This was so so good! I absolutely adored every part of this book!

This is a book I went into already having pretty high expectations as the premise sounded amazing to me and I’m so glad that I wasn’t disappointed. This book was everything I wanted and more. I used to watch the bachelor and while I don’t really anymore, I still find stories with a similar premise to the show always to be intriguing and this was no exception.

First off the characters, I love them! I related to both Charlie and Dev a lot. I loved the way these two characters complimented one another so well and the ways they always supported one another was so sweet. Dev was also a bit of a hopeless romantic like myself who loves Ever After and wants a similar story of his own like that one day so seeing him get it was really cute!

This is one of those books that kept me up late into the night because I couldn’t stop reading it. I just absolutely loved these characters and what was going on. It’s honestly even more addicting than an actual season of the bachelor. I was so invested in what was going on with these characters.

I really liked the real sort of element with these characters and their struggles as they were ones I felt I could identify with. I didn’t expect Charlie would be so relatable to me but he was and I love him.

If you haven’t read this book yet, I honestly can’t recommend it enough. It was so wonderful and one of those books that made me want to start it from the beginning again right after I finished it.

This felt like a very mediocre book. The characters and romance just seemed so flat. It also felt like the one POC was so white washed that they could have just been written white. I wish I could have said I liked it but I really didn't.

I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.

On my TBR! Just couldn’t read this in time! But I will get to it. It sounds amazing. Other reviewers I follow all loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. My apologies for the late review.

I buddy read The Charm Offensive with two of my friends, and though we haven’t discussed it yet, I think it was a great choice for a buddy read. I thought The Charm Offensive was a cute romance that offered an interesting take on reality television with some great discussions about mental health and lots of excellent LGBTQIA+ rep.

The Charm Offensive follows Dev and Charlie. Dev is a contestant handler for Ever After, a show similar to The Bachelor/Bachelorette, and Charlie is the newest Prince Charming on Ever After. What makes Charlie stand out is that he’s not like the previous Prince Charmings that the show has had; he’s an awkward mess who is only on the show in an attempt to fall back into good graces with Silicon Valley. However, as the show’s season goes on, Charlie starts to feel more comfortable with Dev than with any of the women on the show, and sparks start to fly. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Overall, I thought this book was cute. I like romance books in general, and happily ever afters make me smile. I didn’t find the romance in this book to be overly memorable or mind-blowing. Still, I enjoyed it, and I like it when the characters have awkward moments and eventually get a happily ever after.

What made this book stand out to me was the discussions about mental health. Charlie has OCD and anxiety. It was nice to see Charlie explain to Dev what these conditions mean to him, how he copes with them, and how they’ve affected his life. Dev deals with depression, and in this book, he goes through a few depressive episodes, and it was nice to see those on the page. I can’t comment on how accurate the representation was in this book, but it felt authentic, and it was nice to see.

I also liked how many LGBTQIA+ characters were in this book. I liked the representation, but more so, I liked reading about some of the characters trying to figure out their identity. There were a few scenes in this book where one of the characters is trying to figure out their identity, and he’s talking to other characters about it. These other characters explain to this character what being bisexual means, or what being asexual means, and how sexuality is a spectrum and how there might not necessarily be a simple singular label for them. I liked reading about this, and I liked these discussions.

I also liked that this book brought the reader behind the scenes of reality dating shows. To the best of my recollection, I’ve never watched The Bachelor/Bachelorette or any shows like that, but I’m familiar enough with the concept. It was nice seeing behind the scenes and the discussions of just how toxic they are. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m looking forward to discussing with my friends about how powerful editing can be when it comes to pushing a certain agenda or storyline.

As far as the characters go, I liked Dev and Charlie. They both felt like real people that I could root for. They had their moments that left me a bit frustrated, but most romance books have moments that leave me a bit frustrated. I also liked most of the side characters in this book, and I wouldn’t mind reading a spin-off story featuring some of them.

