I've been dipping my toe back into the M/F contemporary romance pool lately for some reason, after several years of reading primarily queer romance. Olivia Dade is a fairly new-to-me author (I've only read her story in the He's Come Undone: A Romance Anthology) and I was impressed by Spoiler Alert's quirky, competent heroine, smooth character arcs and sly sense of humor.

April is passionate about her job as a geologist, and she's tired of hiding or apologizing for the other aspects of her personality. She's fat, she writes fan-fiction about two characters from a fantasy television show (not dissimilar to "Game of Thrones" in that the show has gone beyond the book canon and the fans are not happy with its recent direction), and she's ready to show herself to the world by cosplaying her favorite character at an upcoming convention. Unbeknownst to her, she's in a "You've Got Mail/Shop Around the Corner" thing going with Marcus, who is dating her as the handsome but somewhat dim lead actor from her favorite show, while trying not to let her realize that he is also her beta reader on the fanfic site.

Both Marcus and April have parents who were hypercritical of them - Marcus for his (long undiagnosed) dyslexia and April for her weight. Dade shows how their relationship slowly helps them overcome those early hurts and determine their own value while also making them wary of trusting each other with their real selves. The geologist rock analogies are a tad heavy-handed but on target. The book's climactic scene is appropriately swoon-worthy, and their happy ending well-deserved.

I'm not at all familiar with the fan fiction world, so a lot of the references were wasted on me, but I enjoyed the excerpts that April and Marcus wrote. The other"interstitial" chapters highlighting the poorly conceived scripts from Marcus' previous movies and TV shows were hilarious (especially how the common theme is that the female characters exist only to die and give the hero his character arc) and helped illuminate the plot.

There's a little bit too much of information about Marcus' co-star Alex and the woman assigned to keep him from misbehaving; they're obviously the subject of the next book in the series (with a great deal of pegging apparently) but I found them to be distracting sequel bait. Other than that, however, I really enjoyed this book. If this is what contemporary romance looks like in the 2020s I may have missed out by avoiding it for so long.

N.B. I'm not going to comment on the fat representation because it is not something I have personal experience with, but I think readers will appreciate the fact that April is portrayed as a fat, healthy woman whom Marcus finds incredibly attractive.

ARC received by Net Galley in exchange for honest review.

I loved this book! The cover drew me in, and I read this in one day. Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor on the hit TV show, <i>Gods of the Gates</i>. In his spare time, he writes fanfiction for the <i>Gods of the Gates</i> universe under the alias Book!AeneasWouldNever. He meets Unapologetic Lavinia Stan (aka April Whittier) on the Lavineas Server, and they become good friends. Unapologetic Lavinia Stan is his beta reader, but she has no idea that he actually plays Aeneas on the TV show. When they go on a date after Marcus asks her out after seeing her cosplay photo on Twitter (other fans were bullying her), he realizes that April is his friend. He hides his identity as Book!AeneasWouldNever and pursues a relationship with April. When April learns that he has been lying about his identity, will she be able to trust him and forgive him? Throughout the book there are excerpts of the scripts for the <i>Gods of the Gates</i> television show as well as fanfictions written by Book!AeneasWouldNever and Unapologetic Lavinia Stan. I thought this book really captured the world of fanfiction. It looked like the format of the fanfictions were straight out of AO3 (Archive of Our Own). The other characters were well-developed, and I felt like they added to the book. I liked seeing how Marcus and April's difficult relationships with their parents impacted their relationship. This book was funny, full of romance, and had just the right amount of angst. I also liked that this book addressed the issue of body shaming. April feels really self-conscious of her weight, and seeing how she and Marcus talked about it seemed really realistic. The sex scenes were way spicier than I was expecting (in a good way). I'm looking forward to reading the next book about Alex (Marcus' friend) and Lauren.

For fans of contemporary romance, fanfiction and Mhairi McFarlane.

An absolute delight of a romance about a fanfiction writing geologist and the star of her favorite TV show who fall in love, not realizing--on her part anyway--that they've been reading each other's fanfiction for years. I think it would be hard for anybody who loves reading or writing fanfiction NOT to love this story. Fandom and fanfiction are so intrinsic to the plot that many of the chapter interludes (which I LOVED) were excerpts from the characters' own fanfiction. And while some of the secrecy surrounding Marcus's dual-identity felt a bit contrived and convenient at first (it's a romance! there must be a relationship-ending secret!) it was actually explained / developed enough throughout that I sympathized with his struggle over whether to tell April about his time as her online friend by the end.

