The Plus One had so many fun tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers, the girl next door, and brother’s best friend, but it also dealt with some heavy topics such as PTSD, childhood abandonment, and cheating.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I did think it would be a little more romcom but turned out to be a lot more girl next door and healing from trauma. I would have liked there to be stronger enemies to lovers development as well as more fake dating because that aspect was brief and an open secret, so I was not vibing so much with either. But, in order to address the PTSD and childhood trauma, I’m not sure the light, funny aspects could have been heavier or else it would have felt less real.

For how much emotional and mental health this book deals with, it was very very cozy with the romance. In the end, I’m giving it four stars and recommending it to anyone who enjoys the above tropes as well as healing from PTSD and abandonment.

Thank you so much to NetGalley + St. Martin's Griffin for this gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.

And my honest review is...I absolutely loved this.

I loved the mental health representation, the curly girl representation, the care with which the author navigated such difficult topics, and the way that she beautifully weaved stories of individual healing with the story of these two souls coming together to build a life and love each other the way they deserve.

This is one of the best, if not the best, representations of PTSD and mental health in general that I've read, and I am the romance reader who appreciates it wholeheartedly. Struggling with depression and anxiety myself, I felt for Jude, ESPECIALLY when he was trying to push people away to save them from his 'broken' self. And when the GHCO tried to tell him his condition wasn't 'serious' enough to warrant a discharge from the program, I saw red. I was SO proud of him for standing up for himself because it's a difficult thing to do when your invisible illness isn't taken into consideration as easily and nicely as a physical ailment.

I also loved the soft and tender way Indira cared for Jude, the way she assured him that he could be broken and putting himself back together but STILL deserve happiness and love. It's something that...is such a difficult concept to come to terms with for those of us who feel broken and undeserving, and the author did such a beautiful job of voicing those internal bashings and creating a character who not only understood, but encouraged them to feel as deeply as they needed to. And not to mention, Indira was fighting her own battles while extending this consideration to Jude. All of it simply made my heart break in the best possible way.

I appreciated the author's content warnings before the book began, and I think this should be the standard for every book that deals with heavy topics. I also appreciated her note at the end of the book and her vulnerability in telling readers that while the contents of the book were fictional, they came from a place of total understanding because of her own experiences. I know writing can be and very much IS cathartic, and I feel very honored that Mazey shared that part of herself with us.

Lastly, I just loved the pace. I loved the pace, I loved the fact that there was no third act breakup, I loved the one tent, the childhood enemies to lovers, the way it just happened so naturally. They said they loved each other with no explanation, no hesitation, and it didn't seem rushed — it seemed long overdue. It was beautiful, I loved it, and I couldn't recommend this title more.

Oh — and I wound up buying the physical copy, too. That's how much I loved it, and I can't wait to meet Mazey at the LA Times Festival of Books and have her sign it for me!

This review originally appeared on Goodreads.

This was a really cute book. It was more heavy than what I anticipated. What I liked about this book: watching Indira and Jude fall in love with each other. Their chemistry was off the charts! I loved watching Indira breaking down Jude's walls. Overall, it was a sweet romance.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for me ebook!

4.5!!! This book had me kicking my lil feet it was so good—this series has gotten increasingly better with each installment and this one was definitely my favorite. I love a childhood brothers best friend moment and Jude and Indira had such great banter and chemistry!

Eddings definitely put a lot of care into the heavier topics of this book (CW for abandonment, PTSD) and Jude’s growth was really special. I thought the ending was a smidge rushed but appreciated that there wasn’t really a third act breakup.

I loved the inclusion of the characters from the first two books and while I think this is the end of this series, I look forward to Eddings’ next book!! 4.5!!! This book had me kicking my lil feet it was so good—this series has gotten increasingly better with each installment and this one was definitely my favorite. I love a childhood brothers best friend moment and Jude and Indira had such great banter and chemistry!

Eddings definitely put a lot of care into the heavier topics of this book (CW for abandonment, PTSD) and Jude’s growth was really special. I thought the ending was a smidge rushed but appreciated that there wasn’t really a third act breakup.

I loved the inclusion of the characters from the first two books and while I think this is the end of this series, I look forward to Eddings’ next book!!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the characters were loveable and easy to connect with. I was not expecting mental health to be addressed so much in this book but I thought it was done quite well. I liked the romance in the book and am looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

4.3 stars from me! I loved this book and mental health awareness theme. As someone who is considering being a counselor, I loved the found family trope and also that Indira is a psychologist. One of my favorite things was watching Jude’s character development as he slowly begins to acknowledge his PTSD and grow as a person. I love the relationship that Jude and Indira form together, and how they both help each other heal their wounds from the past. I also feel like in lot of books I’ve read, often times the main female character is going through the mental health illnesses and so it was really interesting to see how a guy processes his illness. I also loved the therapy advocacy throughout the book!

