If the Shoe Fits - NetGalley ARC Review

If the Shoe Fits

Julie Murphy

Release Date: August 3, 2021

★★★☆☆

The perfect mix of Cinderella and The Bachelor - romance meets body acceptance in this highly anticipated book!

Cindy is freshly graduated from New York fashion school, where she focused on shoe design - but she's stuck with design block as she learns how to cope through the loss of her father.

She travels across the country to assist her stepmother in nannying her triplet siblings. On her flight, she meets a witty man who keeps her company, but she never thought she'd see him again. Until she volunteers to be cast in a reality TV show, Before Midnight, and they cross paths again. Is this fate? Or is this just a chance for her to reignite her passion for design?

This was such a sweet and fluffy book that worked perfectly as a filler between the heavy fantasy reads that I've been buried under lately. It was so refreshing to read something quick and fun - all while experiencing a character that I can relate to with her sense of humour, her imposter syndrome and her body image. Hello, body acceptance!!

I appreciated that the author didn't focus on an exact re-telling - Cindy's relationship with her stepmother and stepsisters isn't toxic or controlling. It's actually quite endearing to see how the family looks out for each other during the events of the book.

I do feel that Cinderella retellings are being overdone a bit, both in literature and in the constant releases in film. . I believe that Julie could've developed more original names for her characters (ie Cindy, Tremaine, Gus), but I definitely appreciated how she was able to push the theme into a more modern setting with strong emphasis of body acceptance and nods to the LGBTQ community.

Julie incorporates a strong Bachelor overtone, which leads this story to be a fairly predictable outline: Girl meets guy, doesn't think they'll see each other again, finds out he is a key feature in her movement upward in her fashion/fame debut, something happens where they part ways and it all finalizes with them coming together with a sweet bow on top. Not that this is a bad thing, but it does detract from a bit from the originality of the story and characters.

The author keeps the narrative very clean, making this a good read for those who may not be a fan of the more detailed encounters in a romance novel. The fun themes coupled with likeable and relatable characters makes it an easy and quick read for those that enjoy fairytales in real life.

This is the first time I've read something written by Julie Murphy. I enjoy her writing style and I will keep my eyes open for a chance to pick up her other highly-acclaimed series, such as Dumplin' and Faith: Taking Flight.