The Plus One by Mazy Eddings
Narrators: Imani Jade Powers and Joe Arden
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 2 chilis
Pub Date: 4/4

After finding her boyfriend in a compromising position with another woman and a jar of peanut butter, Indira moves into her brother’s house until she can find a place of her own. When she arrives, she discovers that her childhood nemesis/frenemy, Jude, is also staying there. Her brother is getting married soon, and Jude is in town for the wedding.

Jude is a doctor who has traveled the world to help with various humanitarian crises. He suffers from PTSD and anxiety from the things he’s seen and is having a hard time readjusting to civilian life. Because Indira is forced to see her ex and his new girlfriend at every wedding event (of which there are many), she makes a deal with Jude to fake date until the wedding is over. This will help Jude disguise his social anxiety, and Indira won’t have to go to the wedding alone. But the forced proximity and fake affection make them feel things they didn’t think they’d ever feel for each other, and their fake dating turns into real feelings that neither of them knows how to deal with.

This book had everything I love in a romance novel: a sassy heroine, witty banter, sizzling chemistry, unforgettable supportive characters, and delicious steam. Jude and Indira are relationship goals with their healthy, open, and honest relationship. These two go from frenemies to friends to lovers seamlessly, and I loved every second of it! Childhood friends-to-lovers is my favorite because the shared history between them makes their eventual relationship feel like it’s been a long time coming and has an “it’s always been you” quality that I adore.

Eddings is a master at addressing mental health issues and normalizing getting help through therapy in her writing. I love her humor and writing style and the diversity of her characters. This was a moving and powerful read while also feeling light and humorous. And it includes some of my favorite tropes, like brother’s best friend, forced proximity, and fake dating.

I listened to this one on audio and enjoyed the narration by Joe Arden and Imani Jade Powers! Arden does an incredible job of changing his tone and inflection to match the characters he’s playing, and while Powers is a new narrator to me, I thought she brought Indira to life.

This is the third book in the Brush With Love series, and it was great to see characters from the previous books! I still haven’t read Lizzie Blake, but it’s on my immediate TBR after loving this one. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to listen to early.

I really enjoyed this one! I thought the way it started off was perfect! We have Indira who just caught her live in boyfriend cheating on her in their apartment. So she runs to her brothers house for safety, and when she gets there she notices she isn’t the only one staying there, her child hood nemesis and her brothers best friend Jude is also staying there. her brother is getting married and Jude a doctor in 3rd world countries but he is home on to attend the wedding. Indira and Jude have never got along, from the time they where kids and now they are stuck living in the same house. As the wedding festivities start, Indira ex boyfriend is also in the wedding is around and her and Jude come up with a plan to fake date for these events so Indira doesn’t have to be alone and watch her ex with his new girlfriend. I really liked Indira’s character, she is a therapist and pretty self aware and had me laughing a lot of the times. But I really think it was Jude and his story who stole the book, he is suffering from PTSD from all his time overseas with all the tragedy he has faced but he knows doing this is the only way he can pay off his student loans. He also feels like feeling this way about it all, all the flash backs and panics attacks are a huge failure on his part and he keeps everything all inside. Intill as Indira gets to know the adult Jude and the therapist inside of her sees the signs and with her help Jude really has great character development. Their relationship was so cute and they really helped each other in so many ways! This is definitely spicy! But no 3rd act breakup! Which is something I think we can all appreciate! My favourite part of this book though was the bob burgers scene! I also find comfort in the thanksgiving episodes!! The mental health rep in Mazey books once again is amazing and I definitely recommend this one!

Indira and Jude basically grew up together because Jude is her brother’s best friend! Pretty much sworn to hate each other, life has other plans when days before Indira’s brothers wedding Indira experiences cheating and now has to rely on Jude to help her through the festivities as she helps him through his traumas.
This book has a little bit of everything, love, spice, healing, and spunk! I enjoyed the love/hate romance between Indira and Jude, the snarky remarks and the love that was rooted between them from childhood.
Triggers: cheating, abandonment, ptsd

OMG! I can’t gush about this book enough! It was heartbreaking but hopeful and the chemistry between Indira and Jude was magnetic! I listened to the audiobook and both narrators were phenomenal - so emotional and captivating. Jude’s backstory was especially gut wrenching; it took a lot of restraint to not be openly sobbing while listening at work. It literally felt like Labyrinth by Taylor Swift in book form! I previously read Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake and Eddings again delivered in capturing mental health issues in a way that felt relatable and authentic. Eddings has now solidified her spot as one of my favorite authors!

