One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London: A Bitter Disappointment

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
Published: July 7th, 2020
Publisher: Dial Press
Tropes: Reality TV
Heat level: 🔥🔥
My rating: 2.5 stars
# of pages: 432
Acquired this book: From the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for honest consideration
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Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers--and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition--under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men--and herself--for a chance to live happily ever after.

I had high hopes for One to Watch - a fat Instagram-famous fashionista going on a reality dating show to find love? Sign me up! I was expecting something cute, funny, empowering, romantic, and feel-good. What I actually got was slammed in the face with a book full of fatphobia, making One to Watch incredibly difficult to read and often downright depressing.

I love when I can relate to a character, whether it’s because they’re fat or deal with mental illness or they’re nerdy or love to travel or whatever. If I can connect to a character because of common life experiences or interests, it makes it that much easier to love a book. In the case of One to Watch, my connection to Bea stirred up a lot of painful emotions. See, like Bea, I’m fat. I’ve always been fat. I’ve been made fun of, I’ve been bullied, I’ve been ridiculed, I’ve been judged. And like Bea, I’ve worried that no one will ever see past my size and love me for me. After so many rejections, both big and small, it becomes impossible to fathom that anyone would ever find you desirable or love you or be in a relationship with you. I’ve felt invisible for so long that it’s become a shield, and I saw that in Bea - her suspicion and mistrust and defensiveness around people, especially guys.

While on the one hand it was nice to see myself in Bea and to see the struggles many fat people face talked about with brutal honesty (emphasis on the 'brutal'), it was also too much at times. Bea couldn’t seem to catch a break. For most of the book, it seemed like her fears about how she was perceived and would never find love were completely founded. People treated her like shit. They judged and ridiculed her. So much of the book was Bea being relentlessly humiliated by fatphobic assholes and questioning her self-worth. At times it felt overwhelming seeing all my own fears and insecurities play out right before my eyes. 

All of this isn’t to say I didn’t like Bea, because I did. I could see myself being friends with her and I’d definitely love to get some fashion tips from her! I appreciated how strong and smart and real she was. The reality TV aspect of the book was interesting; I used to be obsessed with The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so I enjoyed reading about the fictionalized version of a show like that with all its ups and downs, the drama, and the dream dates. I didn’t connect to any of the guys, though, and didn’t think any of them were really right for Bea. With the premise of the book being a reality dating show, the guys’ motivations weren’t clear (were they there for fame? Did they want to use the show to advance their own careers? Did they want to get a spot on one of the franchise’s spin-off shows?) and we didn’t get to know any of them well enough to know whether they suited Bea long term. Her constant doubts about them didn’t help either because I found myself mistrustful of every single one of them, waiting for the moment when she would be humiliated yet again...which always, always happened.

Overall, this book was a miss for me. There were too few triumphs for Bea after so much pain, heartache, and humiliation. I was hoping for a book that would leave me feeling hopeful and happy, not depressed and disappointed. I would have loved to see Bea have more things work out in her favour, more circumstances where she was the winner instead of the loser. She was obviously a confident, self-assured woman, but we got to see very little of that because she was constantly put in crappy situations that often left her feeling like the butt of a bad joke.

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Blog Tour Review: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Published: February 6th, 2018
Publisher: Berkley
394 pages (eARC)
Genre: Contemporary women’s fiction/historical fiction
Acquired this book: From the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for honest consideration
Rating: 4 stars
Warning: May contain spoilers
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After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity--and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...

Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...

Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.

Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.

I’ve been a fan of Chanel Cleeton’s books since her debut I See London. After her Wild Aces trilogy, she became an auto-buy author for me. I was certain her newest book, Next Year in Havana, wouldn’t disappoint, and I was right. This story weaves together an alternating narrative between present day and late 1950s Cuba and tells the stories of Elisa Perez and her granddaughter Marisol Ferrera. It’s a story of love, sacrifice, hope, and perseverance.

As someone who was extremely close to her grandmother and still feels the loss of her almost seven years later, I connected to Marisol’s grief and her desire to find answers about Elisa. Both women were strong, tenacious, and learned so much throughout the course of the book.

I’ll admit, I knew little to nothing about Cuba and its history. It was fascinating, horrifying, and heartbreaking to learn about the struggles and oppression its people have faced and continue to face. At times I felt like I was reading about a post-apocalyptic, dystopian society, because it’s hard to believe a place like that could really exist outside fiction. That being said, I was deeply touched by the pride of the Cubans who lived in the country as well as those who had left, and those, like Marisol, who had always considered herself Cuban despite never stepping foot in the country until after her grandmother died. As heartbreaking and at times bittersweet as this story was, it was also full of so much hope.

