Cupid Calling

by Viano Oniomoh

Ejiro Odavwaro wants to fall in love. Obiora Anozie wants a free vacation. Both hope they’ll find what they want on the upcoming reality dating show Cupid Calling, where they’ll be competing alongside twenty-eight other bachelors for the heart of one bachelorette.

The very last thing they expect is to fall for each other.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, M M Romance, Adult, Slow Burn

437 pages, ebook

First published October 25, 2022

About the author

Viano Oniomoh is a passionate reader and writer, who was born and raised in Nigeria. She spends fifty percent of her time writing, forty percent reading, and the other ten listening to BTS. She may or may not use magic to get everything else in her life done. She also has no idea how to write about herself in the third person.

Find more about her at vianooniomoh.com

You can also connect with her on social media:

Viano Oniomoh on Facebook
@vianoniomoh on Twitter
and @vianoniomoh on Instagram.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

A m/m contemporary set in a UK Bachelor-type dating show. Obiora is a second generation Nigerian Brit, proudly bisexual, still struggling to see a way forward after the devastating death of the woman he loved years ago. Ejiro is a recent immigrant whose abusively controlling and homophobic mother is trying to make him return to Nigeria. Ejiro considers himself straight in a not-thinking-about-it way but turns out to be demisexual and biromantic, both things he needs to come to terms with as he falls for Obiora.

That’s a lot of backstory angst. However, the actual romance is almost completely angst-free. There’s a looooong slow burn with lots of pining in the first half (if you like pining you will be in heaven because this is Pine Forest), and then lots of mutual adoration and endearments when they get together. There’s basically no internal conflict—Obiora is very patient with Ejiro’s need to take his time before a sexual relationship, Ejiro understands Obiora’s bereavement, and they are both immensely kind to each other.

I have to say, I found it a bit rose-tinted, in large part because of the implausibly nice British setting which seems frankly a bit too optimistic about this goddamn country's racism and homophobia and xenophobia. It's very much how things ought to be, but that just kind of made me think about how they are. It's possible I've been reading too much news for my own good.

The world of the book is a super positive one. Ejiro’s mother is awful, but she’s a long way away, and the actual environment they live in, both on and off TV, is super queer friendly, such that they both feel safe with coming out on TV and with public PDAs. Ejiro lives really quite well on the salary of an assistant chef in his uncle’s restaurant, and Obiora can afford lavish balloon rides as a personal trainer, and being wildly visible contestants on a popular reality show talked about on social media has no downsides. Basically, it's *extremely* soft and sweet and gentle to its leads. I would have liked a bit more tonal variation in the second half even with that, but if what you want is a long wallow and total escape, this will float your boat perfectly.

[~Nicole~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a sweet story! 2 Nigerian guys, British-Nigerian actually (Obiora and Ejiro) participate in a dating reality show ,Bachelorette, to win the heart of a beautiful woman. Set in a pretty unrealistically-painted UK with some OTT moments the show is however fun and almost every character in the book is a nice person (homophobic Hunter and Ejiro’s mother being the exceptions). Obiora is an out and proud bisexual who still mourns the loss of his beloved girlfriend 5 years prior and Ejiro is a shy sweet guy who thinks himself straight but who,during the show discovers that he’s demisexual and biromantic.
I loved the first part of the book , I loved the pining and the guys getting to know each other , I liked the show-related details and the sexuality and consent topics. And then they got together and everything became blushes, and tears and trembling and 100 on-page I love yous, and …OMG, they acted like Victorian maids. It was toooo much crying and sobbing and looking into each other eyes and declarations after declarations. I just wanted it to be over. So of you like sappy,cheesy and tooth-rotting sweet romances this is the book for you. The writing is ok and overall is a good book , I enjoyed it.




*******SPOILER********


* Of course the bachelorette chose the richest guy of all the men there. After all ,her dream was to see the world . And what better way than on the arm of a Duke’s grandson 🤣🤣 . Well, I was glad it was Jin, I liked him from the start. Though I kind of liked Chris Wu too.

[mina reads™️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly sweet slow burn romance about two male contestants on a dating show falling in love with each other rather than the bachelorette. Lovers of reality dating shows will eat this up and it has a very fun multimedia format so you can see the commentary of people watching the reality show they're on. So fun, so sweet, a bit longer than it needed to be but I loved this couple and seeing them find their way to each other.

[chichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welp, she's done it again. Viano Oniomoh has written yet another 5 star romance with characters I adore. Somehow, even though both of these MC's have real family issues, Ejiro dealing with an abusive mother and Obiora mourning the death of his first love...the tone never got bogged down. I especially appreciated Obiora's grief was handled here, honestly made me think of how I view "dead partner" stories moving forward. The slow burn was executed to absolute perfection and when their friendship dynamic began to take a turn, I was locked in. The chemistry felt so natural to the characters and the sexual tension?? The actual sex scenes?? Perfection. Outside of the romance, I was surprised at how engaged I remained in the reality show plot...like I knew just enough about the other contestants to be somewhat invested and always looked forward to the (really well done!) recaps & social media posts. As a Nigerian Igbo woman, the incorporation of my culture into this book was fantastic and made me feel right at home.

Was it a little idealistic and cheesy with lots of lovey-dovey scenes post-HEA? Yes. Did I eat every single one of these moments up? Also yes. Ultimately, I feel like the real shit™️ Obiora & Ejiro were working through as individual characters kept this book from feeling too fluffy. By the end, I was just so happy for their individual character development/happiness that I wanted to see them getting loved on as much as possible. Also, Obiora was down BAD for Ejiro and I'm a simple girl... give me an outwardly cocky character who is whipped for their love interest, I'll eat it up everytime🤷🏾‍♀️

After two 5 star books in a row, I am officially committed to reading everything Viano's ever written. I can't wait to see what she has in store for 2024.
---------------------
Yeah it’s giving new favorite author… full RTC when I’m done giggling and kicking my feet

[Anniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me after reading only the first few pages: oh, so this is going to be a 5 star read then?

Really, I was immediately so invested and so ENTERTAINED. This is truly a top tier romance book, it was SO freaking cute.

First of all, the dating show setting was done so well. I loved how developed and detailed it was, and how much we were actually taken through all of the episodes. Especially the episode summaries were a really fun format to achieve that, and seeing the comments was so fun (plus I loved all the nods to BTS in the usernames!).

But the star of the book were the characters and their romance. I absolutely loved seeing them go from annoyance to slowly opening up to each other, to eventually falling in love (and falling HARD). Particularly Ejiro was really special to me, being such an introvert and figuring out his sexuality over the course of the book. I just wanted to give him a huge hug, if he would welcome one.

[QuietlyKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this one ages ago but somehow never got around to reviewing it 😫😭 One day when I reread it, I’ll have to come back and write a real review. Suffice to say for now, I loved it, LOVED it! The demi rep REALLY hit home in a multitude of ways and I found myself tearing up for my younger self wishing I’d have had books like this to help me figure it out.

As I said, I will definitely revisit Calling Cupid; it’s a perfect comfort read for me.

[atria · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute queer romances saving my life since 2020!! obiora is so fucking whipped for ejiro (like hello?? saving him as 'loml' on his phone??? ok simp (affectionate)) and their romance was the perfect amount of slowburn. like i was giggling & kicking my feet and shit. straight romances will literally NEVER make me feel that way and that's just facts, baby, cheers!!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3*

It got too mushy (even for me) by the end, but the slow burn/pining/yearning worked for me!

[Marta]

I'm sorry, but that's going to be a DNF as I don't feel like I want to read yet another book where an adult character discovers his sexuality and ponders about it all the time and that pondering takes most of the book.
This book is already so long and I keep mixing the characters (but maybe that's my fault as I've been reading the book on-and-off for about, I want to say 6 months? Maybe more?) and I'm sad to say I do not really care.

[Jess.bookrecs · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the time I finish this, I have read 438 books in my life-time but nothing quite compares to this one. Everything about this story was perfect from the slow-burn process to sexual attraction to a full blown crush to sensual attraction to the slow Demi-sexual awareness to the description of consent voilation on different counts(not by the main characters) to their romance in full blown passion. I am very much in awe of this author because her talents bleeds through all this pages from the beginning to the end and if there’s one thing that will peak my interest more than a well written love story, it is TALENT
Ejiro and Obiora had feelings of love towards each other way before anything was concrete between them and no once did I doubt that love… if another love story was written with this timeline, I’d probably think too soon? But with them? It’s natural. When you’ve indeed found your person… and for Ejiro to have two incredible loves in his lifetime? Absolutely beautiful.
Their physical intimacy was off the charts. Tears stinging your eyes passionately adorable + the appreciation of Nigerian culture? Through foods and mannerisms? Have I said this is amazing yet?
I would be stuck on this story for a while and I’m so excited to read more from this author.
Lowkey I feel the need to tell her thank you.

