Rosie Danan is now and forever a must-read author for me. The Roommate was my first experience with her work and I've delighted in every novel (and bonus chapter) since. Where The Roommate and The Intimacy Experiment were grounded in very real (although delightfully absurd) situations, Do Your Worst and now Fan Service have increasingly leaned into supernatural elements with excellent results. The depth and sensitivity of both Devin and Alex was pitch perfect and I found myself as compelled by their personal actualization as I did their romance. I also laughed out loud on the subway while reading this line from Devin: "It was one of his skills along with crying on demand and eating it from the back."

I hope Rosie Danan never stops writing and uses her powers to craft complex and loveable (and horny) romances forever.

“So, this is what it feels like to belong to someone.”

This book was so fun and plays right into the fantasies I’m sure we’ve all had about different television characters. I’ve enjoyed all of Rosie Danan’s books and this was no different. She manages to capture the magic of different fantasies while tackling real issues and trauma within her characters.

I loved that we start with Alex’s awkward interaction with Devin at a convention that skews her view of him. And when he needs her help, she’s definitely apprehensive but agrees. Through this, they get to know each other and their attraction just goes through the roof. Especially with the current rise in fan conventions where people are meeting celebrities and sharing their experiences, this seems like such a timely story. This provided the perfect introduction to both Devin and Alex.

Their chemistry is so great, and I loved that this had some cheesy moments that didn’t feel out of place. It’s a romance that feels like a love letter to fan culture which was great. Alex is super cool and confident, and Devin is a bit arrogant and sometimes annoying, which felt like a good balance. He’s also immature, but I think a lot of that comes from his strained relationship with parents and being in the spotlight. The criticisms of this book I've seen focus on Devin's immaturity, but I think it makes sense for his character and provides a great opportunity to show his growth throughout the book. Alex helps him confront the trauma from his parents and being thrust into show business at a young age.

Devin really opens up to him and he clearly doesn’t have a great relationship with fame. It’s something that hasn’t been good to him and Alex is the person that shows him how much he’s worth. It’s a great balance to how funny and ridiculous this plot is. I also think there is great character development for both Alex and Devin which I felt was perfect. Alex comes off as super cool and I really loved that she has this encyclopedic knowledge of the Arcane Files, She is the epitome of a fan girl despite her less than stellar encounter with Devin.

Through the book they begin to connect and Devin learns more about his werewolf self. This book is a fun as it is ridiculous, and I think it's balanced out so well.

✨Book Review✨

I am obsessed with this book! If you were around for the early 2000s-2010s tv like teen wolf, vampire diaries etc then I think this book is for you!

I really enjoyed that the main characters are older with a little age gap. When Alex meets Devin at 17 she ends up disappointed since she's a big fan of his tv show. Fast forward to she's 34 and Devin reaches out because he believes his turning into a werewolf. Alex is the werewolf expert so following Devin's tv show they figure out what is going on. I loved their banter throughout and Devin's quirky wolf instincts. This was such a fun read and look forward to reading this authors other works.

Thank you Berkeley pub for the gifted ebook.

Thank you for the free book @penguinrandomhouse and @berkleyromance #penguinrandomhousepartner #berkleyIG #BerkleyBookstagram. Thank you for the free audiobook, @prhaudio!

I was super entertained when I read Do Your Worst last year and so when I found out that its authors newest book would be another paranormal romance, I immediately requested it.

Now granted, I’m more Team Edward than Team Jocob so maybe that’s why I couldn’t really get into the werewolf stuff? Buuuut I looked at the Goodreads reviews and I saw people say that if you loved Teen Wolf, you would love this too!!!

So basically this is the plot
Devin is the star of The Arcane Files. (TAF)
Alex created a forum for the TAF fandom.
When Alex was 15ish, she met Devin at a meet and greet, something happened that made her not Devin’s biggest fan anymore
Fast forward years later, TAF ended and Devin literally spiralled and ended up in the woods- naked after a Wolf Blood Moon.
He feels like he’s turning into a werewolf but also how could he?? So he researched and found Alex’s forum and deemed her an expert on the subject and so he travelled to Alex’s small town to ask for her help. That’s pretty much the story line.

