To say I am a HUGE Mazey Eddings Fan is an understatement! I fell in love with her writing after Brush with love (plus being a dentist myself I was hooked!), then came lizzie - who won my heart being a firecracker....so needless to say when I received this arc I screamed with delight! (and lets be real - I will read any and all books Mazey writes from here on out).

With that said - I am so very grateful to have read this book and hear Indira and Jude's story. Its lovely, painful, raw, steamy and truly hits on the tough discussion of mental and physical health, but in a way that truly gets you to pay attention! I think over the three books Mazey has truly grown as a writer too - only now hoping Thu gets a book too because I don't want this series to end!

Please look at the Trigger warners and enjoy this book as much as I did!!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the free book.
This is my favorite book in this friendship series. I fell hard and fast for Indira and Jude and their fake dating. Like her other books, Eddings doesn't shy away from having characters that are neurodiverent and that have to learn to be okay with not being okay. I absolutely love these parts of her books, which will keep me always coming back. I also adore her characters. This book is serious, but these characters have so much fun together. I enjoyed the sibling dynamics between Indira and Collin, the friendship between the women/couples, and the parent/adult child relationship exploration. Also, the balance of the amount of chapters in Indira and Jude's POV worked well for me. It was a great balance to give a well-rounded story. If you like your romance with lots of honesty and vulnerability, I highly recommend checking out all three books in this series.
This is door wide open romance. And she does list the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, which is so appreciated.

I love that each book gets a little spicier and spicier. Each book has been absolutely amazing, but it’s easy to say this one is my favorite so far. Even the cover is perfect!

I love that it’s emotional and not just a smutty romance. Indira and Jude forever!!

I enjoyed the previous books in this series and The Plus One is no exception! Sometimes romance books can be a bit far fetched but Mazey's characters seem more real to me. I love her approach to difficult topics. I'll be reading more from this author!

I received an advanced review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Mazey Eddings continues her series, this time with a childhood friends romance between Indira and Jude.
She is Jude's best friend's sister and was a thorn in their side growing up. But it's been a few years since Indira and Jude have spent time together. He has been working as a surgeon overseas in war-torn settings and she has been working as a counselor. They reconnect when he returns home for her brother Collin's wedding. They both find themselves crashing at Collin's house for the weeks leading up to the wedding, Jude because he is on a break from working overseas and Indira because she broke up with her boyfriend Chris after discovering him in a sticky situation with another woman.

These two are childhood frenemies, full of witty banter, teasing and general sarcastic comments but underneath it all, there seems to be a real spark. However, Jude is reeling from the trauma of what he's seen over the last three years and Indira is still trying to move on from the childhood hurts of her dad walking out on their family. These two might just have the opportunity to be vulnerable enough with each other to create a life together. In the meantime, they're testing the waters with some steamy, off the charts romance.

Mazey Eddings brings her usual vulnerable characters and real life situations to the romance genre where people aren't just falling in love with someone else, but also growing into how they're wired and who they are.

Childhood enemies to adult lovers? Yes please! Indira is a thoughtful child psychiatrist who can’t help caring about everyone. Her brother Collin is getting married and guess who is back in town - none other than his childhood best friend, Jude. Jude is an emergency medicine doctor who travels the world and treats patients in need. He is trying really hard to be there for his friend but is secretly suffering from severe PTSD from his humanitarian efforts.

Collin and Jude were inseparable as kids and Indira always tried to tag along (as little sisters often do) but was often the third wheel. And so most of Jude and Indira’s childhood interactions were spent bickering. Now fast forward to present day, and the two of them are thrown together in the wedding festivities. Add in a sprinkle of fake dating and you get a lovely and very real story.

By profession and nature, Indira can sense that Jude needs her help and she won’t stop until he takes it. And Jude may have thought that he disliked his best friend’s sister but realizes that he was wrong all along. Together, they surprise everyone and also themselves!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

The Plus One was a very good romance story. Better than many contemporary romances I have read lately and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not a big fan of falling for the little sister of the best friend trope especially when she has come directly out of a long-term relationship involving cheating, but the rest of the story was well put together and I got past it. I also got past literally pages and pages of erotica to stay focused on the story.

Our hero, Dr Jude Bailey, returns from working for a global health organization a traumatized and nearly broken man from experiences he can't fully process. He returns home on a break for his best friend's wedding with no idea what will happen after that. At the same time, Indira Papadakis ends up staying with her brother because she's left her cheating boyfriend. There is history between Jude and Indira going back a lifetime and not always good, but in their current situations they find unexpected support in each other. Working through their issues against the backdrop of an over the top wedding set a very good stage for the vulnerability Jude had to accept as part of facing his demons. Indira has issues too involving abandonment stemming from her father leaving the family to fend alone and then, of course, the cheating boyfriend.

Two imperfect characters trying to piece themselves back together and find love with each other was a nice change. The theme that was we all deserve love and acceptance and even forgiveness for our failings is a nice one. I did feel the ending of the story with what seemed like several epilogues dragged on and on, but apparently this book is part of a series.

Thank you Mazy Eddings and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I do recommend it to anyone looking for a different kind of romance story.

The third book in the trilogy may just be the best! I loved seeing the whole friend group back together from A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake.

I enjoyed getting to know Indira and Jude’s relationship while also noting their separate mental health journeys. The writing showing Jude’s PTSD struggles was visceral.

