There are some serious heavy parts to this story. It’s a modern retelling, with a twist, on Cinderella. It has some fun, light-hearted moments but in between, there is talk of the loss of the main character, Cindy’s, father and mother.

After what I’ve been going through, losing my mother, it isn’t exactly what I wanted to be reading but thankfully the focus isn’t heavy on the loss of her parents. The majority of it is a great story about Cindy breaking barriers and finding love in the flashiest and unlikeliest of places.

This was such a cute, fun, and emotionally endearing book. It was almost cathartic for me to read. There were some great realizations about the loss of Cindy's parents and finding a way to heal.

I loved Cindy's character and the different take on the classic Cinderella story. I enjoyed that the writer chose to make both the step-mom and step-sisters nice and caring. Plus the author added a Gus-Gus part that just melted me. I always loved that mouse from the original movie.

Overall for a YA rom-com/reinterpretation, this was a beautifully written story.

4.25 stars, maybe?

*CW: grief, death of parents (cancer/car accident), fatphobia


I can’t believe this is the first time I read Julie Murphy, that writing was SUPERB!!! (the dialogue though? hmm...)

For someone who absolutely hates everything Bachelor related, I thought this was cute! Reading everything about the show was fun and I think it was mostly in part because Murphy really gave the people on set a voice, instead of just having a bunch of women pulling at each other’s hair. Refreshing!

While I didn’t 100% believe the romance between our MC’s, it was still believable? At least it wasn’t insta-love? Though I did wish for a little angst in there, but I’m not too mad about it.

This one definitely tackles the topic of grief a little more than I expected and yes, it was heartbreaking to read, but Cindy’s parents were everything to her. So the romance convo takes a bit of a backseat, but I didn’t mind bc Julie wrote grief (IMO) so well. Again, can’t believe this is the first time I’m reading her work!!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this and hope Julie gets a chance to write more adult novels! Can’t wait for the next retelling!

This has got to be one of my favorite retellings of Cinderella. It was a modern-day Cinderella meeting the Bachelor. I loved the characters and the familial relationships in this book so much. My absolute favorite thing was the way the author subverted the age-old evil stepmother trope. Erica, Cindy’s stepmother, actually loved Cindy and treated her as a parent should and that made so much more sense than the typical Cinderella plot. I mean, Cinderella’s father would never have married someone who wouldn’t treat her right or love her. I just loved the way they were actually a family. I also loved Cindy’s relationship with her siblings, all five of them, because it really challenged the typical Cinderella trope. Moving on to the actual Bachelor-like plot, while I did like the dynamic between Cindy and Henry, I wasn’t a big fan of the side relationships Henry had. I know that it was based on the Bachelor but reading about his relationship with other women was not it for me, especially Sara Claire because she actually seemed to care for him and he was just using the situation and was even planning on choosing her (and changed his mind pretty late IMO). But that is unfortunately how things like the Bachelor works. I did find the fact the book seemed to basically call out the lack of reality in reality TV really fun because we all know that most of what’s on those shows aren’t real. Overall, this book was an amazing read with a witty plus-sized lead! Also, thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

A Cinderella-esque love story set in a Bachelor-like reality show. Really easy and sweet read. Novels set in reality shows seem to be very trendy lately (One to Watch is another recent one.).

An absolutely adorable retelling of Cinderella with a plus-sized MC. I wasn't sure how much I would like this book, the premise (plus-sized MC in a bachelor-type show has been done and I didn't enjoy it) but Murphy put a great spin on this story and addressed the realities of plus-sized experiences so well.

4/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide, Disney-Hyperion for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Bachelor meets Cinderella. Cindy leaves New York after graduation to head back to her Stepmother's home for the summer. Her plan is to nanny her triplet half siblings while she figures out what her next move is and if she can get back her inspiration to design shoes.
After a series of events, she finds herself as a contestant on Before Midnight (think The Bachelor). She is not your average contest, overweight and unsure of herself, she has nothing to lose. Until she realizes the suitor is her handsome chance encounter from the plane ride home from New York.
Julie Murphy does a great job of intertwining the multiple storylines as well as character development. You are rooting for Cindy, not only to go far in the matchmaking competition but also with her personal development and growth.
Several months ago I finished the book "One to Watch", while I was not a big fan of that book (it just didn't pull me in), this book pulled me in immediately. I felt it was developed in a way that made more sense than "One to Watch". If you have option to read a Bachelor like book, I would highly recommend If the Shoe Fits.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing/Disney-Hyperion for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. First time reading this author. This is part of a series, but it reads great as a stand alone. Well, I am not big on fashion or shoes, and I don't watch much TV. I don't think I have ever watched the Bachelor. I do understand the premise though. Yet somehow, I enjoyed the book. Did I connect with any of the characters? No, but I found it amusing and different for me. I liked Cindy, and found Henry to be ok. Overall a good quick read. 3.5 stars