The story was just pure adorableness such that I'm going to have to read Olivia Dade's other work now. And I'm eagerly awaiting the Alex / Lauren book coming in 2021!

Basically, if you are a part of the fandom / fanfic community and have any interest in romance, you're definitely going to want to read this book.

What a treat! Truly a pitch perfect romcom. I'm not a fanfic person myself, but I'm aware enough of it as a phenomenon, and I generally love pop culture, so the premise of a fan meeting an actor is just a delight. This has everything I want in a contemporary romance--fun settings, real feelings, sparkling dialogue. It's very specifically in my wheelhouse, because having the female main character be a geologist, having a Bay Area setting, and having a fictional property based on the Aeneid are all true delights for me specifically.

I think it's good to know that the book has a fat female main character, and that issues around her weight are a part of the story. I thought they were handled very well, and the book is just very affirming.

I can already tell this is a book I will come back to again and again, because it's just that delicious.

This is easily one of my favorite romances of the year! I loved both of the main characters and their complex backgrounds and personalities. All the fandom/fanfiction elements were so perfect and clearly done by someone who appreciates fanfiction and being a dedicated part of a fandom. Marcus was the sweetest cinnamon roll of a romantic hero, and April was a great example of a strong, independent woman who also has vulnerabilities and embraces them. There was such great chemistry between the leads, the best combo of grand gestures at the end--I just loved it so much, start to finish! Can't wait for the next story in this series!

When April, an active member of an online fandom for a Game of Thrones-esque fantasy series, posts a cosplay on Twitter, she immediately receives negative backlash from internet trolls about her plus-size body. Marcus, the male lead of the TV show, notices her viral photo and decides to publicly ask her out on a date to take a stance against the body-shaming.

On their date, Marcus realizes something big -- April is actually UnapologeticLaviniaStan, a woman he has been communicating with every night for years on a fandom site under his alias, Book!AeneasWouldNever. Revealing his online identity to her could potentially open himself up to great liability if the show's producers found out he was engaging in anonymous criticisms of the show online, but it would also show her that they have really known each other for years. Marcus guiltily holds his secret close as the relationship between the two grows more serious, fearing that his revelation could undo all of the progress they had made as a couple and as individuals.

But of course, every secret will out itself, eventually.

Overall, a sweet story for fans of body-positive steamy romance that doesn't shy away from harsh criticisms of the sci-fi and fantasy genres' treatment of women.

A star of an epic fantasy tv series secretly writes fan fiction about his character and becomes online friends with a woman who he unknowingly asks out on a date after a Twitter post of her cosplay costume goes viral. This delicious romance deals with important topics like fatphobia, dyslexia and toxic families in ways that feel real and grounded but which do not damper the triumphant happiness of the ending.

I almost don’t know where to start with this review because Spoiler Alert was so brilliant but so full of layers and nuance, it’s hard to pinpoint which part was my absolute favorite. Maybe it’s best if we start with the two main characters, April and Marcus.

Heroine April Whittier is smart, witty, and has a secret hobby where she spends much of her free time writing fanfiction for the popular tv series, Gods of the Gates, based on a series of popular books. If this sounds familiar, it’s absolutely meant to be - the parallels between this made up show and another hugely popular tv show based on books is both amusing and pointed in its reference to how men devalue the idea of happiness and love in storytelling. April is also fat. It is a fact, it is never used pejoratively, but rather just as another descriptor, much like she has freckles or red hair. If you’ve read an Olivia Dade book, you know that she is masterful in writing fat representation. And while that holds true here, Olivia digs a little deeper into April’s psyche as a way to showcase why she might have trust issues. Her parents, the two people in the world who are meant to love her unconditionally, continually make her feel as less than, she’s been fat-shamed by previous dates and people she considered friends, and when she finally posts a picture on twitter of herself dressed as her favorite character from Gods of the Gates, malicious responses lay the groundwork for an unexpected romance with the unlikeliest of persons.

