Member Reviews
This book is actual perfection. Mazey has given us a real, honest and raw portrayal of what living with anxiety looks like. Harper navigates her life and relationships, while always living with crippling anxiety and debilitating panic attacks. When she meets Dan, all semblance of order flies right out the window.
This might just be the best book I’ve read so far this year. Mazey writes with so much heart, wit and care. Harper and Dan will rip your heart to pieces and then preform some dental surgery magic to put it back together again. I love them and this book so so much.
I ADORED this book!! And that's saying a lot because I have a MAJOR phobia of dentists - ha! Harper is in her last year of dental school preparing to become an oral surgeon. She is in the top of her class, but it hasn't come without a price. Dan is in his first year of dental school and is struggling. When Harper and Dan have a chance meeting, it is the start of a beautiful friendship. Harper and Dan both have family/personal issues they are dealing with which inevitably bleed into their relationships.
Mazey Eddings writes with an honest and authentic look at mental health. The way she describes the feelings of anxiety are amazingly accurate for someone who has felt that strangling pressure, and incredibly eye-opening for someone who hasn't. There were moments that I was frustrated with some of Harper and Dan's decisions and behaviors, but as Eddings reminds the readers - everyone's journey is different. I appreciated the fact that she wrote how there are people who can LOOK okay on the outside, but are crumbling on the inside. It's also important to note that she does offer her characters resolutions and opportunities to seek help.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This book is amazing on every level. It’s funny. It’s smart. It’s so so swoony. And also tear-inducing in the best possible way. Harper and Dan were such real people and I couldn’t help but root for them every step of the way and yes I was screaming KISS ALREADY!!
I especially found Harper's journey with anxiety and panic attacks moving. The scene in which she has a meltdown in the bathroom was intense and extremely relatable. I also enjoyed Dan's journey, finally learning to stand up for what he wanted in terms of career and in dealing with his family.
Highly HIGHLY recommend this fantastic book and look forward to reading everything Mazey Eddings in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for the advanced read in exchange for an honest review.
A solid 4.5 that I'll round up to 5 because it really was so enjoyable. This is a very sweet story about nice people who deserve to be happy. It doesn't revolutionize the genre or anything, but it doesn't need to. I laughed out loud several times. I smiled at the ending. It threaded the gap between realism and romance nicely--it wasn't a total confection, but wasn't too heavy either. The characters were adults with trauma who managed it pretty well given their ages and histories.
One of my favorite things about the best books in the genre is that, along with the story, you get a little peek at another world. I can't say I ever had any particular interest in dentistry or oral surgery, but it was still interesting to see what goes into studying and becoming a practitioner. I always appreciate learning a little something along the way! There's a really well-written scene of the main characters dealing with institutional and workplace sexism. I appreciated how the author handled the topic.
It's definitely R-rated, but, funny enough, the raunchiest bits are not the on-page sex (which is tasteful, joyful, and light on tab A, slot B mechanics while still being quite charged!) but the banter between the various friends, which is a hoot, because if you can't be delightfully profane with your friends, what's the point???
I'd heartily recommend this for a fun, funny, uplifting read!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read & review!
I don't think I could ever find the words to express how much this book means to me, but I'll still give it a try.
A Brush With Love broke me a million times and healed me back together before the end. There isn't a single thing I would change about this book. As a medical student, I've never seen such good representation of what it's like to go through a program that is so hard on the body, the mind, and the soul, all the while acting like it's easy to do and it's the best thing that has ever happened to you. I've also rarely seen such great generalized anxiety disorder rep. Simply put, by reading this, I felt seen. Sometimes I 100% related to Harper, the dedicated dental student who would do anything to succeed academically, even if it meant risking her social life and mental health. At other times, I related to Dan, the dental student who didn't feel like he truly belonged, and who was envious of people who had found not only a passion, but a lifestyle in the curriculum. It's hard to explain all these feelings to people, but Mazey did it with such brio and compassion, I'm still trying to catch my breath from how good she is. This book is pure gold.
TLDR: Buy this book and give debut author Mazey Eddings all your love. She's here to stay.
A Brush with Love was absolutely amazing! I had the honor of reading this beautiful, cute, amazingly funny advance ebook!. And let me just say...... Y'all will fall in love with the beautiful characters.
I loved the romance, the friendships, the writing... Mazey did an absolute fantastic job and I'm so excited seeing it's a series! Yay!
The chemistry was fire and stunning! Overall this was a homerun book.and I can't wait till March 2022 to get my hands on a physical copy!
I can't thank St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley enough for this Awesome copy! 😍