3.75 ⭐️ 2.5🌶

Sweet story of costars and their journey to finding love. They started off as strangers who had a one night stand only to become co stars filming in a remote location - for years! Their time working together became a very slow burn romance story as they challenged each other and developed a friendship.

The book was a bit slow for me. The love story was told across 6 years of working together. I loved how the intertwining timelines of both Alex and Marcus’ love stories playing out at the same time.

This was a sweet read with a strong heroine who isn’t ashamed of her body and does not hesitate to stand up for herself when pressure to fit the typical Hollywood physique.

🎬 Co-Stars
🐄 Hero with Bovinophobia
❤️ Lovers to friends to lovers
⛰Forced proximity
🇸🇪 Strong, sassy, Swedish Heroine
😂 Hilarious bickering
➕ body positivity

Thank you Net Galley and Avon and Harper Voyager publishing for the ARC. All opinions here are my own.

I have been an Olivia Dade fan for a while now, so my excitement was through the roof when I received this arc!

First off, the cover is GORGEOUS! I love that the character descriptions in the story perfectly match the illustrations.

I adored that both the MCs were described using the word fat and not curvy. That is a massive step in the right direction for fat-positivity in the romance genre. Starting the book with a bang (metaphorically and physically) was such a tease, but then the slow burn hit, and I was very into it!

I really liked Peter and understood his personality, but Maria was more of a mystery to me. I had a harder time connecting with her than I did with Peter, which is usually the opposite of what happens in a contemporary romance novel. I always find myself relating to the female protagonist, but in this case, it was the hero I connected with.

I loved the age gap, the spice was on point and the continuation of the Gods of the Gates universe was exactly what I needed! Overall, a great read!!

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade was the perfect conclusion to the Spoiler Alert series. Dade is an expert at writing beautifully complex characters with utmost care. Maria and Peter’s story was quirky, tender, heartfelt and witty.

This story was a journey, much like Maria and Peter’s relationship. They are messy and complicated, hurt from childhood traumas, grief, and broken promises. The story takes place over 6 years and begins with a one-night stand. The next day they find out they are co-stars filming on a deserted island for the next 6 years.

Their rocky relationship turns into a beautiful friendship full of support, kindness and understanding. They pine for each other for 6 years and have a soul deep connection that turns into the loveliest romantic relationship. They see each other’s flaws and weaknesses and truly see each other. Maria bridges the gap to help introverted and shy Peter become more social and less isolated by including him in conversation and gatherings. It takes Peter longer to see what Maria needs, family and belonging, but he faces his demons to provide that for her in the end.

Ugh, just such a beautiful, beautiful journey. Maria and Peter have become my favorite couple from the Spoiler Alert series, I just love them so much. Also, I am obsessed that both characters are plus sized/ don’t fit conventional standards of beauty. Well done, Olivia Dade!

Loved the story line! Very entertaining and such a fun book! I gave 4 stars because I didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I like to feel, but didn’t take away from the overall reading enjoyment!

CW: death of parent, body shaming

I really loved this story. I loved Maria and Peter. I loved that Maria helped the film crew build a family out on the island. I enjoyed that she helped Peter come out of his shell. Watching them become friends on the island was so enjoyable and watching them fall in love was just so lovely. I really enjoyed all the texts, emails, and fan fics that popped up between the chapters. I did like that both Maria and Peter realized that they had to compromise a little at the end. I was glad that they both were able to listen to each other and make those compromises. I loved this story a lot.


**This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.**

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this with every Olivie Dade book I’ve read, but Ship Wrecked is now my new favorite of hers. Like the first two books in the series, it’s fun and self-aware, both poking fun at and unpacking the issues of the entertainment industry (including a certain fantasy series adapted from an unfinished series of books that went off the rails once the show’s timeline surpassed the books’).

Peter and Maria also make the books stand out from the others. While the series thus far has featured fat rep, the prior two books have featured fat women in non-public facing roles, while the actors from the show featured as heroes were conventionally attractive. This time around, not only are both actors on the show, but both are fat. And in typical Dade fashion, the story doesn’t dwell on their size, but it is a brief plot point to both show how the public responds positively to the casting choice, while the showrunners try to look for excuses to walk back on their decision and attempt enforce toxic weight expectations, although it should be noted, this is an issue that is resolved in the actors’ favor.

However, it is just one scenario that shows how differently Peter and Maria approach their acting careers and lives. Maria is a successful stage actress from Sweden, while Peter is an up-and-coming character actor, who got his breakout role on Gods of the Gates, and aspires to keep up that momentum, especially with his drive to prove that acting is a lucrative career path to his skeptical father.

