;;; book review;;;

I want to thank @netgalley & @mazeyeddings for sending me this ARC

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🌶️🌶️🌶️

childhood enemies/ brothers bestfriend/ fake dating

my review:: Okay first off this book was truly special the amount of mental health awareness in this book is truly amazing, as someone who struggles I truly related to the male character Jude, thank you @mazeyeddings for the amazing awareness in the book
Indira & Jude are childhood rivals who both end up staying with her brother before his wedding Jude brings up being her fake date since they are both single and Indira getting out of bad relationship, Indira is getting out a relationship after being cheated on, she her self is going threw her own personal struggles with her therapist, Jude is having PTSD and Indira knows something is off the way there love truly transforms is beautiful how they are there for each and how Indira truly helps Jude with his inner demons that are haunting him.

this is a truly beautifully written book with accurate mental health descriptions!
THE PLUS ONE
AVAILABLE APRIL 4th 2023!

*2.75 stars*

I so badly wanted to like this more than I did. I wasn't a huge fan of A Brush with Love but I wanted to give Mazey's writing another chance, and I'm sad that I still ended up in the same predicament: disappointed. Something I like about Mazey's books is the mental health representation. She does a good job of authentically incorporating mental health and conversations around it into her books. I admire that! And I liked getting to see Indira's conversations with her therapist as she unpacked her trauma. In the same vein though, the PTSD and trauma here (while handled very well) made the whole romance, fake-dating scenario feel secondary to the plot, which made the book sort of drag on for me because I had a different set of expectations of what the main focus was going into this book.

Other small things to note: I didn't feel connected to the characters or feel any real spark between Jude and Indira, aside from a couple of short scenes of banter. It was cute when they would bicker back and forth the first few times, but then it got old. I live for dual POV books, but I don't think it works well for my own reading experiences when coupled with third-person POV writing.

Though this wasn't the book for me, I think it will work for readers who don't mind a very slow-burn romance, and who love the fake-dating + dating my brother's best friend tropes. I appreciate how accurately portrayed PTSD is here, so if you're looking for a book with authentic mental health rep, I recommend this book!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this eARC and the opportunity to review it early!!

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

Although i have only read the first book in the series i was excited to read this one and I don't believe that missing the first one effected my reading of this one!

I belive this was a very different read than a brish with love. Indira and Jude both bring their past trauma and pain into a relationship that starts off with the fake dating trope and escalates from there. However, there is a huge focus on PTSD and how anxiety and depression and overall mental health is so important.

Indira and Jude forge a very healthy adult relationship and the reader gets to see and become invested in them through Eddings' profoundly affirming and real portrayal of adults learning to deal with their past trauma and fears and show vulnerability with another person.

Amazing read and highly recommended!! Pick it up on April 4, 2023!

I’m so sad to DNF *another* Mazey Eddings book after absolutely loving A BRUSH WITH LOVE but detesting the content of LIZZIE BLAKE. Apparently my experience with Lizzie was not a one-off as I’m really disappointed in the content of THE PLUS ONE - Jude’s trauma/PTSD is from watching Black people suffer in war-torn areas? Idk this just rubbed me the wrong way. And the book is absolutely draggingggg. Im DNFing at 40%. I love the dual POVs but it’s just not for me and I’m not enjoying it and the content feels icky.

I am DNFing this at 13%. I probably should have known better since I really did not enjoy A Brush With Love. But I love reading romances where one or more of the main characters are doctors, and I was willing to give Mazey Eddings another chance to improve her writing. I was also really encouraged by the pages and pages of positive reviews on Goodreads.

I am coming to realize that Eddings's writing is 50% novice 50% just not my tastes.

The dialogue is cringey and over-the-top to the point of coming across as disingenuous to the reader. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to empathize with the characters or take them seriously with these juvenile, silly writing techniques. This story might make for a cute and quirky rom com for some readers, but I could provide many romance recommendations that prove that funny, witty dialogue and sophisticated writing are not mutually exclusive.

The third in the series and another hit! I love Mazey's stories. I love that she dives deep into real issues that people face (note: read her blurb at the end of the book for a personal note <3) and I love the passion that she puts into these characters. Indira was no exception. She knew exactly what she wanted and exactly what she deserved and was willing to go the lengths to get there. I also love how this was a fake dating + enemies to lovers trope. Read the first two in this series before this comes out on April 4th!

4 ⭐️

#EnemiesToLovers
#ChildhoodFriends
#FakeDating

TW: PTSD, emotional abuse, mental illness

This is a heart hitting love story between two imperfect people that met again after traumatic events. They grew up together, but never got along. When they met, Indira was betrayed by someone she was considering marriage with and had a father that was never around; Jude spent a few years working as a doctor in areas of humanitarian crises that decimated his will to continue in a profession he loves.