This book was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise!
I love a romance that takes care in building character depth and providing character development, which this story does really well.
There's much description of anxiety attacks and feels/actions associated with PTSD, which are incredibly difficult topics to write about. The author does a wonderful job of representing these subjects/topics in a realistic way.
The dual perspective works so well for this story and allows the reader to fall in love with the female and male leads. Their dynamic jumps off the page!
I was fortunate enough to listen to the audiobook for this story and the narrators do a great job of making the reader feel like they're going through each character's experiences with them. This can be difficult at times given the dense subject matter that is tackled, but it can also be so fun and light!
Also, the steam in this book is absolutely fantastic! Wow!
About half way through listening to the audiobook for this story I realized it was the third in a series of companion novels and I must say that it made me want to instantly pick up the other two books and give them a read!
I definitely recommend this romance! You will not be disappointed!

Jude and Indira are such interesting, compelling, relatable and intriguing characters. I loved their banter and that we got glimpses of their shared history from childhood. They added to the romance and the story overall. Their romance was sweet and so them. This book took me on an emotional ride as I went along on the journey of two scarred characters trying to find their way to happiness. Eddings dealt with the various mental health issues with such depth and compassion. The secondary character are interesting and it’s fun to see when the tables are turned 😊

This book deals with PTSD and mental health.

I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed the read. The narrators are good and easy to understand and follow.

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

Thank you to NetGalley, Mazey Eddings, the publisher, and Macmillan Audio for sending me this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The Plus One follows Indira, a psychiatrist who seems to have it all- a boyfriend, a happy life, and a job. Her world flips upside down when she walks in on her boyfriend with another girl and peanut butter… Indira, being the strong woman that she is, leaves and goes to her brother’s house. Only who is at her brother’s house? The person she hates most, Jude. Jude is a family friend, also a doctor, who also happens to be working in emergency situations all over the world, and is in Indira’s brother’s wedding, just like she is. The wedding events are crazy and a lot to handle. What happens when Indira and Jude attempt to “fake date?” They may just find out that love conquers all.

I LOVED this audio book, I am buying a physical copy because I loved it so much. I have never listened to an audio book before, but plan to continue doing so. I just thought this book was great. The banter, the enemies to lovers, best friend’s sister, and fake dating tropes were immaculate.

On a deeper note, the book follows Jude’s journey with his mental health, specifically, PTSD. I thought Mazey Eddings did a great job at writing how PTSD impacts one’s day to day functioning through different triggers and emotional responses. I thought that Jude and Indira had the most authentic and raw relationship and I just loved it so much. I found myself just tearing up at the beautiful words they shared with one another.

Also, the story line with Indira and Collin’s dad was great too. I think it encapsulated the experience of those who have had a parent leave while growing up. I thought that the siblings had such a perfect relationship that I loved as well.

Overall, this book was fantastic and I cannot wait to read more from Mazey Eddings.

THE NARRATORS WERE FANTASTIC!! I've never been pulled into a story as much as "The Plus One"! Absolutely lovely story with the best narration!

First of all thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy. Now that the legalese is out of the way, let's jump into my thoughts.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Great.

First of all let me say, I did not realize this was in the "Brush of Love" universe and I probably wouldn't have requested it if I had. I tried to read that book a couple months ago and I just couldn't get into it. Now maybe it was me and the mood I was in but...eh.

But THIS book. First of all, thank you Mazey Eddings for giving me a new trauma damaged man to simp over. What is it in us women that makes us think "I can fix him! My love will fix him!" I would like to know. I would also like to state that your love CANNOT fix anyone. Your love can be a support while the fix themselves but it can't actually fix them. And bless Eddings for making this a point in the story. The entire time Indira says "I'm not trying to fix you/change you," and she doesn't.

