude, her brother's best friend to open the door and be there at all. Jude is on leave from his job as an emergency surgeon assigned to humanitarian crisis, and home for his best friend's wedding. Indira and Jude have been in each other's lives forever but have never truly got along, and have bickered and fought for as long as they can remember. Jude came home struggling and wearing his trauma on his sleeve, and Indira needs a buffer to deal with her ex so they agree to fake date to help the other survive all the wedding activities.

What more can I say than this was incredible. The balance of hard, real, topics, with the fun and happy was a masterpiece. The depiction of mental health and dealing with trauma was so authentic and well represented. The banter was also so well written, i was smiling and snorting the whole way through. I felt the chemistry radiating off the pages, the tenderness, understanding, and love was palatable.

“You can hurt and also be loved. You can feel sadness and also laugh and feel joy. Good emotions can coexist with hard ones. You can struggle and suffer and learn to heal while you also love.”

A sweet, funny, and emotional story. The Plus One is the third installment in A Brush With Love series and follows psychiatrist, Indira, and doctor/her older brother’s best friend, Jude. After Indira catches her boyfriend cheating, she moves in with her brother, Collin, and his fiancé. She’s not too happy to find out that her childhood nemesis is also staying with them while he’s in town for Collin’s wedding. The two eventually agree to fake date which leads to them opening up and really getting to know one another.

I thought this was so well written and the author truly does a wonderful job describing mental health struggles, PTSD, and trauma in such a realistic way. I loved the connection between Indira and Jude! How they both worked on healing individually, but also leaned on each other when they needed to. This book was so good and I’ll definitely be picking up more from Mazey!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was so well written, emotional and funny. The spice was amazing and so was the chemistry between Indira and Jude. This book was a fantastic and to my new favorite "trilogy!" I actually purchased a physical copy of it ☺️

When I first saw the premise for this book I was hooked because of the tropes. I love fake dating, forced proximity, childhood enemies to lovers and brother's best friend. However, even with all these tropes this book fell flat for me.

This is the first book I have read by the author and I do enjoy her writing style, however I just wasn't able to connect with the characters in this book. I found myself skimming through some parts of this book. as I was not interested in it. I kept reading as I thought it would get better. I will say that i did like how the author handled the PTSD that Jude faces throughout the book. Overall, for me this book was alright, it wasn't a book I loved and it wasn't one I hated it. This book just was not for me, but I could see a lot of people enjoying this. I do think that I will read the author's other works as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-arc!

Jude and Indira have always hated each other. But now, they are in the same wedding party and are forced to see each other, especially once she moves in with her brother, who is his best friend.

Eddings handles these characters just as well as her previous books. Both Indira and Jude have baggage, but they accept each other and the way his character is written breaks my heart, but Eddings puts it back together. She is fantastic!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was a cute rom-com, the brother's best friend/enemies to lovers trope that I was hoping it to be and then some, plus very frank conversations about mental health. I will discuss more about the mental health below, but it is a bit more spoilery, so you can ignore that if you want. The romance in this book was cute, and I realized well after the fact that this was book 3 in a series, but that didn't impact my ability to enjoy this book at all. I can't wait to go back to read the other two (A Brush with Love has been on my TBR for a WHILE now anyway), so that is great too. It really was just a cute romantic book with realistic tones all throughout - I could believe all of this would happen without suspending much, if any of my disbelief/reality.

And thank you so much Mazey Eddings for writing a book where we talk about mental health in a way that shows people realistically - we need more of that. Jude and Indira are both dealing with some pretty hard stuff in this book, and there is a warning at the beginning about PTSD/triggering content which I appreciate, and I also appreciate that there wasn't a magic wand wave and everything was fixed by the end of the book in terms of mental health struggles. Because that isn't real - you don't just fix PTSD by going to therapy for a day or two and taking some medicine. The conversations Jude and Dira had were real and I appreciated them so much.

This book is really enjoyable, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a romance but don't want standard fluff but still want that happily ever after romance provides.

I loved 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, and hope to this month.

