I wanted to like this because of the Dumplin movie, but it just didn't work for me.. a little too boring.

If you’re a fan of Fairytale retellings and Reality Dating Shows, this is the book for you!

I loved this story! A great female MC who is not only plus-sized but is also a hopeful fashion designer.

The funny events that take place while she’s on the dating show are so cute and I honestly wonder how many of those things actually happen. Like, do they really make the Bachelor keep some of the annoying Bachelorettes around for the added drama or because they are a fan favorite? It makes you think!

The ending was such a breath of fresh air! No spoilers but I really enjoyed it.

Romcom fans need to pick this one up. I also listened to the audio book and the narration was fantastic! I highly recommend.

Thank you to #DisneyHyperion and #Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I genuinely fell in love with this one! Such a sweet read. I loved our main character. Sometimes with plus-size novels I can tend to get a bit annoyed with the self-hatred troupe, and I felt that our main character was very mature and very self-aware, without all the negativity. The romance was absolutely adorable. I wish I could read this again for the first time!!

I wanted to love this book. But i just coyldnt seem to get into it. I got about 50% into it almost. Was alright though

This book was very mindless and easy to read! I really connected with Cindy, and I felt invested in her storyline. This is the third Bachelor-esque book I have read, and I still really enjoyed the concept! I liked getting the perspective of a contestant as opposed to a lead. The best thing about this book for me was that the third seen break up wasn't over done and resolved itself pretty reasonably. I have enjoyed every Julie Murphy book I've read, and I will continue to pick up her books in the future!

Julie Murphy has done it again!! Like her other novels, this book includes positive self-image and characters that everyone can see themselves in. Being a fan of the bachelor I loved this story and getting a chance to "see" how behind the scenes of the show might work. I finished this book over the course of two days and when I wasn't reading it I found myself looking forward to when I would again. This is definitely a book I plan on recommending to family, friends, and students. Keep up the great work Ms. Murphy. Cannot wait to see what you create next.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were lively and fun, and relatable without being too perfect. I liked the take on Cinderella as well as the surprises along the way. The ending was excellent, and I learned a lot about fashion in the reading! Julie Murphy is such a great writer, and she brought her A-game here.

What a fresh take on the age-old Cinderella story!

I love that the step-family is not portrayed as evil, first off. The wicked stepmother is a storyline that I am not a fan of generally.

Cindy is such a strong character. I love that she struggles to stand up for herself and it is shown that she sometimes can want to say something but is too scared to really do it. That is real! She is relatable, especially to women who may not fall into the "perfect size" category.

Her relationship development with Henry is fantastic and I was hooked.

I will definitely be interested to read more in this series and from this author!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC to preview this book.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

I don’t really know where to start with this one. I’m not going to lie, I picked this one up, enjoyed it, started to be eh about it, then I couldn’t put it down. But I think that has something to do with bachelor style books….I can’t always get into them.

Cindy was such a fun main character. I loved that she was plus size and how Julie Murphy showcased how many clothing lines aren’t inclusive to ALL sizes. I think there was representation for so many in this book.

I ended up not hating the bachelor style setting as much as I thought I would, but I wanted a slightly stronger ending. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

As someone who’s not the size of a typical dating show contestant, this book was a delight. I loved how you really grew with the characters and fell in love with them on their journey to find love.

Fairy tale retellings are not my usually book choice, and I also don't enjoy The Bachelor, so when I started this book I thought I wouldn't like it. I'm really glad that I stuck with it and finished it. I enjoyed this book more than I thought. Although I gave it 3 stars, I think it's definitely a fun and light-hearted read that a lot of romance readers will enjoy.

I have a couple of Julie's books on my to-read list but this is the first one I have actually followed through and read.

Cindy is a recent fashion-school graduate and looking for what to do next in her life. She's been lacking inspiration as of late, but knows she would love to work in fashion designing shoes, one of her true passions. When she comes home to LA from her schooling in NYC, her stepmother is in the process of putting together a new season of her successful reality TV show, Before Midnight. Cindy is soon, through her own choice, roped into being one of the show's season contestants. Little does she know, that the man's heart she would be vying for is none other than the gorgeous man she met on the plane home: Henry. Thrown off by this, Cindy tries to keep her cool and promote her fashion as the show progresses. What Cindy didn't realize is that she would actually end up falling for Henry and hoping that Henry would fall for her too.

I firstly will say I was not at all surprised to find a fat positivity character in Julie's book. This is one trope the author has become famous for. What I wasn't expecting as a fat woman myself, was to find SO many relatable things happening to Cindy as the book went along. The fat shaming through terrible fashion and somehow it was Cindy's fault that no one could find beautiful clothing in her size? This is so real, it hurts. I think it was such a great lens to have someone who was fat show how the fashion industry does this to fat women through someone who could understand it so acutely from both sides. I also like that Cindy was strong enough to not back down and give up things because of how she looked. We, as women, are taught so often that if we don't look a certain way, we are unacceptable. It's stigma that I was glad to see Cindy working against.

I wasn't a HUGE fan of the whole 'The Bachelor' trope. But considering that this is a retelling of Cinderella, it actually worked. I just hated to see the comparison and tension that it caused in the book. I think as a fat woman, Cindy could have easily crumbled under that pressure and comparison. It was a great twist to have the object of competition be Henry. I know someone might think it was an unfair advantage, but honestly, it worked in a modern way. He's this unreachable person, who becomes reachable just by the construct.

As a Cinderella retelling, I love that the step-family wasn't cast as villains. It's so often done because that fits a little truer to the original tale. But for Cindy, I feel she needed this bit of a nurturing family environment. That was a great foil.

I think I wasn't 100% in love with this book because it hit too close to home at times. While I understand that happens, I just had to stop reading sometimes to try to feel better.

Overall, I really loved this book. Thank you for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book a lot! There was great representation throughout the story. The close curtain romance was nice and worked really well with the plot!
If you enjoy the YA Julie Murphy books, I really think you will enjoy this one too!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy of this book!

This was my first read of 2022 and it was such a fun romcom to kick off the new year reading, I really enjoyed the Bachelor style of this book and loved the plus size representation. It was a fast paced read and I could really connect with all the characters. Highly recommend.

I truly loved this book and I am not a huge romance reader anymore. I loved the body positivity in the book and the relationships that were formed, not just the romantic one!

With the bachelor and bachelorette having a huge following it's a breath of fresh air to have body inclusivity done so well. In Meant to Be: If The Shoe Fits, Murphy executes a realistic plot involving a protagonist that breaks molds of stereotypic romance heroines. Cindy is in a rut and she needs something to boost her back. Her stepmother is a producer of a dating show and needs women to fill in. Cindy (not a size 0) wants to participate, her stepmother originally hesitates. BUT GUESS WHAT!?!? They have a conversation, there is honest concern AND her sisters love and support her. I just love how this book balances unhealthy perspectives of women's bodies but also embraces females supporting each other for who they are.

A plus size Cinderella retelling. It was entertaining, but not amazing. I really did want to love this, but the romance was not there for me. It was refreshing to know the stepfamily was not wicked.

A cute, slight little romance inspired by The Bachelor and other reality dating shows. It's clear Murphy knows her stuff when it comes to the reality TV side of things, and I appreciated the fact that our heroine was a plus sized woman. However, many of the characters felt underdeveloped, and the romance felt under-baked to me. This will work for fans of light rom-coms that are also light on the actual romantic content - especially if they prefer their books to be closed-door.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy for an honest review.
Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits was really cute and an enjoyable read. Meant to Be is a Cinderella retelling and to be honest, I haven't read many retellings. Julie Murphy is a plus-sized character who is to be on a show similar to the Bachelor and meets Henry. I loved the romance between the two and the character development.