Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't gel with this book, I tried reading it pre-publication and then a second time more recently but I just couldn't for the life of me get invested into this story enough to continue. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to read this book, but it just wasn't for me and so I did not finish this book.

This just wasn't for me. I read romance books mostly for the humour and the silliness but this book didn't have any. For me, the tone is everything in romance, and the tone here was way too serious for my taste. It didn't have that light-hearted tone that I usually look for in romance books. Nothing wrong with the book though, it just wasn't my cup of tea. If you don't want you romance novels with a good chunk of humour then maybe this will work for you.

Such a bad representation of plus size women. This couldve been soooo sooo much better. I understand that this is just one plus size womans opinion but i had to dnf this book

Not a bad book, but not for me. I don't really think I amthe target aaudience. It was nice to see a plus size heroine who was not a figure of fun for once though.

I loved this story. The fact that she was plus size added to the enjoyment, as I feel this is rarely included in romantic novels, without it being added for comedic purposes. Putting the plus side element to one side, this is still an amazing story.

Though I liked the pace of this book and the format with the narrative interwoven with excerpts of twitter posts, articles and podcast transcripts I just could not "fall in love" with the main character, I found her incredibly judgemental, hypocritical and frankly very immature so I spent most of my time reading this book eye-rolling.

I’m sorry but I did not like this book at all and I ended up stopping reading at 30%, then skipping to the end and reading the last 10%.

It wasn’t badly written at all and I can understand why people would like it, but I found it to be an uncomfortable read. Although I understand that the author was trying to be very body positive and celebrating all sizes, I found that it felt forced and it was unpleasant to read.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of One To Watch in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, 10% of the way through, I thought this was going to be a DNF but I pushed on - I have a 15% rule - and I did find my self a little bit invested ad I did end up wanting to know how it would all pan out, but overall? Not the book for me.

As addictive as a reality TV Show, Bea is our unlikely plus size heroine starring in a dating show trying to lift it's ratings by breaking the typical routine of stick thin wannabe models that normally traipse through..Along the way she learns about herself, and anybody who was ever bullied for being different to what society dictates we should aspire to be will relate to this painful process. Wrapped up in the delightful snackfood wrapper this is a story with real heart. Loved it!

I have to be completely honest, when I first read the premise of the book I thought I'd enjoy it, but I just fell completely in LOVE with this!

I think seeing Bea develop I just enjoyed it so much!

Bea is a plus size fashion blogger in LA who’s spent the last 10 years pining after her best friend Ray. After they sleep together & he ghosts her (he’s engaged too...not great life choices), Bea is devastated. She posts a wine induced rant on the lack of body diversity in a reality show (based on The Bachelor) called ‘Main Squeeze’ which is widely shared & ends up with her being asked to be on the show to find love and champion body positivity to boost ratings for the show and further her own career.

Along the way she encounters vicious trolling, bullying, phobias & fetishisation. Will she find love?

I liked this book a lot. I didn’t always agree with the decisions Bea makes, but I wanted her to find love and come to accept herself even more. The ending wasn’t what I wanted either....but still I enjoyed it! This book has put a big effort into being socially conscious and has diverse characters. Loved the twists and turns and seeing behind the scenes of reality tv.

Thank you to #Netgalley and the publisher for my free advance copy of #OneToWatch in return for an unbiased review.

Wow! What an open and honest novel from a totally different prospective.
I don't blog or follow fashion but from the start, in Paris, an insecure Bea Schumacher finds a cloak that changes her and when she wears it becomes a much more confident woman and so her love of fashion begins.
Fast forward a few years and Bea is a well known fashion blogger and after a drunken night of tweeting her negative opinions of a TV show, similar to The Bachelor/Bachelorette , she finds herself invited on to star in it herself.
She will meet 25 men go on dates to filter out a possible future husband, her insecurities are there for show, what's real?, what's not?
Will she meet the love of her life or has she bitten off more than she can chew?
The insight to the TV show is fascinating and the truthfully written views on plus size women are astounding.
A great escapist read

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

Unpopular opinion! Contains spoilers!

The premise: plus size woman, who is body positive and fashionable, is looking for love on a The Bachelorette-like show.

Bea is a plus size fashion blogger. She’s been pining after her best friend for years. They share one night together after which Ray, who’s engaged, basically ghosts Bea. After a wine induced social media rant about a reality TV show, the producers of the show want Bea to be their next bachelorette to find love among 25 contestants.

Bea is hesitant to go on the show, knowing what kind of trolling she might have to deal with due to it. She still signs the contract and meets the initial 25 men. The majority of them are handsome and not at all what Bea had expected. Here we get my first big issue: although body positive on the outside, Bea is not very positive on the inside. She’s insecure and despite the evidence pointing to the opposite she thinks the men despise her for her size.

I have the feeling that the author had a list of boxes that needed ticking while writing this book. Include a gay person, a black person, an asian person, someone asexual, someone who’s gender non-conform, someone with a fat-fetish, … They are all there! Are they handled well? Nope! Scratched at the surface of what would have been possible. Used as cliché? You bet!