Indira and Jude are childhood frenemies who are thrown together after Indira catches her boyfriend cheating and moves into her brother’s house, where Jude is currently staying. Her brother and his partner are getting married so it does work out having them all in the same house, but Indira’s ex is also in the wedding party so she’s forced to see him. Jude and Indira find that they comfort each other in stressful situations so they decide to fake date. Throw in some forced proximity, and you get a steamy and funny story.

There was definite chemistry between Jude and Indira, and Eddings knows how to write spicy scenes. What I liked best about their relationship was how they picked on each other in a funny yet endearing way. It wasn’t malicious, but came from them growing up together. You could tell they actually cared about each other even though they were supposed to be enemies.

One thing I love about Eddings is that she includes mental illness in her books. She handles topics like Jude’s PTSD and Indira’s issues with her father leaving when she was younger, with care while bringing different conditions to the forefront of her romcoms.

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!

Read this if you like:
- Enemies to lovers
- Fake dating
- Forced proximity
- Mental health rep
- Brother’s best friend
- Some steamy scenes

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings was hands down the best book I read this week.

I knew early on in Chapter 4 that this book was a five star read for me and not only did this book wreck me emotionally but the author’s writing was just.. something else.

This book talks about mental health in a way that is real & raw. So many other authors brush things under the rug quickly in order to get to the romance of things quicker and while it’s not essentially bad for those storylines.. this one was REAL. It not only showed the long term effects of mental illness but it shows that with things like PTSD, there isn’t a quick and easy fix. It takes time and so so much effort and work to get even a little better let alone be “fixed”.

Jude and Indira’s love story was one filled with hope & strength and so much love. Like life, it shows the good, the bad and the in between & I cannot even begin to recommend this book enough.

Thank you so SO much to the author & the publisher for sending me an early copy of this amazing book!

“You aren’t my patient. You aren’t a diagnosis. You aren’t a case file. You’re the person I love. You’re the person I would do anything for. I’m not here to fix you, Jude. I’m not. And I never was. No one can single-handedly fix another person. We all hurdle through life, getting bumped and cracked and broken along the way, we are solely responsible for our own healing.”

“We honor of the human body. Respect it. But we take the mind for granted. We ignore the invisible illnesses that played countless people every single day.”

“We ignore their need for healing. We demand their absolute best when the most essential organ in their body isn’t working at its optimal capacity. We tell them that an ill brain does not grant them, grace or compassion. But, sir, I can attest to the torture that we inflict on people when we minimize the impact of a hurting mind.”

The amount of pages I have dog eared because of quotes that I found so powerful in this book would probably make you all cringe. But, @mazeyeddings has such a way with words. She is able to create a BEAUTIFUL story while also showing the depths of characters and the way they think, feel, and act, all while authentically showing those whose minds work differently than others.

This is a romance book, but it’s also so much more!

Quick hitters-
❤️‍🩹Emotional healing (moving on after being cheated on)
🩵Brother’s best friend
😡Enemies to lovers
🩺 Psychologist (FMC) Surgeon (MMC)
🧠 PTSD

Just go read it, okay?!

Oh and if you weren’t sure by now…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🌶️🌶️.5/5

Also, thank you to @mazeyeddings and @netgalley for the advanced reader copy even though I drove 30 mins past my house to buy this at B&N because I HAD to have the physical copy lol

Fake dating, amazing mental health rep, emotional romance with perfectly timed humor.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Indira has just walked in on her boyfriend having sex with someone else and is now crashing with her brother. She's going to have to keep seeing her ex at her brother's wedding festivities because they're both in the wedding party (her ex is related to her brother's fiancé). On top of that, her childhood nemesis and brother's best friend Jude is staying with her brother as well. Jude has been serving as a doctor through an international relief program and is grappling with severe PTSD but isn't acknowledging it to anyone or seeking professional help. Indira and Jude butt heads during the first few days they're together but slowly start to let one another in, which leads to a fake dating proposition. Indira will save face at the wedding events by having a date with her and Jude will have a bit of relief from the crowds and loud noises because he can sneak off somewhere quiet with Indira without really raising too much attention.

