🌹 THE CHARM OFFENSIVE by Alison Cochrun

Thank you @atriabooks & @netgalley for the eARC!

Bachelor fans, gather round, bc you’ll def want to read this one!

Charlie Winshaw is an awkward tech wunderkind who’s never been in love and needs to fix his image quick, so his publicist signs him up to be the next Prince Charming on Ever After, a reality show a lá Bachelor.

Dev Deshpande is a Producer of Ever After and HUGE fan since he was a youngster. Dev LOVES love and will do anything in his power to have the perfect, fairytale love story told on the show.

When Dev is assigned as Charlie’s handler, they quickly become friends and Dev helps Charlie loosen up and open up in order for him to meet the gal of his dreams.

But pretty soon, sparks fly between the Charlie & Dev and you’ll be flying through this book to find out how it will all end!

I absolutely ADORED this. This is a love story, but it is so much more than that as it also explores coming out, self love, and mental health issues as well.

In the Acknowledgements, Cochrun writes that when she began writing this she herself had not come out yet, but by writing Charlie’s own coming out, she could explore her own journey and I just think that’s beautiful? 😭 Not to mention that her own mental health journey was similar to Dev’s, and you can just tell as you’re reading the book how much care and thought was put into it and I recognized some of my own mental health journey and it felt like a big, warm hug. And I also just wanted to give Charlie and Dev a big hug.

Filled with wonderful and diverse characters, as well as amazing LGBTQIA+ rep, this is an absolute must-read! 🤩

THE CHARM OFFENSIVE is out September 7th!

Red, White, and Royal Blue step aside! There is a new prince in town! And his name is The Charm Offensive!

This book. Wow. This book was thrilling. I didn't really have a lot of expectations when I started this one. It seemed like a cute fluffy NA/Adult romcom. And it was. And, oh boy, it was so much more than that.

When I say this should be the next Red, White, and Royal Blue I am not joking. It's not good, and deserves all off the praise. It's also got funny wit like Boyfriend Material. It's a masterpiece of literature and I am just so freaking impressed by it.

I read this book in less than twenty-four hours. And I don't ever do that. I couldn't put it down or stop thinking about it.

Alison really did the most when she wrote this book. She sat down and literally said, "I'm just going to write one of the best MLM rom-com romances around and, like, no big deal."

It was funny and fast paced with a lot (pun intended) of charm bundled it. It's inclusive and throughout with its representation of characters. It critiques popular notions of love, and 'happily ever after'. The MCs are so messy and complicated and grow so much during this book it was a wonder to behold.

At the end of the day, Dev and Charlie are wonderful and I fell head over heels for them. And all of the supporting cast are so well written. They aren't just set dressing to be pretty in the background. They have depth and impact the story.

This is one of those books that you have to read ASAP because I just know it will be amazing and everyone will be screaming about it. And if they aren't, I will scream about it until everyone else does!

Y’all, this book!! It is absolutely delightful! How did I not realize that I desperately needed a romcom where a reality dating show star falls in love with his male producer instead of the female contestants on the show?? I love it so much.

Everything about it is just wonderful: from the commentary on reality TV to the mental health discussions and representation, from the diverse supporting characters to the yearning and angst and beautiful acceptance of the love story.

Dev and Charlie are both so precious and I love them and how they love each other. Watching them learn to understand and encourage each other while also doing the same for themselves made my heart hurt in the best possible way.

I also really love that Charlie’s realization of his sexuality isn’t a big deal. Like it’s definitely part of the story, but the angst and conflict and drama all come from other places and I really appreciate that choice.

The whole feel of this book is just perfection; every time I picked it up to read it was like sinking into a hot tub. When I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be reading it. It was one of those where I stayed up two nights in a row reading to the point where I was so tired I literally could not keep my eyes open but I still wasn’t willing to stop.

Whether you’re looking for a sweet romantic comedy, an LGBTQ love story, fabulous mental health rep, or a peek behind the scenes of reality TV, you’ll find it all here! This is truly the forbidden love forced proximity gay romance of my dreams.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this story about the behind the scenes of a reality dating show and what happens when the norms of these shows is challenged. Dev and Charlie were such a great couple. The LGBTQ and mental health rep was great. I also loved the side characters and would love to see a sequel featuring Daphne's story!

Okay, I'm calling it now - The Charm Offensive is going to be in my top 5 favorite books of the year. 5 whole-hearted stars! I decided to request this on a whim after seeing a TikTok about it, but I'm absolutely thrilled that I did. I'm already telling all of my friends to pre-order this and get ready to fall in love with Dev & Charlie as much as I have.

