I loved the body positivity this book portrayed. Lauren's ability to see herself in such a positive light (most of the time) was refreshing. I did feel this book was a little long for the story. It wasn't until about 65% of the book that their relationship started to change. Overall this book was ok.

This was my first book by Olivia Dade and it did not disappoint! I enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Alex and Lauren. Their relationship took a little bit for me to get into but once I got fully into their story, I couldn't put it down.

I liked the mystery around why Alex needed a "minder" and wish they'd leaned more heavily into that behavior. It felt a bit extreme for the showrunners to jump to this extreme without any other issues on their set. For a Hollywood actor I felt it was pretty tame behavior.

Lauren was a fantastic character and I felt she had real potential. I felt like we didn't get enough of her thoughts in the first act.

Overall enjoyed this one and will definitely go back and read the first in the series.

Thank you Avon Books via Netgalley for my copy of All the Feels.

Alex Woodroe plays Cupid on the popular show God of the Gates. But he hates what the showrunners have done with his character. When he gets into a bar fight--just the latest in a series of escapades--said showrunners hire someone to keep watch over him and his public behavior. One more misstep, after all, and Alex's career is basically over. Lauren Clegg is cousin to one of the showrunners, a former ER therapist whose experience in stressful situations makes her well-situated to deal with the impetuous Alex. However, the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes his behavior may be misunderstood--and have some actual reasons behind it. And the more Alex gets to know Lauren, who is often mocked for her short height and appearance, the more he can't help but feel something for her. As the two face scandals and a road trip together, they'll have to choose what is really important, for themselves and for one another.

"His new nanny looked like a bird."

This is a fun romance and a good companion to SPOILER ALERT. You can read them as stand-alones, but they are intertwined and FEELS runs somewhat concurrently in plot to ALERT. I didn't think this one was quite as good as ALERT, but still really enjoyed it. Full-time Alex could be a little grating and there was sometimes too much focus on Lauren's appearance--her height and constant references to looking like a bird, etc. But I enjoyed learning Alex's backstory, and Lauren was another strong, tough protagonist.

This is a very good and funny story, with excellent banter and overall focus on body positivity. It encompasses other important issues (ADHD, domestic abuse) too while still being a sweet romance. Alex can drive you a bit crazy (which is often the point) but he's still so humorous and kind, and Lauren is a good foil for him.

I felt Lauren and Alex fell in love a bit more quickly than our SPOILER ALERT duo. Each could be very black and white in the way they dealt with their issues. However, Alex's approach to calling out tropes ("there's only one bed!") was absolutely hilarious.

Overall, this is an amusing and delightful romance, even with its little quirks. Dade writes an excellent romance.

With wit and heart Olivia Dade creates a powerful storm. All the Feels leaves a mark on the emotions that never quite goes away. From having it all to exposing the heart, Lauren and Alexander get under your skin to show you the beauty of being vulnerable.

I thought I was really going to love this book... but the lack of confidence in the MC is something that makes a body positive romance very hard to read. I understand that it's accurate to how many people feel in real life, but I don't want to read about that... I want to read about plus size women who are confident and know they are good enough just as they are. Not someone that needs a man to show her she is worthy. And I realize that many people will not feel the same way and will be happy to read a character with these flaws, so I've rounded up to 4 stars to account for this being a personal opinion and not a reflection on the writing.

Otherwise, the story was good, but I do think I probably should have read Spoiler Alert first. I'll be going back to read that one, as I enjoyed this one enough to continue/go back.

omg omg omg omg! This book was everything I ever wanted for Alex and Lauren!

The moment Alex got introduced in spoiler alert, I wanted to know more about him! and then Lauren kinda became his babysitter? YOU BET I WANTED MORE AND MORE ABOUT THEM!

