One to Watch: A Novel by Kate Stayman-London | AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

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Real love…as seen on TV

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers–and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition–under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men–and herself–for a chance to live happily ever after.

I picked up this book mostly because it was EVERYWHERE, and it got some really great reviews. Maybe I should mention that I’ve never been a fan of reality shows, or have ever watched a season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. But if you LOVE either show you are going to LOVE this book.

One to Watch: A Novel by Kate Stayman-London | AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

MY THOUGHTS

When it comes to this book I can’t ignore the fact that I enjoyed the audiobook a LOT.

Although the topic of a Bachelorette show on its own was only somewhat of interest to me. Making the show the plot of a contemporary romance book was pretty original and a well conceived concept.

But I must also admit that I was at times conflicted with the book. On one side it was quite entertaining. I think it took me maybe three days to finish the audiobook. That’s a pretty fast turnaround, and it’s a clear sign that I enjoyed it. On the other side I was physically hurt by some of the things that were going on with the show and especially behind the scenes.

Nevertheless the author brilliantly and successfully built the book on the concept of a reality show. Where the main plot was being manipulated by the producers of the show. It was a script of a show, turned into a book. And I was literally the audience. Because I felt it all – the ups as well as the downs.

My takeaways from this book are:
a) this is a work of fiction,
b) Bea was a really genuine and likable person,
c) the good guys saved the book,
d) I hated that Bea doubted herself for a good portion of the book,
e) I’m happy about the ending,
and
f) reality TV producers suck.

In the end, in this ocean of contemporary romance books, this book truly stands out, it’s refreshingly unique, it has a plus size heroine, a diverse cast, great cast members (mostly the good guys) and it was entertaining. Honestly you can’t go wrong with this one.

FOUR STARS

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One to Watch: A Novel by Kate Stayman-London | AUDIOBOOK REVIEW