I had a few minor issues with this book, and there were moments when I had to suspend my disbelief. I had a difficult time visualizing Charlie, and I had a difficult time imagining someone like him being cast on a show like Ever After, however, I’ve never watched anything like Ever After, so I wouldn’t know. I also got mildly frustrated with Dev at times, but that’s okay because overall, he was a sweet character.

Overall, I thought The Charm Offensive was cute. It’s not going to end up in my top 10 romances or anything like that, but it was an enjoyable read, and it brought me joy.

This book is absolutely everything I want it a book! It has depth of emotion, great characters, awesome dialogue, wit & banter. Truly it was a 5 star read and I can't wait to read what else Alison Cochrun writes! There was angst and comedy, and great representation as well!

I found the characters so unlikeable. I tried really hard. Maybe it’s me. Not liking the characters made it so hard to cheer for him. I really forced myself to finish this.

☆☆☆,75 /5
(english review below)

Une romance incroyablement mignonne et pleine d'humour que j'ai adoré découvrir. Mais même si je l'ai adoré, certains points ont fait que cette histoire était problématique à mon sens et ont baissé grandement mon appréciation du texte.
Je pense que rendu au XXIe siècles, il n'est plus excusable de mal représenter des cultures qui ne nous concernent pas dans les textes... En tout cas, moi, je n'excuse plus ces auteurices-là, qui ne font même pas l'effort de faire quelques recherches ou de demander l'aide de sensitivity readers. C'est offensant, rien de plus.
¤
Dev Deshpande a toujours cru aux contes de fées. Il n'est donc pas étonnant qu'il ait passé sa carrière à les créer dans l'émission de téléréalité de longue date Ever After. En tant que producteur le plus titré de l'histoire de la franchise, Dev scénarise toujours l'histoire d'amour parfaite pour ses concurrents, même si sa propre vie amoureuse s'effondre petit à petit. Mais ensuite, la série met en vedette Charlie Winshaw, prodige de la technologie en disgrâce.
Charlie est loin d'être le prince charmant romantique qu'Ever After attend. Il ne croit pas au véritable amour et n'a accepté le spectacle que comme un ultime effort pour réhabiliter son image. Devant les caméras, il est un gâchis raide et anxieux qui ne sait pas comment sortir avec vingt femmes à la télévision nationale. Dans les coulisses, il est froid, maladroit et émotionnellement fermé.
Alors que Dev se bat pour que Charlie se connecte avec les concurrents lors d'une tournée mondiale éclair, ils commencent à s'ouvrir l'un à l'autre et Charlie se rend compte qu'il a une meilleure chimie avec Dev qu'avec n'importe laquelle de ses co-stars féminines. Mais même la télé-réalité a un scénario, et pour trouver le bonheur pour toujours, ils devront reconsidérer quelle histoire d'amour est racontée.
¤
J'ai beaucoup apprécié connaître l'histoire de Dev et Charlie. Sur fond de téléréalité et de romantisme, l'autrice offre une histoire d'amour touchante et légère. J'ai beaucoup aimé le personnage de Charlie, qui permet d'aborder des thèmes importants tel que la santé mentale, sans que cela vienne alourdir l'ambiance de la romance.
Au contraire, même si l’autrice aborde la santé mentale, elle propose une vision optimiste. Et j'ai énormément souri devant les interactions entre les deux jeunes hommes.
La construction de la relation entre Dev et Charlie se fait de manière lente et réaliste. C'était intéressant de voir comment ils réagissaient, ils changeaient au fil des contacts.
Le style d'écriture de l'autrice est doux. Cette lecture est fluide et ne manque pas d'humour. J'ai trouvé qu'autant l'histoire, bien que prévisible, que les personnages étaient rayonnants. J'ai souri et rit au fil des pages.
C'est une lecture feelgood que j'ai adoré et pour autant, des choses me chagrinent dans ce roman.
Notamment au niveau de la représentation. Cette romance se veut biraciale car Dev est Indien. Mais quand on use seulement d'éléments faisant partie de la culture indienne sans en parler plus profondément, juste pour ajouter de l'exotisme au texte et en plus, en abordant des clichés, bah c'est blessant et mal fait. Je ne suis peut-être pas indienne mais si le personnage avait été vietnamien (ce que sont mes origines), j'aurais été blessée. Alors, je me mets à la place des personnes concernées et c'est révoltant (et je dis ça car j'ai lu des chroniques de personnes concernées).
En fait, on n'aurait pas parler d'éléments Maharashtra pour en parler, on n'aurait rien dit à propos de Dev, ça ne m'aurait pas dérangé pendant ma lecture.
Malgré ce point, si on se concentre seulement sur cette romance entre deux hommes, je vous la conseille vivement si vous voulez que votre cœur devienne aussi fondant que du chocolat !

