REVIEW: The Plus One by Mazey Eddings

The Plus One by Mazey Eddings: Its fun how everything can look great on paper, having checked all the right boxes but on the inside you could be completely lost and off balance, well this is exactly the case for childhood enemies Jude and Indira. With her twenties almost behind her Indira has her life pretty set; great boyfriend, amazing job and her own car. Really what more could a girl ask for? Well her picture perfect love comes crashing down when Indira walks in on her boyfriend in the arms of a total stranger. Talk about having the rug pulled out from right under you! So clearly seeing her ex and his new squeeze during her brothers wedding celebrations is less than ideal, which is how she finds herself making a pact with non other than her childhood frenemie Jude.

To anyone looking in it would seem that Jude has his entire life together; successful doctor that is going around the world to help the less privileged, but a quick trip home to celebrate his friends wedding bring Jude to the stark realisation that he actually has no idea where his life is headed! With all this friends beginning to settle down Jude can’t help but feel like the odd man out… just maybe this wacky pact with Indira could help both of them survive the wedding from hell… but what happens when faking it begins to feel kind of real?

I absolutely love the fake turned real trope, add in the fact that this is an enemies to lovers romance set at a wedding and I was completely sold! The Plus One was a brilliant book that I throughly enjoyed reading. There is something about Eddings books that are both entertaining but also real and relatable. One of the things that I really liked about this book was that it focused on mental health, not only did Eddings address these topics well but it was done in a way that came across as natural and not something to shy away from.

I really liked Jude, not only was his character so completely relatable but I loved how easy it was to place myself in his shoes. It was so easy to relate to his anxiety, fears and the inner fights that he had been facing. I really enjoyed getting to see him talk through his fears and opening up all those bottled emotions. His characters journey was very for filling. As for our leading lady Indira, well she was just great. I loved that even though she was questioning her own self worth, she still stood by Jude and gave him that support as he opened up. For all their bickering and bantering these two helped heal each other, I loved that they were just the people that they both needed in a difficult time.

The chemistry between Jude and Indira was pure perfection. I loved the build up from enemies to friends to lovers, their journey felt natural and very real. I absolutely loved the shared tent bit, this only added in helping push them together. I actually really liked them as a couple even when they were pretending they had a spark and I just loved getting to see that come alive. I have to say that I really liked that Eddings did not shy away from making mental health such a big topic in this book, with Indira being a psychiatrist she was the perfect person to help Jude open up about his anxiety, fears and all the bottled emotions, more than this I really liked that in her helping him and getting him to talk through his feeling, she actually worked past her feeling of self worth.

The Plus One is a definite must read! This book has relatable and loveable characters, easy banter, enemies to lovers goodness and a great view on positive mental health all tied together in one cute romance!

Book Info:

Publication: April 4, 2023 | St. Martin’s Griffin |

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?

On paper, Indira has everything together. An amazing job, a boyfriend, and a car. What more could a late twenty-something ask for? But when she walks in on her boyfriend in an amorous embrace with a stranger, that perfect on paper image goes up in flames.

Jude has nothing together. A doctor that’s spent the last three years traveling the world to treat emergencies and humanitarian crises, a quick trip home for his best friend’s wedding has him struggling to readjust.

Thrust into an elaborate (and ridiculously drawn out) wedding event that’s stressing Jude beyond belief and has Indira seeing her ex and his new girlfriend far more frequently than any human should endure, the duo strike a bargain to be each other’s fake dates to this wedding from hell. The only problem is, their forced proximity and fake displays of affection are starting to feel a bit… real, and both are left grappling with the idea that a situation that couldn’t be worse, is made a little better with the other around.