9 Things I Loved About The Charm Offensive (and 1 thing that bugged me)

When I read The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochran earlier this month, I absolutely flat-out loved it. I had checked it out from the library, but by chapter three I ordered my own copy because I knew I was going to need future rereads. It’s one of my top ten reads of the year. So I felt the need to gush about it.

This book is contemporary m/m and pretty much closed door. It’s also SO FULL of FEELINGS and CHEMISTRY and I didn’t feel it was in any way lacking because there aren’t on page sex scenes. I feel like I’m not great at clocking CWs, but the book does deal with mental health including anxiety, OCD, and depression. One character’s family and former business partner have been awful in the past in regards to making them feel less competent because of their mental health. There’s also alcohol, minor violence (a few punches thrown), some biphobia, and multiple instances when a character is touched in a way that makes them uncomfortable (they don’t like unexpected touches or touches from strangers but they endure it for the sake of the show)

One thing that bugged me (CW- alcohol): I did have reservations about a scene where I felt like one character is very much pressured to drink. And this was never really addressed or in any way made to seem not okay. I think I’m kind of overly sensitive about this because I very rarely like drinking, and hate being drunk, and for some reason people seem to get fanatical about trying to push drinks on you if you don’t want to drink? Or in my experience at least. So it bugged me to see it here. Also, the first time anything really happens between the MCs they have been drinking. That isn’t an issue for me necessarily but it kind of makes it less meaningful for me in a way. I can enjoy drunken shenanigans in a book, but I don’t love it to be necessary for them to finally make a move. That said, it was very far from a deal breaker for me.

9 Things I Loved:

1. The premise. Dev works as a producer for a Bachelor-esque reality dating show called Ever After. Charlie has signed on to be “Prince Charming” for the current season of the show. Chaos and love ensues. I actually wasn’t sure the premise was going to be a good fit for me. I haven’t ever watched any reality tv dating shows, so I figured some of the humor and fun would be over my head. Part of the fun of reading a GBBO inspired book for example, was how tongue in cheek familiar a lot of things felt to me as a fan of the show. But I ended up feeling that the premise worked really well, even if I probably couldn’t fully appreciate all the in-jokes. It allowed for a large cast of characters, all sorts of locations and shenanigans, real external obstacles to the MCs getting together, an impetus to force characters out of their comfort zones, and a reason for the MCs to spend loads of time together and grow closer.
2. No evil exes. Evil exes aren’t an automatic no for me, but they often merit an eye roll. I think I’ve just grown exceedingly tired of them because they seem so ever present. Dev is recently out of a long term relationship with another producer on the show. Is the ex prince charming? No. Is he evil personified? Nope. Having an ex in the picture who was just a regular person, with good and bad traits, was such a welcome change.
3. Women. There are so many women in this book and so many of them are so fucking great. Interesting and nuanced women characters can be kind of hard to find sometimes in m/m romance. I really appreciated that there were a lot of women in this, with a wide range of personalities, most of whom felt very fleshed out. I was a little worried in the beginning that the book might not treat the women contestants well, in terms of how they are portrayed as people. But I ended up feeling it was handled pretty well. So many of the side characters in this were hilarious and wonderful and felt like they had their own lives going on rather than serving as background pieces for the main characters. I was as genuinely attached to them, as I am with Side Character Hall of Fame authors like Casey McQuiston and Alexis Hall.
4. It made me laugh and it made me cry. The balance between the heavy and light stuff in this book worked really well for me. I found it a comforting read without being particularly fluffy (not that I mind fluff at all, just that it suits a particular reading mood for me). I laughed a lot. I cared about the characters. A lot. From pretty much the very beginning. So there were parts that were really heart wrenching and painful, but it never felt brutally angsty to me. (I say this as someone who loves to absolutely WALLOW in angst when the mood hits). I just think this straddles the line between happy and sad in a really comforting way.
5. Mental health rep. So obviously this is just my personal take, and I can’t speak to how anyone else might feel about the way mental health is portrayed in the book, but for me it was *chef’s kiss*. The MCs in this book are who they are. They struggle with the things they struggle with. There is no quick fix. They are both dealing with mental health issues that are most likely going to be with them throughout the rest of their lives. And love isn’t going to change that. But the relationship that develops between them does allow them to feel seen and accepted and understood in a way that neither has been before. A multitude of characters are in therapy. There is therapy on page. Medications are mentioned as just a normal part of dealing with mental health. The characters' issues never felt romanticized or played for angst, at least to me. They felt very real, which sometimes meant they were painful to read. But it also felt kind of affirming to see a character with similar struggles presented in a way that rang true for me. Neither character is presented as “weaker” or “stronger” than the other. Neither can fix the other. But they are there for one another and pay really close attention to what the other needs. And I think the book is crystal clear that neither character is loved in spite of who they are, but BECAUSE of who they are, quirks and struggles included.
6. The emotional arc for both characters felt very earned and real. So, sometimes when I’m reading a romance like this one (we can’t be together because...) I get frustrated. I can see exactly what is going to happen to get these two together. I know they are going to end up together. It feels like things are only being dragged out because that’s the formula. Halfway through this book, I could see what kept these characters apart, and I could see what would probably need to happen in order to remove those obstacles. But instead of feeling like shouting at them to get on with it already, I genuinely felt like at that point in the book it would not be believable for them to get their HEA. Neither of them were at a place emotionally where that would be possible. The character work, what each MC believes about themselves and other people and how that shifts throughout the book, was so pitch perfect for me.
7. We get a glimpse of the HEA before we ever get to it, which is one of my favorite story tricks. During a portion of the book when the MCs still believe it is impossible for them to be together long term, they talk about what life might be like if they lived in a world where they could end up together. We get a sense of the everyday details that would make that life together so precious. It lets us see how well they know one another, all the little things about one another that each of them notices and that they’ve grown so attached to. We get a peek at that fairy tale ending, not perfect but perfect for them. But it’s at a point when neither believes it will ever happen. Which makes it so bittersweet in the moment. And then, once the book is over, the reader is able to picture them actually getting that imagined life together. Every time a book does this I DIE because I love it so so much. Sad tears in the moment and then happy tears looking back on it? Sign me the fuck up.
8. If the MCs didn’t end up together, they’d be okay. I’m not a real big fan of the “you’re the love of my life, I’d be eternally lost without you” mentality when MCs hit a rough patch. I think it’s really powerful when a book shows not only that these characters have fallen in love, but that they’ve helped one another to change for the better, whether they end up together or not. They see themselves differently now, because of this other person. They know their own worth in a way they weren’t able to see before. Or they’ve discovered something about themselves and what they are capable of that they didn’t know before. I thought that was done very well here.
9. One of the MC’s wants nothing more than to find someone to watch nerdy sci-fi shows and do puzzles with. And that character feels that they are innately unlovable. So, yeah. That’s me sold.

For me, the overall message of the book was that there are people out there who can be trusted with all of you; all your faults and quirks and hidden tender insecurities. People who will love you all the more for seeing all of you. Because yes, you are lovable exactly as you are. (If you're noticing a theme in my reviews that I really love this kind of message, YUP I sure do.) Also, doing puzzles together is hot 😉