Both are also the perfect balance of tough/with sharp edges and massive softies. Each of them have their own insecurities, and I loved seeing them interact, figuring out what makes the other tick.

Dade somehow manages to create a perfect slow burning romance, simmering with sexual tension, from a the “early one night stand” trope. I don’t know if it’s just that her characters are so likable, but their dynamic feels so realistic. There’s a lot at stake for them, and Dade makes it all believable and worth investing in. Maria’s delightful Swedish nicknames for Peter are a riot, and the way they care for each other (for the most part) throughout, really seeing each other, is so beautiful.

With this likely being the last book in the series, given the way the epilogue wraps things up, it’s also fun to see what the rest of the cast is up to, from their cameo appearances to the interstitial text chats. Lovable, chaotic Alex continues to steal the show in the most fun ways, particularly in the way sent a particularly steamy fanfic involving their characters to both Peter and Maria, which (unbeknownst to Alex) became inspo for a particularly steamy real-life encounter.

This book is everything I wanted and more. If you’re a fan of Olivia Dade and the series thus far, you won’t be disappointed. However, even if you’re new to her work, this is a wonderful place to start, especially if you’re looking for a story with positive incorporation of body diversity for both men and women, I recommend picking this one up!

I really enjoyed the third installment of this series by Olivia Dade! I love the body positivity, not only when it comes to plus-size and fat positivity but body hair positivity as well. Our main character Maria doesn't shave and had no shame about it and I was shooting "Yes queen!" every time she mentioned it. I love that both she and the other main character, Peter, were described as straight up "fat". Not "curvy", "plus-sized", "soft-in-the-middle", but FAT. Because I feel that it helps to destigmatize the word and to show that someone can be labeled as fat but still be healthy.

Plot-wise, I went back and forth on if I liked it and ended up deciding that while I liked it, I didn't LOVE it. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting a six year time jump only 30% into the book but in the end it worked out fine. I enjoyed how realistic Maria's and Peter's relationship was. They're both 30-something year olds that find love "late" in the game. They're established adults that know what they want and that's refreshing to read when a lot of romance can center around young adults. There were times were their relationship was frustrating and I found Maria frustrating or Peter frustrating but I think that was the point! These two are set in their ways and need to find a compromise to be with the person they love. They're at the age where love isn't enough, where they need those other things in their life as well to feel happy and fulfilled: stability, a career, a place to call home, etc. Olivia Dad succeeded and making Maria and Peter almost painfully relatable.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and was satisfied with the ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy, in exchange for this honest review.

This is book #3 in the Gods of the Gate universe by Olivia Dade. I found Spoiler Alert (#1) a fun and novel concept and a root-worthy couple in Marcus and April, with some great body and neuro-diversity rep. I struggled with All the Feels (#2) for reasons I can't fully articulate...it just didn't work as well for me, and I found it to be a slog. Ship Wrecked (#3) captures some of the original magic in the series, with a slow burn lovers-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, forced proximity romance. I liked Peter and Maria and how their hang-ups were explored. The pacing of the story felt a bit weird and there were some huge time jumps that felt like missed opportunities to show rather than tell.

As always with Olivia, her books never fail to make me absolutely swoon! The first thing that always enticed me into reading anything she writers is the amazing representation of a plus size character. I think it's so important in today's society to celebrate very body type, and I'm so gald I was able to find an amazing author who writes it so well. Now, onto the actual book. It wsa AMAZING! I love the slow burn. I have a love hate relationship with it, but when it pays off like this, it is totally wort every page! The main characters were so good, the sassiness was 10/10! The character development was amazing, and the chemistry between the two of them was so well written! Olivia never seems to miss, and this book just goes to prove that even more!

I am a huge fan of Olivia Dade and her Spoiler Alert series is my favorite hand down. I love the intersection of romance and fandoms and fan fiction, and it has just been an absolute joy to read. I blew through the 3rd book in this series, Ship Wrecked (out 11/15) in two sittings. I could not put it down. Ship Wrecked tells the story of Peter and Maria who have a fiery one night stand and then find out the next day that they’ve been cast as co stars and romantic leads in the hugely popular show God’s of the Gates. This is a ridiculously swoony grumpy sunshine, lovers to friends to lovers, workplace romance featuring two fat leads and heaping piles of body positivity in a very non inclusive industry.

