The Plus Ones by Mazey Eddings is a perfect rom-com to usher in wedding season. We get enemies to lovers here - Indira and Jude are childhood enemies whose circumstances lead them to fake dating. This book has more than meets the eye with characters that will stay with you because they will mirror your friends.

Loved this one! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC - The Plus One is out now!

This book was such a refreshing read. It didn't shy away from talking about difficult life experiences and addressed trauma in a realistic, yet respectful way. The author also adequately prepares readers for what they will read by including a detailed author's note at the beginning. I cannot recommend this book enough!

I am a huge Mazey Eddings fan and The Plus One was TRULY a delight. I love Mazey's cast of characters in this world and am sad this world is wrapped up. They're complex and learn and grow and love in such a truthful way. Thanks for Mazey and St. Martins for sending me a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a review!

Eddings is back with the third installment in the Brush With Love series. She has delivered once again with a heartfelt and steamy rom-com that portrays mental illness seriously and sensitively. Eddings is quickly becoming a must-read author in the genre!

I have enjoyed this series and how it focuses on various mental health and neurodiverse characters but this was my least favorite. I wanted more of Jude’s story and less of Indira’s therapy sessions.

After loving A Brush With Love, I was super excited for this book! Childhood enemies Indira and Jude are forced to spend time together as adults when Indira's brother and Jude's best friend is getting married. As the two grow closer, feelings develop and the two realize what a fine line laid between love and hate. But Indira is grappling with how she can struggle with childhood abandonment and still be a psychiatrist, and Jude is reckoning with his PTSD from serving as a doctor abroad in war-torn countries.

I love this book. It's a little bit of a downer, in that it deals with some very heavy topics, including very stark descriptions of what it's like to suffer from PTSD, and themes surrounding mental illness, therapy, and more are central to the plot of the book. But it's also a beautiful and steamy romance between two people that are easy to root for as individuals and a couple. Plus! The book has a gorgeous cover.

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

5 stars - 9/10

Just like the first two books I loved this one also, Mazey Eddings did a good job with this book and I enjoyed the plot so much.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings

Indira just walked in on her boyfriend and a stranger doing not so friendly things to each other… involving peanut butter! Angry and hurt, she goes to stay with her brother and his fiancé but they are already hosting her childhood nemesis Jude. Jude spent the last three years traveling the world treating people in emergency situations but now he is burnt out and suffering from severe post traumatic stress disorder. Since his best friend is getting married, he has to set everything aside to be there for him. The only thing he didn’t count on is his best friend’s sister Indira who sees through his whole façade.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it felt realistic. I like the focus on mental health and the importance of taking care of yourself. Indira and Jude seemed to have such a healthy relationship (we don’t see this often in most books). I’ll definitely be checking out the first two books!

aw this one was cute but a billion angsty moments but i do love a good brother’s best friend book.

thanks to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC.

I have a feeling I am going to be on my own with my thoughts on "The Plus One" but this one missed the mark for me. I wanted to love this novel, I did, but in the end, it felt really chaotic, which doesn't do much for storytelling. I don't want to turn anyone off on reading this one - Eddings has such an amazing talent for writing and takes such care with mental health awareness.

The plot of "The Plus One" had fantastic potential and I was intrigued by the childhood friends to more storyline. Mazey's writing style is a favorite of mine (she reminds me a bit of Abby Jimenez). However, there were more fails than successes in this one for me. For example, the rushed romance. I don't need a slow burn every time, but I do need the romance to feel organic. The last 1/3 of the book felt hasty and messy. Instead of rushing to finish, to get those HEA endorphins, I found myself wondering why it felt like I was waking up from a fevered dream. And my final complaint: there was very little comedy in this one. Unlike books 1-2 where I laughed uncontrollably more times than I could count.

A 3-star review for me is a "meh" kind of read. I can see some readers loving this one, while others may feel a bit let down after such delightful starts in this book series — Lizzy and Rake were my favorite rom-com of 2022. I am not giving up on Mazey and look forward to reading more from her.

2.9/5 This book was really hard for me to get into, the reason for this was not being able to relate to the characters. I did like how the couple had many cute scenes together and the miscommunication trope was not really experienced. At times I would find myself bored and was confused how the day of the wedding wasn't shown more when that was a big part of how the relationship came to be. I feel when the author was describing Jude's PTSD it took away from the wedding and more details of the fake dating since it was such a big focal point. The fake dating felt very quick.

