Even without a deep knowledge of fandoms this is an engaging read. The best part is the middle where the couple are learning about each other and are happy. The ending wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly, but the characters were well fleshed out.

I couldn’t get through this book. It was so obviously about Game of Thrones and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and that was a big turn off. Yes, I understand what fan fiction is but I guess my big thing is that this isn’t very good. I expect to read this on a teenager’s Tumblr, not in a published novel.

What I really loved about this book is how it is exactly what you expect out of a cute romance novel, and yet it touches on so many deep and realistic topics. There are people dealing with emotional abuse from their respective parents and upbringings. Also, the main characters are both dealing with how the world perceives them due to their physical images.

It was so great watching the characters develop into people who not only loved each other but who also loved themselves and believed in their own self-worth.

This was such a happy read, something I very much needed during this crazy time.

I completely recommend this for a quick, cute, and overall good read.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade gave me all of the feels and soothed my nerd girl soul in ways that I didn't realize it was hurting. A relatable plus-size main character, who's smart, wickedly funny, talented, and uninterested in being "fixed." YES! This book is full of nods to fanfic writers and not-so-subtle jabs at the Game of Thrones television series.

April is a fanfic writing, secret cosplay creator, geologist by day. She's kept her hobbies hidden from her coworkers because she's afraid of the repercussions. But starting a new job gives her the confidence to come out. She posts a photo of herself in full Lavinia garb, her favorite character from the GoT-esque Gods at the Gates. And it goes viral, lots of positive comments but lots of jerks and trolls.

Marcus, one of the lead actors on the show sees the post and asks April out. There are sparks from the get-go but oh my! The complications. Marcus also writes fanfic about Gods at the Gates. It's his way of secretly dealing with his frustrations about the show. If it comes to light that he's writing fanfic and criticizing the show in the forums, he could lose his job for breach of contract.

Amp up the tangled web by having April's fanfic writer persona be besties with Marcus's persona. Marcus figures out who she is but doesn't tell her his secret identity because of his fears.

Two characters with secrets and insecurities with crazy sexy chemistry and witty banter made this a fun romp of a book. Thank you, Olivia Dade, for writing a plus-size character who was uninterested in being "fixed" and yay for writing her a love interest who while on a crazy fitness regimen of his own because of his career, did NOT want to "fix" her either. And still be mad-attracted to her.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Avon for this ARC.

Thank you netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.. Olivia is a fan girl of a popular show . Despite her reservations she posts a picture of herself and a tag line of the show. Marcus, a lead actor in the show, attempts to save her from the nasty online comments, by spontaneously asking her out to dinner. One thing leads to another and their attraction is off the charts. While I enjoyed their chemistry, the structure of this novel was difficult to follow . The chapters are interrupted by random online discussions and post. It felt disjointing and distracting. Otherwise a decent novel.

Reviewed for Shelf Awareness.

Excerpt from review:

"Spoiler Alert is told in alternating point of view chapters plus snippets of fan fiction, past direct messages and short (often terrible) bits of script from Marcus's acting roles. This structure immerses the reader in the romance between April and Marcus and the show they love, a unique reading experience that keeps the pages turning. Spoiler Alert is at turns warm, hot and funny, making it a must-watch for any romance fan."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

When Fanfic writer April posts a picture of herself cosplaying on Twitter, she doesn't expect it to go viral, let alone catch the eye of the show's main star, Marcus. She definitely doesn't expect it to result in a date. Marcus is floored when he realizes the fan he asked out on Twitter is none other than the online best friend he's been swapping fanfic with for the past two years. But he can't tell April, no matter how much he wants to. If news gets out, it could ruin his career for breaching his contract with the show.

Marcus is basically Jaime Lannister made single, Californian, and dyslexic, with enough show and book details changed to make sure she's not actually sued for bashing Game of Thrones.

