I first found Here for the Wrong Reasons on Netgalley as I was looking for LGBTQ+ romance reads for this summer. I was hooked when I saw the premise involved a reality TV dating show.
I initially was going to wait until my June readathon to pick this one up, but I was really in the mood to read a sapphic romance yesterday. I figured I had plenty of other books to pick up next month, so I snuggled onto my couch and read the entire book in one day.
Here for the Wrong Reasons released on May 21, 2024.
GENERAL INFO
Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen, Lydia Wang Published on May 21, 2024
Genres: Adult, LGBTQ+, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Goodreads
In this swoon-filled lesbian romcom, two dating show contestants vying for the affection of the leading man fall head over heels—for each other.
Krystin knows exactly what she wants: a husband, a horse, and a place to hang all her competitive rodeo blue ribbons. But when none of the eligible bachelors in Montana end up being right for her, she turns to reality TV. On Hopelessly Devoted, Krystin will compete against dozens of other women for the heart of this season’s Hopeless Romantic, Josh Rosen. She’s determined to win the perfect life she came here for—if she can just ignore the glossy brunette whose crimson smile gives her goosebumps.
Lauren has never done anything for the right reasons—and she’s definitely not on Hopelessly Devoted to win Josh’s heart. Lauren’s plan is simple: stay on the show long enough to build her social media following, and then gracefully leave when it's her turn to be eliminated. With enough followers, she’ll finally have the clout to do whatever she wants—including come out of the proverbial walk-in closet. But the longer she stays on the show, the more she finds herself tangled up in a certain blonde’s lasso.
Neither contestant expects a heteronormative dating show to challenge their own deeply-ingrained ideas of who they are—and what they want. Fans of The Charm Offensive and Love Island will swoon for this sparkling debut romcom.
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Here for the Wrong Reasons followed many of the same elements of The Bachelor. Our two female main characters, Krystin and Lauren, are both on the dating show Hopelessly Devoted for very different reasons. Krystin, a rodeo Queen, has never had a serious relationship and wants to try something different to fall in love. Lauren is a social media influencer who is trying to raise her status online.
Here for the Wrong Reasons is a slow-burn romance, mostly because it handles a lot of identity exploration between Krystin and Lauren. It also reads more like a reality show (which, I guess, is the point, but it does take away from the romance), so I would not go into the book expecting romance early on. I do love a good reality TV show, so after I adjusted to the plot beats, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about the drama!
Throughout the “season,” there are transcripts from confessions that show what other contestants think of different scenarios. I really enjoyed these transcripts at first, but towards the middle, I felt like they started to get a little too repetitive and didn’t actually add anything to the story. Toward the end, they packed a little more of a punch, but it wasn’t my favorite aspect of the story. I think some of them could have been skipped.
Another complaint I have is that we don’t really get much personality from the other characters. While all the contestants are given different backgrounds and bios, they really start to blend together. Toward the end, I couldn’t tell you exactly which ones were still there. Similarly, Josh, our Hopelessly Devoted lead, could have been a much stronger character. He was such a sweet guy, and I really think he could’ve added so much to the end if Lauren and Krystin had left the show a little earlier.
However, I liked a lot about Here for the Wrong Reasons. I loved the way Krystin’s story was handled, especially as she began to grow more comfortable with her sexuality. When I first started reading, I did not think I was going to like Krystin’s character because I often find the “rodeo girl” character to be stereotyped. Thankfully, that was not the case.
“You don’t exist for someone else to be proud of you.”
While I did like Lauren overall, there were instances where I did not understand her choices. She was on the show for social media fame, and she was very open about it. But I felt like her plotting went on for too long. Listen, I know that many people go on reality shows to get social media cred. However, it really made me question why anyone would want to be around her after that.
Even so, the sexual tension between Krystin and Lauren throughout the show was great! It really made the story even more complicated. They each had their own goals for being on the show, but their attraction to each other started to get in the way.
Overall, Here for the Wrong Reasons read exactly like a Bachelor season, so if you are into those reality TV show elements but also want a sapphic romance, I recommend this one.
Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Those are all of my thoughts on Here for the Wrong Reasons.
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