5 wonderful, well-earned stars. It’s hard to put into words how special this book is. Mazey Eddings has done it again and crafted the loveliest, most heartwarming, emotional-yet-hysterical contemporary romance novel.This book feels like if the very heart of Taylor Swift’s album FOLKLORE became a book. It’s a smart, romantic whirlwind of a story. It’s a rom-com-dram in every sense, and I could not put it down. I cried multiple times. This will forever be one of my favorite books because it centers two characters who learn that their own emotional struggles are not failings or a reflection of their own worth. It was so beautiful to watch Indira and Jude learn to love and be loved in the way they deserve.

I really enjoyed lizzie blakes best mistake, so I just KNEW I’d enjoy this one! I am definately buying this book. Already mentioned it in book club. Shout out to netgalley and publishing for allowing me to read and review this awesome book! 5 STARS!

Mazey Eddings pairs spicy romance with depth and beautiful representation in her writing. She does such justice to the hard topics in her books. In The Plus One, she focuses on mental health, parental abandonment, PTSD, medical provider stress and trauma. I love the way Mazey Eddings uses Indira & her journey to shine such a light on therapy - demystifying it and normalizing it for Jude, yet really it’s for the benefit of the readers, too. I loved Indira and Jude as a couple & their transition from enemies to lovers was beautiful though I would have loved more tension and build up to that plot line in the story. In some ways, the back 40% of the book felt like a giant epilogue. I enjoyed it and loved diving into Jude’s challenges and how they navigated things after Collin’s wedding, it just felt like a new/different plot at times. I love the writing and the exploration that Eddings is doing through her characters & I look forward to whatever she does next.

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this advanced e-galley! The Plus One releases April 2023 - don’t miss it!

As per usual, Mazel Eddings really does a great job of talking about a mental illness with care, compassion and just such normalcy. Her characters are sweet and amazing, and the stories are fun.

I liked A Brush with Love and then ended up loving Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, so I was really excited for The Plus One but it sadly didn’t quite meet my expectations.

The synopsis made the book sound like a light-hearted and funny read (at least that’s what I got from it) and it ended up being quite a lot darker than expected. One of the main themes of the book is Jude’s PTSD and while I always love mental health rep in romance, reading about his trauma made the story more intense than I feel like it’s being marketed.

The romance between Indira and Jude could’ve been a lot more developed and I wish the wedding would’ve been a bigger part of the story.

All in all, I was unfortunately a bit disappointed by The Plus One. However, I do think that readers will enjoy it if they know what to expect.

THIS BOOK... this book! it's been a few days since i finished reading it and i still can't collect my thoughts enough to write a coherent review.

this book focused heavily on the main characters' issues and the journey they went through to cope with those issues and i loved every second of it. i really appreciated all the discussions about mental health, and some of them hit close to home. i was rooting for jude and indira, and i can't put into words how proud and emotional i was by the progress they made throughout the book. they were flawed and wonderful and occasionally frustrating and just so... real. i felt extremely connected to them.

the author also did a great job at interlacing the main characters’ individual arcs with their romance. they did have their problems, but they managed to communicate with each other (which is sadly a rare thing in romance books) and work through their obstacles together. jude and indira were also a very fun couple to read about. they had great banter (with each other and against other people), and it was very palpable how much they loved each other. the little crumbs from their past that were sprinkled throughout the book also made it all THAT much sweeter.

i also loved other aspects of the book, such as the side characters and the writing (THIS WRITING HELLO???? as soon as i finished this book i immediately added mazey eddings’ other books to my tbr, and i'll also be looking out for her future releases), but as previously stated, i'm not capable of gathering my thoughts and saying much more about this book.

all in all, this book felt like sweet nothing by taylor swift but a lot heavier. i finished this book about 2 weeks before 2022 ends. i didn't think i was going to find a new favorite book for the rest of the year, but i was wrong. this book easily made my top 3 of the year, and i'm looking forward to rereading it in the future.

thank you to st. martin’s press and netgalley for providing this arc!

I think this is both my favorite Mazey Eddings book and her most important one. The setup is every trope-filled, romance reasons-y thing you can imagine: brother's best friend, childhood enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, only one tent, fake dating, banter banter banter, steam, etc etc etc, But beneath this swoony, fluffy goodness, it also depicts a deeply nuanced exploration of families, mental health, trauma and PTSD. I am constantly so impressed with how Eddings is able to balance romance and reality in her writing, in a way that never takes away from either. While her previous books have also done this, I found the Plus One to be even better in the way it weaves the two together. Being able to see two characters like Indira and Jude navigate the pain of their pasts (and presents) with such tenderness and vulnerability and love, all within a silly fake dating package is everything that I want from a romance book in 2022. I also love the humor of Edding's writing, which feels modern without being too online (if that makes sense?). Anyway, this is a really good book, and if you are reading this you should buy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I didn’t get far. Honestly it’s kind of annoying that the f word is so prevalent in this book. I don’t mind it every so often in a book but I just don’t love that word swirling through my head every other chapter through a book. Soooo I stopped about 10 chapters in. It’s not for me unfortunately.

