I love The Bachelor franchise and any romance book with a dating show premise! This was a fantastic sapphic love story and had so many good details and it made me wonder if anything like this has actually happened behind-the-scenes on the show… A very fun and sexy read!

This was actually a super fun take on your modern dating shows. Two women are cast in a dating show to compete for the heart of a man. One is clearly there for the wrong reasons since she is into women and the other becomes confused when she starts to figure out what she actually likes. Lauren is clearly there for the wrong reasons, aka getting a social media following and hiding who she is. Krystin finds herself when she rooms with Lauren and their friendship turns relationship starts as a rivalry. I also think Josh is pretty comical and the whole dating show thing is so cringy. But as a bachelor nation fan, I enjoyed this one!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A fun and sweet read that I wish focused more on the relationship between women

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
The Batchelor/ reality tv shows
Romantic comedies
Sweet sapphic romance
Slow burn
Rodeo queen / influencer

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
How different Lauren and Krystin’s paths were

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I felt like there was too much reality tv content and not enough relationship building
Felt a little childish at times
Miscommunication

If you're a fan of The Bachelor and sapphic romance then this is a great book to pick up! It's the second book this month that I've read where the MCs are on a reality show and while I personally am not a fan of actual reality tv I can now say I definitely enjoy it in books! Reading a book with a reality tv setting is different because you get to know the characters' inner thoughts and what goes on behind the scenes rather than just the narrative the producers/showrunners spin for the public. I like getting a behind the scenes look and for this one it gives it even more drama! It's messy, sweet, dramatic and fun. I will say in the very beginning I was overwhelmed by all the names of the contestants but once the plot continued, I was able to keep up with who was talking. The competitive nature of the show is definitely shown and I like that Krystin and Lauren are both competitive in different ways. Lauren will do whatever it takes to stay in the game and is a little ruthless whereas Krystin is honestly really sweet, innocent and a natural competitor as a rodeo queen. I didn't feel like I really got to know any of the characters besides the main two but considering how reality tv is that kind of made sense to me. I think the romance developed well from the beginning and if you like spice in your books there's definitely some of that here. I like how different Lauren's and Krystin's life experiences were and how they grow with each other and learn from each other; it shows that everyone has their own journey in love, identity, self-acceptance can be and that no two people are going to have the same path. The forbidden romance/sneaking around aspect had me constantly on edge thinking they were going to get caught! Overall, it's a light, fun read and I enjoyed it.

Thank you Alcove Press for the digital ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is good if you want something light and cute to read. The main relationship is sweet and has good chemistry. The premise is fun and this book is very dedicated to it. Unfortunately, I feel like the idea of “dating show but the contestants fall in love” has been overdone. This book didn’t do enough to distinguish itself. The characters all fell a little flat and the pacing wasn’t great. I found myself bored reading this book. It just didn’t do or say anything

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel before it came out. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I can't seem to be able to find this download anywhere. As a result, I cannot currently read this and will therefore give it a middling star rating. I will come back and change this at a later time if I find the file stowed away. Sorry!!

This book was a laugh out loud read! I love when books have game shows or competitive reality tv! This really hit the spot in that department. A dating show but have the contestants fall for each other in this sapphic rom com absolutely! An overall fun read.

The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the miscommunication in it. Otherwise def recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the arc.

Annabel Paulsen did a great job capturing the feel of the bachelor contradictions and sometimes inauthentic feeling sentiment and all! I think if you like the bachelor may be a good indicator as to whether this book is for you. I am not a huge bachelor fan because it tends to feel a bit contrived to me and I think this book was difficult for me for similar reasons.

I liked Lauren and Krystin's connection but I struggled a bit with the position being on the show put them in with the bachelor and sometimes even their friends and families. I wished they had been willing to be more insightful and honest sooner. I ended up struggling to connect with any of the characters. I do think this is a fun read but if character likeability is a big issue for you another read might be a better choice.

Krystin and Lauren two of thirty-five contestants on the newest season of “Hopelessly Devoted”; all of whom are fighting for Josh Rosen’s attention, love, and final ribbon. Throughout filming Krystin and Lauren end up finding their spark and love together.

I want nothing more than a storyline like this to happen on the Bachelor/Bachelorette because I am genuinely curious as to how ABC and the general population would handle this situation.

I don’t like the way Josh, the “Hopeless Romantic” (aka Bachelor) was treated throughout. I understand the title is implying there will be people who will be there “for the wrong reasons” but that dragged for me. Josh was kind and treated all the women with nothing but respect. I wish Lauren and Krystin realized a lot sooner that it wasn’t fair to him to stay (nor did he deserve that). While then ending did make this book better, it didn’t completely justify the way everything went down for me.

The authors, Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang, did an great job writing the MANY characters. With 35 contestants, Josh and producers, it was surprisingly easy to keep track of who’s who and that was all because of they way the differentiated each of them.

