Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Charm Offensive

Dev Deshpande lives in fairy tales. Charlie Winshaw does not. So what happens when Charlie becomes the reality dating show Ever After latest star? What happens when Dev has to help him fall in love with the contestants and instead finds himself falling for him?

At this point, everyone must know how much I love a good romance and this is no exception. I fell for Dev in the first page, I fell for Charlie from the second we saw him. I don’t think no story will be able to beat my OTP (do people still say OTP, I feel old), but fuck do they get close. I yelled so much for these two idiots and I just love them so much.

Honestly, if finishing a book leaves screaming, hugging the book, and having to process everything for 10 minutes then it is a sign of a good book.

There are both too many and not enough words to describe the experience this book gave me. Seeing the two of them not only fall for each other but grow into better people because the other people made me sob several times. However, I also loved the book's emphasis on platonic love and that romantic hetero love is not the one out there, or the only one we should all strive for. Not only did we see Charlie and Dev fall in love, but we saw new and old friends love each other in such beautiful ways.

In advance, I apologize if this review feels like a rant. It’s almost 6 am, but I had to write this for my babies. I just had to.

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earofthedog's review

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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mel_j's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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axel_p's review

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challenging emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The way that Alison wrote about depression in this book hit close to home.

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bookcaptivated's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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infjkiki's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kapaiai's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

That was so good!

Is this a unique concept? The whole reality TV dating show premise, I mean. I don’t know. But I was intrigued by it + the fact that this was a queer romance novel made it all the more alluring.

This was brilliantly written in a way that I found both engaging and charming. There were moments where I laughed out loud, and the ending did make me tear up a little.
I haven't read a lot of these modern setting novels before, so it was a new experience to see all these mentions of modern day real world technology, but that’s the world these characters live in.
It's a production set for TV, which I know very little about, but there wasn't any technical lingo, so I wasn't lost in any way.

But like, the real stars were the characters and the way they were portrayed.

I enjoyed the way we got to see things from the perspective of both main characters. It lessened the chances of reader misunderstanding, and I love love love hearing how head-over-heels in love the characters are with each other, but they’re like soooo dumb and oblivious about it.
I’m holding my head, saying “stfu stop being stupid” every time either Dev or Charlie are like “oh there's no way they're into me”.

Speaking of which: I LOVE Charlie. He’s SOOO good.

Like a big golden retriever. I think Dev also referred to him as such, maybe? But that's what he is.

I also found it refreshing to read how Charlie is just now discovering himself. Like, in this day and age where people are so readily willing to let people know who and what they are, it does sometimes make one feel a bit self-conscious to not really know or care.
He also, when faced with a wide array of label options to choose from, just kinda goes "idk man" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dev was also great, but I related to him less. Not that that’s a problem. It just means he and I deal with a different concoction of issues.

I personally did NOT like the way he was so mean to himself and close-minded about therapy. Like, I'm not gonna say everyone needs to go to therapy, but the way he was just just spitting on the very idea of it was very upsetting.
Sometimes he just said terrible things too. Like, if he wasn’t hugely instrumental in helping Charlie learn to accept himself, I don’t know if I would’ve supported their relationship. How can you be so empathetic to another person but neglect yourself so much. You’re making me cry Dev
As Charlie said, the level of codependency they had for each other was not healthy for them. But he does eventually come around and open his eyes. Character development all around.

I also loved the other characters! The staff member friends, Charlie’s BFF, Daphne&Angie….

Honestly I’m disappointed Daphne and Angie didn’t end up getting together. (Or maybe they did…?!) Also, I went in thinking I would HATE Ryan Parker, but he’s actually a great guy? He’s just a shit boyfriend, but a good person.

One thing that I also greatly enjoyed about this novel is how… classy the sex scenes were?
Maybe classy is the wrong word. But, to clarify, nothing felt DIRTY (it may have to do with Dev’s general consideration to Charlie’s aversion to germs). Consent was constantly asked for, and that's veryyy hot. They were so respectful to each other, but they’re still really horny and the sexual tension is palpable.
Sex was used to show CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. And I’m here for it.

I literally bum rushed through this novel to get to the end.

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samixox's review against another edition

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2.5

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