This story was so beautifully crafted. I love this series so much since each book tackles such tough topics and issues. The Plus One deals with trauma and abuse. It's also childhood enemies to lovers which is such a fun trope. I love how they hated each other and were so mean to each other their entire lives basically and now they are slowly falling in love since they decided to start fake dating. Jude and Indira are so great together. They compliment each other so well and they are the perfect example of a relationship is always 100% but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be 50/50. Sometimes one person needs more than the other and needs to lean on them. This was just such an amazing story.

Wow. Jude and Indira had such a connection, they were beautifully messy. I absolutely loved how they grew for themselves and each other, their banter and the way they could laugh and cry in such intimate moments just took me over the edge. The book itself was very well written and I am so excited to explore Mazey Eddings's other books.

-I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review-

I had read the first book in this series and I hadn't even realized there was a second book and here I am reading the third book in the series! I loved the first book as well as this one so you know I'm going to have to go and find the second book in the series. I am hooked on this group of friends. The writer has a way of showing that deep connection between her couples that has me loving everything I've read by her so far. Loved and will keep reading more and more books from this author!

This was such a heartfelt read. I really loved Jude and Indira as characters and their journey towards building on their existing relationship, while simultaneously working on themselves.
Jude and Indira have been in each other's lives as long as they can remember, with Jude being her brother's best friend. Jude comes back into town to attend her brother's wedding and Indira breaks up with her boyfriend, and moves in with her brother temporarily. This forces them to be in each other's space all the time, and allows for them to share their most vulnerable parts.
I appreciated how the story tackled different aspects of mental health (specifically PTSD), and also the fact that mental health professionals oftentimes need help themselves.
The banter, familial relationships and friendships were also well rounded and added to enjoyment of the story, even with the heavier topics tackled.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free advanced copy!

My heart is squeezing in the best way after finishing this one! I really enjoyed Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake but this one??? I loved it with my whole heart. This is exactly the kind of contemporary romcom that makes this my favorite genre. The humor, the swoon, the lovable side characters and the character growth. All of it was absolutely perfect. I loved every page of this book, loved every interaction we had between Indira and Jude, loved every painful memory of their past traumas. My heart just sings for a tortured soul and Jude delivered that in spades. Indira was the perfect FMC, the perfect counterpart for Jude’s emotional damage. I saw myself in both characters, which doesn’t usually happen for me. I connected with them both over their individual traumas and felt so seen and loved on by their interactions with each other and with Indira’s therapy sessions. This book was a love letter to therapy and to learning to love yourself. Everything about this book was lovely- even the broken and jagged parts. Love love love.

Another lovely book from Mazey! The Characters are ones to love and pull for. You hope for healing and happiness for them. And of course for them to get together!

I've never read a Mazey Eddings book, and I'm not sure I'd pick up another one. It did have really good mental health representation, but the romance just didn't do it for me. Normally I love a second chance romance. Maybe I just wasn't in the right head space for this one.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

3 stars.

“Whatever this is between us is real and it hurts and it’s beautiful and it matters. And I won’t let you deny that. You deserve happiness, Jude. I deserve happiness. And I think we can have that. Together.”

-fake dating, childhood enemies, enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend
-Indira and Jude hatch a plan to fake date for Collin and Jeremy’s wedding
-deals with mental illness, ptsd and emotional repercussions due to divorce
-I enjoyed their moments from loathe to love and how they realized they were perfect for each other 💗
-the journey they went through was tough to say the least but I’m glad they had each other 😌
-thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC ✨

The Plus One is the third book in the A Brush With Love books, a set of interconnected stand-alones about a group of friends. Indira, who we've met previously, is a lovely main character and it was fun to get to know more about her and her family. Jude, our hero, is Indira's brother's best friend and Indira's nemesis. Throughout this book, Indira and Jude deal with their own traumas, while also trying to see if they can figure out how to be together. As an educational psychologist, I appreciated the emphasis on mental health, therapy, and slow progress and growth recovering from trauma. The story was told with thought, nuance, and care.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
Pub day is 4/4 🎉

Mazey Eddings is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books suck me right in. I still cannot believe the way I did not need sleep while reading Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, which was my favorite contemporary romance last year.

The Plus One is such a gentle, cozy romance while still having the author's joyful and funny voice. It's so soft, but it also has tension and delicious steam! Her books are everything I love about contemporary romance.

