This is not even the first reality TV romance I have read this year (The One by Julia Argy being the other), but I loved how the MC thought she could manipulate the process, but finds out she is the villain to the TV viewing audience. It was a fun, breezy read that I would heartily recommend for some escapism. For something similar on TV, check out a show that Lifetime (I know, I know) created called UnReal. Not quite the same, but close enough to scratch the itch.

♥️ Reality TV Show [bachelor vibes]
♥️ Mini Love-Triangle INO
♥️ Grumpy/Bossy FMC
♥️ Spice 🌶️🌶️

Oooo when I tell you that I absolutely LOVED the sh!t out of this book…I loved it. I was approved for it and finished it all within a 24 hour period because I couldn’t wait for it. I am a sucker for a good book that is centered around a reality TV situation with any character who is identified as grumpy/sunshine. 🤣🤣. This book brought all the things to the table.

You will be drug along this wild crazy ride from the very first page and the twists and turns are crazy! Each character within this book brings something to the table, they are very well developed and their dynamics and chemistry is just simply perfect. I absolutely loved watching Jac navigate her little triangle of love she has going on with Henry (ahem the ex btw) and Marcus (another smokin’ hot man on the set). This book will keep you in a headlock until that very last page. Bravo.

I think this book is going to be on the top of everybody’s list at release and if it’s not already sitting on there by now waiting…it should be. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

Thank you @netgalley and @avonharper/voyager for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the chance! Perfect escapist fiction for those going through withdrawals from Joey’s season of the bachelor!! Felt like a fly on the wall of the bachelor mansion and the filming process. Really enjoyed this one; creative, fun, and timely plot!

This book was fantastic. I finished it in one sitting, once I got into it I did not want to put it down. Definitely not a traditional romance novel, but I don't think it's trying to be one. It was such an interesting exploration into what being on a reality tv dating show is like for the contestants. I've always imagined its extremely stressful and in someways preys on women's insecurities/anxieties and that was captured really well here. Including other media (social media posts/group chats) was also such a creative way to include how Jac was being portrayed to the audience, especially as she's lead to believe something else. Jac and Henry are somehow both unlikeable and unlikeable characters at the same time, they came across as extremely complex and relatable. Wondering how the two of them were going to end up really kept me reading.
I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends when it comes out!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books, and the author for this review copy.

I have read a few Bachelor inspired books, but I have never read one like this. This book cuts straight through the BS of the reality tv love story machine and gives us a look inside the machinations of creating the picture perfect love story. Jac's story is for the cynics who know it’s all a game but find themselves sucked in every time. It’s for the people who know all the darkest parts of themselves and turn them into their self-defense mechanisms.

As a long time follower of the Bachelor and listener of many podcasts about the show, I’ve always been grossly fascinated by the role of production in the show. In this book, Devore pushes against that boundary we always wonder about: what if someone were involved with one of the producers? In this case, it’s a hook-up before the show even starts filming. For me, it’s a smash hit.

Jac and Henry are snappish, witty, and absolutely magnetic. I loved that in this book we got a story of people falling in love in a way that’s against their best intentions. Jac, as the villain on the show, is truly in a state of emotional extremes, and it was really interesting to follow a character in this position. Jac is a straight-shooter, and I found her to be so painfully relatable. Her un-likability is what made me love her the most, especially when she grapples with WHY she is acting that way and using her self-defense mechanisms that lead to destruction. It felt a little bit like peeling back my own brain and having a direct feed.

I so enjoyed devouring this story, and the doomed love triangle we get between Jac, Henry, and Marcus. I found myself squealing with fiendish delight many times, and also furious at the more sinister elements of being within this environment. All three of the players in this game were not afraid to pull their punches, and when you add in all the other women into the mix? Spectacular. I absolutely cannot wait to get a physical copy in my hands when the book releases so I can devour it all over again in its final form.

A dazzling 5⭐️ from me, and one that I hope to revisit many times. Laurie Devore definitely has a new fan in me!

I have loved all of Laurie devores young adult work and I was so excited not only for her adult debut but also just for any writing from her at all. This book did not disappoint. Devore’s talent for writing infuriating, complicated and yet still deeply human and compelling heroine continues. I loved the in jokes of franchises like the bachelor, the emphasis on the relationships between the female contestants and the fishbowl like existence the house is. The romance was also rootable and super hot. 10/10, I hope devore doesn’t wait so long between her next book!!!!

