I adored this book! This was
My first ever Olivia Dade book and I cannot wait to read more. 4.5 stars for me

It’s like the author goes out of her way to articulate every word she puts on the page. She has a wide vocabulary and uses words I’ve never heard before. She is the kind of author that never wastes a single sentence. She made a third person narrative feel like a first person perspective and connected the reader to both Maria and Peter on a personal level. The layout of this book was beyond fun being told between text message threads, interviews, and fan fiction stories. It felt as if this truly was a real show that I was reading about

It’s a joy to see an author be a champion for body diversity in romance books. It was refreshing to have a realistic view on the unhealthy ways Hollywood will ask actors to “prepare” for roles and what lasting effects that can have both mentally and physically. It’s often that on romance books or in Hollywood, unrealistic views cloud reality so having this book with two leads that mirror the real world was invigorating to read.

The only qualm I have is the timeframe matching the intensity of their chemistry. I didn’t feel the build up of years and years of pinning and at times the chemistry was lacking between Maria and Peter. But overall this was a great read and though I did read out of order, it didn’t feel as if I missed out on the story. Thank you to NetGalley and
Avon for this eARC

I really enjoyed this book. As I was reading it, I got the vibes that this is a final book in a series. I haven't heard anything to say that this is a trilogy, though. If it does continue, I might pick up the 4th book if the synopsis is intriguing. I would also be happy with stopping here.

These characters weren't my favorite. I think it had something to do with them not being with the core cast, so they aren't really big in the first two books. But it was nice to get to know them and see their POV of the happenings of the first two books. However, I got really mad at the third act break up.

You know the song I Won't Say I'm in love that Meg sings in Hercules? That's what this book reminds me of. 🎶"No chance, no way, I won't say it. Get off my case I won't say it. It's too cliche, I won't say I'm in love. I thought my heart had learned it's a lesson, It feels so good when you start out, My head is screaming get a grip girl, unless you're dying to cry your heart out"🎶 (Yes I sang that into my dictation feature in my phone. Deal with it). So just picture both of our MCs as Meg and the rest of the gods of the Gates cast as the muses. I hope that you envision that and then it brings you joy because that's all I can think about now is Alex in the background singing with Marcus and Carah and Summer and the Cat Lady trying to get these two to get their shit together 😂😂

Anyway, I love this book. Like with my entire existence. I feel like sometimes we don't realize how badly we need representation until it is in front of us and having to capital F Fat main characters is something that I needed desperately.

This is a third book in the series and you absolutely need to read the other two first, but it will not be a hardship because those books are phenomenal, but this one is all about Peter and Maria who play two characters on the gods of the Gates TV show who end up filming on an island for like 6 years.

So this one It takes place over a long period of time and we start out by seeing Peter and Maria in their initial interaction and then the beginning of their filming through the end of their filming and through what their careers bring after that. It's a long stretch of time and there are quite a few time jumps. This book is still 400 pages but could have been longer in my opinion. I could not get enough of these two.

Both Peter and Maria have their own past experiences that are impacting their willingness to start a relationship and there is a lot of unresolved sexual tension in this story. I mean technically it is eventually dealt with but like damn. There are lots of conversations about what family means and what types of sacrifices and compromises a relationship could encounter. There's a few tidbits about weight but honestly neither character has a subplot that revolves around their weight. They're just both fat and that's that. They're some bullshit with the TV show runners but that is to be expected because their pieces of garbage as we know from the previous books. But honestly there's no internalized fat phobia or very much outwardly fat phobia either. They're just two thriving successful amazing fat people who are finding their way and both their careers and their love.

I'm keeping this review pretty much spoiler-free and I'm honestly still stuck on that vision of Alex and Marcus and Carah specifically in like the muse get up of like the white gowns singing while Peter and Maria lament about how they can't possibly admit they're in love even though it's so so so obvious 😂😂

Cute, delightful, and once again proving that Olivia Dade is one of the queens of contemporary romance! What an absolute charmer, might be my fave Dade yet!

