This book has basically the same concept as One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London but I think I might like this one a lot better. It’s a super cute story and all around just a happy book. I liked the main character and I was rooting for her throughout the whole story. The stepmother and stepsisters aspect definitely had some major Cinderella vibes to it, but I’m glad that unlike Cinderella, everyone loved each other as if they were part of a biological family.

If the Shoe Fits
NML rating: Superstar
Star rating: 5+
eARC review

I first saw this book while aimlessly searching NetGalley. This book is the reason I decided to join NetGalley and write reviews. I NEEDED to read If the Shoe Fits, and fast.
I LOVED THIS BOOK.
That's it. That's the end of the review.


If the Shoe Fits is a Cinderella re-telling that takes place on a dating reality show (it's basically The Bachelor). Our Cindy is a young 20-something, fresh out of fashion school and returning to her step-mother's house to help take care of her younger half-siblings. When a few contestants from the up-coming season of After Midnight back out last minute, Cindy finds herself signing up. Even if she doesn't find love (which she doesn't think is possible), she'll be able to show off her shoe designs and hopefully make a name for herself in the industry.

I really just loved all the hints to the source material. I loved Cindy's love for herself and they way her family and friends loved her too. And as a Bachelor fan, I also loved the tongue and cheek look at the behind the scenes of a dating show. I'm semi-obsessed with this book and I need Murphy to write more like this.

One To Watch meets Cinderella

If you’re a fan of Murphy’s Dumplin’ series you’re going to love the first installment of her Meant To Be series, If The Shoe Fits. Murphy is one of the body positivity leaders in the publishing industry. I love that her female leads are all multi-dimensional and her storylines aren’t just centered around how a plus-sized woman fits into a skinny obsessed world.

If you enjoyed One To Watch then you are going to be obsessed with If The Shoe Fits, and its lead character Cindy. Like any good fairy tale reimagining, Murphy stays true to the orphan narrative. Cindy’s mom dies young (why is it always the mom 😢) and her dad gets remarried in her tween years to reality TV exec Erica, who has two Insta famous daughters, Drew and Anna. During high school her dad dies in a car accident and this step family becomes Cindy’s only support system. Sorry no cute mice in this story.

The novel begins after Cindy graduates from Parsons design school in NYC. She has lost her creative mojo but her passion for shoes remains strong! On her flight back to LA, she meets witty hottie Henry and the two have great banter on the flight. Erica is casting for her show Before Midnight (exactly like the Bachelor) and thinks it would be a great career booster for Cindy and her daughters. All three girls go on the show and guess who the male suitor is, Henry, who just happens to be the son of a famous fashion designer.

Will Cindy find her HEA with Henry, her career or a new pair of shoes??

I love how Murphy balances career aspirations with love and doesn’t feel her characters have to choose one over another.

I have a couple of critiques:

🎭 Needs more comedy! This rom-com was a primed for more com, especially in the fashion world
💁🏻‍♂️ Henry is a bit flat, his character could’ve used a bit more depth other than his mommy issues
👠 Um more shoe descriptions

Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits is the PERFECT romantic comedy, bachelor related, body positive tale that society needed this year. Cindy loses her mother at an early age and dad remarries to the producer of Before Midnight (basically what I would consider a Bachelor show). Flash forward years and Cindy is asked to be on the show with her stepsisters. Cindy is the only plus size contestant and just loves fashion. In the blink of an eye, Cindy is making heads turn and bulbs flash with her picture taken while on the show. But will the world fit the mold that Cindy wants? Will her shoe fit in her dream living situation?

Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits had me laughing, sighing and punching the air with yes's throughout my listening and reading journey. Julie Murphy didn't shy away from Julie's characteristics but rather showed them in a body positive spin. The contestants on the show are memorable and don't push away from the drama. The message the story portrays is positive and one I would be happy to display in my middle school classroom.

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved shoes and who became a reality tv star…

Cindy Woods is floundering - she has graduated Parsons design school with a degree and a passion for shoes but is in a creative rut years after losing her father. After moving across the country to play nanny to her half siblings until she figures out her life, her reality tv show producer stepmother gives her another alternative - joining said reality dating show as a contestant. Cindy decides to give it a go, hopeful that it might help revive her career. But will she find love along the way?

