As someone who really enjoyed Eddings other books, I was super excited to read this one!

Some things I loved:
-likeable & diverse characters
-brother’s best friend trope & one bed (err… tent) trope
-fast pacing
-mental health representation (consistent with past novels)

Some things I didn’t like:
-the plot tended to drag in the middle and then it caused the last 25% to be choppy and fast to make up for it
-some of the dialogue & intimate scenes felt almost too cheesy
-yes, it’s enemies to lovers, but there wasn’t much of a build? It was VERY quick and somewhat instant.
-the last 10% had so many forward time jumps. One month later, one year later, two years later… Sometimes it’s warranted, but I felt like it was just overdone.

Final rating: 3.5 stars

This book has everything! Friends to lovers, AND brothers best friend? Sign me up! I love that Indira is a smart, professional, sexy, powerful woman. Reading about Indira amc Jude gives me all the 😍 heart eyes. This book brought me through every emotion. I didn't know this was a series so I'm definitely picking up the rest!

Mazey Eddings has done it again ladies and gentlemen! She continues to draw you in with real, steamy, quirky romances you can’t help but devour every page. Indira and Jude are heartbreaking and beautiful as they learn to process their trauma and fine comfort in each other. Could not put down this live brothers best friend romance and will continue to recommend this series to anyone and everyone

I loved this book and I loved the mental health representation! Jude and Indira were so adorable. I love a good enemies to lovers and it’s even better because they had known each other for so long. Definitely buying this one once it comes out!

So I’ve read the first book in this “series” but haven’t read the second one yet. I didn’t feel like I was missing any information though to understanding the main plot of this books. The was Mazey Eddings incorporates mental health into her books is just short of amazing. She makes it real and important. She also doesn’t shy away from serious conversations and that is one part that makes her writing amazing. Also the romance in this book!!! The spice level was great! I would recommend this book to anyone.

This is my third Mazey book and she also gives a fun, easy read that always makes me a bit emotional.. I lobe both Jude and Indira enemies to lovers, brother best friend AND fake dating yesssss I love these tropes and Mazey did such an amazing job with them in this book. The sensitive subjects that Mazey included anxiety, depression, PTSD, mental illness health, and therapy representation was well done. As she did in her two books before, she handled them with care. I appreciate this book very much and the journey the characters went on together and separate. Thank You netgalley and Mazey for allowing me to read this book and give it a honest review

The plus one really pulled at my heart strings and made me feel things.

This book had some of my favorites, enemies to lovers, banter, fake dating, one bed (tent), but also some really great friendships and family bonds.

Dira is a Psychiatrist with her own issue and therapist and Jude her brother best friend is struggling with undiagnosed PTSD as they head into a wedding and all the pre wedding chaos. This book is fun and digs into some deep topics and I definetly got some free therapy out of this read.
My favorite quote from Mazey Eddings is
"Being in love doesn't fix anything. It doesn't make me more whole or human than I was single. But it is a safe, quiet space where I feel brave enough to look at those wound... Stitch them up myself, no matter how long it takes"

I recommend this read for the romance but definetly stay for the free therapy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Our main character, Indira, is funny and quirky… and totally honest with herself and her therapist about how much of a mess she is. The love interest, Jude, not so much.

This was a sweet take on the enemies-to-lovers/fake-dating trope, with some healthy communication and support between our characters.

I had a few laugh-out-loud moments, enjoyed the heck out of the spicy moments, and cried at the gut wrenching ones.

I can honestly say I enjoyed the heck out of this book, and will definitely be looking for more by this author.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Plus One!

Enemies to lovers? Forced proximity? Brother’s best friend? Fake dating?

I mean do I really need to say anymore?!

Mazey Eddings created two amazing characters who express their emotions on such a deeper level. I got chills when I read this book because I related to it so much on a personal mental health level.

Mazey managed to created a fun, romantic book while addressing real human issues. I cannot wait to see what more things she comes up with in the future!

Childhood enemies to lovers + brothers best friend 🫠

I loved this book and this series as a whole. The characters are very relatable

I recently read The Plus One by Mazey Eddings and it was an absolute delight! The characters are so well-developed and their stories and struggles so real and relatable. I found myself completely invested in their lives and the book was so beautifully written that I couldn't put it down! The story is full of heart and emotion and the author's writing style is so captivating. I loved the themes of family, love, and relationship which are explored throughout the novel. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story about life and the struggles people face. It is truly a wonderful read!

I enjoyed this book! It does an amazing job covering the difficult subject of trauma. Specifically PTSD. It is taken seriously and handled with care all while telling a great story.

I completely fell in love with this book. I loved the characters and the plot. And who doesn't love a fake dating at a wedding scenario. This was so good "chef's kiss".
I just reviewed The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

A great story that tackles things ranging from walking in on your boyfriend and a stranger together, to hiding then handling PTSD, while still being full of tension and romance.

Indira is a psychiatrist who walks into her apartment to find her boyfriend of almost a year groping a stranger on the couch with an open jar of peanut butter. Unfortunately, said boyfriend is a groomsman in her brother's upcoming wedding. She runs to her brother's house to escape and wallow, only to find that her most loathed childhood nemesis is there.

Jude is back in town for his best friend Collin's wedding. He answers the door to find a cranky Indira on the step. The girl who annoyed him all through his youth has an uncanny ability to see through people, and he just wants to hide his undiagnosed PTSD and pretend everything is great so he doesn't cast a cloud over the wedding.

Both find themselves in a difficult situation and end up agreeing to be each other's fake dates to the wedding. Will they spend the whole time fighting, or will they become friends? Can Indira help Jude with his PTSD?

