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.
Goodreads
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Review
The Charm Offensive is MM romantic comedy that celebrates love. It also has a very heavy focus on mental health awareness which I loved!
Both Dev and Charlie are just freaking adorable! They were sweet and kind, and I really just loved them together. I have read quite a few books recently where characters are on a dating show, but I did like how this one was able to add a unique twist.
As I mentioned, there is a significant mental health focus. I’ve seen this quite a bit in books lately, especially rom-coms, and I think it’s great. Unfortunately, though it is lessening, there is still a stigma around mental illness and therapy, especially for men. The Charm Offensive does a great job of showing multiple types of mental illness and how helping someone can be as simple as just being there.
My only complaint was how they talked about not labeling Charlie’s sexuality and then trying to label it. I get why this was done, and I think the book did a great job explaining all the different types of sexuality. However, I do wish this was maybe handled differently. Everyone seemed to want to fit Charlie into a box, and it was clear he was starting to figure things out.
This was a great book. It’s adorable, topical, and just a fantastic love story!
