As always big thanks to NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review and also big thanks to both Atria Books and Alison Cochrun.

I could not put this book down! The characters and the romance stole my heart and I wanted and needed more of them. Charlie and his journey of self-discovery and Dev with seeing the importance of self-care and love just made me want to smile and cry and laugh. It was just so good and felt so real to me as a queer person to read. The fact that it wasn't a black and white word of straight and gay, but showing the complexity of sexuality and how there is so much more to the world of romance and sexual identity.

I believed that Charlie and Dev would be drawn to one another and I wanted to see them on dates and watching Sci-Fi shows and do puzzles forever. I want to re-read it again for the first time and just tell everyone to read it to see the warmth and love found within.

Also big plus for Ace rep!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I thought it was sweet and lovely story. Enjoyed it.

A lot of people think rom com books are predictable. And in a sense, I guess they are. Two people, who wouldn't ordinarily, against all odds, come together in the end. What differs between other love stories and The Charm Offensive is what happens on the road that leads to the grand finale. There's difficult conversations about mental illness and sexuality and the nuances surrounding them. The characters are flawed, yet lovable. And Alison Cochrun did a great job of keeping me on my toes the entire read. This is more than a love story. It's a queer love story in a not very queer-friendly place. And in order to make strides for the LGBT community, stories like these need to be shared, shouted from the rooftops.

Oh my god, this is such a fairy tale. But getting your own fairy tale ending is not easy. I loved how Dev and Charlie overcame all their problems and grew together. I loved all the side characters and their individual parts in making this story. This was such a cute amazing romance.


Thank you NetGalley for giving me this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Do you love The Bachelor? Well, then you're in for an actual treat with this one. Charlie is trying to reboot his image and decides to become Prince Charming on Ever After. What will happen when he starts a frienship with his producer Dev? You'll need to read this book to find out. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, the banter and the characters in The Charm Offensive. I would recommend this book to anyone who will let me talk their ear off!

Yes what an amazing and wonderful story of love! On a side note, I love the bachelor franchise and I watch every Monday night like so many others out there. To have a love story with the theme like the bachelor show was cute. It’s about time there is a queer bachelor or bachelorette. Hopefully producers will read this book.

Now the story was about Charles who was the prince looking for his lovely princess but has a couple of anxieties that he was working on. Dev was his handler on the franchise and supported him throughout the stressful process of dating 16 ladies. Dev has his own issues that he needed to work on but delayed as much as he could.

I loved the way the author handled mental health and self care. And it was important to show Charles figuring and discovering his own sexuality. The romance between them was slow, adorable, and sweet. Charles was someone you wanted to hug as he managed his way through the crazy setups the producers threw at him. I cheered and hoped for the best between these two great guys. Their friends that helped and supported them were great though Maureen was horrible and I cannot believe anyone can be so unfeeling. I did feel tiny bit sad for those girls who were hoping for love and I can imagine in real life that it can be hard to be rejected.

Overall, it was an amazing journey of love, self awareness, loving oneself and others, and self healing. I cannot express enough that you need to read this NOW!!!!

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review.

TW: panic attacks, ableism, bi and homophobia

I read the description of this book and knew immediately I had to read it! I thought it would be like One to Watch crossed with Red White & Royal Blue and I was so right. This book is best summed up as: what if The Bachelor was gay and in love with his handler? This romance also has Indian American, gay, depression, GAD, OCD, and panic disorder representation in the main characters. Basically, nerdy but hot tech millionaire Charlie goes onto a dating tv show to fix his reputation where he meets Dev an openly gay handler on the show who is trying to make it as a screenwriter in LA. Hilarity and heartbreak ensure and it all ends in a Happily Ever After worthy of the TV show they work for. I seriously liked this book and I cannot wait to see what else Cochrun writes!

First and foremost, I loved the representation in this book. An Indian-American gay male with anxiety disorders? A Black lesbian? Black, Muslim, Chinese-American, bisexual, gay, OCD, Depression, anxiety, etc... It was all here and it was all represented to wonderfully and so well.

Dev is a producer for a television series called "Ever After", a reality show he loves desperately. For the latest season, his job is handler to "prince charming" Charlie Winshaw. However, Charlie is anything but a knight in shining armor - he's a cynic who doesn't believe in love.. which goes against everything Dev believes in. Dev helps Charlie open up and helps him with his anxiety and they share this emotional bond that neither were expecting. I just really loved every single person in this book, they made me feel seen, they made me feel strong, and they made me fall madly in love with them. The way this author writes just drew me in and had me up until 4 a.m. absolutely NEEDING to finish this book. This will definitely be a book I add to my bookshelves once it's released.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 & 𝘈𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!!

When I initially requested this title, I was NOT expecting to find a new all time favorite romance. But that's exactly what happened. I've seen a ton of comparisons to One to Watch and Red White and Royal Blue, but this book is so special/unique it deserves to stand on its own. In short, this story follows Dev (a reality show producer who believes in happily ever afters) and Charlie (a tech wiz who doesn't think he can or deserves love). Charlie signs on as the newest prince in the bachelor-esque show "Ever After" in an attempt to rehab his image and get back to working in the tech world. When the team sees how awkward and uncomfortable Charlie is in front of the camera, Dev is assigned as Charlie's "handler" to help him through the process.