When they have to be paired up for wedding festivities, they find light with each other amidst the current darkness in their lives. It’s raw and imperfect, but showcases how love can inspire change for the better.

I will say that the book does not shy away from spiraling thoughts, so consider trigger warnings. I think it’s a good book to have more empathy about humans going through situations that ends up being a love story.

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Mazey Eddings for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

The Plus One

3.75 ⭐️

This one was a lot heavier than I pictured based on the cover and descriptions. I went in expecting fake dating and brothers best friend trope. Those were there, as well as a very large spotlight on mental health.

Some books that incorporate a mental health theme seem a little inauthentic or the heal to rapid to be believable. I thought The Plus One did it pretty well.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this arc..

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings and third book in her A Brush with Love series takes you on dazzling journey. This book is my favorite of the series. The mental health/ptsd stories in the book where so well written and emotional. The book couple Indira and Jude are doctors in this and showing even people that we are thought to have all don’t really and need their help with mental health as well. While I related to Indira’s problems so much, Jude dealing with PTSD was the storyline in the book that pulled at the heart. I loved the authors way with words on the emotions someone has when there mind deceives them.

As far as the romance, I’m not the biggest fan of the brother’s best friend trope but Indira and Jude won me over. Lots of chemistry, great banter, and they sizzled together. But the best scenes for the couple was when they would communicate their feelings. The hard convos they had just for me beautifully written..

Want to add that while ithere are serious subject matters in this, The Plus One was hysterical in parts. I laugh so hard in some parts but a chapter later I’d ball my eyes out. Enjoyed the side characters (with a few exceptions).. Loved the epilogue with the main friendship in the series. This book was just a home run for me.

Content warning: : cheating (side character), parental abandonment (past)/child affected by parental divorce, and ptsd for losing patients in the medical field as an emergency situations.

Tropes: brother’s best friend, fake dating, enemies to lovers, and forced proximity

I loved everything about this book down to the super specific references that made me want to go to the Cheesecake Factory and watch Grey's Anatomy (for the 100th time). This book really starts with a bang and will have you laughing the whole time. The way Jude & Indira talked about their childhood memories gave me so much joy because it was just so precious. All of the wedding events were fantastic and I loved seeing a lot of Indira's brother.

While laughing is a big plus, this one also gets serious covering topics like therapy and PTSD. Mazey does an excellent job covering these topics in the perfect way, you might just need to grab some tissues.

This one also has plenty of the crew from the first two books and I just love all of them!! The epilogue is everything!!

Childhood foes band together to survive a loved one's wedding. Hell yes!

Anything fake dating and wedding vibes is an automatic read for me. That being said, I had no idea this was the third book in the series when I requested it. After the first chapter of THE PLUS ONE, I immediately went and bought the other two so I could read them as well.

This book was a sweet, and healing experience of two people finally opening up and honestly seeing the trauma of their lives...and working to let it go. PLUS, Jude and Indria's witty banter was hilarious. Especially when they were heckling each other during the pre-wedding parties.

THE PLUS ONE is out April 4, 2023! Pre-Order!

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Indira seems to have everything together-the job, a car, and a boyfriend. Until she walks in on him cheating on her. Jude has nothing together. After serving three years in humanitarian work, he’s struggling to adjust back to society. In their childhood and through their college years, Indira and Jude had not always gotten along. If anything, they sorta hate each other. However, with a wedding event on the way, Indira and Jude strike a bargain to be each other’s fake dates. With forced proximity and fake displays of affection, it’s starting to feel a bit more real.

I thought this was going to be another light and fun romcom with a fake dating troupe. Boy, was I wrong! Indira and Jude are both struggling with something-childhood trauma and ptsd. That said, this read tackles mental health issues and how individuals cope with them. There were many quotable quotes and moments in which I think that a reader might find relatable.

For anyone who plan on reading this, please be aware that they are trigger warnings.

Having read the other two books in this series, I can say this one is my favorite of the three. Though I didn’t feel as deep a connection with Indira as I felt with Harper and Lizzie in the first two books, I felt that with Jude this time around. I’m not sure if it’s a reflection of the author’s own experiences with PTSD but I felt there was such care in delivering Jude’s side of the story. The romance was a little toned down compared to the other books but I enjoyed it all the same. I appreciated the ease with which Jude and Indira came together. Their story was sweet. Mazey Eddings has presented us with such great character with all the books in this series, I really loved living in this world. She has a lovely way of writing romcoms and weaving in serious topics like mental health. I hope to visit more characters from this world. And can’t wait to read Mazey’s future works.

This was a slow start but God was it worth it, I love this so much. I will protect this couple like it is my own child.

