I am absolutely FLOORED by how much I loved The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun. I totally swooned for Dev and Charlie’s love story.

Beyond the romance factor of this book, it explores mental illness and disorders in a compassionate manner that I haven’t really seen in romance before. I wasn’t expecting this from the debut author, but I am so grateful it was included. Everyone deserves to know that they can be loved exactly as they are, and I think Dev and Charlie will provide that lens for many people who should see themselves represented in romance.

This book is also just funny!! I will scream about it to anyone who will listen: read this book!!

Thank you Atria and Netgalley for the ARC of The Charm Offensive in exchange for an honest review.

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. Was I expecting a fun and silly Rom-Com? ABSOLUTELY! What I was not expecting was the so much more I received. This book does an absolutely phenomenal job of not only exploring the ins and outs of those famous "reality" dating shows, but it approaches OCD, depression, and mental health with such candor and sensitivity. Dev and Charlie are two of the most well-written and well developed characters I have EVER had the honor of reading. Everything in this story is so well balanced - the pacing, the emotional roller coaster, the humor and the heart. There is something in this for every reader and I simply cannot wait to read it again. A must read, indeed!

This book was absolutely phenomenal. The Charm Offensive follows two main characters; Charlie and Dev. Their paths intertwine on a reality TV show called ever after, in which a prince must go through months of dating 13 girls to find his princess. Charlie is the prince, and Dev is the producer. Except their relationship suddenly becomes much more than work acquaintances.

The characters in this were so well done. Dev and Charlie were both so loveable and so incredibly real. Both of their struggles with their mental health and their self worth was so beautiful to see resolved. They were beautiful together, of course, but they were also beautiful on their own, which is what really makes a character shine. The side characters were also beautifully done. They were their on entities, not there to move the plot onwards.

The representation was also stellar. Cochrun did an amazing job with the representation of mental health, race, sexuality, and mental illness. It felt so refreshing seeing such good representation overall. So well done.

The plot was also amazing, but not as noteworthy as the other two points. It was good though. It was right for the characters, and overall, it was well paced. I loved how Dev had to find himself and help himself get better before he went to Charlie. You don't see that often. After reading the acknowledgements and seeing that the author struggled with the same thing, it just made that entire plot point so much more special.

Overall, a stellar book. I will definitely be buying it when it comes out, and I hope everyone else does too.

You won’t need to watch reality TV to enjoy this endearing romance!

Charlie is the reluctant prince/bachelor for the long running dating show Ever After. Dev is the producer that genuinely believes in the show’s quest for love while knowing all about the editing and manipulation of the contestants behind the scenes. The men bond and open up to one another as Dev tries to help Charlie come out of his shell for the show. Of course, things get complicated and attraction sparks between them.

While it had all the drama expected for a romance novel about a reality TV show, it tackled some real issues. I was impressed by the frank and respectful take on mental illness, and the progression of Charlie’s newly realized sexuality. The characters had real flaws and problems, and they were still endearing! They were charming because of these qualities, not despite them.

Even with the inclusion of heavy topics, the book was fun! I kept expecting an old romance plot point to drop in and ruin things (like unrealistic miscommunication or villainous exes) but it avoided all of those eye-rolling tropes. I really enjoyed it, and I’m sure others will too.

Dev loves love. He's grown up on reality romance, and has found his niche working on the reality dating show Ever After. Dating one of his coworkers for so long, when he knew it wasn't going anywhere, was a mistake, but this season they'll get back to normal and everything will be fine, right? Well, maybe not. This season's prince just isn't one, and because Dev's so good with the contestants, he's reassigned from a group of princesses to working with the prince. And bonnie prince Charlie, who agreed to the gig to rehab his tarnished Silicon Valley image (his anxiety has led to a few meltdowns), is a challenge for the ages. Charlie blossoms with Dev's help, and the two together, contestant and handler, could even be considered...a good match? There's plenty of enjoyable reality dating drama, and the angst of Dev helping to set up dates for (but not with) his love interest...and there's some healing. Can these two make it past the already-set narrative the show wants to create? Can they make their own story? Do they deserve their own happily ever after enough to make it? Worth tuning in to find out. Dev is particularly endearing, and readers will root for him. Even when he's stubborn.

