ONE TO WATCH BY KATE STAYMAN-LONDON

9/30/2020

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London just may be my absolute favorite book of 2020! I was enthralled and captivated by this tale of reality tv and love. I highly recommend it!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Genre: Chick Lit. Romantic Comedy.
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 418 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

USA TODAY BESTSELLER • Real love . . . as seen on TV. A plus-size bachelorette brings a fresh look to a reality show in this razor-sharp, “thoroughly charming” (Hillary Clinton) debut.

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers—and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition—under no circumstances will she actually fall in love.

She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, wickedly observant debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men—and herself—for a chance to live happily ever after.

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READ MY BOOK REVIEW

My Rating: 5 Stars
Tropes: Reality TV | Romance | Chick Lit | Women's Fiction

I’m going to say it: 𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞. It’s fun, refreshing, empowering, and overall a breath of fresh air! How many books out there are geared towards loving ourselves despite our weight, or mental health, or anything that makes us DIFFERENT? Hardly any! I can think of maybe a handful or two and that’s it. This one though, it pushes the boundaries and stands out. Our heroine Bea is a plus sized lady, and she is NOT ashamed of who she is. Sure, it’s hard to hear other people bash her simply because she doesn’t conform to beauty expectations about weight, but she believes in herself and she believes in women in all shapes and sizes. So how can she show the world that bigger ladies are important too? 𝗕𝗬 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪, 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗘𝗭𝗘!

Bea’s journey on Main Squeeze is not an easy one. You’ve seen The Bachelor, right? All these men vying for one woman’s attention. What’s not to love about that, right? But for Bea, things are a bit harder. Some men aren’t there for the right reasons and some are fine with humiliating her and making themselves a villain for their vile opinions. Those who are there for the right reasons have a hard time too because Bea is not the easiest person to love as she is deeply insecure despite her reasonings for being on the show in the first place. As the show progresses though, we see Bea change and we see her fall for a few people who have the best of intentions. Question is, who will she choose?

One to Watch is a delightful, funny read! This book took a hold of my heart and didn’t let it go until the very end. There were moments I wanted to cry for Bea and moments I was rooting for her. But most of all, I laughed along with the shenanigans, the side characters and other things that make this book truly unique: the news articles, the “game” bracket, and all the cute little things that popped up throughout the book.

My friends, 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗜 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥! Powerful, uplifting reads with amazing characters and unique plots! I truly hope the author continues to write books like this because I am obsessed right now and want to scream at everyone to read it! 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗧 and I recommend it to all readers!