As I was reading, I thought about about relationships and when a person is your safe place (Jude and Indira have such a beautiful safe place thing going). . .I thought about people who don't think romance novels are realistic 🙄 And sure, some are not, or some aspects are exaggerated into fantasy, but I see my relationship reflected back to me in romance novels all the time. . . To have the person you love hold you while you cry, the butterflies of falling in love, learning to communicate better, putting in effort to make a relationship work, caretaking, being gentle with your person's heart, and having mind-blowing you-know-what is not unrealistic. . . So yeah, Mazey gets it. And her books are such a gift to romance readers.

Tropes to look forward to, expertly done!:
• Brother's best friend
• Childhood frenemies to lovers
• Let's fake date to make the lead-up to this wedding easier.
• He starts to panic - and only she notices and knows what to do.
• Only one tent
• Praise kink

I thought the gentle handling of PTSD and anxiety rep was fantastic. Indira is a therapist and all of the mental health conversations are like a reminder for the reader to take care of oneself.

Highly recommend!!! Thanks so much St Martin's Press. All thoughtd and opinions are my own.

I recieved this Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and the publisher for an unbiased review.

This is a sweet book about childhood enemies, Indira and Jude (her brother's best friend) teaming up to help each other with situations that arise during the lead up to Indira's brother Colin's wedding.

The book starts with Indira walking in on her boyfriend having an affair and her gathering her belongings and going to her brother's house for shelter only to find out that Jude is already staying there. As the lead up to the wedding it becomes apparent that Jude is battling some scars from being away for 3 years helping as a doctor in war torn cities. The loud and joyful celebrations are too much for him to handle as he is clearly suffering from PTSD.
Indira has to put up with her ex in the wedding party making out with his new girlfriend (yes the one from the affair) Jude and Indira decide that a fake relationship will give them the excuse they need to get out uncomfortable situations.

I really enjoyed this little romcom, I love how patient and down to earth Indira is with Jude trying to push everyone away. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a steamy read it's quite a read once the "fake" relationship takes a turn. The only cringy part I had issue with is the use of the "c" word during some of the more amourous scences in the book..

I was not a fan of the author's first book, but the second one was a little better. Unfortunately this was more like the first one. I could not relate to the characters and the writing style was not for me.

Brothers best friend + fake dating done right! It's so good and so real, the romcom aspect hits all the pleasure points to make this a good read but the characters being so well developed makes this story devourable and honestly a top 10 for the year, because I just don't see much being able to top this for my Reread-ability metric.

You know that trope in romance books where one or both of the characters are "broken" and all they needed to fix themselves was love? Nope! None of that here! These characters were self aware, mature, present with themselves and each other, and fully capable of acknowledging their hurts and wrongs.

And you know that part in fake dating where its all drawn out to the point where you're annoyed at the sheer improbability of their choices for the sake of *drama*? Not here! The fake dating here was truly out of expediency and convenience for their situation and not just something pulled out of thin air to drive the plot, it was external fake dating but internal "we need socialization breaks and lets use each other as an excuse for that" which I loved.

This book touches on a lot of deep relatable issues (PTSD, family trauma, mental health, etc.) and what truly sealed the deal for me here was that it didn't pose love as a cure all that magically fixed every life situation at the end of the day. They had to find and work for practical solutions to fix these issues and the love they found along the way was just a huge bonus.

My one gripe is that the last ~15% of the book seemed to *zoom* through the story, it didn't feel rushed per se it just felt like everything was wrapping up at warp speed via time gaps (like a few days to a few weeks worth) while I was trying to absorb the events in real time.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

The Plus One is a wonderful childhood friends/enemies to lovers story. Indira suddenly finds herself needing to crash at her brother's where she finds her old childhood friend/nemesis Jude home for long break from his work as a critical care doctor overseas. Thrown together often as they help with the wedding activities of Indira's brother, they discover a lot of steam under the old banter/bicker.

A truly wonderful story where issues of stress, anxiety, and the stigma associated with seeking help are dealt with masterfully and with great humor.

Mazzy’s writing keeps getting better with every book published and this is one to not skip!!

Synopsis: When Indira breaks up with her boyfriend, she crashes at her brother’s house, unaware that her brother’s best friend, Jude, is staying there as well until her brother’s wedding festivities are over. While Indira and Jude have always fought and bickered, the two make a plan to fake date to comfort each other through all the upcoming events. Of course, with all the forced proximity, the two start to realize that maybe they don’t hate each other after all.