First off - I'm crowning myself the official leader of <i> The Charm Offensive</i>'s fan club. We meet every Monday night with drinks and snacks.

This book is just *so* good. I'm genuinely having trouble putting into words how much I love and appreciate this story, its message, and these characters. Both of the leads are incredibly lovable - Charlie Winshaw, a misunderstood, yet wholesome tech genius who gets roped into a <i> Bachelor </i> esque reality dating show and Dev Deshpande, the guarded hopeless romantic producer in charge of handling him. As the story progresses, Dev and Charlie just blossom on the page - and I think that they've become one of my favorite pairings of all time. This book is also just hilarious - I laughed out loud multiple times and when I wasn't laughing, I was smiling so hard my cheeks hurt!

I just couldn't stop reading - which is not helpful when I have a day job lol. At the start of every "week," I told myself that I would stop, and I never did. I devoured this in a day and I immediately wanted to reread it and immerse myself back into this world to catch things that I didn't the first time.

While the love story is top-notch and progresses beautifully, the story's discussion on mental health is probably the most important and well done I've ever seen. Charlie has severe anxiety and OCD, and I've never felt more seen in a book in my life. The way that Alison Cochrun described his panic attacks and his triggers felt entirely personal and portrays daily life perfectly. Dev suffers from depression and this book doesn't shy away from exploring the highs and the lows. It's just done so freaking well and adds so much heart to the story.

The inclusivity is also off the chart. You have a gay Indian American lead with depression, a gay/queer lead with anxiety, OCD, and a panic disorder. Chinese-American bisexual side character, lesbian side characters, asexual side characters. It never feels like the author was just running down a list. All of the characters were incredibly fleshed out and felt real - I cared deeply about all of them - Dev, Charlie, Daphne, Angie, Jules, Skylar, Parisa. They added so much depth and warmth to the story and I could easily read thousands of pages about all of their lives.

Also, this is much more minor, but Dev is originally from my home state, and current home, Raleigh, NC and it just added that extra layer of comfort. Like I understood where he was coming from, why he left, etc. That little detail just made me love it that much more.

I have already pre-ordered this book and will be forcing all of my friends to read it as soon as it comes out - I hope that you do the same!

Thank you to Atria & NetGalley for the advance copy—all opinions are my own!

THE CHARM OFFENSIVE by Alison Cochrun stole my heart & still hasn’t let it go. I loved its leads: Charlie, beautiful, awkward, brilliant, the next Prince Charming of reality bachelor-style show Ever After; & Dev, charming, big-hearted romantic, & Charlie’s handler. This story starts off with effervescent wit & unexpected chemistry & builds into grappling with some of our most fundamental struggles as humans: healing our wounds, being healthier, & finding the people who love us for who we really are.

This was such a compassionate, nuanced portrayal of neurodiversity, discovering how & who we love, & mental health. I was so deeply moved by the ways Charlie & Dev worked to understand each other’s hearts, minds, & bodies. I loved the tenderness in how they made space for each other’s challenges & hurts yet challenged each other to better care for themselves, too. Alison showed us two people who work so hard to love each other well, while also showing us that no one can love us into loving ourselves better.

By the end of THE CHARM OFFENSIVE, I was smiling, in tears, my heart stretched at its seams. I felt so much for not only Charlie & Dev, but the thoughtfully developed, endearing cast of secondary characters. This was a safe, imperfect, lovable group of people who’d embraced & validated parts of not only each other but myself that I so rarely see portrayed in romance. And while no, we don’t have to see ourselves in a story to be touched or love the story, it was powerful for me nonetheless. I cannot express how much I adore this romance, how highly I recommend it, & what a gift it is to our genre!

CW: anxiety disorder, panic disorder, panic attacks, depressive episodes, OCD, queerphobia, misogyny, shaming for mental illness.

5 out of 5 stars for The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun. Wow what a debut! I went into this thinking I was going to read a cute love story with "The Bachelor" as a setting but it was so much more and ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year!