[Weekend Reader_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🥹

This is a slowwwwwwwww burn. Obiora and Ejiro needed time to connect, and we were privy to how friendship turned into more. I was worried that dating game aspect would have caused unnecessary drama for these two, but it was actually the shared experience of figuring what they needed in a relationship. I'm happy Sophia portion resolved nicely and they were honest. The exploration of Ejiro's sexuality on page was really fascinating. One of things that I often see in romance is the person knows they are queer. There's trial and learning and we get to be apart of him finding out what makes sense. He's a tender one. Lots of blushing on his end. I also loved loved grief was handled as ongoing process. Obioro was still trying to honor his time with Ada and fall in love. These two things are important and not mutually exclusive.

I was smiling for 80% of the book minus the crap therapist and manipulative mom portions 😒

CN: homophobia, grief (car accident/death of a partner), strained familial relationships, emotional manipulation (parent and partner)

[Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-meaning story, which never quite took flight for me. There was nothing to dislike: the writing was competent, the MCs sympathetic, the McGuffin of the dating show drove the action along.
Maybe the stakes weren't that high, maybe there was a smidgin too much niceness, but I feel mean for not having liked this more.

[llamallamacallurmama · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Most of my reviews contain detailed Content Notes (including CW/TW) sections, which may include spoilers and general tags. I have tried to mark them appropriately, but please use caution.**

3.5/5

Ebook

* Summary: Two men enter a reality dating show a la The Bachelorette while dealing with personal struggles, and find comfort and love in each other, instead of the Bachelorette.

* Stats: CR, M/M, open door, standalone.

* Notes: I struggled with this one and thought quite a lot about DNFing - which made me so sad as Viano Oniomoh is a favourite - I’m glad I didn’t though! To be honest, I’m not a reality TV watcher and have my own, somewhat unkind, opinions about the kinds of people who would agree to be on a reality dating show, so just getting into the concept here was kind of a struggle. Likewise, I found the first half or so of the book so slow. I love Viano Oniomoh and once things got moving later in the book, I did enjoy it, but the start was rough for me. I loved Obiora’s family and how loving and supportive they were of him (even when they did go astray occasionally) and enjoyed both main characters. I found Ejiro and his struggles with both identifying his sexuality and as an immigrant with a complicated parental relationship very compelling. I liked how Obiora and Ejiro come to understand grief and its place in their relationship. I actually liked that the main relationship is very low angst, sweet, kind and supportive - because the rest of the story had plenty of stuff that I found difficult - I don’t buy the version of England, reality TV or celebrity culture that it’s imagining. It felt a little too glossy and sugarcoated.

Incomplete, but still spoilery, Content Notes family tension/estrangement, homophobic family, manipulative patent, death of previous partner, grief, depression

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Adannia (chaptersofchi) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Lekha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot resist a romance set in a dating show. The drama! The gossip! The betrayal! It’s too good.

[rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why I read it: Seemed like a good romcom, it's been on my to-read list since 2023, and it's on Kindle Unlimited.

Thoughts: It was a... decent... romcom. I don't typically like romcoms -- at least not contemporary romcoms; Yield Under Great Persuasion felt like a romcom at times, and that one is still in the top ranks of my heart, as are K.J. Charles's various historicals, etc., so it really feels like contemp romcom is not for me and has to work twice (or thrice) as hard as historical/fantasy romcom. Anyway, the blurb really undersells how serious this book gets, too. Like, yeah, there are romcom shenanigans (they sneak out of accommodation so they can go see the sunset in Venice, they get ridiculously competitive with each other, they individually have "Oh no" moments, etc.), but there are serious themes at play here: grief, sexuality, homophobia, manipulation, familial abuse, consent issues.

