Maria and Peter are my favorite of the couples from this Gods of the Gates romances. The circumstances of their characters in the show helped it remove itself from the GoT over-comparison, but I loved the note during the series finale screening that everything was too bright or overexposed, the complete opposite of the dark final season of GoT. The reason for the third-act breakup was pretty thin, based on the chosen professions of our main characters, but I understood the viewpoints of the characters which helped me move past the eye rolling! Because I loved the characters, I had a good time throughout this novel and would continue reading from Olivia Dade.

I love a good slow burn but I had my doubts about this one initially. I was proven incredibly wrong! This book nearly had me sobbing on the treadmill at the gym in front of strangers. I absolutely love the dynamic between Maria and Peter.

For a book that literally started off mid-one night stand... it was shockingly a delicious slow burn! Olivia Dade is such a fabulous writer who knows how to write sexual tension so well. TOO WELL.

The characters are loveable and the sensitive topics approached in this book are handled perfectly.

I will absolutely be looking for more of her books!

This was a mixed bag for me. I LOVE how Olivia Dade writes fat characters, and I love that the male lead was an untraditional body type as well as the female. Typically when we get a fat character, it's the female and the male is a chiseled model-esqe specimen, so it was refreshing to see a male character that doesn't fit the romance stereotype. I also love that the characters' body shape and weight weren't their whole identity.

The timeline (jumping ahead 6 years, then jumping back, then forward again) was too much for me. I was getting whiplash from getting toss back and forth, and it took me out of the story too much to get invested like I wanted to be.

This was probably a 3.5 * for me, but I rounded up. I'll continue to read this author (and series if it continues), but this wasn't my favorite of the bunch.

This one wasn’t for me but I think it will be a hit with others. From the first couple pages I was struggling to get into the story. I loved the idea of the plot and the synopsis sounded right up my alley but unfortunately, I couldn’t care for the characters. They both seemed immature and had no idea how to just communicate with one another. I didn’t find either of them to be relatable which made it hard for me to connect with them. The writing wasn’t my favorite because the author focused more on telling the reader something happened instead of showing us. This ultimately made me feel even more disconnected from the characters. Overall, this one was okay. I’d recommend you give it a try for yourself.

Thank you so much @avonbooks for the gifted copy on Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Another win from Olivia Dade! All of her books are incredible. She always has the best sexual tension between the main characters and her representation for plus size characters always wins! I loved that in this book both of the main characters were plus size. One of my other favorite things about this series is how we see scenes with the previous main characters of the other books. I love seeing their friendship and all the conversations they have.

I enjoyed this book so much! The lovers-to-friends-to-lovers storyline worked so well here, and I loved that the two main characters went through so much growth throughout their friendship before even getting to the romance. The slow burn was real, even if they started with a one-night stand! The jump in timeline was a little bit jarring, but I think it worked well for the plot overall. I loved that the characters were so well-developed, and Maria's confidence was so inspiring. Maria and Peter were the SWEETEST and even though there was still a little bit of miscommunication, I think that it was resolved well. This was definitely my favorite of the Spoiler Alert series!

Read this book if you like:
- friends-to-lovers
- confident heroines
- sweet romance
- slow burn and lots of pining

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ship Wrecked is book three in the Spoiler Alert series, and while I enjoyed it very much, it was my least favorite of the three.

Maria and Peter were fine, but they didn’t do it for me quite as much as Alexis or even Marcus. I don’t even remember them as being cast members before this book. Maria was a little too much of a risk-taker, and Peter was not enough. I liked that Peter pined for Maria, and I enjoyed both of them, but they weren’t my favorites.

Like the other books in the series, this takes place on the set of a very Game of Thrones-like show. So I enjoyed that aspect of it. And the forced proximity that this caused between Maria and Peter was excellent! That was my favorite part of the book. I also enjoyed that those two were able to become such good friends.

The eventual conflict annoyed me the most and made me not particularly enjoy Maria. I thought she was a little too unreadable, and I wish she wasn’t so black and white about things.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. I loved that both characters were fat and enjoyed the story.

It was good, I didn’t realize it was part of a series so that totally my bad. I want to start over and read them all bc I really enjoyed this one.

Ship Wrecked is my first Olivia Dade book and I didn't realize until the end that it is the last in a series, but I'm not sure that matters as it seems it can stand alone. I loved the premise of the book. Maria and Peter have a one night stand that ends with Peter upset when he wakes to find Maria gone. Soon after they are equally surprised to see each other at the audition for a very popular TV show. They both are casts as leads and what follows next is months of shooting together on a remote Irish island playing enemies to lovers, a situation not too far from their reality. Theirs is a slow burn of coworkers becoming friends and finally lovers.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters, the message of body positivity and how Maria prioritized what was important and stood up for herself and friends. The setting was fun and the overall plot unique, but throughout the whole book I felt kind of bored, especially in the middle chunk of the book. Most of the action was at the very beginning and then the end. A lot of the events and little chunks of interviews, group chats, etc seemed like filler.