I loved how the first half of the book was about them getting to know each other and it was going with the first book’s timeline so the second half was ALL KNEW THINGS! (not gonna lie I missed April and Marcus a lot lol)

If we get one more book, I WOULD BE SOOOO HAPPPPPPY because we have multiple characters I want to know more about<3

I’m really thankful for having the opportunity to read it early:’)

I absolutely ADORED this romance, and I can’t decide if I love Lauren or Alex more. I’m so glad the author explored why Lauren is so extremely unflappable and the ways that Alex gets her to open up and value herself — it’s not exactly grumpy/sunshine, but has all the best parts of the trope. And sweet Alex may have the biggest heart of any character I’ve ever read, how could you not immediately fall for him? I have ADHD and I’m fairly impulsive, so I found him extremely relatable and I ached for how deeply he feels things. Plus, my flirting technique is definitely making fun of people I like, which is how Alex works too, so he was very swoony to me. Big fan.

All The Feels Olivia Dade

5 sexy Cupid stars!

Okay so this book was one that I struggled with at the beginning. The hero (in distress) seems to have a dislike for some of the heroines body and facial characteristics at the start of the book and that threw me off a lot. I don’t always expect instant attraction but I do normally expect the character descriptions to be a touch more flattering. That was off putting- however the rest of the book really turned it around and turned it on for me.

This one though got so much better as I read. I would consider it a slow build but once it warmed up- it was fire. The chemistry between the characters could not have been more perfect.

I adored Alex and Lauren. I felt like they balanced each other in sort of a grumpy sunshine way but as the book went on that trope definitely mellowed out. They had so much fun banter together and I appreciated that their connection grew and that they were both able to be fulfilled by their eventual relationship.

Other tropes featured include one bed two people, friends to lovers, belated love epiphany, and semi workplace romance.

I would highly recommend this- the events do run concurrently to Spoiler Alert in some ways which can be a little shocking at times. I do think these would be best read in order.

Thank you so much to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this! I am in loveeee and cannot wait for the next book!

One Sentence Summary: After getting himself arrested, Alex, star of the hit TV series Gods of the Gates, is given a minder, the humorless Lauren Clegg, who must go everywhere with him for the next nine months.

Overall
All the Feels is the sequel to Spoiler Alert, but felt more like a companion novel instead. I found the romance and the characters tedious and, unfortunately, as much as I liked Alex in the first book, he wore me thin not even halfway through. Lauren kind of confused me, though I did kind of like her quiet dignity and strength. I liked the representation, but, it still fell flat. In the end, I had more fun flipping back through Spoiler Alert as there’s some overlap between the two books. I liked the depth it added to both stories and getting to see where the author had been going in the first book with Alex and Lauren, but, overall, All the Feels felt a little long and the romance took too long to get started.

Extended Thoughts
With Gods of the Gates wrapping up filming, Alex has gotten himself into legal trouble. Furious, the producers decide that, until the final season has finished airing, he needs someone to go everywhere in public with him.

Enter Lauren Clegg, an ER therapist who has finally burned out. Minding Alex will be a piece of cake compared to what she had to deal with in the ER for over a decade.

But Alex has a particular streak to him, one that makes her job difficult, but which also helps bring them together.

Last year, I really enjoyed Spoiler Alert (Marcus and April’s story), so was expecting All the Feels to be just as wonderful: a sweet romance wrapped in some really heavy topics. I also really liked Alex in Spoiler Alert, so was looking forward to getting to know him and Lauren more. Unfortunately, the whole story fell flat to me and I enjoyed flipping back through Spoiler Alert as the two books overlap more than actually reading All the Feels.

