5 Stars I’m both amazed by how beautiful The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is and in deep denial that this series is over after this book. For a book with a cute cartoon cover, this one really packed an emotional punch. Dr. Indira Papadakis agrees to fake date her brother’s best friend and her childhood nemesis, Dr. Jude Bailey, for her brother’s upcoming nuptials. For the past three years, Jude has served as an emergency surgeon oversees in humanitarian crises, which has left him with PTSD that he’s not dealing with. Indira, a psychiatrist, sees the pain that Jude is suffering and helps him begin his journey to healing.

I loved the message that we are allowed to be broke and we are allowed to be repaired, as well as the message that love doesn’t fix us but it gives us the space to feel brave enough to heal. I teared up at the end with all of the friends together. I’m truly sad this series is over, but so glad that Mazey Eddings wrote these beautiful, wonderful stories about perfectly imperfect people.

Ohhhh my.
I loved this book so much !!!
I loved the characters with all heart. Jude and India are to unforgettable characters. They have been at each others throats since childhood. I liked how much they talked about mental health and normalizing therapy. The banter was top notch. A hilarious rom-com. Real page tuner. Such a perfect book to get me out of my little reading slump. Thank you thank you !!!!

“All he knew was that it shouldn’t be happening. It had to happen. He didn’t want it to end.”

“Jude knew he was both lost and found in the loveliness that was Indira Papadakis.”

Unforeseen circumstances have brought Indira under the same roof as childhood nemesis Dr. Jude Bailey as the group prepares for brother Collin’s impending nuptials through a never-ending series of pre-wedding festivities.

The Plus One is emotional, funny, sexy, and real and the storytelling is so enjoyable. The mental health representation is touching, powerful, and nuanced and I love that mutual investment in each other’s healing was such a significant element of Jude and Indira’s relationship.

Jude is my favorite character so far in the A Brush With Love universe! He is tenderhearted and vulnerable and I just want to hold him. It is so special to witness the way Indira brings out the light in him. The childhood enemies to lovers element balances the emotional punch with playfulness and fantastic banter.

- Childhood Enemies to Lovers
- Fake Dating
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Only One Tent and Other Forced Proximity Fun

CW: cheating (ex/on page), parental abandonment, PTSD, panic attacks, medical provider trauma

Another great book from Mazey Eddings! 5 stars!

Indira's brother is getting married and after a crazy break-up involving peanut butter, she needs somewhere to crash. She ends up at her brother's place and when she arrives, she isn't expecting her lifelong fremeny to answer the door. Jude, her brother's best friend, is home for the wedding after 3 years of working in less than ideal conditions as a doctor. Evidently, he is staying there too.

Brother's Best Friend, forced proximity, and of course they both need a plus one for the wedding, so they agree to fake date. Indira, being a mental health professional, begins to notice something may be wrong with Jude.

The "fake" relationship that Jude and Indira embark on, leaves them feeling more raw and real than either of them expected.

This book is so well written in dealing with the topic of mental health. It is my favorite book in the Brush With Love series by Mazey Eddings. I couldn't help but root for these two characters and I guarantee you will feel the same way. Don't miss out on this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

“I’m yours whether you’re here or somewhere across the globe.”

Indira and Jude. From childhood nemesis to fake dating to real dating. These two broken souls connected and fell in love, while dealing with lots of personal things. This is probably the most raw, emotional and beautifully written book that Mazey has written so far. There were lots of cute and spicy moments, but I love how majority of the story was focused on the importance of mental health. I also love that Harper, Lizzie and Thu (and their significant others) made appearances in the book!

🌸READ IF YOU LIKE🌸:
- dual POV
- fake wedding date
- childhood enemies to lovers
- only one tent
- grumpy x sunshine
- forced proximity
- camping & wedding festivities
- older brother’s best friend
- love language: roasting each other
- opposites attract
- mental health & LGBTQ+ rep

cw: ptsd, parental abandonment, divorced parents, cheating (past partner), strained family dynamics, panic attacks, medical care provider trauma, mentions of death, guilt

Thank you to @netgalley and @smpromance for the advanced copy! The Plus One is available on April 4, 2023!

Eddings does it again. I have been honored to read each of her books. Indira and Jude however hold such a special place in my soul now. Their love story and intertwined with their mental health journeys was so beautifully written. Jude struggling with serving in the medical field or walking away to save himself after years of built up traumas you find yourself as a reader wanting to find him, hug him and beg him to choose himself. Indira struggling still from childhood traumas is so relatable. I too wanted to find her hug her and beg her to see your own worth. Then their love story is so sweet and perfectly timed. They never knew as children growing up how much one day they’d save each other. I cannot thank Eddings enough for being mental health awareness through her novels. This is her third novel and she out does herself every time. Thank you for this novel and everyone please go buy a copy and embrace Indira and Jude, they will change your life.