The Charm Offensive is such an adorable romance and it being on The Bachelor was such a hilarious setting. I loved all of the references to the show like "she's the villain which means the producers will make her stay until at least week 4". The book truly had me smiling and laughing the entire way. Above all of that though, was a story about finding yourself, accepting that you are deserving of love, and what it takes to work on yourself for YOU. When you read the author's note at the end, this all makes a lot of sense. I loved all of the talk of normalizing queer couples on TV, normalizing therapy, how it's your responsibility to become a better version of you. I think this book will resonate with everyone, and even if you're not a fan of reality TV, you will still get so much out of it. I'm gonna end this review with one of my favorite quotes from the novel which is "I'm telling you this, Charlie, because you asked how you know you're going to love someone forever, and the truth is, despite what we tell people on this show, forever is never a guarantee. I don't know if I'm going to love Rey for the rest o f my life, but I know right now, I can't imagine a future where I don't love them. And for me, that's enough." This really resonated with me because I feel like the idea of "happy for now" vs "happily ever after" has become more popular in romance recently and it just feels so much more real and relatable.

I will encourage everyone to read this book when it comes out in September and I won't stop raving about it for a long long time.

Have you ever watched the Bachelor and thought “wow I wish this had LGBTQ representation”, well look no further. Dev is a romantic who works for the show Ever After, Charlie is the Prince Charming of the season who has his own reasons for being on the show, which, does not include romance. As they work together, they form a bound and learn about each other is a deep and meaningful way.
I loved this book, I did have some issues with the pacing, especially at the beginning and I honestly can’t remember any of the girls names who were contestants on Ever After but this was a great romance book with deeper conversations about mental health, identity and learning to live yourself.

✨𝔸𝕝𝕚'𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

The Charm Offensive 📱
By Alison Cochrun

4-4.5/5 ⭐️

This was adorable, charming, and heartwarming! I definitely felt the Red White & Royal Blue + One to Watch vibes.

No spoilers, but Alison Cochran’s upcoming debut novel is one you will not want to miss! The diverse representation was amazing. Cochran sheds a much needed bright light on mental health and mental illness in a caring and sensitive real-life way, without it every feeling too heavy. The story was fun and well written. The pacing was great and kept my attention trough out. The MC’s were so lovable and perfectly imperfect. With their hilarious banter and serious chemistry, I guarantee you will fall in love with them!

Reasons to love The Charm Offensive;
❤️ Authentic and real representation
💜 Slow-burn queer rom-com
♥️ Diverse & lovable mix of characters
💙 Self discovery & growth

I was so excited to receive the email inviting me to read an e-galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to @simonandschuster @atriabooks and @netgalley for the opportunity.

I fell for this one and you will too! I would highly recommend this one for all rom-com fans whether you’re a fan of reality dating shows or not.

Pub date: 9/7/2021 Pre-order, add it to your TBR, request from your local library.

#AlisonCochrun #TheCharmOffensive #NetGalley #queerromance #pridemonth #LGBTQIA #spoilerfree #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookish #bibliophile #booknerd #romancereaders #booksandwine #readersofinstagram #AlisReads #flippin_and_sippin_mn

Great book. Certainly could tell that it was a teacher who wrote it, as it felt overly cautious and careful. It was a nice light little read with loveable characters and a clever concept.

To say I fell in love with these characters feels dramatic but right. I genuinely laughed out loud and cried in equal amounts. What a beautiful story about trust and love and identity and belonging. It was so refreshing to see such a diverse cast of queer characters. This story was handled with such care, and the writing style kept me engaged throughout the whole book. I didn’t want it to end!

I did in fact find this to be very charming! I understand the push to make romance characters less perfect and more realistic, but there's certainly a fine line where it becomes painful to read about (not a romance novel, but I found John Green's Turtles All the Way Down to be borderline unreadable because the descriptions of anxiety made me more anxious) and I thought this book did of good job of portraying warts-and-all characters who were still likeable and worth rooting for.

As someone who loves The Bachelor despite knowing that it's everything wrong with America, I deeply enjoyed the setting. I absolutely need a Daphne sequel.

The Charm Offensive follows the story of Charlie Winshaw and Dev Deshpande and is based on a sets of a show similar to the Bachelor. Charlie is the star of this season and has come on the show to improve his image and work in tech once again. Dev is a producer on the show and is assigned to Charlie to help him coach him through it. However, as the show goes on, it's clear that Charlie has more feelings for Dev than any of the contestants and they have more chemistry than Charlie and any of the contestants.

This book touches on so many important topics including sexual orientation and mental health. I appreciated the conversations that happened in the book and that helped me get understanding of the topics mentioned.

Alison Cochrun has written the book in a wonderful way that keeps you engrossed right from the start.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Charm Offensive was a delight. I thought the concept was amazing, the characters were extremely fun to read about, and I loved reading the book.

