I would like to begin by thanking Netgally and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the advanced reader copy!

If you are a fan of the Bachelor and other reality show dating to shows definitely read this book! Even if you don’t like those type of shows still a super good book! The main character Cindy goes to fashion school and loves creating shoes. She moves from New York to California in with her step mom after she loses both her parents. This is her new start. Her step mom Erica is a creator/producer on the tv show “Before Midnight”, she goes on the show for exposure for her fashion/shoe career and it quickly becomes more. She meets the suitor, Henry and her life changes.
This book was really great and will keep you hooked the whole time.
5 stars, recommend!

Love the updated take on the classics we all know and love. Cute, heartwarming, delightful read! Well done, Murphy! Looking forward to reading more.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I have never loved a romcom as much as I love this one. This book is everything. A plus size girl on the Bachelor? You would never ever see it. This book gives all of us bigger girls some hope that some great catch of a man might actually like us too. I'm absolutey obsessed and have nothing bad to say. I give this book the highest recommendation!

Thank you Julie Murphy, Disney Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC!

**Also please make this a series or a trilogy because I love Cindy and Henry. I need to see them take on the fashion world.

A light and fun beach read! I thoroughly enjoyed the plus-sized fashion perspectives, diverse characters, and playful integration of "Cinderella" attributes. Thank you for making me (and many of my students) feel seen and heard.

Aspiring shoe designer and fat girl Cindy signed up to join the cast of a reality dating series called Before Midnight to raise her fashion profile. But when she meets the bachelor, she recognizes him from a recent flight to LA. Henry agreed to try and find his perfect match on TV in return for help with his mother's struggling fashion business. Away from the camera, sparks fly, but can Cindy trust Henry's motives? Will her five minutes of fame be worth it in the end?

This was a fun, lovely Cinderella-inspired story from Julie Murphy. I'm pretty much over fairytale retellings, but enjoyed Faith Takes Flight and was cautiously excited about the idea of a fat romance heroine. I'm so glad I took a chance on this book because (1) it's not THAT much of a Cinderella story (okay, there are special shoes, a step-mother, step-sisters, and a dead father, but those are the biggest connections and they don't all turn out as you might expect) and (2) wow did I love Cindy and her story. After just reading another romance novel that featured an ugly, fat, angry aunt as a joke secondary character (don't worry, she's secretly a thin, beautiful, happy witch), If the Shoe Fits was such a breath of fresh air. Murphy skewers some of the typical comments fat women get, like "wow, you're so brave for wearing [insert form-fitting piece of clothing]" and the inability of the fashion world to accommodate fat bodies. At the same time, she doesn't turn Cindy into some sort of body positivity warrior/martyr--she's just a young woman trying to find her way in the world.

The one (small) critique I have is that most of the secondary characters are underdeveloped and I would have liked to see a few more things tied up at the end, but otherwise I would highly recommend this book. I can't wait to read whatever Murphy writes next!

When a Cinderella story meets the Bachelor, you're met with Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits!

Cindy's life has plateaued. She's graduated design school with no job in sight so she's headed home to California to nanny for her triplet step-siblings. When she meets a mysterious man on the plane, she chalks it up to a "what if" moment, and continues full steam into nanny life.

Life picks up as soon as she's home, as her stepmother is the producer of a major reality show. As two cast members drop out right before filming begins, Cindy and her stepsisters agree to jump in and set off on a world of adventure.

It's so refreshing to see a body-positive plus-size protagonist, as she represents so many women today. Light-hearted, cute, and a quick read, this should definitely earn a spot on your reading list!

I adored the fat representation and the subtle nods to the Disney film (naming one of the triplets Gus-Gus, etc,). I didn't think I was going to enjoy the reality show setting, but I found that the pacing and personalities were easy to get invested in. I definitely recommend this to fans of Olivia Dade and Jasmine Guillory.

Murphy gives readers a legitimate heroine that actually gets her HEA and the guy against all odds. Set against the background of 'reality' television, Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits, contains many of the behind the scenes secrets that show a little more of the reality than flash. This is a quick, solid read for any fans of the genre.

This is a modern fairy tale loosely based on Cinderella, but with nice step-relatives, an all-too-human prince charming, and a plus-sized Cinderella who designs shoes. Cindy becomes a contestant on a TV reality show much like the Bachelor and finds that the male contestant is her seatmate from her cross country flight. It is rather predictable but entertaining and it is nice to find a strong female character in Cindy and other characters from all walks of life. It was a fun read.