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!

I unfortunately didn’t get too far with this one. It wasn’t for me. The subject matter was too heavy and not doing anything for me other than giving me anxiety and unease. I wasn’t seeing anything I particularly liked in the characters or their interactions. It all seemed very typical and uninteresting, with heavy doses of mental health struggles and PTSD thrown on top to where it was basically drowning everything else. If there was meant to be comedy, nothing I read was making me laugh. Nothing suggested to me that I might like it more as it went on so I had to give it a pass.

“Humour might be one of the most healing aspects of therapy” I know this isn’t a quote that is plastered everywhere, but it’s one that really spoke with me. As I quote a certain Mr. Styles, “Go to therapy, it’s important.”

Where do I begin with this book? Starting it, I just KNEW it was easily going into the Roses pile, but MAN, I didn’t think I’d be so impacted by this book (in a good way!) I’ve never annotated so much in my life - but listen it was GOOD. An absolute banger, how will I move on?

Jude and Indira are childhood enemies that agree to fake date each other for her brother (slash his best friend’s) wedding in order to distract Indira from her cheating ex boyfriend who will also be in attendance. With a little bit of tension, forced proximity and truly emotional 69-ing, it turns into something more.

I finished the book and I literally just had to sit and just be with the book and what had just happened. I went into this book with high expectations, I’ve read Mazey Eddings’ previous books and instantly fell in love. To learn a third one was coming out was a dream (and now I had the chance to read it before publication? I couldn’t have wished for something better.) This book exceeded any expectations I had, the raw emotion that grew between the two characters, the vulnerabilities that they had to present in order to communicate with each other — absolutely amazing.

I absolutely ate up these characters and seeing them not only fall in love, but grow together. I think what I adored so much was that neither person was “perfect” or “whole” or whatever term someone may want to use — they had things to work through and acknowledged that, but they were looking to still be there for each other. That, that hit. It made my views of love just so understood? Gah. The book was filled with so many heartfelt scenes (that house simile? I’m crying thinking about it) but also amazing banter to keep it light (also some STEAMY SCENES WOW). With the added bonus of seeing past characters? Winner winner chicken dinner.

I can understand that writing mental health is hard, I find that Mazey Eddings did a great job, though I do precaution that the trigger warnings are read before this. From my own personal experience, this book has made me appreciate my own therapy and how far I’ve come. There’s work to be done - but we should also focus of what we’ve succeeded in so far.

This book had me on the edge of my seat reading the tension, laughing out loud from the banter and crying like an absolute baby from the raw emotions. I can’t wait to read this series again.

😈 childhood enemies to lovers
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
🏕️ one tent!!
🥸 fake dating
🧍‍♂️ brother’s best friend/best friend’s sister
🏘️ forced proximity
🧠 mental health/PTSD
✨ therapy rep
🌶️ yes. there is spice.

Thank you thank you thank you to Net Galley + St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this ARC.

I found parts of this story difficult to read about (it was just my mood) but at the end I really enjoyed this one. Mazey Eddings is always having representation in her book and man, she's handling a heavy topic in this one with grace and compassion. I always learn something in her books but in a way that I'm also escaping reality and enjoying the book. This book does contain open bedroom/spicy scenes.

The Plus One tackles parental abandonment, strained family dynamics, medical care provider trauma, PTSD, panic attacks

Tropes include: grumpy sunshine, brothers best friend, fake dating, childhood friends/enemies, one bed/tent

This is the third instalment in the ‘Brush of Love’ series and if you are anything like me and tend to accidentally read series like this backwards, not to worry, this can still be read as a stand-alone!

This is an enemies to friends to lovers kind of romance with a splash of fake dating. The fake dating part falls to the background which I was happy about because I don’t really enjoy the whole fake dating trope.

Even though this is a romance, it deals with some heavy issues which are written about so beautifully. JUDE 🥹🥹🥹🥹 His struggles were captured so well. You felt for him through his entire journey. The evolution of his and Indira’s relationship was perfect. It was cute, funny, heartwarming and at times, heartbreaking. And he falls first so that’s just 🤌🏼 But don’t let the cute cover fool you… there is definitely spice 🔥

Hands down though, best interaction of the entire book:

"You look really nice," she added. "That's a great dress."
"Thanks. It has pockets." Indira said, tucking her hands into the folds of fabric to prove the point.
Lauren nodded in appreciation.

Why is this every girl possible 😂 I loved this so much.

Thank you so much to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC!

Every book in this series is perfect, but this one is by far my favorite. Eddings takes the popular fake-dating and brother's best friend trope and writes them in a way you've never seen before, the way the bookish community is always begging for. Before I write a messy review, I will say acknowledge this book will not be for everyone. If you don't like when characters talk everything out and are not a fan of cheesy, soulmate lines, this may not be for you. This is heavily character-driven so I can understand this book not being for everyone if they cannot connect to either Indira or Jude. But Eddings just does such a great job from characterization/character development to pacing and representation that I hope this book makes its way into many arms next year.

