This was so close to a 4 star read! So. Dang. Close. But then Dade leaned back on her formula of a 3rd act breakup and I about threw the ereader across the room. This story features 2 grown adults, both of whom are in regular therapy, spans 6 years of romantic tension, and just deserved so much BETTER. I loved the leads, I loved the supporting cast, the setting was well told, the pacing was great - all the workings of a strong 3rd installment in a series that seemed to be getting better as it went on. Then that dang 3rd act. It's 2022 guys, we need a new formula! I was already pretty peeved by the intensely repetitive "humor" and cringe-inducing Swede references, but I was still loving the ride. As it stands, Olivia Dade continues to be a middling read for me - fine for a quick dose of happy with some real depth of characters, but the plot is so formulaic that it's hard to call it worth reading.

**Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC**

Wow. This one starts off with a hot bang. Literally (or, almost literally). But it felt too much like being dropped into the middle of a story to be enjoyable. I really loved Spoiler Alert, but this series has progressively just kind of lost its magic.

Peter and Maria did not work for me. I thought maybe they were going to build backwards off their banging first chapter, but no. Dade took insta-love to 1000% and never looked back. But also...Peter is a petty pissant over something Maria did, which was douchey, yes, but definitely didn't warrant a six-year overreactive grudge from him. I don't know why I was supposed to like him.

I always do enjoy Dade's writing and humor, so this wasn't a complete let-down. Just didn't like this couple.

Goodreads review: have really enjoyed the Spoiler Alert series and this third book was no exception! Ever since the first book I couldn't wait to dive into Peter and Maria's story. Even in the little snippets where they were side characters in the first two books, they were hilarious and had great chemistry. And this book DELIVERED on that!! It was a 4.5 star read for me and I really wish this series would never end!!

This book starts at a different time than the previous two books; rather than in the last season of the show the characters star in, Ship Wrecked starts during the show casting, then zips through the 6 years of filming, and lands at the same spot (the final season of the show) as the first two books so you get to see a bit of the storyline and other characters that we've already come to love.

Synopsis: After a chance encounter with a beautiful Swede in a sauna leads to a hook up, working actor Peter wakes up to find Maria gone from the hotel room they shared without a trace. Peter couldn't believe how insanely attracted he was to her, but can't imagine why she wouldn't even leave a note. Imagine his surprise when he goes to his final audition for the GoT-esque show God of the Gates and there is Maria, auditioning for the female part that would be acting opposite of his character.

Both Peter and Maria get the parts and spend the next six years filming on a remote Irish island with a small crew. At first, Peter wants nothing to do with Maria - even though he's still attracted to her, he can't get past the hurt of her leaving him after the night they shared, and doesn't want to continue hooking up with her while they're coworkers as it could jeopardize the peace on set, and his career is the most important thing to him. Maria makes an effort to win over Peter though, and while he won't budge on them not hooking up, over the course of the years of filming they become the best of friends even as they pine for one another. They tease each other mercilessly but care for each other so deeply.

When filming ends, finally the two instantly get together and dive into a relationship, trying to keep each other as close as possible after years of being at arm's length. But both have some unresolved attachment issues from their childhoods and haven't discussed the logistics at all of being working actors who are from different countries and need to find new roles that could take them to locations all over the world. Even after all of their years of friendship, they don't fully understand each other and what the other needs. Maria is concerned that his career will always be Peter's top priority, while Peter doesn't understand how Maria could be willing to give up everything she's built in LA, including their relationship, for her family back in Sweden. Will they be able to give each other what they need and also have their own needs fulfilled in return?

Review: I loved how this book was lovers, to sort of enemies, to friends, back to lovers. The chemistry between Peter and Maria was UNREAL. There was so much sexual tension, and pining, and desire. They had the most hilarious friendship, I could see why the show's fans were stanning them and hoping for an IRL relationship. All of the funny nicknames and inside jokes they had with each other were just so sweet, I was like when is it my turn to have this???!!

There was also definitely depth to this book. Both Peter and Maria had abandonment issues from their childhoods and those were manifesting in different ways that made it hard for them to sometimes understand what the other needed. For Peter, he felt like he needed to prove to his father that he could be successful as an actor, and because of that he was so careful with his career and always trying to do the best thing to keep advancing. Maria didn't understand this because her adoptive family was the most important thing to her and she would give everything up to be with them. Peter and Maria dove right into a relationship and they had deep love for one another but sometimes the logistics and our pasts can get in the way of making the relationship work.

