Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read A Brush with Love.

Oh my, where do I start? Dan, let's start with Dan. DAN IS THE MAN. Gah! I loved him soooo much! He's set the bar so high for all book boyfriends. He was sweet and attentive and kind. He's a loyal son and he genuinely likes Harper from the first look. I loved him so much.

Harper is such a real character and I could relate (and I think others will too) to her all consuming anxiety.
I loved that this book was set in dental school (how fun! that's a new one!) and I loved that Harper and Dan had a fun meet cute and the group of friends in this book was amazing and added so much to the book.

I wish I could give out more than 5 stars! I loved it so much! I can't wait to purchase my own copy of this one!
READ THIS ONE, friends!

This was a great book dealing with the impact of anxiety on a young person. I really liked how the main character’s struggle with anxiety was on full display and was central to the plot of this. While I would not adopt this for a curriculum, I do think this would be a good book for a mature, older young adult crowd—possibly high school juniors/seniors and those in college.

The book was okay. I liked the depth of the mental health issues, but it felt like they were trying to do too much. My interest wasn’t kept, I was always putting it down after reading for a while because I was bored. I also should not have chosen a book about dentistry when I have zero interest, so kind of my fault.

Wow. This book has a lot of great things going for it. Love, figuring out what you want to do with your life, fear of failure and not letting people down, anxiety, grief, expectations, stress, friendship, and of course dentistry. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I picked up this book, figured it would be a cute story about two students at dental school falling in love, and this book is that but both characters have so much anxiety and emotional baggage they haven't dealt with that while reading you can't help but feel awful for them, want to hug them and also cringe when they make terrible decisions...

This book made me laugh, get emotional and perhaps most importantly not want to put it down! If you are looking for an emotional romance novel that deals with extreme anxiety, grief (but not in an overwhelming way), friendship, mental health and falling in love then definitely give this book a read.

I will post full review on all outlets in February 2022 closer to publishing.

Rating: 4.75/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction
Warnings: Death of a parent, anxiety, sexism
Read if you liked: The Ex Talk or The Roommate
Steam: 3.5/5

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Okay, so this book was really close of perfect to me and everything I could want in a book. It was lovely, swoon-worthy, funny, steamy, honest and such a fantastic read. What Mazey has created is a beautiful slice of a unique romance and I can't wait to read EVERYTHING she writes.

Side note: I applied, approved for and read this book within 48 hours and will probably re-read it before it is published.

Things I loved: Neurodiverse and Jewish representation. Adorable meet cute and grocery store date. Harper when she got all excited about being a dentist/oral surgeon. Dan is just a delightful human, giving me cinnamon rolls vibes and being so patient with Harper. Gold star side characters and very excited for their own books. The humor and banter/dialogue was on point. Delightfully steamy, oh the tension was fantastic. Therapy is sexy friends and I love seeing characters going to therapy.

Things I didn’t care for: Formatting for the ARC, I would like it if the text messages where more clearly messages...they kind run into the dialogue. This is a totally personal opinion and is part of why there are trigger warnings, Eddings does an amazing job talking about a heroine who has severe anxiety and this can be trigger for those who have anxiety.

Everyone please pre-order, TBR or request this one at your local library. I joins the world on March 1st, 2022 and that's frankly too far away.

This book was a really unexpected surprise. It is not only a satisfying and wonderful love story - but also takes a close look at what it is like to live with severe anxiety and the weight of familial expectations (both real and self-imposed).

Harper and Dan are both dental students on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Harper is passionate about dentistry and oral surgery. She is at the top of her class and on her way to a residency in Oral Surgery - one of the most competitive in her field. Dan is a first year student who is only pursuing his degree in an effort not to disappoint his mother. He is failing his classes and struggling to make it.

Harper has pretty severe anxiety that was severely increased after the car accident that killed her mother and injured Harper happened. She hides the anxiety behind a wall of perfectionism and hard work. Meeting Dan gives Harper a safe space to be herself and share her burdens - but also amps up her anxiety to an unmanageable degree. She and Dan are truly a love connection - but even that is no match for the anxiety and weight of pressure on both of them.

This book definitely needs trigger warnings related to parental loss, anxiety, and bullying - also there is a lot of talk about dentist related things - and that can amp up anyone's dentist related worries. But on a majorly positive note - it shows the positive effects of therapy and letting your support system actually support you.

I loved Harper's friends and there were a lot of very laugh out loud moments in the book. I loved how Harper and Dan handled each other and the care and kindness Dan put towards Harper, even when she was not showing him the same.

Overall - I definitely recommend! I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Definitely

If you are looking for a book about a character that has anxiety issues then this book is for you. I was rooting for Harper to have a happy ending,

It was interesting to see a guys perspective. He was going through his own fears but showed it in another way.

The only suggestion I would give is that the text messages could be places in a fun format.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and advanced readers copy.