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ENGLISH REVIEW

An incredibly cute and humorous romance that I loved discovering. But even if I loved it, some points made this story problematic in my opinion and greatly lowered my appreciation of the text.
I think that in the 21st century, it's no longer excusable to misrepresent cultures that don't concern us in the texts... In any case, I no longer excuse these authors, who don't even no effort to do some research or ask sensitivity readers for help. It's offensive, nothing more.
¤
Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.
Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.
As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.
¤
I really appreciated knowing the story of Dev and Charlie. Against a backdrop of reality TV and romance, the author offers a touching and light love story. I really liked the character of Charlie, who allows us to address important themes such as mental health, without weighing down the atmosphere of the romance.
On the contrary, even if the author addresses mental health, she offers an optimistic vision. And I smiled a lot at the interactions between the two young men.
Building the relationship between Dev and Charlie is slow and realistic. It was interesting to see how they reacted, they changed over the contacts.
The author's writing style is easy-to-read. This reading is fluid and doesn't lack humor. I found both the story, while predictable, and the characters to be radiant. I smiled and laughed through the pages.
It's a feelgood read that I loved and for all that, things sadden me in this book.
Especially in terms of representation. This romance is meant to be biracial because Dev is Indian. But when you only use elements that are part of Indian culture without talking about it more deeply, just to add exoticism to the text and in addition, by addressing clichés, well, it's hurtful and badly done. I may not be Indian but if the character had been Vietnamese (which is my background), I would have been hurt. So, I put myself in the place of the people concerned and it's revolting (and I say that because I have read reviews of people concerned).
In fact, if we didn't talk about Maharashtra elements to talk about it, we didn't have said anything about Dev, it wouldn't have bothered me during my reading.
Despite this point, if we only focus on this romance between two men, I highly recommend it if you want your heart to become as melting as chocolate!

WHY DID I SLEEP ON THIS FOR SO LONG!!??

Oh man, what a freaking joy bomb! I laughed, I cried, I got mad, a jumped for joy. Holy. Let me just say that every minute of this book is S P E C I A L.

This was cute 🥺 I love that there was so much mental health rep and how Charlie was an absolute cupcake! I’m not the biggest Bachelor fan out there, but I did appreciate at how ridiculous it made reality dating shows appear! Also bonus points because the author is a high school English teacher and she thanked her students at the end 🥺

Sum-up:
If you're looking for a queer-positive love story that deftly explores mental health issues and aren't the kind of person that continually questions big picture plot stuff - this book is for you.

I'm not quite sure how to rate this book. One of the few times when I wish Goodreads had half-stars. B/c I'd probably give it 3.5 In good conscience, I can't give it 4, so I went with 3.

Stuff I loved:
- The characters. Both the main ones Dev and Charles as well as all the supporting cast and crew. Cochrun did a great job sketching out all the players in her novel. They are interesting and relatable. Love them.

- The details. Charlie's oatmeal body wash comes to mind. Cochrun wove in some great details that made the characters and situations feel real and relatable.

