I was skeptical about this book but decided to give it a try; however, it was very disappointing and extremely cringey and eye-rolling. The only saving grace for me was the narrator, since I listened to the audiobook. She did an amazing job with the different voices. She was highly entertaining, and honestly, the only reason why I didn’t DNF it. I do not recommend this book, but if you do pick it up, I highly suggest the audiobook. 

There was some mild language but no spice. It is a clean, closed-door romance, which I appreciated. There are a few kissing scenes, and then they fade to black. 

It also went SUPER woke with messages of body positivity, feminism, and misogyny. There are also queer side characters, and one is non-binary with they/them pronouns, which got really confusing listening to those parts because the grammar was wrong. It went really heavy, pushing certain ideologies and political agendas. It felt like it was checking off all the boxes, which I can’t stand and don’t care to read in my entertainment. 

This story is a Cinderella retelling that meets The Bachelor. It’s a VERY light, fluffy romcom that is super, super cheesy with cringey dialogue, a boring plot, and a very predictable ending. It felt like I wasn’t the target audience because it read very young, like for millennials or younger. The writing felt very immature and juvenile. 

The main character, Cindy, was a plus-size girl, and that seemed to be the only trait this story focused on was her size. Every chance it had, the story reminded us of her larger size. There is SOOO much more to a person than their weight and how they look. How much someone weighs is the LEAST interesting thing about them. So it was disappointing to see how much her body size was highlighted in this story instead of just writing a story about a bigger girl falling in love. She could’ve had a normal romance story instead of always talking about her weight. At first, I could relate to her, being a plus-size woman myself, but then it just started feeling preachy, almost like a PSA. 

I also didn’t really like Cindy. Aside from her whole personality being about her size, she wasn’t a likable character. She was whiny about things, and she felt hypocritical at times. She had one set of rules for how people should act or behave, but then for herself, she had another set of rules. For example, in one scene, during the dating show, she was talking to the bachelor and got upset when another contestant interrupted her time with him. She felt like it was a betrayal because they were friendly with each other in the mansion behind closed doors. But then, later in the story, Cindy does the exact same thing to another contestant, but she feels triumphant and proud of herself for getting more time with the bachelor. Double standard. 

Also, Cindy came from a very privileged family and life, so she starts from a very high bar. Therefore, we don’t see much change in her throughout the book. We don’t get to see her overcome any deep trauma, issues, or other problems that she faces. Such a lost opportunity for some good character growth and change. 

As for the reality dating show that mimics The Bachelor, some parts were funny and entertaining, and it did feel like a behind-the-scenes look at a TV show. However, it felt unrealistic, most of the dates were boring, and the side characters were bland and one-dimensional. The other contestants on the show were like cardboard stereotypes without much personality, and some were pretty cringey. Also, between Cindy and her two stepsisters, there was a lot of nepotism going on, which didn’t sit well with me. None of the sisters were there for the right reasons and took three spots from other women who could’ve been on the show. Also, how would no one find out that they were from the same family and daughters and stepdaughter of the executive producer? This story is set in modern times, and people on social media would’ve sniffed this out and blasted it all over the internet. In fact, I wish it had gone viral because it would’ve led to more conflict and drama on the show, which would’ve been more entertaining to read about. I will say, though, I liked that twist on the Cinderella part where Cindy actually gets along with her stepmother and stepsisters. They have good relationships/friendships with each other, which was a unique take on this fairytale retelling. 

Another unrealistic aspect of the reality show was not experiencing ANY negative comments about a plus-size woman being on the show. One of the contestants made a negative comment about Cindy’s weight, but we never found out what that was. Then, Cindy is often pulled to the side by one of the producers who shares ONLY the positive comments people are leaving about her on social media. But we don’t see any of the nasty, negative comments. We all know in real life, haters and trolls would have a field day with this TV show concept and a plus-size woman being on it. It would’ve been nice to see the harsh, judgmental comments and behavior to see how Cindy would overcome it, which would’ve led to better character development.

As for the romance, it felt weak. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Henry and Cindy. They had a chance meeting on the plane from NY to LA in the beginning, where they met each other and started talking. But then, once they meet again on the show and realize that they had met before, they suddenly feel huge sparks between them. But they hardly knew each other. They had a conversation for a few hours, but then they were falling for each other…?!?! It didn’t make sense and felt like insta-love, which is a romance trope that I hate. 

I could go on and on about the things I did not like about this book, but I won’t. It was so bad and such a waste of time. I do not recommend it. I will not read any more books by this author. She is definitely not for me.