I would definitely try another Dade book. From what I've read, a lot of people liked the first few in the series better.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book because I could not connect to the dialogue. I think that the characters were likable but there were a lot of characters introduced in the beginning and the dialogue with it was very rushed. I had to go back and see who was who for a lot of the beginning that the frustration for that was difficult. I wanted to love this book because I loved the plot and synopsis but it was difficult to follow.

Wanted to love this book as I loved Spoiler Alert, but I truly couldn't get into it. There was something forced about the characters' chemistry that didn't allow me to get invested in their journey and it's sadly a DNF at 30%.

Because of recent events with the Harper Collins strike, i will not be giving feedback on any current books I have with this publishers. Pay your employees and stop asking for free labor from book reviewers

I love that both that mmc and fmc are curvy or normal sized. This takes place on set of Gods of the Gates and though these two met before they were cast briefly though quite steamily, they keep it professional.

Maria is a gorgeous Swede who will not let anyone try to change her body image or body. And Peter is a sexy bearded large man that needs this job to keep him in the leading man category. This is like a slow burn workplace romance but when the sex scene needs to be shot is a mento to a two liter.

Love that it’s told in both pov and can be read as a standalone.

Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

November 15, 2022
REVIEW: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
KaetrinA REVIEWS / BOOK REVIEWS / RECOMMENDED READSactors / Contemporary / NetGalley / tv show2 Comments

RECOMMENDED READ
Illustrated cover in blue featuing a white M/F couple in a clinch. He has dark longish hair and a beard and she has long wavy blonde hair. They're both big and broad. He's wearing a dark suit and tie and she's in costume wearing something like a pirate outfit with a sword.CW: Death of a parent, abandonment

Dear Olivia Dade,

Excuse me while I gush. I loved last year’s All The Feels – Ship Wrecked is even better. The book I read immediately prior took me more than two weeks to read. I read Ship Wrecked in two days. From the first page (which opens, quite literally, with a bang) all the way to the end, I was invested and completely hooked. I adore the humour you write with – I laughed out loud many times throughout the novel – and I love the characters you create. Peter and Maria are now my favourites (please don’t tell Alex; I’d never hear the end of it).

Peter Reedton and Maria Ivarsson are both fat actors who play the characters of Cyprian and Cassia on Gods of the Gates, a GoT-style TV show which links all three books in the Spoiler Alert series. Ship Wrecked begins the day before their final auditions for the role. Peter and Maria meet in an LA-sauna. Their eyes meet across the steam and more sizzles than just hot rocks. That have a very hot night together. Peter is devastated when Maria leaves without a word before he wakes up.

He does act like a bit of a jerk to her when he sees her again at the audition and when they are first cast opposite one another. Peter felt such a connection to Maria and, at least partially influenced by things in his past (reasons but not excuses) he was particularly hurt when she didn’t so much as leave a note. Later, he does apologise very nicely, taking full responsibility for his actions and without making excuses – and, Maria makes him spell out all the reasons he was wrong in wonderful detail before she lets him off the hook.

Maria is no pushover. She does think maybe she was a bit too mean by leaving Peter the way she did – she felt their connection too – but she also isn’t prepared to take his bullshit.

From season two of the seven year series, their characters play Vikings who are shipwrecked on a deserted, rocky and desolate island and who have been saved by the gods to guard a gate to Tartarus which is on the island. They are, for almost their entire stint on the show, the only actors on the island.

(As an aside, I did wonder a little how Peter and Maria became so close with the rest of the Gods of the Gates cast – they had almost no professional interactions with any of them, their storyline being a separate and distinct thread throughout the series. There are interstitials throughout the story – sometimes text or email exchanges, sometimes excerpts of fan fiction about “Marter”, and sometimes – hilariously – parts of group chats between the cast. The cast do meet up at conventions and award shows but Maria and Peter’s closeness with the other main actors felt like they all worked together everyday. In the end, I put it down to the power of Maria. And maybe a little bit of Alex.)

