This book wasn't for me. I love insta-love but this didn't feel genuine. I never connected with the characters.

Audiobook notes: The narration was great! Great voice and great acting.

I’m not gonna lie…I went into A Brush with Love with very high expectations due to hearing some very good things about it from my bookish friends. And I’m happy to say that my expectations were met!

Prior to hearing about A Brush with Love from friends, I have to admit that I wasn’t sure about the dentist aspect of the story because I––like many others––have a deep ingrained fear of the dentist. I’m glad that my friends’ recommendations helped me get over that, and I saw it as a sign when I saw sent a NetGalley widget by the publisher!

I really liked both protagonists from the start and their chemistry was…oh my. I love the “we want to, but we shouldn’t” trope, especially when it’s done as well as it was in A Brush with Love. I’m sure there’s an official name for this trope, but I’ll just go with calling it that for now. Sparks were flying!

I enjoyed the romance and the drama that I hadn’t initially expected in A Brush with Love as well! It really added to the story and made me feel all the feels. The only thing that I would change if I was asked to pick something would be the way the characters were illustrated on the cover as they’re not how I imagined them at all! Otherwise though, I have no complains about A Brush with Love and highly recommend it!

Thank you to @netgalley, the publishers and author for providing me with a gifted copy of this Audiobook in exchange for a honest review.

Summary:
Harper is anxiously awaiting placement into a top oral surgery residency program when she literally crashes into Dan. Harper is determined not to be distracted. Dan is a struggling first year dental student with a family legacy. With the greatest of intentions and the poorest of follow- throughs, the two set out to be "just friends." But as they get to know each other better, Harper fears that trading fillings for feelings may make her lose control and can't risk her carefully ordered life coming undone, no matter how drool-worthy Dan is.

My review:
I felt so seen while reading this book. The stress of staying a float, being the "perfect" child, not wanting to be a burden to my friends or romantic partner when it comes to my mental health/anxiety, and finding a balance in life. I related so much to Harper.

I would also like to announce I have a new book boyfriend. His name is Dan, and he is adorably loyal, caring, patient, and has a mouth on him! *insert swoon here*

Read if you like:
+ dual POV
+ giant sized cats named Judy
+ comedy mixed in with some steamy romance
+ dental humor/puns
+ mental health rep

TW/CW (spoilers): death of a loved one, anxiety, panic attacks, grieve, sexism, ableism language.

A Brush With Love is so much more than a romance. Mazey Eddings brought the characters alive by giving them real relatable problems that so many people face every day. I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, it was easy to immerse in and without too many frills, exactly how I like my romcoms. Dan was a WONDERFUL love interest, he was patient and understanding and just all around a really respectable guy. Harper was frustrating at some points but I think this is what makes her so endearing. So many of us can relate to Harper's immense anxiety and to see that portrayed so eloquently was refreshing. The only thing that I wasn't fond of in the book was I felt there wasn't enough build up to their relationship or enough time to really show the feelings blossoming. It seemed their initial attraction was just physical, which is fine, but I would've liked to have seen a bit more growth between them.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Having been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in my late teens, I was intrigued with how Mazey Eddings would portray her main character with GAD. I thought she did a fabulous job and gave insight as to what living with GAD and panic disorders is like. With the romance side of the book, I enjoyed the romance between our two main characters and felt like there were emotional scenes that really showed character growth and development as the book progressed. I was definitely hooked and enjoyed the narrators as I listened to this courtesy of Netgalley. A wonderful romance read that also ties in serious material and real life situations as well!

I absolutely adored this book. It includes some hard topics, mental health, toxic family relationships, extreme sexism and more, but it’s also heartwarming and has some extremely funny moments too.

Harper has been working to get into oral surgery and is waiting to find out if she’s gotten into the residency program she’s hoping for.

Dan is at dentistry school out of familial obligation, but he’d rather be anywhere else.

Dan is assigned to shadow Harper, and she starts opening his eyes to a different perspective on dentistry. It’s clear from the start that Dan is interested in Harper but she is solely focused on her future career and doesn’t want any distractions, even if they are adorable ones.

I loved watching how they both grew throughout the book, and learned not only more about themselves but also how to speak up for what they want.

The audiobook was 10 hours and 30 minutes. It was narrated by Emily Lawrence and Vikas Adam. I loved Emily’s performance, and Vikas’ male character voice too, but his female one grated on me for some reason.