My Review:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/ 5 stars

A Cinderella re-telling with a plus size woman in the lead as Cindy who comes back to LA to live with her stepmother and her siblings while she is figuring out her life. She just graduated from Parsons School of Design and she is obsessed with shoes! When her stepmom (reality tv producer) needs someone to fill a position on a Bachelor -esque type show - Cindy takes the opportunity to get exposure for herself and her portfolio - not expecting to find love. Especially not with the same hot guy she flirted with on a plane ride just days prior.

I enjoyed the body positive messages throughout this book - and especially the family dynamic of supportive women (instead of the nasty stepsisters/stepmother cliches). Overall, the story is cute, but not really my cup of tea. It seemed like forced chemistry and it left me wanting more from the story. If you loved The Royals, and more lighthearted, princess-y type of romances, then you would probably enjoy this more than I did.

Thank you to Hyperion Ave / Disney Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved everything about Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits! The characters are instantly loveable and will have you rooting for them from the very beginning. This book reminded me a bit of One To Watch (which I also loved). This was a quick, fun, light read! Definitely check it out! Looking forward to reading more by Julie Murphy.

Meant to Be: If the Shoes fits is a sweet, star-studded retelling of Cinderella in the vein of One to Watch. Chronicling the misadventures of a shoe-loving plus sized fashion major as she navigates the world of reality tv, this book was full of well-written nods to the original fairy tell, a swoon worthy male lead, and fun romps in sunny California. An absolute must-read!!!

5 stars

I will admit that I was a little nervous going into this book after being burned by a romance with a similar premise last year. However, Julie Murphy has never let me down so I figured that the risk was worth it.

Oh boy, was it worth it!

This was everything that I wanted out of the "plus-size goes on a Bachelor-inspired show" premise. There can be a tendency in novels that feature larger women as heroines to lean too far into total self-confidence or total self-pity. Cindy's story is not like it - it is incredibly human and her growth as a character focuses more on her self-confidence as an artist rather than with her size. The reality dating show premise allows for conflict to be created outside of the "evil stepmother and stepsisters" trope of the Cinderella story, which I think worked incredibly well in this scenario. And the romance? An utter delight!

All in all, this book truly made me feel like this plus-sized lady could have the fairy tale romance of her dreams. What more could you ask more?

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I really enjoyed reading Meat to Be: If the Shoe Fits. I was worried at first that, as a retelling of Cinderella, it would use some of the cringey tropes in original (evil step-mother, damsel in distress, etc), but this blew my expectations out of the water. The characters were so fun and the plot was great. I highly recommend this book! Thanks for NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Where to even start?! I'm a sucker for classic tale retellings and If the Shoe Fits absolutely did not disappoint. A modern day Cinderella retelling, I could not put this book down.
This was such a fun read, and even though it is definitely contemporary, I still found the romance fantastically magical . Cindy is such a down to earth and relatable character and it was so refreshing to see a plus sized main character just living her best life. I loved that while this is clearly a factor that shapes her identity it is not the main or only point that drives her actions and development. The love interest Henry was beyond everything I expected, he was not the typical empty headed and flat prince charming, and you cannot but fall in love with him slowly at first and the all at once. The relationship between Cindy and her step mother and step sisters is for the most part perfectly ordinary, and I thoroughly enjoyed that they don't have a toxic relationship for a change. I also loved that it slightly deviates from the original story at times, while also adding a little spice in the mix.
The first (hopefully of many more to come!) of a new fairy tale inspired romance series, I loved every second of this book and I cannot wait to see which fairytale we'll get to see next.

4.5 ⭐️

Cindy has just left college in NYC, her favorite place on Earth and the place she has called home for the past 4 years to return to LA to live with her stepmom, two (not so ugly) stepsisters, and triplet half-siblings. She is at a bit of a crossroads after arguably not having the best year in her education at fashion school. She feels uninspired and aimless, so she decides to help out her famous reality tv producer stepmom by being the nanny to her triplet half-siblings. When one of the women contestants drops out of the show last minute, Cindy offers herself up for the spot to compete. She is darn sure she won’t win, but the exposure for her shoes just might get her exactly what she needs, a job in fashion.