Both Peter and Maria have traumatic pasts, each of them losing parents at an early age. That trauma has played an enormous part in who they are, how they deal with challenges and relationships, and what they are looking for in long term partners. One of my favorite aspects of this story was how the two of them protected and shielded the other from aspects they knew would cut deeply, while also doing things to foster healing. The way Maria quietly nurtured opportunities for Peter to get close with their other cast members and crew and the way Peter (though it took him longer to figure things out) made sure to keep Maria as close as possible to her friends and family, understanding how vital that was to her general happiness, was so incredibly beautiful.

I also could not get enough of how unapologetically herself Maria was. She’s fat, she does not buy into arbitrary beauty standards like shaving any and all body hair, she has endless confidence in her professional abilities, and she does not compromise a single aspect of herself to appease the show runners. It was fucking epic and I want to be her when I grow up. And Peter, Peter absolutely fucking worships her. Dade managed the perfect balance of caring, thoughtful, soul deep friendship and trusting, scorching romantic and sexual chemistry.

As with the other books in the series, the entire cast makes an appearance through text conversations, emails, and con appearances. The timeline for all three books converged in this one so you’ll need some memory of those plots for this to hit like it should. Interspersed between chapters were also scenes from the show, excerpts from popular fan fictions, and entertainment news articles. Dade already did this so well in the first two book sin the series, but has only improved her craft in Ship Wrecked. This book was absolute swoony viking gods and fierce shield maiden perfection. I laughed, cried, and took a few cold showers and loved every single page. Thanks so much to Avon for sending me this early copy!

She's back!! All the Feels was a little bit of a bump for me but Ship Wrecked is exactly the kind of story I love from Olivia Dade. We focus on Peter and Maria now - starting with a one night stand, and ending with them being cast in one of the biggest shows on TV - Gods of the Gate. Which, funny enough, films on a small island for the next *several* years. She may or may not have handled the next morning great, for her own reasons. He may or may have not handled the announcement of her casting well.

Loved getting the small overlaps with Marcus and April, and Alex and Lauren. The group chats are the best. Except Alex ..

Thank you to Netgalley & HarperCollins publishers for the ARC of Shipwrecked by Olivia Dade. Disclaimer: I was given the opportunity to read this in exchange of my honest review.
The book follows Maria and Peter, they meet in a sauna and after a few exchanges they end up having a one-night stand. Peter is ready to never let maria go but she has other plans. She leaves without saying goodbye leaving peter in a sour mood. He has to move on since he has an audition, the most important one of his careers so far. Peter wants to get his first big role, he is ready, he has earned it, only when he gets there, he sees a familiar face.
Maria was not expecting to see peter again. Now after an audition that lands them the chance of a life time she will have to commit to spend a long time in a tiny island with peter while they film their parts. She is willing to make the best of it only to be verbally abused by peter.
Not up to a great start, but too bad since they are stuck. They need to work together for 6 years…
Now after my badly explained recap, the story is great. An attention grabber. I have been waiting on this book since I first saw that Olivia Dade was writing another book for this universe. It doesn’t hurt that it features my favorite tropes, forced proximity, kind of enemies to lovers but to be honest is more like strangers to lovers, lovers to enemies, enemies to colleagues and then it just so much longing. There is so much tension between peter and maria that when its finally released I did say out loud “finally!!”
the spice level I will say surprised me. I felt before that while we did get some blush worthy spice, there was not enough of it but for me it felt like It needed a bit more. This book had just the right amount. Both peter and maria are very vocal on what they want and how they want it. Ill just leave it at that.
In short if you like Spoiler alert and loved All the feels, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.
I enjoyed the read. I will keep an eye out for any future works of her.
Peter got on my nerves more than one time.
The conflict comes about 75 or 80 percent of the book. A bit late to my taste to be honest. The whole reason why they conflict happened felt like it could have been avoided. I get their points, but I felt like peter was not really thinking straight.

I was SO excited about Maria and Peter's book! The building of their relationship and the growing understanding of their pasts make this story beautiful. Olivia Dade typically has a character-driven plot and this one is the same.

I really enjoyed that they are plus-sized main characters, but it is just a character description. It never got in the way of the plot, it was just a trait. It was like they were tall or short.

As must as I loved this book, I did not think it was as much a home run as her others!

Overall, I laughed out loud, blushed, and cried when it was over. I am going to this set of characters.

