The cover of ‘One To Watch’ caught my eye, and then the synopsis sounded completely different; so I thought I would give the book a try, even though I am not a fan of reality tv (not when there are so many good books to be read!). The book hits the mark and delivers all that is promised; it is fun and fast paced, thought provoking, a brilliant romantic novel with a real difference.
The central character is Bea, she is a successful fashion blogger who has not been lucky is love. When offered the opportunity to appear on a reality tv show, to be the first woman who would not match the stereotype who would normally appear on the show, she agrees to do so.
Bea is a normal woman of her age, she has the usual insecurities, moments of doubts and that makes her relatable. She is a great character.
The characters around her are also realistic and a mixed bag, some likeable and others not so much...
Will Bea be successful in finding a suitable match? Will she be happy at the end of the show? Will she regret her decision to appear on reality tv?
A great read and debut from Katie Stayman-London, I will look forward to her next book.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bea is a plus-size woman, who finds confidence and the meaning of body positivity when she studies abroad in Paris. Fast-forward 10 years, she is living in LA and is a popular plus-size blogger and fashionista: she writes a piece criticising the lack of inclusivity and diversity in the tv show The Main Squeeze ( a.k.a. The Bachelor), and she is offered the role of “Main Squeeze”. Bea embarks on a journey of self-love and self-discovery, when she meets the 25 men that are there to court her. A few plot twist later, Bea is able to find her “happily-ever-after”, even proving she doesn’t have to settle for less because of her size.

I was really excited about this book because I am plus size myself: growing up and as a young adult, I always felt awkward, ugly and not adequate because of how I looked. Guys I liked wouldn’t give me the time of day, I thought I had to settle for people that mistreated me, because I thought that no one could love me for me, for how I looked: even hearing my friends complaining about “how fat they were” and “how they had to lose 5 kgs to look perfect”, and “look how much weight she’s gained!”, made me feel like screaming: WHAT ABOUT ME? If these people are fat, if you in your perfect size feel this way, how do you look at me? This is why I really identified in Bea for many reasons, and it is refreshing reading a book with an obviously and unabashedly plus size main character.
Bea demonstrates she is vulnerable, and although she preaches self-love and acceptance, she doesn’t always practice it, rejecting and doubting men were interested in her, because she thought handsome men couldn’t want her. This novel shows how self-doubt a lot of times equals self-sabotage, and if Bea believed in her beauty from the beginning, she could have saved herself a lot of heartache.
I found really refreshing that she isn’t obsessed with being skinnier, she doesn’t want to lose weight, she is happy with herself (although she doubts other people could be), and has a supportive family and friend system that surround her with positivity. In fact, people around her don’t mention her weight: she’s the one that often times makes a problem of it.

I really enjoyed this book, and wish Bea could have had a bit more confidence throughout, and not doubted people for finding her attractive: but often this is a complex that many plus sized people are faced with. You know you are attractive, but you feel like the world just doesn’t see it.

I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies, and even some trash tv! I know I love a bit of both, and it’s wonderful there are books like this that have a plus size person that doesn’t constantly make a joke about her weight (looking at you Rebel Wilson) to appeal to people.

This book was such a little gem!
Bea is a strong, sassy, intelligent woman, she loves fashion and is a plus size blogger. She has a huge following and isn't afraid to say what she thinks. The new season of the main squeeze is about to start and Bea isn't afraid to talk about her feelings of lack of diversity on the show and the fact all of the contestants looking for love look exactly the same..
Bea is contacted by the show and invited to date 25 men and look for love. Bea accepts and goes on a brilliant and funny journey dating the 25 contestants. Bea is such a lovable character you can help but root for her to find the one. I found myself constantly changing who I wanted her to chose, and also wanting to give some of the contestants the boot! The book covers beautifully how women are viewed and judged on their size in the media. I loved how Bea was able to show her vulnerable side. He character seemed to come full circle before the end of the book. She finally allowed herself to feel that she deserves love. Talking about the ending I thought I knew what the ending would be and then there was a brilliant twist. This is a perfect summer read.

This is a case of 'it's not you, it's me'. I picked this up because of the body positivity rep and despite the fact that I'm not a fan dating reality shows, romance is my favourite genre to read.

It is done really well, and if you're a fan of The Bachelorette type shows then you will probably love it. The story perfectly captures all the cringe of these type of shows with an intelligent look at the behind the scenes manipulation. Unfortunately for me I find the romance on these shows (and therefore this book) unrealistic, overly dramatic and a little superficial which is why I struggled.

The book does a great job of representing realistic body positivity, diversity, and a thoughtful look at social media and how positive and unfortunately toxic that can be.