And Jude is the epitome of a man written by a woman. He's damaged and a complete wreck, but he looks at Indira and is like, this person, this relationship is too important to me for me to not TRY to work on myself. There are so many times where he's like I should not want anything to do with her because I am bad, broken, damaged. And then he's like, but I WILL get myself together.

Beautiful.

There are also several times where Jude literally admits "I'm scared." MEN WRITTEN BY WOMEN, Y'ALL!

Anyway, I loved this. I was truly surprised by it and how Eddings handled the familiar tropes, but it makes me want to give Brush of Love another try, and also find her other book which I somehow missed completely.

My one complaint is not about the book at all, it's about the book description. It's a bit misleading. While technically they are fake wedding dates, and while Indira is put together and Jude is a mess, it's really not presented the way the description makes it seem. @thepublisher, think about updating this because this book is GOOD but that description is weak.

ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this ARC. I hadn't had the chance to experience the first two books in the A Brush with Love series, and happily can let readers know this is an easy standalone.

The Plus One had all of the makings of an amazing Contemporary Romance. Enemies to Lovers, Brother's Best Friend, Fake Dating, but I feel like at times the book felt like "Everything but the kitchen sink" in terms of tropes--hoping to find one for every reader to enjoy and it left it feeling a little scattered to me.

At times I just didn't feel like the main characters had a compelling relationship for me, and even at this point I'm not completely sure when and how they decided to let bygones be bygones and work together. I feel like if Indira hadn't been a psychiatrist, her and Jude never would've had a reason to connect in the future considering their past disdain for each other.

But, they did, and I think the way they bettered each other made for a good romance, and the moment when Jeremy walked in on them definitely had me giggling for a while. They understood each other in ways no one else did and I loved the way their entire lives culminated into these moments.

I found Indira's brother as a character to be someone I really disliked. Each time he was mentioned and the way him and his husband were treating their bridal party like their minions just left a sour taste in my mouth. They are doctors. Anesthesiologist's at that. They easily could have paid someone to do this work and enjoyed time with their friends in family in more meaningful ways.

At the end of it all it just felt like most of the plot points didn't have much significance and I wish the author would've picked one conflict and ran with it. Jude's PTSD, Indira's issues with her dad, her issues with her ex, her issues with Jude. It was just a lot to focus on and it left me no really memorable moments.

The author's prose is great. and probably the main reason I continued reading. I liked her writing style enough to even want to pick up the other two books in the series, so I am hoping her other works hit a little better with my interests.

This story is so sweet and beautiful. Talking about but respecting hard topics; parental abandonment, PTSD, cheating, etc. 

Indira and Jude have been at odds since childhood. As her older brother's best friend and near constant companion they had a lot of time to perfect picking on each other. Now as adults and trying to make it through Indira's brother's wedding they decide that it'll all be easier to deal with if they fake-date. We all know how that ends up! This book was so touching and I really enjoyed it. 

Imani Jade Powers did a wonderful job narrating and OF COURSE Joe Arden is always amazing! Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.

Book 3 in the A Brush With Love series ~ previous book characters are involved here, but probably fine as a standalone.

Content warnings from the author ~ PTSD from losing patients as a medical provider in emergency situations, emotional repercussions of growing up with divorced parents, moving on after a past partner cheats

Featuring ~ dual 3rd person POV, best friends sister, brothers best friend, childhood enemies to lovers, fake dating, steamage

Indira & Jude
Indira walks in on Chris, her live in boyfriend, in quite a gross and sticky compromising position. She packs her stuff and heads to her brother, Colin's, house. But it's not Colin who answers the door, it's his best friend and her enemy, Jude.

Each chapter is titled to give us a countdown to Colin and Jeremy's wedding. A wedding that Chris will be attending, so Jude offers to be Indira's fake date. As they spend more and more time together the fake dating line gets a bit blurred.

I felt that mental health was well written. I liked that Indira is a psychiatrist who sees one herself and that Jude got the help he needed as well.

I really enjoyed these two together, their self journey and their journey to each other, and how it all wrapped up. This was a great ending to the series.

