I’m really gonna miss this series, I genuinely loved every book and all the couples. And honestly, this may be my favorite out of the series. We have the slowest of slow-burns (aka 6 years) after a one-night stand, ugh what more can you ask for. I always say that I don’t have a lot to say about the books that I enjoy the most and this is very much the case with Ship Wrecked. So so good!!

Body positivity? Check
Grumpy/Sunshine trope? Check
Slow burn? Check

This book started off with a freaking bang!!! Like OMG I need a fan. I was here for it.

Then we get into the story and I instantly fell for our MMC. Grumpy because he doesn’t know how to socialize. Sexy. And can act?!?! Where can I get me one of him?

This book ended up being a slow burn romance which made me feel a little off. I don’t know if many men that would abstain from sexual relationships for more than a few months much less 6 years. And this guy was a hot actor on a hot series? Not believable. But hey that’s Creative writing for you.

I loved that Olivia Gave the FMC lots of time to shine praise for all things womanly. She’s a FMC that I would love having as a role model.

So… we get to the *drama* of the book. This series has a drama of some sort that makes the main characters question their relationship. I was expecting something HUGE after reading all the feels. Except this drama didnt quite hit the mark for me. It was there but it felt glossed over. Idk. I think I was expecting gut wrenching drama that was in the making for 6 years.

All in all it was a great read that went perfectly into this series.

If you love the other books in this series you are sure to enjoy this installment.
I have really enjoyed reading this series and this book was no exception. The timeline of this book takes places sort of behind the scenes of the last couple of books and its fun to relive some of those moments from the point of view of these two amazing characters.
There is SUCH longing in this book. Our main characters are gone for each other but spend years keeping it professional because they are co workers. Reading Ship Wrecked was like taking a vacation. It was enjoyable, relaxing, and so very very sweet. I loved the small inside jokes and the not so small digs at the showrunners of an actual blockbuster TV show. I can't recommend this series enough. Cunt me as an Olivia Dade stan.

Ship Wrecked is a wonderfully emotional story that follows Maria and Peter trying to navigate their ever changing relationship while still protecting themselves. I loved the healing they both had and that their final conflict was compromised on both sides. I believe the epilogue was a wrap up for the series but I really would have liked an epilogue more focused on Maria and Peter.

Characters felt very real, like they were facing real problems. There were a lot of details missing from the show and their lives, but I felt that it was appropriate. It effectively laid out the history of their relationship over the years. It felt very real-world, with high emotions and a good heat level. I read it very quickly, and I was rooting for the characters to succeed. I appreciated how Maria and Peter were described as having actual bodies as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

All The Feels is still my favorite. The first half of this book didn't work for me as the exposition felt endless. The cast of characters was also a bit overwhelming on this. I felt like there were too many people who didn't serve any purpose in the story, which just muddied each character arc for me. The fan fic chapters also served no purpose in this plot, so I didn't feel like they were necessary.

The romance in this was good and I enjoyed Maria and Peter's personalities and story lines.

The last 10% of this book was hard to get through because it got to the point where I was like "I know what's going to happen so why even keep going" and that rang pretty true. Just too many people and too much exposition for my ADHD to keep track of and enjoy.

Olivia Dade does not disappoint. Seriuosly, sit down, grab a snack and be prepared to just binge because you will not be able to put this one down. Dade has a knack for telling an amazing a love story with punch, sass and a lot heart as well.

This book was not only just an absolultely adorable romance, which is why we are all here, but she handles so many tricky little deeper topics as well. To her constant dismantling of fatphobia (THANK YOU!), to addressing the ways in which childhood trauma can sneak up on us and still plauge our adult relationships -- Shipwrecked tackles a lot of tough topics with care and dignity in a way that is very relatable and still incredibly cute and enjoyable; all while keeping pace with our favorite Gods of the Gates stars that we've come to know in love in the other two books.

This quite possible could be my favorite in the Spoiler Alert series, and I cannot stress much you will enjoy Peter and Maria's story.

This is a new to me author, and I was happy to have jumped into it. I think our client base who enjoys rom coms will be interested in this- will have to check out her other titles as well now.