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy was loads of fun. Cindy is a great protagonist with a biting wit and love for fashion so I was primed to love her. Her suitor Henry was adorable and I loved how the book didn’t punch down on either the fashion or reality tv aspect. I love shoes and I also love the Bachelor and I don’t want to apologize for it!

Some of the book was a little rushed - particularly the ending — but I had a load of fun following Cindy as she navigated her creative and professional life while also being a plus size woman on a reality tv dating show.

I haven’t read Murphy’s other books but now I really want to pick them up. I love the idea of Disney coming out with adult (this is a closed door romance btw) romances that tie in lightly with their princesses while also subverting a lot of the familiar tropes. Cindy is plus size and has to deal with the day to day micro-aggressions that go along with not being a size 2 in the world of television and fashion. I’m so excited to see what else Murphy and Disney Hyperion have to offer if this is their first foray into adult romance.

Will Cindy get her happily ever after? Check out If the Shoe Fits- out August 3rd!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Modern day retelling of Cinderella! This was so cute!! I loved it and I’ll read more of Julie Murphy’s future releases! Cinderella is one of my favorite Disney stories and I will read allll the retelling!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC edition of this book.

I must say this is one of my top reads so far this year! Julie Murphy did an excellent job with her first adult book.

Is a plus size girl it is so hard to find a character to relate to. In this book we meet Cindy, a plus size girl who just graduated college and is trying to find herself in this world. On a plane ride back home she meets a charming and handsome young man named Henry. After their flight they say goodbye never expecting to run into each other again but turns out they do on a reality dating show!

During the course of this book you find your rooting for Cindy who is an underdog on the show. Her and Henry’s story shows that looks are not eveything and personality is! Henry too is a a great character and shows that not everyone judges a book by its cover. I one day hope to find my Henry! This book gives me some hope!

Cinderella meets The Bachelor in If the Shoe Fits. Julie Murphy’s first Meant to Be story is a heartwarming, fun, modern-day fairytale.

Cindy has recently graduated from Parsons but all the emotions she bottled up after the death of her father are coming to the surface and she’s still struggling with moving forward in life. With no job prospects in sight, Cindy moves back to LA and the home of her stepmother, Erica Tremaine. Erica is the executive producer of Before Midnight, a Bachelor-style reality dating program. When a couple of contestants drop out, Cindy and her stepsisters are pulled in as replacements. What better way for the shoe-obsessed Cindy to jumpstart her career than to have her designs on national television? The one thing Cindy doesn’t count on is falling for Henry, the handsome suitor who is a perfectly imperfect Prince Charming.

I adored Cindy from the start. She’s fat, she owns it, and she loves her body as-is. She strikes a chord with the Before Midnight audience because she loves herself and has an eye for fashion, even though the fashion industry itself is sizeist as can be. Cindy is the kind of heroine you can root for and though she’s at a crossroads in her life in this book I liked seeing her find her way and claim her future. Along the way she makes friends with many of the her fellow contestants and they’re all interesting characters in their own right. I don’t love the concept of a dating show backdrop but Murphy made it work. There are also plenty of fun Cinderella nods from characters to the iconic fashion moments, although I was glad to see the wicked stepmother and ugly stepsisters trope was ditched for complicated but still loving relationships that are far more appealing.

Cindy’s relationship with herself is at the heart of If the Shoe Fits but that doesn’t mean Murphy skimps on the romance. Henry is charming and I enjoyed unwrapping his character over the course of the story. Henry is also struggling a bit at the start of this book – a reality show isn’t something he would normally have signed himself up for – and I enjoyed as the layers of his character are revealed. I had some questions about him and his future by the end of the book, but even with those I was still satisfied by the more modern ending to this fairytale Murphy crafted. If the Shoe Fits is a delight from beginning to end. Murphy’s take on Cinderella is inclusive, positive, and completely charming.

This was fantastic! I love how when Julie Murphy writes about fat MCs, she makes it so normal, like, yeah, I'm fat, whatevs, here's my life. As a fat girl myself, it's everything to see this happen. Not just a fat girl losing weight and getting her HEA, but just being herself and living her life and not having to change for anyone, and a mainstream man still finds her attractive and wants her. This needs to be more normalized, because it really is not, especially if this is the 4th novel of hers that I've read and it still comes across as such a surprise. But Julie Murphy is an amazing author and I've loved every single one of her books, this one included! This was cute, fun, and completely unputdownable! Cindy is such a great heroine and I wish I could see these shoes of hers IRL, the descriptions were incredible. Also, the fact that this Cinderella story did what I've always wanted in a Cinderella story and had a LOVING step-family, rather than total monsters?? THE DREAM! Absolutely loved this book!