I’ve been eagerly anticipating the moment I got to read A Brush With Love, and it finally happened! I follow Mazey Eddings on Twitter, and she is so funny and sweet and adorable and relatable, which made me even more excited to read this book. I love a good romcom, and I love it when the characters are in STEM because it always brings interesting discussions. A Brush With Love started off very strong for me, and I was convinced I’d found a new favorite novel. But… things took a turn for me and I’m going to get a little vulnerable in this review. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. I’d like to begin this review with a discussion on the content of A Brush With Love. The book begins with a compassionate note from the author cautioning readers about some of the book’s content, but I didn’t realize what a large role anxiety was going to play in this story. As someone with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, reading this book was hard on me. While there was a lot of humor and lighter moments, I came away emotionally and mentally exhausted. Seeing glimmers of my anxiety in Harper, while also seeing that my anxiety could be even worse than it is was very hard. I’d realize I was in physical pain while reading, and had to try to unclench and relax my muscles multiple times. The author did a great job conveying what anxiety is like and how it feels, but it was too much for me to process. If you are triggered by reading descriptions of panic attacks, fear, negative-self talk, sexism in the workplace, and grief I suggest you pass on this one.

2. Harper’s character was a major struggle for me. In the beginning, I found her to be bubbly, quirky, funny, and dripping with personality. I saw a lot of myself in her and related to her desire to be perfect in all things. She can be very sweet (her meet cute with Dan is adorable proof), but she’s also very frustrating. I didn’t see her act like a good friend or a good partner very often, and kept grappling with my confusion as to how her life is filled with great people when she’s doing nothing to keep them there. She takes Dan for granted and pushes him away at every opportunity while also stringing him along. She tells him they are just friends, but cuddles with him and kisses him before saying it was a mistake and pushing him away. She gets mad at him for being a distraction multiple times, and just isn’t nice. I don’t know how he could handle the whiplash. She takes and takes from her friends while shutting them out and giving them almost nothing in return. Clearly she’s found herself a bunch of very understanding saints, I just can’t picture a world where someone can treat people like this and still have them fall all over themselves to be a part of that person’s life.

3. Dan was the highlight of the story for me. I loved him immediately and never wavered on that. He’s sweet, compassionate, understanding, and accepting. He’s very much aware of the people he cares about, and makes it his job to make sure they are ok. He zeroes in on Harper very quickly, and I felt like he knew how she was doing before she did! I loved that about him. What girl wouldn’t want a guy so in tune with her that he knew how to help and what to do without having to be asked? A dream. He is so unbelievably patient and supportive. I don’t know how he was able to do it, especially since he was going through his own stuff, too. He’s stuck in a life he never wanted to live because he feels too guilty doing anything else. He struggles and hurts and goes through a lot of personal growth and evolution, and I just loved his journey.

4. I LOVED the meet cute. It was so mortifying and hilarious and adorable. I won’t spoil it, but it was a great moment.

5. The romance was not my favorite. Harper is moving in a few months, so she decides they need to quash that instant attraction and desire to be together and remain friends. Except… she rarely treats Dan like a friend. He’s basically her boyfriend without the label, and since he’s not allowed to be her boyfriend things get frustrating. Because of how long this story is and how quickly the leads fall for one another, the bulk of the “romance” is them trying not to be more than friends, slipping up, and then Harper pushing him away and/or lashing out at him. And, of course, everything is about Harper so she’s in charge or everything that happens between them and poor Dan was probably blue for most of the book. I got tired of this push and pull. I wanted a swoony, romantic story filled with scenes that melted my heart and I ended up with a bunch of speed bumps and roadblocks that took away from the romance I signed up for.

6. I loved Dan’s and Harper’s friends. I loved Harper’s mentor, who became a bit of a life coach as well as a professor at one point.

7. I do not recommend the audio. The female narrator for Harper’s voice was mostly ok, if a bit nasally, but the voices she chose for Harper’s friends drove me up the wall. Her voice would also speed up, change pitch, and fill with frustrated/mad passion when Harper was getting upset at someone or experiencing an anxiety flare-up. Tense, angry voices agitate me, so this just didn’t work for me. The vocal choices the male narrator made with Harper’s voice made me cringe, and he didn’t have the voice I wish Dan had had. I’m sure I would have been happier if I’d read this with my eyes instead of my ears.

