The Villain Edit is the story of Jac, a reality show contestant who refuses to play by the producers’ rules. As a romance writer, Jac understands the power of story. And so does Marcus, the star of the show who is looking for love. Jac is simply one of his options. But as Jac gets to know Marcus and the manipulations of the show are revealed, she must decide whether she wants the fairytale or something real.

The Villain Edit is a compulsive read that you won’t be able to put down! Similar to watching a reality show trainwreck, you can’t look away. Jac is a delightful and morally gray character who isn’t afraid to step on some toes. Her relationship with Henry was complex and both of them made mistakes. The ending was satisfying and I enjoyed the reveals along the way. If you like morally gray heroines, bingeable reality tv, and unputdownable stories then you need to check out The Villain Edit!

Thank you to Laurie Devore, Avon, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Instagram, Storygraph, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc.

A friend brought this book onto my radar after we had a lengthy conversation about celebrity/fame books, and man am I glad she did. This is actually my second full five-star read of 2024, and I am just so genuinely obsessed with it. Spectacularly messed up and addictive, The Villain Edit explores what it means to be the villain in everyone’s story—and how to find your happy ending no matter the cost.

Jacqueline Matthis is a romance author whose career recently crashed after her publisher cancelled her books. After a few months of wallowing, she suddenly decides to go on the 1, a Bachelor-type dating reality show, as a means of improving her public persona. Once Jac arrives, she has instant chemistry with Marcus, the lead, but everything soon comes crashing down when she runs into Henry Foster, the only producer she hadn’t met prior to the show—and coincidentally the man she had a one-night stand with the day before filming started. As she navigates the complexity and toxicity of a reality show set, she soon discovers that she’s getting the villain edit and must decide what she actually wants.

Again, I cannot stress how genuinely obsessed with this book I am. I read maybe 20% in one day and was like, okay she’s good, and then somehow the next day I got so sucked in and read the rest of the book in one sitting over the course of some 7 hours. So yeah, it’s that serious for me.

I loved how complex Jac’s characterization is. Her voice is snarky and up-front and not afraid to get on your bad side, a self-admitted bitch. On the other hand, though, she’s so tired of being “too much” for every guy she’s ever dated; she just wants to find love, someone who will finally accept all of her. She wants so badly to be special and to be recognized for being special, and when her career came crashing down, she didn’t really know how to cope. Going on the show is clearly some amount of self destruction (and a lot of her actions on the show are too).

There’s also something to be said how her character shines even in this over-produced and heavily-manipulated reality show setting. Jac is so contrary and stubborn that she won’t play the game and ingratiate herself to the other contestants. While she doesn’t necessarily do anything to provoke them (that’s mainly the producers’ job), she doesn’t exactly try to make them like her in any capacity. That’s not the type of person she is: she’d rather be real than good, someone people love to hate just because they’re not doing the same thing as them.

And that’s what makes her relationship with Henry so good! Henry is similarly not by any means a great person; I mean, to be a producer for a reality show, you kinda have to leave your morals at the door. You, as the reader, know that he’s manipulating Jac and she knows that he’s manipulating her, but there’s also something so real between them that makes him irresistible to her, and vice versa. He sees her and she sees him and they understand each other so fundamentally that they can have literal conversations in loaded glances and one-word subtext.

Of course, there’s some difficulty in all this since everything’s mixed in with the lies. I won’t deny that their relationship is toxic, especially at the beginning (and throughout?), but that’s what makes it so, so good. Jac does get the upper hand on him at one point, and from then on, you’re just along for the ride honestly.

I also really liked the side characters! Going in, I thought Marcus would be some boring stock character who’s an obstacle to the main romance despite being the lead of the 1. However, he proved to be a very intriguing character with his own interests. I liked that Jac genuinely liked him before going on the show, mostly because she saw a lot of herself in him. This made her undeniable tension with Henry even better, the fact that she had good chemistry with, you know, the man she’s supposed to fall in love with yet still couldn’t stay away from the one man she’s supposed to avoid.

The only one of the contestants that Jac has a good relationship with is Rikki, whom I loved. Their lives are drastically different, yet Jac takes her under her wing while Rikki sees through the character the producers have cast Jac as. Instead, she sees Jac’s good heart, underneath all that bravado. I really loved their strong bond and their scenes together.

