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."

I love this so much! I dont even watch any Bachelor Nation shows and I was obsessed. It was so sweet and funny and I was smiling like a fool by the end.

Very sweet, honest, lovely book. I will say if you have any form of anxiety or experience with panic attacks, this might either be a book where you feel seen or might make you feel anxious yourself. I think I would like this one more if I was more of a fan of the Bachelor/ette franchise, but those shows give me second-hand embarrassment and so did this book a bit. I loved the development between Charlie & Dev. I loved how they grew together and for each other.

**Actually a 3.75-rating**

Let me open this review by saying...the last, maybe 15-20% of this book kind of makes up for what we had been going through the first 75-80%. I wrote a majority of my review after I had gotten through 60% of the book and it still managed to have all those same issues and problems that irked me, until the small bit at the back half, near The End.

DO NOT GET ME WRONG. This book is gloriously life-affirming in some ways, but still has a little bit of a ways to go in some minor ones. And unfortunately they can become glaringly flashing to certain Readers when you were looking for proper rep or a certain lean toward what is promised to you in the Summary.

I think I understand why some character choices were made and why some decisions for Plot/story were made but yeah, there are some very real issues I have with this book that prevent me from giving it wild praise and massive gushiness. I still adore Dev and Charlie and would always want them to end up as a couple, no doubt about it.

Everything about this book on its own is giving me life and breath.

I liked the faked Reality TV Show, especially about dating via The Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. Although, wow, talk about a timely welcome when the REAL reality TV Show is going through its own motions of coming to terms with how "problematic" it can be. I am not genuinely sold on the TV concept on the show from the book. But I understand needing to generate a perceived popularity of some long-term reality dating show that is less akin to The Bachelor franchise, but yet still mirrors its episodic breakdowns

I would dearly wish for an eventual outcome like what this book gave Readers in the end, but alas, Bachelor Producers cannot even grasp racial divides before making a move toward diverse sexualities. I do know there have been certain attempts at queer Dating Shows and some newer Dating Shows have brought in sexually fluid contestants, but well... I think this story delves expertly into the sheer fact of Lies vs Truth but also... when is TV born of reality not manufactured--truly scripted by Producers or organically allowed to melt or permeate off the screen? One wonders, huh?

It was great to get those Mini-script notes, in-between some chapters, of what Producers of the show wanted the Show's Executive Producer to make of their scripts, and then of course all HER notes were to scrap everything that remotely leaned on a possibility of a "different" type of love, but more toward keeping the atmosphere heavily hetero-normative but also... Drama-filled that bordered on cat-fights between the women contestants, which seemed like sickly emotional and verbal abuse. The showing of how The Villain of the show, Megan, and her "handler" was possibly egging her on to keep instigating negativity just for the Drama moments, but this woman would never make it to the end, kicked off the show eventually.

I thought it was kind of shocking that one of the script suggested by a Producer was simply about the Front-runner contestant, Daphne, showing her truth where she DID NOT have sex when the show edited it to make it appear like she and Charlie spent the night in a Suite together... and the idea was scraped for an extension of more cat fights between the women and backtalk...eesh...

Everything is here that one would want:
-There is BIPoc rep in not just Dev, but several minor characters surrounding him.
-There's wonderful Queer rep, also, in not just Dev but several co-workers below and above him... many of them women.
-And there is very excellent rep for mental disorders and anxiety issues that can run the gamut of problems in a young millennial life.

When you peer at this summary two things "pop" out at you, which is fine being compared to RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE for the great M/M Romance that blew off the Romance Reading charts 2yrs ago. And then the minimally popular ONE TO WATCH which was a small take on Fat rep in a THE BACHOLORETTE-type styled REALITY TV SHOW.

I enjoyed RW&RB, but I was not bowled over by it, mainly because there were some wonderful, stunning moments I had been wishing could hit mainstream Romance Readers about queer rep, but then there were some wonkier moments where there's some not-so-nice levels of... well Accountability and Responsibility when you take on some Hot Topic moments social media would hold your feet to the fire for.

ONE TO WATCH was an instant dud for me... even though I wanted to see myself repp'd in an overweight heroine... until this rep went a little too sideways for me and I DNF'd.

For many Readers, each book is a subjective meter. So, hmm...when one COMPARES a new offering to two highly popular books...there is not a lot of gray area to move in. One either has to love it lots and lots or just plain judge-y in the content on the problematic issues it trudges up for you.

And yeah, I would suppose there can be burnout from over-popularized books. A Best Selling beloved book can end up NEVER being your cup of tea. And you almost begrudgingly read because you hate the LOVE-fest and seriously cannot believe that any book can be THAT amazing...simply to prove a point to yourself.