I really enjoyed this book, and kind of want to read it all over again, now that I'm writing this review. Obviously, I highly recommend this book to my fellow romance lovers.

*I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘺𝘰𝘶... 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: Indira was just cheated on by her ex and Jude has been living in humanitarian crises for the last three years. When Indira’s brother (and Jude’s best friend) gets married they decide to be each other’s fake dates.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: you guys! I truly cannot get enough of Mazey Eddings. I am fully obsessed with every single book in this series. This one has fake dating, dating your brother’s best friend, and childhood enemies to lovers tropes – all of which were executed perfectly. I absolutely loved Indira so much and I loved how she just knew exactly what Jude needed anytime he was struggling. And Jude – you can just tell he has adored and doted over her since they were children. I seriously can’t say enough great things about this series as a whole & all the mental health rep inside of it. 10/10 recommend.

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: I loved it!

*Special thank you to St. Martin’s press, NetGalley, and Mazey Eddings for an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mazey Eddings knows how to write a romance. This is the third book by her that I have read and it was just as good as the last two. Though, I will admit I still have particular fondness for Lizzie and Rake, of book two, Indira and Jude were still very compelling characters. They both were far from perfect and their relationship started out as enemies/rivals, but by the end of the story a believable relationship was formed. More than that, the characters each worked on themselves throughout the story with therapy and talking, especially Jude with his PTSD. I think that was one of the reasons this book was so good, the journey was handled so well. I would definitely recommend this book as both the third in the series, for those committed to reading anything by Mazey Edding's, or as a standalone. Though if you read book three first you will definitely feel compelled to learn more about the characters from book one and two who are referenced throughout book three.

Mazey Eddings has a stellar reputation for turning out delightful, sparkling, page-turning romance, and THE PLUS ONE hits all of these targets right in the center. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review. CW: the book deals with serious health and relationship issues with care and sensitivity, but some readers may want to check out content warnings available online before reading.

Indira and Jude are both far from where they thought they would be in life. Indira's just fled her relationship and her home after finding her boyfriend having condiment-slathered sex with someone else; Jude will soon return to performing surgery in war-torn regions, which has led to PTSD. Both of them will be attending Indira's brother's wedding, where her will-o'-the-wisp dad will have a marquee chance to let everyone down...again. They hatch a fake dating scheme: stick together so Jude has a support person and Indira can stick it to her ex.

By turns tender and hilarious, THE PLUS ONE is a gorgeous read populated by Eddings's beautiful, detailed character development and deeply felt emotional journeys. I was swept into the prose and the narrative from the first chapter. Fans of hurt/comfort, brother's best friend, fake dating, and forced proximity tropes will laugh and cry through the characters' misadventures.

I really enjoyed this book, it definitely dove into tougher topics and focused really heavily of mental illness. It has some moments where it’s a cute, flirty rom-com, but it wasn’t a light and fluffy book overall.

I found a bit of the language to be too trendy sometimes which I think may date the book moving forwards, but overall I really enjoyed it and read through it quickly!

The enemies to lovers trope where they are “enemies” just because they grew up not liking each other for some unknown reason isn’t my favorite, and I felt like they got over that dislike quickly and began leaning on each other almost immediately, which I believe was due to their trauma and need for comfort, but if that is a major draw for you I would just be aware that it isn’t a huge part of the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Dating your brother's best friend has never been a very appealing book trope for me because usually the brother sucks and with that logic why would his best friend be any better? Except Mazy Eddings said "only fathers are garbage" and "brothers and their best friends are actually the most wonderful, kindest people - court adjourned."

This was the sweetest romcom for my cold, cynical heart to feast on to stay warm in this depressing North American winter.

Indira is a psychiatrist and her older brother's best friend Jude is a trauma doctor treating emergencies and humanitarian crises across the world. Jude comes back home for a few weeks attend Indira's brother's wedding and this is where their story comes to life. Indy has to live with her brother in the short term after splitting from her boyfriend and it just so happens that Jude will be staying there too. Growing up Indy and Jude severely disliked each other so the forced proximity is opening up a whole bag of worms neither of them expected or needed.

Yet, somehow they both needed each other the most out of everyone else. Jude is suffering from complex PTSD due to his time in such intense crisis situations and Indira hasn't healed from all the trauma in her life.

This is a story about how they learn to trust each other, find comfort in each other and realize that love doesn't solve everything but it does make our tiny world a better place for us.

Mazy Eddings did an incredible job portraying the struggles both Jude and Mazy go through. Even when they fall in love, their problems aren't magically solved. They still have to communicate and learn from one another. This elevated the fantastic and steamy chemistry between the two characters.

The banter and the dialogue were so crisp and hit the nail on the head every single time. Couples that have great banter have great chemistry and Mazy Eddings knows this formula well. Her characters in this book are so easy to love and relate to because sound just like the person reading it.

I loved Indira and Jude so much. The fact that Mazy Eddings has me loving a character named Jude that's how you know she's powerful.

This was an incredible third installment to the 'A Brush With Love' series and I am so overjoyed to have had the chance to read it early.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this the opportunity to read this ARC and review it.

I just love the fake dating trope. This book was a very fun jaunt, with Indira and Jude at odds, both with reasons to require a fake partner for the wedding. I haven't read the rest of the series, but I certainly will get on that !
The flow of the book was at a great pace, and the camaraderie of the two main characters escalates nicely. I liked how they opened up to each other gradually, and found ways to help each other out, with consideration. There is a great depiction of anxiety, PTSD, and the way it is dealt with is like poster child for being an advocate for a friend/family member with a mental health issue. Kindness, compassion, consideration are all keywords.
PICK UP THIS BOOK !! if you like rom-coms, fake dating, friends to lovers, proper mental health depiction ,
thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC