thank you so much to netgalley for the eARC of this book!

once again, i feel like mazey eddings is NOT missing with her romcoms! a fun romance between her brother's best friend/childhood rival of sorts with fake dating? SIGN ME UP IMMEDIATELY.

i love the way eddings writes her characters–she has this incredible way of capturing deep, meaningful moments within these characters' lives that leave a heavy impact even long after finishing reading. i love how she embraces the topics of mental health in her books, and this one is no exception–the ptsd conversations as well as the candid, positive discussions on therapy & why it matters were so, so beautiful.

this book felt like there was something missing and i think its just that its a quite-fast burn, so definitely avoid if you're someone who favors 30 chapters of pining. if not, defo pick it up!

The Plus One
By: Mazey Eddings
⭐️⭐️⭐️: 3/5
🌶: 1/5

Thank you @netgalley for the advance copy of this book! This book comes out on April 4,2023

On paper Indira has the perfect life.. an amazing job, boyfriend & a car. Until she comes home one evening and finds her boyfriend with another girl. Indira is left with nothing, finding herself having to rely on her brother for a place to stay. When Indira arrives to her brothers, she is greeted by an old childhood enemy.
Jude has spent the last 3 years on leave traveling the world to treat emergencies & humanitarians crises when he gets the opportunity to take a leave to go celebrate his childhoods best friends wedding. Jude tries to readjust to his old life, but he finds it hard & impossible to enjoy. He comes up with a plan after seeing Indira having to deal with seeing her ex boyfriend and his new girlfriend at all the wedding events, pretending to be each other’s date to the wedding from hell. The only problem is the fake dating & forced proximity feels a little bit more than just fake…

This book had a lot of trauma that was being dealt with, between the two characters they had a lot of baggage. I loved that Indira wasn’t looking to “Fix” Jude but just show him that he deserved more in life and to be happy. Part of me felt like it kind of dragged on, there were parts in the story where you feel a lot of what Jude went through & not so much on the couple. I do love a brothers bestfriend trope, i wish it was more focus on them as a couple & the wedding & less on the trauma. But it was overall a great read!

Read this if you like:
Fake dating
Forced Proximity
Childhood enemies
Brothers bestfriend

Trigger Warnings:
⚠️ PTSD, parental abandonment, panic attacks, Cheating⚠️

Indira finds herself suddenly single after catching her boyfriend cheating, which would be bad enough. Factoring in her ex also being part of her brother Collin’s wedding party, it’s worse. Seeing him and his new girlfriend all over each other so often certainly doesn’t help.
Jude has been working as a doctor with the Global Health Care Organization overseas in various disaster and war zones for the past three years, with one left to fulfill his contract. Because he has been working basically nonstop that entire time, he’s been granted an extended leave for his best friend’s wedding. He’s having trouble trying to cope with things, and this break is not as easy as he wished.

In an attempt to make both their situations more bearable, Jude and Indira put aside their childhood antagonist tendencies (Kind of. Mostly.) and (Fake! Totally!) couple up. And I can see why Jude and Indira came up with the whole needing a fake date thing. The number of events the grooms planned for everyone to celebrate them before their Big Day was truly excessive. Being the pity magnet singles at all billion events would have been excruciating even without their extra circumstances!

While it wasn’t the lighthearted fluffy wedding date book I expected, it was very good. With both MCs dealing with major issues - Jude’s troubling level of ptsd, Indira’s abandonment issues, and both having fears of professional inadequacy - it is fairly heavy at times. The mental health rep was good though, imo. And I would say it’s almost kind of a love letter to therapy, while they’re learning how to love and support each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This book took me by surprise in the best way. It gave me a lot of unexpected feels and took on PTSD and mental health issues in a compassionate and understated way. Indira and Jude are good people. Growing up, Indira was nothing but an annoying presence to her brother’s best friend but now things have changed. I loved watching them use the other for support. I’m a sucker for the fake dating trope. Jude’s illness was heartbreaking but so satisfying to watch him come to terms with it and start to get help. Indira is such a strong character. I adored her. Both Indira and Jude showed so much growth. There was wit, tenderness, laughs, tears. I loved it. It was my first Mazey Eddings book but it won’t be my last.

**Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin and Mazey Eddings. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is a great story revolving around Indira and Jude, two childhood enemies who agree to fake date in order to get through a wedding event that seems to last forever. The story follows the two as they navigate their evolving relationship with one another while also attempting to deal with issues from their past.

The relationship between Indira and Jude was wonderful. Their banter was always very quick and witty and the sexual tension between the two was palpable. The characters communication with one another was great as well and the author's writing on anxiety and mental illness was realistic and respectful well done. I enjoyed how both Dira and Jude were working on themselves throughout the book.

The cast of side characters was fantastic, but never detracted from the main characters journeys. Overall, it was an excellent read and I would read it again. I recommend this book to fans of romance novels and general fiction as well.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for approving this ARC in return of an honest review.

Earlier this year I read Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake also by Mazey Eddings. While I was not blown away, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, before jumping into The Plus One, I did not have high expectations. Boyyyyyyy was I wrong.

The Plus One is the story of Indira as she heals from heartbreak and trauma from the men along her life, while relishing the unconditional love her brother's best friend offers her.

(I know I say this about most books but) I loved, loved this book.

The character's chemistry was over the roof, over the ozone layer. Their personalities complement each other so well it is impossible to not root for them.

Of course, no book is perfect and this one is no exception. Like most traditionally published romances, the third act break-up undoes all of the good the book had set to accomplish in the beginning. However, the ending was sweet enough to make me forget about the bad taste it left in my mouth.

Read to understand the brain and the complexities and layers to all types of love better!

Mazey Eddings does it again! I really enjoyed this book - especially the characters, they were so fun. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review :^)

4.5 stars. It's not often that a book showcases mental health in a way that is relatable and relevant to the story line. Mazey Eddings did a phenomenal job doing just that. I also continue to appreciate the representation of medical providers and the repercussions of the student loan crisis (something I relate to on an exceptionally personal level 😭). This is my first book of hers and I will absolutely be going back and reading others in this series, including Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake.

I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers. Jude and Indira's relationship was a breath of fresh air. Supporting characters added to the charm of the story overall.

I found many of the intimate scenes to be repetitive in their phrasing so I subtracted .5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Enemies to lovers, fake dating, it's got it all! This one was so much fun. I tried to savor it, but I finished it in a day. Mazey Eddings is an incredibly talented writer, and this book is ADORABLE! LOVED.

I LOVE THIS BOOK SM!
Tropes:
🤎 enemies to loversssss
🤎 fake dating
🤎 childhood friend but also brothers best friend

I LOVE ALL THESE TROPES AND it was very emotional and witty at the same time! Indira and Jude relationship is like top tier!!!

This is apparently part of a four part series about a group of friends who fall in love (Lizzie and Harper are the previous two). Indira Papadakis is a young psychologist who loves her job, and who loves her brother Collin and his intended, Jeremy. The person she doesn't love is Jude Bailey, Collin's best friend, who's been her "enemy" since childhood, in town for Collin and Jeremy's wedding. But Jude has a secret: in order to get through medical school without debt, he signed up to be a doctor in emergency zones, most of them in war-torn areas. He is suffering terribly from PTSD, and Collin and Jeremy's bonkers pre-wedding festivities are torture to him. Indira doesn't want to fix him, but she does want to help him, and so they pretend to be lovers (and you know how that turns out in romance books).

I really admire Eddings for tackling the problem of PTSD—Jude's frayed nerves notch up the plot on this one, and Indira's efforts to help, not fix—but Collin and Jeremy really wrecked the story for me. Their pre-wedding antics are so childish and stupid. As an introvert, I felt so sorry for Jude, continually dragged into "make the wedding favors" and other jerky activities. Apparently this was supposed to be funny, but I was just appalled instead. And this is Jude's best friend. Yeah, in the end he apologizes, but really.