This is going to be a very difficult review for me, and also one of the hardest to rate. I wondered why when I began reading this wonderfully queer-positive and Romantic-charged read... why I kept getting a very soft, yet gentle tug when Dev, one of our main male protagonists, was on-scene.

I am going to touch on 3 issues here about this book and it's going to be a, somewhat, PRO and a CON side for each. Some are going to make it tough to review and rate because ultimately...I always want to be the best Reader I can and leave one of the most HONEST reviews I can'

Look, I am a 47yr old White Heterosexual overweight woman who is quantified by her "disability" these days, who also has her own mental disorders, from depression on into panic/anxiety issues. So, I try my damndest to make sure what I read and consume not only represents a diverse community like I have always dreamed could exist inside this Romance genre I have been reading for 35+yrs, but also that I not overlook problematic issues that as a hetero-white woman I would never see on my own, if my mind was not wide open to receive, hear and listen closely.

And like I told you before, even while I was reading and enjoying this book and this entire amazing story unfolding... some really difficult issues were cropping up. It made me feel distracted because there is such wonderful and amazing rep for ALL of those demographics I have mentioned earlier but things feel... massively OFF, at times.

FIRST: The queer rep is off the charts.

And for this story being in an industry where they seem more afraid than ever to represent our diverse world to be honored BOTH behind and on-screen. There are 4 LGBTQ+ characters who work on this Romantic Reality show... and many of them hold high ranking positions on-set, many as Producers.

The problem is the main creator/showrunner of this Reality TV Show, Maureen, is problematic, and majorly homophobic. It seems like they once accidentally had a woman contestant who turned out to be bisexual and... yeah, Maureen is starkly emphatic THIS WILL never happen again. Nor will she ever turn a full season of her show into a queer dating show.

What becomes painful to watch is Dev and his co-workers cowtie to this woman, umpteen amount of times. Feeding The Beast, as I like to say. They always give her what she wants at great cost to not just the women, but also Prince Charming, who this time around is our 2nd male main protagonist, Charlie. At every turn Maureen is undermining things inside of his signed contract, but also... simple things like freakin' human decency.

It happens quite a few times, but TWICE there are massive blowups where EVERYONE who is queer... hears, sees and listens to Marueen's hogwash backtalk...and then shuts-up and does their job in painful silence. It hurts more the 2nd time because this time Charlie is now "part of them"...he feels like family and they turn their backs on him and it's pointless and cruel.

What is also painful to witness is... Dev's ideal of love is basically THIS WHOLE REALITY SHOW... the Fairy-tale aspect and the hetero-normative angle, even though he can bear witness to some real struggles these women and Charlie are having. He scoffs at Charlie when he dares to call his favorite show FAKE... or manufactured, but it truly is. The thing is -sadly and most disappointingly-... DEV sees love in an over-washed Hetero-Norm... he cannot even fathom that a gay man like him could ever have THAT EXACT Fairy-tale life he dreams about.

Basically to think Dev forces himself to work in an environment that will never acknowledge him is quite scary and disappointing. But especially that he let's it roll down his back like water and says NOTHING, each and every time his boss just said some pretty homophobic words right in front of his face.

SECOND: The mental disorder and neuro-divergent rep is, once again, off the charts.

Our two main male protagonists--Dev and Charlie--both have mental disorders.

While it is wonderful when Like discovers Like and the men can BOTH help the other because they understand and know the world the other lives inside of, it can become overpowering that neither man can find genuine healing, nor just simple truth without being triggered, time and time again.

This faked reality show is NOT a healthy environment for either man to thrive. Dev has often powered through, but I do not think Dev actually was allowed to ever see someone else who is trying to "cope" with serious struggles try to BE on his show or even around him. He was often given over to the women contestants as their Handler. But for this season... Charlie appears to be so antisocial and difficult... they feel like FUN [and Sunny]-Dev can actually transform awkward Charlie into the Prince Charming they need for television.

If Dev and Charlie were in separate books as single male leads... wow, what a startling reveal for their Love Interests. I can just imagine how their counterparts could help them through as they become a couple. And this is never to say that Dev and Charlie are horrendous together, but for some Readers... the emotional turmoil and triggering moments can be overkill. Take it from me, some of Charlie's "spirals" were downright maddening, so I can only imagine that for some folks who are overly sensitive and triggering, these scenes could be exhaustive and massively traumatic for them.

It was confusing sometimes to wonder if Charlie would ever cope, for even a mild set of time. Simply to be filmed in segments for TV, and Dev kept having to pull him out... what is left for Dev? What ends up triggering him and his on-set for manic depression?

Somehow the Author has finagled it to be that when one is DOWN and manic, the other can uplift. But sheesh... it seems like too much sensory overload for Charlie AND Dev where what happens when they spiral at the same time?

