Mazey Eddings has become one of my favorite authors and this one hit the spot, as her work always does. I loved watching Indira and Jude fall in love as well as the cameo appearances by Harper and Dan as well as Lizzie and Rake. Those girls are just #girlsquadgoals! I have to admit that Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake is my favorite book of hers so far but this one still made me laugh, cry, feel, and ultimately rejoice when the happy ending occurred. I do feel somewhat sad that there aren't any friends left in the group but I truly can't wait to see where Mazey goes next as I feel she can do no wrong!

Mazey Eddings can do no wrong! I always enjoy her books and devour them! I appreciate that she includes neurodiverse characters and really represents them well.

I read this a couple months back on a flight and didn’t expect to feel as many emotions as I did. I may have even shed a tear or two in public over this one! This book has a lot of soul. It tackles some deeper topics like mental health struggles and PTSD so it is heavy at times. (Mazey Eddings included a note to the reader at the beginning which I appreciated.) The characters are endearing and their connection is deep and genuine. I enjoyed watching them grow individually and together.

My only issue with this book is that I felt that the use of common romance tropes trivialized the story being told. Jude and Indira begin fake dating at a point where their connection feels palpable and deep. They had known each other for decades and their relationship already felt inevitable by that point so the use of the fake dating trope cheapened their genuine connection. It almost felt like fake dating was used to be able to market the book as a “fake dating” book.

Setting that aside, this is a fabulous spring romance and I’m surprised I haven’t seen it floating around on bookstagram more! It has over four stars on Goodreads so it seems like most readers agree.

(Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy of this book!)

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Eddings does it again with another love story that you can’t help to root for. Indira and Jude are beautifully flawed human beings, initially frenemies as kids. Their story is tough, but fun. Eddings continues to write characters you can’t help but root for.

Also, I love the amount of spicy scenes in her books. Just the right amount. Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read this gem!

I have never read a book by Mazey that I did not love . I love how the books catch you from the first line and make you want to read more.
This one is an enemies to lovers brothers best friend. They always rubbed each other the wrong way until they are forced to share a space when her brother is getting married . She left her cheating ex to temporarily move in with her brother. Brothers best friend also is there for the nuptials. They are forced together and he starts to see indiria in a different way. He is dealing with ptsd and she has her own issues. I like how the issues are dealt with and not just glossed over. They seem genuine and brings life to the characters

Mazey does it again! Love love love this book! And loved the character development! Tho as much as that peanut butter was bonkers, I don’t think I could give up my love for it, tho I am scarred!

i LOVED this one.

fake relationship, brothers best friend, trying to get back at the ex, mental health rep.

Mazey truly knocked it out of the park with this one. I haven’t read any others in the series, but i’ll go back & do that now.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is a contemporary romance. We follow Indira and Jude, Jude is the best friend of her brother Collin. Indira and Jude have always hated each other growing up, that is until Indira asks Jude to be her fake date to her brothers wedding. That’s when their relationship begins to blossom. This was definitely a fun read, the fake dating scenario is always a great trope to read and i think it was done pretty well here, especially the frenemies to lovers aspect. I think there needed to be a bit more when developing their relationship, I was expecting a slower pace when it came to that in a few sections of the book. This novel was very charming and I am excited to try the other books in the series. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love this book, it’s on my list of “Best books of 2023”. The characters, Indira and Jude, have real people problems and issues, and their romance develops naturally and feels so right. It’s also got a few of my favorite tropes, fake dating, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers.

Jude has spent the past few years as a doctor working in 3rd world countries where war rages and food can be scarce. When he comes home for his best friend’s wedding, he’s traumatized and suffering from PTSD. Indira, a psychiatrist, has her own issues of self worth after finding her boyfriend with another woman in their bed.

They have to spend a lot of time together helping with the wedding, and realize they’re attracted to each other. They decide to be each other’s fake dates, but after a while it feels real.

The author did a wonderful job with the mental health issues, which I appreciated. I highly recommend this book, 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

This is my favorite Mazey Eddings book to date!
I thought Indira and Jude had great banter and chemistry, and I also really loved Collin and Jeremy's relationship with one another, as well as with the other characters. Bonus points that this was a childhood frenemies-to-lovers which is my favorite trope!

But most of all, the little nuggets of wisdom shared in Indira's therapy sessions were exactly what my soul needed to hear and the therapy-positive message was everything. As the child of a veteran with PTSD, a current military spouse, and as a professional who now works in the mental health field, I found this book to be therapeutic in a way. Jude's internal dialogue of his experiences in war torn countries was heavy and heart breaking, but it had me reflecting on what my own loved ones have experienced. I'm so grateful my dad finally got the treatment he needed, and that mental health supports for military members have come a long way since the '90s. As for myself, I've had similar thoughts as Indira relating to work and it was reassuring to realize I must not be the only one with these insecurities.

Thank you Mazey for writing this beautiful story, and thank you St. Martins Press for this gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

The Plus One is a rom com I was not expecting! It's deep, emotional, and incredibly heavy at times but it was so amazing. I loved the romance and that it didn't overpower the plot and deeper meanings that Mazey put into the book. It felt so real and I couldn't put it down once I picked it up. The childhood enemies to lovers, the witty banter, the fake dating, all of it just made the book so much better.

I really love The Plus One. It is the first book I've read by Mazey Eddings and since it was great I decided to read the first two in this series and I loved them both too. I loved the chemistry between Indira and Jude, I'm a sucker for the brother's best friend trope. I love that Mazey Eddings tackles heavy topics and makes her characters so relatable and loveable. The Plus One made me LOL and cry. Seeing Indira and Jude grow as characters and as partners was so satisfying. 4.5 stars!

