One of my guilty pleasures is watching Romance reality TV. Specifically, lately, it has been 90 Day Fiance, including the spinoff show, The Other Way. Since I am watching this on a streaming service, I am always a season or two behind. Unlike others, I started my obsession with reality TV by watching The Amazing Race. It wasn’t always romance as such on there; oftentimes the opposite when it was couples. My husband and I would compare ourselves to the racers and see if we thought we could do better, or if we would have the same fights. One thing we both knew for sure was that we never would have done as well as the contestants.
Another way to keep the escapism going is to read a book where the plot revolves around some type of reality TV. If you like the Amazing Race, I would recommend you checking out Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst, which follows a mother and daughter and several other contestants as they race around the world. For Real by Alison Cherry is about two sisters who have teamed up to race around the world, when one of them becomes involved in a romantic relationship, but how can she tell if it is just for the cameras, or for real.
Another show that you might not watch for romance is Big Brother, but that did not stop Brenda Hampton from creating a romance series inspired by the show, including Hell House Returns and The Reunion Show. These books bring together six favorite characters from other Brenda Hampton books that must all live together in a house with one bedroom and – get this – one bathroom! Watch Me by Lauren Barnholdt is another Big Brother themed romance. The main character is happy in her long-distance relationship, but while living in the house she becomes good friends with one of the other contestants. Will their relationship lead to something more? The whole world is watching.
If the Bachelor/Bachelorette is more your speed, in One to Watch Kate Stayman-London writes about a plus-sized fashion blogger who is tired of all the people on these romance shows being the “perfect size.”Bea writes a blog post about this which leads to her being asked to be the next single woman looking for love while surrounded by eligible bachelors. Or if you just wanted to read about someone else who loves reality TV as much as you do, Lucas Mann’s memoir Captive Audience is written by a husband who talks about his love for his wife, and their mutual love for sharing hours and hours and hours of reality television.
~ Posted by Pam H.
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