Let's just get the most important part out of the way. CHARLIE IS MY NEW FAVORITE ROMANCE HERO OF ALL TIME. Hands down. No questions about it. As someone who also has OCD and anxiety, I've never felt more seen by a main character in my life. Charlie is so endearing and grows so much throughout the story. His value of both his friendship and relationship with Dev is so touching. I also loved seeing both Charlie's own journey with his mental health but also his journey as being a support person for someone else struggling with their own mental health. Charlie is literally everything to me.

Mental health is such a big theme throughout this story, and I loved the way that it was handled both individually and within Charlie and Dev's relationship. I never felt like their mental health was ever trivialized or portrayed through rose-colored glasses, which is something I feel like often happens in books.

It was also so refreshing to read a book with such a diverse cast of characters. As always, I encourage readers to seek out own voice reviewers for a more accurate discussion about the accuracy of diversity and LGBT rep. I loved how the author took the time to provide education and normalization of topics that are often ignored or minimized in the world today (ie., asexuality).

All of that to say...I seriously can't wait to pick up a physical copy so I can re-read and annotate the heck out of it.

I could not put The Charm Offensive down. I expected to read a goofy gay rom-com that takes place during a Bachelor-esque dating show. Instead I got a deeply felt, sharply characterized and fiercely hilarious book about mental illness, sexual identity and the ickiness of reality television. Alison Cochrun's new novel is the first romance I've read that lives up to the legacy of Red, White and Royal Blue when it comes to colorful, creative queer romance. It's unforgettable.

Charm Offensive

This book was everything I love about a romance novel. The tender way Dev and Charlie fall for each other gave me butterflies often, whether they were laughing over puzzles or shoving each other against walls. The characters were perfect and I instantly loved them. They were real and flawed, and it was so easy to see how they’d fall for each other. I fell hard for Dev, with his penchant for working himself past his emotional limits and then crashing for days, his heart entirely too open. Charlie, so carefully guarded. I loved that the characters really saw each other. Alison Cochrun created such unique, real people with issues so deeply relatable to many readers. What’s more is that she created them within a story that is fantastical, fun, and has enough scorching moments of heat to keep you sighing. This book was one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

The Charm Offensive is a charming story that denounces the toxicity of reality television. It also does a wonderful job at depicting mental health and its struggles. The blossoming relationship was adorable but their story was very predictable. During the story, the characters go to different countries and I felt like those weren't well detailed. It was hard to visualize at times. I would have loved more information on the multiples settings. This story is cute but I wanted to be able to laugh in this story. There wasn't anything comedic, Overall, this is a cute story but I wanted more comedic moments and a better description of the settings.

Run don’t walk to preorder this book! It was amazing!

This book has everything!! It made me laugh out loud in under 5 pages, it made me cry (although I’m quick to tears so take that as you will), it had impeccable banter, it had all the LGBTQIA+ representation of your dreams, it had probably the best mental health representation I have ever seen in a romance novel! The conversations even discussing queer topics and mental health topics were done with obvious care.

This book follows Dev, producer for a bachelor-esque show, Ever After, and the new male lead (who he produces) Charlie. Dev is a self-deprecating, but hopeless romantic that believes in the fairytale endings his show promises, while Charlie is shy, sensitive, and nerdy who just wants to repair his reputation through the show! Their banter reminds me of boyfriend material, but the premise is wholly it’s own!

Also, I now want to go to South Africa and eat Indian food out of a bread bowl, aka I’m Dev irl.

Please please please read this book so I have more people to talk to about it!!

I wish I liked this more than I did. The premise is cute and the reality dating tv series is very popular right now. Seriously: One to Watch, Cowboy Seeks Husband, The Charm Offensive, etc. However, the Ever After plot is ridiculous. Charlie almost immediately has chemistry with someone else, aka his producer/handler, and everyone is still pushing him to have fake relationships with 20 women. Eye roll. Secret romance ahead. The formulaic of the week by week of the dating show is agonizing to get through.
I didn't really like either main character either. Charlie, aka prince charming, is so awkward. Painfully awkward. Dev, the handler, is really obsessed with the fairy tale aspect of the show and kind of gets swept up in how hunky, yet vulnerable, Charlie is. It also felt like the author was ticking boxes of things to get in the story. Mental health, biracial, all colors of the LGBTQ, in the closet, "progressive show", asshole showrunner, get together, break up, get back together.
This book was obviously not for me but I do think there would be people who would like it.

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun is adorable. The book is based on filming a tv show similar to the Bachelor. I must admit that I stopped watching the Bachelor for a few years but you know, a pandemic will make you change your ways and I did watch the last season. This book is a LBGTQ story and it was interesting to read Ms. Cochrun's true life story at the end of the book to understand how writing this book helped her life. I always thought the Bachelor enterprise should be more diverse. It gets a bit boring watching a bunch of pretty people hook up or fight. This book will give you a refreshing change and maybe a glimpse of what you already expect about filming the Bachelor. This book also tackles several mental health issues.