As to the power of Maria – Maria builds family. She needs the love and support of family around her and if she doesn’t have it, she withers. Knowing she will be on the island with a very small crew and be working closely with Peter for, very likely, the next six years, Maria sets about making a family of them all. Peter is an introvert. He’s a loner who feels awkward around people and isn’t confident with small talk. Maria draws him in and almost before he knows it, he’s part of the group. Once that ice is broken, Peter is well able to solidify and strengthen those relationships on his own but he wouldn’t have been able to make a start with out Maria’s influence. It doesn’t take long for Peter to work out what Maria is doing. He’s amazed and awestruck by her ability to draw people to her.

Peter has been mostly a character actor for over a decade in Hollywood but Gods of the Gates is his big break. There aren’t many opportunities for fat actors to have leading roles. He longs, for reasons, for financial and professional stability. He’s not going to do anything to jeopardise his role on the show and will go along with pretty much any nonsense the awful showrunners throw at him. Maria is not like Peter however. She’s around a decade younger than he and was a moderately successful actress in Sweden. She’s trying her hand in Hollywood but professional success, while satisfying and fun, isn’t what drives her. She will not compromise her sense of self or her need for loving support – if she can’t get what she needs on set, she will walk away. Just like that. This both terrifies and horrifies Peter.

Maria is an adopted daughter of a large family. Her own personal history, which we find out later in the story, means that she cannot thrive if she is not around those she loves or if she cannot build that with those around her. She’s extremely close to her family in Sweden. When it comes to relationships, she’s an all-or-nothing person. Her one-night stand with Peter was meant to scratch an itch. She didn’t count on the connection between them. She didn’t count on what a good man he is. But she mistrusts his ability to take care of her the way she needs to be taken care of – to put her first over all things, even his career. This is a dealbreaker for her and she tries to protect her heart by not going there again with him.

Peter tumbles into love with Maria almost from the first but he values the deep friendship they build together, along with his connection to the tight-knit crew. And he does not want anything to get in the way of his role on Gods of the Gates. Gates is his ticket to success and security – the things he’s worked at for so long. If he messes up this opportunity, it will not come again. So, even when Maria (after a couple of years of filming together for months on end) is prepared to take a risk and get physical with him again, he declines.

“If we got involved that way, and things went sour between us, we’d have nowhere to hide. Nowhere we could lick our wounds until we got over whatever happened. Instead, we’d be forced to confront each other day after day, week after week, no matter how angry or hurt we were. It would be terrible for us, and it would be terrible for everyone on the crew forced to endure the awkwardness and tension alongside us.”

He wasn’t wrong, of course. But wasn’t it worth a gamble?

She opened her mouth to ask that very question, but he wasn’t finished.

“Maria, we may spend years together on this island. Years. We’re the only two actors on the set, and we both know you’re the center of everything here. You’ve made us a team. Hell, you’ve made us a goddamn family, and you’re what holds our family together. But if things went bad between us, the community you’ve built, all the camaraderie you’ve nurtured, could disappear”—he snapped his fingers—“Like that.”

Whatever Maria’s plans about not loving Peter are, we readers know she’s not very successful with them. At various points throughout the show, Maria and Peter are placed in situations which are unsafe for various reasons. For himself, Peter will do whatever he needs to do to keep the job and at the first test, he does not take the stand Maria does. This fortifies Maria in her view that Peter is not the long-term partner for her. However, as the seasons progress and as the pair grow closer anyway, Peter finds different ways to take a stand – not as overt as Maria’s methods but ultimately just as successful. What’s notable is that he doesn’t do it for himself. He does these things for Maria.

Cassia and Cyprian’s story is a slow-burn romance which takes six seasons to reach it’s culmination. There are heated looks, near kisses and much mutual pining but it isn’t until the very end of the show that Peter and Maria have their first sex scene together. It’s pretty epic and will take a week of filming due to television reasons. The scenes in the novel with the intimacy coordinator was hilarious. Maria, who is extremely body-positive and not at all shy about nudity revels in her effect on her co-star.

“All right, let’s discuss what happens once Cyprian and Cassia move to the bed. First, he’ll kneel on the floor and perform cunnilingus on Cassia while they maintain eye contact. We should map that whole sequence out, step by step, then determine in advance exactly how long their eye contact lasts and where he’ll be touching her during the act.”

Slowly, Peter closed his eyes and prayed to the god of thwarted lust for deliverance.

“I figured he’d be spreading my thighs with his hands, but I suppose he could be holding my ass or playing with my breasts instead.” Maria sounded thoughtful. “What are your thoughts, Peter?”

Holy fuck. Before their next discussion with Delia, he was jacking his dick raw.

With a concerted effort, he managed to choke out, “I have no thoughts.”

Poor Peter!

Due to his newly rigorous masturbation schedule, he’d kept things professional on set.

