“You think I have nothing to lose? You have just as much power to hurt me as I do to hurt you. But I’m not scared of that. I’m willing to face it because being with you is worth more than the prospect of pain.”

Be still my beating heart, it’s a STEM romance. It revolves around two dental school students: an ambitious, top of her class woman named Harper and a legacy, uninspired man named Dan. I seriously enjoyed this one! Equal parts cheesy (in a good way) and romantic. Harper and Dan are individually great characters and they had sweet chemistry together. There’s an incident with a giant cat that had me crying with laughter. I loved the focus on mental health and how it affects your relationships, daily life, and the consequence of not getting the help you need. As a fellow grades-obsessed student with anxiety, I seriously related to Harper. Unless you’re in it, no one really understands. With that said, I felt so bad for Dan! He’s a real trooper. No surprise to me that it is written by a dentist because everything was very well described. Don’t sleep on this one if you’re looking for a STEM romance!

A debut to get behind, A Brush with Love is a romance that follows dental students Harper and Dan, on a bantery, anxious-ridden quest to love. I'm seeing a trend to be more honest and upfront about mental health issues in romance lately, with a lot of protagonists that struggle from anxiety disorders. At times deeply stressful and aggravating, Eddings also does an excellent job of creating empathy for her characters and the issues that they struggle with on a daily basis.

I saw a lot of myself in Harper -- Jewish, anxious, and addicted to work -- but I also didn't love the other things I saw... her inability to be a good friend to those around her, an aversion to all risk, and of course, her wishy washy approach to love. Romance is important because it lets us know that everyone is deserving of love, and models how we can provide it to each other in some of our worst moments at times. Harper's group of friends (Thu in particular) and Dan both emulate what good care and friendship looks like for someone who is struggling.

"She's traveled with anxiety for so long, it had morphed into a sick energy source she used on her career path. She didn't know if she had the ability to succeed without it."

Anyone going into this book should know that while it is very funny and romantic, it does deal with very serious issues, including (TW) death of a parent and anxiety disorder. I wanted such good things for the characters but was constantly worrying about them. This is a really beautifully written debut, and I'm excited for what Eddings does next. Thank you to NetGalley for the early review copy, all opinions are my own.

"Dan, my last name is Horowitz. I don't think it gets any more Ashkenazi than that. Of course I like Jewish Delis." --Peak Jewish representation, what else can I say???

What I enjoyed: Harper's anxiety and work/life ethic shown on page is well done. I am always going to be on board with a story showcasing the hero, Dan, with an immediate and loyal fascination for the heroine. The hot-and-cold hero is rather overdone, after all. Harper and Dan's relationship arc is pretty great too.
What I didn't care for: The constant innuendo and blatant eye waggle sex talk. Maybe it's my age? Maybe it's the female narrator that really made them stick out like a sore thumb? I had no qualms with Dan's POV and narration, so I'm apt to believe that's the issue for me. Which is really saying something, since I consistently liken my humor to that of a twelve year old boy. It appeared to be excessive though, particularly in the first half of the novel. It mostly came about through interactions with Harper's friends.
The male POV, performed by Vikas Adam, was well done. I'd easily pick up another book he is involved in. I've listened to Emily Lawrence before and don't recall any negative feelings for her in the past.
I will definitely give Mazey another try. The last half-ish redeemed the story. I think her next book sounds appealing and I typically am a fan of this publisher's romances.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the arc and MacMillan Audio for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This book was ok. It dealt with some heavy issues which led to some melodrama in the storytelling. However, the characters were realistically drawn. I appreciated that the main couple took time to be ready to be together and everything wasn't drawn together with a bow. A dental setting is definitely different, but I don't know that I liked thinking about dental implants and surgery. That took me out of the story. The book was heavier than it was billed, but some library patrons should enjoy it.

✨A BRUSH WITH LOVE by Mazey Eddings✨

★★★★★

Drink: A local beer!

I ended up choosing one of my favorite beers from a local brewery since it reminded me of the brewery scene… *sigh*...oh and I paired it with some candy, right up Harper’s alley

Huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin @ Macmillan for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

🌟Review: Absolutely *adorable* - that’s really all I have to say about this book. (Just kidding, I do have a lot to say)

This book totally exceeded my expectations and I fell in love with Harper, Dan, and all of their friends. I think Mazey Eddings did a great job of depicting what it’s like to live with anxiety and it made the book feel so authentic and relatable.

