The Charm Offensive is THAT book for me! Immediately I laughed and wanted to read more. I loved the characters: Charlie, Dev, Jules, Parisa. Alison Cochran made them alll so important and nobody left out. This story had a basis around the Bachelor and reality TV dating shows. I found myself doing deep belly laughs at certain points and smiling so big during my whole read. Whoops, I may have even read this in one sitting.

I will start this review off by saying I am in a love/hate relationship with the Bachelor franchise.

Yes, it's trash 99% of the time but it's a fun guilty pleasure I enjoy.

Which was why the premise for this book caught my eye.

Charlie is a tech guru who was kicked off the board of his business because he was considered "difficult" so he decides to go on Ever After to change his image. He meets his handler, Dev, and soon he's struck by how much he likes him and eventually he realizes he might just find love on "Ever After" after all.

I loooved this book. Charlie wasn't your typical hunky millionaire. He's got anxiety, he's OCD, he has panic attacks, and yet he still gets through the hard days with Dev at his side. Dev has his own emotional problems with depression and yet they both work through it. I've never actually read a book that really resonated this much with my own problems before and I just want to tell the author how much I just ached with how these two men weren't treated as wrong. They were both strong, and they got through the bad days together.

Thank you for that.

And the ending!

*clutches chest*

Thank you for the ending.

I loved every character in this and I am going to add this to my own personal collection when it comes out officially. I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've only ever watched about ten minutes of a reality show before I turned it off and never went near another, but that didn't stop me from going for this book. And I'm so glad I did.

The inclusivity is off the charts, but the characters are so wonderfully themselves that never did I feel like the author was running down the LGBTQ+ checklist. Dev, all spikes and angles, is a romantic at heart, working for the fakest of "romance" reality TV shows; Charlie, the millionaire math nerd, agrees to go on the show to prove he is normal, after being turfed out of the company he started with his ex best friend.

Charlie is going to be flown to dream spots around the world as he chooses from twenty lovely women. It's in his contract that he will propose to one at the end of the show, and he has to stay with her at least six months.

The problem is, Charlie is about as hapless as they come when dealing with human emotions like attraction--he's too busy looking for germs, and making sure people don't get into his physical space.

Except for Dev, who is his handler. He feels differently about Dev, beginning with barfing on his shoes . . .

I just loved this romantic, sweet, exhilarating emotional rollercoaster of a story. The narrative voice splits between Dev and Charlie as the two navigate between the show's crazy fakeness, the personalities behind the camera, and their own emotional landmines. So many landmines.

Cochrun doesn't forget to give the side characters real dimension, motivation, and a chance to change, as Dev and Charlie orbit one another like a pair of planets escaping the gravitational pull of the sun. The result is a vivid, funny, romantic, passionate, and compassionate combination that I read in one go.

Wow everyone! I am calling it now! We have a BIG upcoming release here! If you take a hint of Casey McQuiston's Red White and Royal Blue and add a dash of The Bachelor and a pinch of Kate Stayman - London’s One to Watch you get The Charm Offensive and Spoiler Alert, this book did NOT disappoint!

The Charm Offensive
By: Alison Cochrun
Pub Date: September 7th 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.

As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

How is the Cover:
Absolutely adorable! I am a sucker for a pink cover from the get go but what is in the book really matches what the outside looks like down to the clothing. Kudos to the cover designer here.

Before I get into my take I want to say I Love the editors note in this book detailing what his parameters are for taking a book on as well as why he chose to take this book on. It was a very interesting and heartwarming tidbit and a perfect way to start this book.

My Take:
I can tell you right now that this book is going to appeal to the masses. It is Juicy and full of drama but it is funny at the same time. It also hits some serious subjects such as mental illness, experimentation, coming out and discrimination in the work place. This book will make you laugh, cry and be pissed off but in the best way possible!

The inclusivity in this book is also amazing! It makes me wish (as it always has) that the bachelor franchise was more inclusive. Have you ever seen a truly plus size person in the mansion and how about the amount of time it took for the show to have anyone of color as the lead. TBD on seeing anyone that doesn’t identify as straight in the lead role. The Bachelor is 100% a guilty pleasure of mine but to say it is a bit problematic is an understatement. I would love to see them expand their horizons and their minds to be more inclusive.

I Digress…

The Charm Offensive is a page turner that will have you wanting more chapter by chapter and is truly tough to put down. There is some steam in this book but doesn’t go into a ton of detail. The book is dual POV going back in forth between Dev and Charlie during the Filming of Ever After and the Dual POV was done very well in this case. The book was seamless but I always knew whose POV I was reading.

Audiobook Review?
This book I read on my Ebook via netgalley in exchange of an honest review so no audiobook review here but with how this book is written I could definitely see myself listening someday.

