Guest Book Review and Giveaway: The Plus One

By Melissa Smoot

She’s not looking to fix him. She’s looking to love him, if he’ll let her in.

Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exists. 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. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

There were many things I really enjoyed about The Plus One. First, it takes place in an area of Philadelphia, called Manayunk, that I am very familiar with. This made it extremely easy for me to picture the setting that the author was attempting to convey, and I knew of many of the landmarks and restaurants that the characters went to in the book.

 I also like how descriptive this author’s writing is. I could easily picture the characters in my mind, as I read the story. Mazey had a lot of very diverse characters and the book felt very inclusive without it seeming like she was trying too hard. One major thing about this book is that it deals very heavily with PTSD, Trauma, Abandonment, and mental health overall. There is a Content Warning at the start of the book, which I appreciated. At no time was the content of the story too much for me to handle, personally, but that may not be the case for everyone, so it was nice that the warning was added.

The main premise of the story is about two childhood neighbors, Indira and Jude, that have always despised one another since their youth. Jude also happens to be Indira’s brother’s best friend. Fast forward to their adulthood and Indira’s brother is getting married and Jude is returning from his stint as a doctor overseas to attend the wedding. Indira and Jude are thrown into all sorts of random situations with one another and from there, the story really starts to take hold.

I really enjoyed this story and all the characters in it. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something other than the typical, predictable rom-com type read.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have THREE copies to give away! 

Melissa Smoot grew up two doors away from Melissa Amster in the Chicago suburbs. They reconnected in the 2000s and started CLC together. After taking some time off, Melissa is starting to review for us again. She lives near Scottsdale, Arizona with her adorable dog.

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Giveaway ends April 9th at midnight EST.

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