There were some steamy steamy scenes in this book, starting right away on page 1 when they're hooking up as strangers for the first time! Once they finally get together again after all of the years of filming, the scenes are incredibly sexy and you can just feel all of that tension!

Overall this was a steamy, funny, endearing romance book with depth and great characters. The writing was fabulous and I absolutely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! Ship Wrecked comes out on November 15, 2022!

Instagram post: I have really enjoyed the Spoiler Alert series and this 3rd book was no exception! The chemistry between Peter and Maria was ELECTRIC!

Book 📚: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade
Genre 💖: Contemporary Romance
Rating ⭐️: 4.5/5
Spice 🌶️: multiple spicy open door scenes

Synopsis: After a chance hookup with a beautiful Swedish stranger, Peter wakes up to find Maria gone without a trace. So he’s surprised to see her that day at the final audition for TV show Gods of the Gates. They land roles playing characters who are stranded together, and spend the next 6 years filming with just the two of them and a small crew on a remote island.

At first, Peter wants nothing to do with Maria even though he is insanely attracted to her because he doesn’t want to upset the peace on set. She wins him over and though he won’t budge on them not hooking up, they become best friends over the years together filming, both pining and falling in love with each other.

Once filming ends they instantly dive into a relationship, keeping each other as close as possible to make up for lost time. But they have never discussed the logistics of being actors from two different counties and needing to travel for long periods for work, or what their needs are in a relationship. They realize that they aren’t on the same page…will they be able to give each other what they need?

Review: I loved how this book was lovers, to sort of enemies, to friends, to lovers. There was such good chemistry and pining and tension! This led to some very good steamy scenes once they finally got together. And their friendship was amazing, I love how witty they were and all of the hilarious ways they teased each other.

The book also had depth as Maria and Peter both had abandonment issues from their childhoods that were influencing how they approached their careers and relationships. They couldn’t understand the other’s approach and needed to communicate and be more flexible.

Overall this was such a funny, romantic, and endearing read that was perfectly written!

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for this ARC! Ship Wrecked is out on November 15!

Listen, Olivia Dade just does not miss for me! Is this review unbiased? Probably not. Is her brand of fat-positive rom-com my catnip? Absolutely!

Ship Wrecked is the latest book in her Spoiler Alert series, and this time we have a fat hero as well! Maria is a Swedish actress who has a one-night stand with Peter, right before they are cast in a big fantasy TV show acting opposite one another! Maria is statuesque and completely at home in her body, which I love to see.

This book covers a number of years and we get a lot of nuance to the character's relationship and (eventually) how their pasts have contributed to their romantic hang-ups. This perfectly balances humor with more serious issues. It's sexy and body-positive without fetishizing OR erasing the fatness of the characters. And they both feel like real, fully embodied people rather than tropes or stereotypes. It's not my personal favorite of the series, but all of them have been 5 stars for me. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Olivia Dade never misses and Ship Wrecked is just another example of that. What I love and appreciate most about her novels is that, their are just FUN. Nothing groundbreaking, just fun and that's so okay... we need more of these books and especially written by her.

I love Olivia Dade's world, and this book marks a satisfying edition to it. I cannot remember any other romance novel that begins with an orgasm but is still a slow-burn. The two characters here have such realistic journeys toward themselves and each other that I had to slow down to savor it, and the family relationships? A+. Spoiler Alert was a book that spoiled me for other romance novels for a while, and I'm happy to say this one will be mentally next to it in my love for it.

Olivia Dade captured my heart with Spoiler Alert. She had me by the neck in All the Feels.

Ship Wrecked, however, completely destroyed me (in the best way). The fat representation is something I know is done with tender, loving, care and isn’t used as a crutch or a plot device, or a “character must lose weight to love themselves”. While I love April and Lauren, Olivia made me feel seen and heard with Maria.

As a tall woman, who is also fat, I grew up being told from nearly all sides that I wasn’t feminine enough. That I wasn’t beautiful. That I was ‘pretty for a fat girl’. That the only beautiful tall women were delicate, waifish supermodels—two things I would never be.