Romantic and rich in detail, Next Year in Havana is a beautiful, compelling story that’s sure to surprise you and touch you. It’s certainly a story that will stick with me for a long time to come.

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Originally from Florida, Chanel Cleeton grew up on stories of her family's exodus from Cuba following the events of the Cuban Revolution. Her passion for politics and history continued during her years spent studying in England where she earned a bachelor's degree in International Relations from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master's degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics & Political Science. Chanel also received her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law. She loves to travel and has lived in the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. 

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Have you read Next Year in Havana? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Have you read any of Chanel's other books?

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Blog Tour Review: On Broken Wings by Chanel Cleeton

 
On Broken Wings by Chanel Cleeton
Series: Wild Aces #3
Published: January 3rd, 2017
Publisher: Berkley
336 pages (eARC)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Acquired this book: Via NetGalley in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers, and will contain some spoilers for Fly With Me and Into the Blue
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A year after losing her husband, Joker, the squadron commander of the Wild Aces, Dani Peterson gets an offer from his best friend, Alex “Easy” Rogers, to help fix up her house. Dani accepts, and their friendship grows—along with an undeniable attraction.

Racked by guilt for loving his best friend’s widow, Easy’s caught between what he wants and can’t have. Until one night everything changes, and the woman who’s always held his heart ends up in his arms. Yet as Easy leaves for his next deployment, he and Dani are torn between their feelings and their loyalty to Joker’s memory.

But when Dani discovers something that sends them both into a spin, the conflicted lovers must overcome the past to navigate a future together…

Last year when I read Fly With Me, the first book in the Wild Aces trilogy, I fell completely in love with Noah, Jordan, and the cast of characters. I thought I couldn’t possibly love the next book, Into the Blue more, and yet Thor and Becca captivated me as much as Noah and Jordan did. Again, I didn’t think I could love the final book, On Broken Wings more than the first two, but I did. It’s hard to choose since all the books and all the characters are amazing, but Easy and Dani’s story might just be my favourite of the bunch. This whole trilogy grabbed my heart from the beginning, making me laugh, cry (and I do mean cry...like, ugly cry at times), swoon, and fall in love.

I knew On Broken Wings would be emotional. Considering I sobbed like a baby when Joker died in the first book, I was sure it would be painful to read about Dani moving forward with her life. Pair that with how much Easy loved Dani and was completely prepared to never act on his feelings, and I was sure I was in for an emotional ride. I wasn’t wrong. Within the first few pages of On Broken Wings, I was already tearing up, and I cried several times throughout. Dani’s grief really resonated with me. She and Easy both had grief and guilt to deal with, and had to find the strength to move forward with their lives even when it hurt like hell. I found myself nodding along in agreement to a lot of the things Dani was thinking and saying about grief. Cleeton captured that feeling - the sadness, the anger, the regret, the confusion - so well.

I’ll admit, I was a bit worried how things were going to be handled in regards to Easy and Dani’s relationship, since Dani was a widow, and Easy had been a close friend of Joker’s. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say I thought it was handled really well - with respect and care - and was one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve read in a long time. It was both heartwarming and heartwrenching, and I loved every moment of it. 

On Broken Wings is the perfect end to an amazing series. With a complex set of characters, beautiful romances, and real emotion, the Wild Aces trilogy has become an all-time favourite. The characters in this series have a special place in my heart and won’t soon be forgotten.

Check out Book 1 in the Wild Aces series, Fly with Me:

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Read the first chapter of Fly With Me

Read my 5-star review

Check out Book 2 in the Wild Aces series, Into the Blue:
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Read my 5-star review

After years spent studying international politics in London and a stint in law school, Chanel Cleeton found her passion crafting smart and sexy contemporary romances and thrillers. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she's happiest curled up with a book, her three dogs lounging beside her. Chanel is a lover of big sunglasses, irresistible handbags, food covered in sprinkles, and pint-sized pups with larger-than-life personalities.

She is published by Harlequin and Penguin and is the author of the International School, Capital Confessions, Assassins, and Wild Aces series.

Find Chanel online:

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Have you read any of the Wild Aces books? What did you think? If you haven't read them, do you plan to? Have you read any of Chanel's other books? Have you read any books with characters who are in the military?

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Blog Tour Review: Into the Blue by Chanel Cleeton

I'm thrilled to be part of the review tour for Chanel Cleeton's latest contemporary romance, Into the Blue. I absolutely loved this book. Read on for my full review!

