Indira catches her boyfriend cheating on her so she moves in with her brother a few weeks before his wedding. It just so happens her brothers best friend (Jude) is staying with him to leading up to the wedding also. Jude and Indira agree to fake date, sparks fly and they fall in love. Indira helps Jude with his PTSD due to his high intensity job.

I went into this book with high hopes and it did not live up. The book in general was ok, not a bad book but not overly exciting either. The concept was there, but this seemed to drawn out. The overall vibe of the book was sweet and caring. At times it seemed like different writing styles mashed together and that didn't make sense to me.

Trope- Childhood frienemies to lovers, Fake Dating, Brother Best Friend
TW- Cheating , PTSD, Abandonment, Mental Health
Spice level- 1 .5

The Plus One is a childhood enemies-to-lovers, brothers best friend, fake dating contemporary romance novel that checked so many boxes for me!! Its sweet, steamy, funny and had such great banter. But its also deep, emotional and navigated trauma and mental health in a beautiful way.

Our protagonists Indira and Jude are so endearing and lovable that I was enamored right away.

This was my first novel by Mazey Eddings and my only regret is that I hadn’t picked up one of her books sooner!

Thanks so St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 🤍

Childhood enemies, faking wedding date, and forced proximity to a horrible ex happen to be three of my favorite plots for romance books. This book has all three. It was a quick read with likable main characters I found myself rooting for, which isn't always the case with enemies to lovers, sometimes I strongly dislike one character for a good bit of the book. A super cute plot that was well-written and moved quickly. I will definitely be adding this author to my list to watch for more books in the future.

I was keeping this book for a rainy day and boy am I glad I did. Mazey Eddings really hits it out of the park with this one involving Indira, who we met in her first two books, and Jude, my new book boyfriend. On top of having my favourite trope of “friends” to lovers, everything about this story felt honest and real. It was beautifully written and executed and just a great read.

Indira is a psychiatrist who catches her boyfriend in a compromising position involving peanut butter and another woman. She moves in with her brother six weeks before his wedding and bumps into his best friend and her childhood frenemy, Jude. The end up both living at the house while Jude deals with his mental health struggles after working overseas and Dira deals with residual family trauma around her father’s abandonment of the family when she was a child.

I fell completely in love with Jude in 30 pages and their lifelong love story fell so beautifully into place over the next 270. This is definitely a heavier book than Lizzie Blake but it deals really well with the invisible illnesses people can struggle with throughout their lives.

If you love spicy books, we’ll written stories, strong female characters, damaged male characters, and people generally willing to work their problems out in a healthy way by doing the work on themselves first, this book is for you. Also only one tent!

Another five stars!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest opinions on this title. I honestly loved it and devoured the book in a day!

I enjoyed this book, but the pacing was a little slow and I think it felt repetitive at times hence the 3 star rating.

I really liked Indira's character. She's a psychiatrist who struggles with her own mental health and fears it will affect her ability to help others. I like that Eddings often tackles taboo topics like PTSD, anxiety, ADHD in her books. I think it makes the character's feel more real. Indira catches her boyfriend cheating on her and temporarily moves in with her brother, who has his best friend (and Indira's childhood nemesis) Jude staying with him. Jude is struggling with PTSD after spending the last 3 years working as a doctor in disaster areas.

Now this book has a little fake dating in it and childhood enemies to lovers (though it was more they just annoyed each other growing up than actual enemies). As I mentioned pacing is an issue in this book. A lot of the scenes where similar in discussing Indira and Jude's mental health struggles and the romance in the book was kind of lacking. I had a hard time buying Jude's dirty talk in the smut scenes. Like it literally made me cringe when he said certain things. His character just didn't give me the bad boy in the bedroom vibes Eddings tried to make happen.

I also felt like there were just too many character's thrown into this one. I know she wanted to include the couples from the first few books, but them plus Indira's ex, Jude's family, Indira's brother and his fiancé, the therapist...there were too many cook's in the kitchen at that point. I did appreciate that there was no third act break up for once in a romcom. Overall the story was cute, but just not my favorite by Eddings.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC copy.

