Review: The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
SYNOPSIS:
Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.
Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.
As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.
REVIEW:
Okay, I’ll be honest, this book took me by surprise. I started it with a dose of heavy trepidation, after seeing some comparisons to Red, White & Royal Blue but by half way I was obsessed with Dev and Charlie, by 70% I found myself tearing up, and by the time the book wrapped up, I wanted more. Honestly, the story can stand on its own and doesn’t need any comparisons.
So first let’s talk about the completely unique storyline, I have been reading romance novels for years and this is the first time I have ever came across anything even close to this narrative. Charlie is the quirky, broken underdog you can’t help but cheer on. Dev is a two sided coin, one part hopeless romantic for everyone but himself and one part betrayed and defeated by life. I went into this story believing I was going to get a fluffy, warm, and fuzzy plot line and that was not the case. This story had a surprising amount of depth and heart to it that at moments broke me and stole my breath.
Both characters are struggling with mental illnesses and their various coping mechanisms. And this struggle had me feeling everything; it gutted me, brought tears to my eyes, and gave me hope all at once. The characters had a level of depth and transparency that made my heart ache. Especially, my sweet, delightfully awkward Charlie, whose blunt honest made me smile over and over again as much as it made me cringe.
And while the romance was a whirlwind, it worked for them. They spent endless times have the tender, heartfelt discussions and bearing their vulnerabilities. Even if getting Dev to be honest with himself is an exercise in patience. I think my only grievance is that ending was very abrupt, I wanted just a little more details now that they finally, finally figured out how to get their happily-ever-after.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“About being so desperate to escape his small town and his small life and his small-minded family, only to arrive… and discover there are small minds everywhere.”
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
