Loved this book and the audiobook just enhanced the experience that much more. Loved every second of listening to this story again. Can't wait to buy the physical copy with this gorgeous cover!

The Plus One left me with mixed feelings, and I would have added a half-star if allowed. I started it thinking from the description that I was reading/listening to a romance, and there IS a romance within its pages. But it's more of a prolonged examination of the effect of stress on a relationship and on one's ability to function professionally. Jude's a doctor who's seen bad things in his work--unimaginably bad things, as he's spent several years working for a "Doctors Without Borders" type of organization in hotspots around the world. Indira is his best friend's sister and a life-long frenemy, who just happens to be a psychiatrist. They're forced to spend time together in the run-up to Indira's brother's wedding, and YES, since this is a romance, of sorts, the unexpected happens, and they fall in love (who would have guessed?!)
I liked many parts of The Plus One. Both Jude and Indira are sympathetic characters the reader roots for, and the relationship between her brother, Colin and his fiancé, Jeremy is just lovely. But I also got tired of the repetitive descriptions of anxiety and the need to address it professionally. One more gripe: I generally read for escape. I can take real-life important, serious issues in my escapist reading: social issues, health issues, and even political issues, but when I'm reading to "escape," especially romance, I don't want farts. Forget the "especially romance" part - farts don't belong in novels. Period. Yes, there's only one occurrence in the book, but that's one too many.

Thank you Macmillan audio for sending a copy of The Plus One in exchange of my honest opinion.

Look, you know that this book if fictional because that's the only way to see a man going to therapy! Indira and Jude known each other since childhood, after all Jude is Indira's brother best friend. They have always picked at each other when they were kids, but they meet again on her brother's wedding at a very particular situation. Indira just broke up with her boyfriend after he cheated on her and Jude is on vacation from his assignment as a war doctor.
To "help" with Indira situation, since she will se her ex at the wedding, they propose to fake date, but of course things will become very real.

I really enjoyed the whole character development of both Indira and Jude. Indira has several issues that she works through, from her dad abandoning the family to the cheating boyfriend, and Jude as well, suffering from PTSD because of his assignments.
I like how mature was their relationship, even though they sometimes do silly things. They really talk things through and I really like seeing authors investing in stories with good communication.
This book is supposed to be a romcom but get ready to have a lot of feelings to the point that almost felt like a drama. The only funny parts were in the wedding which I though were pretty nice but other than that we have a very complex and well done healing journey for both of our characters.

The Plus One is the third book in the 'A Brush with Love' series. This book is cute and more or less follows a typical romcom template. & there are no shortage of tropes!

-Brother's best friend
-Enemies to lovers
-Close proximity
-Fake dating

The Plus One deals with mental health issues as well as strained family dynamics & I feel like it's pulled off well. Encouraging, hopeful, and minimal miscommunication. The characters mesh well and there are plenty of spicy scenes! There were several laugh out loud scenes as well...two words: peanut butter.

Although I enjoyed the book, overall, it just feels forgettable and nothing really stands out to set it apart from the countless other romcoms out there.

I decided to pair the ebook with the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrators. I feel that both Imani Jade Powers and Joe Arden are super talented and kicked this book up a notch!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of The Plus One in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was the first book I've read from Mazey Eddings. And WOW! It was so good! This also happens to be book 3 in a series but can be a standalone as I had no issues with it. I know a lot of the characters are in previous books but they give enough of an introduction to them that it doesn't feel like something is missing from the story.
Ok, Indira breaks up with her boyfriend and has to move in with her brother and his fiance. No big deal? Well, her brother is about to get married so his best friend, Jude, is staying with them while he is on a break from his job. Indira and Jude do NOT get along...or do they?
I really loved how this story could really happen in real life. The trauma both characters faced and how they are dealing with it is so relevant. The way they navigated their relationship was so good! There wasn't the annoying miscommunication but actual communication and since they grew up with each other they had more of an understanding.
The perfect brother's best friend/childhood friends/enemies to lovers romance!

If I could give this book 10/10 stars I would. I’ve found an auto read/auto buy author in Mazey Eddings, and I just adore the writing, the well developed characters with flaws and real relatable issues , the mental health rep, and the perfect pacing.

I’ve found a new book boyfriend in Jude and this might just be my new fave out of the series. I read the book but then loved it so much that I also listened to the audiobook, and can’t recommend THE PLUS ONE enough.

