A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings

One of the things I’m beginning to see more and more in contemporary novels is characters who experience mental health issues.  As a nurse and someone who has experienced panic attacks, I appreciate when authors create characters who also experience these challenges. In A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings we meet Harper, a dental student with a history of anxiety and a reputation for perfection.  This book publishes today!

From The Publisher:

Harper is anxiously awaiting placement into a top oral surgery residency program when she crashes (literally) into Dan. Harper would rather endure a Novocaine-free root canal than face any distractions, even one this adorable. A first-year dental student with a family legacy to contend with, Dan doesn’t have the same passion for pulling teeth that Harper does. Though he finds himself falling for her, he is willing to play by Harper’s rules. So with the greatest of intentions and the poorest of follow-throughs, the two set out to be “just friends.” But as they get to know each other better, Harper fears that trading fillings for feelings may make her lose control and can’t risk her carefully ordered life coming undone, no matter how drool-worthy Dan is.
Blood, gore, and extra-long roots? No problem. The idea of falling in love? Torture.

Book Review:

This was such an interesting read.  This story is told from the dual perspectives of Harper and Dan whose family histories play an intricate part in their characters.

Harper is a senior dental student who has worked hard to get her to the top of her class.  After a loss she suffered as a child, she’s learned to control the only things she can including being as prepared as possible for the rigours of a stressful education program.

Dan is a first-year dental student whose family obligation has him in an education program he declined years before.  He is not the gifted dental student that one would expect from parents who were both dentists.  Leaving a job and career he loved was difficult but in his eyes necessary.

The two meet and romance begins but the two know that once Harper graduates that she will be leaving to begin a residency program.  The romance provides an escape from their everyday lives but pushes Harper to lose that sense of control she so badly needs.

These characters are highly likeable and easy to connect to.  The story is engaging and has a natural flow.  The romance is charming.  I appreciated the author including an example of gender bias found in health care settings. Where the book shines for me, however,  is in the author’s ability to write about Harper’s anxiety.  She writes with respect and empathy – two qualities that are imperative to me as a reader.

Audiobook Review:

I listened to the audiobook format of A Brush With Love which was narrated by Emily Lawrence and Vikas Adam.  I enjoyed their easy to listen to performances full of expression.  I would not hesitate to read this format of the book.

What I Liked:

• The use of a protagonist who lives with anxiety.
• The identification of gender bias in the dental community
• The likeable main characters, supportive friends and charming romance.

I Recommend This Book To:

Those readers who enjoy romance novels or books with characters who live with mental health challenges.

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Add A Brush With Love to your Goodreads shelf

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

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I hope that you have a wonderful day!