2.5 🌟’s.

📝 tropes: enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, mental health rep, stem MC's, fake dating, only one bed
🌶 spice: 3/5
❌ CW: PTSD, cheating ex, parental neglect/divorce

oh man, this one definitely flopped for me :/ very disappointed as i absolutely ADORED mazey’s other two works.. this one had major structural problems where the fake dating/hate to love trope played out in a small portion but then the couple got together for the majority of it?? there was none of that tension i wanted or slow burn. and it was just super repetitive or drawn out with them having sex or being all lovey dovey w/o any sort of development to getting there?

the main reason i gave this the 2.5 stars is primarily due to mazey’s writing ability and her brilliant mental health/PTSD representation.. it was done super well and i definitely think its worth reading just solely based on that aspect. nevertheless, i do wanna say that this part of the overall book overrode the romance itself.. not that the rep isn’t important but i felt like there was a definite imbalance that made me not engage with the story at all ya know? i feel like i’ve read other books where it was executed more harmoniously and interwoven with the romance better.

i also really really wanted to see Jude being there for Indira and the struggles she was going thru as well.. i understand the therapy was there and it’s not healthy to put ur shit onto ur partner but at the same time, just like Indira was able to be someone to lean on for Jude, i really wanted to see the vice versa happening.. she also has a lot of trauma and vulnerability about not being enough/deserving of love and it just wasn’t addressed the way i wish it was :/

disappointed overall but what can ya do? i will definitely nOT stop reading from this author.. just think this one missed the mark for me (which is okay bc i see TONS of ppl loving it and getting SO MUCH meaning and relatability out of it which is incredibly powerful and wonderful to see!!).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to the publisher St. Martin’s Griffin for the e-ARC via Netgalley. Releases April 4, 2023!

I really enjoyed this book. Indira and Jude are probably my favorite out of all the couples that Mazey has written. I think Mazey really touched the issues people with PTSD face really well. It definitely hit home for me and I loved how she portrayed the mental health issues a lot of people face daily that they are afraid to work on or share with others. I think she really did the mental health issues justice in this book and I highly recommend reading. I am super happy I was able to read this book and enjoyed every aspect of it wholeheartedly.

I loved this book! It does an amazing job covering the difficult subject of trauma. Specifically PTSD. It is taken seriously and handled with care all while telling a great story.

I especially love the dynamic between Jude and Indira. The way she watches over him is one of the sweetest things I have ever read. Swoon!

The only thing that let this book down for me (a little bit) was the ending. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way it ends, just not necessarily how it’s told. Not a dealbreaker, and definitely doesn’t take away from whether or not I would recommend this book.

Cute read!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review or completely my own.

Mazey Eddings writing gets better with each book! These characters have to be my favorite in the series. Their relationship was so sweet and caring. I loved seeing them grow together and peel back the layers to their friendship and relationship. Their backstories were well developed and showed the reader a new perspective.

I absolutely loved the storytelling in this book. I can’t wait for the next one!

I've read all three of these books and really enjoyed this one. I love thatbthe author includes mental health representation in her books. I can't wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend!

Enemies to lovers, brother's best friends, and mental health representation? Sign me up!

The Plus One is a funny rom-com that centers around Indira and Jude, two opposites in every way. After a surprising break up with her boyfriend, Indira decides to crash at her brother's apartment, where none other than Jude is currently staying after coming back from his overseas work as a doctor. With the hateful banter between them, but also the brewing chemistry, who will be the first to crack?

The mental health representation in Jude suffering from PTSD was done very well. I liked how both characters were illustrated as strong even with what they were dealing with on the inside. Indira was a great opening for Jude to share his experiences with.

Trigger warning: this book deals with PTSD.

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

What a nice surprise this book was. I’d like to start by saying that I haven’t read the first 2 books as I didn’t know this was part of a series, but I enjoyed it so much that I will definitely read them in a near future. I loved Mazey Eddings’ writing style. 
 
Although this book deals with very heavy topics such as PTSD and depression, it’s far from heavy in itself. It’s written with great care and compassion. It is also really funny and I often laughed out loud through Indira and Jude’s journey. I cried with them, I laughed with them and felt every single butterfly. Their banter was amazing and made me my little heart happy. I highly recommend!
 