*many thanks to St Martins and Macmillan audio/Netgalley for the gifted copy

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Narration: The dual narration was great. Distinguished between characters and kept me interested.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (4 Stars)
Steam: 🌶🌶🌶/5 (multiple scenes with description)

No spoiler review 👇🏻

This is the third book in the “A Brush With Love” series. I didn’t read the first two books, and it read well as a stand-alone. This book was fun! I am interested in checking out the other books after reading this one.

It’s a steamy romance with some of my favourite tropes. Enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, fake dating. It was awesome. I was smiling so much while reading this. I love the realness/rawness of these characters, and the conversations around mental health. Very important to have this kind of representation in books. Some of the plot felt rushed at times,and I didn’t love everything in the third act, which is why it’s 4 stars for me, but overall I enjoyed this book. If you like contemporary romance reads with steamy scenes I recommend this one!

CW: PTSD, losing patients, emotional trauma, divorce, cheating, absent parent

This book was the first I've read in this series, and I think it stood just fine on it's own without having read the others.

First, trigger warnings: parental abandonment, cheating, PTSD, panic attacks, medical provider trauma, self-worth, and child/parent role reversals,

My first impression was that this was going to be a cute, chick-lit, childhood enemies to lovers. And yes, that was part of it, but it was so, so, so much more. The rawness of these characters was so realistic, I wanted befriend each one of them. I love that these characters are so closely woven together and can be open enough to work through the things that they struggle with.

Plot: Indira and Jude have known each other since childhood. Jude is her brother's best friend, and is standing up in his wedding. Indira is recently single, and her and Jude enter a fake-dating situation. You cannot tell me the heat radiating off them wasn't hot as the sun. They have sexy, intimate, and wholesome chemistry, Both of them are facing a trauma, and lean on each other to overcome.

I was rooting for a happily ever after for them, and did Mazey deliver so much more!

The icing on the cake for me was the audiobook narration. Joe Arden is phenomenal, and I love the way he reads Jude. This was my first time hearing Imani Jade Powers, and I hope it won't be my last. She was perfection!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the ARC, and allowing me to give my honest review.

This narration was wonderful. I loved the dual narrations. I loved the emotions brought to the characters. I loved this book.

I have read and adored this entire series. This book was everything my heart didn’t know it needed. It was so, just truly wonderful. I felt the heart break and anxiety that Indira and Jude struggled with independently. I swear I had tears in my eyes so many times, because I felt them; that deeply.⁣
⁣
Watching these two go from frenemies to lovers was so so beautiful. The way that they were just intune with each other and gently pushed each other to work through their feelings and were just present with one another. They made my heart sigh in this beautiful and wonderful way.⁣
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There were so many adult, brilliant conversations in their dialogue. The openness about mental health awareness and how brave and hard it is to show up and feel everything instead of sitting in numbness and anger.⁣
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For a work of fiction, this book has truly wonderful, beautifully written life lessons. For someone who personally struggles with depression and anxiety. Someone who is in therapy. I felt this in all of my feels and it almost gave me this sense of peace and calm. ⁣
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This quote, was so accurate and hit so close to home for me. I have reread it so many times because I never viewed therapy this way and now, I always will. “ You show up for an hour, maybe two, and you have no other responsibility in the world than to focus on yourself. Your feelings. Your thoughts. It’s dedicated time to find yourself fully and deeply, with another person there to help when needed. Therapy is scary because it requires you to be brave. It’s one of the most radical forms of self-love.”⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very solid romance with a lot of emotional depth and serious topics discussed with care! I was impressed by Indira and Jude's story after struggling with Lizzie and Rake's story. Mazey Eddings' writing is easy and naturally humorous, flows well, and lends itself well to a quick read with plenty of antics. Although I did have a hard time relating to and getting emotional invested in Indira and Jude, I really liked them both as characters and how gentle and caring they were towards each other once they got past their animosity from the past. I really liked the backdrop of the wedding to the whole story and the forced proximity of living in the same house - you could definitely pull out the tropes in the story but it didn't feel like the story relied on them too much. The timeline of the ending tripped me up a bit and I thought messed with the pacing of the story but I understand why it was like that and it was needed to wrap up the storyline in that way.

I thought the audiobook was easy to listen to and the narrators did a great job! Sometimes in the big group scenes I got a bit confused who was talking, but otherwise it added a really nice depth to the more emotional scenes in the book between Indira and Jude and also in the therapist sessions.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early copy!