I really wanted to like this so badly friends. But 33% in and I just feel like I’m just once again forcing myself to finish a book. I got to 59% and I literally was just skimming and I was like “okay. I really need to stop now” so I decided to DNF it.

I just couldnt get into the werewolf thing and I mean I read a lot of paranormal romances lol but for some reason, I’m not enjoying the book as much as I thought I would.

It’s also a small town story but ugh this is probably the meanest small town ever and you guys know I prefer the cozy small towns 😅

One thing that bothered me too was that I think the male MC should be around 41 but he acts like he’s in his late twenties and I just can’t with immature characters 😅

And yes, I’m a closed door romance girly but I didnt even get to the real spicy parts when I DNFd so this book being spicy has nothing to do with me deciding to stop reading. I just really couldnt get into it 😅

BUUUUT know that this book got a bunch of 5⭐️ reviews in Goodreads sooo me not enjoying the book is probably just a me thing. Definitely lmk what you think though if youve read the book!!

💭 What fandom are you a part of??
☕️ Harry Potter (obvs), Fourth Wing, Gilmore Girls, FRIENDS for me!

DNF. I ended up reading only about a third of this book and gave up. Devin, the male main character, is so immature and so pretentious for being 42. Alex was just too weird for me too. I couldn’t see Devin and Alex getting together at all.

In a world of literary snobbery, be FAN SERVICE. Seriously. This book is so much fun and gave me so much joy. I’ve already recommended it to not only reader, but also writer, friends because this is how you do it, folks. You come up with an absolutely batshit premise that would definitely include “no beta, we die like Dean Winchester in Mystery Spot” in its AO3 tags and then you give it character development, HEA (because if this were straight up fanfic, someone would get eaten at the end), and heart, and tada a novel that gives anyone who’s ever been part of a fandom for any amount of time a reason to smile and damn, do we all need that.
And ANOTHER THING: you will learn more about consent, partnership, love, and intimacy from this genre fiction than you will from any lit fic you pick up this year (recall, if you will, how many times Murakami has won the Bad Sex award). Because genre writers know how important it is to make space for what matters to the people who make time to read their work. They know that there are a lot of books out in the world and that readers choose the ones they spend time with carefully and mindfully, that their words matter so much, no matter the soil they grow in. Danan uses her platform not only to entertain but to educate and affirm as part of the story without ever disrupting the flow of the narrative and what she has to say is important. Long, elaborate exposition isn’t necessary; in FAN SERVICE, actions speak louder and those actions are a model for us all.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I loved Rosie Danan’s first two releases, but was turned off by her use of one of my least favorite tropes (friends/enemies with benefits) in her last book. But Fan Service sounded like a ton of fun, so I was hopeful. And it was indeed an absolute delight.
As far as the paranormal aspect goes, it’s definitely on the lighter end of the spectrum, which doesn’t often work for me, but I love how it works in tandem with the fandom aspect, with a lot of the werewolf lore being from the show at the center of the story, The Arcane Files. While it would have been fun to explore that aspect a little more, the book wasn’t lacking without it, especially given the trajectory of the narrative overall.
And while it’s not necessarily a queer story, I loved that queerness was a feature of the narrative, with the FMC, Alex, being bisexual, and her doing work with a queer youth mentorship program, and one of her mentees, Rowen, playing a prominent supporting role. With it also being set in Florida, I love the strong stance it takes in support of queer youth and their right to exist and thrive, as well as a passing mention of speaking out against book banners. I regularly watch Reads with Rachel (who lives in Florida) and other creators bringing awareness to this issue, so this was a nice tribute to people like them fighting the good fight.
And speaking of Alex, while I did feel like the book kind of sidelined her arc at times, she is fairly sympathetic. She struggles with abandonment issues, as a result of her mother leaving as a child, and her walls are up as a result. And there’s also the backstory of her putting a lot of herself into her fandom for The Arcane Files, and being deeply disappointed in her brief encounter with the show’s star, Devin Ashwood, who meets her in the prologue, and then disses her when he believes she’s not listening.
I had some issues with Devin as a result, but not enough to keep me from reading the book. He definitely has a lot of growing to do, and I sympathize with how he’s struggled as a now-adult former child star who’s now spiraling as a result of his experiences, and adding the werewolf twist to it just makes things a lot more complicated.
While I did feel like he could have done a bit more groveling for hurting her in the past, I also felt like the dynamic between them was fun in the present They’re also very much different people now, him especially, and his career prospects are much different than his days of megastardom, something she helps him reckon with, as he also helps her tear down the walls she puts up to protect herself. And the black moment, leading to the resolution, was a beautiful conclusion addressing both of their major issues, and their HEA is incredibly sweet.