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Into the Blue by Chanel Cleeton
Series: Wild Aces #2
Published: July 5th, 2016
Publisher: Berkley
320 pages (eARC)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Acquired this book: Via the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
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Buy Into the Blue: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo || B&N || iBooks || Google Play

Eric Jansen—call sign Thor—loves nothing more than pushing his F-16 to the limit. Returning home to South Carolina after a tragic loss, he hopes to fix the mistake he made long ago, when he chose the Air Force over his fiancée.

Becca Madison isn’t quick to welcome Thor back. She can’t forget how he shattered her heart. But Thor won’t give up once he’s set his sights on what he wants—and he wants Becca.

Thor shows Becca that he’s no longer the impulsive boy he used to be, and Becca finds herself irresistibly drawn to him. But will Thor be able to walk away from his dream of flying the F-16 for their love or does his heart belong to the sky?

The first book in the Wild Aces trilogy, Fly With Me, is one of my favourite books of 2016 so far. I was eager to carry on with the series, but couldn’t imagine loving the second book, Into the Blue, as much as the first. Not only did I love it as much, I might love it even more. It’s hard to say because they’re so different, but they’re both incredible in their own rights, and Into the Blue has definitely earned a spot on my favourites list right alongside Fly With Me.

Cleeton did a fantastic job of setting up the Wild Aces trilogy with the first book. We got a look at what it’s like to be a fighter pilot, to be in the military, and to be a partner to someone in the military. We got the highs and lows, the complications, and the triumphs. In Into the Blue, we still got to see elements of that life, but it was more of a straight-up romance than a ‘fighter pilot romance’. Cleeton also did a great job of setting things up for the final book, On Broken Wings.

I loved Becca and Thor, together and separately. I’m a sucker for a well-written second chance romance, and this one is my new favourite. It was absolutely beautiful. Becca and Thor had so much history, so many past hurts from their childhoods and from each other, but also great memories together, plus that lingering sense of love and family they found with each other as kids. They also had sizzling chemistry; this book was hella sexy. There was a perfect combination of emotion, steam, and humour. I couldn't put this book down, and I would have happily continued reading about Becca and Thor forever. I loved how everything was wrapped up perfectly without feeling too perfect/neat or unrealistic. Everything came together in a way that felt right and had me happy sighing and wiping away a few tears.

Into the Blue was a beautiful, engrossing story about second chances and true love. It was sexy, funny, sweet, romantic, and emotional. After just two books, I feel like I’m part of the Wild Aces family, and I can’t wait to see more of these amazingly complex, real characters.

Originally a Florida girl, CHANEL CLEETON moved to London where she received a bachelor’s degree from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chanel fell in love with London and planned to stay there forever, until fate intervened on a Caribbean cruise and a fighter pilot with smooth dance moves swept her off her feet. Now, a happily ever after later, Chanel is living her next adventure.  

Law school made Chanel realize she’d rather spend her days writing sexy stories than in a courtroom, and she hasn’t looked back since. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she’s happiest curled up with a book. She has a weakness for handbags, her three pups, and her husband. 

 

Chanel writes contemporary romances, women's fiction, and thrillers. She is published by Harlequin HQN, Penguin/InterMix, and Penguin/Berkley and is the author of the International School, Capital Confessions, Assassins, and Wild Aces series.

Find Chanel online:

{Website || Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Instagram}

You can also sign up for Chanel's newsletter and join her Facebook reader group 

Read my 5-star review (plus an excerpt!) of Fly With Me, book #1 in the Wild Aces trilogy

Watch for book #3 in the  Wild Aces series, On Broken Wings, coming January 3rd, 2017! 

Alex “Easy” Rogers is used to fighting enemies in the skies, but on the ground, he’ll soon be fighting his feelings. It’s a battle he just might lose...

Pre-Order Now:

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Have you read Fly With Me or Into the Blue? What did you think? If you haven't read them, do you plan to? Have you read any books with characters who are in the military?

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Blog Tour Review: Fly With Me by Chanel Cleeton

I'm thrilled to be part of the review tour for Chanel Cleeton's latest contemporary romance, Fly With Me. I loved this book SO much, and I can't wait for more people to discover Jordan and Noah's story and hopefully fall for them the way I did. You can check out the first chapter of Fly With Me here.

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Fly With Me by Chanel Cleeton
Series: Wild Aces #1
Published: May 3rd, 2016
Publisher: Berkley
320 pages (eARC)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Acquired this book: Via NetGalley in exchange for honest consideration
Warning: May contain spoilers
Add to GoodReads
Buy Fly With Me: Amazon || Chapters/Indigo || B&N || iBooks || Google Play

U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Noah Miller—call sign Burn—loves nothing more than flying hard and fast. When he meets a gorgeous and sassy woman while partying in Las Vegas, he immediately locks on to her.