Would I Recommend this book?
1000% yes this book gets all the stars. Like I am making this book rain with stars it is FLAWLESS! Mark your calendars for this book folks and make sure to preorder because come fall this book is going to be what everyone is talking about!

Content warnings:
I am taking this directly from Alison Cochruns page, the content warnings, just because there are quite a few and I think her wording is best. I will link her page at the bottom.
On-page anxiety, panic attacks, and experiences with depression
Conversations surrounding OCD and mental illness stigmas, including workplace discrimination (off-page, alluded to)
Drinking and discussions of alcohol dependency
Familial estrangement and rejection based on mental illness (off-page, alluded to)
Brief references to homophobia and racism (all challenged)

my rating: 5 Stars

scheduled to post on Instagram and blog: 6/23/21

Wow, I LOVED this book! For someone who has NEVER watched the bachelor / bachelorette (which the show in the book, Ever After, is clearing based on) I still soaked up every minute & thought the setting was just so fun! The characters all felt so well written & I loved that you could see their development happening on each page. There was so much diversity & representation in the characters as well, including the way the book talked about & showed mental health. Also I loved the exploration of asexuality & what it means to be on that spectrum. The love story also felt very natural, which is often hard to find in a rom-com. I felt like Charlie & Dev so naturally came together first in their friendship, then romantically. I'll be thinking about them for a while, & honestly I hope we get a second book following the first (planned) LGBTQ+ season of "Ever After" - I would read that in a heartbeat!

Such a special book that gave me all the feels! Read it, read it, read it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars! This was absolutely adorable, I found it a little light on the comedy of the rom-com, but I didn't mind. If you liked [book:One to Watch|53103895] and now want to watch queer love, this is for you. It covered some heavy topics without ever feeling like it was dragging me down, like coming to terms with your sexuality, anxiety and depression, and forbidden love.

Charlie goes on to a dating show to prove to the people he worked with that just because he struggles with mental health, he isn't crazy, and he is perfectly capable of running his company. The problem? He's never really been attracted to anyone, and aforementioned anxiety makes being on camera with a bunch of new women a struggle. Lucky for him, his handler, Dev, believer in all things happily ever after, is there to help smooth the process along. The process being Charlie falling in love, but will he find love where he expected?

This is a very friends to forbidden lovers romance, as Dev could obviously get in trouble with his employer for seducing their prince charming during the middle of production. Both of them are so sweet, and I think for me the best part was the supportive response from some of the contestants and other team mates. It was just a sweet, hopeful read, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun is a glorious romcom mashup of One to Watch and Red, White, and Royal Blue.

Dev, an assistant producer on a reality matchmaking show, is used to creating happily-ever-afters for contestants. So when he’s assigned to handle new contestant, tech billionaire and socially awkward, Charlie, he gives it his best shot to make that happily-ever-after happen. But what happens when he starts to have feelings for Charlie – a definite no-no for the show’s crew?

Big shout out to Alison Cochrun for creating such a gloriously diverse cast! Gender, sexuality, ethnicity – there’s a rainbow of characters and I love it. It all felt very authentic with no tokenism or awkwardness. I also appreciated her sensitive handling of mental health issues. Characters talked openly about challenges and therapy without stigmatizing them. And when characters were insensitive jerks other characters rightfully called them on it.

The Charm Offensive is a warm snuggle of a workplace, friends to forbidden lovers romcom with some seriously endearing dorkiness. The banter was witty – I now use Dev’s word “puzzing” to describe doing jigsaw puzzles. So many of his exchanges with Charlie had me giggling with delight. The romance was warm, sometimes adorably awkward and I was cheering for it during every longing glance along the way.

Both characters were so relatable and felt so right and authentic together, I couldn’t help but cheer for them. The plot moved quickly and there were satisfying resolutions to subplots that contributed greatly to the HEA.

Well, this was adorable.
In The Charm Offensive, Dev (a handler on a Bachelor-Esque reality tv show who believes in true love) falls for the socially awkward male lead of the show. As in he falls for the guy who is supposed to be falling in love with a group of women while a TV crew films the whole thing. And it's mutual. It's glorious.

As someone who recaps The Bachelor weekly, runs a popular Bachelor meme page, and reads an obscene amount of romance, this was right in my wheelhouse.

I liked how it was just pure fantasy romance. Sure, they dealt with their own issues (mostly mental health), but none of it was homophobic except one part where the villain gets their due.

You're going to like this one.

In an effort to improve his image, Charlie Winshaw goes on a dating reality show, Ever After (think, The Bachelor). However, it soon becomes evident he's more interested in his producer Dev than the ladies on the show. This is a fun rom-com. Strangely enough, I read If the Shoe Fits right after this, which has a very similar concept. I would recommend this book as a fun read.