The chapters flowed so well together I sped through the book and loved most of it. I would recommend it to friends who enjoyed One to Watch or If The Shoe Fits.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seeing this book compared to Red, White, and Royal Blue and One to Watch – two of my all time favorite books – gave this book high expectations. Luckily, they were exceeded.

The Charm Offensive takes place on the set of Ever After, a Bachelor-esque reality TV series where "princess" contestants compete to win the heart of the "prince." This year's lead in Charlie Winshaw, a reserved tech millionaire who's hoping to better his image so he can resurrect his career. When he freezes up on camera, however, he is assigned Dev Deshpande as his handler to help him open up. Dev is perhaps the only person on set who believes that true love can blossom on the show, and he's determined to make sure that Charlie gets his happy ever after... although it soon becomes clear that Charlie has more chemistry with Dev than any of the women on the show.

Everything about this book was perfect. The laugh out loud humor, the slow burn relationship between Charlie and Dev, and the thorough discussions on mental health were all executed flawlessly. Charlie and Dev were such strong leads and it was so heartwarming to see them encourage each other to be better while also finding themselves. The cast of characters was so diverse in identity and personality, but they all came together to create the perfect found family. In particular, I loved Charlie's friendships with the contestants, and I'm hoping there's a future sequel following the next lead of the show. Overall this was an amazing debut and I can't wait to see what the author comes out with next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria for providing the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you NetGalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review* This book is heartwarming, charming, and incredibly relatable (minus the whole reality TV show thing). Cochrun’s writing style is addictive and her characters are so fleshed out. Charlie & Dev own my entire heart.

I feel like this book does an excellent job with depicting mental health but I would love to hear from more ownvoices reviewers (OCD, depression and anxiety). Charlie grappling with his sexual identity hit me so so hard. I was taken aback at times whenever deeper conversations were had between characters but I believe that’s what made this book special for me.

Ultimately, this book is definitely quite heavy for a romantic comedy; however, I think there’s a lot packed into these 368 pages that make The Charm Offensive incredibly unique.

Sweet story line about a true happily ever after. There was also a positive focus on mental health and taking care of yourself. While I am unable to speak from firsthand experience, I think it paints the LGBTQ+ community in a positive light.

If you've ever wondered how dating shows like The Bachelor could be different (and better), check out Alison Cochrun's upcoming rom-com, The Charm Offensive. If only dating shows could be like this!

I couldn’t have loved this book more if I tried.

Dev believes in true love and fairytale romance. As a producer of Ever After, a popular reality dating show, he’s helped engineer some happy endings—it doesn’t matter that not all of them last (or they’re not all genuine). And even though his six-year relationship with fellow producer Ryan recently ended, he still is looking forward to another season of the show.

He’s got his work cut out for him this season, though. The new bachelor, Charlie, is a gorgeous former cologne model and tech mogul who (very) reluctantly agrees to go on the show in the hopes of resurrecting his tech career. The thing is, for someone who looks as suave and commanding as Charlie, he couldn’t be more awkward—in everything he does.

But Dev quickly learns it’s not disdain or ego that causes Charlie to act this way, it’s severe social anxiety, among other issues. As he tries to help Charlie loosen up and try to become more comfortable with being around people and interacting with the contestants, they realize they have more in common than they think.

Dev is determined that Charlie will find love and propose to one of the contestants by the end of the season. But why do the “practice dates” that they have been going on seem more intense than Charlie’s dates with the women? And amidst all of the chaos Charlie is experiencing, why is Dev the one whom he looks forward to seeing?

I was expecting a sweet gay love story—and boy, was this great—but I wasn’t expecting the deeper conversations about mental health, sexual identity, and self-esteem. I cried like a baby and smiled like a lunatic. The Charm Offensive was just amazing.

NetGalley and Atria Books provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Charm Offensive publishes 9/7!

The Charm Offensive is, as a matter of fact, a truly charming book. It’s heartwarming and neurotic and funny and sweet and is truly about falling in love. That it’s set on a reality tv dating competition is both antithetical and essential to the story.

This deserves book of the year! This book was AMAZING, and I never wanted it to end. As a Bachelor fan myself, I love this version as it is everything the Bachelor is not. This book discusses mental health, depression, anxiety, OCD, and the toxic culture behind the camera of what I imagine is pretty similar to what goes on behind the scenes of The Bachelor. I fell in love with Dev and Charlie, and I am so excited for everyone to read this book. What a fantastic debut novel! I look forward to reading more by Alison!!

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for my early copy!!