One to Watch

Like watching a reality show in book form - an addictive read and lots of fun! Not quite sure whether I'd call it rom-com or romance, since it doesn't really seem to fit into either too well, going by genre conventions: no POV sections for her eventual pick; not first-person or really even all that close third for Bea; the sex on-page (not explicit) isn't with the hero (though I did kind of love that). I'd probably call this general fiction, since it ends up being more about Bea's journey to truly believing she's deserving of love and someone who'll treat her well. Some of the things she goes through on the way there can be tough to read, especially if you've ever been treated badly or made fun of due to your weight - honestly, after the first night of the show, I considered DNF-ing this because I didn't want to spend time in a book where a character my size (or close to, there are no numbers given, which is great) is mocked and mistreated constantly. Luckily, it doesn't go on throughout the book, but just kind of a content warning if that's tough for you.

Loved the diversity and representation, with a couple of nitpicks: didn't love that the ONLY guy who wasn't a muscular/athletic type turns out to be the biggest asshole in the show, and also didn't love Luc basically being the "slutty bisexual" stereotype with a French accent, but loved the ace/aro character, which is definitely underrepresented, so. One more spoilery nitpick: unless I missed it, no one seems to acknowledge that Asher's ex-wife seemed to have a pretty clear-cut case of postpartum depression (maybe coupled with seasonal depression, imagine living in upstate New York and knowing no one else and having two babies?), and maybe it was supposed to be so obvious that no one remarked on it, but ... that complicates the story and her supposed villainy significantly for me, and does the same for Asher's character/decisions as well. ANYWAY. This was so much what I needed right now - from the outfit descriptions to the finale in Paris, this was escapist and delightful. Can't wait to see what's next from this author!