4.5⭐️

This was such a fun read! It will be a perfect book to binge by the pool this summer.

Jac, an author, decides to go on the reality tv dating show, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 1 in an attempt to salvage her career. She soon finds out she’s being edited to be the show’s villain!

If you were a huge fan of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳 franchise, you DO NOT want to miss this. This book was HILARIOUS with some serious parts sprinkled in. I could even pick out certain Bachelor/Bachelorette storylines from my years of watching that show.

This was truly such a fun and entertaining read!!

I really liked this book. It was witty and captivating. The characters and story was so well wirrten.Reality TV is something that is so intriguing to me because of how people act and are betrayed and this book's exploration of it was amazing. I was looking forward to this book and it did not disappoint, I can't wait for it to come out so that I can have a physical copy of it

This book broke my brain in like all the best ways. Reality tv is not something I traditionally watch and my knowledge of The Bachelor (which the one the is very clearly based on) is at a very minimal level so this was a bit of a more eye-opening look at the world of being on a reality tv.

Jac Matthis is an unsuccessful and unhappy novelist who signed up for a dating show hoping to find her love story or sell more books. She meets Marcus, the charming lead of the season and reunites with a man from before the show in producer, Henry. Jac gets caught in the stress of the show allowing the sides of her she does not like to end up on camera, making her more of a villain in the eyes of the viewers even if it is heavily manipulated for airing. She was a captivating read because she almost never made a choice I agreed with and it made things all the more entertaining. I enjoyed reading about the dynamics between the girls on the show, the ones who were there to clearly play the game, the ones there for love and the ones like Jac. Her relationships with Rikki and Charlotte were some highlights for me in addition to the dynamics with Henry and Marcus.

The ends of each chapter utilizing various forms of media to talk about the episodes of the show as they aired and the public reaction was a cool addition, especially as we see how Jac is being portrayed while being told she's doing great. It definitely had me thinking about some of the tweets or takes I'd see about people competing on these types of shows.

I would have preferred a bit more about the end of the show to make the climax hit a bit more. The final chapters after the show ends felt very rushed, there could have been another chapter or two there to help aid in the pay off of what Jac does. With those additions this book would easily be a top book of the year for me, but I will still be telling everyone I know to read this.

This one was a slam dunk for me - finished it in one sitting! Jac is a romance author who's career is failing. In order to boost book sales, she decides to go on "The 1" which is a Bachelor type reality dating show. She plans to be herself on camera but she doesn’t realize is the producers are planing to show her in a different light. What she also does not plan for is Henry, her past lover, to be a producer on the show, while she's also falling for the lead of the show, Marcus.

I'm a huge fan of all things pop culture and reality TV so I loved getting a behind-the-scenes look at how popular shows are created and can twist things into how they want them to be shown. Despite basically telling us the ending of the book on page 1 (or so we thought!), I loved how unpredictable this story was. It truly kept me guessing the entire time.

This will be the beach read of the summer and I cannot wait to recommend it to everyone I know!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

THIS BOOK!! This was one of the smartest, wittiest, most unique books I’ve ever read. I absolutely devoured it in just about 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down. The FMC was so authentic. Her character acknowledged the real parts of who we are as human beings. She was such a breath of fresh air in comparison to the cookie-cutter, untouchable characters we often see in novels. There were parts of the book that made me laugh so loudly. The phrasing and the way the story was told was exquisite and captivating. I was dying to see how it all turned out and I was not disappointed. As a person who does not particularly care about The Bachelor, I still found so much to love and appreciate in this story. I highly recommend it! Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this amazing ARC.

This book had me invested from start to finish. I love the concept of the main character being in a reality dating show, and realizing that how the producers edit the show really does affect how everyone sees you. Jacqueline, who is a romance writer has a career that has stalled, so decides to join the show, and is confident because she does no romance. Unfortunately, her last one night stand before the show started is Henry who is a producer on the show as Jacqueline becomes one of the front runners for Marcus his love she starts to realize that she’s getting the villain edit.