This book healed jagged pieces of my soul still traumatized over the awful season 7 Game of Thrones finale that I didn't realize needed healing. This book will make every fangirl's heart sing. I was cackling in multiple scenes throughout this book. It was adorable. I loved Marcus and April's relationship and the inner demons they had to overcome to commit to one another.

A small complaint, but I didn't always love the snippets of the book or fanfic in between the main plot with Marcus and April. Some of them were really funny, but others just detracted from the charm and main tension of the rest of the book for me. That's just my preference; I'm not typically a fan of the story within a story deviations (see: Watchmen, Sandman, Kind of a Big Deal, etc.). It's just not for me.

Spoiler Alert is out on October 6. Fangirls, boys, and nerdom fans everywhere are sure to enjoy it.

Wow!! I loved the Plus Size representation in this book. As a plus sized lady myself, I especially appreciated the sex scenes, as they were beautiful and realistic in my eyes.
The fact that the story centers around fandom and fanfic writing gave it a different kind of charm than most celebrity type romances as well. Both April and Marcus bring a lot to the table in this story.
Yes, there is a bit of a catphishing element, but it wasn't for long, or truly intentional like you will read in some. I know that is not a trope everyone is comfortable with, which is why I mention it in my review.
I read this book in one sitting. The reading experience was amazing, and I truly enjoyed myself as I read it! Please check this one out, and I am crazy excited for it's sequel coming out next year!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC!
This was an amazing read! I loved it! Some of the best characters, an excellent sense of humor, and I loved the premise. I can not praise this book enough. I am very excited to see what else Olivia Dade gets up to.

This was extremely cute. I loved the characters and the clear love of fandom that shone through the book. A confident plus sized fangirl falling in love is just what I needed. The story did not feel cringy like some stories based in fandom do for me, possibly because the age of the characters (I believe both were in their late thirties) added a level of maturity. This is a fantastic romance and made me very happy!

“Please tell me people who look like us can be loved. Please tell me people who look like us can be desired. Please tell me people who look like us can have happy endings.”

Fuck, y’all. Olivia Dade has once again gutted me to the core. Ok, let me get my fangirl out right now before we dig deep. Since I’ve started reading romance back in 2018 (going to Goodreads to make it official), I sought out books that didn’t feature 20 year old virgins that were size double zero. There’s nothing wrong with being a 20 year old virgin that is a size double zero– it’s just that I’m a 40 year old woman who has been married twice that is distinctly NOT a double zero. I want to read a book where someone like me finds love. I did find love with my second husband, and I know he loves me for who I am and just how I look, but at the same time, if I had read a book like this (or pretty much any Olivia Dade book I’ve read over the past year), I think I would have had so much more self-confidence. Ok, fangirl moment over.

April is a plus-sized geologist who is an ultimate fangirl of Gates of the Gods, a Game of Thrones-esque show that is very very very much GoT. Marcus Caster-Rupp is the vapid actor who plays Aeneas in GotG. Marcus, however, has been writing fanfic in an effort to “rewrite” where the show has gone off the rails due to its showrunners decisions (ahem, GoT’s final season). Marcus and April are actual virtual besties: Marcus as BAWN and April as Ulsie have gotten to know each other on their fanfic server. BUT when April posts a picture of herself on Twitter in her cosplay and gets trolled, Marcus (not knowing she is Ulsie, his fanfic bestie) asks her out on a date. The sparks fly, but Marcus never reveals that he already knew her. And thus, we get our story.

I know absolutely nothing about fanfic, so the flashes to the Lavineas server was confusing. I had to google a ton to get the various acronyms (alternative universe– AU, AO3, etc) as well as what a server even was! It would have been helpful if there was a little acronym glossary at the front of the book like in academic books. I loved loved loved the story of April and Marcus. I’m not sure if I really had to see their relationship as Ulsie and BAWN in these little flashbacks that weren’t flashbacks.

