I loved everything about this book. Mazey's junior novel-it centers around childhood nemesis who find out they're basically made for one another in a dual POV steamy rom com tackling tough subjects. There's fake dating, brother's best friend tropes, and so much to love about this novel. Mazey does an excellent job of having characters that feel human and make me feel for them. Jude's mental health journey was such a breath of fresh air because he felt like a real person with real struggles and while Indira couldn't fix him, she could help him and it made me just love them both so much more. Indira's own journey with her self worth was just as captivating and you spend the whole book rooting for both of them to jump their personal hurdles together. Finaly, I love how Mazey normalizes therapy! its human! its for everyone! and its great! 5/5, cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

P.S., I would do anything for Grammy the cat-shes my new favorite side character.

Thank you @negalley @stmartinspress and @mazeyeddings for my eARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

Indira’s life looked perfect on paper. That is until she caught her boyfriend in a compromising position. Now she’s stuck living with her brother and his partner and… her brother’s best friend. Better known as her biggest enemy, Jude. Since her brother’s upcoming nuptials mean an unreal amount of exposure to Indira’s ex and his new girlfriend - and Jude being placed in social situations that make him panic - the two decide to team up and fake date their way through the wedding events. But how long will they be able to keep up their act before it starts feeling a little too real?

Eddings has done it again! I fell in love with the characters of this book. She managed to shine light on PTSD while still writing a funny, sweet, and steamy rom-com that I’ll definitely be reading again in the future!

This one gets 4.5⭐️‘s from me!

This book in 3 words: Genuine. Hilarious. Sexy.

This is my third book by Mazey Eddings and her writing feels like such a bright spot, no matter the mood I'm in. Her writing is stellar with a carefully constructed plot and even better characters. She's quickly made it to the short list of authors that I'll literally read anything from.

I love Mazey's main characters. I want to just snuggle Dira and Jude up in a hug. The banter is rich, the quips are ACTUALLY funny, and the writing makes you feel like you're hanging out with your friend group. Each of the characters have a solid arc and we love to see the growth and change.

The Plus One is a contemporary romance, but with some curveballs, with a unique spin on tropes we know and love. While this is a contemporary romance, it delicately handles and works through tough and substantial themes. The characters and plot are rich with common issues which aren't talked, or written about, nearly enough.

I was gifted an early copy in exchange for an honest review. I will post on my social media platforms closer to the pub date.

When I opened this book the warning almost made me back away but I was intrigued and turned the page. I am glad I did. The author writes good characters and an interesting story. Not a beach read but still a good romance and surprisingly steamy when I didn't expect it. I do recommend this book with the caveat that it contains a serious subject matter to go along with the love story.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Interesting indeed, recommend reading it.

Mazey Eddings does it again! Eddings has once again shown how to intertwine real mental health issues with incredible romance. I loved Indira & Jude’s relationship and their enemies to lovers AND fake dating storyline so much. Plus the steam was A+++! Even more than that though, I loved being in Indira’s therapy sessions and how Eddings handled that topic so well. Eddings is 100% an auto-buy author for me & after The Plus Ones will continue to be!

I see so much love for this author and didn’t love her first book, so wanted to give her second book a fresh chance! Unfortunately i once again struggled with the writing style. I did not finish the book and just need to admit her style is not for me. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Plus One gives you a lot of great tropes with a lot of mental health rep. Indira and Jude have hated each other since youth. Jude, being the annoying friend of her brother, Indira and him always butted heads. When they reconnect before Colin's (the brother) wedding they realize they might have more that just hatred, but sparks.

I enjoyed this story. It was steamier than I expected but in a way that worked for me. There was a lot of mental health rep. At times it did feel a bit repetitive in the sense that yes Jude should 100% be in therapy, got it. But these two had fun banter and lots of chemistry. I loved the relationship between Indira and her brother too.

It had a fun setting and moved quickly. I did feel like the ending had a lot of time jumping forward but it didn't take away from liking the story.

I haven't read the other two books set in this universe so this could definitely be a stand alone novel despite being labeled as number three.

If you enjoy contemporary romance, brother's best friend and enemies to lovers then you'll like this one too!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Plus One is a sweet book about finding yourself and your person through the pain of PTSD and trauma. It is beautifully and respectfully covered the sensitive topics while giving the characters depth. I loved the emotions and the plot of this book, it is a definite must read!

LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY!!!! 5++ star read!

This is by far my favorite of the series - Kudos to Mazey Eddings for giving Indira her own novel that is both hysterical, serious, and touching all in one. Mazey knows how to delicately write about very serious topics (in this case anxiety) while keeping the readers engaged in characters lives - so much you feel you are right there with them.

I absolutely loved reading Indira’s story with childhood enemy Jude. The banter between Jude and Indira is spot on, their chemistry - off the charts, and their characters - flawed and raw.

Then throw in all the characters from the previous books in the series - and readers will be left so happy!

I will be first in line to read Mazey’s next novel - now all I have to do is be patient and wait.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Mazey Eddings for this ARC - all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this, even more than the first book in this series. The characters and their struggles seem authentic, and they are a really sweet couple together.

Mazey Eddings does it again! The third book in ‘A Brush With Love’ series (I’ve read all three this year.) and I couldn’t wait to read about Jude and Indira. A beautiful story of two broken people building each other back up again. Mazey has a way of writing with such compassion, awareness and heart. She has you laughing out loud one moment and wiping away a tear in the next. Childhood enemies, brother’s best friend, forced proximity and fake dating. I would highly recommend this entire series.