This book was a bit longer than I expected since it covers the entire exhausting process of filming a reality show, as well as some interspersed snippets from the present as the season is airing. I am actually glad that it was so long because I got to enjoy that much more of the book, which is an outstanding compliment coming from me honestly. I kept looking at my reading progress and being like, wow we’re not even halfway through yet (said positively)?? So much is packed into the first half, and by the time I got to the last 10%, I was racing through it because I so desperately needed to know what happened but also didn’t want the story to be over.

Anyways, The Villain Edit was one of my absolute favorite reads of the year, one that I know that I’ll come back to over and over again. In fact, I ended up rereading the book a week or so after finishing it the first time because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in, I don’t know. I still can’t recommend The Villain Edit enough, especially if you’re a fan of addictive, slightly toxic romances with heroines who are always cast as the villain!

The Villian Edit by Laurie Devore. This book hooked me from the start with its unique voice and tone. A dark look at the behind the scenes of overproduced reality bachelor type dating shows through the eyes of a misanthropic female MC Jac. Jac believed people her whole life, who said she was special until she moved to NYC and realized special is a dime a dozen there. Her debut novel fails, and she feels washed-up by the age of 32. She signs up for The 1, because she feels a kinship with the male lead and thinks being on the show, with her affected cool girl personna, will boost her books sales. The night before filming starts, she hooks up with Henry, after some smart banter, only to find out he's her producer on the show.

This book was so smartly written. It reminded me of a millennial take on a turn of the century comedy of manners, where every statement has a double meaning, and you have to be on your toes to understand the characters' true intentions. Jac could easily have been an unlikable character with her quips and better-than-you attitude. However, Devore allows us to slowly see the cracks in her veneer and insecurities even while Jac acts like a bad bitch saying things to other girls you always wished you could say but couldn't come up with til hours after the confrontation.

Henry and Marcus (the bachelor like character) were also well drawn and complex. Their true intentions evolving slowly over time. Loved fast friend Rikki, who is more than just a party girl. Appreciated the diversity in this book. Some of the PA characters blended together. The ending was unexpected. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Devore. 4.5 stars. Thanks to Net Galley and Avon Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was so fun and addicting— exactly like reality tv! I loved how she recognized the flaws of the process and couldn’t help getting swept up in it all anyway. I wish I had hated the bachelor more.

“And that’s not what I meant, it’s never what I meant, because the happiness I need is so much bigger than romance or fairy tales or beautiful dinners where I starve because starving is how everyone might like me best. That’s not real. That’s not what I want. But that’s what this show is. It’s not about bone-deep sorrow or aching loss or anything that really matters. It’s about a happy ending, however it has to come. And I’m here to play along.”



Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this read now copy on NetGalley.

This book was a wild ride! It follows Jaqueline as she goes onto a Bachelor type dating show, not intending to fall in love but to play a likeable character and help her book sales. Things don’t go quite as planned, as she has no interest in making friendships with the other girls and is being manipulated by the producers (one of whom she starts to have feelings for) into revealing more about herself than she intended. She starts to realize that the producers may be giving her the villain edit.

I haven’t watched the Bachelor, but I love Love is Blind and reality competition shows like Project Runway. Books like this are definitely in my wheelhouse (I loved Curtis Sittenfield’s Eligible and enjoyed One to Watch by Kate Stayman). I loved The Villain Edit. It was everything good reality competition tv is—juicy, messy, gossipy, drama filled, scandalous—but it also went much deeper and examined the misogyny of this industry and how these shows are edited to be “good tv” instead of necessarily portraying the truth and always giving context to why someone said something, etc. I like that Jaqueline slowly found herself over the course of the book and found a way to regain her autonomy and speak her truth.

I would highly recommend this book for others like myself who love reality television and who enjoy complex, flawed characters. This would make a really excellent beach read for any upcoming vacations and conveniently comes out right before the Fourth of July.

4.5 stars out of 5

Despite long ago giving up my weekly Bachelor watching, I will read any book with a Bachelor-esque premise.
In The Villain Edit, Jac signs up for the 1 to save her plummeting writing career, and winds up in a love triangle with a producer AND being portrayed as the season’s villain.
I was not surprised to see the author’s note mention Courtney Robertson’s (fantastic) Bachelor memoir, as Jac’s biting sense of humor felt very inspired by Courtney’s turn as the villain.
Overall this was fine! There’s the possibility I’ve read too many Bachelor inspired books and despite the villain twist I’m not sure I found this one memorable enough to recommend highly.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Really really fun novel! If you like reality TV at all, it’s really engaging to read from the perspective of a contestant and get that behind the scenes look at the production. I also loved the chemistry between her and Henry— I felt their relationship jump off the page. This was drama heavy and an AMAZING summer read— I felt like I was on a beach devouring a season of the show.