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
💚Enemies to frenemies to lovers
💚Brother’s best friend
💚Fake dating
 
 
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 🌶️🌶️.5
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 💧💧💧💧.5
 
🚨𝗔𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗪 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻g
 
𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯’𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

The Plus One is a serious and funny frenemies to lovers novel in the A Brush With Love series. In this story we get to know Indira and Jude: she's crashing with her brother after a bad break up and he's crashing there to help with the upcoming wedding of Indira's brother (aka, Jude's best friend). Their first scene together really showcases that frenemy part--they're like snarling cats with each other and their traded insults are hilarious. That veneer of funny is threaded throughout the entirety of the novel which is good because the serious PTSD he seems to be experiencing and her lingering abandonment issues are pretty heavy. Every chapter explores their individual fears and hurts while also putting them in situations that force them to acknowledge what they've both been denying--they're attracted to each other and one slam, bam, thank you ma'am is not going to be enough. They try to sell it to their friends and family as a convenient fake dating thing but that sham of a story doesn't last long.

Mazey Eddings is definitely good for an exploration of mental health and neurodivergence and it's refreshing. While her characters and their journeys could easily become heavy and hard to consume, she has a nice balance of serious and lightheartedness that keeps me coming back to her books.

I have been absolutely swamped with schoolwork and haven't had the time to come finish my review for this amazing, its always been you, cute romance book. BUT I have time this weekend after finals so expect my usual review and post on instagram.

5/5 stars

** will come back to finish complete review.

This is my first Mazy Eddings book, I have not read #1 and #2 in the series, but this can be read as a standalone. A few times when I was reading, I felt like I should have known some of the other characters better, but now I have a reason to read the rest of the series!

I love the writing, the tropes, and the Philadelphia backdrop. I love Indira and Jude's love story, but more importantly, I love their story of restoration and healing. It's not often that you see characters support each other during the challenging moments in life, the moments where letting them go is easier than working through the difficult.

FYI: the open-door steam factor is high, so if that's not for you, you can skim them as I did.

Thank you to St. Martin's, NetGalley, and the author for my early review copy.

4.5.

Find the person that wades through darkness that helps pull you through! I enjoyed this book. It was my favorite in the series. It show important it is take care of mental health. It is brother’s best friend and faking dating wrapped in one.

I had so many feelings while reading this. I liked A Brush with Love a lot and absolutely adored Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, so I had high hopes for this one. I love this group of girls and how they battle their own demons to find love. Each one has been relatable in their own way and Indira was no different. Seeing her relationship with Jude grow and how she helps him open up and be vulnerable so he could fight for himself and give their relationship a chance was beautiful. I spent so much time wanting to hug both of them and the mental health rep was so well done. This was an emotional, heartwarming, wonderfully written story with the brother's best friend, enemies to lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity tropes. Their chemistry and banter was SO good!!! Highly recommend this one, definitely read the whole set as some of the characters appear throughout! Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: April 4, 2023

Eddings has been on my radar for a while now and I'm glad I finally got to sit down with one of her books. I'm at a total loss for words! I adored this book and didn't want it to end! I loved that Eddings uses mental health as a huge component in her romance novels.

This book focused primarily on PTSD but there were a few other smaller issues addressed as well. I loved that the guy (Jude) in this story is the one who needs "saving". I feel like so often in romance books, it's usually the woman that has the problems that need to be solved.

By making Jude the one working through his mental health (as is Indira), it made the characters so much more relatable and the characters more fleshed out.

I'm so glad to say that Eddings is now an auto-buy author for me and I can't wait to sit down with her two previous books!

Book Review: The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
This review may contain minor spoilers.

The Plus One follows Indira and Jude, her brother's best friend, as they navigate their own messes while preparing for her brother's wedding. As each elaborate pre-wedding event adds more stress to their lives, the pair finds solace together. Their fake dating plan quickly morphs into an emotional connection, helping the other feel secure to heal in their mental health journey. This book also includes forced proximity, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, and touches on the effects of PTSD.

Similar to other books by Mazey Eddings I loved the characters and their group. I enjoyed the scenes with everyone as much as the 1 on 1s. Each side character or throw back brought something sweet, enjoyable, or funny to the book. One of my favorite scenes was Jeremy coming home early from work. Indira's actions & responses thru that interaction were so great 😂

I loved the emphasis on mental health and the varying journey each person is on. As someone who is actively working on bettering my own mental health it is great to read about. The support in this story helped me to feel less "broken" and more empowered. Many of the insights Indira shared with her therapist and with Jude apply to situations outside of those touched on in this story.