**Readers must be sure to check out the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book before reading**

Although nothing particular was triggering or overly-emotional for me, I found Eddings' latest book to be quite dark. Over 1/3 of the way into the book I don't think a single good thing had happened to either of the characters. Reading a story in the headspace of two people who are deeply unhappy can be a bit dark at times, just as this book was. I think Eddings handles difficult-to-write-about topics with grace, but I wish there was some more lightness and/or happiness in the story. I understand the characters are going through difficult times at the start of the novel, but it seems unlikely either of them will be able to get to their happy ending. Honestly, this was a bit of a difficult read for me, and I think readers should be in the right headspace before picking it up. I appreciate the mental health and therapy representations, but in a romance book I think readers expect at least a glimmer of hope. Of note, I will continue to read books by Eddings, because I did not find her previous books (I've read them all) to be this dark. I think perhaps the storyline was just a bit too heavy for me.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book. It was literally laugh out loud funny. I read parts to my husband laughing just as hard reading it a second time. The characters are relatable and their journey through mental health issues felt real and gave them depth and showed the growth that I ate up.

Enemies to lovers, brother's best friend, fake dating was perfection.

If you want a quick, fun, with a bit of spice romance to read, this is it!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for allowing me to read this book for free for a honest review. I didn’t particularly enjoy this book, though I didn’t finish all of it. It promotes the gay agenda along with language and sexual content I’m not fond of.

Fake dating, friends/ enemies to lovers story was so good!! Thank you NetGalley and Mazey Eddings for allowing me to read this arc! I connected with most of the characters and it was an easy quick read. Don’t let the cover fool you, this book is SPICYY 🌶️. I definitely recommend.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you read the plot summary and just think to yourself "oh, this is just another fake relationship trope" YOU COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG. This book was amazing and so different from a lot of other books in its category. I even genuinely laughed during certain parts of the book.

This relationship feels so insanely real and I am in love with these two characters. I am in love with their banter and how they communicate with each other and just everything.

I haven't read the other two books in this series yet but now all I want to do is go back and read the first two, especially Lizzie's story. I really recommend this book.

What starts out as a fake wedding date turns into something these childhood enemies never expected in The Plus One, a sparkling romantic comedy by Mazey Eddings.

She’s not looking to fix him. She’s looking to love him, if he’ll let her in.

Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exits. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other?

On paper, Indira has everything together. An amazing job, a boyfriend, and a car. What more could a late twenty-something ask for? But when she walks in on her boyfriend in an amorous embrace with a stranger, that perfect on paper image goes up in flames.

Jude has nothing together. A doctor that’s spent the last three years traveling the world to treat emergencies and humanitarian crises, a quick trip home for his best friend’s wedding has him struggling to readjust.

Thrust into an elaborate (and ridiculously drawn out) wedding event that’s stressing Jude beyond belief and has Indira seeing her ex and his new girlfriend far more frequently than any human should endure, the duo strike a bargain to be each other’s fake dates to this wedding from hell. The only problem is, their forced proximity and fake displays of affection are starting to feel a bit…real, and both are left grappling with the idea that a situation that couldn’t be worse, is made a little better with the other around.

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I got this as an ARC from NetGalley - so thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the amazing opportunity to read this book before it comes out.

I have never read any of Mazey Eddings novels. I own her A Brush With Love, and have heard nothing short of amazing things about it. Therefore, when I saw the blurb for The Plus One, I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book. This was the perfect rom-com in my opinion. This is the third installment of the A Brush With Love series. Each novel is interconnected but are stand alone romances (at least I hope they are since I haven't read the first two lol).

Tropes:
1. Brother's Best Friend
2. Childhood Rivalries
3. Fake Dating

****Please check trigger warnings before starting this novel. A few that I noticed were cheating, PTSD, mental health, divorce, child abandonment. This list is NOT INCLUSIVE - so please utilize all your resources before diving in.

Now onto the novel itself:
When Indira walks in on "the peanut butter incident," her life is turned around. She runs to stay with her brother and his fiance. When she arrives at her brother's house and knocks on the door, Jude, the last person she was expecting to see, answers the door for her. Jude is her childhood nemesis and her brother's best friend.
Indira is a psychiatrist and Jude is an Emergency Surgeon.
Both Indira and Jude have issues they are struggling through in their adult life. As they grow closer throughout the novel, they begin to tackle some of these issues together.