I've been on sucha great reading streak lately and this one is another A+. Juicy, for fans of The Bachelor /Bachelorette, you'd love this. thanks netgalley + the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such such a great read, I really enjoyed reading the drama and comedy element in this and how everything worked together in this story. The characters were everything that I was looking for and thought the villain element was a unique way of showing how TV makes a villain. Laurie Devore has a great writing style and the characters were everything that I was looking for. The romance element was everything that I wanted and enjoyed getting through this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the copy of The Villain Edit ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to really like this book. I found the premise to be intriguing and looked forward to getting some reality TV bts drama. There was lots of drama but most of it was very confusing and flat.
*Spoilers to follow*
We follow Jac, who is a failing author, after she writes a romance novel where the FMC chooses career over love. Then her series flops. She is struggling to find her way back and desperately auditions for the dating show called The 1, in the hopes of creating enough publicity to sell her books.
However, she quickly is perceived as the villain of the season and, therefore, gets backlash from watchers.

The problem I have is Jac was being unnecessarily rude and aloof, so it really was not a stretch for her to be casted as the villain. I understand the author was just to make her more rebellious than villianous, but instead she came off to be has completely lost and in need of some therapy.

Once she gets on the show, we learn that she has no interest in romance and is actually there to simply sell her books, which is fine, but then it switches and Jac acts as though she may actually consider romance with the male lead Marcus on the show until she finds out he is calculating and as fake as everybody else on the shows crew. It threw me off bc she had. Clear motive to sell books and then we switched to her having a connection to him from his previous season.

Meanwhile, Jac is having a relationship with a producer, Henry. I felt as though Henry was just as lost and in need of self discovery as Jac and their entire relationship was toxic and lust filled.

I did like how it ended with Jac getting her voice back after being quieted and manipulated for so long.

Overall, it was ok but definitely not without flaws.

As a previous fan of The Bachelor/The Bachelorette this book intrigued me.

Jac, our villain of the book is a failed “romance” writer who signs up the the show called The 1 hoping to boost her failing career. The fictional show is based off the bachelor. Jac is more the antihero of the book. Some people reading it might think of her as the villain for her quick wit comebacks and not putting up with other people’s problems within the book. But to me she never seemed like the proper villain.

Going into the book I knew it would either be a hit or miss with me. I was a bit surprised with it but ended up loving it and reading it within a day wanting to know what happens. This would be a great summer read!

Honestly, Jac (the main character) reminds me of Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar. I think it’s her caustic wit and self destructive tendencies.

This book is all very meta with the Bachelor esque reality show and Jac being a romance book author. There is Jac the person’s character arc happening parallel to Jac the reality show contestant’s story arc. You know the story arc Jac will take in the show, as it’s the title of the book. Articles, blogposts, group chat texts, social media comments, and podcast transcripts are included in between chapters to show how the public is receiving the show as it airs. This helps illustrate the differences of Jac’s lived experiences versus the edited and spliced version showcased on tv. The Villain Edit delivers a clear-eyed and unromanticized view of reality tv that feels authentic. It gives blistering commentary on the inherent sexism that is knowingly used by the makers and producers of the dating show.

Now for the romance, it is all messiness and drama in a good way. The main characters can be unlikeable and say/do questionable things, but you end up liking them all the more for it in the end. Love when characters can be actual human beings and not just cardboard cutouts of desirable traits. There is an uneven power dynamic but it doesn’t go unacknowledged and is wrestled with throughout the novel.
I will definitely be rereading this and picking up a copy when it becomes available in July.

Wow this was a surprising read; not what I expected but so I really dug it. It was engaging and juicy, I wasn’t sure where it was going but I was very invested. Absorbing and fun no matter what your stance on reality tv is.

Laurie Devore will catch your interest immediately from page one and never let it go!

How to feel about romance novelist Jacqueline "Jac" Matthis? She is a somewhat failed author, still determining her identity and self worth and suffering from an extra large case of imposter syndrome. Her big book contract has imploded so she is forced to move home from NYC. What can she do next? She is going to be a contestant on "The 1", the most popular reality dating show.

Jas is a romance author, she is well aware of what to say, what to do and when to say and do it and it isn't long before she is a top contender for Marcus the show's bachelor. She is sailing away on her well executed plan when she learns that the producers are actually casting her as the villian. Can Jac save her reputation? Will she find love on the show? Can she ever get out of her own way? You may not like all of Jac's choices but she is surely one of the most real characters I have read in popular fiction. She is one too root for, especially if you have ever found yourself to be the villain!