The one thing I wish there was more of was the fake dating portion. They told their close friends and family they were being a fake couple and then *boom* no longer a fake couple. I wanted a little more of the "is he doing this for the audience or did he actually want me?" scenarios. Not over the top pining, just an extra little dash would have been perfect.

I received an eARC from NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my honest review.

This book has ALMOST everything. Two self-aware characters, with fully realized personalities and personas. Great character arc that just ties up so neatly and quickly. Loved the build up but by the time it hit that high point it became a predicable ending

Would recommend for the awareness and very well written PTSD content.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is the story of Indira and Jude and it’s set in the A Brush with Love world, and I loved to see the characters from the other books, but you can also read this one as a stand-alone.
 
Indira was in a lackluster relationship, and it ended rather badly. Therefore, she moves in with her brother and his fiancé who are in the middle of the preparations for their upcoming wedding. She is a psychologist and I really liked how mental health was shown in this book. Indira is a very relatable character and I loved to follow her story.
 
Jude is best friends with Indira‘s brother and he is a first aid doctor who works for a global health organization. That is something very admirable, but at the same time it’s slowly killing him inside. I really liked to see his feelings and totally felt for him. For the wedding of his best friend, he comes back to the states and gets closer to Indira.
 
Indira had a crush on Jude but didn’t want to and therefore her feelings were rather hateful towards him. But they feel so natural together and I loved how they opened up to each other. The romance is very soulful and has so much depth and I absolutely loved that.
 
Overall, The Plus One is a stunning romance with a lot of depth and characters that open up to you and to each other. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

This is not your average cliche childhood arch-nemsis rom-com. I did not expect the emphasis on mental health like that. Usually authors brush on the topic. This however, is a deep dive. Very interesting to see how everything came together. The MCs are well written. The side characters did lack a bit. Also the ending did feel drawn out and the epilogue wasn’t necessary. The ending could be condensed with the same delivery.

I haven’t felt this seen within a character in awhile. This book was so raw and real and funny and cute AND spicy. I went into this basically blind and coke out of it in awe.

Indira & Jude absolutely gave me hope in true love. The love and comfort they have in each other is so unconditional and real.

The topics in this book made me feel so seen and heard. I relate to the anxiety both characters felt in a lot of moments and it brought me to tears reading feelings I have that I’ve never been able to explain. Absolutely phenomenal.

Loved this! The two main characters, Indira and Jude, felt so real. I found myself genuinely smiling at the cute moments, and sad when they were sad. Jude struggles with PTSD, and I thought it was dealt with very well.

(slight spoilers)

Finally, a contemporary romance that doesn't have a breakup at the 75% mark!

I would have given this a 5 star, but I thought the ending dragged a little. I don't think the last chapter really added anything to the overall plot or characters.

Definitely recommend!

Reviewing a book like this is challenging because inherently I liked Indira and Jude. I liked their relationship and individual struggles. I liked Mazey's writing. Where I struggle is with some of her plot choices. For example, fake dating happens, but everyone knows it's fake, except Indira's ex, and they never seem to need to fake date.

What worked for me:
• This book highlights mental health struggles, PTSD, and how therapy is an important resource to assist in healing.
• The banter, jokes, pet names
• Secondary cast of characters
• The endless wedding festivities as the backdrop
• A real look at the trauma of medical professionals (and this absolutely includes those in the military) when they are dispensed to help overseas in war-stricken areas.
• It is a super slow-burn, but once they get there, there is plenty of 🌶️ through the end.

What didn't work for me:
• I found Indira too self-aware.
• Sitting in a therapy office happens too often. Though I understand Mazey's use of it in the story, it does lean a bit preachy at times. (I did appreciate some of these scenes though.)
• I have mixed feelings when a female character punches another character in the arm/shoulder/thigh. Why? Because if it were a male character doing the punching, even in jest, we would look at it as abusive, yet somehow we overlook that when the female does the punching. 🤷🏻‍♀️
• Epilogue is completely unnecessary.

Overall, it is a good book and I would recommend starting with book #1 in the series - A Brush with Love - to fully understand the full cast of characters.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.