My biggest problem with this book was actually Lauren. Even though I’m not plus size, I still very much appreciate books that represent women like her (I did like that she’s about my height, though). For much of the book, she seems to take it all in stride quite well, even though she’s minding a man who repeatedly reminds me of how much she reminds him of a small, round bird and (lovingly) jokes about her size (we’ll get to Alex next). But what bothered me the most, though, was the fact that she’s an ER therapist, but seems to be a complete pushover and doesn’t appear to have any boundaries. I was trained to be a psychologist and boundaries is the biggest part of the job. Yet Lauren didn’t seem to have any, especially when it came to family, and with Alex to some extent. Everything was fine to her and as expected. I couldn’t help wondering why she kept saying yes at work and wasn’t in therapy herself when her job was so demanding and emotionally taxing. It also bothered me that, as the story unfolded, it appeared that Lauren didn’t really have any self-worth until Alex started revealing his feelings for her. It was like she needed a man to validate her to light the fire under to go for what she wanted and exude confidence in her appearance. I liked her initial dour characterization as it made for some fun banter, but it quickly fell away and I felt much of her interactions with Alex degraded into playful, yet potentially harmful jokes.

And then there’s Alex. So, I really liked him in Spoiler Alert. He was a lot of fun and was clearly bouncing all over the place. He very much felt like the life of the party, so I really liked that All the Feels gave him depth and clear motivations that really did tug a bit at my heart strings. But what completely failed were his repeated, affectionate jabs at Lauren. For the entirety of the book, he constantly referred to her (to himself, to others, and to Lauren’s face) as a small, round bird and just would not stop mentioning how short and large she was. I couldn’t help thinking that, if I were Lauren, I’d probably deck him. Her patience with him was annoying, but, this being a romance, the romance that abruptly bloomed between them halfway through was just kind of mind boggling. And then there’s the fanfiction. He was so into it in the first book, but it was barely present in this one. Even though I’m not a fan of fanfiction, I was really missing it here.

The romance was my least favorite part, which is weird considering this is a romance. But it really doesn’t start up until about halfway through. The first half is focused on Lauren minding Alex and making sure he doesn’t get into trouble (how that was supposed to work, I still haven’t the foggiest idea. Is she supposed to physically restrain a man who appears to be twice her height? Is she supposed to clap a hand over his mouth every time he tries to say something? Is she supposed to drag him away from bad ideas?). An easy friendship blooms between them, which was nice and cute. There were some bits of romantic feelings thrown in, but nothing that said these two were falling hard for each other. It felt more like a story of two people with baggage who find a kindred spirit, but not necessarily a life partner. I enjoyed their camaraderie much more than their romance. And then the second half hit and, with it, the romance. I felt like I was being knocked over the head with it, it came on so strongly.

But Marcus was in it. He wasn’t seen much, but I did adore him and April. I didn’t like that April wasn’t in the story. Maybe because this was meant to focus on Lauren and only one plus size woman can be in a book at a time? I honestly have no idea why she was excluded when she was Marcus’s partner for much of All the Feels. Every time Marcus appeared, I felt like I was looking over his shoulder for April. There wasn’t even really much of an explanation for why she wasn’t around. But Marcus was wonderful. I loved getting a bit of his story from Alex’s eyes. My absolute favorite part was flipping back through Spoiler Alert to find the same scenes in both books, but from different perspectives. It made for an interesting, in-depth look at Marcus and April. And, clearly, the author had put some thought into Alex and Lauren because the overlap was so incredibly smooth.

Alex’s mom was also a big plus for All the Feels. Considering she’s basically the only family the reader gets to know, she was like a breath of fresh air. She was so down to Earth and so loving despite the hurts she had suffered years before. Alex is clearly very fond of her, and it definitely goes both ways. She’s such a sweetheart and such an incredible mother. I really wanted to see more of her, but getting the small amount the reader does get of her was enough to soften my heart a little towards this book.

Overall, I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to think of this book. The romance was not smooth. The characters annoyed me. The story didn’t really make sense to me in terms of Lauren’s jobs. I appreciated the representation, but a book needs more than that to be good. I really wanted to like this because I loved Spoiler Alert, but there was just too much time spent on Alex affectionately degrading Lauren.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

ER Therapist Lauren Clegg is starting a much needed vacation when her cousin asks for her help. Her task: babysit actor Alexander Woodroe, whose impulsivity seems to be jeopardizing the final season of his TV show. Lauren is interested in understanding why Alex does the things he does, and as the two spend more time together, the things they thought annoyed them about the other start to become appealing.

