as a rom-com AND reality tv lover, the charm offensive hits all the right notes. it puts a fun lgbtq+ spin on the bachelor, that i really enjoyed! it had similar vibes to red, white, and royal blue, and the characters were lovable and three-dimensional.

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC. I had not written a review of this book because it was one of my biggest disappointments of 2021, I did not like, but I feel bad giving such low ratings. Dev's character was annoying and very difficult to enjoy, his attitude for most of the book is unbearable, I don't believe it took most of his life and 90% of the book to improve his attitude and open the eyes to the real world, a person can't be so blind... On the other hand, Charlie's character is fine, but it's not the best character ever but it was good enough on his own, although I felt sorry for him during half of the book. I did not like the story in general, the problems and situations are quite superficial and there is no much character development in some aspects. The ending was rushed and unrealistic, but I guess for me that was the best part, considering it took me ages to read the entire book. I don't even like Charlie and Dev as a couple, if I'm being totally honest.
Good points: I liked the representation and well... I liked Charlie being a cinnamon roll all the time, and Dev tiny bit of development during the story, but that is pretty much all I enjoyed. The cover was cute and the audiobook really well narrated.

Español-
Gracias a Netgallery por el ARC. No había escrito una review de este libro porque fue de mis mayores decepciones del año 2021, no me gusto casi nada, y siento que fue más un 2.5, pero me siento mal dando reviews tan bajas. El personaje de Dev muy difícil de querer, su actitud la mayor parte del libro es insoportable, no me creo que costo años de su vida y el 90% del libro para que mejorase su actitud mínimamente. Por otro lado, el personaje de Charlie está bien, pero tampoco es lo mejor, a veces incluso da un poco de lástima por las situaciones en las que se ve envuelto. La historia en general no me gusto nada, los problemas y situaciones son bastante superficiales y no hay ningún personaje que haya salvado la trama. El final fue apresurado y poco creíble, pero supongo que fue la mejor parte, tomando en cuenta que me costó siglos leer todo el libro. Siendo honesta, ni siquiera me gustan Dev y Charlie como pareja.
Puntos positivos: me gustó la representación y bueno... Me gustó que Charlie fuera un amor de personaje todo el tiempo y que Dev tuviera un pequeño desarrollo durante la historia, pero eso es todo lo que disfruté. La portada era linda y el audiolibro estuvo muy bien narrado.

The Charm Offensive is a very sweet queer men romance novel featuring a variation on The Bachelor. I like the way mental health is discussed in this book. Charlie and Dev are a beautifully handsome couple, their journey started off slow, but it grew as they got to know each other personally. It was an emotional and heartwarming LGBTQ+ romance book, The way that Charlie and Dev address their mental health challenges was deeply realistic.

Thank you, Alison Cochrun and Atria Books, for the book!

My 2021 Bookstagram feed was full of praise and love for THE CHARM OFFENSIVE and, yes, it SO lived up to the hype. Why didn't I read this sooner?

Dev is a production assistant on a reality dating show (very much The Bachelor) and finds himself assigned to babysit the Bachelor, Charlie. I loved Dev's starry-eyed ideas about love and romance. He grows and changes in so many good ways during this book. That's what we call character development, bitches! Charlie is so sweet and unknowing. His character journey is the real revelation in this book. He has anxiety and some other mental health issues, as well as coming to terms with his sexuality. He is so flawed and also so lovable.

This love story is absolutely, perfectly, wonderfully...everything. Sweet, steamy, tackles some serious issues. It is engaging (if a little slow in the first half) and so genuine. I loved Dev and Charlie. I loved the side characters. I loved the crazy antics of the bachelorettes.

THE CHARM OFFENSIVE is a book I will re-read in future and is a new favorite I will be recommending to anyone who will listen.

Oh man, where do I start with this one?

I absolutely loved every single bit of this book. I devoured it in a 24 hour sitting and it left me wanting more of Dev and Charlie! I really enjoyed the Bachelor aspect of this one. All of the crazy antics on Ever After felt real cause we have seen some craziness on Bachelor! I really liked that Charlie finds his sexuality in this one. Dev helping him realize who he really is made my heart happy. I really enjoyed all the secondary characters as well and how they played a part in bringing Dev and Charlie together in the end. Just a really good "feel good" romance.

