This book had a lot of emotions to unpack. Sweet Jude and his trauma gripped my emotions. Indira was perfect for him. I loved how they moved from verbal sparring to falling in love, but still keeping their spark. Their ability to be there for each other and understand what the traumas in both of their lives had done to change them. This book definitely has some triggers, but I felt like this story was beautifully written.

Give me ALL the cozy reads! Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Mazey Eddings for this ARC! What a book! It was so so sweet, dealt with some very hard topics but in the end had me rooting for everyone to find love and be happy. It was also a very funny laugh out loud book (peanut butter, iykyk) and overall left me feeling so warm and fuzzy, while also feeling seen and accepted with some of the issues Jude was working through. The dual POV was so sweet and I loved seeing both sides of the story. The Plus One is being released April 2023 and it will be one that a physical copy is added to my collection!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love this book. It has fake dating, brother's best friend, and there was only one tent. This book is the perfect blend of romance, spice, laughter, and therapy. I could not have asked for a better ending to this series.

First up, let's talk romance. I feel head over heels for their relationship. They each had their own struggles and they helped each other through them. There were a bunch of beautiful lines that made me want to cry because they are soulmates. The spice was very well-written and didn't take away from the overarching plot. More people need to talk about Mazey Eddings's male main characters.

All three books in this series have touched on very important mental health issues. Eddings writes them so well. I never feel like the issues are ignored until its convenient for the plot. I also love how the love interests help one another through their issues. Therapy is not a taboo subject and I am so appreciative of it. The characters learn and grow throughout the books without it feeling forced. It is easily the best mental health representation I have read.

In terms of reading, I have binged all three books in only one or two sittings. Eddings's writing draws you in and doesn't let go. Her books are funny and romantic and healing. I may or may not have definitely teared up while reading. Some lines will make you laugh, and others make you swoon. The therapy scenes and the conversations about mental health are all written in a natural way; it never feels cliche or silly. Those scenes also make me miss my therapist.

To sum up this book, I would have to say it is a perfect rom-com (and I really do mean that last part because I was cackling at multiple points throughout my binge read) that dives deeper into personal struggles. Please please please pick up this series. You won't be disappointed.

Really enjoyed this book! This was the first one I’ve read by this author and it won’t be the last! I found myself at times crying while reading this and laughing aloud at other parts. This book was emotional and raw and I loved every moment of it!

Brothers best friend, fake dating and there’s only one bed(tent).. let’s talk about trifecta of tropes…

In all honesty Mazey Eddings has the audacity to write three books that hit so equally hard that I’m left ruined and shattered everytime. (Honestly I’m not sure what it says about my mental health that I can relate so incredibly painfully well with three different main characters, but I’m not ready to dig that deep yet. )

Trying to pick myself up to coherently write a review is more difficult then I was expecting. This book was raw and emotional and painful to read at times but also so incredible beautiful. The perfect contrast between those raw moments and the fun and witty banter between both Indira and Jude is completely unparalleled. When you mix in the Taylor swift reference, and all the little Lizzie and Harper moments. This book is pure perfection.

I can’t take the moment to recognize the emotional distress the epilogue caused. I’ve come to love and adore all of Edding’s characters and I’m devastated to close the door on their stories.. I spent the whole epilogue ugly crying because I’m so happy they’re happy.

2 Stars!! Just not my cup of tea. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and this book is the 3rd in the series ‘A Brush with Love’. I felt the book dragged on and on. I started to just skim through most of the book, it got boring after awhile. The main characters, Indira & Jude, annoyed me so, so much. I rolled my eyes so hard, I pulled a muscle. I get that PTSD is rough but with no explaining why Jude was suffering so much, I just didn’t have the patience for him and all the crying. I felt for him but also felt he was making a mountain out of a mole hill. My empathy only goes so far until I just can’t anymore.
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

So cute! I really enjoyed this one! I think the author really knew how to make the characters feel like they had heart and were real people.

Perfection!

Sometimes stories in the contemporary romance genre run together in my mind. Sure, there are different tropes and arcs, but they all tend to have one thing in common… Predictable 4th quarter drama that ends in a fight or breakup, only to be overcome by a grandiose gesture or proclamation of love, followed by a HEA and cheesy epilogue (I sound cynical… I’m really not!). I was pleasantly surprised when this did NOT happen with The Plus One. The only things even remotely cheesy were Indira’s pet names for Jude, which she served up on a silver platter of sass!

This story is raw and honest, emotional, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Mental health is a difficult topic, but Mazey Eddings takes great care to write about it with compassion.