4.5/5 stars

I honestly don’t even know where to start. This was my first Olivia Dade book and I absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to go back and read the first two in the series. Maria and Peter are a one-night stand turned into television co-stars. The story jumps around a bit between their first meeting and their six years of filming in Gods of Gates (an epic fantasy show) on a remote Irish island together. While their one night stand didn’t end well, their relationship develops over the next half a decade and turns into something more.

This book is beautiful. I absolutely loved the fat representation in Peter and Maria. Their chemistry jumps off the page and I would absolutely ship them if I was watching their show (I shipped them anyway). I loved that they both showed personal growth and I loved how they grew together. Both of them had their own childhood traumas from the loss of a parent or parents and I loved how the book openly discussed their therapy and personal growth, as well as how they still had to figure out how to grow together.

The banter in this book is so good. I legitimately laughed out loud at so many parts. Maria is hands down one of my favorite female main characters I’ve read this year. The way she stood up to the Hollywood bs made me absolutely root for her so hard. And while I struggled to understand Peter in the beginning, he really ended up growing on me and making me root so hard for their relationship.

I think the only thing that I didn’t really like was some of the fluff used to fill the story - I loved the fan comments, but could have gone without all of the fanfiction in place of more of Maria and Peter’s actual love story.

Thank you Net Galley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ok first page unexpected beginning, but omg loved this book, I like the subjects it touch and the two MC , the body positive message. The story too . Totally recommend.

This was the third Olivia Dade book I’ve read and, as always, it did not disappoint. This trilogy has fun nods to fanfiction, but it also challenges fatphobia—especially in the Hollywood setting. This story, much like the first two, was refreshing in promoting themes of body positivity and featured two plus-sized main characters (Maria and Peter).

As always, Dade’s writing carried charm and humor. It was easy to lose yourself into the pages of this book, especially with Dade’s well-rounded writing. A reader is never starved for setting descriptions, feeling character’s emotions, or learning new vocab along the way. Seriously, I lost track of how many words I added to my reading tracker’s dictionary as worked through this book—it’s safe to say I will be learning many new words in the future.

I will be the first to admit that the plot structure wasn’t how I initially imagined it, based off the synopsis’ outline. Now that I have finished reading the book, I do appreciate how it spanned six years of Gods of the Gates, as it gave us further insight into the antagonism of the showrunners (the ongoing “enemy” from the first two books), but it also gave a better glimpse into the minor characters that brought their own natural charm to the page. However, that first six years of Maria and Peter knowing each other did feel rushed. I’ve seen how well Dade can write a slow-burn romance and she had the perfect set up for that slow burn here. While that first 30% served well to set up the Act III conflict (the last 20%), there was still another 50% of novel that needed more conflict.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. However, I can't deny that the narrative felt empty. There was a lot of fluff content (again, do love!), but I was also craving more tension and conflict from the story. Apart from some pining, most of the middle was fluff content. We watched Maria and Peter go on a press tour (kind of, the scenes focused outside of the press events). We weaved in and out of the events of Spoiler Alert and All the Feels (which did give great timeline context to this book). But, there wasn’t true conflict for that middle 50%, which meant there wasn’t much tension driving the story forward. Did we get to know the two characters better? Sure. But I wish there was more conflict present to push the characters further into their development.

Maria and Peter were great leads for this novel! They were the definition of “opposites attract,” with Maria being outgoing and charming, while Peter was introverted and reserved. I appreciated seeing how they teased the better parts out of each other and truly grew to be a great couple and acting duo. It was also refreshing to see their relationship go from lovers to friends to lovers. That’s not something I’ve seen often in contemporary romance!

The true strength of their characterization was seen during the dreaded third act (breakup). At that point, the reader saw their belief systems at work. Maria needed to live close to the people she loved, whether that be her family or her found family. And Peter was unable to listen to her needs while simultaneously wanting to provide for her in physical ways. (Although I will admit I was slightly confused by Maria’s sudden motivation to leave Peter. I’m unsure if that was due to poor set-up, or if it’s because I felt more connected to/understanding of Peter.) The only critique I have was wishing this conflict was drawn out more. I would have loved just one more chapter to truly get a handle on Maria and Peter’s motivations/internal belief system before they came to understand the miscommunication.