First, I should mention that I still haven’t read Spoiler Alert. All the Feels can absolutely be read as a standalone, but if I could go back and do it all over again, I’d read them in order because I think I missed out on some humor (and Marcus seems fun). I think fans of Spoiler Alert and/or frequent readers of fanfic who appreciate a slow burn romance will enjoy this one.

Things I loved about this one:
The MCs are A THERAPIST and someone with ADHD.

Though Alex is much more impulsive and classically hyperactive than I am, I thought Dade did well at depicting ADHD here. Alex struggles with executive functioning, emotional regulation, and impulse control. He’s (a lot) a bit all or nothing, justice-oriented, and frustrated by inefficiency. I love that Dade also made him smart! My absolute favorite parts of this book were the text chains between Alex and Marcus, where Alex would send about 15 stream-of-consciousness texts in a row. Because, #relatable.

With Lauren’s character, we see professional burnout within the context of a character who still passionately cares about what she does. She’s terrible at self-care, but okayish at boundaries.

Positive depiction of therapy and thoughtful discussion of tough issues.

Things that didn’t work for me:
I struggled with the chemistry between the characters for the first 60ish% of the book.

The banter was so one-sided that it felt cruel at times, and I didn’t buy Alex’s attraction to Lauren after how he initially talked about her appearance. While this book is theoretically fat positive, the constant comments/negging about Lauren’s height made the positive comments about her body shape feel almost fetishistic.

Thanks to @avonbooks for an advanced digital copy of this book to review.

AHHHHH....I'm in a pickle here.

I tried to like this book so hard to the point that I was basically forcing myself to read it. I love the representation, esp as a fat girl myself, but Lauren was such a bore and it made me so sad. It felt like she had next to no personality and alllllll of the personality in the book went straight to Alex (whom I love.) The romance between them felt so off, like it came out of no where.

I may give this book another go because I truly, truly. really want to like this but right now, it's not getting me.

After reading and loving Spoiler Alert I was so excited to read about Alex and Lauren's story! But after about 20% of this book, I had to put it down. I wasn't feeling the connection between Alex and Lauren. I felt like their chemistry was lacking. I hope to pick this book back up at a later time, but for now it's a DNF.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: fat shaming, domestic violence of a parent (past), bullying, burnout

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f friends to lovers
-slow burn
-mutual pining
-an appreciation for fan fiction and pegging
-hollywood romance
-a simp of a cinnamon roll
-grumpy sunshine
-road trip
-ADHD rep and fat rep

This book. I mean all of the emotions. I was cackling one moment, dying for them to kiss the next, and then my heart just hurt. These were two self sacrificing people pleasers. Two people who are entirely different personalities but are at their core the same, and understanding of the other.

Alex was just entirely himself the entire book. His banter with Lauren, his obsession with fanfiction, all things romance, and the fact that this man lived in a castle. He and Lauren just got each other, saw what the other needed, what made them tick, that they were a good person. Almost to their detriment. While I don't love lack of communication, this book's third act was just so realistic, so well done, so authentic to both characters.

This was such a fun ride. There was so much chemistry, so much love. The intestestials, honestly just everything about this book. Annoyed with myself this was my first Olivia Dade but it will not be my last.

Steam: 3.5

I loved this book so much! I love that Lauren is not your typical perfect skinny character. She has such great personality and is a caring person. Alex was also such a sweet character, even though he could be thoughtless at times. Seeing them come together and their story unfold was so awesome. I definitely recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

If you're cold from autumn weather, this novel will warm you up! All the Feels is a steamy open-door contemporary romance with plenty of sexy talk and action.

