Sophie has had her claws in me since Only Mostly Devastated and I was just as in love with this book. The bachelor-esque setting was so fun and the characters were top tier. I loved the twists and the rivalries, it was all just *chefs kiss*. If you liked If the Shoe Fits, One to Watch, any of The Bachelor-eque books or just are looking for some better rep in that franchise, then this is for you.

Reality TV and romance? Exactly what I love. Easy read, fast read, and humour. It kept my interest and I enjoyed it.

If there is a book out there about exacting vengeance on scumbag men like Jordy, I will read it as soon as possible. This book was entertaining, but I wish I could say I loved it. The witty dialogue and lively personalities of the characters kept me engrossed throughout the book. In any case, I couldn't help but wonder how a guy who looked like he was straight out of a Young Adult novel managed to amass enough ladies to fill an entire season of The Bachelor. I think things would have been more convincing if the characters had aged a little more. Nonetheless, there were parts of the writing that seemed lifeless and uninspired to me. The drama and heartbreak, if this is a teen version of "The Bachelor," will undoubtedly be amplified.

A book that combines reality tv and romance is my kind of book. This was a fun read and there was a bit of humor that added to it. I liked this book and found that it kept my interest. 3.5 star rating, rounded up.

Jordy was a douche and I don't understand how either Maya or Skye would want to get back together with him. I'm glad Skye got with the program (Maya's program that is) and I'm very happy with the book's resolution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review—and apologies for not reading it until after publication.

This is the third book I’ve read by Sophie Gonzales. In all honesty, it wasn’t my favorite. Personal preference—I really don’t like books with mean girls, and early on, there was a bit of that. To be fair, it seems as though that’s what a lot of those Bachelor type shows are about—maybe that’s why I don’t watch them.

The premise: Maya and Skye’s ex, now living at the edge of royalty, has been asked to do a second-time around show, basically a Bachelor type show, the twist being that all of the contestants are his ex’s. Maya comes into it angry about Skye, feeling that Jordy cheated on her with Skye before they broke up. Lo and behold, they both agree to do the show and are assigned to be roommates. Drama ensues.

I did like the book better as it progressed, and there was a twist or two. I do still like the author! But overall, it wasn’t really my cup of tea.

I wanted to like this book, but I just don't think it was for me. It was hard for me to get through the parts where Maya and Skye were pitted against each other, and there were more manufactured drama/misunderstandings than I generally enjoy. However, this is most likely because the book is set within a reality show, so some readers may enjoy the level of drama in the story! I also think that this story would have worked better if the characters were aged up and it was marketed as New Adult, because it was hard to suspend my disbelief enough to read about older teenagers on a romance TV show. That being said, the writing style was very readable, and I do think some readers might relate to either Skye or Maya and will enjoy their romance. So even though it wasn't for me personally, I would probably recommend it to a teen library patron if they asked for a romance book about a reality show.

I was really disappointed by this one :(

It was a book I was highly anticipating and was so excited to get an ARC, but then once I started reading, it fell flat and took me a *really* long time to get through it. The premise was so promising -- reality dating show x royalty x off-screen sapphic romance?? Literally this is what would happen on The Bachelor in my wildest dreams. But instead I was met with a ton of pacing issues (how is this book so long when I felt like barely anything happened) and none of the characters were engaging and it was nearly impossible for me to tell the difference between them.

I think I was expecting something much more fast-paced, and upon retrospect, I agree with other reviewers that it's weird that the characters were all 18/19 when it's supposed to be a second-chance romance. Also it took me way too long to realize that Jordy is only royalty-adjacent and left me wondering what the point was. I got the vibe that the author was trying to make THE SELECTION, but sapphic, and it just didn't really meet the mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a cute read. This was a new spin on reality tv romance and I loved it. I liked watching Skye and Maya fall in love. Jody is such a creep.i enjoyed reading this.

Thank you for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Ever since reading If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy and going down the Bachelor/Bachelorette rabbit hole that ensued after (and watching Love is Blind with my husband), I have been loving reading all the books about reality TV shows. It's fun to see the behind the scenes (even if it's a fictional TV show) and how the dynamics all play out with the cast.

Never Ever Getting Back Together does this so well- I loved the side character employees that worked for the reality show and the moments in between filming it sowed with them. I loved watching Maya and Skye's relationship go from dislike, to friends, to more! Their dynamic was both sassy and sweet and they both grew a lot over the course of the book. I also enjoyed all the other contestants- they were well fleshed out and I love that they had each other's backs.

2.5 rounded up to 3.

I desperately wanted to love this book. But, as soon as we opened with girl on girl hate, when it's very obviously, a d-bag guy, I quickly lost interest.

From there, I ran into a multitude of issues. I think the biggest hurdle to overcome was a second chance at love dating show for 18-20 year olds. I feel like this should've been aged up to college at least. Then, the two MCs that were the split POV, started to blur into one until their only separating characteristic was that one was "a planner" and the other was spontaneous.

Towards the end, I found myself gravitating to the side characters more than caring about the MCs or the plot.

I loved the premise of this book and wanted to love the book, but it just fell flat. It didn't make enough sense for these contestants to be teens. That disconnect was big enough that it pulled me out of the book and I ended up losing interest and DNF'ing.