Before I wrap up this review, I have to give a shout out to the Wisconsin rep. It’s not often my home state gets a spotlight in a novel, and it made me smile to see parts of my state represented here. Although I could tell it was from an outsider’s perspective, it was nice to see love and positivity for this state. (But it did make me hungry for Culver’s, so that’s the one downside.)

It’s bittersweet to be saying goodbye to the Spoiler Alert universe, but I know this isn’t forever. I will definitely be returning to all three of these books in the future. What can I say? They are the ultimate comfort, fluff read a girl needs on her bookshelf.

TW: fatphobia (challenged on page)

Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon publishing for giving me a copy of Ship Wrecked! This review is my own thoughts and opinions

Wow, this really snuck up on me. It feels a bit strange to say this as this is the third book in this series, especially one that I'm already a huge fan of (And pre-ordered) but the deft character work Dade does in this book is just outstanding to me.

Maria is amazing, fat and strong, confident and smart, just ICONIC. I want her to be my love coach. Peter, on the other hand.. It took me a while to love Peter compared to the insta-love I had for Maria. He's a quiet, awkward man and proud moments. He's also so desperate for this particular role in Gods of the Gates (The Game of Thrones-eque show that's a massive garbage fire) that he essentially abandons Maria a few times. Still, slowly, he redeems himself and I fell in love with him along with Maria.

What was interesting to me is how despite spending as much time with these characters, they still played things close to the chest Peter is a quiet person but Maria is seenmingly an open book (She regularly talks about how she doesn't understand prud-ish Americans because EVERYONE HAS NIPPLES, YOU GUYS! Stop being weird about it!) As a writer myself, I'm pretty observant about character motivations and I'm not often surprised by curveballs but ugh, this got me good. Dade handles these characters with such skill that I felt like I knew them. Only to be slammed by particular sentences and revelations about them. After finishing the book, I spent the next day analyzing certain scenes with new eyes and it's just so good!

And the humor! I loved the "pet-names" our pair called each other and the island shenanigans (DOLPHY MCBLOWHOLE!!) The parts with the other Gods of the Gates cast (Including my sweet boy Marcus and beloved chaos Demon Alex) was a blast. I'm actually tempted to reread the series now that I know what all happening behind the scenes.

That said, this isn't the slam dunk Spoiler Alert was for me. I'm not big on slow burn (6 YEARS OF YEARNING, Y'ALL!!) and the time jumps were a little weird to me but those are absolutely a me thing rather than the fault of the book.

In conclusion, this might not be my favorite of the series but wow, this might be her best work yet.. I can't wait to read more from her.

TW: Off screen death of parent(s), fatphobia, misogyny,

Loved it. I like the one-night-stand turns into someone who will be in your life setup. The characters were very real, it felt like they were dealing with real issues. Details of the show and their lives were glossed over, but it felt appropriate. It effectively set up the history of their relationship across years. The heat level was good, emotions were high, and it felt very real-world. I read it very quickly, I was pulling for these characters to work it out. Maria and Peter were described as having real bodies as well, that was refreshing. This was my first Olivia Dade book, and I will look for more from her.

*I was provided an advanced copy for free in return for a review. This opinion is my own.

I''d read the first two books in Dade's "Spoiler Alert" series, and thought a re-visit to the world of the actors and friends in the "Gods of the Gates" TV series would be fun.

However, this installment didn't really work. I initially liked the main characters Peter and Maria alright, but their behavior & communication just eventually got really repetitive and felt juvenile at times - their conflicts & obstacles were fabricated from the flimsiest premises, were mostly ridiculous and could have been solved by a bit of communication, empathy and/or compromise. By the last one (where Maria insists he doesn't go away and work for 3 years to do a job he's worked hard for, because she needs him stuck to her like glue and then turns around and accepts a project that interests her that requires 3 months away & they all rationalize it away, I was beginning to really tire of these guys.

