I love Olivia Dade so much (Teach Me is soooo good) and was excited to get this RA. I love how her romances deal with real issues in such a mature way, and her heros are always the best feminists! Crossing my fingers for Alex and Lauren's story next!

I am always a sucker for a story where the world's most beautiful man falls for a girl who wouldn't even get close to that list. Not that April isn't beautiful - but she is curvy and not the woman you would typically see on the arm of a Hollywood movie star. She is a geologist who writes fan fiction about her favorite television and book series. For a long time she has kept her two lives totally separate because she feared the reaction she might get when she showed her true interests more publicly. She also kept her twitter handle a secret from her FanFiction friends because she was afraid they'd be unkind to her about her size. But with a change in her job, she is determined to move forward and be true to herself and stand up for herself.

April posts a picture of herself on Twitter in a CosPlay outfit and immediately gets a lot of negative comments and attention. One person tags the star of the tv show Marcus Caster-Rupp in an attempt to shame April, but Marcus surprises everyone by asking April out to dinner. Marcus is gorgeous and has crafted a persona of being fairly dim and very vain. In reality he is shy, dyslexic, very smart, and a closet fanfic writer who has been corresponding with April for months. No one knows about either of his secrets - although many people have guessed that he isn't quite the village idiot he likes to portray.

Marcus falls quickly and hard for April - but is terrified to share his whole self with her. He, like April, has parents who treated him terribly. He's at first afraid of her sharing his secret identity as a fanfic writer because of his career, but as he comes to know April better - he is terrified of losing her because of the same. '

Throughout the book all of Marcus and April's actions are colored by their past experience. Sometimes for the good - but usually not. The book spends a fair amount of time with them learning to communicate better with each other and working through things in ways that really make sense. I loved that Marcus, despite being a hollywood star, is the opposite of toxic masculinity. I also loved April's quirkiness and confidence.

There are parts of this book that are absolutely hilarious - I think half of my highlights came from true laugh-out-loud moments. Marcus's best friend Alex is just hysterical and I can't wait to read more about him in the next book in the series.

The only thing that kept this from being a four star read for me was knowing the confrontation between April and Marcus was coming and just wanting it to go differently. As much as a liked the book, I did consider putting it down several times because I just cringed at the choice Marcus was making. But overall - the book is a star and a great read.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

April is a geologist by day and a fanfic writer by night-- until she gets a new job where she feels more comfortable sharing her Gods of the Gates stanning. And she makes that entrance with a bang: sharing her Lavinia cosplay on Twitter. But the trolls are fierce, mocking her weight and appearance. But then a knight with a blue verification check saves the day: Marcus Caster-Rupp, male lead of God of the Gates tv adaptation (think Game of Thrones level fame), asks her out. What initially starts as Marcus being nice to a fan quickly turns into a real relationship. And while April quickly digs (ha) beneath Marcus's golden retriever public persona, Marcus doesn't let her see his true-true side: he is her years-long, fanfic-writing, beta-reading, fan community friend Book!AeneasWouldNever. So, while Marcus lets April know he loves her body just the way it is, he doesn't reciprocate all the vulnerability-sharing. Can their relationship survive when the truth comes out?

4.5/5 stars-- I have to knock off 1/2 of a star because there is too much sex. It's fluffy, beautiful, swoony sex, but for this asexual (who loves steamy romance titles), apparently there is such a thing as too much sex in a romance. Now, I understand that Marcus worshipping April's body is important for April's relationship with her weight and her confidence regarding her weight and appearance. And I understand that Marcus's relationship with his body comes from a very different place: he views his body as a tool for his job. As such, I completely understand /why/ there is as much sex in this story as there is. (Plus, the fact that it mirrors AO3 so much adds to the "necessity" for lots of smut-- it adds verisimilitude.) It just... made me uncomfortable sometimes, and I had to put the book away for the day at those moments and pick back up again later.

HOWEVER, the attention to emotions, especially on Marcus's POV, makes this book so delectable. Usually I don't like male protagonists in romances to be /this/ precisely attuned (because it seems inauthentic to most men and their (non-)verbalization proclivities), but I think Marcus's attachment A) to his portrayal of Aeneas for so many years and B) to writing non-smutty fanfic makes his attention to emotions (his own and April's) authentic.