My thoughts:
A. I would have loved to give this book 5 stars. One of the reasons I didn't was because this book was written in 3rd person and I prefer 1st person point of view. It wasn't terrible, just not my reading style.
B. I absolutely LOVED these characters. It was amazing to see the growth from the first page of the book to the last page for both of these characters. I especially liked getting some small flashbacks of young Indira and Jude.
C. From the title, I was expecting this book to be about a wedding or other event where a plus one would be needed. While this book followed events leading up to Indira's brothers wedding, there was only a small snippet of a wedding in this entire book. Not a deal breaker by any means, just giving a heads up for anyone who is expecting to read about a wedding, this is not that book.
D. I feel the author did an amazing job portraying chemistry in her novel. Indira being a psychiatrist greatly influenced her relationship with Jude. I feel she was able to determine exactly what Jude needed from her at various times throughout the novel (trying to be broad as to not give away any spoilers).
E. Absolutely enjoyed this book. I truly felt that I couldn't put it down once I got started. I would recommend it as a fun rom-com with great banter.

This book will be available for purchase April 4, 2023. Add it to your TBR!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy of The Plus One, the newest installment in Mazey Eddings' Brush with Love series!

Mazey Eddings is an auto-read author for me, and The Plus One didn't disappoint. This story follows Indira and Jude, childhood frenemies-to-lovers who end up fake dating in the hopes of making Indira's ex jealous at her brother's wedding.

A Brush with Love was fluffy and cute, Lizzie Blake was quirky and over-the-top, but The Plus One felt a lot more grounded. Like all of Eddings' books, the main characters are grappling with their own mental health struggles (anxiety, fear of abandonment, PTSD) and Eddings does a good job of treating these struggles with the nuance they deserve—though at times it feels a bit preachy and distracts from the plot.

This story is more serious and emotional than the other stories in the series, but it still has a lot of humor and heart. I appreciated Jude's healing journey and the way both characters embraced therapy, but I did feel like Jude's struggles and character journey ended up overshadowing Indira's—plus, pairing together a psychiatrist with someone struggling with PTSD felt a bit on the nose.

My only complaints were that the fake dating wasn't really "fake" and there wasn't much tension or conflict that the two characters needed to overcome, so I didn't feel as invested in their relationship as I wanted to. This was still a great, steamy, authentic love story, and I can't wait for the next installment in the series!

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! I am a sucker for enemies/friends to lovers and this hit the spot. I loved every single character in this book, aside from a few, and felt a connection with each one. The two main characters, Indira and Jude, were amazing and so sweet. Their personalities were perfect and matched each other very well. Their connection was so refreshing to read and their commitment to each other really showed. They were mature and honest with their feelings and weren't afraid to share their darkest thoughts with one another. It was so refreshing to have a main couple who stood up for each other and themselves as Indira and Jude did. They were so solid in their relationship and I loved reading that.

The overall structure of the book flowed very well and nothing felt rushed or drawn out. It was a lovely romance that I would absolutely recommend everyone read.

✨The Plus One by Mazey Eddings✨

The third book in the A Brush with Love series, this book follows Indira and Jude, childhood frenemies who are brought together staying at Indira’s brother’s for his upcoming wedding. A great balance of funny and emotional. Yet again, @mazeyeddings does an amazing job with the mental health representation. This does a great job of representing the struggles that can come from having divorced parents.

✨ Dual POV
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ childhood friends/brothers best friend
✨ funny
✨spicy 🌶️
✨ 4.5 ⭐️

Trigger Warning: PTSD (full trigger warning is also included in the beginning of the book)

Release date: April 4, 2023

Thank you @netgalley and @smpromance for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is an interconnected stand-alone. The characters in the other Brush with Love series are in this book but you do not have to read them to understand the plot of this story.

Tropes: PTSD, Brothers best friend, Childhood nemesis, working on oneself, Enemies to Lovers, Cheating, Learning to Love Yourself


Indira walks in on her boyfriend and another women, slathered in peanut butter. After she leaves Chris she moves in with her brother until she can find a place to live. Her brother and his fiance are in the middle of finalizing and preparing for their wedding. She is happy to help but is shocked when she finds out that Jude, her nemesis and brothers best friend from childhood, is also staying with them until his next assignment.