It seems overly cruel to me...especially with Charlie who has kept his mental anguishes [OCD/Panic attacks w/anxiety and also small episodes of germaphobia...] a secret for years, but who has been suffering since childhood. For him to be ridiculously thrust into this REALITY TV WORLD where he is basically fodder where EVERYONE feels like they can "handle" and cajole and coerce and TOUCH him at random moments when he seems like he is 2-seconds, every time... into a complete and utter panic attack or a meltdown.

Alison Cochrun writes these moments with Charlie, mostly, and then eventually with Dev. It felt as if she has some personal insight into what it feels like. A Reader is really immersed in Charlie's POV for his spirals/panics... in his head as he keeps spiraling off camera and on camera, requiring the show to repeatedly film him over and over again. It makes it even more apparent that this REALITY TV SHOW is more than just fake...it's hideously & horrendously cruelly manufactured.

My problem comes with...what a terrifying manner in which to reveal these men's personal secrets and peel back their characters to the point where it is making them face them on a daily basis, and sometimes ON CAMERA.

Charlie gets it the worst because not only does he NOT want to be in the show... he knows the show is fake and he is NOT willing to fall in love--just because. Charlie is the most exposed and Dev is right there... as his Handler and... Dev keeps calculatingly feeding the Beast until he is faced with the reality that Charlie HAS serious mental disorders that plague him. This dumb reality show is NOT helping him deal and course-correct his tech career.

At 60% into the book, Dev was in a serious spiral/depressive state... his depression was near manic at that point because he has DENIED DENIED DENIED and won't take time for himself or even remotely seek out some kind of therapeutic measures to combat the onsets of his depression. And Charlie manged to help him through, but at what cost to Charlie's own issues and anguish?

I understand it is romantic to think one can help a Lover cope and uplift and ease them through and BE THERE to support... but when you ignore your own capacity to mend and heal YOURSELF... how can you fully BE with your soulmate and actually be PRESENT, so you can HEAR and PAY ATTENTION and LISTEN? Being "present" for them in their time of need is honestly key to both of them healing properly.

My take-away is really that having TWO MCs with mental disorders and both of them attempting to cope...is overkill. I never want to swipe away great mental health rep, but man... can only ONE of them be suffering? Why does it have to be BOTH and then forcing one of them, Charlie who has it worse and has not been capable of coping help urge Dev out of his depression? Watching Charlie robotic-ally hand Dev exactly what he wants him to BE on a stupid TV show just wrecks my heart for Charlie who is struggling with several personal issues at once.

Charlie has NO sexual experience. ZERO. NONE. He is a virgin. In fact... he has never had a intimate sexual moment with ANYONE to even be fully cognizant of his sexuality. So, when he is forced to face 20 women?? Of course he panics and has a meltdown.

But when Dev is "handling" him and gently coercing him to keep giving the show what it NEEDS for film...what he thinks is simple anxiety is actually a bonafide mental disorder and Dev checks himself, managing to understand "coping mechanisms" being used by Charlie to combat panic attacks/meltdowns. So there is forced intimacy going on between Dev and Charlie to the point where Charlie is a different person... a REAL person who begins to find out and learn for himself... that he could be queer, somewhere on the rainbow spectrum...because he begins to fall for Dev, never having felt sexual attraction for anyone before. Nor emotional attachments.

It feels like one is being excessively cruel to Charlie, for no good reason. Charlie is awkward and anti-social, on a neuro-divergent level...but so much of his character reveals are being forcibly yanked back to skin-peeling levels, where it seems cruel and unusual to have this not turn him into a complete and utter basketcase.

And making Dev his "lodestone" seems problematic because Dev wants Charlie to GIVE too much to a fake reality show he still fathoms has some mode of "real romance" involved. Actually time and time again...Dev will start to force Charlie to LIKE/love a woman... and then once he knows Charlie could never like/love a woman in a hetero-normative manner... he is still making Charlie BE ON TV, because this has always been the way Dev SEES love...and it's scary, quite sad and disappointing.

THIRD, and LAST [and maybe most important]: Dev Deshpande is an Indian-American, possible 2nd/3rd generation. He is an only child of two Indian-American parents who went to college [at Cornell] to become doctors, as their families desired, but ultimately they changed their minds and both became... Artists, almost "hippie-like". So they have truly raised Dev to be exactly whomever he wants to be which was always as a filmmaker, writing scripts and then filming them with his little camera.

Yeah, culturally, Dev is massively Californian...he even dresses like a white Frat douche-bro PA... Cargo shorts, Chucks and threadbare T-shirts with deep-Vs...he has thick glasses he wears constantly. So, ya know...I cannot say just because an MC is told to me to be an Indian-American... and he has Indian-American parents with Indian names. I was quite shocked and really concerned why Dev was made Indian-American...at all. He bleeds California, LA/Hollywood and heavily embedded in White culture.