If you love Reality Shows..watched every episode of UNREAL or The Bachelor, or maybe just love romance in general, The Villain Edit ifs for you ! #avonandharpervoyager #avonbooks #harpervoyager #lauriedevore #thevillainedit

First, thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely salivate over “behind the scenes” Hollywood fiction, especially surrounding reality TV, so this was right up my alley. Our story is a peek behind the curtain of a “The Bachelor”-esque reality dating show called 𝘵𝘩𝘦 1, and we follow Jacqueline “Jac” Matthias as the contestant we all love to hate.

This book shows the dark side of editing that goes into these shows; how each person becomes a “character” in the story of the producers and how little control any “reality” star has over their likeness. It’s something I’d argue most of us are aware of, but the depth of it is unmatched in this book.

There’s some romance here (briefly open-door)- but not necessarily between the leading man, Marcus, and any particular contestant. The almost love triangle that is created here - through a web of lies and deception- is almost like trying to follow a mystery.

I liked this book, but I’ll tell you why it’s 3.5 and not 4 stars for me. First, no one in this story is even remotely likable and I found it hard to care when bad things befell any of them. Second, I wasn’t as engaged with it as I’ve been with other similar books. It was good, but didn’t really draw my interest. I was able to put it down and read other books.

In the end, I enjoyed the salaciousness of it; the gossiping, the behind the scenes look, the villainous editing (to the credit of the title). It was an easy and fast read, and I’d read others by this author. Also, that cover is straight up gorgeous!

This one releases July 2, and if you love reality TV, I definitely feel you should pick this one up!

This was messy, dark, complicated, cringey and had all the right ingredients for a reality tv behind the curtain sort of read.

I loved it! I think my only complaint is the pacing was off. Things would stall or speed ahead and there wasn’t ever a flow.

However I loved this. I loved the behind the curtain. I love a messy main character. And I loooooved the end. The twist. The turn. So good

Stalled romance author Jac joins the cast of a popular dating reality show for publicity reasons. She has a one-night stand prior to the start of taping with Henry who is (unbeknownst to her) one of the show's producers. Henry hates his job but doesn't feel he can leave. Jac is rudderless and desperate for a publishing comeback. This is not a feel-good, cozy story and there's a lot of jagged edges here. Classifying this as a romance feels inaccurate, and describing it as a "dramedy" also didn't feel right. It's more of a character study and a biting commentary on the falseness and manipulations of created fame, with multiple dysfunctional relationships and a darker romantic sub-plot. The author writes the reality show filming process like it's a social experiment in manipulation. Honestly, it's believable.

I struggled with the main characters as I found them to be so unlikable (both apart and together) that it was hard to root for them. Jac had a hardness to her which made it tricky to warm up to her. She's complex and harsh, and there's a push-pull with her personality that as a reader I found difficult to fully process. I didn't really like Henry and I don't like the uneven balance of power that existed in his relationship with Jac. Almost everything Henry did felt manipulative, almost to the very end. And the bulk of the book is less about their romantic relationship and more about the superficiality and misogyny and voluntary exploitation that takes place on romance reality shows. If that's what you're looking for then this is the story for you. But this book just wasn't for me: I found it difficult to finish, although I did see it through to the end where the resolution and lighter tone of the ending didn't quite seem to fit with the bulk of the story. I ultimately gave it 3 stars because it was well written overall, but I really didn't enjoy this read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! I always enjoy stories based on the world of reality TV, particularly The Bachelor franchise, and THE VILLAIN EDIT is now a definite favorite. The story follows Jacqueline Matthis, a struggling romance novelist whose career isn't quite where she wants it to be. She's abandoned the bright lights of NYC for her South Carolina hometown, and has been feeling more than a little lost lately. Soon, Jac comes up with a plan—she'll become a contestant on the hit reality dating show, the 1. She'll find her own love story, or create more buzz about the ones she's already been writing. But soon after Jac arrives on set, her scheme begins to go awry. She finds herself torn between Marcus, the lead of the 1, and Henry, one of the show's longtime producers, who Jac had a one-night stand with right before the filming started, not realizing who he was. On top of that, Jac's getting the villain edit, as the contestant the audience—and even some of the other women competing for Marcus's heart—loves to hate. Can Jac find happiness, success, and maybe even true love, or will she fall short of the happily-ever-after?