Lastly, I loved this book because of what it does for body positivity, specifically in regards to fatness and appearance. The way April worries, "talks" to herself to hyper herself up or to calm herself down, in how to talk to her well-meaning-but-hurtful mom, etc. is so authentic to what it's like to be a plus-sized woman today. THIS is what real body positivity looks like in a story. Others authors: take note, please!

TL;DR: Read this steamy romance. It's like fanfic: shipping, smut, emotions, and some angst. But like good fanfic, it's got heart and is intelligent. Also: body positivity!

Spoiler Alert is the story of two friends who share a passion for fanfiction. Gods of the Gates is the biggest show on television, based on an incomplete series of beloved books, and April and Marcus both write fics online. Both keep their fanfiction intentionally separate from their real lives, for very different reasons.

April is a scientist finally moving into the public sector, and able to bring her passion for the fantasy world to her personal web presence. Finally, she doesn’t have to worry about trying to get individual jobs and can post her cosplay pictures.

Marcus is an actor- one of the stars of the Gods at the Gates TV show, and sick of seeing the books he loves destroyed by the show creators. His fanfiction helps him soothe his anger at the butchering of his character, and the coming end of the show, which promises outrage from fans. If his fics were to be discovered, his career would be over, and he would be sued to oblivion. Marcus and April read and edit each others’ fics, and have been friends online for years, when twitter brings them together, entirely by accident.

April and Marcus have distinct character voices, and nuanced inner lives. Both of them are real adults in their late thirties, not post-adolescents mired in indecision. April is an amazing, intelligent fat woman who knows that the world will only ever see her as the latter. She knows she is beautiful, and does not apologize for the way she looks. She faces her personal challenges with aplomb, and doesn’t allow people to treat her poorly. Her strength is one of her best qualities, and watching her shine is a delight.

Marcus has found that the best way to be in the public eye is to present himself as an empty-headed jock, a pretty boy who can act but doesn’t have much between his ears. He faces the difficult choice about whether to open up, or keep his real self inside. Marcus has always felt like a disappointment to the people closest to him, and if he wants a chance with April, he has to let go of that fear. Marcus is a hugely likable, fun guy who knows who he is, but isn’t sure if anyone else should be let in on the secret.

April and Marcus have crazy chemistry, this book is sexy, funny, sweet, and incredibly passionate. The secondary characters are just as interesting as April and Marcus, and add hilarity to a book that already has snappy writing and amazing dialogue. April is intensely relatable, with a voice TV fans and book-lovers will both fall for. Gods at the Gates is also a very thinly analog for Game of Thrones, the last season that launches a thousand angry tweets. The criticism of the TV adaptation rings true, and adds a bit of extra humor to this already funny book. This book is an exciting new read, and one hopes it is a sign of even bigger things to come from Olivia Dade.

Spoiler Alert will be published October 6, 2020 by HarperCollins. You can preorder it wherever books are sold.

Do you enjoy fandoms? Have you ever read a fanfic? Do you ever fantasize about the beautiful people of your favorite tv show? Then this one is for you. It is fun, but it also has a lot of heart and both of the main characters have depth. I haven't checked yet, but I do hope there will be another book about Alex as he is a delightful side-character. The structure is interesting, in that there are frequent breaks where the reader can read chat messages or parts of a fanfic or a film script. I thought it was interesting, though perhaps there were a few more than I really needed. Your mileage may vary as to your enjoyment of this type of literary device. I wasn't sure I would like this, but I did and it is much more than "fluff". It also gets into it about crappy families and discusses fatshaming. If you are a little bit nerd, then this is for you.

Olivia knocks yet another Romance out of the park. I adored this book- preordered it for my shelves right after I closed my kindle. The whole entire fanfiction/cosplay/secret online identity is my jam. I read it so fast and then was so sorry that it was over. Five Stars!!

