I was 3% into this book when I texted some friends and said “READ THIS”.

There are some books that have the perfect blend of romance, emotionally wise writing, and amazing witty dialogue. They’re rare but they’re out there and now I’m so excited to add this book to the list (others include You Deserve Each Other, Funny Feelings, A Thousand Miles, and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake).

The main characters are both endearing and lovable and broken all at the same time. The flirty banter was hilarious. The constant roasting of each other and teasing got me. It got me real good. Is that a love language? Because I’m 100% sure it’s mine.

I love the fake dating trope. Truly. Except I hate when it’s a secret and inevitably it all comes out and the characters break up and you’re left feeling like “well duh. We all saw it coming”. Good thing that doesn’t happen in The Plus One. They fake date but they tell everyone and it STILL WORKS.

Lastly, and I cannot stress this enough. This book exemplifies the power of therapy. If Lizzie Blake opened my eyes to ADHD then The Plus One opened my eyes to importance of loving yourself enough to get the help you need.

Read if you like:
✌🏻Dual POV
😠Enemies to Lovers
🧍‍♂️Brother’s best friend
🧠Mental health and therapy
✋🏻Aggressive witty banter
💕Fake dating
😤Grump FMC and grump MMC
🏠Forced proximity
🙅🏼‍♀️No third act break up

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars rounded down
I have read A Brush with Love, Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, and now The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. This book was my favorite of the three in the series. One of my favorite tropes is brother's best friend so I was already excited before I even started reading about Jude and Indira. What really swept me away from this book was the rawness and reality of mental health. Indira struggles with self-confidence and abandonment issues, while Jude is figuring out his PTSD from working in the medical field in high-need areas. I loved the emphasis on recovering individually, but also using your partner as support.

Together Indira and Jude are my favorite couple in the series. I also enjoyed the enemy-to-lovers trope presented in the book. There were times I was actually laughing out loud at the quick banter between the two. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

The Plus One deals with some pretty heavy issue, mostly focusing on mental,health.
Indira and Jude have never liked each other until forced proximity make them fake date.
As they explore each other, they realize there just might be a spark under the revulsion.
Sometimes we have to go thorough hell to get to the other side.
This book acknowledges that none of us are super human and at times we need help and others to get by.

This was such a cute book! This was my first book by Mazey Eddings book & I really enjoyed it. This book was a romcom but it went a little deeper. I loved the mental health representation in this book & it really added depth to the story & the characters. Indira & Jude knowing each other since childhood (frenemies) but then reconnecting & getting to see and know each other in a different light I loved. Watching their relationship grow & them grow individually dealing with their trauma & not shying away from them was great! It made them grow closer & lean on each other. They were so cute & there were plenty of moments that made me laugh! Overall, so good!
Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press & Mazey Eddings for this eARC!

Well, I really loved this one.

I loved the entire plot line and the characters were great. Their chemistry was off the charts. I love the entirety of Jude’s growth. This author does mental illness so well and the way she wrote Jude’s story was fantastic. The love story aspect was great, too. It did get quite spicy for a little contemporary romance novel and I was here for it.

I THINK I may like this one better than the last one!

I freaking loved his book so so so much. I love Mazey Eddings a ton and am super proud to have been chosen to be an ARC reader for this book 💜
I this I liked this more than the other two books in the series honestly and feel like this will be my favorite one 💜 cannot wait for Thu's story 😍

This book is definitely the best book in this series that I have read yet! I loved Indira and Jude's chemistry and growth. This book addressed medical PTSD, burnout, and mental illness so well. I loved how both Jude and Indira supported each other through their struggles. I loved the little hints of the past 2 books shone through; seeing the other characters was so heartwarming. I felt so drawn into the story and I loved how endearing the characters are. Childhood enemies to lovers is a trope that's hard to do well, but the author did such a wonderful job ensuring that the elements of friendship from their childhood peaked through their interactions, and how despite having animosity towards one another as children, the two always cared for each other. This book was addicting and I just could not put it down! I would highly recommend it!

my third mazey eddings book and definitely my favorite! this series as a whole is so wonderful and I can highly recommend picking them up! for the best experience, read the books in order because the stories mesh together so well and I loved the little sneak peeks of the other couples in this one!