Well Olivia Dade is officially on my favorite author list! I completely loved her first two books, so I went into this one with unfairly high expectations and she still manage to "wow" me😁😁. I just love the relationships Dade creates between the main characters and the side characters in the stories. I just want to jump into the world and be friends with everyone too. I absolutely love Maria's strength and confidence, and how she is so thoughtful in creating community and inviting everyone to participate at a level they feel comfortable. Too often I have seen strong confident women portrayed as cold and hard, but Maria was so complex and nuanced with her confidence and with how she deals with the traumas of her past. And I completely identify with Peter being professional and competent, but struggling to connect on a personal level. The conflicts were very believable for two people who work in an industry that requires a lot of travel or on location work. I really appreciated Dade calling out the completely unhealthy weight change demands Hollywood puts on performers. I also thought the dynamic between Peter and his father was really interesting because I haven't seen grief and neglect portrayed in that way before. This story managed to have a good amount of spice and still be very slow burn which was also a very enjoyable combination to read.

Olivia Dade... does it again! I have loved all of her works, and this one is no different. Amazingly great and relatable writing that draws you in and has you falling love with all the characters. Her ability to also tie together her previous books from the series is awesome! Ship Wrecked was a wonderful story following lover to friends to best friends back to lovers over the course of several years and it is just so well written, it feels real! The romantic tension and spice levels were perfect for this story as well.

Rating 4/5

Summary:

Maria and Peter end up starring opposite one another after in a T.V. show after making an initial bad impression on each other. But they have to learn to work together as co-stars!

Review:

This is the first book I've read in this series! The writing will definitely connect with people who were on Tumblr in the mid-2010s. I think it captures popular fandoms and celebrity media pretty well. Olivia Dade also does a really good job of painting the different settings.

I felt like the main characters felt fresh and had a lot of depth. Maria is so confident, and it's different than many other contemporary romances. A lot of MCs are always criticizing themselves. It was great to see one stand up for herself and refuse to compromise her beliefs.

Peter and Maria's chemistry worked pretty well for a slow burn. It didn't feel boring at all. I enjoyed the character arcs and how their mental health and emotions grew and changed.
<spoiler> However, I was completely not expected the time jump!! </spoiler>

I was also not a fan of this novel'<spoiler> third-act break up. It just felt unnecessary. </spoiler>

I'll definitely be considering the other two books in this series. I read this as a stand-a-lone and didn't feel lost at all. There were just characters that felt hastily introduced.

***Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for approving an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!***

I don't know how Olivia Dad does it, but each book in this series has been better than the last, which is saying something since I've enjoyed them all. Since the first book in the series, Dad has made a conscious effort to address fat shaming in media and focus on body positivity in her characters. While accomplishing this worthy goal, she has also created characters who are lovable and a bit mischievous. Her books tackle tough subjects with deftness and levity -- Shipwrecked is no exception.

I'll admit, at the start I was skeptical about a whole book focused on characters we didn't really meet in the other books in the series (unlike book #2, All the Feels, where we got to see a new side of Alex, whom he had spent a decent amount of time with in Spoiler Alert already). But from the beginning, Peter and Maria were an enticing pair. The references Maria's repressed trauma were maybe a bit too heavy handed but otherwise, I'd say the pace felt natural. I was worried based on the book's blurb/descroption that the central tension would be about whether or not Maria and Peter get together after the show ended. I'm glad Olivia chose to avoid this more cliched route and instead focus the plot's conflict on a more nuanced issue. That being said, I would have appreciated if the ultimate conflict had been more drawn out, given that tensions both erupted and were resolved essentially in the span of one chapter. But all told, it was fun to re-enter this universe and get to meet these new characters. I don't know if Dad has plans to continue within this universe but if not, I felt like no key plot lines were left unresolved. The end of Ship Wrecked was also personally satisfying --can't go wrong with a classiC HEA in my opinion!

I was so excited to read this book but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I didn’t really get the humor and some of the repetitive jokes (there’s a bit with jarred herring?) just got annoying after a while. I love the other 2 books in this series, but this one sadly isn’t as good.

