This book was adorable! I loved Indira and Jude SO MUCH! This book was so raw and heartfelt.

Read if you love:
- brother’s best friend
- enemies to lovers
- fake dating
- dual pov
- one TENT
- mental health rep
- lgbtq+ rep

I love this book! It managed to deeply handle some really intense topic like PTSD and abandonment but still some how feel light and have some funny moments. I could really feel Jude's pain at times, so the PTSD rep could be a little triggering for those who suffer with it, but it was a beautiful story. This is one that will be rattling around in my head for a long time to come.

With every book Mazey has just gotten better and better. It was such a joy to spend this time with Indira and Jude. A romantic, swoony book about getting the strength you need from another person in order to live the life you want.

Jude is Indira's older brother's best friend and her main torturer through her childhood. So when she finds herself needing to stay at her brother's house after her boyfriend cheats on her, the forced proximity pushes them closer and closer together. Jude has his own demons to deal with and I think where this book excels is in its balance of romance with the very real feelings that both India and Jude struggle with in this book.

I was particularly drawn to Indira who, a psychiatrist herself, struggles with wanting to help others while she feels she can't help herself. Mazey really articulates the ways that helping yourself isn't a quick fix, but one that takes work and bravery and I loved how Jude and Indira really help each other using the backdrop of her brother's wedding.

I truly cannot wait to see what Mazey writes next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martins press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love everything Mazey writes. Every single one of her books has changed me for the better, and the representation in each one makes me feel so seen and understood. That’s what makes her books feel like a huge, cozy hug. I feel so at home in every single one, and that feeling is so rare.

The Plus One follows frenemies Indira and Jude - in each other’s lives since practically birth. This is a story about broken people finding (imperfect) love and the non-linear journey of healing. Love cannot fix people, but it can help make the healing feel less scary. And that’s exactly what we see with Indira and Jude.

The best part about this book - besides Mazey’s incredible writing and characters, and neurodivergent rep - is that there is NO third act breakup!!! We love to see it be vanquished!!!

I could go on forever about this one, but I’ll wrap this up with a pretty bow - this book is sexy, loving, outrageously silly, and just a big warm hug.

Mazey has done it again! Her books just keep getting better and better. I love how she handled Jude’s work in a world health organization and dealing with his PTSD. Watching Indira and Jude being vulnerable and coming together made my heart sing. I just couldn’t get over how perfectly these two fit.

If you need one reason to read this book, it's for mental health representation. Mazey Eddings has an amazing ability to place the reader inside the head of her characters to realistically feel their struggles with mental health, ie anxiety and PTSD in this book. I also appreciated the role therapy played into their journey.

The brother's best friend trope is growing on me. I did not grow up with brothers, but I could totally see them a brother telling friends that their sister is off limits! I was dying laughing when they told the brother they were dating. It was such a natural reaction!

As for the wedding, it seemed a bit over-the-top with so many pre-wedding parties to attend! What a commitment on the part of the wedding party. Maybe I've just been VERY lucky to have been involved in low-key weddings with no bridezillas or groomzillas! Either way, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀 𝗢𝗻𝗲 was an enjoyable read, made even better with the @aotmbookclub buddy read.


Thanks to @netgalley for the advance copy.

REVIEW FOR THE PLUS ONE

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 stars

Thank you to @netgalley, @smpromance and Mazey Eddings for the gifted copy!

I’ll be honest- this book started slow for me. Not for any reason other than the topics are heavy. And Mazey has a way of writing where you feel everything- every emotion, struggle, etc. It’s like she can reach into you and just inject feelings straight into your soul, your core. So the start of this book was hard for me. But about 20% of the way through, it was sucked it and I loved reading about Indira and Jude’s story.

𝕊𝕐ℕ𝕆ℙ𝕊𝕀𝕊:
Indira seemingly has it all, so when a bad break up results in her living with her brother is his fiancé as they prepare for their upcoming nuptials, Indira accepts it and throws herself into helping plan the wedding. Only problem is her brothers best friend- and her childhood nemesis Jude- is also living there. They both can’t stand each other. But Jude is different, and is afraid to show others just how different he’s become. Indira doesn’t want to face her ex and his new love alone, so they decide to fake date. But can they only keep it fake?

