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The Bachelor franchise has been an international phenomenon for more than 15 years, and in that time, dozens of books based on The Bachelor have come out. For those who haven’t seen The Bachelor or its spinoffs (The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, etc.), here’s an explainer on how the show works.
The Bachelor (or The Bachelorette) revolves around a single and eligible Bachelor or Bachelorette, who dates anywhere between 30 to 40 people. Each week, the Bachelor or the Bachelorette gives out roses to contestants they want to move on. Contestants who do not receive a rose are eliminated. In the end (and after many dramatic dates and moments), there is usually one single left who is declared the winner of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, and the two often get engaged.
The concept is simple but entertaining, which is why The Bachelor continues to be television’s premier dating show more than a decade after it premiered. Of course, the concept has also inspired tons of books based on The Bachelor from authors, who try to re-create the competition in fictional circumstances. From the supernatural to the dystopian, we rounded up the best fiction books based on The Bachelor to read if you can’t get enough of Bachelor Nation.
Image: Courtesy of The Dial Press.
Kate Stayman-London’s One to Watch follows Bea Schumacher, a stylish plus-size fashion blogger, who has a love-hate relationship with the Bachelor-like dating show Main Squeeze. After slamming Main Squeeze for its lack of size diversity on her social media, Bea is offered the chance to be the next season’s Main Squeeze (a.k.a. the Bachelorette.) Before she knows it, Bea is whisked away to Hollywood where she becomes Main Squeeze‘s first plus-size lead. What awaits her are twists and turns that even the most seasons Bachelor producers couldn’t dream up. With tongue-in-cheek references to Bachelor mainstays like Chris Harrison and Reality Steve, One to Watch is a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.
Image: Courtesy of Random House Trade Paperbacks.
What do The Bachelor and Jane Austen have in common? Well, turns out, a lot. Cutis Sittenfeld’s Eligible is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. The book follows Liz, a magazine writer in her late 30s, who lives in New York City with her yoga instructor older sister, Jane. When their father has a health scare, the sisters return to their hometown of Cincinnati where they discover that the estate they grew up in is crumbling before their very eyes. Readers also meet youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia, as well as middle sister, Mary, who are all too preoccupied to worry about what’s happening. Though the world around them is a mess, the sisters’ mother, Mrs. Bennet, has one thing on her mind: how to marry off Jane before her 40th birthday. Her answer? Chip Bingley, a handsome doctor who recently starred in the reality TV dating show, Eligible.
Image: Courtesy of HarperTeen.
Kiera Cass’ dystopian novel The Selection centers on a Bachelor-inspired competition, in which 35 girls compete or the heart of the handsome Prince Maxon and a chance to escape their dystopian world’s caste system and live in a palace. The Selection is a chance of a lifetime for most people, but not America Singer, a young girl who is a in secret romance with a boy named Aspen. Though America had an idea of her dream life with Aspen, that dream is questioned when she meets Prince Maxon and realizes the future she never even imagined.
Image: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
Though not directly based on The Bachelor, Jessica Knoll’s The Favorite Sister is about two sisters, Brett and Kelly, who are cast in the New York City-set reality TV show, Gold Diggers. Little do the sisters know that the season will end in murder. Brett is a 27-year-old tattooed spin studio owner, while Kelly is Brett’s older sister and business partner. The sisters become fast targets on Gold Diggers, which tests their relationship and their trust in their cast mates, one of whom could be a murderer.
Image: Courtesy of EverAfter Romance.
Emma Chase’s Royally Matched is a sexy, Bachelor-inspired romance novel about Henry John Edgar Thomas Pembrook, the Prince of Wesco, who meets an American TV producer and casts him in his own reality TV dating show called Welcome to Matched: Royal Edition. In the show, 30 of the world’s most beautiful women come to the castle with a chance to become Wesco’s next princess, but only won will win the diamond tiara and Henry’s heart.
Image: Courtesy of G.K. Derosa.
The Bachelor meets Supernatural in G.K. Derosa’s Hitched
, which follows 25 supernatural bachelors on their mission to win over the heart of Kimmie-Jayne Starr, a human girl who’s cast in the reality TV show, Hitched. After arriving on the beautiful island of Mystic Cove, however, Kimmie-Jayne learns that her suitors are all hiding something…something supernatural.
Image: Courtesy of Heidi McLaughlin.
Heidi McLaughlin’s Blind Reality follows the romance between Joshua Wilson, an up-and-coming movie star with an aversion to marriage, and Joey Mitchell, a heartbroken woman who finds out that her fiancé cheated on her with her best friend. Unbeknownst to Joey, her mother submits an application for her to star in the reality TV show, Married Blind. Joey, with nothing to lose, agrees to be on the show. Little does she know of what’s in store for her.
Image: Courtesy of CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Caylie Marcoe’s Choose Us follow Riley Logan and Travis Grayson, best friends of 15 years, whose friendship is put to the test when Travis, a professional BMX racer, is asked to be on a reality TV dating show. He agrees to be the bachelor—only if Riley goes undercover and weeds through his contestants. As the show films for eight weeks, Riley’s friendship with Travis put in question when he becomes close to the contestant she hates the most.
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