This book is a bit predictable. The predictability will make The Charm Offensive a fun vacation book that does not require paying attention to tiny details. I wish #AlisonCochrun much success with this book and future books. I would also like to thank #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This gets 5 stars from me for having the first and only definition of asexuality that I found meaningful, accurately portrayed how many nuances there are, and didn't pigeonhole. Otherwise, this was a solid four--the writing is a little bit jolty and didn't quite suck me in, but the romance was absolutely fantastic and it was one of few Bachelor books that succeeded and manage to make characters all have nuance. I wish I could go back to the beginning and read this with fresh eyes again!

I absolutely loved Dev's and Charlie's story! It was one I stayed up all night just to finish. They both brushed off their attraction and Dev was convinced Charlie was hetero. It was a fun ride to see Charlie start questioning himself and ultimately coming to his own conclusion about his sexuality. The secondary characters were amazing and I am excited to see if this turns into a series because I would be preordering all future books. I loved that neither character was neurotypical; they both had some things they were working through and trying to hide. But by leaning on the other they were on their way to working through them, as with all mental illnesses it is a journey and this is just one part of theirs. This book seemed very real and raw! I loved it!!

I'm speechless, breathless, I don't even know how to write this review because I loved this book so so much. But I'm going to try and gather my thoughts about this book, so here we go.

Mental Health: I think the reason why I fell so deeply in love with this book was the way that Alison Cochrun addressed mental illness and how the characters had to constantly deal with the stigma surrounding it. This book told me exactly what I needed to hear, that people who deal with these types of things are completely deserving of love and affection in every way. Seeing the characters learn to accept when they needed help by seeing a therapist or trying to take care of themselves was so refreshing and neither Dev nor Charlie were portrayed as weak for having to do so. At times, I forgot I was reading a book and felt like I was just reading my own thoughts, which is surprising considering this had the backdrop of a reality TV show, and I most definitely am neither a producer or star in one.

Charlie and Dev: It is really challenging for me to find a rom-com that makes me root for the characters. In the genre of romance it is pretty much a guarantee that the two characters end up together and it always seems to take out the tension and desire to read on. This book, however, this book right here had me wondering if they would be together or what would happen to them. I am so glad that the author decided to stray away from the usual "outing scene" found so often in queer novels and it was amazing to read a story where the characters revealed parts of themselves in their own time. I'm convinced that not a single person in this book was straight (except for Maureen, but she was terrible so...) and I absolutely loved that. Back to Charlie and Dev, their relationship had me in tears through this entire book, both happy and sad. Seeing Dev push Charlie away because of the feeling of not deserving love and seeing Charlie pull Dev closer and refuse to leave just tore my heart into a million pieces. Both of their feelings felt so familiar and the story completely sucked me into the pages. I never thought I would be so invested in a reality TV show, but here we are.

My final thought. Alison Cochrun, if you're reading through these reviews, I beg of you please please please write a sequel about Daphne's season. I will give anything to read about a wlw season of "Ever After." Literally anything. Take my entire bank account, I just need this book.

3.9/5⭐: I don't really know how I felt about this story, it was very on the fence for me. In this story, we follow Dev, our producer to the reality dating show Ever After as he becomes the handler of our show’s Prince Charming Charles (known to his friends as Charlie). But soon they find unexpected feelings brewing behind the scenes. Will they get their happily ever after or will it get them cancelled?

Now while I appreciate a good romance, I normally like them as my side plot to the main story but I got to say that this book hooked me. While I did find myself loving Charlie as a character (he was my favorite and he was precious), I wanted more of his backstory and history and I wanted to learn a little bit more about him than just bits and pieces that we get (also I need to see more Josh because if he was so terrible, how have they been friends for so long? We got a redemption arc for Ryan but no more backstory for Josh?) I also really found everyone on the crew, even Dev, to be unlikable in the beginning chapters. After a while, I grew to like Dev but I still found him frustrating (especially the whole three months thing).

I did love the representation that we got in this book which included Indian-american gay representation along with representation for depression, generalized anxiety disorders, OCD, panic attacks, anxiety as well as bisexuality and pansexuality. It also had a lot of good tropes like friends to lovers and forbidden relationships, fake dating au, etc. and while all that is amazing I did struggle with a little bit of queer-phobia and misogyny that's presented in the book (not by the main characters). I also found the mocking of Charlie’s mental health really pissed me off and it was a little hard to get through so be prepared for that.

but I did think this book was really great and I love the message that having someone to love is great but you don't need to love someone to be happy. Happiness can be found when finding yourself and being comfortable in who you are and having someone to love is just a really good bonus. Now I will take off points because the ending did seem a bit rushed compared to like the middle angst that was given. I wanted a little bit more resolution. Even the epilogue of sorts seemed a little bit short and I don't know if that's because they're setting up for a sequel but it felt a little like more was needed especially about Dev’s script and Charlie’s job.

This is the best book that I have read all year. I fell in love with the characters and the premise, we need more love stories like this! We need more characters like this! Thank you so much, Alison Cochrun!
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.