On the face of this book, it sounds very much like your typical chick lit: woman with heartbreak in her past enters dating show where she gets opportunity to find love. There’s nothing wrong with this but I’m sure it would put some people off. However, the twist in the story and the way that it is told means it is definitely worth a read.

The main character, Bea, is a plus-size fashion blogger. The story therefore has a lot in it about body positivity, the struggles that women face to be positive about their bodies and the spectrum of reactions to body image that will, I’m sure, ring true, for a lot of women. The story is also told both in a traditional way and with twitter feeds, blogs and other social media styles being an integral part. This may not be to everyone’s tastes but once I got used to it, I found it refreshing.

While the premise of the story may not be particularly original, I thought it was great to see the realities of body positivity being discussed and I also thought the book was well written. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend to others, particularly as a good read for the summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

My thanks to John Murray Press/Two Roads for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘One to Watch’ by Kate Stayman-London in exchange for an honest review.

Bea Schumacher is a stylish plus-size fashion blogger with amazing friends and half a million Insta followers. Yet she’s not been lucky in love. Her weekly obsession is hit reality show Main Squeeze. It’s pure fantasy though Bea is sick to death of the lack of body diversity in its contestants. She writes a scathing blog post that goes viral. Lauren, the producer of the show, reaches out and invites Bea to be their next female contestant.

Bea is reluctant but allows herself to be convinced to do the show though she has no intention of actually falling in love. Yet when the cameras start to roll the couture outfits, elegant locations, and sexy suitors start to make her wonder if there might be a chance of happy ever after?

I have never watched an episode of this kind of reality show though was addicted to ‘UnREAL’, the behind-the-scenes satirical drama about a similar style of dating show.

‘One to Watch’ has a similar vibe to ‘UnREAL’ as it is peeking behind the curtain to expose the degree that the drama and romance is manufactured in order to boost ratings. Alongside Bea’s experiences Kate Stayman-London includes snippets from podcasts and social media buzz about the show.

Bea was a likeable protagonist and her journey was one that I am certain will speak to many. It was light and frothy. I found it a quick, feel good novel with real heart in its message about acceptance. A perfect summer read.

I’m not sure if the advanced readers copy formatting got in the way of my reading experience, but I just wasn’t blown away. In fact I had really high hopes for this book with its body positive storyline, but I just wasn’t that into it. All the way through it read exactly like a tv show (which I know was the point), but I feel I would of enjoyed it more as a tv show seeing the behind the scenes parts too.

I really like Bea as a character. Some of the situations she finds herself in where people treat her badly and differently just because of her size are horrendous. The inclusion of trolling comments are sadly things people do experience, however would like to point this out as a trigger warning.

Even though this wasn’t my favourite read, I will be interested in future books by this author.

I'm not a fan of reality television, so I'm as surprised as anyone when I say that I LOVED this book.

The cover made me read the description and there was just something about it that appealed to me. I think it was the fact that the central character, Bea Schumacher, was described as a "devastatingly stylish" blogger. This is not normally how plus-size characters are described and I immediately knew I wanted to read it.

Bea writes a blog post criticising the lack of diversity on her favourite dating reality show, Main Squeeze. It blows up and, to her surprise, she's approached to be the star of the next series. She agrees on the basis that it will boost her career and inspire others who look like her. In fact, there's a lovely line where Bea is asked what she's excited about the night of the premiere and she says:

"I'm excited for all the little girls who are going to watch this and think, She looks like me."

And, indeed, representation was something that this book did well. There was a decent attempt to subvert expectations. (I particularly liked the fact that one of the men who treated Bea badly because of her size was the only plus size man in the contest).

I loved Bea's character. She wasn't perfect and, in fact, there were a couple of moments when I winced at her overreacting or jumping to the wrong conclusion. However, this made her very human and relatable, and I was really on her side from very early on.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book for holiday reading,with a spiky heroine and an interesting premise.Bea Schumaker is a plus-size US fashion blogger,who writes a scathing critique of the reality show,Main Squeeze,for never using larger women.The show has one woman choosing her ideal man from a selected group ,with the goal of finding her perfect match. Because of this, the show's producer asks Bea to take part in order to prove that she's wrong.
Although the book shares many aspects of typical books of this genre,it also has a lot to say about the way larger women are perceived and the idea of 'fat shaming' comes up quite often,so it has a bit more substance than many similar books.
In the end I was cheering Bea for her decisions and was very satisfied with the way things turned out for her.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinions.