When I picked up this book I thought I was getting a light, cozy enemies to lovers romance. That’s not quite what I got. Instead, I got something that has “For those who hurt…” as part of the dedication, and a few content warnings.

It kinda threw my expectations for a loop but I started reading, and kept reading, and finished reading, and was really glad I did.

The Plus One is delightful. It’s funny. It’s emotional. It handles the stigma of mental health and therapy beautifully. The characters are frustrating at times but they’re human and they’re flawed and that’s ok. Being flawed, and feeling broken doesn’t mean you’re not deserving of love.

I did feel like I had to take a star off because of the lack of enemies in the enemies-to-lovers part and how quickly the fake dating turned into real dating but overall this was a really fun read. This is my first Mazey Eddings book even though it’s technically the third in the series. It stands well on its own and I didn’t feel like I really missed anything despite not having read the first two books (that I will be adding to my TBR).

I was very excited to read the conclusion to the Brush With Love series since I've loved the other two so much. This one did not disappoint.

Read this for:
- Brother's best friend
- Childhood frenemies
- Roommates
- Forced proximity as part of the wedding party
- Only one tent
- Fake dating
- Lots of roasting each other
- Childhood memories
- Mental health rep

The whole Brush With Love series has a huge focus on mental health and dealing with serious issues, but to me this book was the most deep into the thick of things. You start off the story right in the midst of all the issues both Indira and Jude deal with. Going into this one, I think it's important to know it's a deeply emotional read especially since you are witnessing a lot of the on page results of the trauma Jude is dealing with from a result of his job as a doctor for international areas with extreme conflict and wars.

At the start we find Indira with a cheating ex, needing a place to stay. She moves in with her brother and his fiancé who is set to get married in several weeks. Due that, her brother's best friend Jude is also staying in the house. The two are forced together and quickly find out that they can be a support for one another.

While Indira is confronting her abandonment issues, Jude is dealing with PTSD from his job and feeling unworthy of ever being happy again. I loved that this story shows that you don't have to be completely healed to be accepted and loved. In the midst of your journey you are still valuable and lovable. The two shared so much history with one another, and as they started to drop their walls they were able to see how much they cared about one another.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the snark they gave one another. It was funny and so fun to see them roasting each other. I also loved seeing cameos from the rest of the friend group. The epilogue was everything because it really did wrap up all the couples in their HEAs.

I'm sad this series is over, but so grateful to have read it and felt all the feels from each and every one of these books. I can't wait to see what Mazey comes out with next!

Thank you to SMP and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mazey Eddings has become a master of writing books with genuine, complete characters, and compassionate representations of mental health struggles, both of which I really respect. The Plus One had both of those elements in spades!

In The Plus One, Indira’s relationship has just blown up in spectacular fashion, so she goes to stay with her brother and his fiancé to sort her life out in the lead up to their wedding. Also staying there is her brother’s best friend, Jude, who’s come home for the wedding on a short leave from his work as a doctor treating people in countries with international humanitarian crises. But this heavy work has taken a toll on Jude’s mental health, and he’s not the same person he was when he left. Despite their childhood annoyances with each other, Jude and Indira start a fake relationship to help Indira avoid her ex, and to give Jude a clean excuse to escape stressful social situations arising in the many wedding events. But their fake relationship soon leads to real feelings, and Jude and Indira must navigate their unexpected connection while working to help Jude find his way back to himself.

There is so much I loved about this book. The characters are all incredible, which I know I can always count on in a Mazey book. Indira is so fun and independent, and I really enjoyed her therapy journey of reconciling her internal emotional struggles with her ability to be an effective therapist herself. Jude is just wonderful, and my heart broke for him over his internal struggle and how trapped he felt in a situation that was harming him. The side characters are equally delightful, lighting up and bringing comedy to every scene they’re in.