Spice: 2/5
Overall: 4/5

Ship Wrecked starts with orgasms and then becomes a slow burn. Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert series has centered around a Game of Thrones-esque tv series called Gods of the Gates. In Spoiler Alert and All the Feels, we’ve seen Maria and Peter, two of the actors, flirt and banter in cast interviews and group chats. I try not to develop expectations about how a book is going to go, but even so, I was not expecting Peter and Maria’s journey to relationship.

There’s one particular moment in Ship Wrecked that has stuck with me since I first read it 5 months ago (I’ve reread it a few times since June). When Peter is talking with Maria about his father, he says “empathy requires imagination.” It’s not a new idea, but given the barriers between Peter and Maria, it’s important that Peter is the one who says it.

Peter is going to be a challenge for some readers, because when they meet after the initial one night stand, he is a complete skitstövel to Maria. He is a skitstövel more than once. The two are the only cast members in one plot line and film their scenes on a remote Irish island with a small crew over 6 years. Maria makes a choice to make the location a happy family unit and consciously includes Peter in that warmth even though he has been a complete jackass to her. One of the commitments of the Ethical Humanist movement is “act so as to bring out the best in others and thereby in yourself.” Maria decides to do the emotional labor necessary to bring Peter into the community she wants to build because she wants her work place to be warm and emotionally fulfilling. Her emotional well being is more important to her than professional achievement.

The book covers more than 6 years and in that time, Dade builds the friendship and trust between Maria and Peter. I love that she chose to show the slow build of their relationship. Maria believes in herself in a way that Peter does not. But as he watches her navigate the politics of the show, he becomes braver about advocating for her and on behalf of the crew. Where his imagination fails is in seeing that he deserves the same consideration from himself. I feel protective of this book’s heart. It is sweet and tender, with delicate scars from grief..

As tender as the book is, it is also riotously funny. Dade has also continued the thread of fanfiction. Peter and Maria, themselves and their characters, are the subjects of many works of horny fic, which Alex helpfully sends them.

CW: death of parents in the past, emotional abandonment by parent/caregiver, adoption, fatphobia, threats of starvation, battery by dolphin.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Maria and Peter have a sizzling night of sex, only to have Maria disappear the next morning…until Peter shows up at a call back for God of the Gates and auditions opposite Maria. The electric connection between these two is felt from the very beginning of the book all the way through six years of filming and the final season press junket. They remained just friends until the direct says the final “Cut!”, then all bets are off.

I loved the currents felt in this book. The pining. The protection. I have a lot of appreciation for author Olivia Dade’s incorporation of plus-sized main characters in this series, especially when both of the main characters for this book fall in that category. As much as I loved this book, there was irritation in phrases used within this book. I also feel that while Peter was called plus-sized, he was characterized as more of a football or hockey player with massive strength while I feel Maria was fat shamed. It made me angry for her and rubbed me the wrong way.

4 stars

Omg this was such a cute read I’m loving these plus size representation books keep them coming for us!!!

I adored this book!! I have not read the first two in this series so I was a little nervous to read this one, but while I am sure it would give some more context and back story to have read the other two first, this can absolutely be read as a stand alone too. The fat representation was empowering and didn't feel forced. The only issue I had was the third act conflict. I felt that the miscommunications and issues the couple had with eachother felt unreasonable, but I loved the fact that they worked it out and had a happy ending! Give me all the Peter and Maria stories! I just adored these characters. Would definitely recommend to a friend and am now going to go back and read the first two!

As with all of the books in this series, Ship Wrecked is just a really fun time. I love the mix of fandom, famous actors, fat romance heroes/heroines, and realistic relationship struggles. It was interesting in this book to start off with Maria and Peter having a one night stand, not knowing that they’re about to have to film a TV show together for years. It was fun to see how their working relationship and friendship developed before becoming romantic/sexual again.

I thought that the tension between Peter and Maria and the different ways they thought about their careers added a lot to the story. For Maria her family and friends are the most important thing and she’s willing to take risks with her career while Peter is super worried about having employment and money and doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.

The interstitials of group chats with the other cast members, excerpts of fanfiction, and commentary from fans adds a lot to the story. However, I was hoping to see a bit more fan response after the relationship was revealed. And while I do enjoy the other cast members as characters, sometimes there are so many of them that it feels like the story is a bit overloaded. Especially in the epilogue, it just felt like too much.

Overall this was a great time, I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from Olivia Dade in the future.

this book was very fun and very very cute!!! i love me a good plus size rep book and we need more books like this in the world please

I quickly found this book wasn't for me. I wasn't rooting for the MCs, which in a romance is an absolute must.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.