Julie Murphy, the author of the YA novel, Dumplin’, switches to Adult contemporary romance with a modern-day Cinderella retelling. Oh, and did I mention the protagonist is also refreshingly plus-size?

In If the Shoe Fits, Cindy has just graduated from college and heads back to California to live with her nice stepmother and sisters. Even though Cindy loves fashion and shoes (this is Cinderella, after all), she doesn’t know what to do with her life just yet, especially since she’s still mourning her father’s death.

But as in all good fairy tales, Cindy meets a kind and handsome man on her flight back to California from New York. He’s dreamy and chivalrous. But she never gets his name.

Serendipitously, her stepmother runs a Bachelor-like reality series called Before Midnight, and she needs a few more contestants. Enter in Cindy with her stepsisters.

Not to mention the gorgeous guy she met on the plane who also happens to be the Before Midnight suitor. Soon, she’s an overnight sensation promoting body positivity. But she’s also actually falling for the suitor. Does he love her, or is it all for television?

Overall, If the Shoe Fits is an adorable rom-com fairy tale retelling that is a fun escapist read. While I’m personally not into The Bachelor or watching women fight over a man, I mostly enjoyed the love story.

Still, I wanted some more scenes between Cindy and her Prince Charming. As a whole, if you like contemporary fairy tales with an entertaining premise, you’ll likely enjoy If the Shoe Fits. It’s a fast read and well worth your time!

If the Shoe Fits is an adult retelling of Cinderella that follows Cindy, who is fresh out of fashion school. However, her last year of school wasn't quite like she imagined when the delayed grief from her fathers death during senior year finally catches up to her. With no job prospects after graduation, Cindy's plan is to go back home to her step mom and step sister's and be the nanny for her triplet little siblings. But the all changes when she ends up volunteering to take an empty spot in her step mothers iconic reality dating show.  Did I mention that Cindy is a plus size QUEEN who has a major Shoe addiction...
-
It has been such a long time since reading hasn't felt like a chore to me and while reading this, I found myself wanting to read it any chance I got. The two main characters Cindy and Henry had the best chemistry and I couldn't not root for them to get together. At the beginning I was kind of hesitant because I didn't want the angst of having a terrible step mother and step sister that is usually associated with Cinderella to ruin my happy mood. But to my surprise and relief there was no angst because she actually had a pretty good relationship with her step mother and step sisters. I absolutley loved this take, it was such a breath of fresh air! I also really loved the plus sized rep and body positivity in this story. There was one point where the book mentioned how plus sized girls are not often shown getting the guy in media and I cannot agree more! The bar has been set high with this one. I want so much more plus size rep in romances now!
-
Just worth noting that even though this book is an adult romcom there is no sex scenes, so if you are someone who doesn't like sex scenes but wants a romcom with chemistry and romance, this one is for you! For those of you who might be disappointed that there isn'tany spice, I think this one will still be up your alley because I usually like some spice in my romance books, but the chemistry and tension was so good that I was okay without it!
-
[Disclaimer: this eARC was gifted to me by Disney-Hyperion via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!]
-

I'm not interested in fashion (too much) OR reality shows, and it's a great writer that can give me a novel that I LOVE and will make me interested in BOTH.

Julie Murphy makes the jump from the "Dumplin'" universe to more-adult writing very seamlessly. The characters in If the Shoe Fits are witty, serious, and often relatable. I am not a kid person and I even loved the little triplets!

I'm a sucker for a meet-cute at an airport and Murphy delivered this in spades. I LOVED, loved, loved Cindy and how she stood up for herself and didn't waver on what she wanted and believed in. Henry was awesome! They are a pair that you will be cheering for the whole book through.

Thank you, Netgalley, for my arc.