Bea, plus-size blogger, agrees to participate in dating reality show and promote plus-size women and of course not to fall in love.

How will she be excepted due to her weight?

Funny and enjoyable summer read.

Having men and women plus sizes on reality TV shows such as love island/the bachelorette, this is something that has been spoken about before. Whether the other contestants would still be attracted to someone who is plus size. When there are men and women that do appear on reality shows that are not the average size or a size that people dont see as the perfect body, its horrible to see how people on social media still think its ok to write horrible things about their body, the Internet trolls know that the reality stars are going to see these hurtful messages written about themselves and it can really affect their mental health when reading them.
Articles always talk about how good looking the bodies are of the men and women participating in the show as this is what makes the show attractive to the viewers by being able to look and part of what makes them desirable for the contestants. It has happened before on a reality show last year where a woman who was looking for love was judged on social media with comments for having bigger legs than what other women do. This shouldn't be what people are talking about. They don't think about how this could affect the mental health of the person the nasty comments are about.
It should be about their personality on the show, how they react to certain situations that happen to them and other contestants, luckily this did happen with the same contestant where she was praised with how she reacted when a guy chose another girl instead of her and she dealt with it well. However this didn't overshadow the nasty comments as this is something that was still thought about when she was on the screen and the need to project how they felt about her appearance.

The news articles in the book when it was announced that the main woman on the reality show would be plus size made such a big thing about her being plus size. Why should it be? It shows that not every woman has the same body size and not to be judged by it which the main character Bea clearly shows when she accepts the chance to be on the show. That plus sized women can also find love too.

I really like how Bea is thinking is this real, are they only pretending to like her to get far in the show as this what the audience always thinks when watching reality shows whether the reality stars are playing up to the cameras.

I thought that it jumped a bit with getting down to 10 men and the part where the suitors would meet her parents, I thought that this happened way too quick! At this point, there wasn't any serious enough relationships with any of the suitors for the parents to be involved as in reality shows this would normally happen when there is only a few people left! It didn't feel like the show had been on for long, and not much had happened for it to cut so quickly to this. I think that there should have been only a few men left when meeting the family and friends, I think there was around 5 men in the scene where they met her family and friends. Then Bea met the family and friends of the last 3 men which was good timing for this.

The podcast, news articles, group chat made it seem more realistic as this is what happens with shows like this where the audience get invested in watching people's love lives on TV and its interesting to see their reactions.

When there were 3 men left, I had no idea who Bea was going to choose so I felt that this kept me wanting to read to find out who it would be and if they was going to stay together after the show had ended.

I loved the drama which is what a reality show is all about! I'm happy with the ending, how the reunion show went and I dont think there was anything about the ending that I didn't like.

I really enjoyed reading this because I like to watch rubbish TV like dating shows and I've never read a book that has the same concept as this.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bea Schumacher is a fashion blogger and instagrammer, who is unlucky in love, due in large part to her being completely in love with her friend Ray, who is engaged to someone else. After finally having one amazing night with Ray, Bea is devastated when he ghosts her immediately afterwards, leaving her alone and going back to his life with his fiancée, and not responding to any communications from Bea. Fed up of having been lovelorn for so long, she grasps the opportunity with both hands when she is invited to be the next lead on the reality show Main Squeeze. The twist? Bea is plus- sized. Will people want to watch the show? Will the love interests want to participate? And could this be the way Bea finally finds out what - and who - she wants?

I really enjoyed this read, and enjoyed the reality show tropes that were well demonstrated on the show - manipulation by producers, visits to the families of the participants, the talking heads that are filmed throughout! Bea is an interesting character, and I liked that although she is plus sized and doesn’t always feel the most confident, she wasn’t apologetic for her size or shape. Some of the other characters aren’t particularly in-depth, but that’s understandable as there is a significant cast of character at the beginning, that gets whittled down as the story progresses. I really enjoyed the structure, getting perspectives from Twitter, groups on Slack chats and podcast transcripts, i thought that this lifted the story and kept the pace going.

A very good example of the genre, I would recommend this to any fans of reality tv as I think they’d really enjoy it!

Bea is a plus-size blogger, who got her heart broken by the man she has been secretely in love forever. After one evening of drinking in front of the dating reality show "Main Squeeze", she ends up being offered to be the next star in the next season of the show. She agrees in order to promote plus size woman, but she doesn't intend on falling in love. But it proves to be more difficult than she thought, between the genuinly nice guys and the one that are horrible to her because of her weight. Because while Bea is always showing confidence and pride to the wold, she doesn't always feel like that. This was a fun read with a lot of romantic moment.