*Thank you to NetGalley for this E-Arc in exchange for an honest review*

Let it be known that I am in a slump so take this with a grain of salt but I couldn't get into it. I loved the concept: which is why I requested it. It's literally a plot out of fanfiction about fanfiction which is right up my alley. A stan get to go on a date with the actor from her OTP meanwhile what she doesn't know is that he's also the guy friend she's been talking to for years on the fandom server. It features plus size representation and I was sold. There was nothing inherently bad about this book. I found some parts slow but otherwise it was interesting, cute, steamy, with a conflict you knew was going to blow up from the start. It wasn't groundbreaking but definitely served as a great contemporary romance read.

This was a cute romance! The premise was unique, and I loved to see a story that focused on an intelligent and unapologetic female character paired with a sensitive and introspective male character. The book is described as a "bawdy" romance, so keep in mind that there are quite a few graphic sex scenes. I saw that there was going to be another book focusing on 2 other characters from this story, and I'm looking forward to it!

"Somehow, she was his crucible, burning away everything but the truth. Forcing him to speak it aloud and purify himself before her."
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is the book all nerds should be interested to read, especially considering it’s like if “You’ve Got Mail” and the “Game of Thrones” fandom got together and metaphorically had a fanfiction-loving baby.

I wanted to like this story. Truly, I did. Spoiler Alert has all the elements of a page-turning read that my nerdy heart yearns for: a curvy girl heroine who has the confidence to look criticism in the face and push boundaries in order to get what she wants, a hero who is going through his own form of personal struggle and metamorphosis, all combined within a world that has a hefty dose of love for fanfiction and fandoms overall. But…the emphasis that April is a gorgeous plus size woman becomes almost fetishized with how often her rolls, curves, stretch marks, large and cumbersome bra, weight and heft are mentioned. It becomes overdone and honestly took me out of the plot, especially when April is constantly juxtaposed with her love interest—the fit and trim—Marcus.

The first half of the book is absolutely adorable. Between chapters are snippets of fanfics, movie scripts, and other little interludes that I think enhance the background development of the characters. Leading up to Marcus and April meeting each other, we learn that they’ve been friends for years on a Fanfiction server for the show (which is based on a book) on which Marcus is the lead actor. I liked that both Marcus and April have issues within their personal lives, and that is with their perception of their true selves not only within themselves but also with their respective parents as well as co-workers. Everything about Spoiler Alert was working for me, until the first intimate scene. After that things fell apart. The second half of Spoiler Alert seemed almost disjointed to the first part. The characters do end up going through their critical self-transformation in order to repair their relationship. However, the fact that fat-shaming was so overly mentioned throughout the plot it honestly felt like I was being beaten over the head with it. I’m a plus-sized nerd myself, and this depiction felt truly forced. If April isn’t defined by her size, then why mention it so often? Fans will get it the first time.

If you feel like perhaps you can get over the constant mention of weight and fat-shaming, and instead look deeper to the story beyond, then Spoiler Alert is a story for you. Olivia Dade, while a new author to me, seems to have made a mark writing about plus-sized women in her books, which I absolutely respect...this one just missed the mark for me.  Spoiler Alert goes live on October 6th.

3.5

Just what I needed right now!

As we all deal with the crazy world we're currently living in, I have to say that this book helped me forget about all that for awhile. And that is saying something.

When Marcus plays Aeneas on the most popular TV show "Gods of the Gates," one that rivals (and mimics) the popularity of Game of Thrones, he is frustrated by the lack of care the shows writers have taken with the original source material - a beloved series of books. So, he writes out his frustrations in fan fiction (under the name, Book!AeneasWouldNever), creating new worlds that fixes all the problems he sees in the show. He's even (anonymously) integrated himself in the fan community, writing alongside his best friend, Unapologetic Lavinia Stan.

April, used to hiding her obsession with everything "Gods of the Gates," decides to out herself (as it were) and finally, after long years, post a picture of herself in full Lavinia cosplay. She's smart and witty, but has spent many years dealing with fat shaming from pretty much everyone in her life, so when the haters start hating, she tries to tune out. Until Marcus steps in and asks her out on a date. A pity date, sure, but it stops all the haters in their tracks.