However, as a huge GoT fan, I snickered SO MUCH at the parallels. Clearly, Marcus Caster-Rupp is a younger version of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (I mean, right down to the hyphen and the gorgeous blonde hair). The showrunners being problematic were so Benioff and Weiss, who everyone in the fandom hated how they went off the rails once George RR Martin’s series stopped. And, let’s not talk about that last season… When I read the acknowledgments and Olivia admitted that she spent time on the Braime boards…. Y’ALL. This was incredibly obvious. Jaime Lannister clearly belonged with Brienne of Tarth. Sigh. I felt like Olivia Dade was winking at us GoT’ers the whole time.

If you’re as clueless about fanfic as I am, you’ll still love this book. I won’t like in that I scanned most of the flashes to the Lavineas server just to get back to the story itself. But, it was still that amazing Olivia Dade story, hot hot hot sex (all the pegging talk made me snicker), as well as a fat heroine that loves herself as herself. In other words, I can’t wait for the next story in the series, even if I have to wait for 2021! Also, Spoiler Alert is Olivia’s first trade published book. All her others were self-published, so this is a BIG DEAL. Congrats, Olivia!

ARC provided by NetGalley
Really cute romance! Closeted fan fiction writer April gets the chance to go on a date with a lead character on her favorite show. The relationship dynamic of the story is what makes it a stand out, while April's potential love interest is famous, cool (seeming) and fit, she's a "nerd" that happens to be heavy. I loved all the body positive messaging found throughout the book as April navigates how to be at peace with herself and her world. April is more than her size. There were a couple of instances where the author seemed to forget this overarching theme and made mention to April's size as a hindrance where it didn't seem necessary (one scene where she couldn't be supported on a yard fence-- do yard fences support skinny people's weight regularly?). The couple of instances of this type of weight blaming seemed to undermine the underlying message of the story. Despite this, I enjoyed the story and recommend it for a light romance read. I do hope, for the sake of readers unfamiliar with fan fiction lingo, the print copy has a glossary to keep track of the terms.

Gah my fandom heart is so happy! I adored this book and how it focused on fandoms. fanfic and had amazing body positivity. As a plus sized women myself I enjoyed April so much. She was strong, smart amazing and knew she deserved love. This was so positive and fun and steamy and I enjoyed it so much.

To be accepted, wanted, and loved for who you are. Period. That's some heady stuff. And exactly what Olivia Dade delivers in Spoiler Alert.

April is a plus-sized geologist who writes fan-fiction based on her favorite books and hit TV show, Gods of the Gates. She has been criticized and rejected by so many people in her life based on her appearance...her co=workers, ex-boyfriends, even her parents. Her safe space is writing as Unapologetic Lavinia Stan. A change of job with an open and accepting staff leads April to become more open about her fan-fic persona. A tweet by her brings her to the attention of Marcus.

Marcus stars in Gods of the Gates. Despite being a movie star named one of the world's most beautiful people, he knows what it is to be rejected. His parents disapprove of his career and never accepted the challenges he had growing up. He tends to put up walls to the outside world to protect himself, but when he sees a response to April's tweet bashing her based on her weight, he impulsively asks her out.

What begins as a kind gesture turns into so much more. I loved these characters. I loved the support they gave each other and the insecurities and challenges they faced only because they were so real. I felt so deeply for both of them, especially April. Dade's body positive message was gorgeous. We need so many more books like this. Ones that show how we are more than what's on the surface...no matter how that looks. She shows that we can and should stand up for ourselves and demand to be seen, heard and loved for who we are and to accept no less. Olivia Dade has written a fun, sexy, powerful book here and is now solidly on my must-read list.

Part rom-com part fanfic within fanfic, this is an excellent, excellent read. The conflict was realistic and didn't feel forced or blamey on just one party. It was realistic even in the improbable situations our gorgeous leading lady finds herself in. I was so fricken happy reading this book. I am happy to think about this book and reread this book. This is the first book I've read with a dyslexic man, which made this dyslexic excited to see her disability from a masculine perspective, plus all the accessibility tools included? Talk about good representation of a learning disability. I can't wait to read other titles by Dade!

*I received an eARC copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Avon for the opportunity to read and review in advance of publication.