I wish I knew this was part of a bigger series. Definitely easy enough to follow along, but this one pulled me in and I loved it! I will definitely be going back to read the rest!

I really loved the metal health relatability in this one! Would definitely read more by this author!

I love Mazey Eddings so much!! Her books are seriously next level. I loved the friends to lovers/brothers best friend element. This also was so focused on mental health in such a unique way and I loved the conversation regarding medical trauma. I also loved Collin and Jeremy and their relationship. The ending with all the characters from this series was the icing on the icing on the cake! I just thought this was so good and can’t wait for the next book from this author!!

This is the third in a trilogy about a group of besties working their way through grad school, finding jobs, and, of course, finding love. I loved Harper’s story, then I loved Lizzie’s story more, but I think I love Indira’s story the most. Maybe it’s because I relate to her more than the others, with her background in psychology and fear of people letting you down. I also loved her sass. She was drawn to Jude because of their long history and because she could see that he was hurting. I loved how they were gentle and patient with each other as they let their love grow. The slow realization that they had secretly always cared about each other was so sweet. Their chemistry was spicy, and denying it at first made the pining and payoff extra hot. But more than the physical attraction, I am a sucker for the soft, dependable, love-you-just-as-you-are connection.

Each book can be read as a standalone, but you get a better picture of how the friend group grows and pairs off if you start with A Brush with Love. Each book has great mental health representation, but be cautious if that can be triggering. Personally, I plan on reading anything else Mazey writes!

(Thank you to NetGalley for the arc, even though I, once again, did not read it before the publishing date 😅. So happy publishing month to this lovely book!)

Indira and Jude's story had a lot going for it: fake dating, enemies to lovers, childhood frienemy to lovers, all tied up in the context of Indira's brother's big wedding extravaganza. As an extra bonus we get to check back in with the couples from the first two books in the series and get to enjoy them as secondary characters. I enjoyed the balance of sweet and funny and serious, just like the characters did with their banter. Eddings always does a thoughtful job of writing neurodivergent characters or characters with mental health issues and this book is no exception, with Indira's anxiety and Jude's PTSD. I appreciate what the author is doing with Jude's work overseas with a Doctors Without Borders type organization, but I do think there were some problems with how it was presented. I understand the choice to not name specific areas, but it was both distracting and left me feeling uncomfortable.
I will definitely recommend this book to romance readers!

The Plus One
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This is the third and final book in the A Brush With Love series. I fell in love with Mazey Eddings when I came across A Brush with Love and have extensively followed the series and the author since then. In this installment, both Indira and Jude are both doctors and high school friends. They are both staying with her brother while her brother getting ready to marry his soulmate. The two are thrusted together in a fake dating relationship so she can escape her ex, also part of the wedding festivities. The author does such an amazing job approaching mental health in all three books, she does it realistically with grace and inspires.

The story is narrated by both Indira and Jude in a dual POV. The tropes follow fake dating, forced proximity, enemies to friends to lovers, and even high school friends. Indira is fierce, intelligent, and wants everything to be perfect. Jude is suffering from what he has seen during his humanitarian efforts and Indira is so compassionate, warm, and kind to him, helping him. I love how the author weaves prior book characters into this book, however, this book can be read as a standalone. The characters were well developed, fleshed out well, had depth, witty banter, chemistry, and engaging. The author’s writing style was complex, humorous, thought provoking, creative, and just brilliant. I was so invested in these characters from the very first book, each one being better than the former, with this one being the best one yet.

I highly recommend the whole series, read them in order, if possible and save the final, the best, for last. They are all on audiobook as well. Go buy or borrow the series!!

📖My Thoughts📖

Rom coms are my go to when I need a pick me up, or just want something light and happy to read. This particular rom com was a tad different than what I typically read, and I loved it that much more. I’ve never been one to be able to relate to a rom com, but with a theme included that I don’t typically run across in these, I hit so much closer to home. Not only is one of the main characters (Indira) a therapist, but she goes to one herself, which is good to show people a healthy and crucial piece that allows people to see that therapy isn’t just for someone who has gone through a traumatic event. The other main character has PTSD and the way it’s depicted by the author is just spot on. Having this same diagnosis myself it hits me hard seeing how someone else feels and what they’re going through, but I was able to relate to this book more than I typically do with books. While it did have some serious tones, it still had its fun and entertaining moments as well. Overall it was a pretty good book that I really enjoyed.
Thank you Netgalley, Mazey Eddings and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I didn't realize a lot of things about this book before I read it. The first thing was that this is the third book in a series.. That was my bad. Thankfully, it was readable as a standalone. The second thing was that this was not a typical rom com, but rather a bit heavy. I think Eddings did a really good job tackling tough topics. There have been books before this one to talk about mental health, and there will be books after. However, I think this was well done and didn't come across as just writing about mental health just for the controversy.

I look forward to giving the other two books a try!

This is a great wrap up for this group of friends that have been in three other novels. This one focuses on Indira & how she goes from having a serious boyfriend to catching him with another woman. This sends her to stay with her brother & his fiance only to find that her childhood nemesis, Jude, is also staying there. He is on a break from his stressful job to help with the wedding. Indira realizes that she is going to have to continue to see her ex as he's in the wedding party (he is friends with her brother's fiance). Jude realizes that Indira helps keep things calm for him as he seems to be suffering from PTSD. This leads him to suggesting that they fake date. Highly recommend reading this book to see what happens with them.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review