That said, there are two reasons this wasn’t a 5-star read for me.

First, the tone balance was a bit off for me. This book has a LOT of substance. There is a lot of narration and dialogue about mental health and coping with struggles. Which was great itself, but sometimes overpowered the romance. Conversely, while there are some truly hilarious scenes, the comedic feel got overpowered by the more emotional sections. I just wanted more comedy in this rom com, including more time spent with the wonderful side characters.

Second, I didn’t love the ending - the epilogue setting out what Jude and Indira decided to do with their lives. It just seemed like it came out of nowhere. I wish there was more foundation set throughout.

Overall, this was a really great, substantive rom com with strong themes of mental health and compassion. Can’t wait for more from the author!

Oh my heart! I have adored all of Mazey Eddings’ books! The narrators were perfect and two of my favorites! I would give it more than 5 stars if I could!

The Plus One definitely dealt with heavier issues, but there was so much heart. I loved how Indira and Jude went from enemies to lovers. I especially loved how Indira refused to give up on Jude. They had such a special connection. I love how he challenged his organization to protect his mental health. I was really disappointed that they didn’t recognize the importance of his mental health and still made him pay back his loan.

I also loved how they followed their dreams to start their own clinic. What a perfect ending to this group of friends!

One of my favorite tropes is fake dating, so I'm there for that. Great mental health rep in the book, though it felt a little "love will light the way" at times.

4.5 wow. First thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This book felt like going to therapy but in the best way. Indira and Jude are to very broken people who you just want to hold until they realize how much they deserve to be loved. I loved this book. I loved how Eddings showed how freaking flawed everyone van be but that healing isn't this linear journey. Jude has seen the absolute worst of humanity and honestly he just needs a hug and to be left alone. I loved how PTSD was explored in this book through Judes character. It was a real and honest portrayal of how the things we carry can effect every aspect of our life. Although y'all know was cheering on my feet for Indira when are stood up to her dad everyone who has ever had a parent abandon them or leave them constantly feeling small this book is for you. I cried so much and it felt so therapeutic. I loved it and Jude and Idrina deserve their HEA. Huge thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

A must read!!!! This book and series hold such a special place in my heart. I love romance novels, and I love how Mazey writes neurodivergent characters and characters dealing with mental health issues.

In this book specifically, Indira deals with abandonment issues and is in therapy the whole time. Jude is dealing with PTSD and it’s pretty severe. Mazey wrote this so well and with so much care.

Now for the romance!!! I was SWOONING, blushing, and teary eyed while reading. I loved this love story so freaking much.

I have 30+ kindle highlights, but here’s one of my favorite quotes. :)

“He’d forgotten that happiness wasn’t a banging, violent emotion like all the others that bombarded him every moment. Happiness was soft. Uneventful. It was holding Indira’s hand. Sitting next to her on the couch and listening to her talk. It was a quiet cup of coffee with her next to him reading a magazine. It was teasing her, being goofy and pretending to pass out after sniffing her feet, making her shriek in outrage and giggle. Happiness was them.”

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the early copy.

I adored this book so much . I loved the mental health aspects as well as each individual characters journey for healing . I thought sometimes it flew a tad too fast or jumped around and I’m still not a fan of 3rd person- personal
Choice , but I loved this book nonetheless

Let me start off by saying the mental health representation was awesome. I really enjoyed how pro-therapy it was and that it tried to tackle difficult issues.
I really wanted to love this one, but I found it difficult to finish it and had a hard time becoming invested in the characters. I didn't love how much time jumping there was. I felt like we missed key parts of growth. The sibling bickering was a tad much for me and never felt resolved, they kept brushing it under the rug. I also can't believe im saying this but the smut was too much? Jude didn't seem like a "good girl" kinda guy and it always seemed to happen at the wrong times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader! .

i enjoyed the beginning when they hated each other and unfortunately they got together too soon and it just wasn’t good. too much sex for me & i didn’t like any of the characters. it wasn’t a good series and i honestly don’t recommend. it will take MANY amazing reviews for me to read any more of Mazey’s books.