Jordan Callahan owns a thriving clothing boutique, but her love life is far less successful. Her luck changes when six feet, two inches of sexy swagger asks her to dance and turns her world upside down.

One scorching weekend becomes an undeniable chemistry that they can’t leave in Vegas. But the long distance relationship and their different lives threaten to ground their romance. And when the dangers of Noah’s job become all too real, Jordan learns being with a fighter pilot means risking it all for a shot at love…

I don’t even know how to start this review. Thinking about Fly With Me makes me smile and tear up at the same time. I’ve been on a lucky streak with great books lately, but Fly With Me has left the greatest impression. I had three initial thoughts before I started reading: 1) having read Chanel’s International School series, I figured Fly With Me would be sexy; 2) I thought it would be interesting because of the fighter pilot aspect and I knew approximately zip about fighter pilots or really the military in general; and 3) I expected to enjoy it. What I didn’t expect was to love the book from the first page and fall more and more in love with each page I read. This book has everything I love most about contemporary romance, and yet it’s unlike any other contemporary I’ve read. It was laugh-out-loud funny, unbelievably sexy, romantic, touching, heartbreaking, and hopeful.

Jordan was a great main character. She was smart, sassy, funny, and caring. Her easy, honest, witty voice made me connect with her immediately. One of the things I loved best about her was her confidence. I’d love to see more girls like this in books (and movies and TV and real life): girls who are confident, own their curves, own their imperfections, know they can be over the top and aren’t ashamed, enjoy sex without any apologies or reservations, feel comfortable in their bodies. Part of me wishes I could be Jordan and the other part desperately wants her as a friend.

I enjoyed learning about fighter pilots and military life, especially from the perspective of a significant other. It was obvious the author knew her stuff (check out this article to read the unbelievably romantic story of how Chanel Cleeton met her own fighter pilot husband - seriously, I cried), and she managed to weave in the informational bits in interesting, natural ways, which I appreciated. Jordan’s internal struggles felt very authentic, and I enjoyed watching how she figured things out. I was impressed and proud of her strength and her growth, the way you would be with a close friend who was going through something intense and managed to stay strong.

I adored Jordan and Noah as a couple. Their banter was hilarious and their sexytimes were so. Freaking. Hot. I loved their chemistry, and while they had an intense sexual attraction they also learned a lot about each other and genuinely cared about each other. They challenged each other and life challenged them, but they worked hard to make things work. I really believed in their love and rooted for them every step of the way. I laughed with them, cried for them, and swooned over them. They definitely earned a spot on my list of favourite literary couples.

Fly With Me is one of the best contemporary romances I’ve read in a long time. It’s funny, romantic, sexy, and full of heart and real emotion. It kept me up late at night reading (and bawling my eyes out) because I was so invested in these characters and their story. Jordan and Noah made a lasting impression and will stick with me for a long time. I can’t wait to continue with the Wild Aces series.

Originally a Florida girl, CHANEL CLEETON moved to London where she received a bachelor’s degree from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chanel fell in love with London and planned to stay there forever, until fate intervened on a Caribbean cruise and a fighter pilot with smooth dance moves swept her off her feet. Now, a happily ever after later, Chanel is living her next adventure.  

Law school made Chanel realize she’d rather spend her days writing sexy stories than in a courtroom, and she hasn’t looked back since. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she’s happiest curled up with a book. She has a weakness for handbags, her three pups, and her husband. 

 

Chanel writes contemporary romances, women's fiction, and thrillers. She is published by Harlequin HQN, Penguin/InterMix, and Penguin/Berkley and is the author of the International School, Capital Confessions, Assassins, and Wild Aces series.

Find Chanel online:

{Website || Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Instagram}

You can also sign up for Chanel's newsletter and join her Facebook reader group 

 

 Watch for book #2 in the Wild Aces series, Into the Blue, coming July 5th

Eric Jansen—call sign Thor—loves nothing more than pushing his F-16 to the limit. Returning home to South Carolina after a tragic loss, he hopes to fix the mistake he made long ago, when he chose the Air Force over his fiancée.

Becca Madison isn’t quick to welcome Thor back. She can’t forget how he shattered her heart. But Thor won’t give up once he’s set his sights on what he wants—and he wants Becca.

Thor shows Becca that he’s no longer the impulsive boy he used to be, and Becca finds herself irresistibly drawn to him. But will Thor be able to walk away from his dream of flying the F-16 for their love or does his heart belong to the sky?

Pre-order now:

Amazon ~ Chapters ~ B&N ~ iBooks ~ Google Play

Have you read Fly With Me? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Have you read any of Chanel's other books? Have you read any books with characters who are in the military?

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