I loved this book!! It was so well executed and the romance was *chefs kiss* muahh. I want so much more of Harper and Dental Dan!!!

* Actual rating is a 4.5 *

A Brush with Loves follows Harper, a perfectionist, that grapples with anxiety (but chooses to keep it from her friends), focused on achieving her dreams and making her way into a top oral surgery residency program when she literally falls into the lap of Dan. Dan didn't want to go to dentistry school the only reason he is there is to make his mom happy and to see his deceased father's wishes come true. Dan instantly becomes smitten with Harper but Harper doesn't want a distraction from getting in the way of her dreams. But, Harper begins to struggle more openly with her anxiety and is no longer able to hide it from her friends and even Dan. Soon she discovers quickly that her and Dan have more in common than she had thought. In the end Harper will need to decide whether her relationship with Dan is worth risking her dreams.

This book was so sweet and did an excellent job covering anxiety, pressure, friendship, desire, loss, and love. I loved Harper's determination but also the fact that she was flawed, just like everyone else. I love her growing relationship with Dan and just the development of their relationship overall.

This was a sweet read but also proved that people aren't alone in their worlds, which is what exactly Dan and Harper discovered by finding each other through hard times.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Mazey Eddings, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this early. I loved it so much and will be recommending it to my friends and followers.

Finding love in dental school. Harper is on her way to getting a placement into a top oral surgery residency program, she has studied and worked her butt of to remain the top of her class and get the residency of her choice. She is a perfectionist and is so close to achieving her dreams. But one day, suddenly a very hot guy falls, literally, into her lap, and his name is Dan. Dan has joined dentistry school late, and has only done so in order to appease his mother and his dead father’s wishes. He absolutely hates it, but he wants to do something for his mother, despite not really doing well in it. Dan loves numbers, finance, and suddenly has developed a very large crush on the cute dental goddess that is Harper. Harper is firm that they can only be friends though because despite how much they both like each other she does not want him as a distraction when she is so close to achieving everything she’s every wanted. Top make matters more complicated Harper’s anxiety and stressors are flaring up more and more, and it’s becoming harder and harder to hide it from her friends. Soon Harper and Dan find that they have more in common than they thought and that sometimes things need to change for the better. Harper now has to ask herself if she’s willing to risk her carefully planned out future and take a chance on love and if she is ready to let Dan in. The story is told from both Harper and Dan’s POV and I absolutely adored Harper’s friend group, they were so supportive and caring and just all around fun. This was a sweet rom com that really examines the issues of anxiety and dealing with acceptance and when to recognize that you need help, even when you don’t want to admit it.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Harper and Dan instilled all of the hope in me of the bright and beautiful, saving grace of love. They reminded me that love is built on shared vulnerability, bricks that are slowly dismantled, and unerring acceptance of every painful, aching piece of another's soul.

Harper has suffered from debilitating anxiety her entire life. She doesn't know how to exist without it. Even though she hides her struggles from those closest to her, it defines and motivates her. When she literally crashes into Dan, her axis is knocked completely off orbit. He is unimaginable in his utter perfection and she wants him more than she has ever wanted anything in her life. But she has never shared the full force of her demons with anyone - and she can't afford to lose focus on her goals.

When Dan meets Harper, all of the crazy parts of his life suddenly make sense. She's the missing piece. But she seems determined to keep him at arms length, and relegates him to the realm of friendship. He wants more, but he will take whatever she is willing to dole out - even if it's the smallest of increments. He will take them because he thinks she is the bravest, most beautiful thing he has ever seen, and he can't imagine going through life without her engraved on his heart.

This story about two dental students, banged up by the unfairness of life and coping as best they can, who find a safe place to land in each other's arms, is absolutely unforgettable. This is a brilliant debut novel about the glory and pathos of love, and you need to pre-order it now!

A heartfelt thank you goes to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this arc in exchange for an honest review.

so so SOOOO good! 4.7!!!! honestly i’m a little in love with this book and really adored it!

harper and dan’s story is sweet and everything wonderful about the friends to lovers trope. it’s familiar and warm and upfront and kind and god, the mutual pining. i’ll never be over it. i’m absolutely obsessed with it. it even has that good bit of angst in there with an ending that wasn’t sudden, rushed or unrealistic.

i just so appreciated everything about this book and dan was really just another dream man to add to the list of dream men from romance novels i adore.

genuinely couldn’t put this book down and was just in love with the characters and their love!!