I cannot state clearly enough how much I loved this book, it was amazing ! It’s so nice to read a character I can truly relate to (plus size girl here and not many lead characters can I relate to in a true me sense) I think this is also what made it so much more emotional to me to read too, there were some tissues used and tears shed. But it is a powerful story to me watching Bea go on her journey, accept herself and grow her confidence to where it should have been all along. It’s a great representation of the issues, hate and fat phobia that plus size people face and it deals with this so well. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read more by the author


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Before reading this book I had heard lots of great things so was very excited to receive an ARC and I can say that it lived up to all the hype. This was a fun and entertaining read. A super cute and feel good book, perfect for summer reading. Looking forward to reading more from this author. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I’m not sure I can convey how much I loved this book, from the first chapter I was completely swept up in the life of Bea. She was so wonderful and relatable, I felt like she was me, who hasn’t had their heart broken and who hasn’t had body confidence issues? It made her so easy to root for and empathise with. This book made me cry countless times and I read it in one sitting (sorry family who I have ignored all day and who have no dinner) but I just couldn’t get enough and I couldn’t put it down. A constant delight from start to finish, I can’t recommend this book enough, if you only read one book this year it needs to be this one!

I struggled a bit at the start of this book. The mix of writing styles and the number of characters was a bit hard going for me and I missed a straightforward storyline to be honest. But after a bit I settled into it and actually it suited the story and characters really well.
I thought the character of Bea was excellently written and so true to life. It was an excellent read and would totally recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a preview copy.

This book is so good the whole storyline and plot was such a good idea. I found myself so invested in these characters especially Bea the leading lady in this book. I was really routing for Bea to find her true loved and have her happy ending. At every twist and turn throughout this book my heart couldn’t cope going through the heart break to the overjoyed happy moments it was an emotional rollercoaster.

Now the main plot in this book is that the leading lady Bea is a big curvaceous woman, she has built a career based around fashion for plus sized people. I love when a leading character has something different about them. And this main section of the storyline didn’t disappoint, it gave this book so much more depth to the characters and it really opened my eyes to how mean people can be to people that aren’t a size 4 etc.

The story flickered between different a variety of writing styles, from transcripts to a normal viewpoint, to texting and to twitter transcripts etc. I felt it was a bit hard to follow at times, it took away from the book a little bit. I feel if it only flickered between a couple of view points it would have made the story flow better. This been said it was an easy read and i still loved it and would highly recommended this book.

I was lucky enough to get sent an advanced copy of ‘One To Watch’ Kate Stayman-London’s debut book, before its publication date for an honest review. Thank-you Netgalley and John Murray Press !!!!!

TO ALL MY REALITY TELEVISION LOVAAAAZ ‘One To Watch’ will fill the Love Island spaced hole in your aching heart this summer, but obviously it has more personality and complex issues, making it WAY BETTER. Although honestly, I’m not a fan of reality television at all. I went into this book thinking I would loathe it with every single bit of loathe I had inside of me, but surprisingly I didn’t and I actually found it a pretty fun read. But there will definitely be people that enjoy this book more than I did.

Lets talk about the Leading Lady Bea, because she really is something. At the beginning of the story she’s a plus size fashion blogger sworn of men after trying to get over some dickhead.. we’ve all been there eh !!!!! Then one night, when she’s verrrrrry drunk watching ‘One to Watch’ with a friend, she picks up on the lack of diversity on screen, consisting of teeny tiny girls and men resembling your Ken doll growing up. NOT REALISTIC AT ALL IS IT ?!?!?! Sooo, she tweets about it, because we all know when we’re drunk, our word is fuckin’ gospel !!!! AMIRIGHT ?!?!?! Low and behold in true Hollywood fashion she’s contacted by producers to become the next lead of ‘One To Watch’ and next comes an enjoyable journey for Bea to not only try and find love, but realise she is worthy of it.

What I liked about this book

The writing style is great !!! Interspersed with twitter feeds, podcast conversations, group chats, reports and behind the scene footage, shedding light on what really happens when reality television isn’t being filmed.

Although Bea, was continuously battling body image issues (like all of us) it wasn’t the WHOLE plot, it was handled extremely well and felt real and relatable.

I thoroughly enjoyed most of the characters in this book, there were a few villains thrown in and it was fabulous.

What I didn’t like about the book

It was filled with a lot of cliches which is totally cool if you’re into rom-com books, there were a few moments I cringed out loud, but everyones different lol

Despite it being a quick few day read for me I did find it was quite dragged out at parts

‘ONE TO WATCH’ IS RELEASED ON KINDLE TODAY !!!!!!!!! So if you’re missing some sun, sea n drama from Love Island being postponed, I’d really recommend. There ain’t much sun or sea but there is a lotttttt of drama !!!!

As addictive and suspenseful as a season of The Bachelorette, "One to Watch" is a vibrant and original skewering of reality television culture that is genuinely un-put-downable.