Yikes... this is one of those weird issues that silently creeps on you because something was feeling OFF while you were reading and you could not pin point exactly WHAT?... Then it makes me wonder if I am building things up because there can be moments of being TOO WOKE. And maybe the rep is as it should be...

I did say there is BIPOC in this story... there are several races represented who work with Dev--Black and Asian. Characters are of different races but it shows no impact on the story. They are minor characters, but for Dev it seemed really important to make some kind of impact on him being whom he was.

Dev has flaws. Normal character flaws. He is not a monster nor is he a saintly figure, but I am unsure why he was made of a diverse race. I know with myself... when there is overweight rep or disabled rep...I kind of want to be able to figure out why those important choices were made and this one stumps me.

I think this book has awesome potential to be a huge hit like RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE because so many Readers will not have such a sensitized nature as a reader of Romance as I do. This story and these two men really deeply have charm and charisma melting off the pages...alone and together. there is great humor and there are many wonderful lighthearted moments.

I will give this warning for excessive use of crying and vomiting. Dev and Charlie are BOTH men who are IN THEIR FEELS, at 100%. This Author was not afraid of hitting gross descriptive levels. For some people... you might be angered by too much male crying...and others will be turned off by the mere mention of scenes where the MCs vomit...just FYI...

**I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

3.5 stars

Overall, I thought this was a solid and fun book. I am not a Bachelor/Bachelorette fan, and other books with a similar setting have not been my favorite, but it was done well in this book. I found Dev and Charlie to be really fun characters, and I actually enjoyed the reality show setting in this instance. I also liked that the book addressed many of the problematic aspects of these types of reality shows. The author portrayed a variety of mental health issues in a realistic way, and it truly added to the charm of the characters.

I'd recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an e-ARC of this book.

Rating: 5/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction
Warnings: OCD, anxiety, depression, queerphobia
Read if you liked: Red, White and Royal Blue or One To Watch
Steam: 2.5

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

There aren’t enough stars or heart eyes in the world that could give this book justice. Seriously I just want to hug it. This is the follow-up book you need after RWARB because it gave me ALL THE FEELS. The Charm Offensive is now up there with my Top-10 RomComs.

I’m having a really hard time writing a long review because I just want everyone to read this book…it was so delightful and effortless to read. I’m also so impressed this is Cochrun’s debut novel because she knocked it out of the park.

Things I loved: Banter and dialogue. Unexpected chemistry + self-discovery journey the characters embarked on. Just the human nature of this book and the actual representation of real people + they struggles. Focus on normalizing mental health and all that comes with it. Diversity of cast in race, gender, sexuality, and neurodiversity. So much consent, consent is sexy friends! I genuinely just loved their love and all the characters.

Things I didn’t care for: Absolutely nothing.

The Charm Offensive is out September 7th, 2021! Request the ARC, pre-order, request at your local library…JUST GET THIS BOOK.

I'm perfectly content to read a romance that is sort of surface level - there's something very comforting about reading an easy-breezy love story with low stakes and a guaranteed happily ever after. That said, there is definitely an uptick of romances that do and say more, going above and beyond what is expected of the genre and tackling more serious issues all while providing a swoon-worthy love story. The Charm Offensive is an incredible example of this. On first glance, you may think that it's impossible that this book can touch on so many things - depression, anxiety, neurodiversity, queer identity - in such a thoughtful way, but when you stop to think about it, that's real life, isn't it? So often books generally and romances specifically focus on one aspect of a person's identity and highlight the issues surrounding it, and that's certainly a great and important way to include diverse representation in books. But most people can't be boiled down to one specific identity, one aspect of their life that reigns supreme at any given time. In the hands of a lesser writer, Charlie's panic attacks, anxiety, neurodiversity, and his own journey in grappling with his sexual identity might not have been addressed as deftly as they are here. But Charlie feels so REAL, and each aspect of who he is felt so naturally developed and explored that in retrospect I'm blow away at how well done it is. To then see Charlie and Dev, who has depression, slowly fall for each and both realize that who they are does not make them any less worthy of love was incredibly special to read.

If that sounds heavy, don't be dismayed; this is a romcom, after all! I laughed out loud so often while reading this book. The banter between Dev and Charlie is great, and the cast of supporting characters also bring a lot of humor while also serving as important emotional touchstones for both Dev and Charlie. I also loved the construct of the book and how the story pushes back on the heteronormative "love" stories depicted on TV while also holding space for people who love those shows and want to believe in those sorts of happily ever afters; having Dev himself be the most ardent believer in the show was a very clever way to do this.

Thank you SO MUCH to Atria and Netgalley for the advanced copy.