I have some pretty complex feelings about this book. First, I didn't read the synopsis before picking this one up. I loved all 3 of Rosie Danan's books so far so I just assumed this one would be a knockout. Little did I know I'd be getting into a paranormal werewolf book. I don't judge! I found the premise of a man from a big fandom somehow becoming the same thing that made him famous interesting. Most of the time I struggled with Devin Ashwood because he wasn't very likable. He said truly heinous stuff to Alex and in his head, that wouldn't surprise me if a person in Hollywood actually said these things, but I just felt bad that Alex was putting up with it and accepting it. Her self-worth seems to be so low because of the way people in her town treat her. You can still love someone but not let them treat you rudely. While I found the story interesting, I just kept putting the story down. It was slow in some spots and because I found Devin a little prickly I stopped a lot. or drifted to something else.


Overall I'd give this book a 3.5 stars. While this book wasn't my favorite of hers, I will definitely still be picking up Rosie Danan's future books. Read if you like friends to lovers, fake dating, age gap, paranormal romances. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 3/11.

A love letter to fandom and a delightfully unhinged and hilarious callback to my old LiveJournal days, Fan Service is funny, sexy, and surprisingly sweet.

I loved this story from beginning to end. I don't care if the ending was cheesy or easy. It worked for me!
All of the fandom references were so nostalgic, and Devin's pov and dialogue are hilarious. I'm such a sucker for an asshole with a heart, and Devin has me by the chokehold.

I don't know how a paranormal romance has become one of my comfort reads, but there you have it. I am in desperate need of a physical copy to annotate now.

Big thank you to Berkley Pub for providing me with a free arc to review ❤️ #BerkleyPartner

This reminded me of early supernatural fanfic spaces in both the best and also the worst ways. It’s so, truly goofy, and I appreciate that! The author took a premise unlike anything I’ve seen before and absolutely committed to it. At first, I struggled to connect with the characters, particularly the MMC as he seemed overly mean for no real reason but also the FMC for being very judgmental. Eventually though, around the 50% mark, the two really started to grow on me and by the end, I was invested in the relationship and ending.

Thanks for the free book @berkleyromance #berkleypartner #berkley

Fan Service is a campy love letter to internet culture, and I had so much fun reading it!

Alex is an outcast in her small town but has made some lifelong friends as part of the online fan forum she built for a werewolf detective show as a teenager. Devin was the star, and is now finding himself intimately acquainted with the more fantastical parts of the show. His only hope is that Alex, an expert in the show, could help him figure out what’s going on. The problem? Alex overheard Devin make fun of her as a teenager at a con. Never meet your heroes in real life, right?

I loved all of their black cat / golden retriever energy. Devin was such a himbo, and had such a hard childhood as a child actor, you couldn’t help but forgive him for being an accidental jerk. He more than makes up for it by becoming protective of Alex as they get to know each other more.

One of my favorite little details was when Alex’s friends used AO3 tags for their real life situation. If that’s something you would find funny and not too cheesy and meta, Fan Service is absolutely for you.

I really enjoyed this book! I love a book with two main characters that are a celebrity and their fan. I relate a lot to Alex being a fangirl myself and I think the author wrote Alex very realistically without making fun of people in fandoms. I also enjoyed the little blog posts about TAF at the end of the chapters. A very funny and sweet book with the right amount of spicy.