I feel like a majority of the story focused on their separate mental health journeys and while they did have very sweet moments and deep conversations together, it still felt like they declared they loved one another quickly. But once again, you know I want that super slow burn every time so that’s probably just on me! 😂 I loved the mental health representation and I loved the support that Indira and Jude committed to one another in small and big ways. And we got to see a Harper, Dan, Thu, Alex, Lizzie and Rake in the story a bit, which is always fun! Overall it was a very enjoyable emotional romance. If you've read The Kiss Quotient/The Bride Test/The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang, you'll remember that The Heart Principle was much more emotional and much more focused on their health/mental health journeys and less time was spent specifically on the romantic relationship compared to the others. I feel like The Plus One is similar to the Heart Principle in this series.

I truly think that Mazey Eddings can write no wrong! I've absolutely devoured all of her books so far, and this one was no exception!

I absolutely loved Indira and Jude. In perfect Mazey fashion, the characters were so real and raw you wanted to hurt and laugh and love right along with them. I loved the childhood enemies-to-adult lovers storyline and thought that their dynamic was so compelling. The banter was top-tier and I laughed out loud so many times I lost count!

The therapy and mental health rep in this book was also so important. Mazey writes with such honesty and realness that you can feel the pain and struggles of her characters, and that makes their discoveries and growth so much more impactful. I loved how Indira always emphasized how okay it was to seek help, and how she demonstrated how to be a supportive partner while also seeking help herself. At the end of the day, we are all broken people, but we are also so deserving of love - and this book and this story were perfect reminders of that.

I would recommend this book (and the entire Brush with Love series) 100 times over. If you have or plan to read the rest of the series, The Plus One includes so many moments with all of the friends and their partners, and the sweetest epilogue to top it all off! I will miss this series, but I'm so excited to read everything Mazey Eddings writes next!

Read this book if you love:
- childhood frenemies to lovers
- brother's best friend
- therapy/mental health rep
- tons of laugh-out-loud moments
- a perfect amount of tension and spice

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was somehow my first by Mazey Eddings?! I really liked this one. This book has all the tropes – brother’s best friend, fake dating, childhood nemesis (to lovers). Jude and Indira have amazing banter, and there were some genuinely laugh out loud moments between them and others in the book (when Collin finds out about them lol). While this book had everything I love about romance – the fluffiness and the cheesiness – this one also dealt with some heavy topics, particularly Jude’s PTSD, and I thought it was wonderfully handled. With these serious elements woven in with the romance, it really made for a great, interesting story. I didn’t feel like things were dragged out, the conversations and situations felt realistic and I was really happy that there was actual communication between the characters! Definitely want to pick up this author’s previous books to give them a read because of how much I enjoyed the writing in this one!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The familiarity of Mazey Eddings’s writing style helped me get absorbed into the story right away. It’s been almost a year since I read A Brush with Love, but from what I remember of it, The Plus One had a different overall feel to the story because the characters and their struggles were so different; we still get to see Mazey Eddings’s characteristic humor and banter, and we get that in spades in this one.

I actually really loved Indira and Jude pretty much right away, and my feelings toward their characters didn’t change (I think I love them even more now at the end of the book 🥺). (I love them more than Harper and Dan, though I still love them too.) Indira feels so many things, and while she initially tries to push some of those feelings down, she learns to embrace all of them and lives her life so fully, loves her people so fully. Jude’s struggles with his PTSD broke my heart; seeing his internalized guilt and the way he numbs himself to cope really hurt, and I just wanted to give him such a big hug. Indira’s therapy sessions were really a highlight of this book.

I love that we get to see Indira work through her issues and trauma in a safe space and learn so much about herself and how to work through her feelings. Her background as a psychiatrist means that she’s really knowledgeable about mental health, but as Dr. Koh says, that in itself doesn’t mean she’s expected to be perfect and to have all the right coping mechanisms for dealing with her own issues. I do love how Indira brings that understanding combined with her own big heart and intuition to her relationship with Jude, to know how to treat him with compassion and to recognize his struggles, to let him know she wants to support him. Her own healing journey with her anger and hurt caused by her father is also so beautiful to see; it gets messy and hard, and we see how it affects her around Collin when their father is mentioned, but we also see what a lovely sibling bond they have (Collin wanting to check on Indira after their argument and them making up warmed my heart). It’s such a wonderful moment when Indira finally realizes her father won’t change and makes the decision to cut him out of her life for her own good, to start letting go of her rage.

