Oh wait this was cute!!! This is an emotional read, with childhood enemies to lovers (one of my faves), weddings (we love weddings), anxiety/PTSD/mental health rep (love to see), ~one tent~ (the one bed trope, but make it outdoorsy) and some bonus fun scenes. Would definitely recommend this cute read! I haven't yet read the second book in the series, but I also enjoyed the first book. I can see this being a go-to romance trilogy.

This book has it all:

ROMANCE: I mean, it is a romance book. With two of my favorite tropes, fake dating and there’s only one tent (the seldom used variation on there’s only one bed).
COMEDY: The banter in this book is top notch! The advantage of the MC’s knowing each other since childhood, and hating each other, is fodder for the hilarity.
HORROR: The groomzillas have multiple forced crafting parties 😱😱 Dipping flowers in melted wax to preserve them – seriously, what the hell is that??

OK, now for the real talk: this book is marketed as a romcom, but there is a lot of seriousness. Mental health struggles and therapy are depicted on page, with frequency and detail. Indira struggles with relationships and self-worth, and Jude has PTSD from his three years in the field as an emergency doctor (for a Doctors Without Borders type agency). Panic attacks are also depicted on page. I’m sorry if some of you see this as spoilers, but these are big triggers for some, so I want everyone to be aware. But as is always the case from this author everything is depicted honestly, accurately, and with respect. And there is acceptance and healing and love.

This really is a wonderfully done book, as long as you’re in the right headspace to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This was such a cute book. Mazey Eddings is a favorite author and I loved this story and the continuation of Lizzie and Harper's lives
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for my early review copy!

This is exactly what I was expecting and at the same time so much more. I attached myself so hard to these characters, it was difficult not to feel their emotions like they were my own. This beautiful book takes you on a beautiful journey of love, healing, and learning to love yourself. I’m so in awe of this book and its characters.

Indira and Jude start out as frenemies. They’ve known each other for their whole lives as Jude is Indira’s older brother, Collin, best friend. They’ve always been annoying to one another, and after years they pick up right from where they left. We see them rediscovering each other and realizing that while they still annoy the shit out of each other, they’ve also changed.

I loved seeing the shift in their relationship and how their thoughts of one another slowly changed. From frenemies to tentative friends to an inseparable bond to lovers. How they started to lean on each other for support and seeing them fall in love was the absolute best!

I loved Indira a whole bunch. Watching her heal from her struggles and understanding what troubles her was gratifying. While it was difficult for her to do so, she was so brave. She was also hilarious and her banter with Collins was so funny!
I loved seeing the girls’ group back in action, their friendship is always a highlight, that and seeing how the previous couples from the previous books were doing, it’s always a favorite of mine in any friend group series! We also got a tiny little glimpse into Thu’s book which again, amazing.

Jude. I loved him to pieces. My sweet, selfless, broken hero who wanted nothing more than to go back to his old self but was stuck in the dark. His journey was a notch more difficult. Seeing him struggles after so much trauma was hard, if I’m going to be honest. His friendship with Indira was really important to his healing and I loved seeing it.

Eddings as always represented the tough parts accurately and well written. She portrays the difficulties and consequences realistically and truthfully. I’m so grateful to authors who show all of it!

I flew through this book, and really enjoyed it. It had: Forced proximity. Fake dating. Brother’s best friend. YES TO ALL OF THOSE!

Indira and Jude grew up together. Jude is Indira’s brother’s, Collin, best friend. Collin’s getting married so Jude is staying with him until the wedding festivities are over. Indira finds herself needing a place to stay after she walks in on her boyfriend/roommate with someone else. She ends up at her brother’s place sharing a wall with Jude. These two have never gotten along and love getting under each other’s skin, which makes for some really great banter, angst, and tension.

What I really liked most about this book is that they ‘make it official’ and avoid the third act break up. As a reader I see the set up for this coming a mile away and it’s … boring and makes me want to stop reading cause I feel like I know what’s going to happen. But it never came and I found myself enjoying this all the way to the HEA. Also really liked Jude. He seemed very real and a lil messy to me. He was kind of a mix of grumpy + stoic but also kind of a cinnamon roll at times. And then during the spice … let’s just say he’s full of surprises lol.

Took away one star because of the heavy topics discussed. I like the therapy normalization and I really felt for Jude dealing with his PTSD. But it was a bit much for my tastes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings 💍🩺💐

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

You guys already know I’m a @mazeyeddings stan. A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake were two of my favorites of this year.

The Plus One did not disappoint. Jude and Indira were the grumpy, flawed couple of my dreams.

Working in mental health myself, I indentified so much with Indira’s struggle to need to feel “healed” in order to help others. It was so healing to read about giving yourself permission to take care of yourself so that you can take care of others <3333

I LOVED the representation of male struggles with mental health. Jude faces PTSD from serving as an emergency medicine surgeon in other countries. Seeing these two characters love on each other and support the other seeking help was so so beautiful and needed.