- The ending. Quite satisfying.


Stuff that I found problematic:

SPOILERS - You've been warned!
[
- The premise for Charlie going on the show in the first place makes no sense to me. A rich, genius white guy in tech had a mental health breakdown and can't work again. Not a thing. But even if it were, as his publicist, I wouldn't try to ameliorate his character by sending him on a reality dating show. Makes no sense to me.

- The plot is thin. Super thin. I've had this book compared to Red, White and Royal Blue. In that they are both romances with dudes - yes. But RW&RB has so much more plot than this. There's just not a lot going on. Plus, they go to some great locations via the show - I wanted way more about that.

- Mental health issues are an important topic and I was excited to see them handled so well in this book. However, the thing with mental health issues is you just can't scream "get over it" and have someone move on from their mental health issue. So they were a major focus of the story. Which again, I had no problem with, but it made it difficult, from my perspective, for the characters to have a major emotional growth arc in a short period of time. B/c most of the time, to address a mental health issue, you need a lot of time and space and therapy. So I kept bumping up against this in reading the book.
(hide spoiler)]
END SPOILERS

I am very grateful to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an ARC.

Review Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4131300548

This book. This book! I was not prepared to feel all of the things that I felt–I smiled, I smiled with tears in my eyes, I laughed, I cried. I enjoyed The Charm Offensive so so much and also didn’t expect how much I would love Dev and Charlie. They became so precious to me and I miss them so much–I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt so strongly for a character (much less more than one character in the same book).

Now that I’ve gotten my initial gushing out of the way, where to begin? I suppose I’ll start with “setting”–and I’m putting the word “setting” between quotation marks, because geographically this story doesn’t stay in the same place, but rather we follow along with the talent and crew of the reality TV show Ever After.

I liked how we got an insider perspective regarding the behind-the-scenes of Ever After–what exactly goes on (especially what doesn’t get aired) and how things might play out if one of the producers and one of the talent fall for each other. The travel was also nice especially since I (like many of you, I’m sure) haven’t travelled at all since the start of the pandemic. I was able to vicariously experience some of the locations, which was nice.

Lastly, I’d like to return to the characters again. If the above wasn’t indicative enough–I adored Dev and Charlie. I can’t stop thinking about them and replaying some of the scenes from The Charm Offensive in my head. I think this book might have become a comfort book for me if I’m being honest. I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada. as well as the author, Alison Cochrun. I do love rom coms as well I have watched a few seasons of "The Bachelor" in. my day. This book was a good read. I like the friends to lovers trope. It was just really cute and I love how it did not go too far and kept it funny. A fun read that allows for the Happy ever after...of course you know that is coming..it is a rom com!!

THE MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS AWARENESS IN THIS BOOK HAS ME SCREAMING - in delight!

We have a sweet LGBTQ+ Romance spin on a tv dating show, where producer Dev and Leading Prince Charlie slowly fall in love as Dev tries to set up the perfect television romance with Charlie... to someone who isn't him!
This book incredibly deals with many serious subjects; mental health, coming out, objectification, heartbreak, mental illness/disorders, workplace discrimination and racism, and the toxicity of reality tv - I sometimes enjoy it. Still, we have to admit it's terrible.

Characters:
Dev - He had a very interesting preach but didn't practice mindset, I found, I saw how hard he fought and tried to make sure his talent was happy both for mean and women HOWEVER when he objectified men and wasn't very romantic minded when it came to dating, it was an exciting twist. Also, this boy is so dense, haha I could see him falling for Charlie (a lot later in the book, I will not later than I enjoyed), and he had no clue!

Charlie - My sweet boy! My difficult child! This character was so complex and went through a lot that his journey compelled me, even if for a while it frustrated the heck out of me -it was a love-hate thing! Coming out, dealing with OCD, an anxiety disorder, and more was so intense. Highly recommend this for character building folks!

Happy to add this book to my growing romance bookcase!