The timeline also gets a bit whiplashy -- we're going along fine as they film on a remote island, but then jump forward 6 years, but then have sporadic random leaps back in time for small anecdotes or text conversations or interviews.... but are missing a big part of the build up of Peter and Maria's relationship.

Part of what made the first two books in the series fun is the camaraderie of the cast, but that isn't present much here - I always enjoy texting or group chat installments in books & we only get very few of the Gods of the Gates cast group chat here, and not much interaction with the rest of the group.

The book also feels about 1/3 too long for the ground it covers - there's a lot of repetition and telling/rationalizing what the main characters are feeling and by the end I really didn't like these 2 all that much, and was happy to have finished the book.

I found myself enjoying this book and the characters but not falling for them as quickly as usual. I found some of the book to be predictable in what was going to occur next. I do have to applaud you on how you used the main characters to stand behind and encourage body positively. Thank you for the enjoyable read:)

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade was one of those books that catch you on the first page and don't let you go until you're done! Maria Ivarsson and Peter Reedton have an amazing one night stand, which Maria leaves without word or a note for Peter. Surprisingly, she sees him again the next day...when she is cast opposite him for a six year stint on a show called "Gods of the Gates" where they will be filming, just them and the crew on an isolated island. When they get there, as tempted as they may be, Peter puts his foot down...no sex for the duration of filming, because if they break up, it will make things horrible on set for them and the crew. However, once filming is over, all bets are off!

This book has enough sexual tension to choke a horse, but you have to stick with it to see what happens when the six years of filming are done...trust me, it's worth it! You will definitely enjoy this one!

Thanks to the author, Avon and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia Dade's books are definitely not for those that are looking for lighter romances. The language and graphic sex scenes might be a turnoff for some readers, but for those who enjoy some explicitness in their romance, especially with lots of body positivity and snarky, witty banter, will love this book. The main characters are well-developed and extremely likeable. Readers of Dade's earlier books will also enjoy cameos from some of her other characters. Overall this was a very enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed Peter and Maria’s story. This book kicks off with a bang and literally never stops. And the mutual pining in this book is absolutely top tier.

I really enjoyed Maria’s character out of all the heroines in this series so far. And Peter was a welcome chance from Marcus and Alex (not that they weren’t great) but having an introverted character after Alex was a wonderful change in pace.

All in all Dade has done it again with a wonderful ensemble of characters and a love story that grips you from page 1. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last we see of the Gates crew.

Love friends to lovers? Coworkers to lovers? Romance novels set on TV sets? Romance novels with plus-sized heroines? Look no further!

Shipwrecked is a fun romance full of...
- pining
- unlimited affection
- lists of Wisconsin foods
- jokester swedes
- deserted islands
- Swedish fish

& more!

Overall, I didn't love this one as much as I liked the first two books in the series, but it was still an enjoyable read. My favorite part of the story was definitely when they visited Peter's father in Madison and listed off Wisconsin foods. While it felt a little like reading a Wikipedia article on Wisconsin, it was still a lot of fun to read about my home state. Heads up fellow Wisconsinites, they do go to Culvers but they do not mention Kwik Trip.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I could say I unabashedly loved this. Mostly because a romance in which both leads are fat and is not centering around body issues is rare and needs to be a more normal thing! I actually liked Maria and Peter and I also liked their romance...so what was bad?

Despite the book starting with our couple hooking up, this feels like a slow burn. It's not, it just FEELS like it. I just couldn't care about them playing their parts in Gates of the Gods even if it was what the book passed as them falling in love. I also wasn't jiving with the extensive monologue delivery of their trauma and how they have the exact same setup with both characters. We meet the family and in a moment when they are alone and reeling from the meet-up - EXPOSITION. It took me out of the story and didn't allow me to connect to the content of the backstories.

I have loved the other entries in this series and was very excited by this new book, but I can safely say this is my least favorite of the books. I applaud what it was trying to do while not enjoying how it did it. It isn't actually anything horrible here, and I'm sure many will love this story, I just found it a little too boring to fully enjoy.