Find If The Shoe Fits (Meant To Be, #1) Presented By Julie Murphy Accessible In Publication

I was not expecting this, I heard that people enjoyed this one but I didnt know how I would feel about it at all,.Stars.

Honestly, I wasnt expecting to pick this up anytime soon, but then I was sent a copy of the second book in this series.
Apparently, Disney is making moves into publishing adult romance novels under the theme of Disney classics that many readers are familiar with, So, before I read that one, I wanted to read the first book so that I could get a better idea of what to expect with the series.
This book did not disappointment, Readers follow the main character Cindy as she moves back home after graduation, Like the original story, Cindy has lost both of her parents and lives with her stepmother and siblings, Her stepmother is an executive producer of a reality TV show and when someone drops out of her infamous dating reality TV series, Cindy steps in to fill her spot.
What happens next, is such an enjoyable and fun filled romance,

At first Cindy thinks that shes just going to go on the reality TV show and just showcase her shoes shes a designer but quickly finds that being the first plus size/fat character on the show brings so much more.
I loved the pacing of this story and more so the character development, Cindy is such a joy to read about, I love that she had such a close relationship with her stepmother especially because shes lost both of her parents, I was afraid that her stepmom was going to horrendous, I also loved that Cindy was so confident in her body, This is the fat representation that I was looking for in One to Watch, Yes, Cindy does have to deal with some not so great behavior from other contestants, comments from people who mean well but are actually pretty offensive, and even the crap that comes with being plussized/fat in the fashion industry, but she does a hell of a job maintaining a sense of sureness about herself and her body and she doesnt need validation from anyone else.
This attitude combined with the romance and the reality tv show theme was PERFECT,

I also appreciate the sweetness of the romance and the plot development, It was done in a way that made me want more and more of the story, I was never tired reading anything that Murphy gave us on page, From the way the reality TV show worked to the way all of the characters interacted with each other was awesome, It isnt too often that I find a book where all of the elements of the book work so well together, I was close to giving thisbut the ending needed just a little more energy, It was sweet but I wanted just a little more to close out this amazing story, Honestly, I cant wait to see what else Disney is going to do with these books, If youre a fan of reality TV based romances, fairytale retellings, or if you were disappointed in One to Watch then I would definitely recommend checking this one out.
IF THE SHOE FITS, WALK IN IT TILL YOUR HIGH HEELS BREAK
AND I FELL FROM THE PEDESTAL RIGHT DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
LONG STORY SHORT IT W

Julie Murphy's new romcom asks the question, Can a real happy ending be found on reality television

So heres a question: is a “Cinderella story” the same as a retelling of Cinderella Because while Ive heard If the Shoe Fits called a retelling, its perhaps one in the loosest sense, but that doesnt detract from its charm.


Cindy is an aspiring shoe designer with a passion for fashion, but as a plussized woman, shes often frustrated by the lack of options she has.
With no real career prospects on the horizon, she moves home to live with her stepmother, a famous reality show producer, to help care for her three young halfsiblings.


When a contestant is needed on her stepmothers most famous dating show, Cindy decides to take the chance and fill in, She can show off her fashion sense and maybe jumpstart her career, What she doesnt expect is that shell capture the hearts of the viewing public because of her size and her clothes,

To her surprise, she finds herself actually falling for the shows eligible bachelor, and she deals with jealous and competitive contestants

and the manipulation that comes from “reality” television.
But in the end, will the show allow someone like her to get her happy ending, or does she need to go after it herself

If the Shoe Fits was a sweet story, a kinder, gentler version of the spectacular One to Watch, which was one of my favorites last year.
Murphys writing is always so positive and charming, but not really focusing on much of the negatives that a plussize contestant would actually face on a show like this made the book seem more like a fairy tale.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, . .

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This is a loosely inspired by Cinderella contemporary romance with a Bachelor esque show, I was a bit skeptical of the retelling aspect since I hate mean girl plots but was pleasantly surprised that the step family was not evil.
But as clever as this was, I did not like the romance part, Maybe because my bias against dudes on the bachelor came through, . I just hate how unfair it is to the girls on the show, But I did love that this featured a plus sized lead and that the story didnt revolve around her body so I will likely continue this companion series.
Who doesn't love a good retelling I certainly do, especially Cinderellabased as it is my favorite fairytale despite how bad it truly is, Guilty of having guilty pleasures!, THIS was not a good retelling though shrug

Be prepared for a few light spoilers concerning the growth or lack thereof of the story.