Regardless of my issues with A Brush With Love, I will be recommending it to others. It was not the right choice for me, but the meet cute is adorable, Dan is a wonderful cinnamon role, and there are some really great moments. The writing is lovely, and I enjoyed a lot of the story (even though Harper frustrated me). Eddings sheds light on issues that real people go through every single day, and that’s important. I know many readers will feel seen in these pages, and I know many readers will learn and maybe even become more understanding of people in their lives who struggle with their mental health. I will definitely be giving her next book, Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake a try. Lizzie is in A Brush With Love, and I really liked her!

Harper is a passionate dental student awaiting her residency placement and Dan is a first year dental student who is...well... less than passionate. Hes only here because his family wants him to continue the family business. After running into eachother (literally!) the two decide to be friends and study together.

Harper doesnt need any distractions and Dan definitely wants to distract her.

This was an adorable rom com and I cant believe its by a debut author. There was funny banter, lots of steam and yet it still dealt with some major issues, like Harper's anxiety and Dans family expectations. I definitely recommend this one.

A second book in this series releases later this year too which Ill be sure to grab.

Read if you like:

HEA
Medical romances
Jewish representation
He falls first
Anxiety discussion
Challenging family expectations
Witty banter
Steam

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. All opinions remain my own as always.

OMG this book was so amazing I couldn't stop listening to it. I was rooting for them to make it in the end and it took almost the whole book to finanlly realizing that they really did need to be together to be happy. Finanlly going to therapy really helped Harper in the long run and it also helped Dan and they were better together. I loved it and I hope there is more to their story.

I know there were r a v e reviews of A BRUSH WITH LOVE - but for me, it was only okay? It took me a bit to get into it and then, for me, the slow burn romance wasn’t it. I just wasn't vibing with the characters or with their relationship. (But I am always in favor of more steam.)

I did, however, appreciate the depiction of anxiety, panic attacks, and mental health. Not only did the depiction seem authentic, how other characters reacted to these situations seemed to be spot on and realistic.

This book was sadly a DNF for me at 35%. As a Jewish person with anxiety, I wanted to love this book so badly, but it just was not for me. Both of the main characters drove me crazy. Dan had SO many red flags. He was a self proclaimed feminist, but his actions were incredibly chauvinistic. And if Harper squealed or giggled one more time because of a man she barely knew I was going to scream. There was no depth to their flirtation and it all seemed based on physical attraction. The narrators were also not my favorite.

When there's so much hype for a book, it's almost impossible for it to meet expectations--but this one did. In a beautiful love story between two individuals who honestly seem like soulmates and I ship so hard, we see one struggle with anxiety as she works to finish dental school and become a surgeon, and another reckon with his future in a career he doesn't want. The pacing for this book is pleasantly unusual, with an instant spark of attraction, fading to friendship, flickering back to life until it explodes. But this is a romance with an HEA and of course these two find their way to each other eventually.

The story showcases some truly great friendships, the struggles of graduate/medical school, and what it's like to suffer from anxiety. I don't know much about it personally, so I can't attest to its accuracy, but I appreciated a look and think it makes it easier to understand looking from the outside in. All in all, this is simply a beautiful love story with some interesting additions that take it from basic to modern, fresh, and interesting. I can't wait to read another book by this debut author!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for my eARC, ALC, and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

The things to love : the rep of strong women who aren't in career roles that are less than the guys, anxiety rep that is decently done, hilariously witty banter and awesome friendships, a meet cute that involves a tumble

The things to not love: a bit too much time and waiting for all the things, anxiety rep that although decent could be better, main characters that aren't as lively and loveable as the friends, lots of talk about dental things

This book is a decent rom com romp that doesn't have anything about to make me not suggest it, but it doesn't have anything for me to rave about. I enjoyed the side characters a lot more than the main characters, and the endless dental conversations and details was just distracting from the emotional component of the story. We love a main character that is on equal footing, career wise, with the leading man, so that was nice. The narrator of this audiobook was AWESOME and did a great job with the banter and voice acting. This one was cute and quirky, but was, in the end, another standard rom com with nothing to set it apart from the crowd.

I was hoping this book would feature characters more established in their careers, but this is a new adult, pretty slapstick romcom. I can see it would appeal to people looking for that, but I didn’t enjoy the heroine’s feelings of instability and how the romance was building.

A Brush with Love is the story of Dan and Harper. Two dental school students who are instantaneously desperate for one another. There is no slow burn or build up, its just desperate need for one another. Something that would more typically happen in a drunken stupor.

Harper just wants to focus on her dental school with no distractions or anything filling up her days (no pun intended). Dan on the other hand is fraught by tension and duty to continue the legacy of his father's dental practice.