Let me start off by saying I LOVE that we made addressing PTSD a main plot point in a romance novel. More of this please!! I think it was handled so well, and that the portrayal of Jude's PTSD was spot on. PTSD comes in so many shapes and sizes and symptoms, so there is no "correct" way to portray it, but there are harmful stereotypes that exist out there in media and this book did not showcase any of those. So so many thanks to the author for dedicating a book to this subject.

I also really loved Jude and Dira's relationship (enemies to lovers + brother's best friend is a combo I'll go for any day of the week), and the fact that she became is safe harbor, his calm space in his chaotic life made my heart get all gooey and melty. She supported him but did not try to "fix" him, and I could not love that more.

What I didn't like, and what took one star away: I've read romance books in the third person before and liked them well-enough, but for some reason it just kind of removed me from the story a bit too much for my liking in this one. PTSD is an intensely personal thing, and I think it would've had more of an emotional impact if we'd gotten first person perspective from both Jude and Dira. I also think the title is a little misleading -- yes, they're fake dates to the wedding, but that's not a main plot point, her family knows, and it doesn't even really get introduced until at least 20% in. So it's kind of a strange title and way to promote the book.

All in all, 4/5 stars. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC.

✨ Review ✨ The Plus One by Mazey Eddings; Narrated by Imani Jade Powers; Joe Arden

Despite discussing really serious topics like PTSD, cheating and abandonment, and mental health more broadly, this book was an absolute delight to read.

Indira catches her bf cheating on her (and there's peanut butter involved...) and she flocks to stay with her brother, who's preparing to get married in a few weeks. The brother's best friend Jude (and Indira's childhood nemesis) is staying with her brother, because he's home for a few weeks from his grueling international aid medical position to help his friend prepare to get married.

Indira and Jude pretend to start dating to get back at PB boyfriend, and their banter built on years of childhood shenanigans was just so much fun. I loved all their goofy jokes and playfulness, and even as they grappled with their own mental health issues, this was a fun read.

This is the second book of Eddings' that I've read, and I'll be back for more. Great engaging audio narration as well!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: contemporary f/m romance
Location: Philadelphia
Reminds me of: the other books in this series b/c characters keep popping up :)
Pub Date: April 4, 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ earnest mental health discussions paired with goofy banter
⭕️ fake dating
⭕️ childhood friends getting together
⭕️ cheesesteak

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Another good story for the group of friends we first met in A Brush with Love. This book features Indira, who is a psychiatrist, and Jude, her brother Collin's best friend since childhood. Indira has baggage of her own relating to her father leaving the family when she was young. Jude is suffering from PTSD from his time serving as a surgeon for a world medical group that sends medical teams to areas around the world where emergency care is needed. Jude is home for several weeks for Collin's wedding and his staying at Collin's house. Indira just found her live-in boyfriend with another woman and needs to stay at Collin's house as well. Indira recognizes that Jude is not fine as he says he is. Despite the "hate" relationship they had growing up, they are prepared to help each other in the present. This was really a moving story with some laugh at loud moments and plenty of tears.

this series has been so unexpected. usually i prefer when an author is consistent across the board, but i have had different reading experiences with each of these books and i think this one might be the best one yet.

the first book was cute and lighthearted, the second book was over-the-top, but this one is very grounded. it focuses on mental health, but not in a gimmicky way. in a meaningful way that im sure every reader will be able to relate to. while i think many rom-com stories focus on the whirlwind nature of romance, i love how this portrays a healthy, working connection between two people. it feels very real and genuine.

Really enjoyed this read. A little slow but overall a good look into mental health. Really enjoyable characters with progression of personalities. Some spicy moments bring excitement. Covered hard to speak about topics in a tasteful, real manner which I can appreciate.