I wasn't able to finish this one. The premise was just too much. I like the message of body positivity and I usually like modern fairytale retellings. However, this one tried to hard to make the dating show premise fit the fairytale. It started to become predictable, but not in any good kind of way. There are library patrons that may enjoy this title, but this one seemed to be trying too hard.

Fashion school graduate Cindy is low on job prospects, so she moves in with her reality-show-producer stepmom for the summer. When a spot just happens to open up in the newest season of the Bachelor-style series, Cindy finds herself with the opportunity to get nationwide exposure for her designs – and the chance at winning a hundred thousand dollars. The very last thing she expects is to actually find love – until she finds that the “Bachelor” in question is a familiar face.

If The Shoe Fits is a cute little romance novel inspired by Cinderella. But if fairy tale retellings aren’t your thing, don’t worry – it’s a pretty loose inspiration. For the most part, the inspiration ends with shoes and a stepfamily (who in this version are actually pretty nice). This book features fantastic representation – in addition to a plus-sized heroine, we have a multicultural cast including bisexual, lesbian, and non-binary side characters.

If The Shoe Fits also had something that I always love to find in a romance novel – an extremely competent and capable heroine. I loved that in addition to being fat as well as fabulous, Cindy is a genuinely talented fashion and shoe designer. This, in addition to exploration of themes like grief and female friendship, helps to flesh out her character and the book as a whole. Henry, the “hero,” was also an enjoyable, if slightly less well developed character.

There are a few things that aren’t quite believable – how she got cast in the show in the first place is frankly a stretch – but sometimes, especially in romance novels, you just kind of have to roll with these things, and in this case, I felt like the rest of the story made it worth going with the stretch.

Cinderella Retelling with a Bachelor spin that has a plus size main character? COUNT ME IN! The main character Cindy who has lost both her parents- just graduated from college as a design (but her passion is mainly for shoes), heads home to live with her tv show executive step mom. When she gets the opportunity to join the Bachelor like show called, Before Midnight she jumps at the chance! Whats better than 100k and exposure for her future career. But it quickly becomes more than that. I loved that this retelling steered from the unbearable step mom and step sisters and Cindy truly has the most supportive second family. The twists and added drama really made this an enjoyable and easy read for romance lovers. The only issue I had with this book was the somewhat of an abrupt ending.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book snuck up on me. Cindy, a recent Parsons graduate and spiring shoe designer, twenty-two and fat. She’s also orphaned and unemployed, and she agrees to go on a version of The Bachelor called Before Midnight. But it turns out she’s already met the Bachelor, when she was flying home after graduation.

Murphy jumps in and I kept feeling like this was a book in a series where I hadn’t read the other books and wasn’t getting all the references. But as I got settled, and as Cindy goes on the dating show, the book finds its keel. And then it becomes kinda great in parts, when we get to see both the machinations of reality tv and how Cindy stands up to them. And she figures out who she is and what she deserves.

I ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. 3.5 stars. But this is a book that sorely needs an epilogue.

I got a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a total secret reality tv show lover. There’s just something fun about turning the tv on and investing an hour of your day into someone’s love life...even better??? All the juicy gossip and drama that goes on. It’s a guilty pleasure.
I absolutely loved this play on reality tv and the ties to Cinderella. This is probably one of the cuter Rom coms that I’ve read in a really long time and I love the main character Cindy. I also love that she represented a fierce and fashionable plus size woman.
Light to medium steam level!

If the Shoe Fits is a cute rom-com, mash up of the Cinderella fairy tale and the other recent release about a plus size fashion icon on a reality show, One to Watch.

I blew through this book, it was hard to put down. I was rooting for the characters I was supposed to, on the fence for the characters that were indeed on the fence, and riding the rollercoaster of emotions trying to decode Henry's actions with Cindy.

With that said, like One to Watch, this is a preachy and heavy handed book for the whole spectrum of "awareness". I wish it could just be a plus size romance without being a sermon for every minority group. It's also an "insta-love" story which I had to suspend my disbelief for throughout the whole book. Obviously, I was here for a plus size girl getting the prince, but like, why did he fall for her? It's never made clear.

The Cinderella retelling is beyond brilliant! The author presents a realistic picture of life with the step family that I love-love-loved as well as Cindy's journey to process her grief. The Cinderella names that were sprinkled in were very clever, and obviously, the shoe-addict plot is fun!

I pictured Beck as British Bake Off's beloved Sue Perkins.

Thank you NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for a copy for me to review!

