I have to admit…I have never and I probably will never watch dating reality shows. There’s just something about the staged drama and cheesy lines that make these kinds of shows complete turnoffs for me. I do get, though, why these kinds of programs have high ratings, especially shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, because at the end of the day, women and men alike, want their happily ever after…they want to be swept off their feet and wooed…they want to feel an instant connection and try to turn lust into love.
Paige and Dash’s story may be set on the shooting locations of Ever After - the dating reality show where Dash is the suitor who beautiful women are vying for, but Katie McCoy does a great job of separating the manipulated and fake atmosphere that surrounds Dash when he’s filming from the very real attraction that Dash wants to explore with the beautiful redhead, even if she feels it’s a bad idea due to her position on the Ever After production crew.
Despite their off-limits status and Paige’s inventive ways of avoidance, the chemistry between the poor PA and the retired Formula One Driver is something that doesn’t want to fizzle out, and so while Dash wines, dines, and flirts with the female contestants, the real Dash, the funny, handsome, and charming man, is the one who Paige can’t help but want regardless of the risks, the jealousy, and the lack of time they have to get to know one another better.
Katie McCoy provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at just how much staging, manipulation, and coaching goes into the production of a dating reality television show, and in the midst of gaining that knowledge, we also get to be spectators to the start of an actual relationship - one with many obstacles but one that doesn’t want to end due to external circumstances out of their control.
Hot Bachelor is a sweet, humorous, and steamy story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Paige and Dash are a perfect couple because they give each other exactly what they need in a setting where drama can be quite overwhelming. I love that McCoy uses the stereotypical females when it comes to the contestants for Ever After because it adds to the unrealistic nature of the show, allowing readers to clearly understand the difference between what Dash does for the national television audience and how he acts with Paige when the camera isn’t following his every move.
4 Poison Apples (The Fairest of All Book Reviews)