I am not the dating show type of gal. I’ve never watched a single episode of anything Bachelor/Bachelorette or anything else from that genre… except “Love is Blind” on Netflix. A few girls at work were talking about it so I gave it a shot because the concept is nuts.

It quickly sucked me in, mainly because of Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton getting engaged at the end of episode one WITHOUT SEEING EACH OTHER. They were my favorite couple on the show, and I know many others felt the same way. Now, these two lovely people are opening up about the show and their life before and after the cameras.

Leap Of Faith starts with Lauren and Cameron each sharing about their life pre-Netflix and why they decided to apply for the show. It also goes into the casting process, which was very different for each of them. Lauren only found out about it a couple days before filming began while she was on vacation in Paris! Insane.

The book also gives some juicy tidbits about their time filming and their living situation. Let’s just say the obvious phrase: things aren’t always how they seem on TV. Not even Cameron’s infamous rap in front of Lauren’s mom went the way we saw it on our screens in early 2020. Editing can create an entirely different story, which is a bit of what the show did. Lauren and Cameron open up about the interracial dating storyline that was created for them and what some of those moments were actually like.

Leap of Faith gets us caught up on the Hamiltons’ life since the on-camera wedding. That includes their time adjusting to marriage before the show went public, and then the subsequent adjustments to adding fame and attention into the mix. It’s kinda like a Netflix’s ‘Where are they now?’ special, but in written form, and I’m here for it.

This book is such a breeze. They were such genuine people on the show and it translates onto the page as well. I listened to this one, and it felt like a couple of friends you haven’t seen in a couple months catching you up on their lives over a long lunch. It’s delightful.

The only thing I wasn’t entirely crazy about is that some chapters include advice. I’m not so sure how much stock I’d put into marriage advice from a couple who hasn’t even known each other three years yet, but that might be just my skeptical journalist brain on overdrive. At least the things they say make sense and most can be found in a plethora of other relationship advice books/classes.

Overall, I enjoyed Leap of Faith quite a bit. I think I’d still like it if I hadn’t watched the show because they come across as genuine and friendly.

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