My Thoughts on Past Seasons of The Bachelor and a Book Review: One To Watch {Kate Stayman London}

I have watched The Bachelor since season 1. The year was 2002 and I very much remember laying on the couch in my parents’ house as my mom and I watched Alex Michel attempt to find love on national tv. I remember I was eating peanut butter straight from the jar (20 years later and my obsession with peanut butter is stronger than ever…in fact, I’m drinking a spinach/banana/peanut butter smoothie as I type this, lol). 1 episode of The Bachelor and I. WAS. HOOKED. 18 years later and my love for The Bachelor remains strong. In honor of the new season of The Bachelorette premiering on TUESDAY (finnnnnnnnally), today’s blog post includes a whole bunch of my random thoughts on The Bachelor AND a book review of One to Watch by Kate Stayman London.

Some random Bachelor/Bachelorette thoughts from past seasons:

I literally do everything that I can to avoid spoilers. I stop visiting my favorite reality show websites, turn off the radio as soon as they mention the possibility of a discussion (this applied more to when I was teaching and had a commute…now I just listen to Pandora, lol), etc.. I absolutely have blocked and even unfriended people on Facebook when they post spoilers! Side note: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP POSTING TV SPOILERS ON FACEBOOK! NOT EVERYONE IS CAUGHT UP ON THE SAME TELEVISION SHOWS AS YOU ARE OR CARES TO READ ANY SPOILERS EVEN IF THEY ARE ALL CAUGHT UP! ***Insert MAJOR eye roll here***

One of my all time favorite couples EVER was Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft. Oh they were so cute! I loved Andrew’s season, I thought he was so handsome.

My current favorite couple is Arie and Lauren (follow them on Instagram and YouTube, they are adorable)! I know, I know…his breakup with Becca was BAD but I have always loved Arie ever since Emily’s season (and I LOVED Emily’s season!)

My very favorite Bachelorette ever was Ashley although I think I might be the only person in America who feels this way.

I really don’t enjoy watching any season until about 5 episodes in. Too many guys in the beginning and too hard to remember who is who! I like it best when it’s down to the final 5-10 guys and I can start rooting for my favorites.

I feel like the caliber of the bachelors has so dramatically changed over time. In the beginning they were always wealthy, successful, gorgeous, etc. Now they…aren’t. I really started to notice this when Farmer Chris was the bachelor…Ummm he seemed nice and all but worth fighting over and quite possibly humiliating yourself on National television for? I think not.

I hate watching The Woman Tell All and also After the Final Rose (although I always do watch both). I just like watching the regular episodes, I don’t need the backstories. Except for when Arie and Becca broke up. I was legit GLUED to the screen during that aftershow! It was so amazing.

I hate, hate, hate the group dates ESPECIALLY when they have the girls play any type of sports! So boring. Side note: I think pretty much all sports are boring in real life…the LAST thing I want to watch on The Bachelor is any type of sport!

My favorite part of any season are the 2 on 1 dates where 1 person gets sent home…always the best drama during those. I also love hometowns.

Why does every season include a private concert by some weird unknown band that the lead pretends to actually know and be excited about? So weird.

I literally remember nothing about Charlie O’Connell’s season except that I remember LOVING him?

I liked Peter during his season but…Kelley? Really???

I adore Chris Harrison and I was alllll over the rumor a few years ago that once he announced his divorce that he could have been the next Bachelor. That would have been AMAZING. I also loved the Kris Jenner Bachelorette rumor 🙂

This summer felt so weird not to have a Bachelorette and I can’t wait to tune in to Claire’s season! However…Claire??? WHY IS IT NOT HANNAH ANN???

So, I read a book a few weeks ago and it was like WATCHING AN ENTIRE SEASON! If you love the Bachelor as much as I do, keep reading…I’ve got an AWESOME book for you. If you hate The Bachelor, I’m gonna just say that you will want to stop reading this post now because this book is most definitely NOT for you, lol.

Goodreads Synopsis of One to Watch {Kate Stayman-London}:

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 anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it.

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.

My Review of One to Watch {Kate Stayman-London}:

After I finished reading this book, I FELT LIKE I JUST WATCHED A ENTIRE SEASON OF THE BACHELORETTE OVER JUST A FEW DAYS! How amazing!

I loved, loved, loved the various means of telling this story. Text chains, podcasts, blogs, emails, etc. It told this story in such a creative way and it gave this story such a deeper dimension as it was told in such creative ways.

I absolutely loved all of the Bachelor references and couldn’t believe how many of them there were…Chris Harrison’s iconic phrases (told by Johnny), the rose (kiss off) ceremony, even a Reality Steve type website was mentioned!

Just like in real seasons of The Bachelor, I didn’t always agree with Bea’s choices on the men that that she was choosing 🙂

I must say…filming the season in real time is BRILLIANT. Why haven’t the Bachelor producers caught on to this yet???

AS much fun as this book was to read, I do appreciate it’s deeper message. The Bachelor absolutely DOES need to highlight ALL people….and ALL body types. I love the show so much but it’s inclusivity is definitely severely lacking.

Bottom Line:

If you LOVE The Bachelor, you will LOVE this book! It’s wonderful.

Have you read this book? Do you watch The Bachelor? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Xo,

Jenny

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