I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Plus One is my favorite of Mazey Eddings’ books thus far. She’s always been great at crafting romantic comedies that make me laugh, but also hit me hard in their discussion of real-world issues, and this book is the prime example of that.
I love that both leads are works-in-progress throughout the book, and their HEA accommodates that without a “quick fix.” Indira has a troubled relationship with her absent father, who prioritizes his new wife over his kids, and Indira has tried to compensate for that ever since, which has impacted her success in love, including a relationship that falls apart in spectacular fashion at the beginning of the book. I loved seeing her unpack her issues throughout the book, and come to finally confront her father, letting go of that baggage and allowing herself to heal on her own terms, with the support of those who do love her. I also found it particularly interesting that she herself was a psychiatrist, quashing the stereotype I’ve often seen of those in psychotherapy/psychiatry being somewhat difficult or reluctant recipients of therapy, with her seeing a therapist on-page.
And then there’s Jude. He’s been through a lot, being stuck in a medical scholarship employment program, and finding himself emotionally scarred by the losses he’s experienced and blaming himself for them. It’s a beautiful exploration of PTSD, especially in relation to surgery and medicine. And while Indira is going on her own journey of healing and growth, I love the way she supports Jude, refusing to allow him to continue in his self-destructive cycle, and motivating him to seek help. The disclaimer that she “doesn’t want to fix him” was a beautiful moment for me, along with her other self-assuring words of support, succeeded by his statement that while he’s not fully cured, he’s working toward healing.
This is such a beautiful book, transitioning seamlessly from childhood frenemies-to-loves banter to a deeply emotional journey between two broken people. If you’re looking for a contemporary romance that’s equal parts humorous and heartfelt, I recommend checking this out!

Mazey Eddings is one of my favorite romance authors for a reason. The perfect romances are a blend of moving love stories and compelling human stories, and Mazey Eddings manages to capture both in every book she writes. This story struck me as different from the previous two in this series of interconnected standalones—both in its tone and its pace. Indira and Jude's story is very character-focused. Most of the story takes place in the same setting and, instead of focusing on situations the characters find themselves in, focuses on the problems the characters are already experiencing at the beginning of the story.

Much of Indira and Jude's romance is them growing as individuals, together. They learn to lean on each other while working through breakups, trauma, PTSD, and depression. There are plenty of moments where I audibly giggled, but there were more moments that focused on healing and grief. The characters felt authentic and, while not perfect people, felt perfect for each other.

Definitely recommend <3

This was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year. I was surprised by how emotionally heavy this read was. After reading Mazey’s authors note, it clicked pieces together but I would not consider this to be the light hearted romances we’ve seen previously. It deals with the heavy burden of PTSD and anxiety, mental health and healing. Still love Mazey’s writing and looking forward to more books by her.

In The Plus One, Indira, our lovable and quirky Psychiatrist, decides to go stay with her brother and his fiancé for a while after her life goes up in flames. She wasn’t planning on becoming roommates with her childhood enemy, Jude, though. Jude is on leave from his role as an emergency surgeon overseas, where he has taken on an extensive amount of trauma. Indira and Jude decide to team up as each other’s plus one for the wedding festivities so they don’t have to deal with their own personal issues. The forced proximity, emotional connection, and physical attraction make it really hard for them to keep things platonic 👀

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jude’s PTSD struggles were so well-written. As a therapist, I sometimes get annoyed when mental health concerns are tied into a story so casually but as a reader, I felt like I was experiencing everything along with Jude🤍 Him and Indira learning how to be vulnerable with one another and lean on each other as they start healing on their own was just a really beautiful story to read.

This is the third book in the A Brush With Love series but it can be read without reading the previous two first!

Read if you like:
▫️Childhood enemies to lovers
▫️Best friend’s brother
▫️Fake dating
▫️Tons of fun banter
▫️Only one bed (tent

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a candid review!

I had to sit for a while and think through my feelings on this book. Overall, I liked it. But it's not for everyone and not exactly what I expected. Giving this 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Here Are The Things I Liked:
✨Indira and Jude. I personally found them both likable and Indira made me laugh quite a bit.
✨The banter was fantastic, I just wish it lasted longer.
✨The spice! 🥵🥵🥵
✨The tropes!! Brother's best friend, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, known each other since childhood, and a drop of fake dating.
✨The focus on mental health struggles, PTSD, trauma, and the difficult, complex journey of healing. I highlighted so many moments and I was truly invested in their growth, both as individuals and as a couple.
✨Mazey's writing is beautiful and I am definitely going to read the first 2 books in this series!

Here Are Things I Didn't Like As Much:
✨I LOVE fake dating. It's one of my favorite tropes. But it felt unnecessary in the story and very short-lived.
✨Indira and Jude weren't really enemies? Nothing major happened in their relationship. They just thought the other was annoying as children?
✨They fell in love TOO quickly. I wanted more banter, more tension, more slow-burn. Once they got together the romance was overwhelming imo.
✨I loved the first half, but then found 60-85%ish to be a bit slow and I wasn't as eager to pick it up. I did enjoy the ending though.