Honestly I can’t even believe this was a debut! It was written beautifully and I wanted it to keep going and going.

I absolutely adored this book. I love that we have both of the MCs POVs, I love the anxiety rep, and I loved the main couple. Harper and Dan have an instant connection and although I don't usually enjoy insta-love, I still really had so much fun reading A Brush With Love.

It made me legitimately laugh out loud and got very invested in their relationship. I really felt for Dan and his family issues, it's something I connected with. Eddings really makes you feel the MCs' emotions, whether they are happy, upset, or angry.

I didn't think there would be a bigger blow up, maybe something to do with the Giles brothers but in the end, I like the way it ended. Harper and Dan didn't make up right away, which I think is much more realistic and I appreciated Eddings going in that direction. I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

This book was so unbelievably cute, much cuter than I would have expected from a dental themed romance and I just gotta say I loved this story so much. The characters and their relationship felt so realistic and organic which I love to see in romance stories. The representation of anxiety disorder was also a huge thing for me because as someone with anxiety it’s important that we destigmatizes it and have media normalize what it’s like living with the challenges the disorder brings with it.

I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with in the future and she will be on my auto buy list now,

This was a great debut novel and Mazey Eddings is clearly a gifted writer. I loved the wonderful mental health rep and colorful cast of characters. The dental school setting was very unique and the dental related puns were hilarious. I enjoyed many aspects of the book, but I wasn't a huge fan of the repeated hot and cold behavior from Harper for the majority of the book. I love cinnamon roll heroes, but Dan was so soft, patient, and forgiving that he started to come across as a doormat. I appreciated that they both took time and made personal changes after the final conflict, but I still wanted more groveling from Harper. The epilogue left me with a big smile on my face though and I loved the message of being loved just as you are.

I both listened to and read this one, and I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more had I not listened to a majority of it. Emily Lawrence gave a really wonderful performance, but unfortunately Vikas Adam was a big miss for me. His female voices were unnaturally high pitched and grating. It was especially awkward during the more steamy moments. His narration was so jarring that it took me out of the story almost every time and I found myself wanting to read Dan's POV chapters instead. His performance as Dan was fine, but I would not recommend reading this via audio.

Audiobook Review
Overall 3 stars
Performance 2.5 stars
Story 3.5 stars

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, sexism, grief, death of parent (past)

*I voluntarily listened and read an advance review copy of this book*

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD!

This was such a sweet romance with a lot of humor and swoon (steam too). If you follow Mazey on social media, you'll see she's super funny and has a lot of heart and it definitely carries over to her characters. It's clever and witty and written well.

Both Harper and Dan crush on each other pretty quickly, but Harper's focus is on her career and doesn't want to start anything because she feels it'll only be temporary. There's pining and playful flirtation and teasing. It's so much fun to read their relationship. I love that Dan was determined to be with Harper, regardless of relationship status. There's such chemistry between the two. It's hard not to fall for Dan, who is seriously book boyfriend material.

They both have issues they're dealing with that they haven't been vocal about with anyone else and allow themselves to be vulnerable with each other. Through some tough love, and some meddling (in a good way), I'm glad to see they both get the help they need in the end.

Speaking of meddling, Harper's friends are hilarious and I can't wait for the rest of the series.

5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When aspiring oral surgeon, Harper, falls down the stairs and accidentally destroys Dan’s project, her life is thrown into the chaos that comes with falling in love.

This has the fun of a RomCom and is still able to dive into serious topics, like anxiety, the loss of a parent and the pressure to follow a path that’s not meant for you. Dan and Harper were both so interesting as characters on their own, dealing with their own inner struggles. Bringing them together brought a lot of chemistry, while also serving as a catalyst for a breakdown.

I thought the portrayal of a panic attack and the unparalleled feeling of that burning anxiety was really well done. No panic attack looks the same, but I saw so much of myself in those moments - the loss of control, the fuzzy thoughts, and the urge to get out because the walls are caving in and you can’t breathe. I really appreciate the notion that “the monster” was taking over, and the separation of self from mental illness.

I also think this does a great job of showing that you can’t help someone who isn’t ready to get help. Romantic relationships do not cure mental illness. But being there for someone and letting them know help is available and effective is also important.

