August 24, 2020 | No Comments
One to Watch
by Kate Stayman-London
Date Published: July 7, 2020
Published By: Dial Press
Page Count: 417
Publisher’s Description:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Real love . . . as seen on TV. A plus-size bachelorette brings a fresh look to a reality show in this razor-sharp, “thoroughly charming” (Hillary Clinton) debut.
“Relatable, incredibly smart . . . an extraordinary debut.”—Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date and The Proposal
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • Marie Claire • Mashable • “Divinely witty and engrossing . . . Grade: A”—Entertainment Weekly
Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers—and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?
Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition—under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.
But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, wickedly observant debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men—and herself—for a chance to live happily ever after.
My Star Rating:
My Review:
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this book. It was so fun and gave such an accurate portrayal of how women feel in certain situations when they don’t meet magazine beauty standards, even when you know it’s irrational. I loved the Bachelorette theme of this story and how it all played out, but especially how things ended up. I wonder of I’d have knocked off a star or two if she’d picked the wrong guy. Lol. While there was definitely a major romantic element to this story, it was very much a chick lit/women’s fiction story, focusing more on Bea’s relationship with herself than any of the men.