**To preface this book, please check trigger warnings because PTSD (among other things) plays a huge role in this novel. Jude's PTSD is consistent throughout the novel, including some anxiety/panic attacks and disassociation. Indira also has anxiety and skewed self-worth which plays a role in the novel.

Things I loved:
Fake dating without lying to everyone important in their lives
Forced proximity (one tent with awkward interactions)
No miscommunication, CONSTANT communication
Brother's best friend trope without the weird patriarchal aspect
THE THIRD ACT

Things I didn't love:
A tad too much emotional lifting on Indira's part
????

Jude and Indira decide to fake date for the events leading up to Indira's brother's wedding all because she caught her ex cheating on her. The two are upfront about the boundaries of this scheme with each other and their friends. Of course, just because they set up boundaries for themselves, doesn't mean their hearts obey. Jude and Indira reconnect and develop such a strong friendship that it makes their romance believable. Not only that, you root for the two to work out and know that they will last long term because of how much they care for each other and themselves. There were moments where I felt Indira was doing a lot more emotional labor for Jude, but it felt realistic because relationships aren't always about being "even." Sometimes, your person has to lead and Indira does this for Jude. I wish we got a bit more with Jude showing Indira how much he values her beyond words but it was nice to see both of their love languages in action throughout the novel.

Overall, this book gave me so many emotions and I cannot wait to have a physical copy so I can annotate it as much as I annotated my e-version.

I’ll start with saying I loved Mazey Eddings last book, and was thrilled when I got the opportunity to read The Plus One. Maybe there is a level of it being overhyped in my head, but unfortunately this book didn’t work for me. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but almost like the chapters in the book felt very jarring, like our characters could either be in intense pleasure or in crisis, there’s no in between. Almost like it was too silly and steamy for a more serious type of romance/women’s fiction, but too much working through really difficult topics to be a rom-com. I found the plot to be written to serve the story, instead of there really being a plot - the wedding activities drag on and are a bit ridiculous, Indira “doesn’t care” about her ex but needs a fake
boyfriend, forced proximity camping, etc. It just felt like forcing Indira and Jude together, instead of a natural progression. The intense enemies they’re at the beginning, feels quite childish and like they should be over it by now, as they don’t really have anything to be enemies over. Maybe if there had been more of a pining aspect it would have felt more realistic. Obviously many people love this book so all of this is likely a me problem, and if you enjoy a rom-com that has a lot of focus on mental health and working through trauma, you may enjoy this book. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed reading this book even though I hadn't read the first two books in the series. Even though this is a romance book and it's light on the surface, there are some serious topics covered in this story. Especially PTSD.

At its heart this is a little bit of an enemies to lovers trope and fake it till you fall in love trope. Jude and Indira have known each other forever since he's her brother's best friend. And they can't stand each other. They are stuck living in the same house with Indira's brother and his partner. But they decide to fake being together so Indira doesn't have to suffer through watching her ex with his new partner alone.

And what do you think happens?

I loved all of the characters and enjoyed all the moments I spent with this book.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dare I say this is one of the best books I've ever read? Mazey continues to blow my mind with her wit, charm, and heartfelt characters. It had so much more to it and the way it broke into my heart and claimed it as its own is what happened when I read this story. Many parts of this story resonated with me including anxiety and self-worth. Mazey swoops in with her pure self and shows you that it's okay to feel this way. We all have insecurities, but we are worthy of love.

I loved Indira and her fierce spirit. She never gave up on Jude and was a true friend. I admire Indira's ability to recognize when Jude lost his grasp on reality. She doesn't back down, ever! She goes straight to him and helps him through whatever troubles he's feeling or thinking.

Jude... oh, my dear Jude. *sigh* Jude has PTSD from his tours as a doctor in 3rd world countries. He is perfect in his imperfect way. And the way he cares for Indira makes him even sweeter. The moment Jude remembers Indira's cheesesteak order from her youth melted my heart and was one of my favorite scenes.

*ARC courtesy of the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Griffin in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. Thank you to the valued author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*

This was such a satisfying read. Of course I love a good swoon-worthy romance, but the star of this book is the PTSD representation/overall focus on mental health. Mazey’s books do SUCH a nice job of balancing sweet, romantic (or spicy 🌶️) moments with real-world topics (anxiety, PTSD, trauma, etc). Her writing is authentic, raw, and relatable. Lots of fun tropes in this one too — enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, fake dating, forced proximity.

I couldn’t help but root for Jude and Indira. She genuinely wanted to help him without wanting to fix him, and it was just so satisfying watching him learn to unpack and feel comfortable with her. And for her to heal parts of herself, as well, along with him. We are here for the personal and relationship growth! 👏🏻 Their romance just felt really natural and genuine when all was said and done.

This was such a cute book. I loved the PTSD representation as well as the romance between the two main characters. It felt very believable and was such a cute love story.

I really enjoyed the story between Jude and Indira. This is a great enemies to lovers story. The author provides thoughtful character development and the relationship between Indira and Jude shows what it means to push your partner to be the best version of themselves.