I completely loved this book. The writing was solid and the characters very fleshed out and relatable. I especially appreciated the strong focus on mental health. Contrary to what so many keep telling me, mental health issues CAN be an authentic barrier for two characters trying to find their HEA, and I wish more publishers recognized how important and relatable this trope is.

Kudos to Eddings to handling the Jude's PTSD with sensitivity without shying away from the ugly. Very nice job. I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Plus One was a great wrap-up for this adorable but spicy romance series. This particular installment follows Indira and Jude, childhood frenemies. After Indira walks in on her deadbeat boyfriend cheating on her, she flees to stay with her brother and his fiance as they plan for their wedding. Her oasis is dashed when she realizes that her brother's long time best friend from childhood, Jude, is also staying at their house. This relationship quickly goes from frenemies to lovers, which was one tiny point of contention that I had.
Although I think that their dynamic was really well written, I found the pace from enemies to lovers to be too fast for my liking, just because I prefer some more crazy antics and pining. With that being said; however, I adored their relationship towards the end. The author does a wonderful job at displaying a healthy relationship, with a realistic third act conflict that I didn't despise- which is rare.
Overall, I did enjoy this installment and hope to read more from Mazey Eddings in the future. I gave this novel 3.5/5 stars.

This book was a cute enemies-to-lovers story following Indira and Jude. Growing up, they hated each other but were forced to be in each other's lives due to Jude and Indira's brother being best friends. When they are once again forced to be under the same roof, they find that they have conflicting feelings. I enjoyed their story a lot because they are so funny and have great chemistry. They bring out each other's inner child and it was amazing to see their characters develop. Lizzie's book is still my favorite but this one is a close second.

At this point I think it’s save to say that I’m a Mazey Eddings stan!! I really love and appreciate her storytelling and feel very seen in her depictions of mental health. Mazey does an incredible job of giving us a story that is light, funny, and heartwarming while also being heartbreaking and meaningful in a very profound way.

The characters have depth and I really appreciate the self awareness of their own weaknesses and needs for help when it came to therapy and PTSD. Mazey writes them in a way that lets the reader know it is okay if you yourself are struggling with these issues, that you are not alone. She’s helping in normalizing all of these things and I’m proud to be one of her readers. I will always recommend her books to very one!

In this book we have Indira and Jude. Jude is Indira’s brother Collin’s best friend and they all were very close growing up though Indira had a hate / strong dislike for Jude and he shared the feelings. Jude comes back home for Collin’s wedding to his love Jeremy, while he was away he was a surgeon who helped in areas affected by civil unrest and during the time developed PTSD. I was not knowledgeable of PTSD when I started this book but the topic was handled delicately and really explained how hard it is for people who are dealing with it. Indira saw Jude struggling at one of the countless pre wedding events (after her long term bf was caught having sex in their apartment with the use of peanut butter….. ewwww) and they formed a pact to fake date until the wedding so she could help him get out of hard situations and so she didn’t have to see her ex at the wedding and be alone.

As we all know the fake dating trope is a high quality one. Honestly it was 10 out of 10 in this book. I appreciated how there wasn’t a silly third act breakup or miscommunication. The characters just realized they had feelings and worked together to find out what their relationship was.

This book also brought up couples counseling. I will say this was so nice to see it being used prior to an issue being present. Both Indira and Jude had issues from their past that they brought into the relationship and they started couples counseling to make sure that the prior issues did not affect their love for one another or how their relationship progressed in the future.

Listen, I could go on and on about the wonders of a Mazey Eddings book but honestly just go buy the damn thing and read it. These books are powerful and deal with real situations and emotions and are so beautiful. I am sad to see this group of friends end their book journey but I know Mazey is working on some other things and honestly I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

I “read” this book in audio format. I’m still on the fence with how I feel about audiobooks in general, but I got through this story quicker than most. I really like whoever voiced Indira’s chapters—she was easy to listen to and had engaging inflection. The story itself was also engaging. I’m a sucker for a romcom and was a little apprehensive seeing this was actually the third book in a series. Not to worry though, this could definitely work as a stand-alone book. Now that I have finished this I definitely plan to read the other books in this series (I will probably opt for print format though). Mazey Eddings does a good job keeping a lighthearted story that still includes heavy topics. In this case Indira struggles with abandonment and Jude is struggling with burn out from his job as a surgeon. Despite these, the story never came across draining. Definitely would recommend reading this and can’t wait to try another book by the same author!

