Reviewed by Aaron Schoepf
The Charm Offensive
By Alison Cochrun
LGBTQ+ Romance
★★★★★
Dev loves love. And he loves his work. He’s a producer on the reality tv show Ever After, a show that he’s loved ever since he was a kid. A show that unites princesses’ with their Prince Charming’s. A show where even found love with Ryan, but he ended up losing it. That doesn’t deter him though, and he throws himself into his work once again. This is where he meets Charlie, Ever After’s new Prince Charming. Dev knows he has his work cut out for him when Charlie throws up on him almost immediately after meeting him.
As Dev begins training Charlie, they live together, work together, and spend copious amounts of time together. They get closer than Dev could ever imagine, and finds himself falling for Charlie more and more as the season goes on. There is one problem though. There has never been a gay Prince Charming, and it is certainly against contract for him to fall in love with the producer of the show. They sneak around, avoiding getting caught by their coworkers.
As time goes on, Dev knows he will have to eventually say goodbye to Charlie, who must propose to one of the many women he’s been dating on the show. Then Charlie decides to take his life into his own hands. He questions why he can’t be with a man, or choose who he loves. Dev’s boss goes on a homophobic rant, and the only thing that Dev can think to do is run. So he does.
He quits his job and ghosts every single person associated with it, including Charlie. Months go by, with Dev avoiding the show like a plague. Until his old coworkers show up to his house and force him to watch the season. He expects to just see the person he fell in love with fall in love with other women, but a miracle happens. The show documents his own falling in love with prince charming, every single embarrassing encounter. Dev finally realizes what he lost, and crashes an interview that Charlie is having. He apologizes on live television, and the two agree to work on their relationship together instead of Running when things get hard.
This book has a wonderful amount of representation, and an amazing Slow-burn. I definitely recommend it if you enjoy reality-dating TV shows!