Overall, the book was good. Fans of The Bachelor (and the spin-off shows) will be fans of this book.

This was okay. I enjoyed it on the moment, I do like a TV reality story but I kept mixing up the characters and their names didn't stay with me. I read this two weeks ago though and I don't remember much. It was fine and fun but not very original? I'll probably won't remember anything in 2 months but that could very much be a me problem.
Anyway, if you're looking for a nice TV reality romance, this is the book for you. I did really enjoy it overall.
And I'll probably read more books by these authors. I love a fun sapphic romance.

If you loved the bachelor or any style that reality shows you will love this book. As someone who has always thought 'how do the contestants not fall in love with each other' I LOVED this story. I loved the two main characters, Krystin, a rodeo queen is the one to have the 'a-ha' moment and goes on the show to have her HEA and Lauren, the influencer is only on the show to grow her social media following isn't looking for anything romantic from the show.

This book has a fresh plot and you could tell the authors, who are also a couple, was able to use their relationship to build great banter and a fast-moving storyline to their debut novel. I cannot wait to read more from them!

This book was fine. I was really wishing more from it, more because the two women don't even begin to start becoming friends until like 40% in. Most of this book they aren't really friends and have this first kiss where the timing seems weird because I feel like they don't really know each other to prompt it. I have watched the bachelor before, so i am pretty familiar with the format of the show and this is for the most part a copy and paste version of it. I wish there was a little more creativity that came into the game show versus just doing the same thing. I found Josh to be pretty bland, Lauren was okay, and Kristin was probably the most interesting character. I wasn't upset with Lauren on her strategy and reasoning for the game show, because im sure that is a very common reason on the real bachelor show. But all her lying did get old after awhile, and just wasn't something i think that held for me as a reason to stay on the show for so long. I don't think this was a bad book, but i definitely think that there could be some small improvements made to it that would make it more entertaining and something that stuck with me.

I've read a book that's very similar to this in terms of plot and have been looking for something like it ever since. I was hoping I'd found it in Here for the Wrong Reasons, but it sadly didn't fully work for me.

I liked the idea (obviously), the setting, the writing, parts of the romance, and the fact that I didn't mix the other girls up despite there being so many of them. The authors really did a good job eliminating them in every chapter, and making sure the ones that were sticking around longer were given recognisable personalities.

What didn't work for me was how dragged out it felt. Both Lauren and Krystin (but especially the former) were in the show for the wrong reasons, like the title says, and after realising there's something there around 40% into the book, I was expecting them to drop out, any moment now, not for both of them to keep making it into the next round until the very end.

Maybe I wouldn't have had such a problem with this if Josh wasn't so nice. He had his heart broken once, and both of these girls ultimately knew they'd break his too. And they were kinda okay with it?

I'm a bit more lenient with Krystin because she wasn't sure what she wanted for most of the book, she'd never been with a girl before and thought she had to be straight to fit in at home, but Lauren was awful. She knew who she was and what she wanted, she just wasn't officially out yet, and from the start she was leading Josh on, just to get more followers and brand deals.

Her saying that she was staying because she wanted more time with Krystin rang hollow to me, because in the next scene she'd act like she wanted to win the whole show to prove she could.

She had a very clear exit point near the end, and instead of taking it, and hoping Krystin follows, she does something that would keep her on the show...

Anyway, her and Krystin had no chemistry that I could sense. I couldn't tell you why they liked each other, it felt really random. But their romantic scenes were cute.

I wish that more time had been spent on developing their relationship, instead of describing what the characters were doing during the episodes, where they went etc, I wanted to be convinced that these two actually liked each other, see them spending more time together.

And there was a huge focus on Josh, which, okay, it IS his show, but I kinda feel like he got more page time than Krystin and Lauren.

Both of them kept going back to him, kissing him, even after getting closer and closer, it just didn't feel right.

There was also some miscommunication, but when I tell you I didn't even care...yeah. The ending made up for all of that though, mostly. Everyone got their happily ever after.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, and I'm not regretting giving it a chance. Hopefully others will like it more than I did.

*Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately the story of this one left a lot to be desired. I did enjoy the way the dating show was presented. However, Lauren's ulterior motives for going on the show make her hard to root for. I also think a big issue comes with how far these two girls make it in the season while lying to the main guy. It also doesn't help that he is a generally likeable guy. The last part of the book after all the truths come out was honestly my favorite part of the entire book.

I am not likely to recommend this one.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I was not sure what to expect from this book, as it was a new author for me and I basically went into this one blind, without even reading the description. With that being said, I was not disappointed! This was such a fun read.

I love a good Sapphic rom-com and this was a fun twist on it, as the main characters were involved in a hetero only dating game show called Hopelessly Devoted (love the Grease song reference, by the way). This whole situation brought a lot of laughs and a lot of awkward moments throughout.