The only downside was that some parts were too spicy for me and I definitely needed to skip, also it started off a tad bit slow but once I hit the 25% mark I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed the childhood nemesis aspect of this book - it was believable and their memories of childhood were a mix or adorable and hilarious. Jude's PTSD was handled with care, as were the therapy scenes. I liked seeing therapy scenes in a romance and the focus on the importance of therapy.

I do feel like the author had a story she wanted to tell - about therapy, PTSD, abandonment, trauma, and finding love while trying to heal - and the tropes like childhood enemies and fake dating, felt tacked on for marketability. There was really very little focus on them and the fake dating could have been eliminated entirely.

The romance also felt a bit rushed to me, despite not really starting until around 40%. They fall hard, fast, and I didn't totally buy it. Overall, it was an enjoyable read but not a favorite.

This was a really sweet story but also a little too serious/close to home as far as the medical PTSD.

I was truly looking forward to this book! However, I ended up having to add it to my 'Did Not Finish' list. I was about half way through when I decided to not continue any further. I couldn't really get into this type of romance book and it was a slow burn for me. A lot of the character developments seemed to be prolonged and half way through the book I'm still not getting answers. I understand it was probably set up that way so you continue to read to learn about the characters. For me personally, I'd like a tiny bit more insight and have it built up a little bit more quicker. To me, it seems the plot is just waiting to read more about Jude's struggles and his backstory more than the romance aspect. I guess I was expecting romance from the get-go or at least 15-20% into the book. Overall, I don't think it's a bad book and I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy this. It just wasn't for me.

I wanted to love this book so bad! The first third was great but the middle just seemed to drag on. I don't know if it's because I'm in a bit of a reading slump or not but this just wasn't what I needed right now. I will 100% give this book another go maybe later this year.

This book contains:
-Brother's Best Friends
-Childhood "friends"
-Enemies-to-Lovers
-Forced Proximity

Loved how their mental health was portrayed in this book and how open they were about seeing a therapist.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review!! Still love Mazey's writing and look forward to reading her books in the future!

WOW! This book is full of sweet & spicy! It is the third book in this series but can be read as a stand-alone. I absolutely loved it!

Indira is a psychiatrist who seems to have her life in order who just caught her boyfriend in some compromising positions with some random hook-up. She packs up all of her belongings and heads to her brother’s place. Little does she know that her brother’s best friend, Jude (her childhood frenemy) was also there.

Jude is a doctor that travels all over the world to where he is needed most. Unfortunately, some of these places are war zones and it has really taken its toll on him mentally. He came home for his best friend's wedding and walked right into Indira! Their banter picked up where it left off all those years before. Except this time he noticed just how beautiful Indira is. She, on the other hand, notices how broken he is and wants to help him regardless of their past.

With preparations for the wedding fully in swing, Indira has to deal with her ex (did I mention he is also in the wedding party?) with his new fling. She and Jude come up with the plan of fake dating to get through this. They just didn’t realize that living in the same house and being together all of the time for the wedding stuff would affect how they felt about each other!

I cannot express my love for this book enough! I think we need more books like this that discuss mental health. Showing that it is ok, not to be ok and getting help is nothing to be ashamed of. I am glad that Indira helped Jude see that. I loved their relationship! I loved their banter, the sweetness of them both keeping the little tokens of their past. I loved it all!

Tropes:
Fake Dating
Frenemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Brother’s Best Friend

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Mazey Eddings for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

4 stars = Great! Might re-read.

The romance here is good (spicy - fake relationship, only one bed (tent)), but what I loved was the psychology of this. Both characters are dealing with past trauma and trying to get to healthier spaces and exploring therapy, and I loved that whole aspect of the book. There are some laugh out loud moments here to balance out the more serious ones. There's a lot here to love. I had no idea this was part of a series, but I had no issues jumping in with book 3. (Language, sex, PTSD)

The Plus One is the third book in A Brush with Love series but can read as a stand alone. This book features Indira and Jude’s story. Indira and Jude have never liked each other, but when they find themselves in need of each other's help, they strike up a bargain to be fake dates at a friend's wedding. Indira has just caught her boyfriend cheating on her, while Jude is struggling to readjust to life back home after years of humanitarian work. As they spend more time together, their fake displays of affection start to feel real, leaving them both grappling with the idea that they may actually like each other. I liked reading The Plus One and I found it to be a great conclusion to the series. One thing that stood out to me was how the author included content warnings at the beginning of the book, which is something I wish more authors did. The character development for both Indira and Jude was well done and I appreciated how the author provided insight into their personalities. The dual perspectives, particularly from Jude's point of view, added another layer to the story. The only downside was that the ending felt rushed and wrapped up too quickly. Overall, if you're a fan of Mazey Eddings' previous work, I would definitely recommend picking up The Plus One.

Indira and Jude don't get on,but forced to temporarily stay in the same house will they find common ground.
The book dealt with some difficult issues and was emotional at times.
I liked how it is told from both points of view and the insights that gave.