This was a really beautiful, sweet, inspiring book. It made me want to reach out to my loved ones and go to therapy. 😂 I think it's important to know that this isn't a typical rom-com. It focuses heavily on serious topics with romance threaded throughout. I won't recommend this to everyone, but for those I do recommend it to I know they will love it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC for an honest review!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Plus One features psychiatrist Indira and her brother's best friend (from childhood) Jude as they navigate Jude's return from practicing medicine internationally to attend his best friend's wedding. While there Indira breaks up with her long time boyfriend and stays with her brother and his soon to be husband while Jude is also staying there. Jude experiences some difficult things while back as a result of his time working in unstable countries. Indira is also experiencing some difficulties having to see her recent ex and his new partner while at wedding events so they make a pact to be each other's emotional support. Even though they had a more rival relationship when younger.


Oh how I loved this book. I had read Lizzie Blake and it was good but I think Mazey was maybe still working out her writing style or something because The Plus One was perfect.

I love when an author is able to create conflict and plot without using the characters being idiots to do so. I've noticed that this rarely happens and I usually end up really mad at one of the characters wanting to jump into the page and shake them but there was absolutely none of that here. Both characters had real emotional issues to overcome but at no point did they use that as a reason to be cruel or some dramatized version of something realistic.

This book had the perfect balance of very serious emotional issues, romance, and laughter and I've found that really is my happy place in a romcom. I get very strong Abby Jimenez vibes from Mazey and if you like Abby I strongly suggest this book.

Watching both of these characters grow and learn and heal was a pleasure.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I am convinced Mazey puts something in her books because I am addicted! They’re just so good! I flew through this and I can’t even get over how good it was! Another phenomenal book from Mazey!

A very huge thank you to MacMillan Audio for granting me access to this title. I am unsure if I would have finished the novel in hard copy. The Plus One by Mazey Eddings, in truth, is not my favorite of her books, but I still very much enjoyed it.

Indira and Jude are both thrown together when Indira's brother decides to marry the love of his life. Jude is home from his most recent deployment and while. he's glad to be back spending time with his bestie, anxiety is bubbling in him at what feels to him the most random/inconvenient times. Indira has just caught her boyfriend cheating on her (this scene actually cracked me up thanks to my book chat squad) and now she's crashing at her brother's. Soon to be married, Indira's brother has a less than ideal packed household, worse, Indira and Jude are like oil and water, they don't mix. Their playful/legitimate dislike is intense from the start, but with a little forced proximity and mutual beneficial needs for assistance and these two cook up a plan to survive the wedding together.

I want to warn that this book covers PTSD a lot. While the overall gist of the story is light, the ongoing struggles for Jude are very real. He experiences debilitating anxiety and panic attacks.

I have very little patience for redundant vocabulary and Eddings falls into this trap a lot in this book. I thought I was being overly critical, until I noticed my book group mentioning similar things.

What impressed me was that Mazey Eddings didn't end the book where most authors would. She followed through to give us full closure for both of our main characters. .

I loved reading A brush with love but I struggled with The Plus one. I picked it up a few times but I feel like I missed the connection with the romance. The plus one didn't work for me because it didn't click like the other one did but I know others will still like it.

Loved this one- have loved the whole series! Jude and Indira are the best for the back and forth banter. I love the long history that comes with them and that they have been in each others lives for forever yet get thrown together and realize that love is coming there way.

This was a charming, highly entertaining story. I loved Jude and Indira and cheered them on.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s publishing for an e-arc copy of Plus One.

This is my 4th five star read of 2023! If you love enemies to lovers with a twist of brothers best friend, you will enjoy this book. I was laughing, relating and even crying throughout the book.

All I have to say is Indira!!! It is so seldom that a FMC resonates with me, but something about Indira.. I could see parts of myself in her character which made me love the book even more.

This book was like therapy for me (spoiler: there’s a lot of therapy representation in this book which I loved). I loved the humanizing of our two doctor main characters and the mental health struggles they face. Going on the journey with Indira and Jude of taking care of your mental health and falling in love with your brothers best friend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️🌶️
The Plus One (Book 3 but a Standalone)

I loved this book. It was deep. It was funny. It was spicy. Did I mention it was deep already? Trigger warnings were announced at the beginning of the read/audiobook and the toppings were really handled well. No spoilers but Chapter 12 hit me HARD. I’d literally be laughing one moment during the Cheesecake Factory scene and then on the verge of heartbreak. But it added so much to the characters!

You’ll see lots of the characters from her first books A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake throughout the story along with Indira’s brother getting married 🏳️‍🌈.

This has so many tropes like brothers best friend, close proximity, fake dating, and childhood frienemies. But also heavier things like mental health, PTSD, divorced childhood.

The audiobook was fantastically narrated and I highly recommend pairing it.

