Holy wow! This book was everything! Simply everything.
Think the Bachelor with all the pomp and circumstance of a prince looking for his princess, and you will have our fictional show ‘Ever After’. Charlie is this year’s prince, and he’s much different from the contestants who have been on the show for the last 20 years. Charlie isn’t looking for love, but he is looking for a way to get back into the good graces of the company he started with his best friend, after being fired. This show is his ticket to normalizing himself to the public, so that he can end the rumors and speculation in the media about his erratic behavior. That might be easier said than done though when even being touched without permission can send him into a panic.
Dev is one of the show’s producers, and this year is Charlie’s handler. It’s his job to make Charlie look good for tv, and at the start, Charlie’s anxiety and quirky behaviors are making Dev’s job pretty difficult. But Dev believes in the show and in each contestant’s ability to find true love through it, so he is bound and determined to make Charlie relatable and likable.
As the two get closer, and open up to each other about their own experiences and how that has gotten them to where they are, a beautiful love story developes between the two of them. Only problem is that Prince Charming needs to pick a princess at the end of this show.
Alison Cochrun has hit a home run with this book in so many ways. The Charm Offensive is sweet and genuine, it portrays mental illness in such a real way, and it touches on so many of the diverse natures of love in a very authentic and true manner. I laughed out loud, I cried both happy and ugly tears. I’m amazed that this is a debut novel, and I’m so incredibly excited to see what Alison does next!
Thanks so much to Alison Cochrun, and to Atria Books who supplied me with an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Romance Books Fan 