Publication Date: May 12, 2026
A wickedly funny debut romcom in which a young scientist reluctantly becomes a contestant on a reality TV dating show to save her lab—and realizes her secrets are threatened when romance unexpectedly finds her behind the scenes.
Grace Lambert’s entire family are all influencers. Her mom runs an HGTV-like Instagram, her dad operates a Yoga for Men Youtube channel, and her brothers are famous on Tiktok and Twitch. Grace, however, is a scientist devoted to saving the Southern Mountain yellow-legged frogs from extinction, who has never had social media.
When her mom signs her up for a dating show with a cult-like following, Grace hangs up on their lawyer, Andrew, immediately. She has no interest in reality TV—until her lab loses its funding, and her coworkers learn about not only the show’s worldwide viewership . . . but the cash prize.
Arriving on set, Grace immediately feels like a frog out of water. She doesn’t know how to mug for the cameras, make effortless small talk with the contestants, or watch her tongue in an interview—making her a constant thorn in Andrew’s side.
The more time Grace spends competing in challenges, unexpectedly flirting with contestants, and making Andrew’s life a living hell, the more she realizes that being there for the wrong reason and keeping it secret might be trickier than she thought—not to mention just how much trouble an illicit, off-screen romance can bring.
Grace Lambert focuses on saving endangered frogs, which is a far cry from the rest of her family’s success as mega internet influencers.
However, when Grace unknowingly signs up for a reality television dating show, it throws her off-kilter.
Author Amy Mass serves up a delightfully humorous romantic comedy in Reality Bites. With her program funding on the line, Grace is counting on the cash prize.
From the beginning, the author sets up a spicy back-and-forth between Grace and the show’s attorney. It is hilarious to witness Grace’s reaction to the different nuances of reality television.
Forced out of her comfort zone, Grace finds herself wearing skimpy clothes and completing unsavory challenge tasks. It was interesting to get a behind-the-scenes look at the dating show.
With excellent secondary character development, the potential pairing of Grace and Andrew offers an excellent way for the story arc to evolve.
Reality Bites delivers plenty of laughs, making it perfect for summer poolside reading.
Amy Mass began her career in New York City, writing those “Can you hear me now?” Verizon commercials, before moving to Los Angeles where she wrote TV comedies for 12 years, including hit shows like Last Man Standing and The Goldbergs. During the pandemic, she moved to rural Georgia, where as a City Girl in a Small Town, she obviously had to write romance novels and romcom movies. While she’s on her third writing career, she’s still in her first marriage, despite her husband’s questionable sports teams allegiances. She has two rescue mutts and an eight-year-old daughter who is the funniest one in the family by far. When not writing, Amy can be found hanging upside down in aerial yoga, dressing in team costumes for trivia night, or pressuring her family and friends into flash mobs and theme parties.
