The Plus One is an engaging childhood rivals-to-lovers story with an incredible amount of emotional depth and a major theme of mental health and personal growth. I really enjoyed it, and I would love to read the earlier books in this series next!

Fun romance with some steam too! Loved how the main characters interacted with each other but appreciated even more how the author included mental illness into the story. It made the story much more honest and authentic than any other romance novel I've read. This is part of a series which I discovered only after I read this book, but it totally works as a stand alone too! I will definitely be reading more books by Mazey Weddings.

“the problem with being self-aware and introspective while also being, admittedly, emotionally damaged was that indira could reason through her feelings and their source and how they didn’t serve her, but she also couldn’t stop the ruminating circles of feeling them.”
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (x1000)

READ IF YOU LIKE: childhood enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, forced proximity, fake dating, mental health rep

PRELUDE: after liking a brush with love and talking to a few friends about how much they loved this one, i was so excited to read it. this book blew me away and will forevaevaevaeva hold a special place in mi corazón.

LIKES: indira’s feelings toward her father were insanely well described and felt very unique while also extremely relatable, jude is like a grumpy cinnamon roll and i want to give him the world’s biggest hug, the nicknames had weak, the writing was exceptional - i'm not an annotator but you best believe this book is highlighted to shit on my kindle, indira’s character was perfectly well-rounded even with her rough edges, collin and jeremy were lovely side characters, loved getting an update on harper, thu, and lizzie’s lives, the therapy representation was understated and yet largely relevant which was just amazing. JUDE & INDIRA 5EVR.

DISLIKES: nothing. goodbye.

IN CONCLUSION: thank you to mazey eddings for writing this book. i'm having a hard time explaining with words what this book meant to me but just plzplzplz read it and love it and if you don’t love it just don’t tell me about it ok? ok thx.

EPILOGUE: i read and reread and then reread againnnnn chapter 30 and i just can’t even really explain the impact it had on me but it was deep and true and so so important.

thank you to netgalley and st. martin's griffin for the arc!

I loved this next book in the A Brushed with Love series.

We are now following Jude and Indira’s story. They both have gone through so much and must deal with past issues as well as current issues. The biggest thing to overcome …they can’t stand each other.

This book deals with some real issues in the best way. The characters are well developed and will make you feel with them. They are also hilarious and have many good moments also.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed Mazey Eddings' writing style: it flowed so naturally, and it made me fall in love with her characters so quickly.

Jude is a doctor dealing with PTSD, and Indira is a psychiatrist dealing with a cheating ex-boyfriend. Each have their own pain to deal with, but living under the same roof is sure to cause more hiccups on the road to healing.

This was my first "Childhood enemies to adult romance" trope, and I had no idea that I needed it so badly!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

“You’re allowed to be broken, and you’re allowed to be repaired. I love every piece of you and however they fit together.”

The Plus One takes readers on an emotional journey as Indira and Jude pursue healing and happiness. Eddings shows us again, through another delightful novel, that we all deserve love, all parts of us. The neurodivergent parts, the messy parts, the anxious parts, the depressed parts, the broken parts. This book reinforces that, “Trauma and happy endings aren’t mutually exclusive.”

THIS BOOK. It tore me apart and put me back together. I loved it.

10 reasons to read The Plus One
1. The tropes: childhood enemies to lovers, best friends’ brother, forced proximity, caretaking.
2. Dual POV
3. Witty banter
4. Therapy positive
5. Invisible illness, mental health, and PTSD rep
6. No 3rd act break up
7. Mini trope- I am grateful for the privilege of touching you and watching you come undone.
8. Men being vulnerable and allowing their partner to hold them
9. Support without expectations, without fixing
10. Life updates from the lovable and endearing ensemble cast of characters from A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake

Praise the mental health rep! Mental health is health!!

I've been absolutely LOVING Mazey Eddings and this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year which DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

All the emotions, all the steam and all the butterflies. This book was so genuine and easy to connect to and I think it will resonate with a large breathe of readers.

I enjoyed this but it wasn’t my favorite. I am not typically a big fan of third person books so that could be why I couldn’t connect to the characters very well.