THIS. WAS. SO. MUCH. FUN. I have a real soft spot for reality tv, especially competition based shows and when you combine that with a book and make it a romance, you have officially hit my personal jackpot zone. I devoured this book much in the same way I devoured The Selection series many moons ago. It had similar vibes with a more contemporary adult feel with all of the plus-size inclusivity. The only reason I am deducting a half star from the rating is that some scenes just felt a little lacking and moved into the next scene/time without any real resolution. Honestly, the book could have been maybe 20-30 pages longer with some added information in those missing areas and it would have been the absolute perfect book for me. Since this an advance copy, I would be interested to see if that was potentially a corrected area in the final copy. Regardless, if you like a good reality tv romance, this book is definitely for you.

I am always looking for Plus Size female leads in romance. I find Plus Size women written with only two options: Sassy, opinionated, and 1000% confident or a mousy pushover who hides in baggy clothes and loathes her body until a man (the hero) tells her she is beautiful. Then...suddenly...FIXED body issues!

IF THE SHOE FITS has a female lead who is nicely in the middle of the usual Plus Size brush strokes. Cindy is fairly confident and mostly at peace with her body. But she also sometimes falters in that confidence and she never, never, stands up for herself when fat shamed except in her head.

This book is a modern retelling of Cinderella that bares almost no resemblance to Cinderella. Yes, Cindy's parents are dead, but she has good relationships with her Step Mother and Step Sisters. It is set in the world of a Reality TV competition for love (a la The Bachelor) and the hardship portion of the story (that is supposed to be her being a maid and not allowed to be in her family's same socio-economic class in the fairy tale) seems to be that she is...*checks notes*...plus size in a world of skinny women? I just....what? Nope. That's not for me.

The main issue I have with this book is that our lead female is supposed to be a beacon for plus sized women as they watch her on Reality TV, but Cindy never once verbally defends herself or her size to anyone in this book despite her being bullied about it often. She THINKS it and then smiles and moves on. WTF? We are also led to believe that she is championing the chubby cause merely by existing in this reality TV space, but we get no description of her ever being on camera after that first elimination ceremony. But we are told that she has become a mini celeb in the real world while sequestered in the Mansion. I don't get it. It makes no sense.

This book had good parts, but ultimately was a 3-star read for me.

3.5 stars, round to 3 stars

A cute Cinderella slash The Bachelor inspired rom com. I liked it! The heroine, Cindy, is really likable and into fashion, so it was fun to get all of the descriptions of the different clothes and shoes. The relationship between the sisters was awesome and maybe my favorite part of the story. The love interest, Henry, is a little bland but that's a small quibble.

This was my first book of Julie Murphy's. I was not sure what to expect but was excited to dig in after reading the summary. For someone who is a Disney fan and watched The Bachelor years ago, I thought this preface was intriguing. If you have ever watched any reality TV shows, you will find this story fascinating. I am not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction about the workings of reality TV but I found this portion of the story to be very believable.

For those that are fans of Disney and princesses, this story is loosely based on the story of Cinderella. Cindy is a recent grad from a design school and has focused on shoe design. Her stepmom is the producer of a reality TV show much like bachelor. With the help of the assistant producer, Cindy gets an opportunity to be on the show.

Without giving anything away from the story, the road is not an easy one. My only complaint about the story was I felt like the ending was a bit rushed.


Possible triggers: Body/weight shaming, parental loss, sudden loss

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I absolutely loved this Cinderella reimagining with a Bachelor twist. The main character, Cindy, was extremely relatable and it was a pleasure to see how her relationships developed with the side characters and the hero.

3.5 stars

I loved this premise and even though I don't watch The Bachelor, I couldn't resist (what I thought was) an adult romance from Julie Murphy.

I liked Cindy. She's smart and loving and kind. Her family is different and I sort of loved it, especially since it's a twist on the evil step-family trope. Prince Charming does seem charming, but the interactions between him and Cindy are short and rushed and I could see how they could like like like each other, but the jump to love wasn't there for me. There are a lot of characters here, but this is firmly Cindy's journey.

Plot wise, it was a quick read and that kept me interested. I sort of expected a lot of drama and pining away due to the dating show, but it wasn't really like that. Cindy is shown having real conversations with other women and it was refreshing. I think my main complaint is that for me, it still read like a YA. Cindy's inner monologue is on the younger side and while I enjoyed it and wanted to know how it ended, I could have easily skipped to the end and been just as satisfied.

Overall, it was a fun story with a good amount of nods to the story of Cinderella. I look forward to reading others in the series.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Cute fluffy romance with a twist on the Cinderella tale. I love that the main character is fat and that she is given a romance storyline.