This book will be the perfect Beach Read for summer 2024! A must read!

What a smart and unique book! It was hard to put down. The FMC Jac was very hard not to root for, so authentic, smart, with a great sense of humor, raw and true to her self, well, most of the time.

Jacqueline Matthis is a romance novelist and her career has turned for the worst. She decides that she needs something to boost her book sales and get back her contract with the publishers. So one night, while being home along with a bottle of wine that gave her ‘drops of bravery’, she decides to apply for the Dating Reality Show TV called The 1. On the first set day she meets the bachelor, Marcus, and she finds him very attractive and charming (well, she did her research about him before and knew she’ll like him). While meeting everyone on set, she sees him, Henry, the guy she had a one night stand with, a few days ago, and he’s one of the producers of the show.
Marcus seems to fall in love with Jac so does Henry…

So what will happen next? Will Jac and Henry be able to keep their affair a secret or they would not stop wanting each other? Will Marcus fall in love with Jac? Will he find out about her relations with Henry? Is Jacquelin really a bitch or she’s just forced to be a villain of the show? Will Jac become The 1 for Marcus?

The drama, the secrets, the tension, the competition… I could not get enough! I kept guessing what’s gonna happen next? What Jac’s next move gonna be? Loved the FMC! The writing of this book is fantastic! With a lot of podcast interviews, online group chats and comments at the end of each chapter. Like a little glimpse into the future of the show and the book. And you can’t stop keep guessing !!!
At the very first page of the book the reader gets a spoiler, so skip it if you want to dive completely blind into the story.

For the fans of The Batchelor and other dating shows, this book is for you! Highly recommend. You will really feel like you are on the set with all the characters. You’ll get to see a lot of parts behind the scenes and how the show is produced. ( )

Stalled romance author Jac joins the cast of a popular dating reality show for publicity reasons. She has a one-night stand prior to the start of taping with Henry who is (unbeknownst to her) one of the show's producers. Henry hates his job but doesn't feel he can leave. Jac is rudderless and desperate for a publishing comeback. This is not a feel-good, cozy story and there's a lot of jagged edges here. Classifying this as a romance feels inaccurate, and describing it as a "dramedy" also didn't feel right. It's more of a character study and a biting commentary on the falseness and manipulations of created fame, with multiple dysfunctional relationships and a darker romantic sub-plot. The author writes the reality show filming process like it's a social experiment in manipulation. Honestly, it's believable.

I struggled with the main characters as I found them to be so unlikable (both apart and together) that it was hard to root for them. Jac had a hardness to her which made it tricky to warm up to her. She's complex and harsh, and there's a push-pull with her personality that as a reader I found difficult to fully process. I didn't really like Henry and I don't like the uneven balance of power that existed in his relationship with Jac. Almost everything Henry did felt manipulative, almost to the very end. And the bulk of the book is less about their romantic relationship and more about the superficiality and misogyny and voluntary exploitation that takes place on romance reality shows. If that's what you're looking for then this is the story for you. But this book just wasn't for me: I found it difficult to finish, although I did see it through to the end where the resolution and lighter tone of the ending didn't quite seem to fit with the bulk of the story. I ultimately gave it 3 stars because it was well written overall, but I really didn't enjoy this read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. ( )