Maria is tall. She is fat. She is PROUD. She LOVES her body, and she suffers zero fools.

I think the other thing that made Ship Wrecked hit me so hard was Peter. Peter, a tall and fat man wasn’t without issues of his own. He loves Maria not because of her size, or despite her size, but because of HER. Of who she is. Of how she makes him feel.

Maria and Peter are rich, dynamic characters that had me smiling and crying with them in equal measure.

I cannot thank Olivia Dade enough for this book. In fact, the words “thank you” do not come close to expressing how I feel about this book. Now, excuse me while I go buy 5 copies.

did you like spoiler alert and all the feels? you’ll like ship wrecked.

olivia dade has done it again. she combines fun “inside” fandom references (i see your Sound of Music reference olivia dade, and i love it), witty dialogue, and main characters that seem, well, incredibly real.

i told myself i would savor this book, and not read it all in a few hours like i did with the others. and then i read it all in a few hours like i did the others, because how could i not? the characters pull you in right from the opening scene (and the spice starts there as well!).

maria, while she might the least relatable to me physically, she’s the most relatable to me personally. or the version of myself i wish i was all the time. maria embodies the fiery strength and feminist attitude that i think a lot of wish we could be- especially in front of the general public where being yourself can be a whole lot harder. she even goes up against ron and rj, which fans of the series will know is not always the easiest thing to do.

and peter, sweet peter, where do i start with him? he gets his fair share of brilliant love declaring speeches, but for the most part of this book he’s a looker. he looks at maria, and sees her. it might take him a while to truly understand her, but from their first days on set he’s always been able to see her. it makes him an interesting character to read about, since his internal monologue is so based on others.

the banter is amazing, the spice is the exact brand of deliciousness i’ve come to expect from olivia dade. peter is a giant hunk of a midwestern man, my exact dream. if you want something to tug on your heartstrings, but not too hard and gives you a balm right after? this book is for you.

I have not read the first two book in this series and loved that it didn't feel like I needed to, to enjoy this book! Of course now I probably will go back and read the others.

Absolutely loved that both the lead characters Maria and Peter were fat and especially Maria being unapologetically so.

Now onto the story and romance...
I read a lot of romance books and the relationship usually happen rather quickly, so I really enjoyed how this one it took our leads 6 YEARS to finally give into being in a relationship with each other. Thank goodness for that initial sauna hookup because damn it would have been the slow burn of all slow burns otherwise.

Also the plot of found family was quite sweet throughout this story. Like the added fun elements in the book as well, like the texts with the group chat, private chats, email from Alex to Peter about his fanfic ratings, the fanfic story.

Will say a couple of the time jumps were very harsh and wish the chapter heading stated 2 years later, 6 years later. Also wish knew more as to why Ian was so hated by the end seemed kinda glossed over.

All and all wonderful read and would recommend,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute romance novel and it was a fun read.

This is the delightful conclusion to the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade. All three of the covers deserve recognition for accurately portraying the leading characters. In this book both MCs are plus sized and actors on a Games of Thrones type tv show. Maria is Swedish and wants everyone to feel welcome like family. She is quick to laugh, wickedly funny and her Swedish words are always worth google translating. (Usually the meaning is given in the book.) Peter is more introverted but equally talented in his acting skills.

The two meet and have a passionate evening before the tryouts for a new tv show. Both are hired but their characters do not film with the rest of the show as they are supposed to be ship wrecked. They spend the next six years with a small crew filming in Ireland and only get to know other cast mates via a chat texting thread. After a bumpy start Maria and Peter develop a real friendship. They are afraid to take it further because if things don’t work it will impact the work.

As their filming ends and they begin promotional work for the series finale the obstacle is gone. They get to visit her family in Sweden and his father in Wisconsin. And steamy times can begin again. I love the body positivity as Dade writes about the rounded curves of both of the MCs. They are fully sexy and delight in one another. Maria especially will not be bullied about her size and knows worth as an actress. She does have insecurities relating to her childhood. Peter insecurities are different but impact him as well. It is up to the two to figure out if they can continue on together.