I adored this book. It's full of heart and swoons and real characters facing real mental health issues in an environment of "fake" reality that pushes them to their breaking point. But together Dev and Charlie are unstoppable and perfect.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC, my thoughts are my own.

This was one of my most anticipated read of the year, as someone who casually enjoys the bachelor and loves romance, in general. While it is not a new favorite it did contain aspects of this book that I liked, first of all the mental health positivity surrounding going to therapy, anxiety rep and depression rep. However as I do not have an OCD to my knowledge, I cannot speak on that aspect of the book.

I loved the scenes cut out, we get in between certain chapters that show us what will be censored and how things are put together to present the people in the reality tv show as "drama" or "mean' even though they were led to these actions or sentences being taken out of context to create drama for the viewers.
I loved the behind the scenes of the book.

The romance aspect felt lacking compared to the rest, I did not particularly cared about them together, but did enjoy them as individual characters. It has an HFN ending (happy for now), which is nice.
The biggest aspect of the book for me was more the growth each of our MC's went through and how they learned and became happier at the end of this, but did not need each other to continue to grow or be happy (which is honestly my favorite aspect of the book).

There were some scenes in the book, part of the drama outside of the tv reality drama, that made it annoying to me and felt out of place, I won't spoil anything but the main conflict fell flat to me. The time skip in between it and the resolution did not help my enjoyment of the book at all.

Overall a good book that read quickly.
I would recommend it for fans of the bachelor and romantic tv realities as it is basically the bachelor where he gives out crown and they accept to become his "princess" instead of accepting a rose.
4/5 stars
Bookarina

Best LGBTQ++ book I've read this year. I found the two main characters love story to be very relatable and I loved the juxtaposition of their love story and the backdrop of the reality dating show taking place. What I loved most was the normalization and support shown of Charlie's OCD and anxiety and Dev's Depression. I also very much enjoyed the moral that its okay to take care of yourself first and that your mental health is one of the most important things but that you can still have meaningful relationships.

Dev, a believer in true love and fairy-tale endings, is a producer for Ever After, a Bachelor-type reality show. When Charlie, the season's Prince Charming proves to be difficult, Dev is assigned to be his handler. As Dev works with Charlie to make him camera-ready, the men learn a lot about each other and begin to have feelings for each other. They have to hide their feelings for the sake of the show, but it is not easy for either of them. I appreciated that this book deals with mental health issues, and although the show they are producing is hetero-normative, many of the producers are LGBTQ+. Both of these aspects play a role in the way the relationships among the different characters and the storyline evolve.

Well… dang. After having The Charm Offensive hyped up to me as a sweet and hilarious queer romcom, I saved my read of it for when I needed a pick me up. While I can definitely see why so many people have connected with this novel and feel there’s a lot to love about it, I had a lot of conflicting feelings that unfortunately left me lukewarm on The Charm Offensive.

We’ll start with the considerable good. First of all, the premise of this novel absolutely hits all my buttons. I’m fascinated by reality TV and particularly what happens in production behind the scenes of reality TV, so the idea of a producer/contestant romance excited me. The diversity of character identities across various spectrums in The Charm Offensive was phenomenal. Charlie and Dev individually as leads were three dimensional, well developed, and endearing. I appreciate the themes of unconditional love and being true to yourself, even and especially if there are parts of yourself you find difficult to accept. And the eventual ending of the novel and the direction the plot went in left me with a sense of satisfaction.

However, there were several elements that didn’t resonate with me on a personal level. The first and most subjective is that the sense of humor didn’t land for me, which for a self described romcom isn’t a good start. The second is that I didn’t connect with the chemistry between Charlie and Dev even though I loved them individually as characters; I felt their relationship at times bordered on codependent, and combined with the forced proximity trope generated by the reality TV show premise, it was uncomfortable for me to read at times.