Thoughts: This story had me feeling everything! I was smiling, laughing, crying and swooning. Indari and June had the best chemistry with the perfect balance between emotional moments and laugh-out-loud banter. I truly loved Mazzy’s message that you do not have to be strong all the time (especially if you are a guy), and how it is okay to rely on someone else for support. And while they were each struggling with their own traumas, they way they looked out for and supported the other unconditionally was so special to witness. I also appreciated how the conflict was realistic and not a break up for the sake of it!

Read if you like:
-Brother’s best friend
-Forced proximity
-Childhood enemies to lovers
-Open door romance
-Therapy positive books
-Fake dating
-Wedding festivities
-Funny banter
-Cameos from Mazzy’s previous books

Thank you SMP for the ARC! Pub date 4/4

When Indira walks in on her boyfriend, you know, she grabs all her belongings and runs to her brother Collin and his fiancé’s house. But when she arrives, her childhood nemesis Jude, opens the door. Turns out he’s in town for Collin’s wedding and he’s crashing at his house, too. With all of the pre-wedding activities, Jude is stressed and Indira is forced to see her cheating ex. They make a deal to be each others fake dates for the wedding. The other problem? They’re starting to fall for each other.
This book was the 3rd in the Brush With Love series and I really enjoyed it. Mazey Eddings writes such strong female characters with truly relatable real-life issues and Indira was no exception. She was tough and compassionate, but still vulnerable from her dad walking out on their family 20 years ago. I liked that her and Jude didn’t immediately fall for each other, they really needed to work through some things to get there. There’s great humor written throughout, I cackled out loud multiple times while reading. This book was the perfect addition to this series and it did not disappoint.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book, but I will try.

I absolutely loved the story - it was beautifully written and I liked that it alternated between Indira and Jude throughout the story.

I LOVED that Jude was written as an actual man with feelings. Other books do this, but with his character the emotional development that is done between beginning and end is just.. perfect! His growth was probably my favorite thing about the book. His willingness to do what he needs for himself and his happiness was wonderful. I cried once he was finally free.

I want to be friends with Indira. She also has wonderful character development BUT she knows when to stop and assess whether she needs to be involved, she's there for Jude when he needs her and his space, and overall knows how to read her friends and family members to where she can comfort them but also when they need their time to decompress.

The spice was *chef's kiss* and not overwhelming (or dramatic). I think the best part is that THEY NEVER GAVE UP ON EACH OTHER. They work through everything together and communicate so well.

I laughed, I cried, and I am grateful for this beautiful book about healing and a realistic relationship. 5/5, 10/10 and I will be reading her other books.

3.5 stars. This book didn’t really grab my attention until after about 30-35%, but after that, it was smooth sailing. I enjoyed the angst.

Book Rating: 5 stars, so good!

Overall Impression: Oh where do I start? This book is like a healing therapy session. But with romance and spice. This book will make you FEEL. You'll feel it all while reading Jude and Indira's story. You'll love every minute of it, even the parts that bring tears to your eyes. Mazey Eddings has this way of weaving important mental health conversations into a page turning book.

What I liked: Jude is one of my favorite male main characters of all time. We got to experience his complete journey through this story. It was intense at times and we really got to go inside his mind. The male friendship between Jude and Collin is one of the best I've read. Just constant unconditional love and emotion we don't get to often experience between men.

What I would change: Nothing. This story is perfect. Keep writing more Mazey Eddings!

Would I buy it? 100% I am buying this for me and everyone I know.

Would I tell a friend to buy it? I'm going to tell them all to pre-order!

1-5 Spice Scale: A solid 3, the spice scenes in this are so so so good. It's like so HOT but so loving and sweet at the same time.

Favorite quote: "But having someone around with the potential to love her had felt better than being alone. Being lonely. Indira so badly wanted to be loved."

I really, really liked The Plus One. The book follows Jude and Indira, two former childhood enemies. Jude is best friends with Indira’s older brother, Collin, and has recently returned home for Collin’s wedding. The Plus One portrays Jude’s struggles with PTSD in a poetic, heartbreaking, and brutally honest way. I felt very seen by so many of his thought processes. Since the author,
Mazey Eddings, has also struggled with PTSD, Jude’s journey was so authentic.
Beyond that, Indira and Jude’s friendship was one of the most endearing parts of this story. Their relationship developed really naturally, and it was so sweet to watch them fall in love.

My only complaint is that the first quarter of the book dragged a bit, so it was harder to get into, but then the last 3/4 being utterly fantastic made up for it.

I definitely recommend for anyone who has been a fan of Edding’s past work.