I really liked the protagonists and their shared Nigerian background. I felt that was really well-realised throughout the story without it being the only thing they had in common. I also really liked the conflicts they each had with their families, and which felt particularly relatable to me. I'm not Nigerian, but I am a first-gen immigrant from a East-European culture where familial bonds are very similar to what Ejiro and Obiora (but particularly Ejiro) experience; there's the same reliance on food-as-placeholder-for-love, the same expectations that children "owe" their parents for their upbringing, the same shaming from parents if children "fail" them in any respects, the same sort of expectations that children will end up in careers picked (or emphatically suggested) by parents, etc. So I really, really liked how Ejiro and Obiora worked through those issues, because it mirrored how I worked through some issues, and in particular there is a moment where Obiora finally breaks through and makes Ejiro see that the way they're currently living is making no one happy -- their parents want/expect more from them, they want other things entirely but are afraid of their parents' reactions and of their parents withdrawing their love in retaliation -- and it's simply not sustainable. He says this: "Something's got to give. If our parents get upset, then that's okay. They won't be upset forever. But if we keep on like this? That's our lives we're talking about, Ejiro. Our happiness." It's very much the same thing I said to myself in the lead-up to forcing myself have difficult conversations with my mother, and to see it laid out in a book like this really, really pleased me. I also liked that there is pretty uncompromising follow-through from both characters on the family front.

Anyway, the romance itself was also good. I talked so much about their family stuff because their identities are so closely tied to said family stuff, so the protagonists have to work through different things to get to a point where they can meaningfully engage in romance, but the romance was also well-realised. I really liked the mutual slow-burn attraction. I liked that it started at different points for each of them, and ooooh I loved Obiora coaching Ejiro through learning things about himself: first there's some stuff about consent and sexuality vs sensuality (Ejiro realises he's demisexual and that's just the beginning of his journey, really), then Ejiro is like, "Wait, am I bi?", then Obiora is so patient even after they are officially in a relationship. Mind you, I'm not praising him for being patient with the person he loves; that's the bare minimum of any relationship. I'm just praising the fact that it was well-written and believable in the context.

The sex was... okay? I was joking with my husband that I need to have a separate rating system for sex scenes that doesn't just say how spicy they are (to me this is like a two- or three-pepper spicy: the language is descriptive without being purple, the emotions are good, there is a little bit of kink but not much/blink and miss). In my estimation that rating system goes like this: why oh why do I have eyes and am literate > this is boring and repetitive > this is fair to middling > this is engaging, novel, and relevant to the story as much as the non-sex bits are > this has broadened my horizons and/or awoken something in me > I'm actually going to remember this. On that scale, I'd rate Cupid Calling at a "fair" and "relevant to character development". The pining and yearning leading up to the sexy bits was more entertaining, and I could've used way more of that tbh.

The gimmick of the novel itself has me split, though. On the one hand, a romcom needs a gimmick. "Two men join a Bachelorette-type reality show and fall in love with each other" is as good as any. On the other hand, things happen over the course of the reality show, which is directed/produced by a well-known, well-respected, influential Black director, that had me thinking "you guys are way under-reacting to how bad this is" while simultaneously thinking "this would make for a BORING show". Like, there is an overall aura of... gods, I don't want to call it "wokeness", but I can't think of a different word for it. When they're shooting the first episode, a contestant gets eliminated on the spot when he picks up the bachelorette and is going to throw her into the pool despite her many and loud protestations. In another episode, a contestant also gets eliminated on the spot when he says homophobic shit and the bachelorette is very emphatic about that. These are all fair and good things.

But then when the bachelorette kisses Ejiro without his consent, I feel like maybe not a big enough deal is made of that. I mean, I get that PDA and kissing at the end of/during dates is normalised, so that's fine; the context in which it happens is okay, she didn't, like, force herself on him despite him saying "no" (Ejiro's problem is that a previous relationship made him feel like saying "no" is a character fault he has to work on, which later gets its own self-actualisation moment). Ejiro deals with it with Obiora's help, and with that he manages to make himself bring it up with the bachelorette, and the bachelorette is appropriately distressed and apologises. And then the producer of the show is essentially like, man, you should've said something about it at the time, which hit a weirdly sour note for me. She even does a whole PSA about it to the bachelors afterwards (without naming Ejiro as the prompt for it), telling them that if at any point they feel weird/uncomfortable/bad and they want things to stop, they should just signal to the crew and it'll happen. Never is there any acknowledgment from the director herself or anyone else that that sort of thing is REALLY HARD to do in the best circumstances, on a normal one-on-one date or in a relationship, and that doing it WHILE BEING FILMED FOR NATIONAL TV/NETFLIX is EXPONENTIALLY HARDER AND HUMILIATING and contestants may choose to stay and suffer rather than indicate that they feel bad about something. Of course, the other contestant also have zero issues hardcore making out with the bachelorette on their dates and no further word on consent is said during the competition, which honestly just made me feel weirder.

