I read this in 4 hours in one sitting. I am a huge fan of Julie Murphy so hearing about her adult romance debut I needed my hands on this arc. I have to say that this is probably my new favorite Julie Murphy book.
CW// Grief, Fatphobia

I found myself reading this entire book in one sitting. I could not put it down. We follow Cindy who moves back to LA after graduating fashion school/college. She moves back in with her stepmother and step/half siblings for the summer. Cindy’s step mother is the producer of a prime time show called Before Midnight (think the bachelor) and somehow Cindy finds herself on the show as the only plus size contestant.

I loved the plus size representation here, Julie Murphy did it with Dumplin, but smashed it out of the park with this. I felt like I could be Cindy. I loved her confidence and how she thinks that fashion and clothes are things everyone needs so they should be accessible in all sizes for everyone.
Another plus was having a Non-Binary character. I loved the use of they/them pronouns and how everyone used them for that character without hesitation.

Something I was neutral about; This book gives off One To Watch vibes and that was a bit of a drag for me. Just because it was a plus size character in a Bachelor/ Bachelorette scenario. Obviously different stories, but still basic concept. Also, the grief in this novel was very triggering for me in a way so that is something to watch if you struggle with death of family members.

Something I disliked; I was not a fan of the production team at times. Maybe this is how real production teams work and the behind the scenes. However, I just could not get behind nobody relaying certain information to people prior to the conflict. But this is a fictional story so I guess we need a huge conflict.

My enjoyment for this book is very high that my dislikes are slightly irrelevant to my rating.
4.5 stars!!!