I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It felt very hallmark style sweet, if you're looking for body positive gentle romance, would recommend.

While the egalley of this book had many errors (grammatical, spelling, and formatting) I also received a print ARC and it did not have the same problems.
Julie Murphy's newest romance definitely stands true to her reputation for great romances. In IF THE SHOE FITS Cindy is a recent fashion grad with a love for shoes. (Ahem if yall don't know this, I'm OBSESSED with shoes, so I automatically LOVED Cindy) and wants to design them. After college graduation, she returns home to live with her stepmother and half-siblings. I loved that this Cinderella retelling didn't make the stepmom out to be a witch and the stepsisters were lovely as well. As a stepmother myself, I always take offense when stepmothers are made out to be mean and wicked. Anyway, Cindy returns home and is entered into a reality show similar to The Bachelor where she has to fight for true love. SUCH a good romance while also being a great display of a woman who wants to be happy and find her place in the world. 5 stars!

This was cute! I'm not huge on Disney retellings, but this was sweet and I always enjoy Julie Murphy's writing.

I don't know how to put into words how much I loved this book. It was my first Julie Murphy read and I'm so excited to see what she writes next for adults. The characters were perfect and I loved how juicy this book felt. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it!

I loved this book so much! It was so much better than I ever imagined and I'm thrilled that this was not a classic Cinderella in terms of the family dynamics. It meant so much to me that the sisters were a united front and that Erica treated Cindy as her own.

I appreciated that Cindy's weight was not her personality and hardly mentioned if not for the mean girls in the house. It wasn't a point of contention for Prince Charming and it was really beautiful to see. This book was well written and with the subtle nods to Disney and Cinderella, it made my Disney heart happy!

I loved Julie Murthy’s take on Cinderella, and she always does a marvelous job with body positivity. The couple was also adorable!

Just darling!! I loved the mix between The Bachelor-esque shows and fairytale of Cinderella! I loved Cindy and her body positivity and Henry was a perfect leading man. This was sweet and sexy - a perfect escape read!

This was a fun, lighthearted read! I like the representation, but felt like that was too much of an emphasis for the storyline. I did feel like I was in Cindy's shoes and felt the same emotions she was when dealing with some of the mean girls, so the description and wordplay was very well done.

A combination of a Cinderella retelling, a Bachelor style show, and a body positive main character? SIGN ME UP!
This was such a delightful read. It was quick & it really brought me joy. I absolutely loved Cindy as a main character, and thought all of her interactions were great. The aspect of clothing design that was involved in this was fun as well. This was my first book by Julie Murphy & it was a winner!

Rating: 4/5

This was such a delightful re-telling of Cinderella in the modern world.

The novel takes place in New York and LA in the 2020s. Cindy has moved back to LA from the Big Apple to be with her family after struggling in design school. A similar set-up to the classic Cinderella story is established, Cindy has a step-mom and step-sisters and a father and mother who have previously passed away. Her step-mother is a producer on one of the hottest television shows in the nation, a Bachelor style show, and her step-sisters are going to be contestants. At the last minute, Cindy joins the show as a contestant and is surprised to see that the man she was on a flight with when she came back to LA is the bachelor. Cindy doesn’t feel like she will win nor does she have the desire to instead she feels this is an opportunity to get her shoe designs some media attention and maybe spark some inspiration.

Although the general plot progression is similar to the original Cinderella, Julie Murphy really makes this story her own and very in line with modern times. The step-family is not “evil” but instead very supportive and wants the best for Cindy. Cindy is a woman not necessarily looking for love but looking to find herself and pursue her passion for fashion shoe design.

In the bachelor show, there are of course conflicts between the contestants as they vie for the attention of the bachelor, but there’s also a vibe of women supporting women and friendship between the contestants that I really enjoyed seeing. Every time I thought there was going to be a super evil person to hate, Murphy defied my expectations. All characters have some flaw but it doesn’t define them (although one of the contestants gets really close).

When it comes to the romance, I absolutely loved that the OG story is dropped. Rather than Cinderella meeting Prince Charming and falling in love despite never saying a word to each other. Cindy goes on dates during the show and we actually get to see them form a connection. It makes the ending conflict and resolution all the more believable, an ending that seems realistic not just a “fairy tale”.