The subplot about Indira and Collin's deadbeat dad was dead depressing. So tired of rom-com parent bashing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I read through most of it in two days. I appreciated the way it touched upon serious themes and carefully worked through them. There were so many things I could relate to on Indira’s side (she also reminds me of a close friend of mine who works in a similar field).
Her moments with Jude were so genuine and progressed organically, I absolutely thought they made sense together and weren’t forcing anything. The pacing worked well. My favorite parts were any pages where I would find them bickering or when they were alone with one another. All their supportive friends and family were great characters as well, they each had their own vibrant personalities. Reading the conflict made sense and it wasn’t too angsty, I understood why the characters felt/reacted the way they did.
It was somewhere past the halfway point that I slowed down because I did think it was dragging on a bit. The characters had their main climatic point worked through by then so the plot just felt stagnant. That being said, I absolutely loved the ending. It was perfect for the two leads (and not what I expected in the best of ways). I was overall satisfied with the story, the middle was not enough to lower my rating.

I want to give a big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me a chance to read this amazing book. I hope to read more from this author in the future. I will definitely look into the other books in this series.

Thank you Netgalley and Mazey Eddings for this ARC.

Here's a quick list of things to look forward to:
✨ Enemies to lovers
🫧 Brother's best friend
✨ Childhood friends
🫧 Fake dating

And so much more. This book is so special. It's tender, forgiving, witty, and emotional. Indira and Jude have the best banter and never stop roasting each other. I loved the focus on the importance of mental health and the depiction of therapy. All the stars

ARC review ✨ thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Another 5 stars for Mazey Edding! Indira and Jude are a complex and somewhat accidental coupling, combining a few of my favorite tropes in one book. If you’re a fan of A Brush with Love or Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, you will not be disappointed when picking up The Plus One. In fact, you’ll love all the cameos!

Perfect for fans of:

🕶️ Fake dating
👨 Brother’s best friend
💥 Jokes & teasing
🏕️ One tent
😭 Emotional (in a good way)
🧠 Highly accurate depiction of mental health including PTSD
💕 Heartfelt moments
💍 Enemies to fake dating to lovers

After how much I liked Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake I was a little worried that The Plus One wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but I’m happy to say that it definitely did. I have enjoyed every story Mazey Eddings has written so far and this was no exception. I love the maturity of her characters and how willing they are to communicate with one another. Often times using so many different tropes in a single book can become a little bit overwhelming but it was so well done I barely even noticed. Indira and Jude were the epitome of childhood friends (enemies?) to lovers and seeing them realizes they were in love with one another was a lot of fun. Their jump from hating one another to being fully in love felt slightly rushed but I loved the book nonetheless!