I’m also glad there isn’t much set in dental procedures - I have so much anxiety surrounding the dentist, so finding myself enjoying this book so much was a pleasant surprise! I look forward to seeing what Mazey will come up with for her next book!

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.
A Brush With Love is a sweet little romance that centers around Harper and Dan. Both are going to school for dentistry. Throughout the book they develop a relationship while tackling their own inner battles. Dan worries about fulfilling his family name and working for his father's famous dentistry practice, though it isn't what he wants in his life. Harper strives to be the best no matter what and faces anxiety disorder.
I found this story to be a cute romantic tale centered around dentistry. I did find Harper and her friends to be a bit immature at times.

Dan is a 'legacy' dental student who had to leave his dreams behind to save the family business. Harper is in her final year of dental school and suffers from severe anxiety, forcing her to put many aspects of her life on the back burner to focus in school. When they meet and have an instant connection, Harper struggles internally with her anxiety as their 'will-they-won't-they' relationship progresses.

I thought this was so cute! Dan was a fantastic love interest and I loved seeing him work through his feelings for Harper and his family issues. However, Harpervwas the real stand out for me here! As someone who suffers with anxiety - granted, it's nowhere near as severe as Harper's - a huge part of me felt seen for the first time. Eddings description of both social, academic, and romantic anxiety was incredibly accurate, and the mental illness was handled in such a delicate way, which was exactly what was needed. Plus, Harper's reactions when anxious are very similar to mine and it was great to see a romantic lead who cared for their partner through these reactions rather than completely shunning them (aside from that one time that was the last straw). Overall, I really loved the dynamic between Dan and Harper and only docked a star because I wasn't vibing with the insta-love aspect and I severely disliked Harper's friends.

I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would. I wasn’t quite ready for Harper, a heroine with severe anxieties, who also deeply desired to be a dental surgeon. The hero also has his problems as he’s pursuing a career as a dentist even though he clearly doesn’t like it and isn’t very good at it.

But what he’s good at is being a good friend/boyfriend to Harper as they struggle to each deal with their own problems while working through very demanding programs.

I found myself really liking these characters and enjoying seeing their growing relationship.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This book was one I just HAD to have on my TBR way before it was released, and I was so honored to be able to read a copy early thanks to Kaye Publicity and then invited to be a part of the bookstagram tour with Turn the Page Tours (watch on bookstagram for this tour closer to pub day!)

In the past year, I have read some incredible titles focusing on females and their position in the workplace, and I just adore the focus on a woman at her core, living through the struggles of male-dominated fields, and looking at situations that can tend to see a woman as too emotional, or putting her to a higher expectation. After reading what I would consider similar titles like The Love Hypothesis and First Love Take Two I could not WAIT to read this book, and it was even better than I could have expected.

What caught my attention first was how well-written this book was, it quickly grabs your attention with an adorable meet-cute, with a slow burn romance that builds to just the right amount of steam.

Add in neurodiverse characters that make so many readers feel SEEN in a way they hadn't been before that was just everything & it was clear Eddings captured my heart with this debut novel. Haper and Dan are endearing and sweet, I loved their shyness and discovery of friendship, how they dealt with the pressure in their workplace and families all while being supported by a great group of friends!

I love that neither of our main characters gave up what was most important to them, but found something they needed in a supportive partner in each other giving ALL the feels throughout the book.

This was an adorable debut. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the banter is great, with both characters' viewpoint. So many things to love about a romance with a woman in STEM.

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press & Netgalley for this eARC of A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings! Romance readers, add this to your lists for 03/01/22!

This was truly adorable. I was recently down with being sick and this was the perfect pick me up to pull me out of the all around slump I was in. I really liked the pace of this story for the first 3/4 of this, towards the end it did seem to drag just a little bit but I was so invested in Harper and Dan's story I couldn't stop. I really liked the way Harper's anxiety and mental health was portrayed in this, because it was so relatable. She knows her limits, she knows what she should probably do but sometimes her pride gets in the way of getting the help she needed and I just fell so hard for her character. When she was stressed about school, I was stressed about school. When she was over the moon smitten, I was over the moon smitten. The banter between her and Dan was SO CUTE. I smiled through most of their conversations.

I really just enjoyed this one. I can't wait to see more of what this author does in the future.

A sweet romance with heartfelt depiction of living with and navigating anxiety? Yes, please. This is a fun read that will, hopefully, creep into your heart!