It was such an interesting look into the reality dating show world and it really does make you think about how much you really know about the characters that we watch on TV. What we see is what the producers want us to see. I found Jacqueline to be really interesting and seeing her handle, everything was entertaining. This is a thought-provoking and entertaining book.

Absolutely loved the darker tones "The Villain Edit" really showcased in the reality tv world as well as the mess humans are. Jac is someone I would have definitely been terrified and intimidated to be around but having insight in the way she thought of herself and processed every interaction absolutely broke my heart.
I was stressed throughout the entire book in the way I feel this book could be advertised even as suspense with the emotional and mental (and even physical) manipulation the contestants are put through.
As someone who doesn't like stereotypical romances and love stories, I loved this one and the only reason I did not give it a higher rating is simply because I felt like there were consistency lapses. Perhaps it is the writing style of the author but there were memory time jumps that were a bit unclear as well as movements of characters that had me reconfiguring where everyone was a handful of times.

As someone who spent a lot of my college years watching reality tv (it was at its inception then) I was definitely excited to read this. I enjoyed it and found it to be fun but if I’m being honest, it starts to drag toward the end. Still worth a read though.

"Can you stop, Jac? Do you have to overthink everything? Leave it, Jac. Said to me by boyfriends and fuck buddies and men who always had enough of me, whether it took hours or days or weeks. It was always too much."

The best way I can describe this book in a few words would be, "The Dark Side of The Bachelor, with a realistic, raw, bitchy, authentic FMC, and a romance you can't help but get behind". Jac's character to me was just perfect for this story. At times I wanted to shake her and ask her why she would do the things she did, but the answer is simple- she is an accurate representation of a human being, and in addition to that, one who is being gravely manipulated.

Jac is a failing romance author who goes on this reality dating show, called "The 1", to try & boost book sales. The book draws you in IMMEDIATELY, by revealing on the first page that she is engaged to the Lead at the end of the TV show, you just now are going on the journey of how they get there. A journey that starts with her having a one night stand with a guy at a bar the night before she leaves for the show, and wouldn't you know it? He's a producer on the show. HOTTTTTTT.

There were so many revelations throughout the book that had my jaw on the floor..... SO GOOD. And the romance was elite. It was spicy, emotional, genuine, and literally everything that makes a romance great. The tension between the two love interests was some of the best I've ever read... who doesn't love forbidden love??

If you want to know how much I liked this book, I passed on watching Joey's Hometown Dates episode on Monday in real time because, I was more interested in these fictional characters lives.

"Turning thirty and feeling lost was hard. It's just-I've spent a lot of my life searching out happiness. Which seems ridiculous. There's nothing wrong in my life, no reason I shouldn't be happy, but I keep looking for it like it's a hidden treasure everyone else understands and I don't."

"He shakes his head, and the smile on his lips is so genuine, I want to keep it forever, like that is exactly how I'll remember him, withholding nothing."

I was really interested in reading this book because it gives a "behind the scenes" view of reality shows like "The Bachelor". I am a sucker for a good reality show and romance books so when you put the two together, it sounds like it is something that I would absolutely love. I do think this book is written well, and I did enjoy it even if it wasn't a 5 star read for me. It is sexy and entertaining and I love a good villain even when she is frustrating most of the time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the ending but all in all it was a fun, entertaining read. 3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and Laurie Devore for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoy The Bachelor and love an anti-hero that is somehow likeable, you will enjoy The Villain Edit. It’s a fictional take on what goes into producing a dating reality show. After reading, you will question everything you thought you knew about reality TV love stories. You’ll want to binge-read this book to find out how Jac’s arc ends.

I did not really enjoy this one too much. The writing style was not my cup of tea. The plot was interesting which drew me in. But the internal monologue that the main female character had became too whiny and frustrating to read. Also some of the decisions made didn't make a lot of sense and in the way reality shows are edited weirdly, this book's storyline also seemed badly edited.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t know how I feel about this book? I was infuriated with the character 90% of the time but I was sucked in and wanted to know what was going to happen next.

This is true chick-lit core: a romcom set against the backdrop of a reality dating show. It has all the elements you'd expect: drama, betrayal, friendship, and of course love. For some reason, the cover made me think this would be a bit more literary but I should have known better given the topic. The writing is just ok, but the plot sure is fun.