Here for the Wrong Reasons

In this swoon-filled lesbian rom-com, two dating show contestants vying for the attention of the handsome, eligible 'bachelor' fall head over heels - for each other... It has warmth, charm, laugh-out-loud moments and a wistful nostalgia. I absolutely loved it.

Finished this book in a day and the reason is pretty simple: it's such a fun and fast paced read. The idea to write about a dating show is quite nice, but I have to admit it's SUPER complicated with all the names. I really had a hard time remembering them and then just decided to go along with it. I honestly think this is less of a problem with a physical copy because you can easily go back to where everyone is introduced. It gives quite an honest insight in how dating shows actually work, but I feel like it would have been more interesting to get some more back story from Josh. In my opinion, his character is very flat and he's just this golden retriever who's nice to everyone and therefore never stands out (I feel kinda bad for him). Lauren and Krystin are more fun, even though it feels a bit superficial at times to me. They suddenly go from 0 to 100 in front of the camera and even if I do think that's super cute, it doesn't entirely fit with how they've been portrayed earlier. So for me, this is a 3.5 star read, the kind of book I'd pick up for a quick read, on holiday, when I feel 'meh' and need some cheering up.

This was such a fun read - with a reality show vibe similar to The Bachelor, it had me hooked right from the start.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 | 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐧 & 𝐋𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠
★★★★☆

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
Two women enter the TV show Hopelessly Devoted where they compete for the hand of Perfect-Guy Josh. Krystin, wholesome cowgirl with no experience is there to find love whilst Lauren C, closeted lesbian and slightly cold and calculating fashionista is there to boost her social media. Sparks fly when the two women realise they’re more into each other than they are the prize at the end.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟
⟡ Romcom
⟡ Reality TV (particularly The Bachelor)
⟡ LGBTQ+
⟡ Forced proximity
⟡ Slow burn
⟡ Toxic female friendship dynamics

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝
Written as a sort of spin-off of The Bachelor, this book was just as entertaining and addictive as trashy TV and yet had way more depth and vulnerability to it.

I adored the way Krystin’s and Lauren’s sexuality was written about. Krystin is this fully closeted lesbian whose character arc is used to confront her feelings (particularly lack of) for men and women. Because everyone is supposed to fancy their friends whilst growing up, right? (See quotes). Whilst Lauren is semi-closeted, she’s comfortable and confident in herself, she’s just not comfortable and confident in other people, including her family. She’s out to one person in her life (and the multitude of female hookups), and during the course of this book she stops caring about how being gay affects her heteronormative social media audience and focuses on the building meaningful relationships in her life.

I loved the way the show was written. The one-on-one dates and the performative element of it all. It made the girls’ relationships with Josh so shallow that I didn’t particularly care if Josh was hurt at the end, particularly as he was technically dating around thirty women at one point.

There really was so much to love in this. It’s a slow burn romance but once that first kiss hits, all bets are off and readers can get ready for some sapphic spice in their lives. I loved the conclusion for this story and how warmhearted it felt too. Particularly Josh’s metaphorical door monologue at the end that was so exasperating and funny.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝
I do feel like the TV show eliminations could have been waaay more tense and full of drama. Most of the eliminations were closed doors and were made apparent in post-confessionals with the other women. I’m not a sadist I swear but it would have been fun to experience the heartbreak and disappointment of all the women. It definitely would have counteracted any residual guilt I felt for Josh with Krysten and Lauren’s blossoming closeness.

𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴—𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭?
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵.”