Short synopsis: After walking in on my boyfriend sleeping with someone else (peanut butter involved) Indira restarts her life, and runs into her brothers best friend/childhood nemesis Jude.

My thoughts: I’ve decided that Mazey can write such amazing, thoughtful, tender characters and I just love them! Indira and Jude is no different, they are just so caring and tender with and really strive to understand each other.

There were some laugh out loud moments, but some really thought provoking moments too about really digging down deep and finding yourself through honesty. Also, this definitely heats up the spice factor!

Mazey has such a great way of discussing very important topics in such a healthy and honest way. Mental health in any capacity is so important!

Read if you love:
- Mental health positive books
- Brothers best friend
- Childhood nemesis
- Fake dating
- Interconnected stand alone

“When did this compassion happen? Talking to you used to feel like the equivalent of a boiling enema.”

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

Funny enough, I recently finished a book with the close proximity trope being the FMC’s life taking a 180 and needing to move in with her brother and her future love interest … if you’re curious, it’s "Mr. Wrong Number" by Lynn Painter.

I was about a third or so in, eating this book up, and then I realized this is the third book in the series with book one still on my TBR … so I will be checking that one out.

I don’t know where to start when talking about what I liked. The pacing was great. I loved Indira and Jude, and their budding romance throughout the book. They had an outstanding balance of tension, friendship, helping each other with trauma, opening up to each other, and perfect spice. It was chapters 22-23 that really got me loving them.

And while dealing with more serious subjects, it had many moments of fun and chaos. There is a lot of therapy talk in here.

I was begging for no third-act drama to come out of left field (because it sometimes makes sense if it was woven in well). It felt like it was going there but Indira and Jude talked it out, which is something I’m noticing more in books. We love getting rid of the stupid third-act drama.

Really really enjoyed this book, it's more than just an enemies-to-lovers romance: great story and character development. Gret example of healthy masculinity through facing emotions and working through trauma.
A great example of how PTSD can affect someone, especially men—and this topic was handled with care.

My first Mazey Eddings Book & I’m sure it won’t be my last. I didn’t realize this was part of a series, but was great as a stand-alone also. I went in not knowing what to expect, but the premise was very cute. I loved the way the author addressed mental health while also writing a fun story.

Some spicy scenes. Fans of Abby Jiminez will love this one.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read! Indira and Jude are just so likeable!

I love how they took care of each other and worked on themselves all at the same time. This book felt very real and relatable for myself, a millennial.

If you love a childhood friends to lovers or enemies to lovers trope, you'll love this one!

childhood enemies to lovers… sign me up!! this was a fun story with great characters and a great message. i loved how much it focused on mental health. i do wish i had known it was a part of a series before going in but what can ya do

Loved the body positivity in this book. Other than that it was just meh to me. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review!

Mazey Eddings is incredibly talented at weaving heartfelt stories of mental health into her romance novels. Jude and Indira's story is filled with longing, trauma, and angst, and yet it still manages to be hopeful, funny, and so so romantic. There are quite a few tropes here, enemies to lovers and fake dating, and yet the story manages to still feel fresh and heartfelt. I've loved every book in this trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Mazey Eddings writes next.

Absolutely loved this book! I read this book and listened to her other novels, and loved them equally! Sometimes I swear I love an author's print book, but don't love the audiobook so much. This book was perfect - timing, characters, setting, the trope. Big fan!

"The Plus One" a sort of sequel to Edding's other novels, featuring Indira and Jude, is a story about falling in love with your childhood nemesis.
Indira who is jilted weeks before her brother's wedding (when her boyfriend cheats on her in a scenario that will never allow me to look at a jar of peanut butter the same way every again), teams up with Jude to be each other's 'plus ones'. Through their 'fake dating' ruse they each find unexpected comforts in the other person, that changes things between them forever. During the course of this story we see the characters deal with PTSD, emotional healing from an absentee parent, and after effects of being cheated on. 
So suffice to say, there is heavy material in between all the fun and games of the relationship. Eddings however, manages to take on big topics without presenting the characters 'fixing' each other. Indira and Jude are steadfast and supportive, with each in the driver position of their own choices and path for healing, which was refreshing and healthy to read.
"The Plus One" is a solid four star read.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early release copy of this book.
"The Plus One" is being released April 4th 2023-go check it out!
**Added to Goodreads 3/31/2023
**Added to Amazon 8/1/2023

This was such a fun read! I can't wait for more by this author. I would absolutely recommend! If you are looking for a book to get you back into reading. This is it!