I absolutely adored this book. It was unlike anything else I have read before, and made me laugh, cry, and smile repeatedly.

I went into this book fairly blind, as usual. I had an idea that it was about a reality dating show, Ever After, similar to The Bachelor. However, the more that Charlie (the bachelor) and Dev (his producer) spend time together, the more their relationship evolves into something unexpected.

This book covers so many topics, in such a beautiful way. I thought I was going to be reading a fun book about two men who are falling in love even though they know they shouldn't be, but I got so much more. The mental health aspect of this book, I truly applaud the author on how well she incorporated such heavy topics. Learning to love yourself, sexuality, anxiety, depression, OCD, etc. I especially loved how she covered OCD, because this is something that so many people joke that they have, without knowing the true depths of what it really is. The way Dev always felt like a burden, and Charlie felt like no one would ever understand and accept him, my heart couldn't handle this. And of course, the amazing relationships in this - not only between Charlie and Dev, but with Dev and Jules, and Charlie and Parisa - made my heart so happy.

"Most of the time, dev is like a human bonfire walking around generously warming everyone with his presence. But burning that bright and that fiercely can be exhausting; no one can sustain it forever. Charlie wishes he could tell Dev it's okay to flicker out sometimes. It's okay to tend to his own flame, to keep himself warm. He doesn't have to be everything for everyone else all the time"

Thank you @netgalley @simonschusterca and @alisoncochrun for the opportunity to read this amazing book.

🤍 if you're looking for a feel good book, that opens your eyes at the same time, this is perfection.

oh my stars, this book! how delightful. I went into the book a little trepidatiously, because Reality TV, but it soon redeemed itself. The book touches on many aspects of mental health, including self worth, self care, previous abuse and trauma, and learning to deal with those topics. We also get to explore the asexual spectrum a bit, as well as OCD, anxiety, and panic attacks. Now that I've told you the deep bits, let me tell you about the romancey bits!
The chemistry between the two MC is palpable immediately, and grows as they get to know each other. I was delighted by the twist in the story, and hope to see more from this author soon.
thanks to Netgalley for an ARC to review

This book was so cute! I loved the relationship between Dev and Charlie, it was absolutely perfect. Their love for each other was just so pure. The representation in this was also amazing. The bachelor vibes were impeccable. I would definitely recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book! I think that the representation throughout the book was amazing, especially the mental health rep. I found that it kept me interested the entire time and even managed to drag me out of a reading slump (finally).

The characters in this book were super loveable and I think that always just helps make a story even more amazing. If you are looking for a cute, fun, lgbtq read this is definitely a great choice!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

Instead of rating this book in stars I want to rate it in hearts and I’m rating it 100/100 hearts. Ugh this book was everything!! I love the bachelor vibes, I love the topics it covered, I loved the romance. This book was not what I was anticipating going in but it was perfect!!!! I’m buying this book as a Christmas gift for multiple people this year because I need everyone to read it.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and #NetGalley for giving me an arc of The Charm Offensive in exchange for an honest review!!

The Charm Offensive is a romance, which I was expecting, but it was MUCH more. An unlikely setting for a gay romance, Charlie (the eligible bachelor) and Dev (his producer slash personal handler) meet and fall in love amidst filming Ever After, where Charlie is ~supposed~ to be falling in love with one of the many women who are contesting for him to be the prince in their fairy tale romance (or at least for publicity). I thought this book would be just a fluffy and fun romance between Charlie and Dev, a spoof of what could happen with the Bachelor franchise if representation were prioritized, but I was very impressed by the amount of emotional depth Cochrun brought to the table. Mental health was heavily focused on and discussions were handled very well.

The characters were very well rounded - both charismatic, witty, lovable, and flawed in their own ways. I was rooting for them the whole time. Even though the storyline is a bit trope-y, Cochrun had me guessing about what turn the story would take next. I like that it was trope-y because it was fitting for the setting of a reality tv dating show.