I absolutely loved this. It was deep. It was funny. It was sweet. It was spicy. It was so good.

This story touches on A LOT of tough subjects like PTSD and parental neglect. At the same time, it had me laughing out loud.

I loved Indira and Jude's relationship. Their communication was top tier. The trust they built with each other to help each other with their struggles was amazing. I also love that they never stopped roasting each other, even after falling in love.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, but will definitely be going back to read the first two books.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC!

THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH TO ST. MARTIN'S PRESS for this ARC of The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. Eddings' writing scratches an itch in my brain and she is slowly carving out a place for herself in the romance genre with her neurodiverse and quirky characters. Indira and Jude are "enemies" (as much as one can be enemies in a contemporary setting) when they are thrust together for a wedding. Sparks go flying, of course. There were so many raw and emotional scenes in this book, which was the heaviest of Mazey's three books, and she handled it so well. I didn't feel lectured when I read the scenes with Jude's PTSD, but very much in his head and felt so much for him. Indira is probably my favorite female protagonist as well. This was amazing and I highly recommend it.

This book was such a quick and cute read! I didn’t realize it was part of a series so I’ll definitely have to go back and read the other two, but this one was such a fun read. I am a sucker for fake dating so this definitely checked that box for me and I loved the frenemies to lovers aspect. I think that there was great banter and definitely some good tension. I thought that Indira and Jude ended up being such a great couple and I really love them together. There were times that I wanted to just shake them but overall this was cute one!

Mazey Eddings is killing it!!! I can't wait to read whatever it is she publishes next! I was kind of over the wedding guest, bridesmaid, etc. vibe but this revived me!! Thanks for the early copy and sorry for my late review!

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is the third book in her series A Brush With Love. I was not aware of this when I started the book and it does read well as a stand alone (you just miss out on the past character relationships, and references -- which I do enjoy in a series). I just wish I had read the other two books in the series first.
This was a much heavier book than I expected (even with the content warnings at the start of the book).
That being said, there were some light and humorous moments -- but not enough to be classified as anything but a heavier contemporary romance. Anxiety, PTSD, and childhood parent abandonment trauma were all well represented in this book and handled with thought and care and an emphasis on acceptance and understanding.
The numerous epilogues at the end of the story served the series well (and showed us a look into the main characters' future) -- but they felt disjointed to me since I had only read the last book in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley, Mazey Eddings, and to St. Martin's Griffin for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Plus One was published on 4/4/2023 and is now available.

Such great characters, you really feel for them and get attached.
Indira and Jude are the main characters but there are a few others in this book that are super important also
so much to deal with and there is a ton of anxiety issues (PTSD also) is apart of this book also
This book is one that def feels like a real-life book and not like a fake fairy tale-type story
so we have enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, and best friend's brother-to-lover tropes going on here, but soooo perfect for each other.
This book is part of a series (now I need to go back and read the others).
It was neat how every character was titled I guess you could say as the countdown to Colin and Jeremy's wedding. Kept you on the timeline.
The things that were planned for pre-wedding events were kinda crazy, bold, and like go big or go home but that was a perfect fit for the 2 getting married and the characters involved.
Mental heath was def a BIG part of this story and how to help yourself or find ones that can help you and learning to grow and heal.
Such a good book. sweet clean fun rom-com :)
Well written

I was able to read this book as an ARC and am sooo happy to have that chance. Thank you to the publisher and also to NetGalley for this opportunity. The above opinion and review is my own and its honest and voluntary.

It was refreshing to see a main male character talking about his feelings and working through them. Definite triggers in this one, but the HEA made it all worth it.

I love the angst! I've been there when it comes to a best friend's sibling situation (I realize for her its her brother's best friend, but I digress, same thing). We are built from our live experiences, both physically and mentally, and I feel like this book did a good job of looking at mental health, trauma, and the way it informs the adults we become. I like the direction contemporary rom coms are going to not just focus on comedic value, but making it a realistic personal experience.

Probably my favorite of the 3 friends. I thought I loved Lizzie and Rake the most and then I met Jude and Indira. They were just perfection. I seriously loved everything about this book and I think you will too. I really can't say anything else because it is that good to experience on your own. Just know that Indira and Jude own a part of my heart and this will make it into the reread rotation!