one of the things I love most about this series and book is the incredible mental health representation! mazey does such a wonderful job of normalizing therapy and opening up the conversation about mental health and getting help.

this book is the perfect take on brother's best friend mixed with a bit of childhood enemies to lovers and fake dating. jude and indira, despite their constant banter and jabs at each other, fall into a friendship with each other when jude returns home from working abroad as doctor in areas of humanitarian crises. indira's brother, jude's best friend, is getting married so they have been pushed back together. what starts out as a fake wedding date turns into something more as the two grow closer and closer and connect on a deeper level. plus, there is basically no miscommunication or other conflict (especially with the brother) which is usually my issue with such tropes.

both of them are going through their own personal struggles and it was so heartwarming to see them open up to and support each other through the process. the ending was so emotional but so well done and I just think that the way these harder topics are addressed was extremely tactfully done.

overall, I can only recommend this book because it had the perfect mix of funny moments that had me laughing out loud combined with emotional, deeper moments which left me on the verge of tears. mazey eddings just keeps getting better and better so go read it!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and author Mazey Eddings for the advanced reading copy & Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

The Plus One is book three in Mazey’s A Brush with Love series, but it can read as a complete standalone, too. Indira and Jude have been ‘enemies’ since childhood and Jude is Indira’s brother’s best friend. Indira’s brother is getting married and Jude is back in town in the weeks leading up to the wedding. They both work in the medical field; Jude has been working overseas as an emergency medicine physician and Indira is a pediatric psychiatrist.

The more time they spend together, they realize that hate may be not what they are feeling. This roommates/forced proximity book was a spicy and fun read, that still touched on heavier topics. Mazey weaves in relatable mental health struggles into her books, and this one was no different - PTSD and lots and lots of positive talk about therapy.

I enjoyed this one so much, but Jude and Indira cannot take out Harper and Dan as the number one couple from the series in my heart.

Perfect, perfect, perfect.

The Plus One is a big “fuck you” to anyone who thinks that the romance genre lacks substance. To anyone who deems it less worthy or fluffy. Because while this book is a delightfully spicy romp with some of my favourite tropes (childhood enemies to lovers, brothers best friend), it also represents a myriad of mental health struggles without being gratuitous.

Therapy features heavily in this book and is done in way that makes you feel like a fly on the wall of these sessions. I took away so much myself from those passages and will likely highlight half the book once I get a physical copy!! Indies struggles with self-worth and a desire to be loved, and her journey (and realizations at the end of the book) was so wonderful. She was also an incredible support for Jude and I learned so much from her.

Ugh. Sweet, sweet Jude. His journey with PTSD and anxiety will stay with me for a long time. I cried for him and I celebrated him. I applauded his bravery and how, even when it was so hard, he chose himself.

And of course, this book also showcases a whole lot of JOY. The wedding preparations, Collin and Jeremy in general, the friend group - all amazing. The tension and chemistry between Indira and Jude? Sexy as hell. The spice? Top notch.

I thought I was going to be getting a lot more of the fake-relationship hijinks and biting enemies-to-lovers dynamics here. Instead, I got a serious and thoughtful exploration of how to navigate a budding relationship while one person is experiencing PTSD and the other is working through abandonment issues. It was heavier than I expected, but it was still a good read.

Yes, there are some enemies-to-lovers moments, as Indira and Jude are thrust together by circumstance (the wedding of Indira's older brother/Jude's best friend) and a failed relationship (Indira walked out on her boyfriend after walking in on him and another woman). Mostly, Indira and Jude jab and snark at each other, but very quickly a friendship starts to blossom. Jude is on leave after working three consecutive years working in a Doctors Without Borders-type program, and moving between humanitarian crises and war zones has left him hanging on by a thread. He is, of course, trying to fake it 'til he makes it through his best friend's wedding activities...but perceptive Indira (a psychiatrist and trained therapist) recognizes what he's going through and tries to help him cope with his feelings. Jude suggests a fake relationship throughout the wedding to serve both their needs: it will deflect the pitying glances from her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, and it will help him stay anchored when loud, crowded activities panic him. Soon, though, the fake relationship begins to become something real, honest, and loving, and both Indira and Jude need to make decisions about how to heal themselves and move forward together.