Fashion blogger Bea Schumacher has built her own brand, with thousands of adoring fans (and more than a few trolls). But is she prepared for the attention she'll get as the first plus-size star of a popular dating show "Main Squeeze?" She agrees to the role on the condition that she won't *actually* fall in love with one of her 25 suitors in front of millions of viewers. But between the romantic filming destinations, adventurous dates, fabulous wardrobe, and the handsome men, Bea realizes she might actually have a shot at love - despite society telling her she doesn't deserve it.

Bea is a loveable heroine and fantastic role model for women of any size. Smart, passionate, vulnerable and sensitive with those she is close to, but confident that she deserves more from the world. As a narrator, she is honest about the realities of dating, shopping, and just existing as a plus-size woman.

The story is well-crafted and creative, bringing in excerpts from emails, texts, podcast transcripts, and legal documents to give a holistic view of the Main Squeeze world and its many fans and critics. I also loved that the book didn't dismiss reality TV as frivolous/low-brow, but as something that has become a staple of our media consumption culture and is worthy of genuine critique and reform. This is one of my favorite "fun" reads, and marks author Kate Stayman-London as, well, one to watch.

Thank you to NetGalley, Two Roads Books and John Murray Publishers for an advance download of this excellent book!

4 stars!!

A plus size female main character who loves fashion and runs a successful blog? A famous dating reality tv show where the main character picks one man out of 25 to get engaged to? This book sounded promising right from the very start.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has it all: it's fun, has a strong female character who isn't ashamed of her body, passes on a strong message, and defies all common stereotypes of what a romance story should be. For me, the most important and most incredible part of this book was getting to see Bea's journey with coming to terms with accepting herself and believing she is worthy of all the love in the world.

Bea Schumacher is a relatively famous plus size fashion blogger with an incredible circle of family and friends. The only downside is that Bea has been in love with her best friend Ray for the longest time and he is engaged to someone else. After an incredibly and passionate night with Ray where he ends up disappearing and never contacting her again, Bea believes she has sworn off dating for a while. That is until she has Lauren Mathers, Main Squeeze's Producer, on her door asking her to be the next star of the dating reality show. Bea and Lauren agree that it's a great professional move and that Bea doesn't necessarily need to actually fall in love. However, when the show starts and she begins to get to know the men better, Bea realises it is more complicated than she anticipated and that real feelings aren't so easy to control.

There were only two things that didn't make this book a 5 star read for me:

- Toward the middle of the story things started to really slow down and there were a good few chapters where I felt like nothing too interesting was happening.
- One of the final male contestants from Main Squeeze (who I won't name due to spoilers) had in my opinion a few toxic traits that were never explored or changed in the novel. I felt that the overall message of the story was endearing and uplifitng but not mentioning the toxic traits this character consistently had toward Bea made it lose a few points in my rating.

Overall this is a great fun read with a powerful message and a feel good ending. It's great for the summer and for when you're feeling like you need an extra little bit of fun and love in your life.

Plus size girl trying to find love through a reality tv show... sign me up!

This book follows the struggles of Bea who has never found true love or had a proper boyfriend, then add to the mix the fact that shes a plus size fashionista taking on the world's media (& internet trolls) perception that women and girls dont find happiness unless they are a size zero.
As a plus size women myself, I connected to the experience and prejudice that Bea came across during this book and the internal struggle of her confidence when everyone is watching and criticising you.
I did feel however the pacing of the book was a bit all over the place in terms of the reality show as she went from 25 men to 5 in pretty much no time which left me feeling detached to the romance struggle it was suggested she was facing.
I like this book as a whole and it was a quick, fun and entertaining, a very feel-good book.

Thank you to Netgalley and John Murray Press for sending me an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

'One to Watch' follows Beatrice 'Bea' Schumacher, plus sized fashion blogger and instagram star, as she accepts a role on the fictional tv show 'Main Squeeze'. While on the show she must decide which of the 25 young, beautiful men she will get engaged to at the season finale. The plot itself is well written, and from very early on opens up a conversation about the concept of 'plus sized', why it seems to only apply to women's bodies. It addresses ideas that women must conform to a certain image in order to be successful in life and attempts to redefine what the wider world classes as beautiful. It's well written, and the plot itself is fast paced and I really enjoyed the mixed media format of story telling which encompasses text messaging, emails and tv show transcripts. However, I do feel that it falls short in a number of areas.

While the idea behind the novel is good, there is a lot of vitriol and hatred directed at Bea that made me feel very uncomfortable and which I don't believe is really addressed properly. Bea is incredibly self deprecating and unsure of her body - despite her constant declarations that she loves the body she has and wants to 'own' it. She's incredibly angsty and dramatic at times, which boarded on the extreme, and I found it difficult to connect with her because of this. There are also a number of trolling comments left scattered throughout the novel, which I'm sure are there to demonstrate just a small portion of the hate that Bea is subjected to on a daily basis and gain her sympathy and support from the reader, but which I found just left me feeling a little cold. There was a lot of hatred there that some people may find very triggering and upsetting.