𝕎ℍ𝔸𝕋 𝕀 𝕃𝕀𝕂𝔼𝔻:
• JUDE- literally want to protect him at all costs
• love the brother’s best friend trope and, in some ways, a second chance friendship
• Indira and Jude’s chemistry- WOW
• neurodiversity rep
• the epilogue was a fantastic way to put a bow on the series

𝕎ℍ𝔸𝕋 𝕎𝔸𝕊ℕ’𝕋 𝕄𝕐 ℂ𝕌ℙ 𝕆𝔽 𝕋𝔼𝔸:
• I disliked very little about this book, except I thought Indira’s brother was a bit of a knob
• still not a fan of Thu- like at all

𝕆𝕍𝔼ℝ𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝔾ℍ𝕋𝕊:
I wasn’t a huge fan of A Brush with Love (or just Harper in general) but Lizzie Blake and this one are two of my fave reads, ever. I loved how this one ended- I worried for a bit that there was going to be more conflict but I was happily surprised. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book especially if you loved Lizzie Blake. Out on shelves today ✨

Title: The Plus One
Author: Mazey Eddings
Publication Date: 04/04/23
Publisher: St Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 314
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Mental Health
Format: Kindle
Amazon Rating: 3.8 ⭐️
Goodreads Rating: 4.27 ⭐️
My Rating: 4.0 ⭐️

It’s publication day for The Plus One!!

If you love enemies to lovers and fake dating troupes, you’ll be giddy over this one! I must add that Mazey begins the book with CONTENT WARNINGS regarding heavier topics being PTSD, growing up with divorced parents, and ex-partners cheating. I think this is the first book I’ve read where the flow was so light and fun while also being heavy and down to earth with the reality of real-life struggles. One of my dearest friends, an Army Veteran, has severe PTSD and he has good and bad days, just like Jude does. I commend Mazey for touching on topics that many steer clear from for fear of judgment. You’ll either love it or hate it, and personally, I love it.

If any of my bookish friends struggle with their mental health and ever need an ear, you can count on me! No judgement just friendship. 💛

Thanks to #MazeyEddings, #StMartinsGriffin and @netgalley for sending me this ARC in return for my honest review!

• Crossposted on Goodreads, Amazon and IG •

I have loved everything I’ve read by Mazey Eddings so far and The Plus One did not disappoint and is actual GOLD.

I gave this a super deserved 5 stars!

The way she writes about mental health issues and how you should love someone through it just warms my heart so much.

Indira and Jude are such dynamic characters and I really love them.

This seriously had a taste of all the best tropes and it was so good!

Read this if you like…
a little slow burn, enemies to lovers, fake dating, mental health representation, amazing friend groups, humor, and a little spice.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Griffin for inviting me to read this early and review it!

I’ve loved the previous books in Mazey Eddings’ A Brush With Love series, but I do have to say… this one didn’t grab me in the same way. Once I read her author’s note at the end, I understood better that the whole PTSD storyline was very much about her own experiences, and wish that had been at the beginning so I knew going into the book it was more of a journey of herself, and the character was very much based around her own story and struggles.

It is still a very strong 4-star rating, but I don’t think I can get to the 5-stars I gave her other books. I didn’t feel the same connection to the storyline or characters. This one was completely about Jude and his struggles overcoming what he experienced while doing his (basically a Doctor’s Without Borders) doctors abroad program, and Indira was getting through the enemies to lovers, brothers best friend plot one-sided. I felt the disconnect the whole way through.

I know that this book has a very important place in many readers hearts who will struggle with the stress from past trauma, like the author, and that she needed to write it to work through her past pain as a way to heal and get through a lot of that pain, so there are many who will adore it. If others go in knowing that it’s so focused on Jude dealing with his struggles of the trauma he experienced in these awful, war torn and traumatic locations, hopefully they will have a better experience than me!

