If the Shoe Fits

Fun! It's a very pleasant romance; there's a miscommunication trope, but not misunderstanding. The Cinderella beats are obvious - Our Heroine is named Cindy, stepmother and stepsisters, going to the ball - but they don't bind the story; Cindy is a recent fashion school graduate, with a loving step-family. And the ball is a reality show (Bachelor type) run by her stepmother... The secrets pile up, and Cindy makes an unexpected connection with the suitor. The way the story uses shoes - Cindy's preferred subject for design - is clever and neatly done. Very restrained (by lack of privacy, mostly) physical action - kisses are described, nothing more explicit than that (though they do spend one night together). It's fluff, but it's very good show more fluff. Also, some deeper thoughts on inclusion - Cindy is "full-bodied" (one of many descriptions), which is problematic for a lot of fashion lines. There's quite a bit of queer representation, too - just normal people, not held up as symbols or the like. I'm interested both in the next book in this series, and in finding more by this author - the second book is written by someone else. show less

I don't often name other books in a review, but I'm going to do it today. Remember about a year ago when One to Watch came out? And everyone was like, "This is great! A plus size bachelorette romance! How fun!" And then you read that one and cringed all over and wondered how exactly that was supposed to be body positivity? Well, look no further, because July Murphy has given us plus-sized ladies what we WANTED from One to Watch but definitely did not get!

Cindy is a confident plus size fashion designer, who isn't embarrassed about who she is and doesn't try to make excuses for others. She doesn't question the motives of everyone else, she doesn't think less of herself, and she is just living her best life (while going through some show more things, including creator's block, sure...).

Henry is a guy trying to save the family business who happens to meet Cindy on a plane. Right from their first meet cute in the airport, they really hit it off and you're left rooting for them throughout the whole story. There are cute glances and secret hand brushes... it's a very romantic slow-burn where they really get to learn about each other, all while keeping some secrets required by the fact that they're ON THE BACHELOR (type) show.

I think Julie Murphy did a fantastic job with the body positivity in this book, which is no surprise coming from the author of Dumplin' to be honest. And while this is marketed as an adult novel, it's clean and wholesome and there is no reason that older YA readers wouldn't enjoy it as well. show less

Cindy might have lost her mom at a young age, but when her father finally remarried, she loved her new family, both her stepsisters and stepmom, just as much. When her dad died suddenly, they all remained close. Cindy is now a plus-size woman and fashion designer, specializing in her second love: shoes. Her stepmom is a producer of a reality dating show, and by a quirk of fate, all three sisters are tagged to be on it. Cindy is hoping a little media attention as a plus-size contestant, an unusual entry to say the least, would jump-start her career. But when she falls for the suitor, who she had previously encountered on a flight home, career plans are replaced by the hope of landing Prince Charming. But he also has an agenda, and Cindy show more and her prince may be at cross purposes with each other. This book had me enthralled from the very beginning. It is a delightful tale of a protagonist who is comfortable with her own body, not caring that is it more than a bit larger than the average model. The reality show setting was humorous and entertaining. And though Cindy had to make some life-changing decisions concerning career versus love, this fairy tale does give her her HEA, proving that with a plus-size princess, there is just more for her Prince Charming to love. show less

A new Julie Murphy book! If The Shoe Fits is the first entry in a new adult series that is "inspired by the classic fairy tale stories we all know and love, perfect for adult readers who crave contemporary, escapist rom-coms." That's me!

Cindy has a stepmother, two stepsisters (but nice ones), loves shoes and fashion. Hmm, getting an idea yet? There are some balls and …. yes a prince of sorts.

All the elements are in place for an absolutely wonderful escapist fairy tale of a read. Murphy puts her own signature style on this tale. Cindy lands on a reality television show called Before Midnight. She's a plus size woman that viewers adore. Cindy's happy to be a positive model for women. But what about the competition for the bachelor's show more heart and hand? She's not interested - or is she? I loved Murphy's take on the Bachelor premise.

But it is Cindy that will steal your heart - her love of her family, friends and most importantly - herself. The slow building relationship between Cindy and Henry is just right for a rom-com novel, full of lots of yes/no/maybe so's. But what will happen at midnight? Will Cindy find her prince - or follow her heart and find her own dreams?

I love Murphy's writing - she tackles real issues in her novels, always creates a wonderful protagonist and her prose keep me eagerly turning pages. Sad to say I finished this one in a day. More please! show less

"Maybe joy isn't always a choice. Maybe things aren't that simple. But then... maybe they are."

Cindy loves shoes. A well-placed bow or a chic stacked heel is her form of self-expression. As a fashion-obsessed plus-size woman, she can never find designer clothes that work on her body, but a special pair of shoes always fits just right. With a shiny new design degree but no job in sight, Cindy moves back in with her stepmother, Erica Tremaine, the executive producer of the world's biggest dating reality show. When a contestant on Before Midnight bows out at the last minute, Cindy is thrust into the spotlight. Showcasing her killer shoe collection on network TV seems like a great way to jump-start her career. And, while she's at it, why show more not go on a few lavish dates with an eligible suitor? But being the first and only fat contestant on Before Midnight turns her into a viral sensation--and a body-positivity icon--overnight. Even harder to believe? she can actually see herself falling for this Prince Charming. To make it to the end, despite the fans, the haters, and a house full of fellow contestants she's not sure she can trust, Cindy will have to take a leap of faith and hope her heels--and her heart--don't break in the process.

