Emily got fired from the administrative position she didn’t much care about, and then her life took a big turn. She was walking, just out walking, when she was discovered, like in the stories about movie starts from almost a century ago. But Emily was discovered by a television producer working for The One.

On The One, a group of women fight to spend time with a single bachelor (or some seasons, men are there to vie for a bachelorette), and after a last-minute dropout, producer Miranda finds Emily and adds her to the cast. It’s not that easy, of course. There is a battery of tests and interviews, a flurry of packing, and contracts to sign. But then she’s there, in an evening dress, stepping out of a limousine into a love fantasy.

Emily had never seen the show before. She grew up with strict, religious parents and struggles to find where she fits in the real world. She tries to understand what’s going on around her, surrounded by dozens of other women and a host of camerapersons, producers, and assistants. From the start, bachelor Dylan seems to notice her and like her, which causes many of the other women to resent her. But Emily barely notices, as she’s trying so hard to be the woman everyone wants her to be.

The weeks go by (the Hollywood weeks shorter than the usual seven days, to make sure the production team can get the episodes done on time). Emily starts to befriend some of the other women. She finds herself thinking at first about what Miranda wants from her, and what Dylan wants from her. But as time goes on, she starts thinking more about what she wants for herself.

As the number of women left in the competition dwindle, Emily builds closer relationships with the women left. For the first time, she is exposed to strong, independent women who have different beliefs than she does, different jobs, different lifestyles, and different agendas. It gives her the freedom to see herself outside of the life her parents chose for her. It helps her set her sights on her truest desires. It gives her the strength she needs to love and to be loved, because that’s all anyone really wants.

The One is a deep dive look at the female contestants on dating shows like The Bachelor, from the perspective of both a contestant and a producer. Author Julia Argy’s debut novel takes readers behind the scenes for all the laughter and tears that go on behind the scenes, the tedium of the waiting and the endless interviews. The scheming and the dreaming and the falling in and out of love are all there, along with the machinations of producers who get big bonuses based on how well their contestants do.

I was loving the satirical nature of this novel as it poked fun of reality dating shows, and there is a lot of that to love here. But the character of Emily is complex and while I understood where she was coming from, I struggled sometimes to root for her. I wasn’t really sure what Dylan saw in her, or why he kept her in the competition for so long, but I thought the ending was completely satisfying and definitely worth the journey. Fans of dating shows and other reality shows with catty women (I get it—I watch The Real Housewives sometimes too) will find lots of fun in these pages, and romance readers may find themselves invested in the story too.

Egalleys for The One were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.