The male secondary characters were all a little superficial and very stereotyped. I know that this was probably the point, given that its a dating reality tv show and every man looks like a carbon copy of each other, but some greater development in the characters would have been nice. I thought that what little diversity that was included didn't really have the affect the author was probably going for because there were too many male characters, and very little emotional attachment to any of them. This is very much Bea's story, and the men felt a lot like props to her story advancement.

In terms of the story itself, I wasn't surprised at the direction this took at all, although I did find myself surprised at how much I wanted to know how Bea's story ended. It does feel a lot like the build up to a season finale, and I have to give the author points for having me so gripped to the end.

There were some nice ideas here, but a lot of the self body hate and fatphobia left me a little cold. My lack of interest in any of the male characters, and for Bea herself really affected my enjoyment of this one but I have to say that the writing was really well done.

Lovely book. I've read it in a few days. Loved the character Bea. Kinda felt for her. I'm an overweight myself and hahah so many times I've been in kinda situation as she described. Easy going book. Relaxing with a good plot - not really on trend this days in a world of super models and healthy lifestyle. She is presenting how the other people feel invisible and how they also try to be seen. Overall a good read. Recommended.

Bea is a plus sized blogger and is happy with her size and shape ever since discovering a gorgeous cape that flattered her, made by a designer, in the side streets of Paris.
After experiencing years of non reciprocal love she agrees to go on a tv show designed to bring her soulmate into her life! She must choose from 25 men as to who she wants to get engaged to!
I found this book interesting to read and it challenges people’s reactions to plus sized women. There are flippant comments from some and a greater understanding from others. It was a fun filled search for love book that kept me reading right to the end!

This book was a brilliant read. I found it very refreshing to read a book where a plus sized woman is giving the starring role, and enjoyed that the author explored the role that plus size women have in media at the moment. Overall, it is a heartwarming read that is not afraid to tackle modern issues in dating and entertainment

I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this book as I am not a fan of reality tv especially finding love ones but I admit I really liked this book, I found it an easy read and one which you wanted to know what happened next.
After writing a controversial but brutally honest post on her blog about a dating reality show, plus size Bea is invited on ‘Main Squeeze’ to find love.
As the show (book) progresses there are snippets from twitter posts, blogs and podcasts about what’s going on the show, I liked this part as it showed how shows like that are watched in reality.
Does Bea find love with one of the 25 men, does she get over ‘love of her life’ Ray or is she left heartbroken? Only one way to find out.......

Bea is a plus sized fashion blogger who, despite outward appearances, feels deeply uncomfortable in her own skin. When she drunkenly writes a blog post criticising the TV show ‘Main Squeeze’ (think ‘The Bachelor’/‘The Bacholerette’) about it’s lack of diversity in it’s casting she has no idea what a can of worms she has opened. She ends up being cast as ‘The Main Squeeze’ with a host of eligible men vying to be her love.

I love the TV show UnREAL which writes a darkly comic perspective of this style of TV show so I was intrigued about this book. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, it is fun and engaging, but it definitely had its flaws. For a book that is meant to be about body confidence I’m not sure it managed to promote it particularly well. It also has a lot of stereotypes. The romantic but unreliable Frenchman, Luc, is a good example of this. Bea is meant to be an independent woman, but at the end she still gets a happily ever after. Maybe it would have been better that she became comfortable in her own skin and realised she also didn’t need a man to validate her self worth?
This book felt problematic to me but I think it can be enjoyed for what it is, which is a comedy with an underlying message about loving yourself. I would certainly read another book by this author and I would suggest this book for someone looking for a fun read but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to read it again.

This is a story of Bea, a 30 something plus sized social media mogul.. Its today in the 21st century. Kate touched on all the issues surrounding the "size" issues in todays world in a heart warming lovely read. Bea's love of her body was beautifully protrayed and gives a strong message. As a plus sized reader I really warmed to Bea from the beginning.

Her messages about plus size women being excluded, being trolled on social media are all important topics and are all wonderfully exploded in a real life story within the book.

The story is long winded and every detail is gone through so reading did seem abit arduous at times. I welcomed the inserted interviews and scripts from family and viewers.
It was not an easy read, i kept having to go back to keep track of what was happening and it would have been nice to see the names of the men who left, it would just say "5 left" and left me feeling... What how when. So l was a bit lost at times.

I did enjoy the story it discussed alot of real world issues for plus sized women and i really became invested in the outcome.

Review to be posted on AmazonUK and Waterstones on publication.