So I have complicated thoughts about this. I enjoyed it - and even though I've only ever seen about 15 minutes of The Bachelor/Bachelorette (I'm from the UK) I've read enough about it to get the references and the inside peek at a reality TV show is fun. However, I really struggle with what genre this is. Most people on here are shelving it under Romance (if they're shelving it). NetGalley has it down as Romance/Women's fiction. After reading it, I think Women's fiction is more accurate, but it's very much sold as a romance - but for large parts of the book I wasn't sure how any of this was going to manage to work out happily ever after for Bea. But it sort of got there in the end. It's not even really Old School Chick Lit iykwim - and I know I hate that phrase, but I think that sort of late 90s early 00s vibe is more what's going on here except that it's not funny - and most of that stuff was. Oh this is tricky but thinking about it, I was sad when the book finished, so I liked it - I guess?!

I adored Bea's story and her chemistry with almost all the guys at the show. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time, and as an ace myself, I loved the representation, I wasn't expecting it and it was amazing!!
SPOILERS
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Also, I feel ashamed because I wasn't expecting the twist with Wyatt, I thought that him being a virgin was because he was in the (gay) closet, I didn't even thought of asexuality. Considering my own life, I should have seen it coming! But it was refreshing reading about asexuality when I was least expecting it. Great job, it felt great! And it's a bit sad that I wasn't thinking of that option because we get so little representation in media.

While this book is on the surface a rom com, and it has plenty funny moments, it actually deals with a lot of real life, hard hitting issues. Sometimes it is difficult to read, when comments and actions are aimed at Bea because of her size. We see her at her most vulnerable, despite the confident persona, the self stigma is all too real. Bea goes through phases where she doesn't believe anyone can be truly interested in her because of her size. Many of us will be able to identify with the issues. Funny moment for me was Bea's family "subtly" dealing with the two real horrors among the men. A good read on several levels. #netgalley #onetowatch

If you enjoy Big brother then this is for you as it is that bit better as gives you a behind the scenes read about all the gossip. 25 dates for one girl who is a overweight, what will they think of her? A laugh and a cry you can feel all her emotions in this story.

Bea Schumacher is a plus-size fashion blogger and a huge fan of the hit reality TV show Main Squeeze (which sounds very similar to The Bachelor/The Bachelorette). When she writes a blog post expressing her feelings about the lack of body diversity on the show, it goes viral, and the show's producer gets in touch to ask if she would be the star of the next season.

I loved everything about this book, and if you're a fan of reality TV then I think you'll enjoy it too!

Alongside the regular narration, the book is scattered with tweets, emails, and extracts from magazine articles. I thought it was really interesting to see this other perspective and commentary on the show, and it helped bring the story to life.

Bea isn't perfect. She makes mistakes, but this made her feel more realistic. It was fun to read about her getting to know each of the guys and open herself up to the possibility of romance. But, what I enjoyed the most was seeing her character development.

Although I'd classify this as a "Beach Read," it is neither fluffy nor predictable. There were times where I genuinely had no idea how it was going to end, and I loved that it kept me guessing. There was even a certain scene towards the end which made me shed a tear!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

CW: some of the social media comments made about Bea are extremely fatphobic, which was difficult to read

Thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a fun, easy read and I devoured it in a couple days, which at the moment is quite an unusual feat with homeschooling and a baby to look after!

The book is about Bea, a plus-sized blogger, who ends up being the star of a Bachelorette style reality dating show. It considers whether men would compete for a woman who doesn’t fit standard beauty ideals. It’s an interesting concept and delves well into the psyche of a larger woman. However, I was a little put off Bea’s character by her insistence that she was body positive and that she loved her body when she spent the entire book feeling insecure about her body and questioning anyone who said they found her attractive. I also found many of her actions to be callous, selfish and hypocritical, but I was somehow still routing for her to find love in the end.

I really enjoyed the mixed-media style of the writing. Mixing emails, articles and transcripts with traditional third person narrative helps to keep up the pace of the book and means you don’t get bogged down in unnecessary descriptions.

I thought the questions the book raises about traditional beauty standards were interesting. I’ve never really thought about how the term plus-size is only applied to women, as though it is more acceptable for a man to be big. I think the book does a good job of demonstrating how it feels to be a big woman and the insecurities that go with that but less of a good job in knocking down these insecurities/issues. Due to the fairytale nature of the book you have to accept that gorgeous men would fall for a woman who really does not love herself, and it was hard to see what it was that they liked about her because her personality was not great. It would have been more believable if she was genuinely a confident, smart, successful woman who just happened to be fat rather than a neurotic, deceitful, insecure person whose main positive character attribute seems to be that she likes clothes.