THIS BOOK. Add it to your TBR for April right now! I loved Eddings’ A Brush with Love, especially for its anxiety rep, and someone missed the second in this series (not to worry, it’s on its way!) but omg this third one is SO. GOOD.

Indira movies in with her brother and his fiancé a month and a half before their wedding after walking in on her boyfriend cheating with her. The only problem with this set up? Her brother’s best friend is already there and Indira and Jude have gotten on each other’s nerves since childhood. However both of them are struggling - Jude is battling horrible PTSD after years of working in war zones or natural disasters as a doctor and Indira’s abandonment issues that stem from her dad leaving have reared their head with her recent breakup. They decide to pretend to date for the wedding - Jude can use Indira to escape crowds and Indira can use Jude to buffer between her ex and his new girlfriend. However the more time they spend together, the more they realize they maybe have loved each other for a long time. Can they make it through the wedding and help each other with their mental health issues?

Ok, tropes first … it has brother’s best friend! Enemies to lovers! Childhood knowledge! Fake dating! ONLY ONE TENT! Just all the best ones.

Even better is the story. I was so invested in both characters, was rooting for them so so hard. My first cry of 2023 was this book cause my heart just shattered for Jude especially. Eddings did such a good job representing PTSD and the hard journey to healing and I just absolutely love these kinds of representation. Like the bar has been set so high for 2023 reads.

MINOR SPOILER -

there is no 3rd act breakup thank the good lord.

I went in pretty blind to this one, and was expecting a carefree romcom that I could binge on the beach - and while this is a love story, and has a happy ending (there’s no spoilers there the forward calls it out) there’s definitely some heavier topics.

When Indira walks in on her boyfriend, getting funky with peanut butter and a random female, she finds herself staying in the guest room of her brothers house. But she’s not the only guest there - her childhood rival and arch nemesis, Jude, is on leave from his job and is staying at his best friends house too.

Jude and Indira are both battling some internal demons - Jude isn’t himself since he’s seen some awful things with his work with GHCO. And Indira still has unresolved issues from her father and past relationships.

As Jude and Indira spend more time together, does their rivalry change? Is it friendship? Is it something more?

On surface level, The Plus One is an enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating trope, but it’s honestly so much more than that. It digs DEEP and goes into the harder parts of relationships when one, or both, individual is dealing with mental illnesses.

This book was real and raw, and yet still had a happy ending.

I recommend checking The Plus One out!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. All reviews and thoughts are my own.

Thank you for the advanced copy. Indira and Jude HATE each other, the bicker, they fight, like I said they hate each other until they start fake dating.

(3.5 ★)

The Plus one by Mazey Eddings is a fake dating romance that centers on doctor Jude Bailey and psychiatrist Indira Papadakis.

Although I can see that it's the first half and that nothing much happens, it was extremely difficult for me to get through. It just wasn't for me. Also, I don't understand why the story kept going on about the peanut butter incident as it served no relevance for the plot.

But, I will say that this was a very heartwarming book with just the right amount of bickering, tension, forced proximity, and spice.

In all, this was a well-written, sweet novel, and Jude and Indiria were perfect partners in every way.

*Thank you to St. Martin's Press, and to the author, Mazey Eddings, for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.*

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!
I would like to start by saying that this is the third book in a series of standalone novels that follow a group of friends. While this story can be read on its own, I would recommend reading the previous two books (A Brush with Love & Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake) which are both great. The Plus One follows Indira and Jude who are childhood enemies. Jude also is Indira's brother's best friend. When Indira walks in on her boyfriend with another girl she is forced to stay with her brother and his fiance in the weeks prior to his wedding. Jude is also staying in the house while he is home from working as a doctor in war zones. While Jude and Indira call themselves frenemies, they decide to fake date for the wedding so Jude is less overwhelmed and Indira can get her ex off her back.
This novel had me laughing one minute and crying the next. Jude and Indira's banter was hilarious and I am glad it continued throughout the book even after they got together. The sad moments were when we saw how much Jude's PTSD affected him. I liked that we got to see Jude work towards improving his mental health with Indira's help but I'm glad she did not treat him like one of her patients. I liked to see Indira going to therapy as a therapist and showing that even someone with the knowledge of the mind still sought help when she needed it. I also loved the snippets of couples from previous books and it makes my heart happy to see them happy. I did feel like there was a lull in the story towards the end but I still enjoyed the story overall. I am so glad I read this book and this series as a whole because of the mental health representation!

Thank you st martins press and netgalley for allowing me to read this book. This book is definitely a brothers best friend romance more than an enemies to lovers. I didn’t expect this book to get as deep into the mental health issues as it did but it was so good to add that realistic depth to the characters! The sexual tension was intense! I love how they weren’t trying to fix each other and just loved each other through the struggles.