This was my favorite in the series and I really enjoyed the first two so I clearly loved this one a lot! Mazey always surprises me with the emotional depth in her books! The mental health rep is so good and I really appreciated how Indira wanted to help Jude but didn’t want to act like his psychiatrist even though she is one. The balance between wanting to help each other but not trying to “fix” one another was done super well! I loved Jude and Indira’s banter and the childhood frenemies to lovers relationship. I also really enjoyed Collin and Jeremy as side characters.

This book is so moving, emotional and funny, so beautiful, I loved the romance and the way the author develops the romance, but what I loved the most is that both Jude and Indira grow emotionally, how they help each other to become a. better version of themselves, I loved the pull and push between them, the banter and the emotion that pours from the pages.

This author has a special ability to make you feel so much, it felt like a rainy afternoon on the sofa with a blanket and a cup of coffee, it warmed my heart and also made me laugh a lot, perfect for fans of
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
fake dating
emotional

4.5 stars

There is so much I LOVED about this book! I really just enjoyed the way Mazey Eddings put words together - they were like poetry. I thought Indira and Jude's story was beautifully written. For all their childhood animosity, Indira was so gentle as she helped him work through his struggles. The treatment of mental illness was so respectful and enlightening.

The book could have been a tiny bit shorter, but that doesn't take away from my overall love of this book! I've read Mazey Eddings' other titles, and this one seemed so much more sophisticated than the others. Beautifully crafted with a touch (well more than a touch) of spice! Excellent!

Can't wait to listen to the audio next!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Indira had it all. Until she walked in on her boyfriend covered in peanut butter with another woman that is. She immediately ends it because of the cheating, but also, who uses peanut butter in the bedroom? Unfortunately for her, when she arrives at her brothers house to stay for a bit, her arch nemesis from childhood Jude is also staying there. Her brothers wedding is fast approaching, so when Jude offers to be her fake boyfriend from the wedding, she can’t say no.

One thing I truly love about Mazy Eddings books is that she does not shy away from discussing mental health. I think it’s so important for that to be shown in the books we read, because that is a very common part of most peoples lives. I just loved Jude and Indira, and how much they truly loved and cared for each other, even when they pretended the hate ran deep. This book contained all the tropes, and I couldn’t have asked for more. It was a fantastic rom com!

This book has so many things I love . . . fake dating, enemies to lovers (since childhood), best friend’s sister and forced proximity.

Indira catches her boyfriend in a compromising position on her couch and heads to her brother Collin's house as a refuge. Little does she know, her childhood enemy, and Collin's best friend, Jude is home for Collin's wedding and staying at Collin's place. Jude is on an extended leave from his humanitarian doctor job.

Collin and Jeremy's wedding is quite the to-do with many activities and events leading up to their wedding day. Indira's ex is a relative of Jeremy's and will be at the wedding. Jude is dealing with some PTSD from the things he has experienced in his job. Indira and Jude decide to "fake date" at the wedding to support each other, despite their "enemy" status.

I loved Indira and Jude. When they reminisce about childhood, you see they didnt' really ever hate each other. And watching them catch feelings was fun.

The author dealt well with Jude’s trauma and mental health. Indira being a psychiatrist who works with children dealing with their own PTSD, and having her own trauma from her parents' divorce, allowed her to not only support Jude, but realize she needs to confront her own trauma and deal with it. Jude’s and Indira both grew so much during this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press (for the ARC) and MacMillan Audio (for the ALC) in exchange for my honest review.

Final Rating: 4.5 stars
CW: PTSD, panic attacks, emotional abuse, medical trauma, cheating

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is the latest in the 'A Brush with Love' series following Indira and Jude. Indira is a psychiatrist that loves her job and her life, up until she finds her boyfriend cheating on her and everything starts crumbling. Jude is a doctor that has spent a few years traveling with a team of medical professionals aiding communities in crisis. They both reunite for Indira's brother's wedding, and what begins
as a fake relationship to get her ex away from her, blooms into a transformational relationship for Indira and Jude.

Mazey did a great job of showing what therapy looks like in practice. There is no timeline for working through your issues/concerns with a professional and it's illustrated beautifully through her portrayal of the leads. the writing is very easy to follow and I found myself getting drawn into their story very quickly. This is my favorite in the series and I'm looking forward to what Mazey writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I ADORED A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, but The Plus One missed the mark for me a bit. Nothing was "bad" about the book, it just wasn't what I look for in a romance. I know a lot of other people will still enjoy this one. The writing was great, the banter was there, it was easy to read, and I was having a good enough time to keep reading so it earned the 3 stars. The synopsis promised fake dating and enemies to lovers, but it didn't deliver on either. The fakeness of the fake dating was minimal and annoying each other as children didn't scream enemies to me, they had no specific conflict in their past to move on from/figure out the miscommunication. I also struggled with buying into their relationship. I didn't feel the spark. Indira and Jude were very sweet and patient with each other which felt refreshing but also led to almost no conflict within their relationship, which apparently I want. The focus of the book was on the mental health of the characters, which will work for many readers, I just prefer the conflict of romance to be within the romance itself.