Unfortunately A Brush with Love could have been so much more. An interesting direction would have been to dig deeper into Dan's family and his obligations to his family. It would have also been fascinating to learn more about Harper's anxiety. Instead, A Brush with Love was a juvenile story based around lust. I really struggled to finish it as the insta-love felt awkward and boring.

I do believe the author has potential and as this is her first novel she will only improve.

Thank you to Netgally and Mcmillian audio for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harper is anxiously waiting for a placement to an oral residency program when she falls into Dan. Dan doesn’t have the same interest in dental work and that should’ve been even more reason for Harper to ignore the distraction of him in her life but she agreed to be just friends. Unfortunately, or fortunately, being “just friends” didn’t really work out the way they had planned it.

4/5 ⭐️ - I recently finished this audiobook as we landed in FL and I was such a good listen! I totally related with Harper and her bouts of anxiety. This is actually the first book I’ve read where the main character (or anyone, really) has been open about struggling with anxiety. I wasn’t the hugest fan of how quickly Harper and Dan fall for each other but the rest of the story definitely made up for that! I was a fan of how Harper was so focused on her schooling and succeeding with her dental career.

A charming romcom with important and relatable anxiety rep-- what more could I ask for from contemporary romance?! Plus, I thought the audiobook narrators were INCREDIBLE!

A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings is a sweet slow burn, rom-com. It deals with anxiety and mental health and the author did a fantastic job representing these themes, especially since this is her debut novel.

Harper and Dan meet in dental school in the most adorable meet cute. There are immediate sparks between them. I adored Harper’s quirkiness and Dan’s swoony, supportive nature. He was so easy to fall for. Harper on the other hand, was a different story. She is struggles with anxiety, and is self-conscious. I tried hard to understand this but her inner dialogue was too much at times. She was stuck in her head and lacked the ability and confidence to communicate with Dan her feelings, her stress, her anxiety, and had many emotional scars. While I appreciate the representation of these themes in this story, I felt the pacing to be a little choppy in spots and some improvements could have been made to make the story flow better. Had this been the case I am certain it would have been a more favorable outcome for me.

Harper and Dan’s friends were fantastic and fun. I adored many laugh out-loud moments from these characters. They offset the serious tone of Harper’s character and I loved that.

The best part of this book is the narration done by Emily Lawrence and Vikas Adams. They do an incredible job bringing these characters to life. They tackle the vulnerabilities of their characters, their anxieties, emotions and passion perfectly. Their voices kept me invested from beginning to end.

I have mixed feelings about A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings. I loved the setting and peek into the world of dental school. It was interesting without being too explicit and cringy (I'm definitely sensitive to discussions of dental issues. It freaks me out every time a character loses a tooth in a movie and things like that, but this book didn't trigger that kind of discomfort for me.) I also really liked the way the anxiety and neurodivergent rep was handled.

That being said, I didn't like Harper or Dan that much, and their relationship and its progression didn't work for me. I will admit that I have an ex named Dan and that may have affected my experience with this book a bit, but still. Dan felt inconsistent to me. Sometimes he was this great, supportive guy, but there were moments where his actions didn't fit the "nice" character that had been established. His feelings for Harper were also too instalove (more like obsessive?) for me. I loved the way Harper's anxiety and panic disorder were portrayed, but she doesn't seem to trust anyone in her life. Her friends kinda suck, so I can see why she wouldn't open up to them, but wow does Harper take things out on others sometimes.

I wanted to love this one. It started out well. Neurodivergent rep, Jewish rep, an interesting setting. Unfortunately I wasn't a huge fan. I hope this book finds its fans though.

I have read books that include topics of anxiety before, but they have never been approached with this much delicate care and consideration. Those books touched lightly on the subject before seemingly disregarding it altogether. A Brush with Love centered around the female main character's anxiety and made it an integral part of the story. As a person who also struggles with anxiety, I connected with Harper in a way that pulled my heartstrings until I cried when she cried, and my heart bled when hers broke.

Harper and Dan find themselves in a similar situation for very different reasons. Harper feels a sense of duty to fix the past by becoming the person who should have saved her mother's life. Dan feels a familial obligation to help his mother after his father dies, but his heart lies somewhere else. This book approaches the topic of how two broken and lost people can find their path through each other.

I absolutely loved the jokes and banter in this story. There was so much laughter, especially in the first half. The last half of the book had me wondering if everything would end in a happy ending because the tension was that rough! But what really pushed this book over the edge for me was the way the author described anxiety in such detail, making it relatable and understandable.