I absolutely adored this entire series and as sad as I am for it to come to an end- this was a very satisfying conclusion <3

I can see myself rereading Harper’s, Lizzie’s, and Indira’s stories over and over again in the future!

Thank you to @netgalley and @smpromance for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love all of Mazeys books. What sticks out, for me, is her characters. They’re realistic and flawed. Mostly, I wish I had friends like these characters!
The plot of this book was steady and worked out extremely well. I loved that we got a happily ever after, while it also not being perfect. The only thing that was a little too much was that Dira happens to be a psychiatrist. In some ways it was just too cliche.
Overall, Mazey writes wonderful, unique, real stories. I love that she introduces readers to situations that they may know nothing about. In a way, if you read Mazeys books you will find yourself being more understanding of others in your life.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Plus One in exchange for an honest review.

For some context I read but did not rate A Brush With Love due to my complex feelings towards it (and my absolute hatred of the FMC) and refused to read the second book in the series because of the dreaded unplanned pregnancy trope. that being said I wanted to give the author another chance especially after reading the synopsis for this book - and I’m quite glad I did!

The pros of this book:
- it is extremely readable with a quick moving plot but still sits with emotions of the characters
- the characters are mostly believable and engaging
- the dialogue is snappy

The cons of this book that kept me from truly loving it:
- wtf was the epilogue? the last chapter already felt like an epilogue and it was lovely, and then there was just a thrown in weird epilogue that felt like an attempt of info dump of other people’s babies and life updates? I was a little lost and confused by it.
- as someone who already didn’t want to read the second book, I was super annoyed by the two Lizzie/Rafe as parents scenes in this book and it doubled down on my decision to skip the second book. Lizzie was outright obnoxious.
- why exactly were Dira’s friends so present in her brother’s wedding, I didn’t fully understand either
- Some thing about this book just never truly connected with me, I will probably give this author a third read in the future since I did really enjoy this book, but definitely just a pleasant read that didn’t particularly stand out

All told a solid 4/5 star read that I’d recommend to others

What an adorable story, with some real emotion! It was a great read with loveable characters who were also struggling. By the author's own admission, she struggles/had struggle with PTSD and you really can feel the honesty in Jude's struggle.

It is a fun, STEAMY story that is more then just a normal romantic comedy. I will definitely be ready more books by this author!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me this ARC to review!

This lil romance was adorable! Highly recommend this one with an adorable cover and an adorable story.

My bad habit of reading my newest Netgalley books first continues, as I just couldn't stop myself from reading this already after loving Lizzie Blake so much. And I think after three books it's safe to call someone a new favourite author, right?

Because Mazey Eddings really did it again! I've lost count of how many times I've read books featuring the "enemies" to lovers/dislike to love trope and the fake dating trope, so for this book to feel completely fresh is a real achievement. I absolutely loved the forced proximity element in this: Indira and Jude both need a place to stay for a while, so they both move in with Indira's brother (who's Jude's best friend) and his fiancé, who are planning their wedding.

This book deals a lot with Jude's PTSD, which makes him feel like he doesn't deserve love and happiness. I really appreciated the balance between the difficulty of this and it being a heavier theme, along with really great banter between the main characters that made the book truly funny. Mazey Eddings is so great at writing neurodivergence and mental illness, so I can't wait to see what else she comes out with next. Her YA debut is definitely on my most anticipated list!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞
by Mazey Eddings

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★★
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶🌶
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: childhood enemies, fake dating, older brother's best friend, forced proximity
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: April 4, 2023
⚠️ 𝐓𝐖'𝐬: PTSD, emotional repercussions of growing up with divorced parents, moving on after a past partner cheats ⚠️

𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Mazeyyyyyyyyy! You did it again girl! Can I just say I’m completely in love with you and your beautiful writing? I’m obsessed. I think this book was my favorite book of yours so far, though. I’ve always loved how Mazey doesn’t shy away from challenging topics. You manage to write them beautifully every single time.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Both characters are in the medical field. Indira is a psychiatrist, and Jude is a doctor specializing in emergency medicine. Personally, I love books with MCs in the medical field. (It hits differently, you know?) Indira is a strong female lead character that's a total badass. (kind of obsessed with her too) However, the banter in the book is my absolute favorite part of the book. Even though the book does touch on heavier topics, it’s not necessarily a heavy book. There's plenty of hilarious banter with cute moments that will make you absolutely swoon. Both characters are lovable in their own way and develop into the book nicely. This book is also set in the same world as A Brush With Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, so definitely check those out as well! I HIGHLY recommend getting this book when it comes out!

Thank you so much to Mazey Eddings and St.Martin’s Press for the advanced digital copy!

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This book was like a warm hug after a good cry. Such sensitive topics reflected with grace & realism. Indira & Jude’s story was lovely to read. I think “A Brush With Love” remains my favorite of Eddings’ books, but I felt very close to Indira’s character.