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and this is my honest feedback.

Mazey Eddings continues to solidify herself as one of my favorite authors with every book she puts out. I fall in love with her characters each time and was extremely happy to get glimpses of the past two couples from this series. Speaking of our current couple though, Jude and Indira have my heart. Jude and Indira fit together like the most complete puzzle pieces. Jude has gone through so much in such a short amount of time. Indira has been hurt more times than she can count. Together they learn to heal and how they both go about their mental health journey is beautiful. I absolutely did cry once I finished this book as I didn't want this series to end. Knowing that Mazey Eddings will continue to write such beautiful stories is the only reason I'm still smiling.

this might be the sweetest most comforting romance i have read this year so far

i didn't not expect any of what i read when i picked this up. i thought i was going to read a silly little romcom about two childhood rivals getting to fake date and follow their shenanigans and yet it was more profound than that and i loved every second of it

4.75/5

THE PLUS ONE - @mazeyeddings

4.5⭐

PLOT

Jude is an emergency medicine doctor travelling all over the world treating people. He comes back to attend his best friends wedding.
Indira a psychiatrist dumps her boyfriend after she finds him cheating and she crashes at her brother's house where Jude is staying
Jude and Indira are childhood enemies but all these years later they find themselves relying on each other to help navigate difficult times.

MY THOUGHTS -
This is the 3rd book in the series but can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading all as they are nothing but fantastic.

The mental health rep in the book is so so good esp the PTSD..which is very real and common and the help which those who suffer require has been highlighted well.

The support which Indira and Jude offer each other makes you believe that tough times with support can be sailed through with ease and one shouldn't be scared to seek help.

This one has so many of my fav troupes-
Enemies to Lovers
Elder brother s best friend
Fake Dating
Forced proximity.

Thank you @netgalley and @smpromance for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a good read, I really enjoyed it. It's my first read by the author, definitely won't be my last. It is part of the A Brush With Love series, but can be read as a standalone. It did take me a bit to get into in the beginning, but once I got attached to the characters I was hooked.

I really loved how the author was able to portray PTSD in such a realistic way, it never felt fake or too much. She incorporated the funny romcom with such a heavy topic, it was really well done. There was a lot of depth in the story mixed in with the lightness of the romcom which I truly adored.

Dual POV's are always my jam, it makes you so much more invested and gives you both side of the story. The characters had such funny banter and amazing chemistry. Indira was such an amazing character with an amazing personality. She was so realistic, close to her emotions and stubborn as hell. It was the right amount of sweet and spicy. It was also sad, heartbreaking, funny and relieving.

If you're looking for a funny, spicy, emotional, fake dating, frenemies to lovers, brothers best friend type of romcom definitely pick this one up!

✨️Thank you @netgalley, @stmartinspress & @mazeyeddings for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am convinced Mazey Eddings can do no wrong - I adored the first 2 stories in this character series and The Plus One is no exception. I was lucky enough to not only read the ARC, but listen to the audio in advance too - and both experiences are absolutely endearing. The Plus One has brother's best friend, enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity tropes, as well as new lovable characters, and old beloved ones. This can be read as a standalone, but if I hadn't made it clear.. Mazey Eddings is wonderful and YOU SHOULD READ THEM ALL! The banter, the swoony-ness, the spicyness. ALL WONDERFUL! The mental health themes and experiences in all the stories are so well represented and relatable. Also as a neurodivergent woman raising ND kids, I love this representation across her books. Mazey Eddings is an immediate add to cart for me!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC!

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝒶𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒿𝑜𝓎. 𝒢𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝑒𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑔𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒."

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Indira’s life is turned upside down. Jude’s life is a constant struggle. Coming together for a wedding, Indira and Jude begin to question if their childhood bickering could turn into something more as adults…

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
I LOVED IT!! I’ll admit this is my first book by Mazey Eddings but it definitely won’t be my last! I loved her careful weaving of a romcom with heavier topics of PTSD and anxiety. She created depth in the story and brought to life two characters that brought out the best in each other while helping each other navigate in this thing we call life. I loved the dual pov as we got to see Indira’s and Jude’s emotions and inner thoughts, bringing depth to the story. Such beautiful imagery (peanut butter and bees)! It was fantastic. I laughed, cried, got frustrated and breathed relief.