Before we get into how much I loved this book, can we talk about how freaking cute this book cover is? As I’m getting more into Adult Romances, the premise of a dentist school romance had me dying to get my hands on this and let's just say, it did not disappoint!
Harper, a top of her class dental student, is set on having her life planned perfectly so she can have the perfect career. She is an amazing character; from the anxiety rep (which I thought was well displayed and acknowledged) to her pet cat, Big Booty Judy (which needed a mention because I LOVE THAT NAME!). Oh, I also wanted to mention that there is Jewish Rep in this book through Harper (which I know is not mentioned in the synopsis, but it is a good thing to point out since that is often under-represented in books).
Then on the other hand we have Dan, with his sweeping good looks and can-do attitude. Gosh, I really loved him. While Harper was set on them just being friends, he was there through everything, and he is beyond supportive.
This book has an amazing romance that will have you swooning and crying for the characters (because I know I was). Also, the ending had me SHOOK and I was reading with the biggest smile on my face.
You better mark this on your TBR because this romance will have you rooting for them in the end.

“It was in that moment Dan knew he’d never deserve her, but he wanted to spend every day telling her how much of a difference her existence made.”

Harper is passionate, driven and certainly doesn’t have time for a swoon worthy first year dental student, even if he is drop dead gorgeous. Dan has no desire to become a dentist and take over the family practice but it’s been awhile since his own wishes factored into anything resembling his future.

Reading about these two and their journey made my face hurt from smiling and my eyes puffy from crying.

Mazey gorgeously weaves this fun and flirty tale with some hard hitting topics. She highlights the importance of therapy, self care, coping with loss and living with anxiety, all while handling them with an overwhelming amount of empathy and grace.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Mazey Eddings for this ARC. As always, all opinions are my own. A Brush with Love is available for pre-order and will be published March 1st, 2022. In the meantime, if you are a GoodReads user, be sure to add it to your Want to Read shelf!

TW: Anxiety Rep, Death of a Parent (Discussions) Sexist Remarks made to the MC

This book was so good. This book was so relatable since like harper I have anxiety. The author really understands how anxiety works and she wrote it so well. Dan is awesome and so swoon worthy. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who likes romance and dentistry

I wanted to like this book so badly. I follow Mazey on Instagram and have been excited to read and support her work. Unfortunately, this was not for me.

I did like the anxiety representation and the dental school was a unique setting but other than that, this did not work for me on any level.

I did not like Dan and Harper’s relationship at all. Which in a romance is literally the only thing I need to like to care about the story. I thought it was super insta-lovey, but then they don’t act on these feelings for a while, but yet are both super into each other as people, which like, love to see, but we don’t see them learning about each other. At one point they refer to each other ad best friends and I’m like….where? They watch one movie, and we are supposed to believe they are friends? It was weird because I don’t have issue with a fast relationship or friendship, but I feel like we were just told it was happening and did not see it.

I thought Dan was a boring love interest. Mazey keeps calling him “Dental Dan” but the guy doesn’t even want to be a dentist so that was weird. I literally could not tell you anything about this man except for his backstory which I did think was solid and well written.

I hated how Harper kept blaming Dan for distracting her from her studies and kept pushing him away only to make out with him five pages later. I don’t have issue with ups and downs in romances, but this was drawn out and was the same argument every few chapters. I also thought Harper was pretty cruel to Dan a few times and he was so passive about it. Which I respect that he knows she is lashing out, but it felt unrealistic that he would just take it over and over and over.

I also learned that I do not care about dental stuff at all. Like all the talks of surgery and teeth were boring and not interesting.

Overall, I hate to say it, but this book was so boring to me. I wasn’t invested in the characters and the back-and-forth Harper and Dan kept doing was not interesting at all.

If I’m being honest the only reason I did not DNF this one is I was making notes on what I did not like and what not to do for a book I’m working on that is similar in genre to this one.

This book was so good!
The cover is really cute, too!
I wasn’t so sure I would like this book because it takes place mainly in a school, where the main characters are in the dental field, but it was actually really good. I wasn’t bored or confused by any big terms. I liked how real the characters were. They had issues, anxiety, deaths like real people.
I was cringing a little towards the end, but that’s a given that you cringe at least once during most books.
Overall, a really great book.
Would recommend

Mazey Eddings did such a great job showing how anxiety can cripple a person in the most normal, uneventful circumstances. Harper is a dental student who is afraid of failure and losing control, but when a handsome man literally lands in her lap is she willing to change her mind? While I enjoyed this read, there were times whe. The dental terminology bored me, and the way Harper handled some situations somewhat selfishly upset me. It did show how anxiety and stress can eat away at your emotions and cause you to lose who you are in the battle. I laughed at the humor in this book and loved the story of the two main characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. This book is so delightful and filled with humor and other human emotions - I love it! There is a huge depth of feeling throughout and the author has done a splendid job of wringing these feelings from the characters and passing them along to the reader. I totally recommend this book as a “feel good” story as well as a life lesson to be experienced and savored.

As much as I absolutely adore romantic comedies, the themes and the plots etc, are often recycled. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I love them for that perfect recipe! But that means that it’s very rare to find a romcom that has a fresh and complete out of the box storyline, and having the main characters as dental students, and watching their story unfold in that environment was so cute and fun!