Actual rating // 4.5
I've read a quite a few Julie Murphy books and this is by far my favorite! I think that her foray into adult romance is successful and I am so excited to read more books in this series. I loved the take on the Cinderella story while also having a Bachelor type of feel. I love the exploration of grief and fatphobia especially in the tv industry. I'm so excited to see what she does next with this series!

This is such a cute read! It was fast and fluffy! I think this would be a great summer read to have on the beach with a cocktail. The story was too cute!

This is one of those books that just sucks you in and you can't put down. It's a great retake on Disney's version of Cinderella including young triplet siblings named Gus, Mary, and Jack. I loved picking up on all the nods to the movie throughout the book while completely appreciating the story Julie Murphy was telling herself. I will let own voices reviewers comment on the representation that is in this book and how well it was done, but for me it worked well.

Sweet Cinderella retelling - Cindy goes on a reality show, Before Midnight (think, The Bachelor). This is a fun rom-com. Strangely enough, I read The Charm Offensive right before this, which has a very similar concept. I would recommend this book as a fun, romantic read.

I loved every minute of this book! Yes, there were plenty of pop culture tropes (and I admittedly missed probably more because I’m a book person and rarely watch TV, but I don’t live under a rock) and the storyline was predictable in places. But I still loved every minute of this book.

Cinderella is my absolute favorite, so I adored the nods to the classic Disney version. I adored the switch to having such sweet stepsisters and a badass stepmom.

Murphy’s normal YA audience peeked through a few times, but even though I’m a mid-50s grandmother, it was still a fresh, fun, even giggle-out-loud story for me.

Pick this book up if you are looking for a light, sometimes silly, easy, enjoyable read. It’s a perfect summer beach read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

This one was so darn fun. It was predictable, but comfortable. i would love to see this style Bachelor show in real life with an inclusive variety of women, body shapes and lifestyles.
I read the book in the course of one day and loved the romance woven in to the story, especially with the beginning.
And the shoes, what a fun idea for the MC's passion. Definitely love Julie Murphy's books and this one is a perfect summer, beach read.

When Cindy loses a shoe stepping onto her flight back to LA after graduating from design school in Manhattan, she is surprised by the gorgeous man who returns it and trades spots for a middle seat to be next to her. Planning to spend the summer as nanny to her triplet half-siblings everything turns around when she is needed to be in the Bachelor-like tv show her stepmother produces. On the set, she is shocked to learn her former seat-mate, the scion of a fading fashion empire, is the star of the show. Their chemistry has to take a back seat for the show. This body positive heroine is a delight to meet and highly relatable. Her dreams and insecurities are easy to connect with. The familial relationships with her supportive steps is great to see. While written for adults, it will also draw teen readers.

If The Shoe Fits is a retelling of the classic fairytale Cinderella. Unfortunately, I went into this book not knowing really what it was about, and I have never been a big fan of Disney Princesses or retelling of most fairytales. Also, it also took the Cinderella story and merged it with the TV show The Bachelor. No rose for this gal ( I think it is a rose they give the person who is staying or is it the loser gets a rose? I don't know ) ) I have never seen one episode of the show.

What I did enjoy about the book...the main character being a plus-size gal, I think we need to remember that all women are not bubbly, skinny, and blonde when it comes to main characters in books. I also really enjoyed the authors writing style. I have never read any of Julie Murphy's writing before because I rarely pick up YA, but I am going to go back and search a few books out and give them a try. In If The Shoe Fits she wrote a cute, fun, and at times emotional book that was well put together. All in all, it was not a bad book, and I feel it will do well with a lot of people, however, this one was just not for me

I initially thought this book would be a little too cheesy or predictable, but I was pleasantly surprised! I liked the characters, the size inclusivity, and the Bachelor-like theme (I guiltily am a fan of the show). Also, yay that this is a series! I will definitely read book 2! This is a great summer read, easy to get into and you'll breeze right through it! Thank you, NetGalley!

Adorable story that I couldn't put down! This Cinderella retelling is a wonderful modern twist. Her relationships with her stepfamily have their struggles, but finally dropped the hate between women. I have never watched The Bachelor, but I was pleased that the reality show in the book had the women supporting each other more often than not. I'd love to think that society would embrace and hail a plus-sized contestant as fun and creative as the main character. The ending was predictable, but I enjoyed every moment leading up to it.