Then there's the bit where the surprise guest for one episode is a celebrity couples' psychologist, who proceeds to tear all the contestants and the bachelorette to shreds with her, frankly, rude and invasive analysis. Keeping in mind that most people need multiple sessions to even begin to trust their therapist and receiving this sort of needling treatment right out the gate would deter them from ever going again........ folks, it was not good. Again, there was an acknowledgment afterwards that that went harder than the producer thought it would, but the general tone was like, suck it up, buttercup, it's for your own good. So that was weird too.

Still on the topic of wokeness, the stuff about sexual and romantic orientation felt didactic and boring sometimes. It also beggared belief that in this apparently very LGBT+-friendly fictional version of the UK, they would actually with a straight face ask a character about demisexuality on live national TV and he would answer and the producer and audience would be like, "wow that's so interesting". Very Special Episode vibes all around.

Finally, the contest itself was boring. There was some excitement at first, but then the novel settled into dealing with Obiora's mounting obsession with each Ejiro and Ejiro's mounting distress in realising his sexuality is not what he thought it was, and kind of forgot about the actual competition. Where are the fucky challenges? Where is the actual spirit of competition? Why is it all just boring dates (when the boring dates are even mentioned)?

Finally -- and this time for real finally because I'm running out of steam and willpower to keep writing this review -- I thought the story went on for way too long after the end of the contest itself. The author seemed really keen on solving every single issue the characters had before she closed off the novel, and that accidentally made the last quarter or so really boring for the most part, and I say "for the most part" because there were the two meaningful moments (Obiora talks to his family about his grief [the resolution to this made me tear up] and Ejiro tells his homophobic abusive mother he's not going to do what she wants with his life) that were still well worth including. But everything else could have been completely missing and I would've been like, "wow, what a good and satisfying ending!" rather than how I am now, "wow, way to not believe in the character growth path you so clearly laid out for your characters throughout the story".

Would I read more from this author: Yes, even though nothing else she's written so far appeals to me. But if I saw her name attached to a future release that appealed, I'd get that for sure.

Would I recommend it: Yes.

Keep or cull: It's KU and I don't think I like this enough to reread/buy it, so I guess culled by default.

[N.G. Peltier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I reallyyyy loved this book I love me some reality shows (although the bachelor isn't actually one that i watch) and this premise was great! Obiora and Ejiro were so sweet together! And I love how consent was discussed and treated in this.

The way the relationship progressed between these two...*swoons* I jus been reccing this to everyone as a sweet read!

[Lumiere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books review;
Short description: Two guys goes on a reality dating show like the Bachelorette. But they end up falling for each instead of the Bachelorette.

I really adore this book and the character. It was do much more cute than I thought it would be. It isn't spicy but there is so many cute moments.. moments that just give you butterflies in your stomach. I love how different the writing style was.. you don't just get the view from both MC but you also get the view from people watching the show. the author is Nigerian so I also could relate a lot to the expectations african parents have to their children. The dynamic between the family members was so relatable for me who also grew up with african parents.

Stars: 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

🦋Butterflies: 🦋🦋🦋🦋

Favorite quote:
"Obiora laughed lightly. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.” That seemed to be an understatement. The look in Obiora’s eyes was hungry; if curiosity were rain, then Obiora was a thunderstorm."

🙄 Genre:
🥘 Romance
🥘 Contemporary

🤫Trope:
🥊 Slow burner
🥊 Rival to friends to lover


⚠️Trigger/ Content Warning⚠️:
🎥 Emotional abused

😲 Representation:
🖌 Ethnicity; Black; African; Nigerian
🖌 LBGTQ+ ; Demisexual, Biromantic & Bisexual

➕Recommendation:
Yes.. freaking hell.. still processing how fucking cute this was.. I'm gonna reread this a million time I just know it. I freaking loved so much about this. It may have been a bit too lovely dovely. So be aware if you wanna pick it up.. because otherwise it will be the same as wanting a steak but eating a cupcake.. you wouldn't enjoy it as much.

E & O will forever have my heart. 😭

Pick it up if you want a cute romance.. then this is definitely for you.. the slow burner and pining is EVERYTHING.

[JennyBuysBooks | Find me on Fable! · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The first 50% was a solid 4 star read for me, but it lost me a bit in the back half. If you like really swoony dialog, you might feel differently though! It just isn't my preference in romance.