I absolutely LOVED the confessionals. They were my favorite part and I could see this being a super fun part of an audio version of this book.

The only thing that I did not really care for, was how long it took to get through it. It was definitely a slower pace than what I am used to and I do feel like there are some parts that likely could have been omitted for conciseness sake, but otherwise, the entirety of the book was enjoyable!

I have real soft spot for books that involve reality TV scenarios, especially when those stories also happen to be queer. As soon as I heard about this book where two women on a Bachelor-style TV show end-up falling for each other instead of the "Bachelor", I knew that it was something that I was going to want to read.

This book did not disappoint as we saw perspectives from both of our main characters as we saw their burgeoning feelings for one another blossom until one of them cracked and made a move. I was a little surprised by the spice level of this book as I had expected maybe sneaked kisses, stolen glances, and discreet touches given that they were surrounded by camera but I guess the reality show that they were competing on respected the contestants' autonomy and they weren't constantly under the scrutiny of cameras so could get away with quite a lot in this book.

Whilst a little bit idealistic, I did enjoy the resolution of this story and it definitely felt like a sweet and heart-warming conclusion to the story.

This is the perfect book for readers looking for a fairly low-stakes sapphic contemporary romance. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a delight for any queer person who never got to see themselves in messy reality TV (sometimes you just want to see some chaos unravel). It is clear these authors have watched The Bachelor and understand not only the process, but the energy of the show. Reading this book felt like binge watching the best season yet.
I could not recommend this book enough!
(Also give the author description a read for a cute treat!)

Here for the Wrong Reasons-a standalone

By-Annabel Paulsen and Lydia Wang-debut

Narrators: Mara Wilson and Lindsey Dorcus. The voices fit the characters, the reading style, and brought the story to life. The pacing was great and flowed easily with the story. The narration and the author were in sync, and they fit together perfectly.
The narrator paused and announced every time a new chapter came. The book had a table of contents which helped me follow along with the e-book and audio.

Run time 🏃🏾‍♀️ : 11:34

Page count📖 : 365

Publication date: 5-21-24 , read 5-18-24

Rating: 4/5 ⭐

Spice level 4/5 🌶️

🤷🏾‍♀️WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ Adult Fic
✨ Sapphic Romance
✨ LGBTQIA+
✨ reality TV (think The Bachelor)
✨ dating competition
✨ Jewish rep

⚠️: homophobia

Summary: Krystin and Lauren are contestants on Hopelessly Devoted reality TV show. The bachelor Josh Rosen has 33 women compete for a chance to marry him. As Krystin and Lauren grow closer while capturing Josh's heart, who will win?

Characters

- 🚺 FMC -Krystin 23, the rodeo queen of Montana. Into competitive rodeo, actually looking for a husband.

-🚺 FMC-Lauren C. 25,a social media influencer looking to gain followers from being on the show. Hasn't told her family she's gay.

🥰 What I liked:
- A genuinely nice man in Josh Rosen 27,-the Jewish bachelor on the show
- Krystin being the queen of the rodeo and love of horses
-Great nod to the movie "10 Things I Hate About You"
- The challenges they have to do to impress Josh
- Lauren and her sister Rachel rekindling their relationship

😞 What I didn't like:
-Lauren having to "come out" to her parents and followers
-Delia-Krystin's old BFF is highly judgmental of Krystin being on the show

🤔My Thoughts: This was a solid sapphic romance with 2 likeable heroines. I even enjoyed Josh and how honest he was with the women. I loved that Lauren's ex boyfriend Damon became her BFF once they knew they weren't meant to be. I can't end without giving a shoutout to one of my favorite movies "Grease," and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's rendition of "Hopelessly Devoted."

🙏🏿Thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Dreamscape Media for this ARC and ALC💖! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

Thank you Alcove Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

- I really struggled to cheer for the MCs because of how selfish some of their decisions were. I think a lot of my issues come from how far they go in the competition. The line of what is cheating for someone on a reality tv show where one guy is dating 20 women is a little strange, but the way it's written felt really dishonest.
- This was made even ickier with how persistently kind Josh was, which made both MCs look worse in comparison.
- I struggled with Lauren's reasons to stay in the closet, and the conversation she has with her friend about being in the closet was strange (why does he have to stay in the closet because she is? Her having an ex-boyfriend who is gay wouldn't mean that she also has to be gay?)
- A lot of this felt really tongue-in-cheek and cheesy, but that didn't mix well with the more earnest parts. It's strange as a reader to see so much criticizing reality dating shows, but then also see the last chunk making it seem like reality dating isn't fake.

I really wanted to love this book based on the premise alone, but the characters just didn't really work for me. There are some fun and cute moments, but the two main characters had hardly any chemistry. The build up to their relationship was practically nonexistent and it kind of felt like that first kiss came out of nowhere. Lauren was written in a way that made it a bit hard to want to root for her. I think this book could be really great but the two women need to have more of a connection in the first half.