So the problem here is I really don’t like Disney princess stuff and I would also rather stick my head in the oven rather than endure even one episode of The Bachelor. Why did I think I would like this again? But the fact that it was a real body heroine I went in hoping for the best. But so many marks were missed. This book promised dramatic reality tv merged with a modern day plus-size Cinderella retelling and that is what we got.
If the Shoe Fits follows Cindy, a recent graduate from Parsons School of Design in New York City who aspires to be a shoe designer. After a tough senior year, she doesn’t have any job prospects in NYC and decides to move home and take care of her three young siblings for the summer. Her stepmother, Erica, is a producer of a Bachelor-esque dating show called Before Midnight. When three contestants drop out of Before Midnight only days before filming starts, Cindy and her two stepsisters fill in the empty spots. Cindy is hoping to jumpstart her shoe design career, and a bit of television exposure is just what she she needs, but what she gets instead might surprise her.

Overall, it was a good read. I think it mostly gave what Julie Murphy promised. The writing was wonderful, I was pulled into the story. It did a great job of keeping Cindy’s character relatable. It was lighthearted while still covering the important topic of body diversity being displayed on TV.
Cindy was an extremely likable character, and I was rooting for her the whole time! I liked that the romantic interest had his own depth. He wasn’t shallow or vain. It was REALLY impressive that Cindy loved her stepmother and stepsisters and got along with them super well, even if she didn't always understand them. It was a great feeling to move past women hating women.
I loved how inclusive this book was. It's little things, like telling what race every single person was in their descriptions, not just specifying the non-white characters. There's a non-binary character that is never once misgendered and their looks aren't described in a way that indicates that they were born as either gender in the binary and I really loved that. There's a lesbian character, and one who's dated both men and women.
My hang ups come with the pacing of the story. It was strange and made it hard to get through the last 3rd of the story. It felt true to the Disney movie, too true, in the way that I didn't feel like I knew much about the love interest. They spent very little time together, especially alone, before she realized she was in love with him. The happy ending was hurried. I feel like I got a better grasp on some of the contestants than I really did on Henry. A lot of time was spent on the behind-the-scenes stuff in the house they lived in while filming, where Henry was kept away from them most of the time. The story lacked that deep connection I wanted from the characters. Overall a good story with a believable HEA.

This was a fun retelling of Cinderella, which I loved as a little girl. It was exciting to see a reality show with a plus-sized lead and a twist with a reality show. I found this to be a quick and fast-paced read. I loved the characters. A Plus-size protagonist who does not apologize for her appearance. Since I'm plus size myself, the author wrote it in a good light. It contains many references to an outdated movie that was updated to fit into today's world. Fun, and full of romance. It was perfect!!!

This was an ARC provided by Netgalley. The review is honest and my opinions are my own.

Contemporary rom com, classic fairy tale reimaginjng for the modern reader. Julie Murphy is not afraid to champion body positivity and creates a fantastic, real, relatable heroine in If The Shoe fits. Empowering, swoony, everything I love in classic rom com but elevated. Can't wait to read more in this series.

How frickin’ sweet! Even though it was, at moments, kind of cliche and a bit absurd, it was also all kinds of perfect! I love Julie Murphy and this is my favorite since the inimitable Dumplin’! More more more, please!

Great book! I love the fact that Cindy was multidimensional and the entire story wasn’t about her weight. I’m still wondering what Addison said to make Henry want to give her the boot. The book was just the right length.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to read and review this book. This book was my first from Julie Murphy and although I have heard fantastic things about her, I was still hesitant going into this book. However!!!!! I was pleasantly surprised with how much I truly enjoyed this book.
There's a Cinderellaesque story in here but at the same time, it was the kindest Cinderella retelling I have read thus far. This was also the most behind the scenes reality show book I have read so far with a lot of background information on what it takes to create a "bachelor/bachelorette type show but not in a crude way. I also liked the fashion designer concept on top of the play on shoes (as a shoe/accessory girl that hit my heartstrings). I truly enjoyed all the characters also even the one I was supposed to hate because they felt real/three dimensional I could even imagine the actors who have played these characters. Overall, I am excited to see what the future of this series holds and Julie Murphy is now on my radar because of these points, I have to give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This book was a delight! If you love fashion, shoes, body positivity and representation, and the bachelor this book is for YOU!

This book is all written in one POV and Cindy is exquisite. She’s funny, and just real. The author writes about body positivity and loving our bodies in a fabulous way. So many scenes made me think of scenarios I’ve been in and language I’ve used in reference to my body. I just saw so much of my myself in our heroine.

The author writes funny, and witty, but will also make you sob a little. There were two parts of the book were Cindy, our MC, reads letters written to her that just tugged so hard at my heartstrings. The way grief is incorporated in this book is subtle but really highlight how complex it is for each of us. The aftermath of grief isn’t always immediate and Cindy is battling with that. I think if you have ever been in a place where you’ve lost your drive and the light that moves you, you’ll find Cindy a character you’ll really resonate with.