What I liked:
- The pining! A+! Honestly, this is how you write two characters who are falling for each other!
- The demi rep! The conversations about sexuality were amazing. People should read this book just for that
- The discussion around consent! Loved it!
- The family dynamics
- The two mains while they were filming the show
- The spice!

What didn't work for me:
- The back half of the story got overly swoony. I've never heard two people call each other baby so much, and it just kind of makes me want to barf.
- The characters post reality show felt like they were almost different people. I really missed the pining when it was gone.
- I wish the last half would have been edited down a bit. I think there was just some unnecessary filler in there.
- Some of the conversations didn't feel natural.

Overall I think this is a good book! I honestly think if you don't have an aversion to ultra-swoony romance like me, you would probably LOVE this!

[tri ܁ ˖ ♬⋆.˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't extremely fond of the writing but I ignored it because The Representation. It's a very lovely slow-burn; the part where the attraction is palpable but they're denying it was very well written. Also, "biromantic demisexual". Try saying THAT ten times.

(sidenote: I think this might be my first Queer Nigerian book?? wow)

[melanatedbookjunkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Cute

I enjoyed this book! It was such a unique storyline. It was a lot of fun to read. At times the plot moves pretty slow, but overall it was a great story.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. GOD! ❤️❤️😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😭😭😭😭😭😭

[Favour · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024 is not over yet but I can already say with confidence that this is my favourite read of the year.

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww, this was very cute!

I loved the MCs - they both really worked as characters and their personalities and backstories worked in juxtaposition to each other without losing specificity. The way the relationship built over the course of the book was done really well imo, including after the show was over. I was concerned there would be some contrived drama over the reality show (or family or whatever) - but there really wasn’t.

This was probably the best fake reality competition/dating show I’ve read. I appreciated that the bachelorette and producer were written as savvy but not cruel, and kind but not cheesy - I don’t hugely love the more cynical reality show portrayals bc why would these contestants be sticking around in such a toxic environment? I would just walk! But I was never wondering that - the environment was pretty positive without being ridiculous, which was refreshing to see. And even when the MCs had complex motivations for continuing to participate, it felt realistic but never dark. …And I never confused any of the other contestants which is frankly a feat given how many there were.

I loved the friendly competitiveness, especially between the two MCs but also between the contestants and the bachelorette herself - I think it’s hard to realistically write people being competitive in a non-toxic way, or at least I often see it written unrealistically. Here, as a competitive person I felt seen lol.

Some minor quibbles - as usual there was a bit too much “HEA on screen” for me at the end but ymmv, and there were some word choices/errors that were a bit glaring but this was self-published and I enjoyed the rest of the writing (the news/social media excerpts - fantastic!) so I wasn’t hugely bothered by them.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content warnings: death of a loved one (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting, toxic relationship (in the past), grief, emotional abuse

Well this was a fucking DELIGHT. I do have to admit that I didn't quite understand why the entire world was going feral for the idea of this particular director doing a very stock standard reality show. Like, the show the two protagonists are participating in is really just The Bachelorette but more diverse and with more contestants. There's genuinely nothing special or unique about the premise other than that this director is involved. And I don't REALLY see the world going feral for such a generic concept purely because a particular director is at the helm.

ANYWAY. That being said, I adored this. I loved Ejiro and his journey of self discovery a LOT. I loved Obiora and *his* journey to move past his grief. I loved the setting and the side characters and the reactions from the public thrown in at the end of each "episode" of the show.

This definitely dealt with some darker topics than I expected it to, but I had a truly lovely time with it and I hugged my Kindle at the end of the book so you KNOW it was good.

[Solly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

I really enjoyed the first half and all the pining, but the second half was almost too low on angst/tension/conflict for me so it felt a bit too long? It's not necessarily a bad thing and the character work is great which is the most important thing in a romance imo, but yeah the second half held my attention a little less than the beginning. The demisexual rep was fantastic though! Like some of Ejiro's thoughts about his previous relationship and how he couldn't possibly be ace because he had sex were extremely relatable to me, I really loved that part.

[Supertotoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Further proof why I would hate to be on any kind of reality tv/dating show.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Première partie très cool, j'ai beaucoup aimé les passages pendant la tvr mais une fois à l'extérieur de l'émission ça traine un peu en longueur pour rien

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Endless love story.
More places, people, side plots
than necessary.

2.5 rounded up