Review - One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

 

 

Title: One to Watch

Author: Kate Stayman-London

Pages: 424

Publisher: The Dial Press

Release Date: 7th July 2020

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

  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.

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to John Murray Press and NetGalley*

A plus-size blogger, Bea Schumacher loves fashion and has a following on social media.

Bea is a fan of Main Squeeze, a reality show where the contestants aim to win the hand of the main star.

When Bea is offered the chance to be the next star of the show, she's reluctant to accept as she's nursing a broken heart. But Bea does agree to do the show and is determined not to fall in love with any of the contestants.

Can Bea make the most of being on the show?

Will Bea keep to her plan of not falling for any of the contestants?

I am not a big fan of romance reality shows, but I liked the premise of One to Watch and decided to give it a chance.

Bea was a mixed protagonist for me - there were times when I liked and felt sorry for her (I understood why she found it so hard to trust the contestants), but I also found her frustrating as well.

The plot was also mixed for me - I liked that a plus-size woman was the star of a reality show, and I did mostly enjoy reading as Bea got to know the contestants. However, I did get bored during the second half of the book and felt it dragged a bit. I was happy with how the book ended but wasn't a huge fan of the romance.

The writing style was easy to follow, but didn't grip me.

Overall, this was a mixed read.