This book is a solid 4/5, I probably would have given it 5/5 if I had found Bea more likeable and if she had not slept with one man after telling another man she wanted to make a go of things with him. I thought that was unacceptable, the book seemed to think it was demonstrating that fat women can have great no strings sex too, but why would you want to when you claim you are looking for love?

Despite the issues I had with Bea, I thought this was a fun, well-written romp of a read with a great insight into the machinations of reality TV. If you love the TV show Unreal, you should definitely read this (and vice versa).

I devoured this book whole in a matter of hours – I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Bea, plus size blogger turned dating show star, as she juggles her own emotions about relationships, her body and how the world treats her, alongside the men that she is matched against. I loved how I was constantly changing my mind about who she is best suited to, and it felt like a real inside glimpse into what it must be like for a diverse candidate for these shows. The book also doesn’t shy away from the trolling that the plus size community is exposed to online, which can be very hard to read at times, but it tackles these issues with grace without it becoming all of Bea’s identity which I liked. Definitely a great read for any fans of show like The Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise, Love Island or Unreal,  or for a rom-com reader looking for a fresh take on a meet cute with a strong female lead. Thanks to NetGalley for the free advance reader copy of this book!

The story of Bea, a plus-sized blogger. After a rant online at TV show Main Squeeze, Bea ends up being the next star of the show, with 25 men for her to choose from. Sometimes they were setting her up to make entertaining viewing at the expense of Bea, which was difficult to read.

As the number of men reduces will she fall in love?

I revieved a copy of this book via Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
OMBEA, I love this book.
It is so smart, funny and relatable. I identified with Bea on so many occasions and I think most women would find some aspect to identify with as the book contains themes such as being plus size, social media and relationships. There is something for everyone.
The writing is amazing with gorgeous imagery. Bea is crafted so well that you can see her as a friend by the end of the novel.
I particularly enjoyed the use of different types of writing e.g. Texts and articles which gave a broader view of events and allowed different perspectives to be shown.
The book was super readable, I read the book in a couple of sittings and even stayed up late to finish it. As someone who doesn't normally do this, it shows how quickly the book draws you in with so many twists (not just Main Squeeze ones!) and won't let you go until the last page.
This book has already got so many readers talking and wanting to read it but I think it will be one the most popular books this summer. Now go read it!

This book was the perfect combination of trashy rom com and emotional character study. I was obsessed reading this and devoured it in a few hours. Whilst I’ve never watched The Bachelor I loved the way it’s premise was used as the reality dating show in this, and tbh it has made me want to watch a shit ton of The Bachelor despite all the obvious issues with that kind of show (which are very much acknowledged throughout the whole book). I loved Bea as a character, as much as she was super flawed, and could see a lot of myself a couple years ago in her insecurities so at points it was really hard to read for that reason.
Basically, I don’t understand why the world isn’t raving about this book right now.

Wow! I really loved reading this book from the very first page. I consumed the entire story while it fed my soul in one frantic sitting.

Bea is heartbroken when she settles down for a boozy night in with her best mate to watch the launch of her favourite show 'Main Squeeze', which is a show very similar to America's 'The Bachelor' from what I can tell.

Bea loves the premise of finding true love on the show but not it's label of 'reality TV', whilst portraying anything but reality in it's diversity lacking cast, which in no way represents the average woman. She posts on her blog in a drunken rant about this and gets shared, and re-shared over and over. Before she knows it she is in a meeting with the new producer of the next season of of 'Main Squeeze', they want her to be the 'Bachelorette' type, while 25 men fight for her attention with the winning chap proposing at the end of the series.

Bea reluctantly agrees. She has sworn off men and decides that she will do the show but she will Not fall in love. She will do this for all the plus sized people who do not see themselves fairly represented on TV and for the 600K followers of her blog OMBea which is all about plus sized fashion.

This book is written in a multitude of styles, texts messages, emails, social media posts, normal narration, etc. This made the book so much fun to read and it felt a bit like watching a really good season of Love Island, complete with how friends form group chats to gossip about what they are watching.

What I really loved about this book was how accurately the author shows how the world discriminates against anyone who does not fit into some archaic ideal of beauty. I also really appreciated how imperfect Bea is and the mistakes she makes right from the off.