The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

This was such a marvelous read! It had the same wonderful queer, fun and adorable romcom vibes as Red, White & Royal Blue, but it was also filled with some truly great mental health representation. But most of all, it had one of the most precious main characters ever! Charlie stole my heart from the very first moment I met him, and as the story went on I only loved him more. I stayed up all night to read this book, just as completely hooked as I was the first time I read RWARB!

The story is about Dev Deshpande, who is a hopeless romantic, but also a producer for a cynical The Bachelor kind of reality show called “Ever After”, who never succeeds in finding love for himself. When the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as the Prince Charming, this season turns into something very different.

Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming the show expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. But most of all, he’s nothing like the confident billionaire playboy the media image has made him into, but is socially awkward, anxious, suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, afraid of being touched and possibly being on the asexual spectrum. Not the best premises for dating twenty women on national television… Especially when he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of the female co-stars…

I absolutely loved this adorable story about falling for the absolutely wrong person! It was full of humor, witty banter, hilarious situations and with the great twist to turn a reality dating show into a gay romance. And the wonderful and relatable characters with so many flaws, over-the-top feelings and vulnerability. Charlie totally stole my heart and the chemistry between him and Dev was amazing! I loved it every time they were together - from their first awkward interactions to their vulnerable moments together – it always made me smile and root for their happy ending.

But what truly made this book so special was the mental health representation. The realistic and genuine way in which Charlie and his anxiety, OCD and panic disorders, as well as Dev’s depression, were portrayed was just amazing. The beautiful way in which Alison Cochrun included these parts into the story really helps normalize mental health issues and made me love the characters even more.
It was just one scene where Dev didn’t stand up for Charlie and the somewhat cowardice way he behaved in the part leading up to the end that I didn’t really appreciate. And even though I’m very happy with the ending itself, it felt a bit rushed.

But those are just tiny, tiny, tiny complaints. All in all, this was a completely adorable, sweet, tender, witty, thoughtful and devastatingly heartfelt story about finding your forever-love, dealing with mental health issues and being true to who you are. It’s a story that deals with difficult topics in a both honest and fun way at the same time, and I cannot recommend it enough! It’s absolutely marvelous!

Rating:
5 stars

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​Author info:
Alison Cochrun