THE VILLAIN EDIT is entertaining, well-written, and positively unputdownable! In all my years of watching The Bachelor, I've become really fascinated by the role production plays in the show, how they build contestants up behind-the-scenes, only to tear them down with a single "Frankenbit" line or poorly placed clip, turning a complex, multifaceted person into simply a "villain" (or whichever other role production wants them to fill). And while I've definitely been invested in Bachelor Nation's latest couple, Joey and Kelsey, lately, I think this story is an important reminder that the public doesn't necessarily know how "real" these relationships are, and what is truly going on behind the rose-colored glow of the show. Laurie Devore is clearly so knowledgeable about these types of shows, as she does such a great job of building the world of the 1, and showing how just because Jac sometimes makes messy decisions or gets pulled into drama, it doesn't mean she's a horrible person with no chance of redemption, or unworthy of love. I also just enjoyed Devore's writing style overall—it was so smart and bitingly funny! The mixed media element was another huge highlight for me. I loved the inclusion of things like Reddit threads, Slack group chats, publishing announcements, blog posts, articles, and beyond, that added to the story and further highlighted the many ways in which Jac was being perceived by different people. The romance was similarly well-done, but I think the real strength of THE VILLAIN EDIT is in Jac's story and the development she undergoes throughout. She's a complicated character, who isn't always likable, but is always interesting to follow! I particularly liked reading about her career as a romance novelist/what she enjoyed about writing romance, and how all of that relates to her personality and some of the choices she makes. And regardless of how you may feel about her early on in the story, I think so many readers will be rooting for her by the story's clever ending. Needless to say, I would highly recommend THE VILLAIN EDIT—it's a definite must-read this summer, especially for Bachelor fans who are getting ready for Jenn's season! I can't wait to see what Laurie Devore writes next. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

It's obvious that there are readers who loved this novel, but I admittedly did not make it past the first chapter. I'm thrilled for the author that there are readers who were captivated by the plot and characters.

So, I've read a few of these. One to Watch and The Charm Offensive, both of which I've greatly enjoyed which is ironic because I don't watch reality TV. I simply haven't seen much and what I have, I generally have decided isn't for me. But OMG was this fun! I don't know what it is about these books but they're so incredibly bingable! I read this mostly in one sitting and didn't get bored or tired or need breaks. It's a short, quick read and the first half is mostly stupid reality TV drama with catty women (which the main character repeatedly calls out, making it a bit meta), high tension and an amount of pining that has me kicking my feet and squealing into the early hours of the morning.

The Villain Edit follows Jac, a failing romance author, who applies for a long-running reality TV show called The One. Selected as a contestant, she curates a relatable character to showcase, when, before filming, she topples into bed for one last one-night-stand before internet fame and hopefully more sold copies of her books! Sparks fly and when she arrives on location, she stumbles upon her one night stand again. Only this time, it's his job to get her to fall for a man he seems to greatly dislike. Agreeing to keep it quiet for the sake of both their careers, drama ensues.

My main problem with this would be the reality TV aspect of it, haha! It's pretty cliche and taps all the classic girl-drama you'd expect. Oddly enough, I actually had a lot of fun with it. As a raging feminist, I started off a bit put-off, but it's clearly called out and that aspect of the story is what makes it into what it is.

My main problem was mostly how cringy it felt in the beginning with the main character recognizing and having a problem with the shallow-ness of the other women on the show. It felt a little too on-the-nose as well as a little too much girl-against-girl which is really hard for me to get on board with. Originally I was going to drop the rating because of this, but it ended up being a larger factor in the story, which made it so captivating! Jac is a 30-something, well past petty drama and banter, so when she's picked on by the other cast members, she avoids conflict which comes across as hotty and bitter, thus our title.

As previously mentioned, the beginning is a bit cliche and silly but it becomes so much more fun and includes a lot of emotional drama that really hits home. I ended up feeling very emotional about the female friendships formed, and also the expectation of how women turn on one another so quickly. The friendships and situationships formed here are fascinating to watch play out as the lines between work and the emotions of real people are on the line.

The romance seems to be on the sidelines but becomes more prevalent as the book goes on. Open door, but no spice. I'm here for the pining and longing and the drama of it all, and boy does it deliver! I also very much ended up sincerely liking all the characters! I just had so much fun and wasn't expecting to be as emotional as I got. Highly recommend for an overnight binge-read. Prepare the tissues.

To put it simply, this book made me cry! I began the book having fun and enjoying the ride and ended up an emotional mess!