Six years ago, the actor Peter Reedton had a simply epic one-night-stand with a stunningly gorgeous Swede who abruptly left him high and dry the next morning. That same morning, who shows up for the same audition for Gods of the Gates he's going for? That gorgeous Swede, professionally known as Maria Ivarsson. When they are cast as enemies to lovers shipwrecked on a remote Irish island, Peter tries to keep his feelings at bay, while Maria tries to repent for leaving him like she did. Will their mutual pining come to fruition after so many years trying to keep it just friends?

This book started heavy with the steam but then sort of fell flat for me. I find with Dade's books I do need to read/listen to them at least twice before I get a real feel (I think All the Feels is my favorite right now and it started as my least favorite), but I can say a few good things about Dade's writing here: She definitely knows her her timeline extremely well, so we all feel like we're getting an inside look at something, which is really cool! I think that this one blessedly had the least fan-fic based romance of all of them, which was also appreciated (not because I don't like it, but because it's just a lot for 3 books). I also don't know how I feel about pining, but I think these books have made me a fan, just because it makes the romance so delicious.

I will say with this book Maria and Peter are sort of like sex-reversed, watered down copies of Alex and Lauren, in that Maria is so unabashedly confident and self-assured, while Peter hangs back in the sidelines. Another thing I was not loving was the banter. All these books have the characters bantering in almost identical ways, almost like they are all college professors. They also all call each other by their last names like they are bunk mates in the army, and that does not sit well with me when they are legit effing each others brains out. I just wish the characters in this series had different voices. A ton of monologuing and over-written jokes does not great dialogue make.

All that aside, I can say that I am cautiously a fan of this book. I will likely download it on my audiobook app when it becomes available, as I like listening to these romances more than reading them, honestly. I will give this a big 3.5 stars, rounded down for Goodreads.

Unsurprisingly, Olivia Dade has nailed it again! Funny, charming, heartfelt, and of course, very steamy. I especially loved this one for several reasons. Maria had already done her work around fatness, both politically and personally. She was unapologetically sexy and self-possessed. And, she was a fat liberation advocate! Something so near and dear to me personally and something I had not really seen done before. Lastly, BOTH LOVE INTERESTS ARE FAT! 😍 Sadly underrepresented in romances, I seriously love fat people being attracted to other fat people.

I also loved the deeper dive into the found family element and the final epilogue of this series is incredibly heartwarming.

While this wasn’t the smoothest writing and storytelling of Olivia Dade’s to date, that’s not what I rate on. It made me laugh out loud, swoon, and ultimately root for just about every character we meet. This’ll long be a favorite right alongside Spoiler Alert and All the Feels.

After one night with Maria, Peter knows that he wants more than a casual hook-up. Maria, however, leaves before he wakes. Still working through his feelings of inadequacy from his family life, Peter is rude to Maria after auditioning for a part opposite her. However, after being stuck filming a fantasy TV Show on a remote island for six years full of pining, Peter and Maria realize their deep feelings for each other. Can they make their relationship work against the odds?

Dade does a lot right in Ship Wrecked. She portrays two fat characters as confident and desirable. She also shows the hard work that goes into healing from past traumas, and how those past traumas can influence current relationships even after seeking help. The supporting cast of characters makes this a fun read.

Thank you Olivia Dade, Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Ship Wrecked comes out November 15, 2022!!

Ship Wrenched is the third in a series of interconnected standalones, it features lovers-to-friends-to-lovers, plus size representation, and heart warming found family. After a one night stand Maria does not expect to see Peter ever again, that is until they run into each other the next day at a casting audition for a very popular show. Even worse they both end up getting the part, add on top of that they will be on a secluded island for the next 6 years for filming. While the beginning of their knowing each other started animosity they are able to slowly become really good friends if not best friends. Through the years they have stuck to strict boundaries, but after the last day of filming Peter is ready to prove to the woman of his dreams that he is ready to not only be in a relationship with each other but also that he has been in love with her.