The last part is the extreme focus on mental health and particularly mental health struggles. Please don’t mistake me—I definitely feel like novels of all kinds, even romance, should center frank discussions on mental health more, and judging by other reviews, these discussions in The Charm Offensive were much beloved by many readers. For me, my issue was twofold. At times I felt battered and inundated with Mental Health 101 lessons and I found it quite heavy handed on the educational bits, enough to take me right out of the story. And given that I struggle with several mental health issues of my own and enjoy romance for the lighthearted break it can provided, the tone of this just wasn’t for me and didn’t match what I expected.

As mentioned above, I truly believe The Charm Offensive will find (and already has found) a special place in the hearts of readers. It undertakes difficult subjects with sensitivity and grace in addition to having a cast of compelling characters and great premise. If you’re in a place to handle detailed and prolonged depictions of mental illness along with an ultimately heartwarming conclusion, I’d recommend giving it a go as it’s likely you’ll enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance reading copy. All opinions are my own.

Gang, get excited because a new romcom is coming out Sept. 7 that I think you will absolutely love! It’s smart, funny, moving and truthful. Get ready to add The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun to your TBR!
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SUMMARY: Charlie Winshaw is the latest star on Ever After, a “Bachelor”-style reality dating show. Charlie is an anxiety-ridden tech wunderkind who signed on solely to rehab his image and break back into the industry, but the closer he gets to Dev, his behind-the-scenes production handler, the more he questions what he’s really looking for.
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I don’t think I can convey the charm packed into this lovely book. The main characters were so engaging and well-developed, I got the warm fuzzies reading their story and kept catching myself smiling at my Kindle (like a HUGE goof).
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There were some fun tropes—practice dating and one bed—along with a strong helping of sexually diverse and neurodiverse representation. I’m not a reality TV fan (the excessive drama stresses me out), but I still enjoyed reading about how the on- and off-screen action.
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I was surprised by how much I liked this one and will likely also check out to the audio version after it’s released. Perfect for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
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QOTD: Who are your favorite fictional couples?
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Thank you to Atria Books, Alison Cochrun and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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CW: Mental illness/depression, homophobia, family issues

I see a lot of people say they want to get back into reading but want books that feel like reading a great fanfic. For those looking for books with those vibes, this ones for you! I adored this book and its cast of diverse characters. I am a huge fan of found family and platonic bonds in books, and this ones provides! And oh.. Dev and Charlie... I love them so much. The romance in this book is just perfection. Its sweet and complex and left me yearning for more.
This book as an excellent handle on writing mental illness. As someone with a handful of diagnoses, I related so much to Dev and Charlie and their struggles. I've never read a character with OCD, and while I cant speak from experience on its accuracy, I loved how it was handled and the message it gave to neurodivergent readers. I love how informative this book was on mental health and queer identity while never being preachy.
I will definitely be buying a copy upon release and recommend you preorder this one!
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Rep: MLM, Gay, Questioning, POC (Indian, Black, ambiguous), OCD, neurodivergent, Side: Ace, bi, pan, lesbian, nonbinary they/them
CW: panic attacks, light homophobia and biphobia, depression, non-graphic sexual content

Big thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book! I absolutely adored it. There is so much great mental health representation, and LGBTQ representation. there was a few conversations throughout the book about asexuality and the spectrum of that, which was great to see in a romance. I loved Dev and Charlie discovering themselves and the way they feel for each other, really interesting character development. The climax wasn't all light and fluffy and I loved that, I really felt like I wasn't sure how it was going to end. I highly recommend for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue or Boyfriend Material.

I loved every second of this book. Dev and Charlie have such beautiful, complex souls, and their love story felt sweet and believable. I adored the reality tv set-up! I really wish there was more queer rep in reality tv, so this was perfect for me. The glitz and glam of the tv show contrasted nicely with the quiet moments of relationship growth between the two men.