I'm personally anxious about the dentist, but I'd definitely be visiting a practice more often if Dan Craige was mine! He's got a license to drill... ;)

But in all seriousness, I loved this book. While it's set at a dental school, that's merely the beginning of the connection between Dan and Harper. Dan suffers from the weight of parental expectations while Harper deals with generalized anxiety disorder. As a fellow GAD gal, I strongly identified with Harper. The depiction of her spirals and panic attacks were realistic to my own experiences, so props to Mazey Eddings for that!

In terms of the romance, it was the perfect level of steam for me. We get a glorious slow burn to start, but it definitely gets HOT at the right time. I love a friends to lovers romance, especially when they were never "just friends" to begin with. Plus big props for making canine teeth seem sexy!

And it's a series? Pleeeease say that Thu is next!!

*Thank you to Turn The Page Tours, St Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Disclaimer: I was an early beta reader of this book and consider myself friends with the author. I am biased and I want to state that openly.

Re: the above disclaimer, I may be biased because I know a lot about the behind-the-scenes of this boom going from manuscript to (holy expletive, Batman) AN ACTUAL PUBLISHED BOOK! I think Mazey has a distinctive voice and has so much to contribute to romance in terms of mental health and neurodiversity rep. A BRUSH WITH LOVE is a very real/honest look at anxiety and learning to love yourself. I love that about this story and I know so many people will love it for that.

That said, is this my favorite book ever? No, but this book isn’t really a good match for the kind of reader I am. I prefer high angst, high stakes stories and despite the sometimes serious subject matter portrayed, I consider this on the lighter/fluffier end of the spectrum. But if that’s your jam, put on some Taylor Swift and enjoy getting to know sweet babies Harper and Dental Dan™️!

Disclaimer: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, but it doesn’t influence my opinion of the book nor the contents of this review in any way.

First of all, I fell in love with the idea of this book! I discovered it shortly after going on an academia/women in STEM TBR binge after reading The Love Hypothesis... and may have even found this book on Ali Hazelwood's TBR before requesting it the ARC. I love academic stories set in grad school or residency and I love reading about women in STEM! I'm not a STEM person at all, hello strategic communications and marketing major here, but I do enjoy reading about the passion for science-y subjects. I was excited, in the beginning. Here we have a Type-A (and anxious) female main character (in STEM - a dentist) who crashes into an attractive guy her same age but in his first year to her senior. She vows to help him recreate the project they annihilated and they become the closest of friends!! who secretly want more ✨

This sounds like such a promising recipe, it had all my favorite ingredients. I love that Mazey Eddings is a neurodivergent author committed to writing stories for every brain, not just neurotypicals. Unfortunately, all of this couldn't make me fall in love with the book itself. It tried a lot of things that a I respect and had very important conversations around grief, love, family and mental health... but I just hated the romance, and that generally spoiled it for me. Here's more specifics what I liked and didn't like...

What I Liked...
• The #ownvoices rep in this book with regard to mental illness. I don't know to what full extent, only that Harper is diagnosed with particular acronyms and that Mazey shares at least some of them, including anxiety. The Author's Note was beautiful 💛
• The passion for dentistry was real. I read that Mazey Eddings was a dentist, so it all makes sense 😂 I still laugh when I think of Harper's tattoo of a canine tooth because it's "sharp and strong" and rooted, though. But the surgery and the technicals, and I have to say Harper seduced me when she held Dan's face and gently named all his facial bones.
• The conversation surrounding Judaism and religion was very touching. I wish we saw more of this throughout the book and not just a poignant conversation and then one outing in the beginning, though.
I learned so many new things in this book! Honey mushrooms (a wonderful analogy for anxiety and a fungi that's 3 square miles... horrifying) and Maine Coon cats, which are huuuuge.
• The feminism and women-in-STEM rah-rah! Harper is a powerful human and I loved this scene.
The scene at the end with Dan's mom. It was healing and it felt real, and I appreciated this representation of loving someone who treats you badly. I just wish it was MORE than one scene and him ignoring her calls the rest of the book.

There are a lot of great things in this book! Little pieces that I loved and that propelled me through the rest of the book. I wish we had more of those things and less of... these.