I absolutely loved this book! A “bachelor” romance but with Dev the producer and Charlie our bachelor! This book handled so many things and so well. The mental health aspect was so relatable and done beautifully. Charlie is by far one of the most precious and loveable characters I’ve ever read. I can absolutely seeing myself rereading this book many times!!

The mental health rep!! I loved loved loved how mental health was discussed in this book. I absolutely adored the characters, the love story, the intentions. Very well done!!

This was a very sweet queer (m/m) romance featuring a variation on The Bachelor franchise. Fans of The Bachelor or of Red White and Royal Blue will likely enjoy this book. It's oftentimes more sweet than spicy, and deals with mental health topics and self care as well. I enjoyed the blossoming relationship between the reality TV show lead and the producer working with him behind the scenes. I look forward to more of Cochrun's work. 4 stars.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super cute story that touched on many issues that are typically not addressed in a romance book.

As someone who reads a lot of fanfiction, the summary of this book attracted me to it. I think I read several fics of a reality TV star falling in love with a crew member instead of the contestants. What I didn't expect from this book was the exploration of mental health. This book talks about OCD, Anxiety, and Depression. A lot of the book focuses on the characters learning to accept they deserve love even with their mental health struggles. I thought this part of the book was explored well and stood out from other similar books.

The romance itself was sweet, and you certainly felt the chemistry between the characters. They did have some pet peeve cliches I hate, like miscommunication, but lucky they resolved themself quickly enough for me to keep reading even with all my second-hand embarrassment. I thought the side characters were great with a tone of queer people and representation without it feeling too forced.

Overall I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who want a sweet romance during a reality TV show that has a focus on mental health.

The premise of this book was SO good! I loved everything about it - the unique take on a reality tv dating show, the characters & the little truths that can be applied to life that are sprinkled throughout! It was a thoughtful take on an lgbtq love story and I really appreciate how authentic it felt in the midst of the "fakeness" of the reality tv show. Their relationship blossomed and was so honest - I loved reading about it as it continued to progress! I thought this was SO well done and have been recommending it left and right to friends!

The ebook said over 4K pages lol but read through this pretty quickly.

I did not like One to Watch - another bachelor-style romcom. So this one made me nervous.

But I’ve never ever read another book like this, and so I’m eternally grateful for this.

Dev is an angel romantic who struggles with depression and who I only want good for. Charlie has awkward, anxious, asexual vibes and I was so continually interested to see how he’d develop as a character.

Amazing book. Please read it.

LIKES:
📝 funny, relatable, breezy writing
📑 + fun “producer notes” between chapters
👥 dual-pov (Dave & Charlie)
🧔🏾‍♂️ Dave is charming, supportive, & creative!
🆔 + he portray an Indian-American experience
👨🏼‍🦱 Charlie is reserved, quirky, & intelligent!
🎬 reality tv vibes (calling all Bach fans!)
🏳️‍🌈 fantastic LGBTQIA+ representation
💼 workplace romance! (steam level 2/5)
🫂 + forced proximity
❤️‍🩹 + light forbidden romance
🧠 mental health themes
🥺 emotional & heartwarming
🌱 personal growth vibes
•
DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ some TW for this one - dm me!
•
VERDICT: an outstanding workplace romance w/ forbidden love & forced proximity + fantastic LGBTQIA+, mental health & growth themes - will have you emo + warm & fuzzy all at once!! A MUST READ!

The Charm Offensive is a queer, adult, contemporary rom-com that feature some tropes we love such as forced proximity and workplace romance ! I heard so many amazing things about it and I couldn't help but request an advance readers copy ! I'm really glad I was able to read this beforehand because it was truly amazing. I read it in one day and it got me out of the biggest reading slump ever. As a plus, there is Indian rep and all kinds of sexuality representation , I swear everyone in this book is some kind of queer. I especially loved the questioning/demisexual rep, which was what drew me to this book in the first place as a demisexual person myself. You are going to be laughing out loud because it is really funny but you are also going to feel pain sometimes. It also tackles important topics such as anxiety, OCD , depression etc. There were so many OH MY GOD! moments... This book truly keeps you begging for more, the romance is one of the best I have ever read which is saying a lot because all I ever read is romance books. I kept thinking about it even after I was done reading it ! It was that good. And I have a feeling that if you loved Red,White&Royal Blue you are going to love this as well.