Dira is a psychiatrist that works with children and loves helping others. Jude is a doctor and works for a program that is helping him back back his college loans if he works for them a certain amount of time. The only problem is that due to his career he has severe PTSD. Large crowds leave him spiraling and unable to focus. When the first pre-wedding event and Jude gets over stimulated- Dira has an awkward run in with her ex, Chris who happens to be in the wedding. The pair decide that they will pretend to be in a relationship to help both of them.

Dira can help keep Jude calm and it gives him an excuse to leave large groups, and Dira isn't the single one at the wedding while Chris is there with his new girlfriend.

Thoughts:

This book was deep and though I have only read one of her other books, I feel like this will always be a common theme among Mazey's stories. She does a great job of explaining difficult mental health topics but still adds some humor to the story. The spice was good and the honeybee/ Halloween scene was wonderful. I highlighted so many quotes in this book. I personally connected with Dira's plot point of not feeling worthy of love. That is something that I have discussed with my therapist many times. I also think the author did a great job of portraying how some people feel unworthy due to their mental health disorder/diseases.

This was a five star and Mazey is quickly becoming an instant buy author for me.

Five freaking gold stars to this beautiful masterpiece! If I was a teacher I swear Mazey would just get every sheet of golden star stickers I have.

I don’t know how every time I read a Mazey Eddings book it comes at just the right time. But this one’s message was truly needed. In fact I think everyone needs the message from this book, that therapy is for everyone and can make huge impact to our lives.

While that may have been a main message, I will say the romance in this book is everything. Childhood enemies and brothers best friend and fake dating?! Seriously could you ask for more, because I don’t think so.

Indira and Jude were perfect little baby angels and I will not listen to any other opinions. What I loved about them is they both brought out the good parts of them and made them strive to be better people. Indira made Jude want to face his demons and trauma and not by pushing him but by being there for him. And then Jude was there to comfort Indira when she needed it and was struggling with her own problems. Overall they are a perfect duo who also loved to tease and poke each other and that’s my favorite romance.

I’d also like to note that Indira is the queen of pet names and it made me love the book even more.

Also I implore you to read the author’s note and acknowledgments because they are as beautiful as the book itself.

This was such a pleasant and fast paced read. I read during a 4 hour plane ride and was smiling through the trip, getting some looks from the flight attendants.
The book is quite funny. What I love about it is the way it addresses imposter syndrome in the healthcare field. I don’t think people realize how common it is until they enter therapy or similar treatment environment. The other topic is PTSD that doesn’t arise from direct combat but rather from the caregivers end.
The book had an interesting twist on the trope of enemies to lovers and pretend dates so don’t worry about being bored.. It also had a moderate spice level. This was an ARC from @netgalley. An overall great read! 5 stars!

I really loved the entire A Brush with Love series. My favorite would either be this one or Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake but they are very close in ranking.

This was really sweet and emotional. The childhood enemies part of the story added a lot of humor and really acted as a grounding element to Indira and Jude’s relationship. I also thing the themes of mental health were well done and very respectful, it really focused on the importance of self care and that it’s okay to not be okay which is something I really loved.

Jude and Indira’s relationship growth felt very real and nothing felt like it moved too fast. There were definitely moments in the book that I could tell were used to speed up the romantic feelings but it didn’t feel manufactured or fake. By the end of the book I felt Jude and Indira’s relationship had a healthy progression and I was really rooting for them.

This was definitely the least light hearted of the three books but that is not a bad thing and is definitely one the book’s strengths.

This is definitely a book that I will need a finished copy of once it is released. I think fans of Emily Henry or Denise Williams would really enjoy this.

Indira and Jude have known and battled each other their entire lives, as Jude is best friends with Dira’s older brother Collin. Collin is now getting married, and Jude and Dira decide to put aside their differences and help each other get through the wedding events and the wedding itself. What sounds like an enemies to lovers, fake dating, brother’s best friend trope is quickly turned into something much more meaningful.

This is an incredibly special, powerful book that touches on mental health in a way that isn’t often seen in books. Jude and Dira each have something in their past that has led them to need to seek therapy, and the ongoing discussion of mental health throughout the book is dealt with in a beautiful, positive way. Dira herself is a psychiatrist, and her gentle words and the power of her touch were so moving to me. The book is so many things- heartbreaking, emotional, and uplifting to name just a few. The deep, soul searching connection between Jude and Dira is plainly shown as we see and hear their bond grow through trust and understanding.
There was a conversation between the two of them when Jude finally opened up to Indira that brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press- St Martins Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.