The concept of this book is fantastic. A man reluctantly going on a reality show where he is supposed to date lots of women, but falling for the male producer instead is just so fresh and fun and still feels relevant, given this country's obsession with reality TV. One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is that is was actually funny. Most romcoms will make me chuckle a bit, but this book was totally laugh-out-loud hilarious. There are so many moments throughout the book where I laughed so hard my eyes watered. Now the humor aside, It's hard to find words for how this book made me feel. Basically, it gave me all the happy squishy feelings! I absolutely adored both Dev and Charlie and I was rooting so hard for them to get their acts together and just be with each other already. I kept trying to read a little bit before bed, and there were a few nights where I stayed up way too late because I couldn't make myself stop reading. I just had to see them get a happy ending.

In addition to being a delightful queer romcom, this book deals with the topics of depression, OCD, and social anxiety. I feel like the author did a great job of including and navigating these things without it feeling like she was just trying to educate readers. Dev and Charlie each struggled with these things and the author weaved them in seamlessly. They were a part of these characters, so they were a part of the story and a part of their romance. It felt like the each man loved the other, not despite his mental illness, but for all the parts of him.

I definitely plan to recommend this book to friends, and I can't wait to see what story this author comes up with next!

(I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This was absolutely wonderful! Dev and Charlie were both really well developed characters whose development across the novel felt natural and earned. Even when going through the necessary story beats that most romances hit I was on the edge of my seat hoping they would stay together. It was a bit of a slow burn, and maybe introducing their romantic relationship 40-50 pages earlier would have helped the pacing, but it wasn't a big issue and made their relationship that much sweeter when it happened. I also really enjoyed the bachlor-esque setting even though I've never watched an episode, it allowed for a smart commentary on the artificial nature of reality television and lent itself to many interesting scenes.

I also really appreciated the discussions of mental health throughout, the conversations between Dev and Charlie discussing their depression and OCD/anxiety felt authentic and really helped paint a clearer picture of them as characters. To see such an important topic dealt with such frankness while also not linking it to the characters sexuality was a breath of fresh air.

Overall I had a really good time with this book. I was never bored and wanted Dev and Charlie to get together from page one, this is sure to be a hit!

Packed with several important messages like romance and sex-positivity, destigmatization of mental illness and the importance of self-love, Alison Cochrun's debut novel immerses the reader on the romantic, and at times comedic, journey of its heroes, Charlie and Dev, who may find something along the way that they haven't been looking for: love.

A queer version of the bachelor except its the bachelor and a producer falling for each other???? SIGN ME UP. This was a surprisingly sweet and funny story about two people getting to know each other and falling in love. Dev Deshpande is a romantic, he believes in fairy tale endings and happily-ever- afters... too bad his own love life is far from that. After breaking up with his boyfriend of 6 years, who also is a coworker with Dev on the reality dating show Ever After, Dev is more than happy to be focusing on work... and that work is the new bachelor Charlie Winshaw. Charlie is doing Ever After to prove to the company that he was just fired from that he can be sociable and regain his reputation in order to work at his company again. Charlie is a gorgeous tech millionaire... but his biggest problem stems from his difficulty with working with other people, be it in working relationships or romantic relationships. Charlie has severe anxiety and has extreme OCD, but he can’t seem to let other people know and people find him difficult to work with. Now its up to Dev to coach Charlie through this dating show and make him presentable to national television, the only hiccup is that now that Dev and Charlie are partners they can’t seem to stop falling for each other... even though Dev is suppose to be helping Charlie date 20 women and finding a fiancee at the end of the show. Soon Charlie and Dev are going on practice dates, working on puzzles, and dealing with mental health issues and discovering one another all while trying to work out their feelings for one another and what will happen at the end of the show.

This was a very cute romance story that handled mental health and sexual identity really well. Charlie has severe anxiety and OCD, and was treated as “crazy” and fired from his job and hasn’t really told anyone except his one friend about it while Dev has clinical depression but does not want to acknowledge it and refuses to go to therapy despite knowing that everyone wants him too. Charlie is also just starting to realize that he is not straight and trying to understand his own sexual orientation. The characters in this story both struggle with many real issues, especially with having mental health issues and the difficulty of not only accepting it but letting people around you know as well as discovering yourself and your sexual orientation. I found Charlie and Dev’s struggles very relatable as someone who deals with similar things and found this to be a refreshing story as it delves into these difficulties while also having a very sweet love story. I would highly recommend this because its just so well done and sweet.

*Thanks Netgalley and Atria Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Do you ever read a book and get disappointed because you know it’s going to ruin future books for you? Because that is how I felt when I finished this book.

Dev loves happy ever afters so it’s no surprise that he loves his job as a producer on a reality dating show. Charlie on the other hand has never felt more out of place. It’s Dev’s job to make sure this season turns out well but what happens when their relationship with each other works better than Charlie’s relationships with the women? Reality TV is not as real as people want to believe so do they really even have an option?