Charlie and Dev’s mental health struggles were handled sensitively, and I could really relate to Dev’s chronic depression. I loved that both men managed their mental health in different ways and each had a unique arc. I wish I had another book just to watch them in a relationship together. SWOON.

The side characters are PHENOMENAL. Loved the way everyone came together over the course of the story. Alison Cochrun’s writing is fabulous with great dialogue and clever banter. Can’t wait to read more books by her in the future!! I’ll definitely be rereading this one!

Thank you so much Atria books and Netgalley for this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I’ll be posting this review to my IG @andiewritesandreads closer to the pub date.

BLINDSIDED. I was COMPLETELY BLINDSIDED by the pure perfection of The Charm Offensive. My heart could not and still CANNOT handle it. The Charm Offensive is hilarious, gut wrenching, and an utter roller coaster of emotion - I laughed hard and yet, I cried even harder. It's not only an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, it is also an advocate for MENTAL HEALTH. Once I was done, I wanted to simultaneously hug the book and throw it at the wall. It's flawless. Dev and Charlie are absolutely priceless.

All the stars and all the adjectives, The Charm Offensive will be a book I shove in everyone's face. My goodness. Alison Cochrun has quite the future ahead.

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the advance copy of The Charm Offensive.

THIS BOOK IS SO FREAKING CUTE!! OMG I HAVE TO PREORDER THE PHYSICAL COPY LIKE NOW. IT WAS AMAZING AHH. The representation in this book was beyond, literally beyond everything. These two characters were just so connected in ways I can’t even describe, I could literally feel the chemistry jumping out of the screen!! that’s how good it was written, I highly recommend buying this book when it comes out in september or preordering it while you still can!

Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Bachelor. Charming and funny. Loved this one for the romance and the exploration of the behind the scenes of reality tv.

I enjoyed this story, for the most part. Dev and Charlie are adorable and their love story is well developed. It's definitely a well written romantic comedy and think it'll resonate with a lot of people. My only, and it's small, thing with this book was that there were times when it felt like a dragged on a little too long. I don't usually care about page count (I'll read short or long books with no problem) but I did feel like I would read pages and pages and not really get anything out of those pages. Besides that, it was a great read!

I loved this story so much! Dev and Charlie’s love story is so cute, and I loved the way their friendship and romance developed. I will definitely be reading more of Alison Cochran’s work.

Dev is a reality-tv producer on the very Bachelor-esque EVER AFTER. He believes in fairy tales and has been watching the show since he was a kid. After a last-minute shake up, he has been assigned to be the handler for the prince aka the gorgeous and smart Charlie. Dev’s job: make sure Charlie is where he needs to be and performs well enough to make good tv. But soon enough Dev learns that Charlie is not who he thought he was. After Charlie has a bit of an anxiety attack, Dev tries his best to keep Charlie on track, and int turn, Charlie starts to realize that Dev is the only person who is not turned off by Charlie being himself. As Charlie goes on on-camera dates, he cannot figure out quite why he does not feel right with any of the women contestants, yet when he looks at Dev, his stomach fills with butterflies. What now?

Alison Cochrun has quite possibly created my favorite modern gay multiracial romance. If I could give this book more than five stars I would. As someone who loves pop culture, the whole behind the scenes reality tv theme added exactly what this story needed to come to life. Alison Cochrun has created these characters who are so real that I could relate to so much that I had true empathy for everything they went through. So many of us suffer from depression and anxiety, so while one might assume this would be a surface level romance novel, it is so much deeper than that. I could see this becoming a successful film.

On top of having two main characters who are grounded in reality, this novel is filled with so many side characters that bring the book so much more life and reality. I loved how all the characters had things they needed to overcome including Dev and Charlie’s friends, the other people behind the scenes and even the contestants on the reality show.

This truly is something special. I have never considered myself to be a romance novel person and I found myself crying at the end. One of the absolute best books of 2021.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria books for providing me an e-book copy of The Charm Offensive for review.