But, on their first date, Marcus sees through her insecurities to a passionate woman that he enjoys spending time with and April sees through his false dim-witted persona that he's publicly crafted for years. When she tells him about her fanfiction obsession, it is revealed that she is Unapologetic Lavinia Stan. Initally, Marcus is thrilled because - wow - his best online friend is also the hot chick that he could totally date, but his excitement fades when he realizes if HIS fanfic were to be exposed, he could lose it all. Hijinks ensue, sexy times happen (a lot), misunderstandings occur, lies are exposed, and forgiveness is granted leading up to the happily ever after.

While it wasn't unpredictable - it IS a romance after all - it was, in fact, hilarious. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard while reading a book. I got some strange looks from the people sitting in the room with me. One of these reasons was the fact that the author intersperses chapters with some of the fanfiction or other acting projects of which Marcus has been involved (and some of them, are seriously funny!) Another was my favorite character Alex (or CupidUnleashed as he becomes known.) I'm serious that I would read a whole book about him. He's Marcus' best friend and costar who after reading some of April and Marcus' fanfic, branches out to read fanfic based on the character he plays and then becomes inspired to write his own, very raunchy, very explicit stories (which I greatly enjoyed and are particularly hilarious).

It's not all sunshine, rainbows and humor. There are some serious moments, especially surrounding dyslexia and fat shaming, but the hardest of which was the parental relationships for each of them. I found these to be sometimes heart-felt and meaningful and other times, I was like, "Ok, Ok, I get it. You have issues. Move along." Which is not particularly fair of me since everyone has some insecurity of which they can't let go. And now I'm talking like these characters are real people. Oy.

But if this book could make me forget the world around me, even for a few hours, it is totally worth it.

As a reader, I am embarrassed to say this is my first Olivia Dade book. I picked it up based on the cover alone but was blown away by the story. Well rounded and with fully drawn out characters, I really enjoyed this utterly unique story. Steamy, heartbreaking, and soul soothing, SPOILER ALERT by Olivia Dade is a unique take on a romance between two utterly different people. I am not ashamed to admit that when I finished this book, I immediately looked for another from this fabulous author. Bravo!

I have needed this book for so, so long. Beautiful, sexy, fun, and heartfelt, SPOILER ALERT made me feel seen in a way I haven't felt in a long time. I fell in love with these characters and I ached for them. The pacing is exquisite, balancing emotional moments with comedy and sexiness brilliantly, with sharp dialogue and full narration. The side characters are interesting, well-rounded, and delightful—from April's friends to Marcus's coworkers. Marcus himself is an absolute darling, and while he's not perfect, he is believable and sweet and lovable, and never makes an unforgivable mistake—and he always apologizes and actively works to make things right. He's truly a gem of a hero.

But April—April is what makes this book. April is smart and confident and funny and sexy and fat. She doesn't hate herself or how she looks. She doesn't seek to change herself for a man or her parents or strangers on the internet. But she also has worries and fears based on her knowledge of society, of what people are like, about how people (friends and family included) have treated her in the past. These worries don't take up her day to day life, but they do come up, and she has moments when they really get to her. This common reality for fat women is handled so well. Seeing a character like April (who has so many wonderful defining characteristics other than her fatness, by the way! She's a geologist! And a fanfic writer! And a cosplayer! ) able to love herself and set boundaries and cut off toxic people who aren't good to her and yet still be vulnerable and self-conscious at times was an amazing experience for me. I'm used to reading about fat girls who essentially hate themselves, and even when those characters learn a little bit of self-love by the end, by that point I've been reminded about how much I should hate myself. In SPOILER ALERT, I was constantly reminded how much I should love myself. And that was extremely refreshing.

Gotta go read everything by Olivia Dade now, bye!

Wow. This book was amazing. I requested the book just based on the cover because it is so gorgeous. Because of that I thought it was going to have more of a royal family type of vibe. Obviously, I was very wrong.
April is a geologist who writes Gods of the Gates fan fiction in her spare time. Marcus plays Aeneus on the show Gods of the Gates and also write fanfiction privately. When a fat shamer tags him in a post about one of April's cosplays, he rushes to defend her and asks her out.
This was an amazing book. The romance between Marcus and April was steamy. The other issues that the book explore such as fatphobia, learning disabilities, etc are really well done. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves romance and fandoms.