Did I stay up until 5am to finish the book *right* when I finally managed to get my sleeping schedule back on track from the last time I made that decision? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely NOT. I felt so damn giddy when I finished this book it’s honestly not even funny.

Alison so flawlessly incorporated a wonderful amount of diversity in this book. The lgbtq characters, the racial diversity, the neurodiversity. Honesty I would give the book 5 stars just for the diversity alone.


I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone. One of my top reads of 2021 so far!!

I am so thankful to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC and also to Goodreads for winning a hard copy before I was approved for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I absolutely was blown away with this book. The Charm Offensive is a fun but emotional and moving queer love story. Dev, a producer for a reality dating show, wants nothing more than the happily ever after love story. Charlie, the newest contestant on said reality dating show isn't sure that love stories even exist. Dev is tasked to make Charlie the perfect prince but will this story end happily ever after. I requested this book simply because I want to diversify my reading. It was sort of strange to read a story that didn't portray a character that was similar with my own identity, a white cisgender woman. But as I read I learned so much about identity, love, and mental health that I connected with the main characters in a way I never would of thought I would. I loved the exploration of main characters dealing with mental health issues, the good and bad and everything involved. Lovable characters, well developed and rounded. Plot was interesting and the story was a quick read. Highly recommend to everyone.
Thank you to atria books via netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Charm Offensive was a delightful M/M contemporary romance inspired by The Bachelor franchise. It follows Dev, a producer on Ever After, and Charlie, a tech genius who is hoping to use his appearance on the show to get him back in the game.

This was sweet and emotional, and I liked it more for the friendships and character growth than the romance – but the romance between Dev and Charlie is also lovely!

What I liked:
- It felt so good to have a character like ME. I also have OCD, general anxiety and a panic disorder, so I was watching Charlie exist like I exist, and I related to this character more than I’ve related to any others in a contemporary romance in a long time.
- I mentioned the friendships above, and I LOVED the friendships and relationships in this book. Jules and Parisa were two of my favorites!

What I didn’t care for:
- I’m not a huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fan, so a lot of the magic of that show was lost on me. Not anyone’s fault, just something I want to mention for any other non-fans out there.
- The pacing felt off for me. Sometimes, it was very slow, and then other times, it slowed down a great deal. I was able to read it in a day, which is always the mark of a good romance novel for me, but I like consistency in my pace.

Loved this book so much! It was funny, charming, endearing, and I could not put it down. I cohost a podcast called @thebookstagays and we will be interviewing Alison in August so stay tuned for more!

This book was so CUTE. I loved the mental health rep. You don't often get to see people struggling with their mental health in a new relationship, and you DEFINITELY don't get to see them learning how to be healthy people outside of their relationship. Dev and Charlie are both sweet, sweet characters, and I really believed their awkward stumble into a romance.

The beginning had a teensy bit of a rocky start to me. The author did a lot more telling than showing when it came to introducing things like anxiety and panic attacks, but it makes sense that people might need more background about those topics.

All the secondary characters were fun. Despite there being so many, I felt like I had a good idea of who all of them were by the end. I would definitely recommend this if you're a fan of rom coms. Generally, The Charm Offensive was a refreshing, quick read that left me feeling nice and warm inside.

I finished this a few weeks ago but have not been able to find the words to adequately describe it. Upon finishing it, I preordered it because you just can’t hug your Kindle.

I’ve seen several books that use the reality dating show concept, but have never been interested because I HATE those show. Isabel sent it to me saying it was in the same vain as Red, White and Royal Blue, so I had to give it a shot.

I couldn’t put it down. You can’t help falling for awkward Charlie and goofy Dev. I’d watch the reality shows if they were more like this.

The care and compassion with with mental illness was written is impeccable. The queer representation was phenomenal.

Just go preorder it now. Out September 7.

Again and again, The Charm Offensive surprised me with its intelligence and, yes, charm.

On one hand, it's a breezy read -- exactly what I anticipated. But I was also pleased to discover that, at every opportunity where the author could've made the obvious or "easy" choice, she instead found a way to deepen the characters and plot. Both Charlie and Dev feel like real people, and their relationship is filled with genuine obstacles. Appreciated the deft and honest portrayal of depression and OCD as well, in that the issues presented trouble for the main couple but never in a way that felt like an after-school special. As a bonus, the supporting characters were well-drawn.

Last not but least -- and this will sound silly -- but props to Cochrun for what seems to be an unusually well-researched picture of life behind the scenes at a reality show. While I don't have any experience working for one, I feel like readers/viewers these days are generally sophisticated enough to know when such stories are completely divorced from, well, reality (which they often are). But in this book, the specifics felt SO true, I had to keep checking to make sure the author hadn't previously worked on one, a la the creator of "Unreal."