Some lovely things:
- childhood frenemies to adult friends to lovers (I mean what’s not to love)
- no third act breakup!!! (This was very refreshing)
- really cute cuddles
- good deep meaningful character development and relationship building

I love how this story emphasized that just because you have mental health problems & may feel useless and unlovable, you still deserve to be loved deeply. I also loved how it showed two people staying together through hardship and helping each other through it. That made me feel very warm & fuzzy. I really enjoyed this one.

I don’t even know where to start on my review of this book! I loved it, just as I have loved the previous books in this series… though this one dealt with PTSD and as a former mental health professional, I may have loved it a little more.

As the book begins, the main character, Indira, is reeling from walking in on her boyfriend with someone else. Then she is forced to live with her brother and his best friend (and her childhood nemesis), only to face the her Ex and his new flame at her brother's wedding events… complete with family drama.

Eddings does an amazing job of describing the feeling of PTSD and panic attacks… which might lose some readers at the outset. But it is also a romance, with lots of spice and a multitude of tropes:
- childhood enemies
- fake dating
- wedding shenanigans
- enemies to lovers
- older brother's best friend
- forced proximity
- only one tent
I love that it emphasized the importance of being healthy individually to be healthy as a couple, and didn’t romanticize trauma or “saving” each other.
Thanks to NetGalley, @mazeyeddings, and @SMPRomance for the opportunity to read this amazing book!

Can I give this 5 million stars?? I absolutely loved it. Indira and Jude’s love story was amazing. Jude’s mental health journey was beautiful. I loved the mental health rep. It was done with care and SO beautifully. I cried and felt connected to both main characters. Now for the spice, holy smokes!! Jude has a wicked mouth. The spice was hot. It was so good and steamy. I loved everything about this book.

I was nervous to pick this one up after being disappointed by lizzie blake. BUT I ended up liking this follow up. ALSO PSA - this book is not a light fluffy rom com read. This book was a lot heavier than I expected with the male MC struggling with PTSD throughout the whole book. It shed a lot of light on therapy, which I appreciated. And I loved that there wasn't annoying forced conflict between the MCs. I LOVE a childhood friends/brothers best friend trope and thought this was one was done very sweetly. I thought the characters were very sweet together and I was rooting for them. This is a quick read and worth it if you love a good rom com with depth!

This book covers so many tropes and does it well! Enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, fake dating…. It sounds like a lot but it all just goes so perfectly with Indira and Jude. The humour and sarcasm mixed in with some heavy PTSD stuff was such a great change, that I didn’t even know I’d appreciate. Typically I find rom-coms like this are usually very light and fluffy, and while this does have those aspects it also covers a lot of trauma and healing in such a sensitive and important way.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc, I’m excited to read the first two books in this series now!

Mazey Eddings has done it again. Her ability to write complex characters and swoonworthy romances is unmatched.

The Plus One is a tender and vulnerable story following Jude and Indira. The two are childhood enemies and with a little bit of forced proximity, they eventually pretend to date (which we all know how that ends). Both of their perspectives are in the book giving us an inside look at their mental struggles and development of feelings for one another. I enjoyed just how raw this book was. We get to read Indira who is a psychiatrist doing her virtual therapy appointments while also reading how Jude is struggling with PTSD. They are both individuals finding themselves and each other within the backdrop of pre-wedding festivities.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Thank you so so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There is a lot to like in Mazey Eddings’ third book, this one focused on Indira in the Harper-Tu-Lizzie friend group. Indira is a psychiatrist who abrupt breaks up with her boyfriend after catching him cheating. She moves back in with her brother and his fiancé. Also staying until the wedding is her brother’s childhood best friend, Jude, who’s home from three years in a version of Doctors Without Borders with one more year on his contract. Jude and Indira had a prickly friendship as kids, but now Indira insists that she detests him. You know what happens.
Weddings does a good job of building a three-dimension FMC and MMC. Both Indira and Jude are at crossroads and aren’t sure what to do next. They first decide to pretend date (with the pretense being that Indira’s ex is also in the wedding, but it is still pretty thin) and then start real dating. They’re pretty good communicators even when they’re not sure what to say, and Jude’s PTSD is humanized and more than just one-note.
The thing that’s most frustrating about the book is that Indira and Jude clearly have sexual chemistry, and they trauma bond, but I wanted to see more of what drew them to each other other than a willingness to listen. The resolution has them merging their professional as well as personal ones, but I wanted to see more of their shared passions, not just their collective trauma. Don’t skip forward! Show us the good stuff! (And not just the sex)

Still, this is my favorite of Eddings’ books, and it’s a satisfying resolution to the friend group’s romance (although justice for Tu and Alex!)

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 3 in a series but can be read as a standalone. I had never read the other books and was able to follow along without feeling like I missed any of the story.

This book was great. It was a bit heavier than I anticipated but the author handled the heavy topics wonderfully. I would check TW before reading - just in case. I would definitely recommend this book.

I was given an Advanced Reader copy by NetGalley for an honest review.