Once the show finishes however, Peter has plans for Maria. There is no risk of their relationship threatening the series if it went bad and in any event, by this time, Peter is all in and is desperate to come up with a way to convince Maria to stay with him in LA and live together happily ever after. He knows that being separated from her Swedish family would be a great sacrifice – can he be enough for her?

Maria and Peter love one another but their differences and what they need (or think they need) to be happy loom before them.

Quite a bit of the humour in the book comes from which I interpreted as loving pokes at Swedish stereotypes and customs. They made me laugh, especially Maria with her jar of smelly herring which magically appears from who-knows-where on her person when Peter calls her “Pippi” – which he does a lot. There are plenty of ABBA and Ikea jokes and Swedish idioms which all add a delightful layer to the story. Peter and Maria tease each other all the time. They have the most wonderful banter – trading insults is a love-language for them.

I highlighted numerous sections of the novel but to reproduce them all there may ruin some of the enjoyment for readers and besides this review is already too long. I loved this book. It’s fantastic. I adored Peter and Maria and the secondary characters. TL;dr – [heart eyes emoji].

Grade: A

“We should seal our not-missing-each-other pact with a kiss.” He raised his head and scratched his beard in contemplation. “That’s the Swedish custom, correct?”

“Our daily lives revolve around the metric system, Speedos, and affirming how little we’ll miss one another by kissing.” Loftily, she clarified, “French kissing, obviously.”

He almost managed to stifle his snort. “Because you’re European.”

“Because we’re European.”

“Well, then.” His eyes flared with heat once more. “Consider me the newest member of the EU.


Regards,
Kaetrin

Once again- she didn’t disappoint. As a plus size reader I love finding representation and Dade does that so well. Like the two previous books, the banter between the characters was the best part. Loved the development of both characters. Spice was excellent as always. She is now an auto but author for me.

✨ARC Review ✨
***
Thank you to netgalley and Olivia Dade for the ARC to review.
***
Ship Wrecked was a great story! I loved Peter and Maria. Their chemistry was amazing and their love was beautiful. I liked the story line and the pace of the story. The body positivity in the book was great and I loved the banter between the characters. Maria was awesome and her view of life was amazing. I really loved her and her personality.
***
⭐⭐⭐.5
***

Ship Wrecked starts off with our main characters mid-one night stand…or so they think. Maria leaves before Peter can wake up, thinking she will never see him again, that is, until they both arrive to the same casting the next day and become the leads in a massive show where they will be filming on a secluded island together for the next 6 years. I thought that part of the book was really fun and even when they first return home from filming, but that’s where the author lost me. I will say that the first half of this book was really enjoyable for me, but the pacing and plot got so off about 50% in that I struggled to finish it.

I did really enjoy that the FMC was so unapologetically herself and wasn’t willing to change to fit in with the ridiculous demands the show runners request. I also enjoyed the angst and banter between the main characters. I struggled with the way the story jumped though and felt that a lot of the extra text conversations weren’t needed and contributed to the book being longer than it needed to be. That being said, while this book didn’t work for me, I think that it will be well received and loved by a lot of people.

Thank you to Olivia Dade, Avon and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this amazing eARC with me in exchange my honest review.

I love a good spicy rom-com and this did not disappoint. This is the third book in the Spoiler Alert series and I love the body positivity throughout the whole series. Big Fan!

Synopsis:
Maria’s one-night-stand—the thick-thighed, sexy Viking of a man she left without a word or a note—just reappeared. Apparently, Peter’s her surly Gods of the Gates co-star, and they’re about to spend the next six years filming on a desolate Irish island together. She still wants him…but he now wants nothing to do with her.

Peter knows this role could finally transform him from a forgettable character actor into a leading man. He also knows a failed relationship with Maria could poison the set, and he won’t sabotage his career for a woman who’s already walked away from him once. Given time, maybe they can be cooperative colleagues or friends—possibly even best friends—but not lovers again. No matter how much he aches for her.

For years, they don’t touch off-camera. But on their last night of filming, their mutual restraint finally shatters, and all their pent-up desire explodes into renewed passion. Too bad they still don’t have a future together, since Peter’s going back to Hollywood, while Maria’s returning to her native Sweden. She thinks she needs more than he can give her, but he’s determined to change her mind, and he’s spent the last six years waiting. Watching. Wanting.

His shipwrecked Swede doesn’t stand a chance.

Peter and Maria are co-stars with their own isolated story line on the hit show Gods of the Gate with a slow-burn romance on and off screen. I loved the way the relationship between Peter and Maria developed over time. I continue to love this series and all the characters in it.