The book lost much of the romantic tension after they got together mid-way through the book, because the focus shifted almost wholly at that point to helping Jude work through his issues. It's almost like the relationship was taken for granted as a strong and stable thing once they acknowledged they were in love...and then there was another 25-30% of the book left with none of the relationship slow burn or fireworks. If you are reading this as a straight-up romance, then it feels like there are like three or four epilogues to this story--not the best way to end. I think it's more successful if you approach this as both a romance and an exploration of people choosing to prioritize and treat mental health issues.

Indira experiences a (rather humorous in hindsight) implosion of her relationship and decides to pursue a fake relationship with her brother's best friend and her childhood enemy, Jude, to endure the festivities for her brother's upcoming wedding in which her ex is also a part of the wedding party. Surely, nothing will go wrong, right?

After enjoying A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, I was excited to read The Plus One. However, this series was quite inconsistent. I found myself comparing the latest story to the previous ones, and where Lizzie Blake was sunshine and chaos, The Plus One is melancholy and platonic. Therein lies my biggest issue with this story... the romance just lacked swoon. I appreciated the mental health representation and as general fiction it would have been fantastic, but as a romance, it left me unsatisfied. It was nice to revisit other characters' progress in the Epilogue though!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for gifting me with an audio ARC to review! I enjoyed it, just not as much as the previous books in the series.

The Plus One is the third book in A Brush with Love series and this was my favorite of the series.

Indira thought her life was going pretty well. She has a good job and was in a relationship that she thought was also going well until she walked in on him cheating on her with someone else. This prompts her to move in with her brother, Collin, and his fiancé prior to their wedding.

Jude is a doctor who is currently traveling the world as part of a program helping with the humanitarian crisis. He has been granted a leave of absence to come home to attend his best friend's wedding, which means he will also be staying with Collin, et. al.

As kids, Indira and Jude were always bickering and could be categorized as frenemies. Now they are living under the same roof and in close proximity. Not only that, but Jude is dealing with trauma from all that he has seen and dealt with while on assignment and it's affecting him more than he cares to admit. Indira is dealing with her own issues and she too is going to therapy. As time passes, Indira and Jude find support in one another among other things.

I really appreciate how the mental health issues are handled in this novel. It's so important that they are talked about and I really appreciated it especially since Indira was a doctor herself, she didn't treat Jude, but pointed him in the right direction instead. This was a great addition to the series!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

I’ve read the whole A Brush With Love series and absolutely adored all three books. I can’t wait to see what else Mazey writes!

Jude and Indira’s story was filled with raw, emotional and heartfelt moments, and I ate it up. I freaking love them and how they fully understood each other. Throughout the book, I wanted to give Jude a good big ole bear hug. Gah. Watching him struggle with PTSD and anxiety was heartbreaking, but I adored how Indira was right there with him helping him in times of need. Easy, easy 5 stars!

TW: parental abandonment, cheating, PTSD

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press/St Martins Romance for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!.

Sigh. This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and I am not sure if this one was for me. I am the exception as a lot of my reader friends absolutely adored this one so please don't take in consideration this review. And perhaps I just wasn't in the right headspace to read this as it was heavy in topics and I was hoping for more of a fun, spicy rom com.

Quick Recap: Indira walks in on her boyfriend in bed with another woman which prompts her to stay with her brother Colin, his fiancee Jeremy and Colin's childhood friend Jude. Jude and Indira were frenemies growing up and just never grew out of their "hate" towards each other. It's already enough that Indira and Jude have to share space but Colin & Jeremy's wedding is approaching quickly and she is forced to be around her ex as he is a groomsmen. Indira and Jude decide to fake date to help make Chris jealous and just so that they each have a friend through these events.

"How am I supposed to live with myself when my shortcomings could be the reason people no longer exist?"

I think for me what I wish was addressed was Jude's mental illness right away. Yes, it was talked about but we as the reader to to infer what exactly it was. It wasn't until about half way through where it was really discussed and even further when it was labeled. I didn't want to have to guess I knew what was on and make assumptions about the character. With that being said, once the item was addressed and Jude discussed with Indria his feelings and what has been going on with him, it all was beautiful. I thought Mazey brought Jude's pain to life and made it really believable. It also tackles a career that we do not normally see depicted in books and even in movies.