I was fortune enough to have a kindle copy and an audio copy ~ both formats works perfectly.
Narration:
Jade Powers & Joe Arden ~ 11 hours 0 minutes ~ a lovely job by both.

I don't usually enjoy the Enemies to lovers trope because they are usually just too mean to each other for me to get over and get on board with the lovers side of it but this one wasn't really like that. This was mostly enemies in thoughts not actions. I also am tired fake dating so when that was mentioned I got worried but again thankfully it wasn't handled all in secret like it usually is. For me those 2 tropes have a lot of drama attached to them but this book didn't have that unnecessary relationship drama.

This book had a lot of heavy subjects to deal with and I felt like they were all handled really well but that's no surprise when one of the main characters is a Therapist. The authors note in the beginning tells you all of the hard subjects this book covers so if you have no triggers and like to go in blind you may want to skip it. All in all the book was enjoyable even if it felt a little slow to me.

The narration was great. Joe Arden is different from his normal roles with this book and he narrates a lot more emotions and does a great job with it. Imani Jade Powers is a new to me narrator and I look forward to hear more from her.

Great childhood friends to lovers story. Predicable, lighthearted, entertaining read. I have enjoyed this series and look forward to more.

Somehow, the audiobook makes this book even better. I loved this book more the second time and fell in love with Indira and Jude all over again. The cast of supporting characters are so good and even though this book covers some heavy material, there were wonderful moments of humor. The support all characters have for each other is amazing to see, even if it is only fiction. I loved the multiple time jumps at the end and the epilogue was the perfect conclusion to this series. Amazing work Mazey Eddings! I cannot wait to read more of your stories in the future! 5⭐️, 3.5🌶

Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exits. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other?

This is a sweet story. Indira walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her. When she retreats to her brother’s house she discovers her childhood enemy, Jude, is also living there. It gets really fun when you find out everyone is a member of her brother’s upcoming wedding party!

Their relationship starts out as fake dating. It was really only a show for Indira’s ex during wedding party events, so I don’t totally feel that part was necessary. And wow, there are a lot of wedding party events!

The middle of this story dragged a little for me. The two MC’s were interesting and their bickering was comical, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between them. I think there was just too much going on that I was having trouble connecting with their story.

I was lucky to be approved for an eARC as well as the audio version. I was not a fan of Jude’s narrator and just stuck with the ebook.

Indira and Jude don’t get along. Never have, never will. Growing up Jude was always around, being the life long best friend of Indiras brother. Now forced to live together and walk down the aisle together for the wedding if their best friend/brother, these two might have to learn how to be civil. This book is BEAUTIFUL. I loved the banter, and how authentic these characters felt. I loved how Jude’s PTSD was explored and handled with such care. I loved that Indira was struggling with her own things in different ways. God did I mention the banter??

Indira and her brother's best friend, and childhood nemesis, Jude are both in a dealing with baggage and do no want to attend the plethora of wedding events alone,so they make a pact to go the events together and pretend they are a couple.
This book is filled with tropey goodness! We have enemies to lovers, brother's best friend and fake dating. All done so well and so much fun.
This was such a heartwarming book It deals with PTSD, anxiety and abandonment. We see Indira and Jude open up and make themselves vulnerable to each other and help each others with their isssues, and it's so wonderful to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced listener copy. The narrators were great.

I instantly fell in love with Imani reading for Indira. Her voice fits what I thought Indira would sound like SO PERFECTLY. And Joe has the PERFECT voice for Jude. They also did fantastic jobs of reading as the other person in their respective POVs. They were both able to capture Jude and Indira SO WELL. I love the story, but listening to them read it to me made it even better.

I was laughing out loud with them and tearing up with them. The emotions read so well! I couldn’t have asked for better people to read for Jude and Dira.

This book makes my heart so incredibly happy and I’m so happy I got to listen to it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

And to Mazey for this BEAUTIFUL book 🫶🏻

I listened to the audio and cannot say enough good things about the narrators- they were perfect for this book! This is the third book in the series and my favorite so far. This book was funny and emotional, the author’s writing style is amazing and I cannot wait to read more by her.