I ended up liking this book quite a bit. It is a romance, but also deals with some serious issues in a graceful yet raw way.

I read this as a stand-alone which I don't think was an issue, but of course love remembering characters from previous books since it adds more.

The characters really drive this story. Jude is Indira's brother Collin's best and childhood friend. Jude and Indira always pushed eachothers buttons growing up and were sort of frenemies.

The story starts with Indira walking in on her current boyfriend cheating on her while using peanut butter in the process. She moves in with her brother and relinks up with Jude while he is on leave from his stressful humanitarian emergency doctor job. The beauty of their relationship really takes off by confiding in eachother, Indira about her broken relationship with her dad and Jude's PTSD from the horror he saw on his operating tables.

This book has the cute/quirky romance mixed with the enemies to lovers and takes on mental health issues. I now want to go back and read the previous two books!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

Mazey Eddings has firmly established herself as an auto-read author for me. She once again depicts mental health disabilities in a really realistic, thoughtful way. A heads up though that it is so well done and accurate that it could be triggering for folks who have mental health disabilities.

The romance itself is fun. He is her brother's best friend, they grew up as childhood frenemies, and now they are back living together temporarily in the lead up to her brother's wedding. They're funny and chaotic together and it's definitely reminiscent of the author's personality, and in some ways quite similar to Lizzie Blake (book 2 in the series). I do think some of the romantic chemistry between them are lacking but overall I really enjoyed this read!

TWs: PTSD (from being a doctor in war zones), anxiety, parental abandonment, cheating (FMC's ex cheated on her)

"Trauma and happy endings aren’t mutually exclusive. They aren’t even separate entities that have to be experienced at different seasons of life. You can hurt. You can struggle and suffer and learn to heal while doing it. You can stare into the face of your pain and also choose to love."


Mazey Eddings knows how to write the best little quotes about disability and loving someone who is a little more divergent than you. I have like 12 highlighted quotes, and my review for Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake is basically just my favorite quotes.

TW: PTSD and severe anxiety from working on emergency frontlines, disassociation, panic attacks, emotional self harm, toxic absent parent, divorce and the residual trauma, cheating (not between main characters)

We are in the era of "cutesy looking covers that actually contain devastation and trauma in the pages" books and this is no exception. THE PLUS ONE is a tricky one for me because I loved the representation so so much, and I loved the couple dearly. But the title and cover detract from the story in my opinion. I literally couldn't remember why it was even titled that for a minute.

THE PLUS ONE isn't just about weddings and fake dating and falling in love. It's about prioritizing yourself and your health, about crushing student loan debt, about caring for elderly parents and learning to love those that abandoned or hurt you in the past. Both main characters are healing individually, and then together. Indira is a psychiatrist and Jude is a humanitarian doctor on the frontlines.

Tonally and thematically I'd compare this to The Heart Principle.

"No one can single-handedly fix another person. We all hurtle through life, getting bumped and cracked and broken along the way, but we are solely responsible for our own healing.”


For all other LIZZIE stans, we see much of them in this story, to my delight. And also, this was somehow sexier than LIZZIE? I didn't expect that, but WHEW did this book get spicy. The two are forced to move in Indira's brother Jeremy (and Jude's best friend) and his fiance, with their bedrooms literally across the hall from each other.

There's also a touch of the nursing back to health/hurt comfort trope, which has me leaning towards a higher rating regardless of the rest of the book's content. I am a bit biased.

I'm not sure why this wasn't a 5 star for me, but perhaps I'm becoming more stingy with those. I'd rank the books:
1. Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake
2. The Plus One
3. A Brush with Love

Rep: MC with PTSD and anxiety, gay side couple

Thank you to St Martin's Press for the early copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

This book was an enemies to lovers, but it had an emotional punch. Neither of the main characters are without flaws - Indira has abandonment issues and Jude has PTSD from being a physician for a charity organization. Jude is back in town for his best friend's wedding (Indira's brother)

Indira and Jude do not like each, at all, but are both staying with Collin (Indira's brother). Leading up to the wedding, Indira and Jude slowly start to get along..

This was a sweet ending to the Brush with Love series.

This was a great story of love and mental health. I enjoyed the focus Mazey Eddings put on therapy and mental health throughout the book. It was good to see it normalized and hear the characters talk things about. I also love a book without a 3rd act breakup!!!
I have loved all the books in this series!

Have I been sleeping on this author? How could I have missed this!

Mazeys new novel the plus one is so cute but grounded. I absolutely loved the way she handled tough issues in this novel. It was done so perfectly.

Indira is a character you can't help but love. The way she helps Jude through his struggles is just perfect.

I love a good enemies to lovers and this didn't disappoint.

Pick up your copy of the plus one! I'm
Going to check out some other novels by this author.

Thanks to net galley and St martins press for this arc