What I didn't like
First, this book did my least favorite trope in the world. The woman gets drunk and is all "but don't you want meee 🥺" after traumatic happenings and a few hours after explicitly saying she doesn't want to sleep with the guy (she's lying but that doesn't matter). He's trying to valiantly be a good guy and she strips off her clothes drunkenly. NO. NO. NO. PSA: this is NOT character development. A guy who doesn't sleep with an intoxicated women isn't a "good guy," it's not proof of his character or valor or whatever. THIS IS HUMAN DECENCY. The regularity with which I read this scene pisses me off. Drinking happens, boundaries lower, things get reconsidered, but do the scene right or don't do it at all.

• The quirky group of friends. Harper was in a friend group of three other girls who were all clearly very close knit (Thu, Lizzie and Indira - who I believe are all getting their own book in this Untitled series) and I love them in theory. But something just didn't click with me on them. They were outrageous and supportive and crossed boundaries with Harper's happiness in mind, just like best friends do. But are we seriously pretending that they wouldn't notice or know that Harper has such Chronic anxiety and is claustrophobic? I think the writing did them an injustice. They were only there to do something specific to the plot and were otherwise tossed aside.
Harper and Dan's relationship....... I got tired, okay. Harper's hot-and-cold "I like you but we can't, but let's kiss, but we can't, I love you but we can't..." became annoying and I cheered when Dan made it clear he couldn't be a pawn in her games and indecision anymore.

• Dan just got shuffled around. He was at Dental school because his mom asked him to be to help her with her practice (something that never made sense, as help wouldn't come until four years of dental school and then residency was completed) and he hated it, and then he was liberated when his mom did an about-face. It was inevitable that he would quit, but he only did so at someone else' behest. All his struggles started because he gave up his freedom out of a sense of duty, and then had his agency returned to him by that someone else later on. This doesn't necessarily feel healthy; he needed to grow and evolve and make these decisions/realizations himself.

• I love that the hero failed at something without first overcoming it. He was never meant to be in dentistry! I just wish he'd had these realizations for himself

• Dan, while being incredibly consistent throughout the rest of the book, also had these strange Alpha-Protector moments with the heroine. Every other page he was a calm female supporter in every way, but he'd occasionally decide to throw feminism away and be a shouting white knight on her behalf, even when she didn't want it. This was terribly inconsistent with who he was. He was also just a constant bubble of support and friendship and flirting, but really didn't have his own personality. He was just so... lackluster. This is the perfect #bookboyfriend syndrome, where he's just so obsessed with the heroine and so perfect that you forget to give him a personality.

• I... didn't ship the couple. Dan forgave Harper farrrr too easily. She was awful to him, a couple times, and it was largely just brushed off. He was putting in all this effort and it was not being reciprocated. I genuinely didn't understand what he found SO attractive about Harper that he was willing to brush everything else away. I thought they were great friends and had a great time together, but I didn't get that sense of more from him about her like I did the reciprocal.

• I found Harper incredibly difficult. I appreciated her mental health journey and thought it was a fairly accurate representation of anxiety. Of course, as a disclaimer to my next few points, I realize that if Harper had everything figured out this book wouldn't exist. There had to be a learning curve somewhere. But I didn't like how hot-and-cold Harper was, constantly. Even outside her mental health, she was *all about Dan* and then would do absolutely no schoolwork for two or three days, and then it would trigger an episode. She never had any balance at all, it was either Dan or academics. I couldn't help but feel that if she'd had a planner, triggers would have been avoided. It's not that I felt her mental health journey was annoying or trite, but I find it doubtful that Harper, someone so strict on her rules, wouldn't have some of these systems in place. A lot of it just felt forced to trigger an attack. And why was she blaming Dan??? With how shamed she was, I feel it would have been more on brand for her to shove all that inward and just push him away, but she was literally screaming at him in fury and blame.

• Mostly I just didn't connect with the pacing. The beginning was funny, I connected with the characters, they had interesting conversations... and then it all just flatlined for the rest of the book with this constant back-and-forth. I read four books in the middle before deciding to pick it up again to complete my review.

Overall...
I didn't like this book much. But it suffered a lot of first-book syndrome, and I haven't written the author off at all and do see myself picking one up again, just after some time. I was definitely in the minority for disliking this book, though. I felt similarly to this book as I did to the Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (specifically book two, Undercover Bromance!), so if you liked those you'd probably like this one. Namely that it tries a lot of good things that I respect, but with moderate success.