"Memories of you are inevitable."

One thing I really liked that is different than other fake dating tropes I have read was that they told people that this was a plan and why. Fake dating was one of my favorite tropes because we always know what ends up happening and the build up is always so good. I really liked how Indira stuck by Jude through his difficult days and inner thoughts. I think her being a therapist helped her without being *too* therapisty.

One thing that I have noticed thinking back is that I feel like the male main character stood out more than the female main character which is not often the case especially in a series that it switches like that.


I love that we got to catch up with other characters that we have grown to love over the course of this series. And I will miss them especially my girl Lizzie and Australian hunk Rake.

I am a massive Mazey fan as an author and just as a person and this will absolutely not deter me from reading her future work as I do love her writing style. I am looking forward to her YA debut later this year.

3.5

The Plus One (eARC) — 5 ⭐️

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: April 4th

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: “Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exits. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other?”

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: This book surprised me in the best way! I flew through the story as it had a good mix of hilarious scenes, serious chats, and some of my favorite tropes. Don’t let the beautiful, cute cover deceive you though… it’s so much more than a typical rom-com. Also, even though it’s the third book in the series, it can be an amazing stand-alone book as well.

I adored the mental health representation throughout the whole story. Indira was such a relatable main female character, and you couldn’t help but want to pull Jude into a big bear hug while reading about everything he has witnessed. While it wasn’t a lighthearted tale, I’m a sucker for feeling a character’s pain and seeing them overcome tough situations. I cannot recommend this book enough!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 —
🛏 One Bed Trope
💒 Wedding Related
✊ Overcoming Tough Situations
👀 Multiple POVs
🔓 Open Door Romance
😏 Witty Banter
🧠 Mental Health Rep
🥸 Fake Dating
💘 Childhood Friends to Lovers

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 —
🏕️ Camping is not your idea of a good time
💍 You’ve done your fair share of wedding prep
👻 You enjoy dressing up for Halloween
🛋️ Counseling/Therapy is the highlight of your week
🥜 You think peanut butter is more trouble than it’s worth

𝐓𝐖: medical trauma, mental illness, infidelity, panic attacks, PTSD, war, abandonment

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Touching and thoroughly enjoyable.

The Plus One was so much more than I thought it would be. A quick perusal gave me the impression that this would be an enemies-to-friends situation with wedding drama (always a favorite!), and it made me want to check it out. Then I got pulled in by the characters. The PTSD representation and the focus on mental health, threaded through the bonds of love within the cast of characters, was refreshing to see and handled with care by author Mazey Eddings.

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed this book. Indira and Jude grew up together as Jude is Indira’s brother’s best friend, but were more like frenemies. They reunited at a wedding and it didn’t take long for the frenemies relationship start to change.

This book covered some heavier topics such as PTSD and mental health. But I thought the author did well with being able to cover the heavier topics.

I would read other books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Childhood enemies to friends to fake dating to lovers? Sold. Mazey Eddings has done it again. She has written a beautiful romance story between two people who are hurting and broken in many ways. Indira and Jude had such an interesting and fun relationship. They were each other’s bullies when they were children up until they were young adults. Loves to keep each other on their toes, but deep down they loved and cared for each other. When Indira’s brother’s wedding comes around, Jude returns home from from spending years of traveling the world to treat emergencies and humanitarian crises. A complication on Indira’s brother’s wedding party when Indira’s current boyfriend cheats on her. Now she is thrust upon Jude to walk down the aisle. To make things “easier” for Indira’s situation, they decided to be each other’s fake date. Both Indira and Jude are healers but needed healing themselves. Jude suffering with PTSD and Indira with abandonment and other mental issues. They made each other feel safe and loved each other through it all. I loved this book, it was very comforting for me.

The Plus One is the second book I’ve read from Mazey Eddings (in the same universe) and definitely was my favorite of the two, as it felt much more grounded and emotional. I was really drawn in at the beginning and thought the tension and build up between the main couple worked well. The supporting characters felt like they had their own distinct personalities as well. Mazey did a really respectful job dealing with issues of trauma and PTSD and I’d make sure to check trigger warnings before reading. I was expecting the end of the book to have more of Indira’s POV vs Jude’s but it worked for the storyline the way it was. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.