As much as I loved the novel, I highly recommend the audiobook. Joe Arden was magnificent. He captured Jude’s every emotion and brought it to life. Such a beautiful narration and Imani Jade Powers simply completed this audiobook with her interpretation of Indira.

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
- Fake Daring
- Forced Proximity
- Frenemies to Lovers
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Open Door Romance
- PTSD & Anxiety Representation

𝑨 𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆
- A Brush with Love
- Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake
- The Plus One

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: Special thanks to Net Galley for an ARC copy of The Plus One to share my honest review.

Wow - this series got better and better as I kept reading. This is one of my favorite romcoms that I have read in a long time. Jude and Indira are literally soulmates and I love them so much. They are my favorite couple in the series!! They have INCREDIBLE banter throughout the entirety of this story, I found myself laughing constantly while reading which is something I don’t do often when reading.

Mazey Eddings does an incredible job including positive talks about therapy and mental health in all of her stories, and as someone who has a Bachelors in Psychology, it was refreshing to see accurate depictions of symptoms from mental illness as well as how someone can be so easily triggered in everyday life. This book made me feel seen 🫶

I highly recommend if you’re looking for a heartwarming, sweet read. The books in this series can be read as standalones, but the stories flow better if you read them in order!

Pick up The Plus One if you like:
- older brothers best friend
- Dual POV
- positive conversations about therapy
- PTSD, anxiety representation
- fake dating
- great banter
- childhood enemies to lovers
- forced proximity

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the arc of The Plus One! The Plus One is available today (4/4)!

Tropes:
💗 Childhood enemies to lovers
💙 Brothers best friend
💗 Fake Dating
💙 Only one bed (or tent)

Topics: cheating, therapy, anxiety, walked in on her naked, abandonment issues

I wanted to thank the author Mazey Eddings, the publisher & NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

I don’t have much to say about this book other than how much I loved it. The main characters, Indira & Jude are intelligent, hilarious and dealing with their own mental health issues. It was wonderful reading a book about drs who also struggle just like us.

This book really hits on mental health struggles. It was so well put & made me think of my life & the struggles I have been through with my own mental health. This book you’ll smile & laugh but also cry for the characters. It’s so real.

I would definitely recommend picking this up if you need a from the start fast paced book to binge read.

Thank you @smpromance @macmillan.audio @netgalley for a copy of this. This is part of A Brush series with this one focusing on Indira who moves in with her brother when she discovers her boyfriend in a compromising position with someone else. She is forced to be with Jude who also is staging with her brother. I love how their enemy to lovers story. What I appreciate is that both Jude and Indira both have issues and needed personal growth. The journey was realistic and the fake dating creating such great tension between them.

The Plus One is a brother's best friend romance with strong mental health representation. Indira and Collin grew up with Jude. Collin is getting married, and Jude has taken a leave from his job as a doctor who goes to war torn and high-risk areas of the world to serve people who need medical assistance. He has seen and experienced some unbelievable things and is suffering from PTSD. His PTSD is making his everyday life difficult, and he is having a hard time dealing with his feelings. Indira works in a mental health field and knows that something is off with Jude. She has her own issues to work through and has also just broken up with her boyfriend. She and Jude enter into a fake dating situation because her ex is part of the pre-wedding festivities, and Jude needs someone to help him escape situations that make him feel uncomfortable. They find their feelings for each other evolving and it is beautiful and at times heartbreaking to read.

This is not my favorite of Mazey Eddings books, but I still love how she writes. The feelings are raw, real, and truly believable. I loved seeing characters from previous books reappear so we could see how they were doing. The friendships are tight. I love how they support each other. I am a fan of Mazey Eddings and look forward to her future books.

My sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press - St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it.