This book was cute, funny, sweet and adorable. I really thought the dating show aspect was fun and made it really interesting to read. I have to admit that the Cinderella retelling element felt minor and very loosely done. However, I think Cindy was a wonderful character she knew who she was and never tried to change herself. It felt like for a lot of the book she was very much trying to please other people without ever putting herself first, but when she puts herself first she actually succeeds in ways she didn't think possible. The book is incredibly engaging and easy to read. You find yourself pulled into the story pretty early on because of Cindy's personality and the diverse characters that are part of the story.

Like most romantic comedy stories it is pretty obvious what certain plot points will end up being, but they are still done so well! I spent a lot of time laughing at scenes in this book. The reality dating show, Bachelor style, really made for some funny scenes... like the grown women having a legit pillow fight like it was a wrestling match. Things got kind of tense towards the end with the pivotal moment and the big life altering choice Cindy has to make. Honestly, I just loved this book I thought the author did a phenomenal job with the plus size representation. Her writing was engaging and the story was super cute. If you haven't read this one yet, you really should. It's a nice comfort read. show less

Very sweet. Props to Murphy for never making the obvious choice, for representation of so many kinds, for plugging into the zeitgeist so perfectly, but especially for dealing head on with the trauma of getting the parents out of the way. The book is a delight, enough to overcome my distaste for Disney's global colonization of all the things

Library copy

So in a world where TMZ, Page 6, and even fans just scouring social media uncover everything, it was tough to believe that the influencer daughters and stepdaughter of a well-known executive producer could appear on her reality dating series as bachelorettes without everyone immediately digging into their backgrounds and calling them out for their perceived advantage/fraud.

It was also odd how little the executive producer stepmom is in this book. As someone who supposedly works all the time, you’d think she’d be on set and mentioned more than once or twice during filming, yet she barely appears. Yes, there would be producers/assistants who handle contestants but the stepmom wouldn’t keep such a distance from her own show, and for show more the sake of the story I wish she’d been there, I wish I’d seen her interract with her daughters and stepdaughter more, particularly since two of them were breaking set rules. It was like the only reason this woman was exec-producer was so that there would be an easy way for Cindy to out of nowhere land a spot on a reality dating show, when it could have added much needed conflict to actually see the stepmom in her boss role navigating the fact that she’s also mom to three participants.

Then there were the many snap judgments of Cindy, she has them for pretty much everyone she encounters in this story, she says and thinks more than her fair share of unflattering thoughts, including momentarily deeming the bachelor something of a slacker nepo-baby based on gossip sites she read in the past even though none of her own encounters with him in the present justified the thought. I don’t mind snap judgments, the occasional nasty thought about someone or petty jealousy, that kind of thing, it’s human, we’re all guilty of it from time to time, what I begrudged here is that Cindy rarely acknowledges that sometimes she’s awful, too. For instance, at one point she’s triumphant, proud she cut in on someone else’s time with the bachelor yet when someone cuts in on Cindy’s time with him, it’s a betrayal. I struggle with people/characters who have one set of rules for everyone else and another set of rules for themselves. Cindy is frequently portrayed as a saint here even though at times her behavior isn’t all that different from the villain. I don’t at all mind a heroine flawed enough to have some villain in her, but I don’t love an unwillingness to admit to it.

This is a Cinderella retelling, but this Cinderella’s circumstances are vastly different from the one without a penny to her name and step-family who use her as a servant. The Cindy in this book has lost her parents, her step-family however, is nothing but supportive emotionally as well as financially, they truly love her. There also isn’t much need for glass slippers when in your early twenties you already have a high end shoe collection to rival Carrie Bradshaw, and while this book notes many times that it’s difficult to find fashionable clothes in larger sizes, even that isn’t an actual problem for Cindy who can whip up something cute from nothing despite supposedly suffering from designer’s block. Cindy also somehow graduated from Parsons despite admittedly blowing her entire senior year, that’s some good fortune that wouldn’t shine down on most underperforming students, same with the stepmom’s offer to use her connections to give Cindy a leg up in the fashion world on top of how Cindy is handed one relatively cushy employment opportunity after the next. All that and the bachelor’s more than smitten with Cindy nearly from the start of this book. While society is probably overdue for seeing more plus-size/fat heroines who have it all, the issue with a fictional character having it all almost from the start of a book is that there’s little left for her to overcome and that doesn’t make for a particularly interesting plot/character arc.

There really wasn’t enough plot or character development here for me. The secondary and peripherary characters also seemed undercooked, while featuring a wide variety of characters they mostly seemed like types rather than fleshed out people. That was a problem with the romance, the familial relationships and most of the friendships, too, everything just felt too surface level. I guess some would argue that this is a romantic comedy set in the world of reality show dating, you shouldn’t expect more than surface level, but I don’t think the subject matter or genre should preclude something from having depth, especially when I know this author is capable of delivering it. Unfortunately what I loved about Dumplin and Ramona Blue, the fully-realized characters and emotions, the natural flow of the writing and the plot, and the life-like feel, those things haven’t been quite as evident in this author’s most recent work, leading me to DNF some and struggle through others as I did with this one.

All of this is just my opinion of course, clearly the many high ratings on this one suggest many readers loved their experience with this book so if it sounds like something that would appeal to you, don’t let my thoughts stop you from giving it a try, what didn’t work so well for me may be a new favorite for you. show less