I loved every second of this story. EVERY. SECOND. The portrayal of therapy in the media is honestly so messed up that I generally steer clear of books where the main character(s) is in therapy. But this book did SO WELL. There were so many things that reminded me of stuff my own therapist says to me and that felt super validating. The plot and the characters were also great. But the portrayal of therapy is an automatic 5-star for me.

The Plus One is a witty, fun, and deeply emotional rom com. Indira and Jude have known one another since childhood and always have been enemies/rivals. When the wedding for Indira’s brother and his partner is approaching circumstances bring her and Jude together for quite a journey.

This book does an amazing job of addressing PTSD, other mental health concerns, and normalizes therapy. I really like that the male main character is the one who is struggling the most significantly with mental health. It felt unique to anything else I’ve read.

The Plus One has humor, depth, great spice, tension, and great tropes… one tent, brother’s best friend, rivals to lovers, and fake dating.

I previously read (and really enjoyed) A Brush with Love and went a bit out of order and jumped into The Plus One next. I love when the characters live in the same world but a new story is being told!

It was very fun to follow Indira and Jude's romance- an enemies to lovers tale. Indira and Jude spent their youth together, as Jude is her brother's best friend. It was endearing to hear them share their memories from the past, their different takes on things and to watch them slowly uncover that maybe, all along, they didn't actually hate each other at all.

Their story was filled with witty, quick banter, heartfelt moments and painful memories all of which made these characters so enjoyable. There are a lot of light hearted moments and also some really heavy ones as both characters struggle to cope with their past. I thought the author's portrayal of Jude struggling with mental health issues was done really well- not glossed over and a realistic telling of our society's struggle to prioritize mental health.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Indira and Jude and would definitely recommend this for romance lovers!

This was such a cute and fun read that it will be a favorite of mine!
I love a good rom com so this one wasn't any different. I didn't want to let go of it.
I'll be buying this book to add to my keeper shelf since it is a favorite.
This book really and truly made me laugh out loud. The fake dating was what was really funny and fun for me too.
I thought the author did an amazing job with this book.
Jude and Indira just seemed so realistic and believable.
What I especially liked about this book was I learned something about PTSD along the way. It gave me a better perspective on it.

I've adored every book in this series! I was actually expecting a lighter book than what this book turned out being, but I really enjoyed the emotional journey that Indira and Jude went on. I loved seeing their bickering and how they slowly let down their guard with each other.

The Plus One is the third book in the A Brush with Love Series by Mazey Eddings. I didn’t realize it was a part of a series until I looked up the author on Goodreads. Luckily, this book can be read as a stand alone and the series focuses on a different person in their friend group and their relationships they develop. You can see the friends mentioned in the previous stories but you don’t have to read them to understand this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story of Indira and Jude. Growing up as Childhood frenemies the two find themselves reunited for the wedding of Collin (Indira’s brother and Jude’s best friend). Indira finds herself getting cheated on by her trash boyfriend and goes running to her brother Collin, where she sees Jude is staying at during pre wedding festivities. As the two find their footing around each other in the same house they come together with the idea to be each others fake dates for the wedding so Indira can get back as her cheating ex boyfriend and Jude can have a familiar face to rely on during all the chaos.

This book was deeper than I initially thought it would be, I knew there was a fake dating trope but the issues that it covered in the book was much more substantial than I originally expected. Indira is a psychologist so she was able to pick up that something wasn’t right with Jude. Jude is a doctor who has committed years of service to GHCO, an organization that sends medical staff to help countries and places of crisis. His years of commitment aided him during college with a scholarship, but now he’s facing difficult challenges such as overwhelming anxiety, depression, and PTSD with his experiences. As the two come closer and find comfort in one another they start to wonder why they were frenemies for so long.

This book covers everything I like: enemies to lovers, fake dating, grumpy sunshine, and dating your brother’s best friend. This book also came with trigger warnings in the very beginning which included: parental abandonment, infidelity, anxiety and panic attacks, and physical injury. I enjoyed the growth of the two main characters and seeing how they come together to get past some of these challenges they are facing individually. This book is also on the spicy side for readers that are a fan of that. Overall I really liked this book and would recommend it to others and would like to go back to read the other 2 books in this series.

This is rated 5/5 stars in my opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing group for this ARC!

I absolutely adore Mazey Eddings writing and was so delighted to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. Another beautiful and real love story all while shedding light on the very real struggles of mental illness. I loved Jude and Indira so much and thoroughly relished more time spent with the dynamic cast of characters from A Brush With Love and Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake. This book has all the best tropes enemies to lovers, fake dating, grumpy sunshine and it does not disappoint! Another gem from Eddings.

This was the perfect romance novel.

Childhood frenemies to lovers ✅
Fake dating ✅
Mental health representation ✅
All of the spice ✅
Allllll of the warm fuzzies ✅

Indira’s brother, Collin, is getting married to his fiancé Jeremy and Indria has just gone through the final breakup of a messy on and off again relationship after catching her now ex cheating. Indira then moves in with Collin and Jeremy while Collin’s best friend and her childhood frenemy, Jude, is also staying there.

Jude is going through a rough mental health crisis involving PTSD he has and has not yet dealt with and is keeping it all bottled inside. Indira is a therapist and starts noticing Jude freezing up and behaving differently as the two grow closer after she asks him to be her fake date to Collin and Jeremy’s wedding.

This book was perfection, it had excellent chemistry, emotional and intimate connection and an accurate lens on difficult mental health struggles. I also loved the Lizzie Blake and Rake cameos and life updates; what a treat!

If you are a romance reader I cannot recommend this book enough. There’s no third act breakup and outside of the serious topics involving absent parents and mental health crises the rest of this book is like a warm hug.

Hands down, five stars.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!