Member Reviews
This is an absolutely beautiful story that Eddings has created in her novel. I was captivated by the love story of Indira & Jude from the first pages. And while Eddings incorporates very serious issues, especially around mental health, PTSD, anxiety & depression, she balances the realities of living with mental illness/wellness with stunning insight & the light-hearted relationships between all her characters.
I love this book - I cannot wait to read Eddings next novel!
🌸BOOK REVIEW🌸
The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
"I don’t know how she does it, but somehow every book Mazey Eddings writes becomes my new favorite. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Jude and Indira, both individually and as a couple. The Plus One is deliciously tropey, but also raw, honest, psychologically rich— and scorchingly hot." —Ava Wilder, author of How to Fake It in Hollywood
I loved Indira and Jude’s story! Indira is a psychiatrist who has a disastrous breakup (involving the funniest cheating scene ever!) Only problem, her now-ex is a groomsman in her brothers upcoming wedding. Enter Jude, her childhood arch nemesis, who is also in town for the wedding. Jude and Indira are both working to overcome some mental health hurdles, and this book handles those in a beautiful, respectful way.
Recommend if you like:
🌸Fake dating
🌸Childhood enemies-to-lovers
🌸PTSD/Mental health rep
🌸Diverse side characters
🌸Funny banter
🌸Emotional character growth
Publish date: April 4, 2023
Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress and @mazeyeddings for the ARC!
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The Plus One was a quick read following Indria and Jude. The dual point of view was nice but I'm not a huge fan of 3rd person books.
I did love the first half of the book but the second half was a little too fast emotionally for me.
I would definitely recommend to a friend!! This is my third book by the Author so I obviously I love her books!
Indira walks in on her boyfriend, Chris, with another woman and flees with her cat to her brother Collin's house. Collin is preparing to marry his partner, Jeremy, soon. Upon arrival, she runs into Collin's best friend, Jude. Since they were young, Indira and Jude didn't get along. With the upcoming wedding, Jude is also staying with Collin. Will these two ever see eye to eye?
THE PLUS ONE, is a steamy romance that features, enemies to lovers and fake dating. It's the third book in the Brush With Love series. Although, I really enjoyed this story, I didn't find it as funny as her previous novel. I'd like to mention, there are some trigger warning of PTSD, cheating and emotional repercussions of growing up with divorced parents.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.
Y'all have no idea how excited I was when I seen that Eddings had written another book!
I loved her two previous titles.... But I do believe this one takes the cake!
The Plus One by Mazey Eddings was spectacular!
I devoured every single word. With a unique ability to blow me away emotionally, Eddings strikes again!
I absolutely loved the snarky banter and the romance between Indira and Jude. I loved it so much that I was laughing out loud numerous times and had a permanent amused smile on my face during their scenes.
The romance, writing style and wit in this book is second to none. I have nothing but praise for this book
Simply put I don't think anyone can do fake dating + childhood enemies better than Mazey Eddings!
Or adding in the mix of anxiety, mental illness and PTSD. Because she does is perfectly!
"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is the second Mazey Eddings book I have gotten through NetGalley and this is the second time I have thoroughly enjoyed her work. This book had both a light-hearted rom-com feel all while touching on some more serious subjects such as mental health, PTSD and more.
I loved the slight overlap of characters from the other book but also being able to read this as a standalone as well. But it does make it fun to hear what the other friends and their significant others are up to. This book had a LOT of tropes in it but they all came together in the best way.
There is just enough steamy scenes in this along with some great plot points that made it enjoyable over all. This one earned a 4-star rating from me. I loved the characters and the story was super cute over all. I would recommend this for readers who want a rom-com that has a more serious side to it as well.
Big thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
All I can say is wow.
This books covers some topics that are uncomfortable but I'm so glad that she did! The importance of getting the help you need was beautiful! Mental health is so important!
Also Indira and Jude are just amazing! Loving the brothers best friend trope! Never fails!
Jude has returned home to attend his best friend, Collin’s wedding and is struggling with PTSD after serving two years as a surgeon in conflict zones. Indira, a psychiatrist, has just come out of a bad break-up, and Collin’s wedding is resurfacing childhood trauma from their parents’ divorce. Jude and Indira, childhood nemeses, find themselves both crashing at Collin’s house in the lead up to the wedding and, of course, romantic shenanigans ensue.
The Plus One is an incredibly sweet romance with great mental health rep. It also covers an impressive number of tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers, childhood sweethearts, brother’s best friend, and only-one-tent, to name a few!