Spoiler Alert is the fanfic filled book of every nerd's dreams. It has book to show adaptations, cosplay, fanfic, shipping, and conventions plus a movie star falling for a fan of his show which is definitely a dream. I loved Alice and Marcus' relationship. It was honest and sweet and full of the best kind of angst. Their friendship (even before they meet) is the driving force of this book, and Alice's confidence about what she loves, her job, and her body is what makes her a fun and interesting, captivating character.
I honestly can't say enough good things about Olivia Dade's storytelling and character building. This is a five star read for me.

Spoiler alert

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

I loved this!! The characters were fun and well rounded, the story honest and real, and the bits about fandom were totally realistic as well. I will admit I have read fanfic, but have never written any. I have cosplayed, but never had the guts to share online photos of it. Like the main character in this, I didn’t know if it would go over well with all of my social groups if they knew, but I did it anyway.
But this, this was a fun, heartwarming story about someone who could easily be a real girl living this: a chubby fangirl and her internet best friend/crush and her accidental IRL relationship with the male star of her favorite show/ fandom. Each of these two primaries have their own emotional baggage, and their own growing to do. But, they just do it so well together! He’s got an image problem he wants to deal with, and she’s got self image and self esteem issues, and not are just afraid of not being enough. But, they are enough for each other.

If you’re looking for a sweet, funny HEA, with geekiness and a bit of naughtiness, you will love this one!!!

I have been waiting for this book since I saw the cover and read the blurb. And i was so excited to get to read it early and boy. I was in love with it few things I didn't enjoy.

Now I have been in April shoes I've been in fandoms, all that fandom stuff and fanfic and thats what I love about April she was a fangirl who was smart, sassy and loved her OTP. Being scared what others might think of her fandom life she said fudge it and posted herself in a cosplay outfit and getting a reaction to trolls, and haters all over the internet. But she also got someone on her side.. Lead actor from her fave show and half of her OTP Marcus. And boy he had some deep secret but I liked how he stood up for April even if he didnt know her (oh boy ;)) also one of his secrets was he faked being shallow and vain and he writes fanfic under a user name. And guess who he beta for.. YES APRIL!!! small world guys ;) their first date was kinda boring for April lol because sbe knew deep down he was faking..but they gave eachother the chance to make up and see where this relationship goes.. and boy I knew keeping a certain secert was going to bite Marcus in the butt when April found out. And my heart broke when it did.

What I didnt enjoy.. was these mini fanfics between chapters and the ending.. i do wish they had their moment private and not around fans and media.. thats just me.

April writes fanfiction for a show that's gone a bit off the rails since it overtook the books they originally pulled their story from. She's particularly interested in one pairing of a handsome golden boy and the not traditionally beautiful woman he is thrown together with.

Marcus also writes fanfiction, letting out his frustrations with the character derailment in recent seasons, writing his own fix it fics that shows he knows the book characters better than the show writers and show runners. Of course, he also plays one of them.

I'm a big fan of the two-person-love-triangle, and this set up was ripe for that without really being used much. Instead, the story goes into tropes about fame and body image and "is keeping a secret the same as lying". I think these are the more popular tropes, so there's a lot of good stuff here, just not my particular little thing I was hoping for more of.

As a big woman myself, I did appreciate the level of self love and self acceptance April is already at, she is still working on her feelings about how other people (strangers, the internet, her parents) view her. No numbers are mentioned, if that is triggering to you (and I do get so annoyed when a supposedly heavy heroine is then listed as like, a whole lot lighter than me), but some of the discussions about it all were a bit heavy (no pun intended) to where I'm not sure if this will be much of a re-reader for me. It takes too much mental energy, ya feel? I really liked reading about a heroine my own age, especially one who still participates in fandom. I actually expected a little more discussion of her age, from my experience writers are many ages but cosplayers tend to skew younger, if only because popular media tends toward younger characters.