And Jude, with all his confusion and hurt he keeps buried deep and tries to suppress, his efforts to seem normal to his best friend and everyone around him, the poor traumatized boy… I loved his character arc too. We see him go from purposely numbing his feelings to moments of vulnerability and openness with Indira, since they’ve known each other forever and are such a source of familiarity and comfort for each other. I love the way their childhood relationship got incorporated into their story; Indira’s journals and their notes to each other, their shared memories and presence in each other’s daily lives from childhood to adulthood, the nostalgia and warmth and looking at each other through a different lens. They’re so fucking cute and sweet and lovely and warm and they just make each other smile and laugh so much. The way Indira herself is the catalyst to Jude wanting to figure out how to heal is everything. Her steadfast support and willingness to be vulnerable with him help him to recognize that he doesn’t have to struggle alone and keep everything bottled up for the sake of appearing normal. When he finally lets himself feel everything and release his emotions and makes that choice to go back and take a step forward into his future, together with Indira, I was so so proud of him. His first therapy session, his choice for his own happiness, just ahhhhhhh. Jude, I’m so proud. :’) the way these two made me all teary-eyed multiple times, ugh. I love them.

There are so many good lines in this book; I highlighted so many things! All the mental health related lines, about happiness and healing and living for your present and future, that no one can fix someone else, but instead they have to be the one to choose to heal, to put in the work… they’re all so good and important, and I love all of it. I could tell how deeply personal a lot of these parts were to Mazey Eddings, and her author’s note just confirmed all of it. I’m so thankful she wrote this book and got to show such beautiful healing journeys for Indira and Jude who have their own past hurts and trauma. I have a lot of feelings about these two 🥹 and I’m probably not articulating them super clearly considering it’s really late and I needy to sleep haha. But I want to give my paperback copy of this book a hug once it gets here (probably today!).

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC!!! I’m so appreciative (even though it took me a couple extra days to finish bc I have to WORK lol).

4 and a half stars!

“The sun rose in the east. Set in the west. Indira annoyed Jude. Jude annoyed her back”.

Childhood nemesis’s, Jude and Indira, despise each other…or do they? The two decide to fake date to help each other get past their individual hardships and endure the approaching wedding of her brother and Jude’s best friend, Colin. All starts well, but then the lines start to blur between what’s fake and what’s real.

Indira is a therapist. You would think she has it together. Not so. Cheated on and dumped by her live in boyfriend and now crashing at her brother Collin’s to get by.

Jude. A broken hero who was effected from his humanitarian work as a Surgeon has left him with deep emotional scars. Now back home for his best friends wedding and struggling to adjust to ‘normal’ life again.

This was an amazing story about two people realizing that their emotional struggles, trauma, and short comings do not detract from their personal self worth. Learning to let go of what doesn’t serve you. It was touching and heartbreaking at times, but also a wonderful romance. I could not put this one down. I love when a book is all encompassing.

What I loved:
▪️All my favorite tropes in one book and done so well!
▪️Indira. I loved her snarkiness (is that even a word?) 😂
▪️Jude. I’m a complete sucker for the broken hero story line.
▪️The writing: I love all of Mazey Edding’s books, and this was no exception!
▪️The banter between Jude and Indira. They were so cute together and had me giggling out loud!
▪️The angst and build up between them.
▪️The ending, it wrapped up well and the epilogue made me smile and feel so happy inside.