This book reminds us to never dim our light due to the fear of how other might reach to it. Embrace and love yourself. This book will stay with me for a long time.

This is a closed door romance. CW: body shaming, conversations about body image, parents death, grief, brief mention of cancer, brief mention of surrogacy, brief mention of car accident

Not to be dramatic, but I ~loved~ this book. It was exactly the light romance yet self-empowering story that I needed during a very stressful time. I knew a combo of Julie Murphy (Dumplin’ and Romona Blue Julie Murphy) and Disney (the Disney) would make me fall in love with another novel.

If the Shoe Fits is the first installment in Disney’s new Meant to Be series, which follows Disney heroines on modern day adventures. It feels like it should be a YA concept, but the target audience is actually New Adult. It’s a smart move because YA is already overrun with Disney retellings and aiming towards an older audience lets the romance be a bit steamier than you’d expect.

If the title didn’t give you a massive hint with the word shoe, If the Shoe Fits is about Cinderella. In this case, she’s Cindy, a recent graduate of Parsons, the fashion school in New York City. She’s on a plane to Los Angeles when she run into her Prince Charming– i.e. a super hot guy her age who saves her from having to sit next to a creep on the flight. Never expecting to see Prince Charming again, Cindy agrees to help her step-mother out of a pinch by being a contestant on a Bachelor-esque television show called Before Midnight. Wanting to break into the footwear end of fashion, Cindy thinks being on the show could open new opportunities for her career.

Enter (again) Prince Charming.

Prince Charming a.k.a. hot guy on the plane a.k.a. Henry, Before Midnight’s newest bachelor, pops back into Cindy’s life exactly when she’s not looking for love. (Sure, she’s on a very famous dating show, but that’s not the point.) The story unfolds with cute nods to the original Cinderella (a ball, a lost shoe, etc.), genuine discussions about grief, and way more information about reality TV than I ever asked for.

Something that I absolutely loved: Cindy is fat and very much not afraid to use that word. This is body positivity to the max and I’m here for it. Being in the fashion world, Cindy does run into clothes that aren’t her size, but she never thinks that she has to change her body to fit the clothes. Instead, she uses her voice to advocate for the brands to have inclusive sizing. And while Cindy’s the only plus size contestant on the show, she doesn’t get any stereotypical hate and she’s not made fun of for the sake of *character development*.

Another thing I absolutely loved: There’s no evil step-family. Cindy’s personal trauma does come from losing both of her parents at a young age, but there’s no lasting antagonism from her step-mom or step-sisters. They’re actually a loving and supportive blended family, which is so refreshing because I was not in the mood to see woman hating other women.

Overall, yes, I did love this book, thanks for asking. I don’t think it was perfect because I wanted the end to have a longer resolution, but I usually feel that way about romances in general. (Also, hello, tiny miscommunication trope, I didn’t want to see you here.) For the regular Romance reader, it might feel standard. For YA readers or anyone looking to find something outside of their regular genre, this is fun and flirty. And for anyone looking for a more feminist take on the age old Cinderella, definitely take this book for a spin out on the dance floor.

If the Shoe Fits comes out August 3, 2021.

4.5/5 Stars.

I received a free e-ARC of If the Shoe Fits from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute retelling! Modern and diverse! Definitely recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars!

Let me first say that I love Julie Murphy, as a human and as a writer. She writes some of the most relatable characters. Not to neglect the fact that her plus-size characters are well written. I love that for the most part, her books don't really focus on the fact that the main character is plus-sized being a problem, but more so just a fact of life.

I am not a huge Cinderella fan but if any book could make me one this one would be it. I loved the bachelor style concept, with the behind-the-scenes look at how the show is produced, also with the kind of meet-cute that the main characters had it was just perfect. There was a huge focus on fashion within this book though I am not really a huge fashion kinda girl I enjoyed those aspects of the book also. I do think that there were some parts that I could have done without, some of the rudeness of other characters, but I understand why it was necessary.

Also, I would like to mention that there is some LGBTQ representation, and the character isn't just someone that is thrown into the story, they are a forward supporting character. Like I'm here for it!

The relationship between Cindy and her stepmom and siblings was just amazing, I loved how real and genuine it seemed. I loved that it didn't follow within the lines of the main Cinderella story. The forced conflict was well done. Honestly, I just loved everything about this book. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney~Hyperion for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.