I'm a sucker for retelling of a Cinderella story and throw in some Bachelor vibes..pop out the book and get me a glass of wine! This was a super easy fun read. I liked that the book was a fresh take on the Cinderella spin.

I never watch Reality TV shows, it's not something I enjoy for the most part but If the Shoe Fits looked like a really fun and entertaining story and turns out I was right.

This book follows Cindy as she is thrown into a dating competition. She and other women will have to "compete" for the love of the man who she just met in a plane. If that's not a sign for love, I don't know what is, ahah. However, Cindy is the only plus size woman on the show and she believes this is the perfect chance to get a boost on her career. She just didn't expect to fall in love.

Overall, this was a fun story and I like how the subjects were handled. I liked getting to know her story and her family. The romance was nice too.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I really enjoy Julie Murphy's prose. Her writing style just really jives well with me and is very easy to consume. I don't know that I knew what this book was about at any point, but it's Cinderella but also not. This story follows Cindy who has experienced the loss of her mother at a young age, followed by her father before she hit adulthood. She has a stepmom, 2 stepsisters, and 3 half sibling triplets, but none of them are evil and she has a great relationship with them. Cindy is struggling to get her footing in the fashion world - her favorite thing is shoes and she collects and makes them. She ends up landing a spot on her stepmom's reality dating show and the story goes from there. I am no stranger to reality tv and it's 100% a guilty pleasure that I don't get to enjoy much nowadays, so this was a really fun guilty pleasure read. I also really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes stuff as far as tv production goes - it's something I see in my day job, so I'm a little obsessed with it at the moment.

Obsessed with Julie Murphy and even more obsessed with Julie Murphy writing adult novels featuring retellings of fairy tale romances. Man, this was so enjoyable! I love a dating show plot in a rom-com so this was right up my alley, and the characters were all immensely loveable. I'm really glad Cinderella's abusive stepfamily didn't make it into this retelling.

Ahhhh I loved this book!! Our heroine is adorable, and as a fat girl myself I felt so represented by her. i loved that she was fully herself and didn't give into anyone's desires for her to change. Julie Murphy's book Dumplin sealed her for me as an author I trust with fat representation. On that note, I would've loved a bit more steam, since I feel like fat girls don't really get steamy scenes, but it's just something I would've liked to have seen added, nothing big. Overall, I rank this as an adorable Cinderella-type rom-com and am excited for the next book in the series. Thank you to the publisher for my copy.

DNF at 40%

I honestly just could not get into this book. I think it mostly had to do with the writing style, it just didn't work for me. I didn't feel connected to the characters and honestly didn't care what happened

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This Cinderella retelling was a lot of fun and super cute. The perfect book for The Bachelor fans to sit down with and binge in a few hours, letting yourself get wrapped up in the romance! Julie Murphy is an incredible story-teller and I love how wonderful she is at writing positive fat rep. Another aspect that I loved is that the step-family weren't evil! They loved and accepted Cindy as their own and were so, so supportive. This romance was super sweet and adorable. This is a new adult but this is teen friendly! Some steamy make-out scenes but is closed door. My only gripe is the ending... it was too sudden. I wanted more!

‘With a shiny new design degree but no job in sight, Cindy moves back in with her stepmother, Erica Tremaine, the executive producer of the world’s biggest dating reality show. When a contestant on Before Midnight bows out at the last minute, Cindy is thrust into the spotlight…’

‘But being the first and only fat contestant on Before Midnight turns her into a viral sensation—and a body-positivity icon—overnight. Even harder to believe? She can actually see herself falling for this Prince Charming.’

I LOVE This Book! I laughed, I cried, and I gasped in surprise. If you’re looking for a modern-day Cinderella story with a twist, I Highly Recommend reading IF THE SHOE FITS, Book One in the Meant To Be Series by Julie Murphy.

More, Please!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue (Disney Publishing), for providing me with an eBook of IF THE SHOE FITS at the request of an honest review.

Generally a good book, kept my attention. The story was great, characters well thought out, and the pacing was good. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author!! Thank you so much for the ARC!

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.