The Charm Offensive
by Alison Cochrun
The recap
Ever After is a reality dating show built on fairy tales: one eligible bachelor, twenty hopeful women and a whirlwind tour that is supposed to end in true love. Dev Deshpande, one of its producers, believes in the fantasy completely, and his job is to coax a storybook romance out of whoever the network casts. This season that means Charlie Winshaw, a disgraced tech wunderkind who does not believe in true love at all. In front of the cameras Charlie is a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television, so Dev is assigned to coach him into a leading man. Away from the lights, as the production tours the world, the two begin to understand each other in ways that are not in the script. Alison Cochrun's debut is a funny, tender spin on the machinery of televised romance, and it handles anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder with honesty and care. At heart it is a story about learning that you deserve to be loved exactly as you are.
Why read it
For anyone who has watched a dating show and secretly rooted for the crew, and for readers who want a queer romcom that is gentle about mental health without ever losing its sense of fun.
Fun facts
- 01
It is Alison Cochrun's debut novel.
- 02
Booklist gave it a starred review, praising its thoughtful and caring exploration of gay love and of the everyday struggles of living with social anxiety and depression.
- 03
Cochrun is a former high school English teacher who lives outside Portland, Oregon.
- 04
Reviewers widely compared its fictional dating show, Ever After, to The Bachelor.
