Isabelle Engel’s debut novel, MOST ELIGIBLE, is a rom-com with the backdrop of a reality television show called Love Shack, where 20 young women vie for the heart of tennis champion Roland Marchetti. From the beginning, the reader knows that music journalist Georgia Rose is not going on the show to find love. Under the secret pen name of Gracie Hart (purposeful nod to the movie starring Sandra Bullock from 2000, Miss Congeniality), she paid the bills for years as an undercover investigative reporter. Her ulterior motive on the show is to write an expose revealing the manipulation and dirty tactics by the producers whispered about by former contestants in exchange for finally receiving a full-time job at a magazine writing about music.
Her plan is complicated by true connections with her competitors, secrets she discovers about the Most Eligible Bachelor Roland, and the realization that the host is prior Love Shack Lead, Country Star Rhett Auburn. Georgia happened to have a one-night stand with Rhett a year prior to the show. This book has all the guilty pleasures of reality television with fun characters you love and love to hate. I really enjoyed the fast pace and format, which used chapters from Georgia’s POV interspersed with tabloid snippets and interview sound bites.
Caught up in the drama of backstabbing contestants, producer blackmail, and death-defying dates, Georgia must keep her identity—and history with Rhett—a secret. Despite the lies between them, it isn’t long before Georgia and Rhett’s heated behind-the-scenes moments start to feel more genuine than the romance Georgia’s faking for the cameras. But with her assignment unfinished and the executive producer on her tail, a second chance with Rhett could be her riskiest move of all.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026