One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

A romance cast with a plus-sized Bachelorette that's sharp, readable, and appropriately glittery.

Published June 12, 2020

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one to watch

Novel: One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Dial Press
Format: Hardcover
Source: Book of the Month

As I gradually restore Words Like Silver to its archive of reviews written between 2011 and 2024, I'll aim to first and foremost make my reading history explorable by publishing the blurbs and short reflections as books cross my mind, with the goal of eventually transferring and fleshing out the original WLS content. For now, please enjoy this brief spotlight.

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers--and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates The kiss-off rejections The surprising amount of guys named Chad But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition--under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it.

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But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men—and herself—for a chance to live happily ever after.


I don’t watch The Bachelor, really. This year, I watched enough of it to keep up with girls as a social activity — it was always relaxing on Monday nights to pour myself a glass of wine and sink into a beanbag chair while we dissected contestants — but I have zero emotional involvement. (I’m also terrible at watching TV, so this was good practice!)

It’s oddly enough so universal with girls around my age that it was always a nice conversation to fall back on, or activity to join. And even me phrasing it that way makes it sound much more boring than it is.

One of my favorite collections of essays, You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein, which I’ve recommended to everyone, has an essay talking about watching the Bachelor that is spot on. (The book is also hilarious, so you should buy it.)


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From You'll Grow Out of It

One to Watch is kind of the same vibe as that entire essay: sharp and funny while still being indulgent. It nailed that balance of critiquing the structure of the show (and of all the related ideas tied in with it: size zero, overly masculine, heteronormative standards, judging everyone online) while still conveying the flavor of a daydream of a date drinking champagne in a hot tub on a yacht. Glittering.

The pacing is a little slow, so you have to be committed to it. Still, it’s an easy read that still has substance.

First of all, Bea was a fabulous main character (predictably.) She was stylish, vivid, and down-to-earth. She nailed a mix of being confident while still dealing with all the insecurities thrown at her by the storyline, but she wasn’t abrasive or whiny. I was a big fan of hers, and that’s the whole point of the book: a protagonist you can root for no matter what.

The book starts a little before the show does, setting up a backstory that darts around Paris and L.A. Sets up an influencer who gives genuine value to her readers (both in bold styles and in speaking out about issues that are important to her) and a shitty ex who can’t ever make up his mind. When Bea gets a little too wine-drunk and writes a scathing review of Main Squeeze, the show reaches out to offer a solution: she gets to play the lead. Ultimately, deciding that it doesn’t make her a hypocrite to try it out, Bea says yes, but she’s still somewhat longing after the guy who broke her heart.

The most successful part of One to Watch is that it literally feels like you’re watching The Bachelor. You get all the good stuff: the elaborate dates, the expansive cast of guys that you just can’t keep straight, the over-the-top outfits. Plus, you get all the fun of reading the theories and social media rabbit holes around it — Stayman-London incorporates a variety of reactions that mimic the way people watch The Bachelor in reality. Brackets, tweets, a good amount of rude comments, headlines, gossip mags. She also does an excellent job showing reactions before she explains what’s going on with Bea, ratcheting up the tension for a few pages. I loved the way she was able to convey a variety of perspectives with the narrative still feeling focused.

Bea constantly goes back and forth about the guys’ intentions. We get to see quite the array of characters, and they’re also a relatively diverse (yay!) cast. It’s also not entirely obvious which one she’s going to go for, so I was pleasantly surprised by how balanced Stayman-London was able to keep it. The varied nature of each relationship seemed to accurately convey dating multiple men at once, and there being realistic pros and cons to each choice. Each one had a different vibe, and seemed to present Bea with a different version of herself — did she want to feel sexy and cosmopolitan, or settle into a family? Did she want a head-over-heels and passionate relationship, or to feel safe in a way that she never had before?

One to Watch was such a fun, bubbly contemporary. As a style blogger, she’s especially attuned to the outfits they’d drape her in, and all the glamour of her surroundings. Being the show that it is, Main Squeeze definitely brought out a superficial side of her — an enjoyable and yet artificial-feeling persona, at times — but always did a good job displaying her emotions in a way that conveyed that she had depth.

Bea being plus-sized is of course a huge aspect of the book, and it seeps so authentically into every interaction with the others. It’s never something you forget about, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it either. And it’s not judgmental at all. I’m glad that more women will be able to see themselves in Bea, and to enjoy all the flair of The Bachelor in a way that we haven’t yet seen on the actual show. Reading Bea’s perspective was really good for me, and opened my eyes a little bit more. Also, as I’ve mentioned, there’s a ton of diversity in the rest of the characters and it all feels natural.

It’s witty, exciting, and has a few well-structured plot twists. You get to meet a lot of characters, but appreciate them each for what they bring to the plot. The vignettes and mixed-media aspects of the book are so stellar! Bea grows a lot, and her character arc is so satisfying. And of course, you’re reading/watching for the romance, and there’s a good amount of that too — but Bea’s development is consistently the main focus.

I related to some of her emotions about vulnerability and dating a ton, and it was just overall sweet. I mentioned previously that my one worry about the novel is that the pacing could drag a little in the middle. Like The Bachelor itself, some of the dates are a bit formulaic and many of the scenes feel similar, but I enjoyed it enough to not mind the similarities. Also, like The Bachelor, there’s a solid amount that’s predictable!

I’m impressed by how Stayman-London managed to embed the viewing experience of The Bachelor into a book, and additionally combine it with a layer of nuance and authenticity that’s lacking in the actual show. You’ll love Bea and all that she stands for, and also everyone will probably have a different idea of who she should end up with — a signal to me that she’s defined her other characters well. Such a solid contemporary and beach read.

2024 Update: Admittedly, this is a glowing review! That being said, I don't remember a lot about the book now and did forget about it. So maybe check it out from the library if you think you'll be the same—love, but likely not reread.

For fans of:

Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman; The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore; Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle; The Rom-commers by Katherine Center; The Reunion by Kayla Olson; Right on Cue by Fallon Ballard; Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan.


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