MAZEY EDDINGS DOES IT ONCE AGAIN FOLKS!! SHE WROTE A HIT, AGAIN!! I fucking love Mazy Eddings so much, her books are so underhyped can people start talking about them more often (but not actually I enjoy her being my little secret and I don't want people to ruin her for me). Now that that is done, I loved this book. I literally finished it in a day, her book are so addicting. I loved the openness about therapy and healing and all that jazz. Ugh, it was just so amazing, go read her books.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
To start, I have to admit this is the first Mazey Eddings book I have ever read. If her other books are anything like this one, well let’s just say I’ll be adding yet another new author to my favourites list!
Mazey has a way of drawing you into the book, making you feel like you are a part of the story. I felt that I connected with the characters so easily and quickly. Just like when building a friendship, you learn little by little who the person is – it was the same with our main characters in this book for me. The author’s writing is also very real. I like that the swearing doesn’t feel out of place or forced or just thrown in – it’s put in places exactly where you would expect a person to swear. I find that any time a book completely omits swearing, it just feels fake to me. We all swear. It’s a natural part of our language. Let’s accept it as a norm and move on.
Our main characters have VERY rich backgrounds. Indira’s issues stem all the way back to her childhood, while Jude’s are more recent. But these issues are a part of them and make them (in my opinion) lovable in their own ways. I appreciated that even though Indira is a psychiatrist herself, she still goes to see her own psychiatrist. She doesn’t pretend to be put together or have it all figured out. She knows she needs help, and she seeks it out. Smart girl. Jude on the other hand… Well, he’s got a huge problem and he doesn’t see it as a problem that can be fixed. More as something he did to himself and now, he has to live with it forever. Basically, the two polar opposites of mental health. So, what happens when you bring those two together and smash them against each other in the middle? Well… A LOT of witty banter, A LOT of hate and animosity and whole lot of figuring out… Oh shit, I don’t actually hate this person… I am so deeply and truly in love with them that my whole world actually centers on them.
Indira and Jude are each others anchors. They are each others’ cores. This is why I absolutely loved this story. While each other got along just fine without the other… Life makes more sense when the other person is there. I was worried that with all the trauma and PTSD there might be too much, or it might feel too forced, but never once did that feeling come. Everything was woven into the story with detail and care. Every interaction had a reason.
I did feel that there was too much “I love you” towards the end. I don’t think I know a single couple who actually says that so often, so it just felt a little forced by the end. But that was just one small detail in an otherwise awesome book.
This book was real, it was raw, it cut me open and made me cry. But it had a lot of bright moments too. I laughed out loud a few times, and my heart did that wild “swoop-swoop-swoop” a few times!

thank you to Netgalley and SMP for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow. Where to even begin? Reading the last book in this series is such a bittersweet feeling. I’ve become so attached to this gang of nerds, but I have to say that Jude’s story truly has my heart. This man has gone through so much, and seeing his healing journey felt like a privilege. I loved the integration of medicine and psychiatry in this book, and I also loved how this book showed real defense mechanisms but also taught true great healing processes and methods. Indira was the perfect support for him and I appreciated seeing those therapeutic exchanges. Finally, the spice was AMAZING! I’m convinced Mazey Eddings can do no wrong!!

I couldn't love Mazey Eddings more. Each time I read one of her books, I am more and more invested in her characters. I love Indira, and how open she is with her insecurities. She's got a psychiatric background, and she is still constantly working on herself. I love the way Eddings writes neuro-divergent characters. They face real issues, and are also lovely and loving. Jude is a surgeon who has been to some high stress areas, and is dealing with major PTSD. The way that Indira and Jude are there for each other through their emotional struggles is beautiful.

Although she grew up thinking she hated her brother's best friend Jude, Indira comes to realize that she cares deeply about him. I wish I could properly convey just how much I love this book and these characters. I also love their best friends. One of the surprising highlights of this book is seeing Jude and Collin's loving best friendship--males aren't often portrayed as being this effusive with how much they mean to each other,

This book has so much heart. Yes, it's a sexy romance, but it's so much more. Savor it. I'm always so eager for a new Eddings book, and this one doesn't disappoint for one second.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

My first instinct is to say that this is, first and foremost, an ADORABLE read, but I feel like that does injustice to the fact that it deals with some heavy topics with a lot of grace. Indira and Jude are both incredibly likeable characters, and I thought it was an absolute joy to read their story. Childhood frenemies, Jude and Indira are both facing difficulties with a loved one's wedding on the horizon. I almost feel like the advertised description of the book doesn't quite do justice to this story: there IS a wedding, and there IS a bargain struck, but what made this story resonate with me are the internal development Jude and Indira both face, rather than fake-dating shenanigans.
That being said, this is a very character driven book. If you're hoping to read something plot heavy, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to you. But Jude and Indira are both complex, appealing characters, and reading their journey, respective and combined, was an absolute delight.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the privilege to read this book.