My favorite of the A Brush With Love trilogy! Mazey Eddings knows how to write people with big feelings, raw emotions and real experiences. I cannot resist an enemies to lovers romance and while the enemies part was much shorter than the lovers part, this one delivered! Actually, I wonder if they ever really were enemies, or if they were just young kids who liked the attention from the other. Either way, Indira and Jude just make your heart melt. They are strong, they are real, they are SEXY, they have FANTASTIC banter and they stand by each other when the going gets tough. I found the writing compelling, the characters lovable and the storyline just sucks you in! An absolute win for Mazey Eddings, I cannot wait to see more from her!! Keep them coming!!!

I got 25 percent of the way through this book and just disliked every moment. I have decided not to finish or post a review on social media out of respect for the author but this book was just not for me. I have seen so many people whom liked this book I just feel I wasnt in the mood for it. Maybe in the future I’ll pick it up again.

Well written, but….
This book is well written story of Indira and Jude who haven’t gotten along. I had a difficult time reading this, the characters didn’t mesh with other characters nor made me want to know what was going to happen between them. The book seemed to go on and on even though it’s just over 300 pages. I found out after reading it that it is the third book in a series, so maybe that’s why I really didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t find it romantic but more realistic in how all the characters are. If you’ve read Mazey Eddings other books and enjoyed them, you’ll probably enjoy this one, but for me there were too many things going on that had me questioning the main characters. I was given and ARC of the book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

This is the third book in the A Brush with Love series, but it definitely could be read as a standalone. With that said, I highly recommend reading the first two because they are wonderful and will offer more background information on side characters. I have nothing but great things to say about this book! It is funny and romantic, while also addressing tough topics like PTSD and mental health. I couldn’t put it down. The Plus One is out on 4/4!

5/5 stars

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

Another really cute one by mazey endings. The characters are adorable - and I loved the familiar faces from previous books. The dynamics were so fun, the growth was great to see. I truly felt for the characters and wanted to be a part of their world. It touched on difficult topics, but it wasn’t overly dark or depressing to read. It was the perfect balance of light and serious. The romance was front and center but not overly done. Just overall a wonderful read.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

Indira is the last single friend in the Brush with Love friend group. But this series not only focuses on their respective romances but it also showcases important mental health issues in a thoughtful way.

Indira and Jude are childhood frenemies who have been brought back together for her brother’s wedding. Indira walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her and flees to her brother’s house only to find Jude staying there. Working as a doctor in humanitarian crisis areas, Jude is trying to hide the trauma he’s dealing with while celebrating his best friend. But Indira sees his suffering. In order to cope with all the wedding stress, they come up with a fake wedding date/dating scheme to help each other survive all the hoopla. You know what happens next!

Indira is a psychiatrist who regularly sees a therapist. She has been hurt by many men in her life but her father was the first to break her heart. Jude is broken, barely holding it together and with Indira’s help he begins to heal. They ground each other, are vulnerable, see behind the walls they’ve built up to keep others out. But this book isn’t all suffering and hurt. Their connection is genuine, they know how to tease and laugh with each other; and their chemistry is fiery, which leads to some sexy sexy times which balances out the hard stuff.

It’s overall a great ending to the series. And just like Indira, we will never look at peanut butter the same way! 😬

What we liked:
▪️Forced proximity & brother’s best friend
▪️Dual POV
▪️Indira’s nicknames for Jude
▪️Mental health/PTSD rep
▪️Seeing characters from the series

What we didn’t like:
▪️The timeline feels off (when you take the other book in series into account)

I really enjoyed this rom-com. I loved that the exploration of therapy was central to the main story. I will be recommending this one!

When Indira walks into her boyfriend cheating she finds herself crashing at her brother’s house while she decides her next move. Little did she know Jude, her childhood nemesis, is also staying there to help get ready for his best friend’s wedding.

Although they haven’t seen each other in years their bickering picks up right where they left off. And as wedding festivities ensue they find themselves spending a lot of time together. Indira tired of having to see her ex and his new girlfriend at every event and Jude feeling increasingly anxious they strike a deal to be each other’s fake date. But soon they are both left wondering if maybe it wasn’t hate they’ve felt towards each other all these years.

