The Charm Offensive by Allison Cochrun
Contemporary Romance
September 7, 2021 by Atria

Reviewed by Melinda

This book completely snuck up on me, I hadn’t really heard much about it, but I’m so glad that I picked it up randomly because it’s going on my favorites of 2021 list for sure! The premise of the book is simple enough – man goes on a reality dating show to make his image better for business purposes, will he find love? But what follows is the star of the show falling for his producer behind the scenes and the fallout of that for both men, and so much more.

Charlie has OCD and feels extremely awkward basically all of the time so he’s in an uncomfortable position going into the reality show filming; enter his producer Dev. It’s his job to make him feel comfortable and make filming go more smoothly. Dev innocently suggests fake dating to facilitate that comfort, what could possibly go wrong!? We get dual POVs here so I just love getting to see how they’re both falling for each other, but the other one has no idea. Dev thinks Charlie is truly looking for love, and Charlie is scared of what will happen to Dev’s job if they go for a relationship together. Of course, they are thrown together more and more and sparks keep flying until they can’t resist.

In the process of the fake dating (and falling in love) they discover so much about the other. The open conversation about mental health in this book is just incredibly meaningful and well done. Charlie is uncomfortable talking about his OCD, but he grows to be more open about it, and he is very open about the mental health struggles he’s faced. Dev, however, struggles with depression and doesn’t even realize it. The way it was portrayed on-page of those around him struggling to make him realize that he was having depressive episodes and that he should seek therapy, was just incredibly realistic. And not just one scene – this was over the course of the book, as a B plot, which made it more impactful to me. Because that is how mental health struggles exist, just in the background of your life, as you try to do everything else. 

The other wonderful representation there is in this book is all the colors of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow. There are asexual side characters, pansexual side characters, bi, lesbian, and questioning side characters. Charlie himself goes onto the show and does not quite have things figured out and I appreciated how that was treated.

“That’s okay.” Dev reaches over to touch his knee. “Sexuality isn’t always a straight line from closeted to out-of-the-closet. You can take time to explore and evolve and figure out exactly what kind of queer you are, if that even matters to you.”

I can’t speak to the racial representation, there are reviews that do and I would absolutely go seek those out. Charlie is white and Dev is South Asian, and it is mentioned, and Dev’s family is present and there at one point in the book. However, I do wish it had informed who his character was a little more, as it felt a bit like it could be removed and we wouldn’t notice.  But again, I recommend seeking out South Asian reviewers for those reviews.

One of the strongest things this book has is the characters, each character is so fleshed out, including the more minor ones. The contestants on the dating show are not just cast aside to make room for Prince Charming Charlie and who he actually falls for, Charlie worries about them and cares for them. As the book goes further on we get more information on them and I loved how they were not ignored. Charlie and Dev’s friends – Jules, Parisa, Angie, and Daphne – really added so much to the story. No one played a small part in this story, and I loved that.

Grade: A

Amazon * Goodreads