I am a sucker for a Cinderella retelling and this was pretty cute. I liked the plus-size rep, I liked the twist on the step family, I like the nod to Disney, I liked the relationship, I even liked the Bachelor-esque setting. I wouldn't call this a full-blown romance. This feels more like a twenty-something coming-of-age story with romance in it. It is a feel-good story and that is what I need these days.

Cindirella retelling + Plus size heroine = HELL YESSSS! I have to be honest Cinderella retellings are not kind of my thing, I believe they're getting kinda like so annoyed and tired of the same thing always however when I saw that it was a plus size female character annnd heroine, I was like hell yeah! sign me up. I love love when stories include characters in every different type of body, I mean I don't have anything against skinny women but I would love to see me in romance stories, I am plus size woman who also has a heart. This is my first book by Julie Murphy, however, I'm indecisive with my rating, because I loved the inclusion, but the pace though. This is a different story, I had trouble seeing the main character's love to develop for each other; the story's pace was and felt all over the place, that also made the story to miss details and background story.

In general, I loved it and enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley!

What's not to love about a feel good romance based on the classic Cinderella story?! Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits
by Julie Murphy is a fun read that I recommend for anyone looking for a fun, charming and touching romcom with a main character just bursting with personality!

4.5/5 stars

I had so much fun reading this! I always love Julie’s writing and I think her writing fits in this genre so well. I loved the nods to the original Cinderella but also loved how she changed a lot (especially with Cindy’s family!). There wasn’t a lot of *steamy stuff* but personally that didn’t bother me. I can’t wait to see what she does with her next adult rom-com!

TW: death of a parent, fatphobia

If the Shoe Fits is a cute romance with sweet moments that makes you root for Cindy and Henry. Murphy did a fine job of taking the classic Cinderella story and give it a modern twist. Cindy is a strong well crafted main character with dreams beyond trying to find her prince. I appreciated how Murphy took the evil stepmother trope and created a functional blended family. However, this book felt slightly different than what I expect from a Julie Murphy book. Also, I would have liked more interactions between Cindy and Henry. Yet, even with those issues, If the Shoe Fits was a fun book, and I plan to read more in the series.

The Bachelor meets Cinderella in this adult romance fairytale retelling, perfect for 18+ fans of Murphy’s YA books.
👠
Cindy just graduated college in NYC and is headed home to LA to be a live in nanny for her triplet siblings while she figures out her next steps. Cindy loves all things fashion (especially designing shoes!) so when her not-so-evil stepmother offers her a spot with her not-so-evil stepsisters on her reality show Before Midnight, Cindy joins thinking it will get her some exposure and contacts in the fashion world. Only no one expected Cindy’s instant stardom on the show as the first plus size contestant. Suddenly Cindy is face of #bodypositivity and is falling for her own Prince Charming on the show.
👠
I don’t usually review a lot of adult books on this bookstagram account, but anything Julie Murphy has to get written about. I loved this #fatpositivity throughout this novel since we don’t see enough of it in literature. I very much enjoyed that Cindy’s skinny stepmother and stepsisters weren’t evil and mean. I was anticipating it and it was a pleasant surprise to find they were mostly supportive of her. Henry was adorable and I loved the chemistry between the two of them. If you enjoyed One To Watch, you’ll love the first in the Meant To Be series by multiple authors. This book releases Tuesday!

CW: death of a parent, terminal illness, fat shaming, fat phobia

I am a big fan of fairytale retellings and this one did not disappoint! I enjoyed the spin on Cinderella, but loved the fact the the step mom and step sisters weren’t evil and horrible to Cindy. Cindy was such a loveable main character and I shipped her and Henry aka Prince Charming from the start. It follows the predictable romance style plot, but I have to say as much as I love it when a romance switches it up, I just really am a sucker for a typical romance where you know the main characters are going to get their HEA!

As I’ve said before, I don’t like reality TV but for some reason I enjoy reading about made up reality TV in books! I also enjoy seeing plus sized women working in fashion. There were some quotes I loved about making fashion accessible to all, which I 100% agree with. If you like shoes, watch The Bachelor, or have read One to Watch, then you will definitely like this book!

Also just realized this is by the same author who wrote the Dumplin series! Will definitely be checking those books out now too.

After reading this book, I have fallen in love with the author! The book was awesome! It was witty, exciting, illustrative and had realistic relationships that I don’t tend to see in some relationships. All around will definitely recommend