I didn’t love this. The girls seemed extra catty and immature. I had high hopes for this. I loved the concept of a reality second chance romance type show but 18 year old contestants are too young to take seriously on a show like that.

A bit of art imitating life. A fun adventure of what-ifs. Two female contestants ditch the prize of a rich prince to instead cave into personal lust and the fondness they've felt for their female competitor.

This was a super cute romance! One of my favorite tropes is enemies to lovers and this book covers that perfectly. I love Skye and Maya's banter and how the plot develops their relationship. If you're looking for a funny and light-hearted romance, this is your book! Also, if you love Taylor Swift.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy.

I was living for this reality show romance. It was giving me everything M/F reality TV shows like the Bachelor and the Bachelorette never can. This is also the real ending Skye and Teddy should have had in Good Luck Charlie... IYKYK.


Although I read it over a couple weeks because i haven't been making the time to read much lately, when I did open it up I flew right through it. It was such a fun and pretty low-stakes read, although Jordy was such a smug, manipulative, misogynistic bastard.

I wished there was more tension and buildup throughout Skye and Maya's relationship, especially because I'm a slut for a slow burn and enemies to lovers, and this was much more insta love-y. I often forgot they were 18-19, and I think it would have been more believable if they were in their mid to late 20s or 30s like most reality dating shows, but their behaviour and decisions also make sense for their age.

I honestly found that Skye was being unreasonable towards Maya in the third act breakup. Maya's whole reason for being there was exposing Jordy, and they'd only just decided they wanted to be more than a hookup to each other. But since it was definitely insta love-y, I had to take that with a grain of salt. I also think Maya should have just said to Skye/decided that she was going to tell him off at the live finale or nothing. Overall though, in the end, the way things played out were pretty perfect in the messiest way. It wasn't how i expected or wanted it to, but I ended up being really satisfied with it.

I also loved the eventual camaraderie between all of the women - all of Jordy's exes - who became so much more than just his exes or pawns in Maya's revenge game. I had really wished Maya could have had her fiery revenge that she'd planned and Jordy's terrible behaviour could have fully been exposed exactly how Maya had always planned/how you always expect it. But, I am also a bitter vengeful bitch who holds a grudge and it's lovely that Maya took the high road, and Jordy's behaviour spoke for itself in the end.

Anyways, this was such a satisfying read and I loved it! If you're a fan of drama, sapphic romance, the thought of taking down shitty men, and/or reality TV- this is the read for you.

i think i would have liked this a lot more as an adult book. marketing this as ya felt silly and made me enjoy this less.

i found this book scrolling through netgalley and the title grabbed me. i'm no swifty, but who doesn't catch themselves singing along when one of her songs pops up?!

anyway, while the title and the cover piqued my interest, the synopsis grabbed me. i've never been a big fan of shows like the bachelor or any other reality competition series (they always stress me out) but this concept for this show was hilarious to me. i thought back through my roster of guys i've dated before and really imagined what it would be like if one of them called me on to a show like this and what i would do if i were a contestant.

i also loved that it was a layered love triangle in a way. very enemies to lovers between maya and skye and i really liked their dynamic and i loved having an honest LGBTQIA+ representation that did not feel forced or as if it were only a diversity plug. their connection felt genuine and i could feel myself getting sucked into their story.

what made me rate this book less than a champ were a couple of things. the writing felt a bit aged down in some portions. it really felt YA and i'm not sure if that is the demographic for the title and it became confusing at times because i couldn't figure out what ages maya and skye were supposed to be. the other part was, while i appreciated that the author did not fall into pitting all the women against each other, it felt like there was a need for one more villain other than their shared (asshole) ex-boyfriend. it was a very near miss for me but i will definitely be searching for other books from this author.

2.5/5 stars

I think that the biggest criticism i can levy against the book is that the premise just would have worked better in a book that was properly adult.
Here the characters are technically 18, and they find themselves having the kind of adult conversations you'd expect on a reality dating show... but the premise of bringing together a group of exes just feels weird when the characters have as little life experience as they have here...
Like turning in every week to see if someone picks the person they were dating when they were 14 vs the person they dated at 16... it just... it feels a little weird when you're actually forced to confront the premise playing out.
I think that's part of why some of the girls felt a little under developed. Sure, with a premise like this you're bound to have to get rid of characters fairly regularly and so you can't expect them all to get the same level of care. But because of that I think the narrative does a pretty poor job of convincing the reader why Jordy would pick the people he does. At a certain point it really becomes a game of the character we know the best is clearly going to stick around the longest.
I'm not sure that the ending worked all that well for me.
Partially because the subplots here felt a little under-baked and some of the explanations given for actions that took place at the tail-end felt almost comically flimsy. Maybe if I hadn't enjoyed Perfect on Paper as much as did this would have been more of a banger for me. And for the target audience I think they'll get more out of it... but I do wish that the book had leaned more into being a YA book instead of existing in this grey space between categorizations in a way that crossover definitely seems to be the appeal... but if it had really been written for 16/17 year olds it might have felt like I could buy into the premise a little more.

Loved it!! Such a great story of two girls intent on revenge realizing that they like each other more than they like revenge. I hated Jordy so much!