I’ve loved the In A Brush series but this book, The Plus One was such a different book but not in a bad way. The series has real, sexy, funny characters that were easy to follow and become emotionally invested in. This book has all the witty and sexy banter while also compassionately addressing Doctor Jude’s burn out and PTSD from his over seas medical journeys. Indira seemed like the perfect person to come along at just the right time to help Jude and be able to understand him and the help he needed to see he needed for his own health. This was such a great novel about two people growing and supporting each other together.

There was so many great points to this book:
Fake dating
Enemies to lovers
Brothers best friend
Forced proximity
Mental health trauma, PTSD
Steamy Scenes

Plot: 1
Writing: .5
World building: .5
Characters: 1
Themes: 1
4/5

Spice: 3.5/5

What you can expect:
- Hate to love
- Witty banter
- Brother's best friend
- Mental health rep (PTSD)

I was not expecting the gravity and depth we got regarding mental health. I loved it. A lot of it was heavy, but I think there was a good balance with the witty banter. There were a lot of funny, juvenile moments that I would hate in everything else but works for this childhood-frenemies situation.

Indira is a psychiatrist in therapy for her own issues and Jude is an emergency physician working in various overseas clinics. I really liked how intentional the mental health rep was. I liked seeing it from a physician's pov as I've often wondered how doctors/surgeons cope with it all.

I love the communication. There's not lying or creeping around in secret. It's (for the most part) all out in the open. The communication during spicy times is immaculate. It's continuous and I could tell really helped make both of the characters feel safe and secure.

<spoilers>
I'm sorry...but how do you have the audacity to get caught cheating and then have the mistress show up at every event your ex-girlfriend's brother's wedding events?? Do you have NO SHAME? sheesh. And the fact that her brother didn't say anything to him. Fine, keep the guy in your wedding, but don't allow him to bring his new gf! Even if their split was mutual, the brother should have been more active but I guess we saw him gaslight Indira on multiple ocassions so....

I think we could have explored the who dad issue a little deeper but I liked that the POS didn't get much page time. lol. I also think it's important to see instances where some characters just can't be redeemable, because that's life. Sometimes we just have to cut out the toxic and move on.

Weird Questions I Had While Reading This Book:
- Do people really get tested regularly even when they're not active? This is the second book I've read this week where both parties haven't been active in months/years but they've been regularly tested.
- What is it with food being an aphrodisiac?! This was a k!nk I wasn't expecting from this book. lol

</spoilers>

I would definitely recommend this one for those who love rom coms with more depth.

The narrators were amazing. I never really love male narrators narrating spicy parts, especially the girl's parts...but this one was done really well.

The focus on mental health is a big part of the story and can be heavy at times. Please take a look at the triggers before diving in.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook. This is my honest review.

Thank you to Mazey Eddings and Macmillian for the ARC of this book.

For me this is a 4.5/5 stars.

General Description: Indira's life is turned upside down a month before her brother's wedding, and Jude's life starts to settle down after months in warzones. The frenemies find themselves both crashing at Indira's brothers' house (Collin) and they come up with a plan to pretend to be each others' wedding dates: Indira gets to shove it in the face of her ex, and Jude can escape all the noise without being asked where he's going.

The good:
- The emphasis on therapy. I truly love when books have fantastic mental health representation and this book has it for me.
- The frenemies to lovers vibes. I thought this was done so well!
- The situations they were put into and how they learned about each other I thought was done really well. I could not put this book down.
- I also love most of the side characters (the ones you're supposed to) and I hope we get more in this universe!

The reason for a .5 star loss: there are 3 spicy scenes in this book. 2 I thought were well time/placed, but the middle one was not necessary in my opinion and took away from the flow of the book. however, this is my opinion and I am not a big spicy book person.

In summary: This was a fantastic read and I can't wait to read more Mazey Eddings!

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings is the third book in a series that follows a group of friends as they each find love. Each book can be read as a standalone, but the other characters do make appearances which is fun if you've read the other books. I will say this book is by far my favorite of all three. The book is about Indira, a woman who walks in on her boyfriend cheating so moves in with her brother, his fiancé, and his childhood best friend. As she and her brother's friend hang out more and fake date to make things less awkward around her ex, both of them start to catch feelings.

I really enjoyed this book and its handling of mental health and anxiety, as well as how the pressure and expectations to push past those feelings can exacerbate them. The book also covered many fun romance tropes include brother's best friend and fake dating.

I listened to the audiobook and the dual narration was on point. Overall a very enjoyable listen! Highly recommend!