The story features Alex, a handsome and impulsive actor in a controversial role for a Game-of-Thrones-type TV show, and Lauren, a short, curvy therapist who is hired as Alex's "minder" after his high-profile incident in a bar. While the forced proximity begins against Alex's wishes, he quickly learns to appreciates Lauren's calming presence, and she eventually enjoys his near constant stream of sarcastic humor. In addition to lots of steam, the plot includes real-life issues including job burnout, living with ADHD, and family expectations.

This romance is best enjoyed after reading Spoiler Alert, book 1 in the series. The "world" is built in Spoiler and a few events occur in both novels from different perspectives. Feels has less fan fiction than Spoiler (which was great for me) and lots of body-positivity messaging. Olivia Dade wrote the novels she wishes had been available when she began reading romances at age seven, featuring heroines who look like herself (and me). It’s so important for readers of all ethnic origins, sexual preference, and body types to find people like themselves as heroes and heroines in romances.

Many thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the review copy of this novel. I'm eager to read whatever the author writes next.

Alex, a famous, good-looking actor on a popular TV series, has a reputation for causing trouble. After a bar fight while filming the series finale, the show runner hires Lauren to be his minder, keeping Alex on the straight and narrow and out of the media. Lauren hoped to take a few months off after leaving her high-stress job in a hospital ER, but when her cousin insists she help him by keeping Alex in line, she finds she can’t say no. Note: although the first half of All the Feels overlaps in time with the first book in the series, Spoiler Alert, the story is completely standalone.

I literally have all the feels for All the Feels. It is such a wonderful romance; I laughed out loud, my heart broke, and my spirit swooned. I adore Lauren and Alex together. They work so well because they take the time to know one another, to respect themselves and each other. Although each has flaws, both are willing to admit when they are wrong and willing to work on the hard parts. They make mistakes and move past them, growing stronger. They truly are better together, and I love that Lauren allows herself the joy of Alex’s affections. I love that Alex does anything for those he claims as his, but is learning to protect himself as well.

Alex has ADHD and author does a good job of portraying his condition; we see it in little actions like his need to talk and how he can’t sit still. With that said, Alex diligently takes his medication and is self aware, knowing when things are going sideways. He’s a good listener and is attentive. I appreciate how he’s honest with himself that Lauren isn’t traditionally attractive, yet, like with a Picasso, he’s drawn to her face; it’s interesting and captivating.

Lauren wants only good for Alex, so she wants to remove herself from situations that she knows will cause problems, like when someone inevitably offends her, so he won’t go ballistic. She isn’t hard on herself, but feels she’s realistic. I adore watching her learn to stand up for herself, and seeing her beauty through Alex’s eyes.

All the Feels is filled with ups and downs, growth and reflection. There were times my heart was heavy because the pair were not in sync, then other times, I was over the moon because they are so perfect together. I love that I am witness to raw and honest emotions. All the Feels is a wonderful romance and one of my favorite books of the year.

My Rating: A

It took me a little bit to get into this because I didn't think the banter or comments Alex would make about Lauren in the beginning of the story were very 'cute' - it did eventually click for me (about 30% through) as I realized that this was just the teasing nature of their friendship. Speaking of friendship...that was one of the aspects I really, really loved about this book! Alex and Lauren develop a friendship first that eventually turns into a super cute romance. This is definitely a slow burn romance (my favorite kind!), and I think that's something that should be made known to those who loved Spoiler Alert because the romance aspects do not come into play as quickly.

I felt emotionally invested in their relationship and was really anxious about the unavoidable third act conflict. Since this actually happens so much later in the book, the resolution did seem to come a little too quick.

This one was super fun and I'm SO APPRECIATIVE AND IN LOVE with how Olivia Dade writes her fat main characters. They are so empowering in the way that they love themselves despite everyone else trying to tell them that they shouldn't! I certainly recommend this one for those who enjoy a slow burn romance with teasing banter AND definitely pick this one up if you're looking for positive representation of fat main characters in romance!

