A Brush with Love: A Novel

by Mazey Eddings

Overview

"Mazey Eddings’s writing is authentic, emotional, and intensely romantic! To me, it’s like a Taylor Swift song in book form." - New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood

"An unbelievably cute and funny debut about friendship, the expectations of family, and mental health. A Brush with Love fills that itch for a STEMinist rom-com with laughter, slow-burn romance, and toothy puns." - Buzzfeed

Nine out of ten dentists agree, Mazey Eddings's rom-com A Brush with Love makes your smile brighter!*

*not scientifically proven

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250805980
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	359,339
Product dimensions:	5.35(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

MAZEY EDDINGS is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her boyfriend to bring her snacks. She’s made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. With roots in Ohio and Philadelphia, she now calls Asheville, North Carolina home. She is the author of A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake.

Editorial Reviews

01/17/2022

An anxious dentist isn’t sure she can handle taking a study break for love in Eddings’s alternately raunchy and poignant debut. When final-year dental student Harper Horowitz falls down a flight of stairs onto first-year Dan Craige, she’s momentarily startled out of her habitual worry by his good looks and easygoing demeanor. As their paths keep crossing, Harper only likes him more but she’s afraid a relationship would interfere with securing an oral surgery residency or cause stress she can’t handle. Dan is also struggling: he left a job he loved in finance to please his mother, who needs help at her dental practice, but he’s bored by dentistry and struggles in class. The refreshingly diverse supporting cast includes Harper’s brash but well-intentioned friends and Dan’s endearing roommate—and it’s clear to all that Harper and Dan are made for each other, if Harper can just muster the courage to let Dan into her life. Harper’s struggle with anxiety is well drawn but sometimes threatens to overwhelm the rest of her characterization—and even the plot itself. Still, fans of Grey’s Anatomy will feel right at home at Callowhill University’s School of Dental Medicine. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A Brush with Love is an adorable, swoony, and tender debut." —BuzzFeed

“An adorable love story. A Brush with Love blends sweetness, breathless romance, and moments of striking vulnerability.” —Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient

"A Brush with Love reads the way young love feels. Mazey Eddings stole my heart with this laugh out loud funny, almost unbearably cute debut (and she made me care about dentistry).” —Rosie Danan, bestselling author of The Intimacy Experiment

"Prepare to smile, laugh, and cry your way through this witty, fast-paced rom-com!" —Evie Dunmore, USA Today bestselling author of Bringing Down the Duke

“I’m obsessed with this book, and I fully intend to never stop yelling about it. With a shimmering voice and razor-sharp wit, Mazey Eddings has crafted a contemporary romance masterpiece that made me want to hug my dentist. There is an extraordinary amount of empathy in these pages: Harper and Dan are so lovably flawed, and Harper’s mental health journey landed right in the center of my heart. The most intoxicating slow burn I’ve read in ages.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of The Ex Talk

"Harper and Dan have my whole heart. I love everything about this book, from their adorable meet cute to their unconventional first date, to the two of them working through their very real—and therefore not always pretty—issues. Dan is a soft, swoony hero, Harper is a relatable heroine who struggles with anxiety, and every page of the way I was rooting so hard for them to find their happily ever after. A Brush with Love is funny and cute while also exploring serious topics, powerfully underscoring the truth that relationships require work, and that happy endings are for everyone." —Sarah Hogle, author of You Deserve Each Other

"Tenderly written and oh-so-sexy, A Brush with Love brims with emotional depth, whip-smart banter, and sizzling chemistry.” —Chloe Liese, author of Only When It's Us

"Eddings’ debut is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching...A poignant debut that will put a smile on your face." —Kirkus Reviews

"An anxious dentist isn’t sure she can handle taking a study break for love in Eddings’s alternately raunchy and poignant debut...fans of Grey’s Anatomy will feel right at home at Callowhill University’s School of Dental Medicine." —Publishers Weekly

"Eddings’ prose will hook you from page one.." —Paste Magazine

"Only a writer as creative and perceptive as neurodiverse author Mazey Eddings could have made a dental school in Philadelphia, Pa., the perfect place to set an edgy romantic comedy." —Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

2022-03-02
An aspiring oral surgeon has to rethink her priorities in life and love when she literally crashes into a handsome first-year dental student.

Harper Horowitz is, by her own admission, a bit of a perfectionist, almost to a fault—she foregoes socializing for studying, studying, and more studying, all in order to pursue her dream of earning the top placement in an oral surgery residency. Life, or maybe fate, seems to have other plans when she topples down the stairs and lands right on top of Daniel Craige (no relation to the famous Bond actor). He's handsome, he's funny, and what's more, he's really into Harper, but the timing couldn't be worse, especially when there might be an imminent cross-country move in her future. The two solemnly agree to remain friends, but they start to reconsider that plan with all the free time they're spending together—and all the hard truths that come to the surface along the way. Eddings’ debut is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching, though the bumps on the road to Harper and Dan’s happily-ever-after do contribute to some uneven pacing, particularly at the conclusion. What’s most rewarding about the book, however, is the fact that Harper and Dan have a dynamic that helps each of them discover the best version of themselves in the course of their romance; Harper not only acknowledges, but finds successful ways of mitigating her deeply rooted anxiety, and she and Dan both deal with unresolved trauma connected to their pasts.

A poignant debut that will put a smile on your face.

Kirkus Reviews

06/01/2022

In this debut, fourth-year dental student Harper is stressed about everything—she's studying hard to get into oral surgery residency and her anxiety isn't helping. When she crashes into first-year hunk Dan in the stairway, she doesn't want to fall in love. Harper's life plan doesn't include romance, and she has no time for daydreaming or dates. Dan dreams of finance instead of teeth—he's only in school because of his mother's wish to keep the dentistry office in the family. Told through alternating viewpoints, their on-and-off-again romance is only rekindled satisfactorily when both adults have tackled their own mental health problems head-on. Narrators Emily Lawrence and Vikas Adam voice their characters with warmth and sincerity. Harper's nervousness and pain is perfectly rendered by Lawrence, and Adam's narration of the sexy lovemaking scene will make hearts pound. The novel begins with mental health trigger warnings from the author. VERDICT Recommend to listeners who want slow-burn contemporary romance with an authentic anxious main character.—Sarah Hill

Library Journal - Audio