I was so incredibly excited when I received this book, and I think that it had absolutely everything I love about Olivia Dade's books. I enjoyed that both characters were plus size, and especially that both characters embraced that aspect of themselves. I think that both main characters were warm and funny, they also had aspects from their past that they eventually needed work through to be together. I loved that Marie didn't let the show runners to dictate her body, I think that it really spoke to her personnel strength. In any Olivia Dade book I also loved the side characters and loved how they developed into a found family. The only thing that threw me off when starting this book was the timing of the beginning, I think that it made it a little hard to get into the book. But once I was past that I thought this was a very cute, romantic, spicy book and I highly recommend it!

Ship Wrecked is the third book in Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert universe. This book follows Maria and Peter who have an explosive one night stand and part ways only to find out that they have been cast as co-stars and will be working very close to each other for the foreseeable future. Playing characters that are stranded on a desert island in a “Game of Thrones”-esque show, they are the only cast members on set which makes things even more awkward. After years of chemistry builds up, they finally finish the show. They have to decide if they want to part ways or maybe see if their chemistry leads anywhere.

I really enjoyed Spoiler Alert by this author so I was excited to read this book. Have two plus size main characters who are actors on a fantasy show sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I had several issues with this book and ended up not really enjoying it. My biggest issue was the characters. Peter was painfully boring while Maria just got on my nerves. While I can understand some things she was passionate about, her refusal to meet the production team halfway on some things just didn’t make sense to me. Peter was so wishy washy on his stances on anything and you never knew what he would actually stand behind.

Another thing that annoyed me about this book is a huge time jump for what seemed like no reason. I understand that things were waiting to get going until the show was over but having a huge time jump and then being told the characters were pining for each other that whole time just doesn’t make me feel like they actually like each other. The side characters were also pretty bland.

I did love the representation in this book. As a plus sized person, I’m always looking for books that make me feel seen so this is definitely a good step in that direction. I can see where a lot of people will enjoy this book. I just like a little more depth to my romance.

The author does a good job of creating memorable characters that you can root for. It is also fun to play in the world of this fictional show and see in it a much loved real-life program. I hope that there will be another volume in this series.

I did find it confusing at first that so much time was passing between scenes. I missed having the gear-up as they developed their relationship and got to know each other. However, I do get that the whole point was that they had known each other for so long, but hadn't figured out how to be together. By the time we got to the relationship part and we got all of the meat-y emotional conflict, I was all in. The sexual tension between the characters is also great.

This book will appeal to fans of plus size, and geek-centric romance.

Olivia Dade continues her romantic comedy series based around actors working on a parody of "Game of Thrones." Maria thinks she’s had the perfect one night stand with the man of her dreams, until she finds out they’re about to be co-stars, filming together for years on a desolate island. Both characters are complex and thoughtful, though polar opposites, whose lives don’t revolve around their weight, despite the efforts of their rude bosses. Their friendship is warm and funny, full of teasing and love. This book is third in the series; new readers would appreciate the side characters more if they start with the first book, "Spoiler Alert."

This is my first by this author and I just don’t vibe with the writing style as much as I wanted to. The steam was great though!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I officially ship this book with me till the end of my days!

Marie and Peter play a pair shipwrecked Vikings in the very popular show Gates of the Gods. For months out of the year they live on a small island in Ireland as they film with their small crew. Being the only two actors in filming takes a lot of out them but so does their muddy past. You see, before they were cast as the fan favorite characters in the books, Maria and Peter had a steamy one-night together before Maria left without leaving any note.

With feelings of hurt and desire swirling around them, Maria and Peter must survive filming together and healing from their past while battling the idiotic showrunners who want to flex misogyny at any available moment.

Holy smokes! The slow burn tortured me as much as the characters and I was here for it. I loved joining Maria and Peter on their island while the story follows their relationship from the one-night stand to auditioning for Gates of the Gods, to the end of the show.

If you love, body positivity, long lasting love, and of course, Cons....pick this book up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this fantastic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Olivia Dade, the representation in her romances has me coming back for every one of her new releases and I am usually lucky enough to get an ARC copy to review before release. I loved the last book I read by her, I gave it 5 star, but while I LOVE the idea of a one night stand that you now have to face everyday and the tension that causes, this felt alittle repetitive and there were a lot of jumps through big chunks of time that threw off the pacing for me