Review: All The Right Reasons, Bethany Mangle

All The Right Reasons was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. The Bachelor Meets Gilmore Girls? A reality TV show for a single mom? This sounded like such a fun YA rom-com with its share of drama and you all know, I’m here for this. Check out my full review below!

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on February 15, 2022
Genres: contemporary, young adult
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Bookshop, Blackwell's
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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.

I received this book for free from NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

toxic parent relationship

☂️ DIVERSITY:biracial (Korean, white) protagonist, love interest with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, adopted Korean-American side character; (adopted Korean-American author)

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

• One of my favorite things about All The Right Reasons was definitely the concept. When Cara accidentally posts a video of her ranting about her father and it goes viral, everything changes. They’re cast as leads for a reality TV show, her mother as the lead and a list of suitors ready to marry her. WHAT. a. FUN. Concept, honestly I loved it. I really love any kind of story dealing with TV shows and it was so much fun to see the behind-the-scenes moments, the producers pulling the strings and more. I lived for that!
• The mother-daughter relationship is the highlight of the book, that’s for sure. The blurb was right, it did remind me a little bit of Gilmore Girls at times, how close the two of them were, their little inside jokes and more. I found it so interesting to see their relationship grow and be challenged because of the TV show.
• Cara was such a great main character to follow. She’s a teenager and she feels a lot, she can be a bit dramatic at times and really bitter, but yet she’s also kind and has such a big heart. The way she acted thorough the story was so realistic, given the circumstances and her age and I couldn’t help but feel for her.

• I really liked the cast of characters surrounding the mother-daughter duo. While it wasn’t easy, at first, to keep track of everyone, I found that the little friendships Cara built with some people in the show was really wonderful to see. Oh, and Sam, I adored him as well. He is an assistant in the show, guiding the duo from the very beginning and, while he’s a bit awkward and clumsy, at times, he also has the biggest heart of them all.
• Of course, there is a bit of a blooming, forbidden romance in this story between Cara and one of the contestant’s sons, Connor. I found each of their interactions very soft and adorable (just like Connor was!) and I really liked seeing them together.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…

☂️

• I’ll admit it: All the Right Reasons puts the mother-daughter relationship front and center and I LOVED that. Yet, I also happened to be a tiny bit frustrated by the romance part of the story, on Cara’s side. While I enjoyed every single one of her interactions with her love interest, I also craved for a little more depth.

OVERALL

☂️

All The Right Reasons is my first Bethany Mangle book and, let me tell you, it won’t be my last. I had such a great time reading it and I really liked the focus on the mother-daughter relationship. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

FINAL RATING : 4 stars!

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Did you read All The Right Reasons, or do you want to? Do you know any other books with a reality TV show? I’d love your recommendations, so let me know in comments!

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