It all started beautifully, Of course, with a setting like "The Bachelor", I did not expect a lot of quality development, but it shined when it came to Cindy's home life.
She had a very interesting stepmother who was actually a NICE person who cared about her and did not limit her in her options, but was there to support it.
Same with her stepsisters. They were supporting her in everything and it was wonderful, There were some scenes in the past where the sisters weren't too nice in high school, but it really showed how close they are now and despite Cindy's awkwardness sometimes, that she truly loved them.
It was a heavenly change to the very beaten stereotype of evil step family,

But that's where all the good things end,

It is with my biggest disappointment to say that Cindy's main and arguably only trait was that she was plus size, Where is the self growth Nowhere in this book!

At first I was intrigued, but it showed me some points of view I had never really considered too much such as backhanded compliments/insults just for existing and I appreciated that, but soon it just devolved to Cindy always getting into situations that had to do with only her size.
Production failing MULTIPLE times to have prepared any kind of clothes for her, leaving it to Cindy to educate AND convince industry people in less thanseconds why inclusivity is the best business plan which it is, don't get me wrong, it was just the way that ONLY Cindy knows and everyone else is a brainless stick of wood.
The only pat on the back I'll give her is that she never truly compared herself to her skinnier rivals and thought lowly of herself.


Then of course comes the meaning to her existence in this book which is Henry, our universally agreed hot guy, Talk about a most underdeveloped romance to the point of making Cindy simply an imbecile, There is immediate attraction between them despite not really knowing each other,

And that's ok, Chemistry is a thing.

What is not ok is Cindy for the entirety of the book going back and forth between her feelings towards him, basically making out whenever she can with him and then thinking that she just MIGHT like him, that he does not like her and he has never said anything, DESPITE being the only "couple" that kept stealing time together, sharing items that were forbidden and generally breaking rules in secret.
But no, Cindy is not sure about liking him,

Which brings us to the big finale, Cindy throughout the book is equating her love with Henry to the prize itself, If he does not pick her, then OBVIOUSLY he is rejecting her in every form and does not love her and then she will have to live a few years avoiding news about his happy marriage with one of the other contestants.
Because OBVIOUSLY, if Henry proposed to another girl instead of her since we know all reality tv decisions are made exclusively by the players and never the ratings/ production, he would HAVE to marry her and live the happily ever after ending without Cindy.
I kept waiting for some rational thinking coming back to her head, but she keeps saying it ALL, THE. TIME. Not like she thinks reality tv is real, but somehow this made sense in her head,

I will not spoil what her actions were towards the finale, but suffice to say that my opinion of her being a moron never changed.
Somehow the author tried to give legit reasons towards the very end, but you can't just delete everything I read for paaaages and paaaaages, Julie!

Now, after Cindy, thend prize of stupidity takes the whole production team.
I have never been part of a reality tv show and I will not pretend to know exactly how they work, but more or less, we all related to the If the Shoe Fits's logic that ratings above everything, right Yes, because we all realise that this is a financial decision for them, nothing to do with love.
So this means they try to make it work as much as possible, right Well, . . no. They keep being unprepared for basic things and have no backups for absolutely anything, The point is for them to get all the tears and drama they want, but not with the production being in front of the camera.
WELL They are THAT good, let's say,

In general, the entire show was not really depicted well, It seemed like the whole show lasted what,/episodes I never really watched "The Bachelor", but with my experience of general reality tv, I know there is more complexity and duration from what the author portrayed.


The other characters If Cindy and Henry are that underdeveloped, you can guess for the rest step family excluded, I think maybe only Stacy had a real enough character, probably because she was a bystander with barely any lines that was actually very likable.
There's a mean girl who is even recognised by the characters as the token mean girl, but she is also treated like that in the book too.
She's a prop to the author as well, she is forgotten, Maybe Beck was decent as well I suppose, she probably had the most stress out of everyone and yet, she still tried to be as human as possible and made it work.
Ah, there is also the token best friend, who hasopinion of her own and only exists to cheer for Cindy, Such great friendship lt

That is all I can say, Mishandled premise, not only boring main characters but very badly written characters, a reality tv show that made little sense as to how it promotes itself.
For me, they even butchered a part of the body positivity message, I can't find a reason to give this anything more thanstar, .