I appreciated how much the characters communicated (especially since miscommunication is so often used as a plot device in romance novels). I could have done with slightly less giggling (despite covering some pretty serious topics, someone is giggling on every other page). All in all, if you are looking for a sweet, sensitive, open-door, mental-health forward romance, definitely check out The Plus One!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
Two childhood friends and one younger sister who always hung around them. Come together for the wedding of Collin and Jeremy both successful doctors. Jude Bailey best friend to Collin since childhood. coming back for the celebration, he is a surgeon that travels to parts of the world that no one really speaks about. Then there is In Indira Collins sister who is coming off a bad breakup.and crashes her brothers home needing a place to land.
Indria who is a perfectionist always trying to fix a situation is thrown into a fake romance with Jude. Supposedly they do not like each other, but since Indria 's ex boyfriend is in the wedding party she need a distraction from him. Enters Jude Bailey a doctor hiding many secrets that he is afraid to let out and figures being around Indria would help until he starts feeling things he never expected.
The Plus One takes us on a journey of self loathing and self healing. The struggle with PTSD and how you are not deserving to be happy. That is Jude Bailey until Indria brings Jude to the point of not running away from his fears and that he does deserve happiness. Indria has her own issues many about abandonment . That every relationship she has they leave her like her dad did.
I love the characters of Jude and Indria tow people both in tough positions of hurt but choose to work together to get to the other side. They showed that even though their sexually chemistry was there they both needed to forgive themselves and heal. Especially Jude who felt he didn't deserve happiness. Ms. Eddings gave Jude a real soul when she wrote about his torments. It was a book of hope that with the proper help people can survive. I
Thank you St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC. Thank you also to Ms. Eddings for writing a book about topics that touch the real person. Not many would touch on these trauma issues. These characters have left really a mark. I know this is book three in the series. I will surely look for the first two and any other future books from Mazey Eddings. 4.5 stars
'
This was heavier than I thought and had almost 100 pages of character backstory and feelings better getting into it all which was good but also could maybe been shortened a little bit? Wow the chemistry and spice was piping between these two! Such a beautiful heartbreaking story with them healing eachother ahhh so poignant! So unique never read anything so beautifully raw and real. Only took off a star from being perfect because I normally don't go for super serious heartbreaking stories even though this was really beautiful
4.5 ⭐️The Plus One follows Indira and Jude who have know eachother since childhood but haven’t necessarily always gotten along. They decide to fake date throughout the events that lead up to Colin’s wedding who is Indira’s brother and Jude’s best friend. Both Jude and Indira have their share of trauma due to events that have happened in there but they begin to navigate through it together. Trigger warnings are given at the beginning at the book so please be aware of that. I was honestly shocked by how much i enjoyed this book because it wasn’t what i was expecting. It is marketed as enemies to lovers, brother’s best friends, grumpy-sunshine book so i was expecting somewhat of a cheesy romcom. Although it does still stick to those tropes it takes on more heavy issues between the characters that can be dark at times. It’s definitely a journey that the characters go on and i appreciate how the author took their time in making sure the characters had their healing time. I absolutely adored Indira and Jude, their banter was actually hilarious. I would definitely recommend everyone picks up this book on its release date: April 4th , 2023!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!
What I read: The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
Why I picked it up: I liked the cover so I requested the arc from NetGalley.
How I read it: The ARC from NetGalley which I received in exchange for my honest review.
What it’s about: Indira walked in to a sticky situation involving her boyfriend, peanut butter, and another woman. So she moves in with her brother but her enemy is staying there. Turns out Jude is less of an enemy and more of a person who knows her better than anyone else in the world. Also he’s suffering with PTSD and she’s a psychiatrist. She sees what’s happening and helps him see the truth about himself.
What I liked: I really appreciated the look at mental health and understanding of the human condition. I highlighted many passages that I would like to return to in the future.
What I disliked: There were a few too many spicy scenes that included way too much important dialogue so they were hard to skip over.
Genre: Mental health, fake dating, open door.
Rating & Recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and I think it’s worth a read if you like anything that talks about mental health.
Mazey's books just keep getting better and better! I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and book three is no exception. She has great character development, and writes emotion so well. This author has earned a place on my auto-buy list, and I can't wait to read what she publishes in the future.
I adored this book. It’s refreshing when the female MC makes the first move and the initiative. Everything felt very real and could all happen in real life. And it even featured one of my favorite tropes, one bed (in this case tent).
Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5⭐️
OBSESSED!!! when mazey announced this one was fake dating AND brother’s best friend, i was beyond excited. this absolutely delivered!! i feel like every book is getting better as we go. the representation was really really good - i love that mazey includes a positive attitude about therapy in each of her books. i loved both of our mcs vvvvery much - and the spice was phenomenal ;)
⚠️tw/cw: mental illness, medical trauma, panic attacks/disorders, infidelity, abandonment, violence, war, toxic relationship, medical content
4.5 stars! This book was so good! This is my first book by Mazy Eddings, even though it is the third in the series it read beautifully as a stand alone! I will definitely be going back to read the other two now! I have so many thoughts about this book.
Tropes: brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers, fake dating, and it wasn’t necessarily a grumpy-shine it was kind of a grumpy grumpy in my opinion. Literally all my favorite tropes in one book!!
I loved getting to know Jude and Indira! Jude was an unconventional hero. He was awkward and broken and so sweet. And Indira was smart, sassy and funny. The two were so good together! It was a breath of fresh air reading a book about characters in their late 20s early 30s who were actually mature but could still have fun!
This book totally surprised me. First, I would not call this book a cheesy romcom, it’s more of a romance with some dark topic that were made light with witty banter, sweet romance and many funny parts. This book is centered heavily around mental health. Jude was dealing with major PTSD and Indira was dealing with her own mental battles. It made the book feel a bit heavier but not in a bad way, I actually really enjoyed the realness of it! Honestly, I felt a deep connection with these characters, my husband struggles with PTSD and I have my own mental health problems and being in a relationship where not one but both people are broken and fighting battles is hard, I think Eddings did a fantastic job depicting PTSD and how it can overtake someone’s mind. That feeling of just wanting to be normal and seem normal but your mind freezes you in fear. Eddings focus so much on the mental health aspects of this book, I would say almost more than the romance. We got to truly see Jude and Indira walk through their own battles and work towards trying to heal. But, that didn’t distract from their amazing and heart warming love story! Jude and Indira were so fun together! Their playfulness and banter was unmatched!
Both characters dealing with real problems made them seem so much more real.
There were many descriptive sex scenes. I wouldn’t say they were over the top or overly spicy. They were actually sweet. It was fun seeing Jude and Indira change and get more confident as the book went on.
My only complaint was I felt like the ending dragged out a bit.
Overall this book was a great read!! Very different than anything else I have read recently. Filled with real problems, witty banter, and a cute love story!
**Thank you for St.Martin’s Press and Netgallery for the early digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
I loved this comforting and emotional romance! It was the perfect fall/holiday read with just the right amount of spice and kick mixed with emotional rawness that brings the story to a grounded existence and let me feel even more connected to the characters. I will absolutely be reading more of Mazey Eddings upcoming releases! Thank you for a chance to read an early copy.
I read A Brush With Love last year and thought it was super cute and a fun read, albeit lacking something and not as captivating as I would have liked. However, The Plus One really blew me away! I'm so happy I decided to read this, because it was such a wonderful book and had everything I could have wanted. I loved getting a crossover and seeing characters from A Brush With Love appear in this book. It felt like family, to be able to see everyone come together. I think the most important thing to highlight about this book isn't the romance or the tropes or the writing - although all of those are stellar - but the mental health and trauma representation that we see. Jude and Indira come from difficult pasts, and carry their scars into their futures. I truly enjoyed seeing them come together and help each other heal, support each other, and love each other through it all, good and bad. Healing is not linear, and it is certainly not easy, and I have to prasie Mazey Eddings for giving us such a realistic and raw representation of PTSD, trauma, healing, therapy and so much more. This book was smart, sexy, real, funny and worth your time to check out. I highly recommend.
Tropes: childhood friends, brother's best friend, fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers.
Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an eARC of this book you cannot miss.
Thanks @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to read and review @mazeyeddings forthcoming book, The Plus One. It releases on April 4, 2023.
The third book in the Brush with Love series follows Indira and her brother’s best friend Jude. They have been annoyed with each other since childhood, but their relationship shifts as they get ready for Indira’s brother’s wedding.
Jude has spent the past several years working in conflict zones as a surgeon and the experience has left him with PTSD. Part of their journey as a couple is figuring out whether they are too broken to be together. Mazey Eddings writes about mental health with such care and compassion. You will root for these characters to find their happy ending.
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Tropes: brothers best friend, enemies-to-lovers, one tent, accidental roommates
Such a cute book! I loved Dira and Jude’s bantering and the enemies to lovers trope. I did not read the 2 books in the series that come before this one, and I feel like I didn’t miss anything. Their stories was cute all on its own.
I’m also glad that Jude’s PTSD and struggle to fight for himself was part of it. I don’t think that’s talked about enough in guys.
Really cute read! Published date is 4/4/2023. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the eARC!