I loved this book! Dev and Charlie are the sweetest, most adorable characters who both evolve in their own way during their blossoming romance. There was clearly so much effort and thought put into the identities of the leads (as well as the many secondary characters.) The discussions surrounding mental health and depression were incredibly thoughtful. And the pace of this book was great - I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this one to fans of emotional steady burn romances (and reality dating shows!)

I'm a sucker for a rom-com that takes place on any kind of dating show, so this was totally up my alley, especially as someone who constantly wonders what happens behind the scenes of dating shows! Dev and Charlie were easy characters to root for, both individually and together, and I couldn't get enough of them. This is more than just a light-hearted romance -- it discusses serious mental health issues with tact and grace.

I cannot get enough of this book! I've recommended it to so many friends after reading it! I loved the fun dating tv show setting, and the representation of mental health struggles. The main characters, Dev and Charlie, felt so sincere. What a joy to read about them getting to know each other, and eventually fall for each other, and all the implications that had! This was such a unique and delightful read!

Let me say that the hype is real and I really really enjoyed this story. You get your typical bachelor hijinks with the behind the scenes of creating a show full of steam, drama, and twists! Dev has always believed in true love and what better way to show it then being the producer of a reality tv dating show. Charlie is a billionaire trying to fix his reputation and what better way than to show his softer side as the lead of a dating show.

Dev and Charlies instant connection was truly swoon worthy. But what I truly loved was the multi dimensional characters Cochurn created. Both protagonists had their own mental health issues and they didn’t shy away from them. It was that trust to talk about their struggles that made me team Charlie and Dev.

Besides that this book also explored stereotypes of dating shows and how they are enforced because of the “normal”. I’m glad the author smashed all of those but not only have the Dev and Charlie love but also including sapphic and Ace representation. I could really gush about all the things this book did right for hours but if you’re not new on bookstagram then you’ve probably already seen 274626 different gushing reviews.

I really enjoyed The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun! It’s fun but serious, with some steam and quirky side characters to boot.

Synopsis: Tech millionaire Charlie Winshaw needs to rehabilitate his image so that he can work in Silicon Valley again — otherwise, he’d never have agreed to appear on a dating show. His producer, Dev Deshpande, is a bit shocked at how unprepared Charlie is to find his true love, despite his agreement to be on the show. But little does Dev know just how unprepared Charlie actually is to find love with the one person he never suspected. (TW: depictions of depression & OCD, brief mentions of homophobia)

This book is so sweet — I had a smile on my face constantly while reading it, despite the serious challenges faced by the characters. I think the ending requires some suspension of disbelief, as all reality dating shows do, but overall, I was appropriately charmed.

I’d recommend this one if you’re a fan of LGBTQ+ romances, romances in general or any reality dating show! I’ll definitely be putting Cochrun on my list of go-to authors.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

I received this book awhile ago and I believe I’m late in reviewing it but for some reason the book just didn’t grab me initially. I finally settled in to give this book a chance and I’m so mad at myself for waiting.

This is one of the most beautiful romance books I’ve read in a long time. If you are not normally a fan of queer romances I still think you would enjoy this book because the relationship that blooms between Charlie and Dev is one of the best fictional relationships I’ve seen.

I also loved that this book took on mental health head on. I can see for some people that was triggering and I acknowledge that it can be but I loved that it presented people with mental health issues as regular people. Their struggles didn’t define them and it didn’t make them any less deserving of love which is a message more people need to hear.

4 stars. Looking forward to the next book…wouldn’t mind a sequel featuring Daphne & Angie!

It should come as no suprise that as a lover of The Bachelor (okay lover is a strong word here, maybe avid watcher) and rom-coms that this book hit the mark for me. I was in the middle of a bit of a reading rut and The Charm Offensive pulled me right out of it.

While the plot was pretty predictable and there weren't any twists that I hadn't anticipated, I loved the characters across the board and thought they were so well developed. I can picture Charlie and Dev vividly in my mind which is something I find hard to do with most rom coms where the characters tend to be lacklustre.

It was great to see so much representation across the board (an LGBTQ2S+ read that was also centred around mental health and neurodivergence) which is what pushed this from a 3.5 to a solid four for me.

Overall loved this read and would highly recommend.