When we saw that All the Right Reasons was pitched as The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls we were intrigued. Both of us loved Gilmore Girls, so we were very excited to receive an e-arc of this book. Today we want to tell you about All the Right Reasons and what we thought. Keep on reading to find out more!
The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls in this laugh-out-loud young adult romance about a girl who joins her mother on a reality dating show for single parents—only to fall for a contestant’s son.
Cara Hawn’s life fell apart after her father cheated on her mother and got remarried to a woman Cara can’t stand. When Cara accidentally posts a rant about her father online, it goes viral—and catches the attention of the TV producers behind a new reality dating show for single parent families.
The next thing Cara and her mother know, they’ve been cast as leads on the show and are whisked away to sunny Key West where they’re asked to narrow a field of suitors and their kids down to one winning pair. All of this is outside of Cara’s comfort zone, from the meddling producers to the camera-hungry contestants, especially as Cara and her mother begin to clash on which suitors are worth keeping around. And then comes Connor.
As the son of a contestant, Connor is decidedly off-limits. Except that he doesn’t fit in with the cutthroat atmosphere in all the same ways as Cara, and she can’t get him out of her head. Now Cara must juggle her growing feelings while dodging the cameras and helping her mom pick a bachelor they both love, or else risk fracturing their family even more for the sake of ratings. Maybe there’s a reason most people don’t date on TV.
Cover
Candyce I’m always a big fan of the illustrated covers, so this is one that definitely makes me happy. I love all the little details and colors. The more I looked at it the more I noticed. Also, after reading All the Right Reasons I definitely think this cover fits the story well.
Isabelle I totally agree with Candyce, I love illustrated covers and this one is really well done. The details are great and the colors are very satisfying. This cover fits the story very well and I would definitely pick this one up in a store.
Review
Candyce Starting All the Right Reasons I was sucked in right away. I mean Cara ranted to her online journal and woke up the next morning to find out the post went viral. That’s a pretty intense way to start a book. The emotions she was feeling when it came to her parents’ divorce and relationship with her father really jumped off the page. I felt that the author really portrayed that way. I also have to say I can relate to Cara when it comes to the relationship to her mother, because I’m the same way with mine. It was really interesting to read.
I love the whole reality TV show vibe and after the first few chapters I was really excited for Cara and her mother to get this opportunity. It felt like they really deserved a break. It was interesting to get a little behind the scenes idea of what happens during a show like that and how it’s filmed. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments throughout the book that had to do with this aspect of the story. I loved that the author did kind of make us want to see certain characters go like you do when actually watching a show like that.
For me it did fall a bit flat though. I mean we get the whole process, but it felt like everything stayed just a bit too much on the surface. I missed seeing more interaction with the candidates and maybe even more of Cara and her mother talking about them. Because when things started getting intense and they weren’t really talking it just felt like it was too much if that makes sense? I just needed a bit more depth. In all honesty, that probably would’ve happened if this book was just a bit longer. Also, Cara and Connor’s romance just felt a bit too rushed and maybe forced? I mean the setting everything takes place in I understand why, but I think I would’ve appreciated it more if it was left a bit more open. And I needed just a few more moments between Cara and her mother. With them being so close it felt weird not getting much of them together.
Besides that All the Right Reasons was a fast and fun book to read. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments, times I was mad at the characters, and times that I really loved that. My favorite character of all was Sam. He was just so sweet and just wanted the show to go well for these two people. I kind of knew how this book was going to play out after a few chapters, but it was still a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a fun contemporary and enjoy reality TV I definitely suggest giving All the Right Reasons a chance.
Isabelle This book started off great and sucked me in right away. I liked Cara and her mom and immediately disliked her dad. The tv show was such a fun opportunity for them and I was really rooting for Cara and her mom. I also loved the overall concept of the book, it was definitely what got me interested in it (and of course the comparison with Gilmore Girls).
While the book did suck me in right away, I was a bit concerned when I got to the 30% mark and the tv show hadn’t even started yet. And that concern proved right, I really missed some depth in this story. The book started off with some great description and really went into those feelings but later on I felt like we skipped over some things. Cara’s romance developed really fast and while I liked them together I didn’t really ‘believe’ in the relationship so to say.
Cara and her mom have an amazing relationship at the start of the book but somehow stop discussing things later on and that was another thing that lacked depth for me. We skip over things, fights are magically resolved and I just didn’t really like how some situations were handled. The book isn’t that big and I think a lot of these issues could’ve been fixed with just a 100 pages extra.
Like Candyce I guessed the ending pretty early on, we both picked up on the same clues I think haha. It didn’t really bother me though because I liked seeing the story develop in the direction I thought it would go and I appreciated that it wasn’t all out of left field but actually something you could see coming from the start. This book was fun and it was a quick read. I would recommend this book if it’s the kind of story you enjoy for sure!
So that’s our review for All the Right Reasons! It’s always interesting to read about reality TV shows. Would you ever participate in one? If so, what kind of reality show would you be on? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!
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