This book had all the tropes: Brother’s best friend, childhood frenemies/enemies to lovers, and fake dating. Their banter at the beginning had me LOLing. Also love that the doctors could enjoy Grey’s Anatomy for the emotional storylines and not fixate on any minor medical inaccuracies. 😂

Super cute book all around with excellent character development of the MCs and supporting cast. 10/10 👍

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings
What a wonderful , unique, realistic story! From the plot, to the very realistic and flawed characters, to the real world problems, … it was all so good. Extremely well written and I highly recommend.
Many thanks to Mazey Eddings, NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and St. Martin’s Griffin for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wish the love story would have had a bit more of a slow burn because it seemed like it happened very fast and pretty early in the book. I'm a little tired of fake dating stories, but this sticks out because of the way mental health impacts the characters. Highly recommended for public library collections.

This is one of the best takes on the brother’s best friend trope that I’ve read. Even though there’s some animosity between Indira and Jude at first and they delightfully bicker even after the romance gets going, it’s also clear there’s genuine concern and warmth between the characters, stemming from years of history. There’s so much feeling in Eddings’ writing, especially as she’s tackling mental health issues, and the romantic relationship will definitely make you swoon, laugh and possibly cry. I also enjoyed seeing the characters from the past books, and the new ones like Indira’s brother and his boyfriend were fun additions as well. But if this is indeed the end of this series, it’s kinda odd that Thu didn’t get her own book.

3.5 Stars
One thing Mazey Eddings does really well in her books is writing about mental health issues. With each of her books, I genuinely feel for the character that's going through it. Needless to say, this book did amazing in that aspect. And I loved seeing how Indira and Jude's relationship progressed despite going through their struggles. I really enjoyed their romance overall, and I think their relationship developed really naturally

This was such an adorable wholesome read. Both main characters were so likable and relatable & it made me fall in love with both of them instantly. The communication between the couple was A-MA-ZING. Definitely recommend this to all romance book lovers out there.

I absolutely loved this book. While I've enjoyed both of Mazey Edding's other books, this one was on another level. It was incredibly emotional, funny, and very, very real. The portrayal of the characters' mental health issues was very realistic, and it was great to see in a book. Mazey Eddings handles heavier topics very gracefully and honestly, and I enjoyed that.
Jude and Indira were really great main characters, and the chemistry between them was great! I enjoyed both of their characters, and the side characters were really well-written and distinct as well! I loved Colin and Jeremy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It was relatively fast-paced, and the writing is excellent; it's very easy to read. I would definitely recommend this book!

This is easily my favorite Mazey Eddings book to date and the series just keeps getting better and better! If there's one thing Mazey can do, it's write an entertaining book with compelling characters and a raw vulnerability that leaves you aching for the characters and their struggles.

I adored the characters in this book and I love that we are making our way through the friend circle as each character has such a different story to tell. I love when not only are the main characters captivating, but when the side characters are just as entertaining and developed. Indira was such a great character and I love how she's the perfect example of how even being self-aware does not stop us from being human. Jude was a fantastic character and his struggles with PTSD bring more conversation around the stigma that is mental health and being brave enough to reach out for help. I empathized with Jude so much and his experiences made my heart ache as I rooted for him throughout the book.

I loved that not only do we get an enemies-to-lovers dynamic, but also a fake dating trope (we all know that the lines blur there really fast and I'm such a sucker for the characters using real emotions to fuel their fake dating farce). There's entertaining dialogue, lots of playful banter, and some spice for contemporary romance lovers. You'll be left smiling like a fool at times and tearing up at others.

Overall, I can't sing enough praises for this book and I will certainly continue following Mazey's work as it combines lighthearted romance with banter and emotional vulnerability that leaves you with lessons to learn and more characters to swoon over!

Wow what a book, when it comes to romance books I tend to be picky but this book didn’t leave me disappointed in anyways. How they dealt with conflicts were perfect and well done

This is a completely acceptable read though I didn't LOVE it. The premise is fine, the characters are as you'd expect, and I found it to be a nice read.

This book treated the topics of mental illness and therapy SO well. It was so refreshing seeing a male character talk about his mental state, the benefits of therapy, and fully understanding he was not okay and needed help. I just wanted to give Jude a hug. And him and Indira were just so so cute. I really appreciated how they would talk out their feelings instead of having another book with the miscommunication trope. This was such a good read.

First off, thank you to Netgalley, SMG, and the author for the arc! I am leaving my review voluntarily.

WOW. THIS ONE IS MY FAVE OF THEM ALL.

Some notable tropes:
Brothers bff/bffs younger sister
Forced proximity
Childhood enemies to lovers
Fake dating
(highly recommend looking up TW before reading - anxiety, ptsd)

Literally all the best tropes you could think of smooshed into a book. I’m in LOVE. Y’all we must protect these two at all costs!!! This book was so beautiful and an honest look through what couples deal with in their day to day lives. Indira and Jude not only had to figure out how to make their relationship work, they also had to look inside at themselves and heal. I just love this book, the relationships between the friends, lovers, everyone! I’m so sad this world is done 🥲

This was an enjoyable book that I was able to read in 2 nights! It was full of fun, it has a creative and interesting premise, and an ending that left me satisfied. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.