Here's the reading vlog where I read this one: https://youtu.be/rjLxGkfdZ0Q

Rating: ✩✩✩✩
Audience: Adult
Length: 385 Pages
Author: Olivia Dade
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: November 16, 2021

Synopsis: Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, God of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he’s dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.
Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness…not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.
When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants—her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all.

Things I liked: *queue Kacey Musgraves* I’m alright with a slow burnnnnnn
I am obsessed with the romance in this as it wasn’t too much all at once. I’m a sucker for a slow burn with gradual tension, what can I say?! Additionally, I really liked that Dade decided to overlap the plot lines of this and Spoiler Alert a bit. Rather than starting immediately after the events of Spoiler Alert, as many romance sequels would do, we get to have a bit of an overlap and see what went on behind the scenes with Alex and Lauren on the same timeline that Spoiler Alert was on. This book didn't really extend beyond the events of book one until over halfway through, and I thought that was a really neat way to structure the book.

Things I disliked: I think this series, at times, can get cringey, and this book was no exception. I think books about famous people and fandoms entail a bit of cringe as it is already (see the Geekerella series). Add in the actors writing fan fiction about themselves and it just gets worse. All that to say, I think this book handled those topics better and just made them awkward whereas Spoiler Alert just got painfully awkward, weird, and uncomfortable for me. It also drove me a tad crazy that every description Alex had of her he used the word round to describe her body, like I’m sure there’s other ways you can describe her figure because I just kept picturing her like a bowling ball every time I read that. (See: Violet Beauregard in the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp.

This is Alex and Lauren's story, which was running in the background while Marcus and April were getting together in the first book, Spoiler Alert. It's not necessary to read that book first, but it is fun to see a couple of scenes between Marcus and Alex told from Alex's perspective this time around.

Alex is very much a "sex puppy" kind of hero, hot, cheerful, funny, and absolutely committed to his partner's pleasure. He's also sweet, in your face, often falling all over his paws, and absolutely convinced he's a lap dog even though he's way too big to fit there comfortably. On top of this, he's got a huge heart that is 110 % committed to the people he loves, sometimes to his own detriment. His biggest enemy is his ADHD and his own good impulses and sometimes, he just needs to get out of his own way, and out of his own head.

When Alex meets Lauren, a burnt out trauma therapist who is hired to be his minder after he gets in a bar fight and generates bad publicity for the TV show he works on, he can't help but fall for her. Lauren has been dismissed and overlooked all her life because she's not considered attractive by society's standards. She has internalized the message that she is somehow "less than" and her own feelings and matters are not as important as other people's. As Alex gets to know the warm, vibrant, caring, supremely competent person that she is, he can't help but fall for her, but his roused protective instincts inevitably cause problems for both of them.

This book expertly mixed fun, witty banter between the two leads, their friends, and coworkers, with deeper undercurrents and an exploration of how much weight is put on appearances and how hard Alex and Lauren had to fight for a normal relationship just because she was round and not conventionally pretty. I find it interesting that some reviewers felt no chemistry between them as I felt like they had a ton of it. It was so beautiful to watch them both start to see below each other's surface to the real person beneath. I have to wonder if that is because those reviewers just couldn't fathom a heroine who is described as short and round with birdlike features, and who doesn't magically get transformed into a gorgeous model or something. I loved that both characters stayed true to their essential natures and characterization throughout the book. Huge props to the author for giving voice to all of the people out there who are overlooked, ignored, and discounted based on outer appearance alone.

DNF at 23%. I really enjoyed Spoiler Alert and was looking forward to this one but it just didn’t work for me. Maybe because Alex is a “delightful asshole” as another character calls him and that just isn’t my thing? I also found the interstitials really taking me out of the story and not adding anything. This may be a case of picking it up at the wrong time but it was a miss for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the gifted book/ebook.