The first time they meet, Alex is in full niche character cosplay in Devin's convention meet & greet line on her 17th birthday. The meeting is very sweet and cements Alex’s undying love for the star of her favorite show until she happens to overhear him say something awful about her when she thinks she’s gone. After that, she spends the next 17 years ridiculing him in her fandom group chat.

The second time they meet is because Devin wakes up bare ass naked in his backyard covered in mud and scratches with no memory of how he got there when a viral video shows him either having a psychotic break or partially transforming into a werewolf on the Santa Monica boardwalk. When he Googles to figure out if he really is turning into a werewolf (as one does) he stumbles upon Werewolf Support Group, Alex’s long-dormant fan forum. In a fit of desperation, he emails the Mod in an effort to locate a werewolf expert.

The Arcane Files reads like a mash-up between Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Teen Wolf, and Supernatural. I absolutely would have watched this show and probably would have gleefully recapped it. And it’s clear from the descriptions of all the various dramas around queer-baiting, hated showrunners, and divisive ships that the author has logged her share of time in the TV fandom trenches. It’s always nice when you can tell an author actually has personal insight and affection for their subject.

For the most part, I found Fan Service to be a fun and sexy ode to fandom and romance tropes (two of my favorite things).

ARC e-book via NetGalley
Provided by Berkley Publishing Group
Publication: 11 March 2025

Read This Book If…you love being a part of a fandom or reading fanfic!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Fan Service by Rosie Danan

Genre: paranormal romance
Spice Level: 4/5🌶, 3-4 explicit scenes
Setting: Florida & Los Angeles
POV: dual, 3rd person, past tense
Tropes: celebrity, reverse grumpy/sunshine, age gap (8 years), fated mates, hurt/comfort
Kinks: primal, light BDSM

My Thoughts:
This book is for the Tumblr circa 2010 fans! It centers around a superfan and her former celebrity crush. I loved the flashback to the first time they met and it really set the scene for everything to come.

Devin was a stereotypical self-absorbed actor and I wish he had been able to communicate more effectively with Alex. There was a lot of misinterpretation that was never addressed or resolved. He is a true golden retriever with very few thoughts in that beautiful head. Alex is outwardly “grumpy” but she’s really a big softie for the people she cares about.

I thought the endometriosis rep was well done and depicted the reality of what so many women have to live with.

The paranormal elements were unique compared to the typical media depiction, which I really enjoyed! Overall, this was a cozy and spicy read that will have you howling!

Memorable Quote: “She’d been no one to him when they met. Nothing more than a means to an end. But now? She had the power to make or unravel him.”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!

i don’t think i’ve ever read an adult fandom book. this book captured what it’s like, so perfectly. while also telling a romance story that i loved oh so much. as someone who has been involved in online fandoms since i was 14 (and I’m old, so we were reading fanfics via yahoo groups!), this book meant so much to me! (this is a book that i would’ve been hugging at the end if i hadn’t been reading on my kindle 🤭)

it comes out 3/11/25, highly recommend.

What if you're favorite actor called you a pathetic loser who would die alone and then 10 years later gets turned into a werewolf and only you can help save him? Well follow this love story between a small town outcast named Alex Lawson who falls in love with the tv show the Arcane Files, and adores the lead actor Devin Ashwood, who plays the lead, a werewolf detective. When she meets him at her first con at 17 she freezes and he helps her out... only for her to later overhear him calling her pathetic and a freak who would die alone. Now years later, Alex has become a a doctor, a tatted, pierced, goth bisexual doctor who still loves the show in spite of what happened to her. Devin has been out of a job and trying to get a reboot for his show but at 42... things aren't looking great and then he suddenly transform into a werewolf and its caught on video.... and when Alex offers to help him he agrees. Devin then moves to Florida to stay with Alex until they can find a solution but he begins to fall for her... but can she forgive him for his past hurts? This is a age gap romance between a washed up actor turned werewolf and a bisexual goth doctor. The story is so heavily a teenwolf self insert fic, the amount of modern day name drops, AO3 references, and just all around cringe and embarrassment... it was a tough read to say the least. I was initially interested in this because it sounded like such a fun "fan service" type of book but neither characters were likable, and their romance was not a romance at all. Like the way she so easily forgives him for what he did??? Nah, that was just a big nope from me. Also I just couldn't ever really enjoy any of this. I wish I could like this but honestly it just felt like such a bad time for me. As someone who loves queer ships on tv shows, as someone who enjoys cons and is a bisexual goth girl who loved paranormal shows... this just didn't feel genuine or likable in the least to me.

