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Alison Cochrun
Alison Cochrun writes romantic comedies that often feature queer characters and themes. Her books include "The Charm Offensive" and "Kiss Her Once for Me." She is known for her heartwarming stories.
The Charm Offensive
Synopsis
Dev Deshpande is the most successful producer on Ever After, a long-running reality dating show, a hopeless romantic who scripts fairy-tale love stories for other people even as his own falls apart. This season's star is Charlie Winshaw, a disgraced tech wunderkind who doesn't believe in true love and only signed on to rehabilitate his image—anxious, touch-averse, and utterly wrong for the role of Prince Charming. Assigned as Charlie's handler, Dev sets out to coax a fairy tale from him.
But as they travel the world coaching Charlie through the show's manufactured romance, the real chemistry turns out to be between the two men. Alison Cochrun's The Charm Offensive is a warm, witty queer romance about mental health, self-acceptance, and rewriting the scripts we've been handed—a tender behind-the-scenes love story that asks whose happily-ever-after gets to be told.
Genres
Characters
Dev DeshpandeProtagonist
A hopeless-romantic reality-TV producer assigned to handle the show's reluctant star.
Charlie WinshawProtagonist
A disgraced, anxious tech wunderkind cast as the dating show's lead.
Parisa KhadimSupporting
Charlie's publicist and best friend; convinced him to do Ever After to rehabilitate his image after his firing from WinHan, and acts as an early queer mentor figure to him.
Jules LuSupporting
A production assistant on Ever After and Dev's close friend and colleague; discovers Dev and Charlie's off-camera romance and urges Dev to pursue it.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Charm Offensive part of a series?
The Charm Offensive stands alone as a complete novel. Alison Cochrun later revisited Dev and Charlie in "A Charmed Christmas" (2022), a short holiday novella catching up with the couple after the events of this book.
Has The Charm Offensive won any awards?
The Charm Offensive was a finalist for the 2021 Bisexual Book Award in Romance and its audiobook was a finalist for a 2022 Audie Award.