Oh.my.goodness! I don’t even know where to start, I just loved this book so much! For me it was the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, serious and funny.

From the writing style to the characters to the tropes it was all just amazing! Childhood enemies to lovers isn’t a trope we see a lot but I absolutely love it. And I love Indira and Jude, they’re both so sweet and passionate and strong. The banter and chemistry between them was my favorite part, it was just *chef kiss*

There are some TW listed at the beginning of the book so definitely check those out or message me if have questions about it. Because this is a rom com but it’s not light and fluffy, it has some serious components to it. Some tough topics were discussed but I felt they were handled with care and done well.

This is the first I’ve read from Mazey Eddings but it will not be the last!

The Plus One is the third installment in the A Brush With Love series by Mazey Eddings, focusing now on Indira and Jude’s relationship, two childhood enemies that are thrown in close quarters as each other's fake dates to a wedding. I really loved this book and I will try my best to put my love into words since it’s always so difficult for me to express how much I liked a book. I can assuredly say that I liked everything that was encompassed in this book, the author truly winning me over with this title.

First of all, I liked that the author was original in the way that this was a wedding-focused book in some ways and most of the time the main characters have a one night stand and they deal with their feelings after. But, this time the book went on before, during and after the wedding took place, which I loved since it gave more depth to the character’s feelings.

Another aspect that I really appreciated was the introduction of the importance of mental health and therapy. I have to be honest with you, in the beginning I thought that what Jude was going through was so hard to read about but the author managed to explain everything in such a detail-oriented way that as you go through the book you get used to it.

Indira and Jude were absolutely PERFECT. I loved their shared animosity from the very first page, I loved seeing them grow close and open up to each other, and of course I loved how they ended up together and managed their feelings. It was refreshing to see a couple deal with their difficulties as a couple, but also as separate people, talking through things instead of making them fight with each other as shock value.

Content warning: mentions and descriptions of PTSD, parental abandonment, and cheating.

*ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to lie, this book really took me by surprise, but in the best ways!

Just based on the cover (and admittedly not having really read the blurb, much less any reviews), I was expecting a light hearted rom-com, and this isn't that. Jude and Indira's journey is undeniably messy. They've disliked each other since childhood, Indira comes home to find her boyfriend cheating on her, Jude struggles with his mental health after several years as an emergency surgeon in war-torn and disaster areas, Indira has her own struggles with feelings of inadequacy and abandonment, and they're stuck living under the same roof and working together to prepare for Indira's brother (who is Jude's BFF)'s wedding. Like I said, messy.

While there is definitely a lot of heavy stuff here with the mental health struggles and other aspects of the story, the author does do a great job of injecting humor and levity into the story. Jude and Indira are relatable, likeable characters, and their story/struggles felt genuine and real.

I was caught off guard by how much I genuinely enjoyed this book. I have a bad habit of requesting books on NetGalley on a whim, then wondering what I was thinking when I receive the approval. This was honestly one of those situations, if for no other reason than it's the 3rd book in a series I haven't read. I'm so glad I gave this a chance though, and I'm putting the first two books on my TBR!

Let me start this off by saying, I had absolutely no idea this was the 3rd book in a serious until just this moment haha. It did not alter my enjoyment of the story whatsoever. With that said though, I'm for sure going back and reading the others because I loved it so much!

Childhood enemies to fake dating to lovers?? Yes please. Add in the extra drama of it being her brother's best friend? Even better.

All of the characters felt so realistic and were going through realistic problems which made the story that much more enjoyable. I love Jude and Indira so much, flaws and all.

I also LOVED the message that we are allowed to be broken as that's okay. Some wounds need time to heal and that's okay too, you can't always be back to normal overnight. I think this book was a great representation of that and I loved it.

Long story short, if you're looking for a quick read that leaving you laughing and loving the characters with the addition of a great underlying message, this if for you. Now go read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Mazey!! What a delight to read another title by her. I am such a champion of Jewish voices and really loved this title. It's a great read.