I requested this ARC on a whim. The cover looked cute and I figured, why not? Everyone assumes Marcus is a not-so-smart pretty boy with no depth, emotional or intellectual, who only has his looks to fall back on. Everyone sees April as unattractive due to her weight. Therefore, the only plausible conclusion is that Marcus must be only pretending to like her since they could not possible be a good match for each other. Right? I loved how the characters were portrayed and how they developed throughout the story. This was a plus size representation win! I was so sure after reading the blurb and seeing the incredible cover, I would truly love this book. Thankfully i wasn’t wrong!

"Olivia Dade bursts onto the scene in this delightfully fun romantic comedy set in the world of fanfiction, in which a devoted fan goes on an unexpected date with her celebrity crush, who’s secretly posting fanfiction of his own.

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet’s favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he’d be finished in Hollywood.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s long hidden her fanfic and cosplay hobbies from her “real life” - but not anymore. When she dares to post her latest costume creation on Twitter, her plus-size take goes viral. And when Marcus asks her out to spite her internet critics, truth officially becomes stranger than fanfiction.

On their date, Marcus quickly realizes he wants more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. But when he discovers she’s Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to keep from her.

With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?"

This ticks so many boxes for those hardcore fans who love fanfiction!

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is an absolute delight for all fellow geeks out there! Filled with fanfic nerd love - the kind that overcomes parental neglect, learning disabilities, identity and self-love, and body image shaming. The topics it covered are so entrenched in our society, yet modern fiction still doesn't tackle these issues often, or in such a tender and funny manner as Olivia Dade does in this book. I've found that catfishing tropes are hard for me to read, so if you are sensitive to those, be forewarned. Other than that, I will definitely be searching out Dade's backlist and recommending Spoiler Alert to everyone!

I loved this book! It was incredibility sweet and fun while also having some real emotional depth. The sex scenes were also really well done and very hot. It is obvious the author has a real love for fanfic, cosplay, and the nerdy community. I can't wait to read the next one.

I was immediately taken in by the cover of this book! The plus-size representation is so important and so needed. I just hoped it was done well and I was not disappointed.

April is a red-haired beauty that happens to be, as she says outright, fat. She is intelligent and the talented writer of fanfiction for television show, God of the Gates, starring Marcus Caster-Rupp - beautiful, built like a statue, and, by all accounts, a complete idiot. What she doesn't know is that her editor (beta reader, in the fanfiction world), the amazing, "BAWN" as he is nicknamed, is actually Marcus! When she lands a date with Marcus, both unaware that they've been editing and reading one another's fanfiction for years, April must deal with all of her complicated feels plus paparazzi.

This book is so good! I loved every second of it. April is a strong, confident, beautiful woman despite or, perhaps, because of her size and the way people have always treated her. While you might think she'd be happy to stay with Marcus - the hot celebrity - no matter what, she makes it completely clear on their first date that she's not all that interested in his vapid, superficial personality and does not agree to a second date until he opens up and shows her his real self, something that he's hidden from the cameras since his early days as an actor. That first date was such a powerful scene - April, this fat fangirl, that gets to tell the hot celebrity that his personality just isn't for her! Fans, especially fat ones, are almost never portrayed like this and it is so important that this changes! And Marcus understands her fully, respects her feelings! Hot male celebrities are rarely portrayed that way. This book is just very important, and shows two stereotypical types of people in such a different, wonderful way.

I also loved that it showed so much respect for adult fanfiction writers! Fanfiction is seen as a hobby for teen girls, and this portrayed several adult men and women engaging in this as a form of relaxation, as something that brought them out of their shells, as a way that Marcus deals with dyslexia. It really showed that fanfiction is more than "just fanfiction." It is important to a lot of people and can be a crucial part of one's life, more than just a silly little hobby.

This book is amazing and important, and I would recommend it to literally anyone (any adult person! There are very graphic sex scenes) that wants to read a wonderful love story that actually has a lot of depth and meaning!