Release Date: March 11, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Can I just say as someone who has spent many, many years in fandom spaces and written millions of words of fanfic (yep, really) that I am really enjoying how so many of us that used to treat fandom and fanfic like fight club are now writing and talking about it on main?

I love Rosie Danan’s tendency to write about characters that are easily dismissed by society as unserious or worse and dig into the nuance of how that person sees themselves versus how the general public sees them. How that colors their perception of themselves and impacts their ability to find love and be vulnerable. That talent is on full display in Fan Service, which explores the darker sides of fandom at the same time it celebrates the very dear and real relationships that can evolve from a shared love of a piece of media. It’s also a nuanced look at parasocial relationships and the role of fame in an age where we all have such easy access to our favorite actors, musicians, and authors in the palm of our hands - or at least a version of them.

But it’s not just a love letter to fandom. Devin is often a mess. He can be arrogant and vain, but just when you think you’ve got him figured out, the reveals begin and you start to understand his personality is a form of armor. I adore when authors pair their couples up in this way, where Devin’s armor is more subtle but at the end of the day, he’s doing the same thing Alex is. He’s just going about it differently. Their slow road to figuring out how much they have in common (and that they’re perfect for each other) was just so well done.

Metadata (IYKYK): M, No Archive Warnings Apply, The Arcane Files, F/M, Devin Ashwood/Alex Lawson, black cat/golden retriever; age gap; small town; idiots in love

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this one. The main characters were completely unlikeable and the book itself felt like it needed more time in editing. Alex Lawson wasn't a strong female lead. She lacked necessary character development and it seemed like her only purpose was to fix Devin Ashwood's life despite him being a class A jerk. He is the epitome of a spoiled rich boy. It made it impossible for me to like them together. I couldn't stand it.

I did like the idea for the plot, it just wasn't executed very well.

I binge-read this book as I could not put it down. It's absolutely brilliant. I think some people could read it at a very superficial level (hot actor who played werewolf now is a werewolf) or take a more in-depth read of it about things like loneliness, and belonging, and feeling like an imposter, and social acceptance, and all of that. I appreciated that it can be a fun read but also that more layered read that can be thought-provoking.

I think there's something so fun that can happen when an author really leans into the "what if" and then sets some parameters for the universe they have created. In this instance, it was brilliant how Rosie created parameters for the rules of being a werewolf because of the tv show as well as the online forum with fan fiction. Speaking of, this book is a huge homage to fandoms and online forums and fan fiction and the communities that are created. I don't know if they exist to the same extent as they did 10-20 years ago, but I think so many millennials who were into the fandoms will see themselves in this story and appreciate how Rosie celebrates it.

Absolutely brilliant. Another winner from Rosie Danan.

Thanks to Berkley for the eARC; all opinions are my own.

At first, I wasn't sure how to feel about this book. It felt a bit too cliche heavy and I had a very difficult time liking Devin. He was so conceited, out of touch, egocentric and selfish I didn't want to root for him. All that said, he (and the book) eventually grew on me. I loved how wacky and ridiculous the whole book was and it really brought me back to the days when I was knee deep in some fandom or another. The story is bonkers and fun, Devin's growth is so nice to see even though at the end of the day he is still someone who grew up as a Hollywood actor, and Alex is a weird delight. My one qualm with this was the unnecessary conflict with Alex and her friends - it seemed like it was both underplayed and blown out of proportion. Overall, this was a ton of fun and and quick read that I really enjoyed.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC - all opinions are my own!