Same for the body positivity. Do we get to see Bea eat healthy? Enjoy a dance lesson? Nope! We are being told that she eats healthy, but then her shopping list contains only snacks, not a single veggie. She tells us she does yoga and cross fit, but nearly freaks out when some of the love interests are personal trainers. Perfect opportunity to show that you don’t have to be stick thin to be fit.

Ray! Bleurgh! A guy who cheats on his fiancée with his best friend? Then there is radio silence? And she keeps pining after this guy?! A girl who takes her best friend to bed knowing he’s engaged to another woman? *hand me a bucket, please* Suddenly he shows up, a week before the finale show, to make sure she knows he loves her before she accepts the hand of another man. Bea’s best friend Skypes in and tries to reason with Bea, but, of course, they argue about the idiot who has been stringing Bea on for the past decade. And, of course, on their date Ray has lots of arguments why he suddenly noticed that Bea is the woman he wants to spend his life with. *where’s that bucket?*

Cue the very predictable finale!

Thanks to NetGalley for an eReader copy of this book to review - my thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a (former) plus size blogger and size activist, I really felt seen by about 50% of One to Watch.

From Bea's drunken rant on her blog about reality TV, to her long term unrequited (??) love affair, to her doomed attempts at online dating - her pre MainSqueeze (The Bachelorette, right??) life hits a little to close to home if I'm honest - but that is the power and the warmth of this. You don't always like Bea. You don't always agree with her decisions but by golly are you gunning for her at the end.

One to Watch is not preachy (and it could have been), it is not twee (and booooooy, it could have been), and it's not predictable either - and that is refreshing in the romance novel sector, amirite?

I can't wait for the paperback copy of this to come out to add to my shelves - and I really want to see the formatting for the interesting little vigrettes - the podcast transcripts, the email trails, the whatsapp groups - all great insights which really added something to the way I viewed / followed the story.

This was a good book. Watching Bea develop throughout was heart warming and seeing her open up and let people in was just lovely. Definitely worth a read.

It’s refreshing, relaxing and motivational. This is not only plus size fashion blogger’s journey to find her love of her life, it’s her inner journey to realize she deserved to be loved, cared and she have to make peace with her appearance and inner fears to live brighter future she dreamed of.

Bea Schumacher’s life changes when she takes a trip in Paris (lately I read so much books about the city and I start to believe it has its own magical powers!) and change her fashion style, gaining more self-confidence and voila, she starts making videos, finding her power at social media with her creative ideas and now she gets offer from Main Squeeze reality show. Her brand new occupation requires fantasy dates! Another version Blind Date meets Bachelor meets Love is Blind (my husband started to watch it, can you believe it? I’m afraid the home quarantine will eventually fry the rest of his brain cells!)

Bea’s heart is already broken after her long time crush a. k. a her best friend (she should make better friend choices!) and she had a one night stand and he ghosted her! Yes, bastard ruined her self-esteem and now she deserves to have fun. And maybe but just maybe, she can find someone she may truly fall in love.

I think her dating parts are a little superficial, unrealistic but the parts about Bea’s inner fight, her vulnerability and her insecurities prevent her share true self with the world are remarkable. Those sincere parts help us connect with the heroine and understand her pain, her struggle and her need of approval.

I really enjoyed this!! One really nice touch was the variety of methods of storytelling - emails, text threads, and podcast transcripts as well as a more standard prose. The characters all felt real and I really believed their struggle. The representation was real and fully explored (unlike in some other books I’ve read recently). 10/10 would recommend

After reading the blurb I wasn’t sure whether I would like this book and to be honest I did not like this .... I loved it!!

Bea is a plus size fashion blogger with numerous followers,. She wants to show the world you can still be confident and beautiful no matter what size you are.

Bea is approached by the producer of the show “The Main Squeeze” after ranting online about the show’s lack of body diversity. She will get the chance to fall in love with the bachelors on the show who are vying for her affection.

This book is funny and at times emotional. I loved Bea’s personality and was hooked even though I have never watched the show “The Bachelor” who knows maybe I will take a peek now!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Bea is a plus size blogger with a disastrous love life. She's been in love with Ray for years on a sort of friends with benefits basis but after a passionate night together Ray disappears. She finds out that he's got engaged to another woman
Her friend persuades her to go on the reality romance show The Main Squeeze where a contestant has to choose from 25 suitors who are whittled down to one who she must get engaged to on the series finale.
There has never been a plus size person on the show so Bea is a trailblazer for normal women.
This was a very easy book to get into and I enjoyed trying to guess what Bea would do next. I'm not familiar with The Batchelorette which is supposed to be the template on which the book is based but I imagine it was pretty close to the way TV companies manipulate the goings on to get ratings.
However. I feel that the book could have been edited a little bit because by 2/3rds of the way through it started to drag and become a bit of a slog. Once I got to the final part though the pace picked up and I started enjoying it again.
Although not my usual genre of fiction overall a good romp