From the cover, The Plus One seems like a nice lighthearted enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, close proximity standard rom-com but there is so much more to this. The author does such a good job of weaving together trauma, therapy, abandonment, loss and also standard rom-com themes with plenty of chemistry. I really enjoyed it even though at times it was tough to read because it reminded me of my own struggles with some of the topics. I appreciated the author giving a strong trigger warning ahead of time and I loved the epilogues (yes multiple) that continues to expand on these themes.

I was instantly captivated by the many rom-com tropes in The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. This was my first read by this author and I'm so glad I picked it up because not only is it incredibly heartfelt, but it's also hilarious and as a reader, I felt like I was genuinely going through the rollercoaster of emotions Indra and Jude went through.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an ARC of The Plus One by Mazey Eddings in exchange for an honest review.

Mazey Eddings stole my heart as I followed her writer's journey through IG, and she made me a super fan as soon as I got my hands on A Brush With Love (Book #1). Lizzie Blake became one of my favorite FMC of all time (Book #2), and I couldn't wait for Indira's story. I wasn't disappointed and can't even tell you at this point which book in this series in my favorite. I love them all and am sad to leave this friend group/happy bubble of romance and adorableness.

WHAT I LOVED:
* This is absolutely a rom-com, but in true Mazey Eddings fashion, it delves into more serious topics. She keeps it light, but still makes and impression. PTSD is a tricky subject to touch and I think she wrote about it from a perspective authentic to Jude and his environment and support system.
* Collin and Jeremy are such a sweet couple and adoring, caring humans/brothers
* The way Indira and Jude help each other through some internal conflicts, but therapy is always a prominent theme in this series (so thankful for that!)
* The banter and sarcasm! Yum!
* The spice level is perfect... a mix of sweet and sizzly and slow, slow burn.
* Lizzie, Rake, Harper, Dan and even little Evie all had bits and spotlights in this story, and little blips into inside jokes...

While I still hope Thu gets a story, Indira and Jude were a great way to end a beautiful series with characters I fell in love with. Mazey Eddings is on my auto-author list and I will cherish (and probably re-read) this series always.

Thank you for Mazey Eddings and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. I received an advanced review copy for my honest review.

It was such a blast, it made me all giggly and happy. I cried, laughed, squealed. It was so fun. I will make a more detailed review on my instagram :)

I didn't expect to like this book as must as I did. I don't think that the blurb really sets up the tone of the book. This book will tear your heart out from the get-go. The mental health representation was heart wrenching, but so beautifully empathetically written. I appreciated that for neither character was love the cure-all for their problems (emotions or mental health), but instead just a part of the larger story. I loved these two characters and their messy lives and I feel like the author did a great job realistically telling their stories.

I have found Mazey’s books to be hit or miss for me. I found her first book just okay, and I loved her second book. This most recent book was another just okay book. It was enjoyable while I was reading it, but it didn’t stand out to me at all.

I would still read more from Mazey, but I would set my expectations lower.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted ebook.

This was not for me unfortunately. It was hard to get in a “groove” : relationship/ feel connected to some of the characters.

While the story itself was great, I liked the background and the emotions behind what was going on with Jude (the psychological aspect). I think I struggled with liking Indira and some of her childish behavior given her career choice.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy! You can pick up The Plus One in-store or online today.

Due to changes at my job and an overwhelming TBR, I could only finish reading this book post-release date, from my local library. But it was an incredibly heartwarming and hopeful romance.

Not only did we see Jude and Indira grow as a couple, but seeing their individual growth also contributed so much to the story. Eddings didn't pull punches when depicting mental health struggles and how different people live with them. Both Indira and Jude's traumas were explained with care, compassion, and understanding. But these real-world issues never overshadowed the blossoming romance between childhood rivals.

Seeing Jude and Indira relive their childhood memories was so wholesome and sweet. I loved watching the transformation for both from reluctant bridal party partners to friends to lovers. And the epilogue left me with such a warm, fuzzy feeling for their future.

Cannot recommend this enough!

I really enjoyed this book. It had both of my favorite tropes; enemies to lovers & brother’s best friend. Jude and Indira had so much chemistry and I loved the way they brought out the best in each other. This book puts a big focus on mental health which I think is very important. I thought it was done very well, showing the ugly parts of it and how to appropriately handle it. Overall, I thought this was a good read and I would recommend to anyone looking for something light and easy with a good message behind it.