There were two big times I was getting really frustrated with April, where her behavior was understandable and realistic, but frustrating to me ([ Both big fights I was pretty much on Marcus' side, even though I fully understood her. So he has very little time where you could get together so he suggested while he worked out. I absolutely get why she would take it the way she did, especially later when we meet her parents, but at the time I wanted to point out so hard that he just went to a geology museum with her, it wouldn't be the worst thing to meet him on his turf next, so to speak. And later she is upset and feels "abandoned" at her parent's house because Marcus was trying to keep her estranged father away from her. I feel like romance and other genres aimed at women tend to assume we are always on the woman's side in every conflict and have the man be apologetic or have to grovel when he really probably shouldn't, like that's going to fill an emotional need I have when reading. The reason why I'm whining about this in the spoiler tag and not making a strong point in the actual review is as follows (hide spoiler)] Both times, just as I was getting too frustrated, April took a moment and pushed past her feelings to work through it. There's the old battle between "winning" and having a stronger relationship, and it can be difficult to not feed the anger and recognize that maybe it was bad communication, or both of you hurting etc.

Some of the interstitials were a little tiring, a bit heavy handed about which sexist tropes common in media they were spoofing etc, but they're easily skipped if that bothers you. Chat convos between ULS and BAWN weren't as enlightening as I would have liked, I didn't get a sense of their connection the way I did between April and Marcus in person, we see that they are emotionally close and that he supports her no questions asked but not enough of how they got there. This probably won't bother other people as much as me, just because this plays into me grumpy we don't get much of April interested in both BAWN and Marcus and torn between them.

Overall, there's lots of little jokes and puns and plenty of Game of Thrones references (the expy stuff here is pretty obvious) and two clear hooks for future books, if not more, and a hero who doesn't have even a single hesitation dating or loving a big woman. He is perhaps more in touch with his emotions and feminism than the average forty year old man, which is to say I know plenty of wonderful enlightened men and they feel the same way, but talk about it differently. Still, whatever, we deserve a romantic fantasy and it would be fine even if it wasn't realistic.

Recommended to anyone who likes romance with explicit sex, especially those interested in the famous person- fan trope, or interested in fandom as a trope. All of the other fandom focused romances I have seen are teen.

Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor on the hit tv series, Gods of the Gates, playing Aeneas, a character known for his handsome face and hot body. He's not been happy with the direction the show has been going for a couple years, so he anonymously vents his frustration in a fan server as Book!AeneasWouldNever. It's a habit that could get him fired from his job if he's discovered. In the online server, he meets a woman who calls herself Unapologetic Lavinia Stan who supports one of the female characters on the series and they form a friendship, exchanging feedback on each other's fan fics and chatting about life in general.

April Whittier is Unapologetic Lavinia Stan and she has no idea that she's been chatting for years with one of the show's stars. She is also hiding her online persona from people at work and in her real life. Being plus-sized, she doesn't think they would encourage her to write fanfic or do cosplay. In a bold move, she posts a photo of her latest Lavinia costume on Twitter and it goes viral. She gets both supportive tweets and nasty ones from trolls who take issue with her plus-sized body. Marcus, one half of her favorite couple on the series, asks her out on a real date after seeing her pic and the clapback she gets from trolls.

THIS BOOK IS SO, SO GOOD!!!! It covers a range of topics from insecurity, parental emotional abuse, and finding your own voice. Marcus and April have such chemistry that I want more books on them! I loved how the revelation of who they were to each other online gets revealed in their real lives.

I greatly enjoyed this book! There's so much to like here from both the heroine and hero to the Interstitials with fanfic writing, screenplays, and DMs. April is so body positive and it's great to read. She has her shit together which is refreshing. The story is so engrossing and I totally didn't want to put it down. One of the best parts is that April and Marcus are adults and communicate (for the most part) really well. Like, they know what they want (in the bedroom and out) and are able to talk like human adults.

The reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because I felt like at times April's wokeness was kind of shoe-horned in. It almost became a bit much. And as much as I appreciate Marcus being a man really in touch with his feelings, it brushed against being unrealistic. But you can chalk that up to him having a high emotional intelligence which lends itself to him being a great actor.

Readers of modern romance should definitely check this one out.

This is my second Olivia Dade title and she just gets better and better! The setup is unique, the romance is swoony, and the chemistry between hero and heroine leaps off the page. It’s funny yet emotional and I loved every page!