Cindy has just graduated from Parsons School of Design with the dream of being a shoe designer, but after a disasterous last year of school, finally dealing with the death of her father, she is left with no job prospects and has to return home to LA. On her flight, she sits next to "Prince Charming" and immediatley has a connection with him. Upon her return to LA, she moves in with her step mom, two step sisters, and triplet half siblings. Cindy quickly gets cast on her step-mom's reality dating TV show and her plane "Prince Charming" is the show's bachelor. The spark between the two continues to burn, but will he pick her? Read this fun, romance novel to find out!

First let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room; this book is very similar to last year’s One To Watch. They are both Bachelor-retellings with a plus sized lead. However that’s about where the similarities end. This is also a Cinderella retelling under Disney’s Hyperion imprint. Cin is a recent design school graduate who moves back home with her Stepmother whose the Executive Producer of a Bachelor-style reality show. What I loved about this book is the relationship between Cin and her Stepmother Erica, and her step-sisters Drew and Anna. It wasn’t a negative relationship; in fact it was a very loving one. I did feel that it could have played up the stepmother angle more but the relationship between all three sisters was wonderful (hoping the next book in the series is one of their stories).

Another positive thing regarding this book was the portrayal of Cin as plug sized. It’s specifically mentioned in the book that she’s at least a size 18. Unlike some previous plus-sized lead books that have smaller dress sizes. The author has turkey portrayed some issues faced by people of a larger size including designers not making clothes in larger sizes, the way members of the public treat them, etc.

In the end I loved this book and didn’t want to put it down. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. 5 stars.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 54%. Just not for me! I love romances, I love Julie Murphy, I love the main character Cindy. The problem is that this is just not the type of romance I go in for- I like to watch the nitty gritty of the relationship forming and growing, and at over halfway here I have seen almost no interaction between the main characters, and I know next to nothing about the love interest. Plus I hate shows like The Bachelor.

This is the first book in the Disney adult adaption of the beloved fairytales.

I am a huge Julie Murphy and Disney fan so when I heard that she would be writing a modern day adult adaption of Cinderella, I was so excited!

I love Julie Murphy’s writing style and she draws you in! However, I just found the storyline to be kind of flat and there was no real climax. I also never really felt really invested in Cindy, other than the loss of her parents she was kind of meh. I’ve never watched the Bachelor/Bachelorette however, I loved the insider view of the show and how it is orchestrated and perceived as “reality”.

Still, I would be interested to see how the rest of the series plays out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: Absolutely LOVED It!

I heard about this title, that it was going to be an adult romance retelling of Cinderella, and I about hit the ceiling I was so excited. I was absolutely thrilled that I was approved on NetGalley, and I read the entire book in one sitting. It was a pure delight!

It took two things I absolutely love: Disney movies, and the Bachelor, and combined them into a super sweet, feel-good story that just left me grinning like a fool by the time it was over! It was such a good time, with so many great moments, some that even left me crying.

In this story Cindy is an aspiring fashion designer who has had a really rough senior year of design school and is now leaving New York to return home to her step-family with no job prospects other than to nanny her triplet half-siblings. Her step-mother is the executive producer of the wildly popular reality show Before Midnight, and contestants dropping out means that Cindy, and her step-sisters Drew and Anna have the opportunity to throw their hats into the ring. Cindy, mainly in order to take a shot at getting her name and shoes some exposure and to take a stab at winning the grand prize of 100 grand. She shows up at the chateau only to find out that the suitor happens to be the handsome Prince Charming she met on the plane from New York., and that she may find the reality show is a little more real than she expected.

This story had so many things going for it. I think that my favorite was that Cindy has a great relationship with her step-family. She loves her step-mom and her step-sisters. They support each other and it was so great to see. I also really loved that Julie Murphy dealt with Cindy's grief over her parents on the page and not just something that was half addressed.

I thought that the relationship between Cindy and Henry was incredibly sweet and lots of fun! I cheered them on, and honestly it did feel kinda like watching a season of the Bachelor, which is a favorite "guilty" pleasure of mine. This is a very chaste love story for an adult romance, but it felt very appropriate for the story that was being told. It was just very sweet.

Cindy is also a fat heroine, and I think it was one of the better portrayals that I've read recently. It didn't focus on the fact that she was a fat woman, but it was just one more thing about her. I thought it was rather tasteful, and she seemed very comfortable with herself.

Overall, this was a really fun read, and I highly recommend. I'm grateful to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for this eARC, which did not influence my opinions. This book releases on August 3, 2021!

I will post a shortened review to my instagram @jemofabook in the two weeks before publication.