There is so much humor in Dade’’s writing. I want to give bonus stars for coming up with a name for a dolphin, Maria’s love of all things Abba and Peter’s fear of cows. The breaks between chapters include fan fiction summaries, cast group chats and more. This book can stand on it’s own for the romance but to understand the humor of the cast chats and to really enjoy the final group gathering you must read all three books. This story overlaps the timeframe of the other two novels. Even as it ended my first thought was I need to re-read the whole series as I knew the main couples but couldn’t remember many of the important side characters. I heartily recommend if you enjoy positive, funny, contemporary romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia Dade’s romances joyfully blend realistic bodies with simmering sexual tension, and “Ship Wrecked” expands the charming romances among the casts of the fictional TV series “The Gods of the Gates.” Maria, in particular, has a great deal of charm — Dade has a gift for heroines who stand up for themselves with humor and strength. In this book, Peter — Maria’s co-star, friend and one-time one-night partner — is the one who struggles to stand up for himself, and the couple’s very real, entirely believable perspectives offer both friction and opportunities to grow together to a satisfying HEA. Fans of Dade’s previous Gods books will enjoy cameos from Marcus, Alex and the rest of the cast (including, of course, Ian’s miasma of fish). Highly recommended, highly rereadable.

Positives first, I generally liked the writing, the heat level and the mix of characters. The tension between Maria and Peter was really good. However I felt the falling for each other part was a bit rushed because of the time jumps between the chapters. I wish the author had spent more time on the 6 years where the friendship between our two leads was developing. There was also way too much time , imo, spent on boring details like what scenes were being shot, filming process etc and not enough on developing the nuances of the relationship between Maria and Peter. The final conflict between them felt a bit unecessary even knowing their respective histories (communicate better people!). Overall an okay read but not my favourite from this author. (2.75 ⭐️)

**Thank you to the publisher and author for sending me a NetGalley copy in exchange for an honest review**

This was my first book from Olivia Dade which definitely had hints of character personality, but I felt it skipped around on the development, especially for the side characters.

The book very much gave me Game of Thrones actors vibes where they are close with a large following. However, I wished for a more consistent story line. There were definitely subplots around body acceptability in Hollywood but didn’t quite strike the right cord to deliver a strong message.

The third book in the Spoiler Alert series gives us one night stand, forced proximity, repressed longing, chemistry for days, and fat MCs. Dade's characters are vivid and their emotions are all over the page. She's doing interesting things with timing in the way the three books of the series overlap, and this book literally gives us a "Six Years Later" at one point.

My favorite parts are when they were filming on a remote island, and the situations that arose from that (maybe because they're still a bit in enemies territory then, too, what with all the sniping at each other). But some of the conflict came from a failure to communicate clearly, which is relatable (like Peter, I am also from Wisconsin and get it), but also frustrating. Despite that, this book and series are top-tier. The whole series deserves a re-read now to see how the stories have overlapped and intersected throughout.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My second galley and first steamy book review!

This book is Game of Thrones adjacent (as the actors act in a similar show), has the perfect amount of steam, and is led by two fat characters. The characters self-identify as such and I’ve got to say it added a refreshing take.

It’s the ‘will they, won’t they’ co-stars steamy pull between a Swede and a Wisconsinite that you don’t want to miss.

This light rom-com is out next month on November 15th and it’ll definitely keep you warm

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager, and Net Galley for this early copy!

This ROMCOM is wonderful for body positivity and realistic confidence and how hollywood treats people differently based on size and looks. Both main characters are absolutely loveable and you root for them from beginning to end. You follow their journey from a one night stand to ending up working together on a movie set. I don't know much about making movies so it was fun to read the process in the book. The character development we get from the male main character is so satisfying. The woman stays head strong and confident the entire book, which I totally love. This book has so much growth. I would say this ROMCOM is an easy go lucky book with no huge demise and heart-wrenching climax, which I highly appreciate. .

This is my first Olivia Dade Novel and I’m not disappointed. Olivia is a great storyteller and I enjoyed the descriptions and her ability to get me lost in a story.

Thank you to Avon books and netgalley for this spicy and sweet number from Olivia Dade. It's a great palette cleanser book for people that enjoy spicy romance books. Not a heavy read and likeable characters.

What if your one-night stand ended up being your coworker for the next several years? The premise of Ship Wrecked. I enjoyed the main characters chemistry and how the author built the slow burn until they actually get together.



Thank you NetGalley, Harper and Voyager for the ARC