All of it was so very good! I highly recommend this one. It’s very emotional so be prepared. Don’t sleep on this one. Thank you to @netgalley for this #arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

I think this is almost a perfect romance book. I like the relationship & chemistry between Indira and Jude. I loved the silly and playful banter. I liked that they were communicative and that their problems were big and real and not anyone's fault. This really would have been a 4.5-5 star romance for me. Except. Except for the extremely detailed sex scenes. I'm not super into spice, I prefer a clean romance or at least a "and then they fell into bed" type deal. Build it up and then let me use my imagination as I see fit. The sex scenes were super detailed and that just didn't work for me. Also. C*nt. Like. Can we not. I gagged over "sweet, wet c*nt". That's just. Not It. Some things are better left to the imagination. If the intimate scenes has been more allusive, I probably would have full on loved this one. This probably works for a lot of people, just not for me. 3.5, rounded up

I just want to shout from the rooftops how much I love, adore, can’t get my hands on quick enough (fill in any other adjectives for I NEED IT NOW) any book by Mazey Eddings, and she’s absolutely done it again with The Plus One. I’m not going to bore you with a synopsis – you can look that up all on your own, but I will say I absolutely love Indira and Jude and this book. I just want to wrap them both up in a warm hug and never let them go. This book has it all and I mean Mazey gave us all the things – fake dating, enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, forced proximity – all the quintessential tropes in one book and guess what?!? NO THIRD ACT BREAK-UP! Thank you thank you thank you!

In all seriousness, she has taken a very heavy topic by tackling the struggles of mental health and written beautifully flawed and relatable characters with Indira and Jude. Even with the topic of mental health and struggles being a huge aspect of this book, it’s also filled with so much joy and love and hope.

If you can’t already tell from all the shouting from above, you must read this book and you should do it now. And while you’re at it pick up her others because you can’t go wrong with anything written by Mazey Eddings.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Mazey Eddings and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book for a fair and honest review!

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Genre: contemporary romance
Format: ebook
Length: 320 pages
Trigger Warnings: mental illness, panic attacks, medical trauma, abandonment

✨Read this book if you enjoy✨
fake dating
Enemies to lovers
Mental health rep
Brother’s best friend


Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Mazey Eddings for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Coming home to find your boyfriend cheating on you should be bad enough, but it just so happens that Indira’s now ex-boyfriend is also part of her brother’s upcoming wedding. Insert Jude, Indira’s childhood nemesis and brother’s best friend. Indira and Jude decide to pretend to be each other’s date to make it through this wedding.

Please be aware that although this book seems to be a typical romcom, Mazey Eddings books discuss heavy topics. The author does a great job of listing triggers in the book, but please do your research.

There were so many moments that I really loved in this book but I’m worried they might be considered spoilers so I’m going to be purposely vague. I loved all the comforting moments throughout this book. I also really loved that Indira was a psychologist who didn’t have everything figured out. Just because people help others who are struggling doesn’t mean that they don’t struggle too.

Personally, I wish that this book was more of a slow burn, I felt that Jude and Indira got together way too quickly. Even though I really appreciate all the mental illness rep throughout this book, I also felt like it was a little too heavy for what I was expecting. But I will say that I think Mazey Eddings always does a great job with the mental illness rep. I just personally wanted something lighter, problems of a mood reader.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
A Brush With Love series #3. Contemporary romance. Can be read as a stand-alone. 5e epilogue does wrap up all three relationships of the series.
Indira was the pesky little sister of Jude’s best friend and neither liked the other. When Indira walks in on her boyfriend being unfaithful, she moves in with her brother at the same time Jude is staying there as well. Wedding prep is keeping the circle of friends busy so Indira and Jude end up faking a relationship. Fake, real, who can say what goes on behind closed doors?

🎧 I listened to an audiobook version alternating with an Ebook. The narration was done by Imani Jade Powers and Joe Arden. I like that the series was all different narrators so listening doesn’t get the stories and characters mixed up. The narrators compliment each other very well while each takes their gender POV. Both gave amazing performances on the stress of PTSD, the overwhelming sounds of everyday and, of course, the passion they eventually felt for each other. For me, the audio gave the characters life and a specific “look” that I don’t generally find with an ebook.
I listened to the audio at 1.5.

There are trigger warnings mentioned in the beginning of the book which was helpful to understand the depth of Jude’s detachment. I admired Indira for her support and stance to Jude. Yes, she had training but her words are heartfelt.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.