This book deals with mental health, loss and parent abandonment. Overall a good strong read. She's a psychiatrist who's working on processing her relationships and abandonment. He's dealing with processing all the patients he's lost in doing humanitarian work. They grew up together and are back together for her brothers wedding each dealing with their issues. This book will make you laugh while discussing heavy loss.


***********************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley.************************

I enjoyed Mazey Eddings’ first two novels, but this one…blew me away! So sweet, so steamy, and I laughed so loud I had to put it away during my son’s piano lesson. I loved the teasing relationship between Jude and Indira and the mental health rep was so authentic.

I'm a sucker for fake dating trope, and enemies to lovers just happens to be my favorite. So when you combine the two, it equals magic! This was a good read! Loved the banter.

4/5 ⭐

Mazey eddings has become one of my favourite authors and I really love her writing style. And I’m quite glad that this too didn’t disappoint. I loved these two MCs so much but I found **that little spoilery** aspect to be quite unnecessary. Despite that I loved how these MCs get to have their perfect HEA

I am always a sucker for Mazey Eddings. She does incredible mental health representation, and this is no exception. Jude is such a wonderfully written character with such complex emotions, it’s impossible to not love him. Indira is head-strong and fumbling with her own emotions as well. Their individual journeys and their journey together are so well done and balanced. I looked forward to this book and I’m thrilled it lived up to the hype.

Things I loved about this book:

✅ Real life characters that are relatable with mental health issues

✅ Fake dating

✅ Great banter

✅ Enemies to lovers

✅ brother’s best friend


Didn’t love:

❌ The cheating (this is usually an automatic DNF for me but I pushed through)

❌ Really long chapters

❌ Epilogue that didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose

This was a good book but felt long in a few places.

This is my second book by Mazey Eddings and I continue being a huge fan of her storytelling. I enjoyed this one quite a lot!

She does a wonderful job fleshing out characters, developing romance, and making a story feel real.

I thoroughly adored Indira and Jude, individually and together. Their chemistry was crackling with excellent tension and hilarious banter from start to end. Jude was an especially layered character, with Eddings taking great care in writing about his ptsd. That said, Indira at times felt like a flat character as her character seemed there more to serve Jude's character in his growth rather than finding any notable growth of her own. Nevertheless, I loved Indira. She is charismatic, endearing, brazen, and so intuitive. She was easy to root for, but her character journey felt stagnant at times.

And unfortunately, so did the final act of the book. There was no conflict nor tension in the romance facet of the book-- and this is a romance so I was expecting some sort of great obstacle, even of the cliche variety, but instead the final act serves as even more introspection and inner conflict for Jude. With Indira coming in as support rather than main character status.

The Plus One didn't reach the same level of excitement as Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake for me, but it's still an absolutely worthwhile read I'd gladly place on my shelf.

Very cute, loved the characters. The book moved a little slow in my opinion, but was entertaining enough that I think our patrons at the library would enjoy it and this genre is very popular right now.

I read all three books of this series and I really, truly enjoyed all of them but something about Indira really made me love her as a person. She is fiery, fiercely independent and also really loves her family.

Indira is surprised when she finds herself without somewhere to live and ends up staying with her brother who is about to get married. She has no idea but her childhood enemy Jude is staying there too and in town for a bit for the wedding.

Indira and Jude are a very true friends to lovers trope and I had so much fun, and a few tears, while reading it.

I can't wait to see what is next from Mazey, and she is an auto buy author for me.

Thank you St. Martins and Netgalley for this arc!

I enjoyed reading this story, it was well written and sweet. I loved the storyline and the way the characters were written. It was fantastic and the way she represents mental health in her books is why I loved reading it. A sweet comedy story that will have you smiling and enjoying the journey.

Mazey Eddings keeps delivering the most heartfelt, amazing books. It feels like she's become more and more comfortable with diving deep into mental health stories, and then she's brought us Jude.
While her first two books focused on the FMC, this book is definitely Jude's story. Indira is a great character, with whom I shared so much and to whom I could relate like few other romance characters, but the main protagonist here is Jude and his journey with PTSD.
While the book starts with a hate-to-love kind of relationship, it quickly evolves into a relationship of camaraderie and care. Indira and Jude are so attuned to each other, it is incredible to see their love grow.
I cannot wait to see Mazey's next books because I'm 100% sure she'll only get better.

What starts out as a fake wedding date turns into something these childhood enemies never expected in The Plus One, a sparkling romantic comedy by Mazey Eddings.