Marcus Caster-Rupp plays one half of the pairing that April ships on Gods of the Gates. When he comes upon a twitter thread where people are ridiculing April, he knows he must do something to help and so he publicly asks her out on a date. He too, knows what it is like to be judged based on your physical appearances. He has built an entire public persona as an incredibly handsome but dim person, as a result of many years spent being contemptuously overlooked by his own parents. These two characters may lead vastly different lives but it’s easy to see how often they have walked the same path of being dismissed and derided by those who are supposed to love and protect them. Unbeknownst to April, he’s also secretly her online best friend, a fanfiction writer who ships the same characters she does on Gods of the Gates. But while April has finally chosen to be open about her secret hobby, Marcus cannot for fear of losing his entire career and livelihood.

One of the clever things that Olivia does in this book are the “interstitials” between each chapter. Sometimes, they’re excerpts from the fanfiction stories April and Marcus write as their online counterparts, sometimes, they are the conversations that they have as their online counterparts, and on a few memorable occasions, they are excerpts from some of the ridiculous movies Marcus has done in the course of his career. It is an unique narrative choice that brings added depth and nuance to both these characters and their motivations and oftentimes, is used as a device to explain each of their actions to the other.

I have read multiple Olivia Dade books and loved them all but this legitimately feels like her best book to date. In the grand tradition of her books, it’s warm and soft and funny but with an added sharpness and depth that allows us to both know and love April and Marcus in all their complicated glory.

This book was fun, sweet and sexy. Full of fluff and angst, it was as good as the best fanfiction. I'm looking forward to Dade's new book next year!

I thought this book was charming and delightful! Marcus and April are two people who are meant to be together, and I loved the pacing and plot of this book as it told their story. Weaving in a backstory of fan-fiction, both April and Marcus had reasons to keep their personal and fandom lives separate, but it made for a revealing insight into their personalities as little snippets through conversations held as their online avatars. It's somewhat astonishing that we're still having conversations about size and dieting in 2020, and I appreciate Olivia's tone as she gave April her own voice in advocating for her ability to live her life as her own person, outside of judgement and criticism. From time to time I found the plot to be devious in it's callbacks to another famous, epic drama that was less well perceived in it's final seasons just as Gate of the Gods was in April and Marcus's world. Highly recommend, especially for those who enjoy well rounded characters, excellent storytelling, and steamy bedroom scenes.

This book is really fun and very different from anything else already out there. It is a romance set in the world of fanfiction. But honestly, even if you've never heard of fanfiction, you'll enjoy it. Great relatable characters, well-paced plot, and lots of good, positive things about body image and how it affects us and our relationships. That really adds some depth.

I’m officially an Olivia Dade fan. It only took one book. I can’t wait to read more. So many things to love about Spoiler Alert. I’ve always been a girl who loves mythology. The hero is an actor on a very popular mythology based show. He is such a hunk. Gorgeous on the outside and inside. The heroine is a curvy girl. Love that. I enjoyed her character. I love the fandom representation. This book is fun and heartwarming. I’m already ready for another one about that couple. It’s going to be good.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

I'm somewhere between a 4 and a 4.5 star on this... and hell, this was so much fun, let's just go with 4.5. I absolutely loved so much of what this book is about -- external conflict rooted in internet & fan culture; smart characters with nuanced portrayals; a slow burn that gets sufficiently steamy; meta textual interstitials that added a lot to the "fun" elements of the story; explicit consent; body positivity & rep for learning special needs... on and on. There really is a lot to like here.
I do think that some of the motivations seemed a little tortured at times, and that would occasionally take me out of the flow of the book. Getting into details on that score would be spoilery, so I will leave it there, but I do think some of the way the plot unfolds didn't flow as smoothly as I'd like. Other than that, though, this was such a fun book that I think will hit the spot for a lot of readers of contemporary romance

This was an amazing read that is exactly what a reader wants out of a contemporary romance!

While being an enjoyable “light” read, it deftly tackles many big issues. Fatphobia and fat representation, especially in the fandom/cosplay world was well addressed. Fanfiction was presented as a real and valid art form, created by writers with a solid grip on the issues inherent in writing with “borrowed” characters. Learning disabilities, all the subtle ways one’s blood family can be toxic and the complicated relationships celebrities have with fans are explored with insight and care.

The romance itself is at times sweet and sexy. Two very well developed characters with very real flaws fall in love and live realistic(ish) lives. The conflict is genuine and the happily ever after feels like a comfortable resolution.

This is a stand out contemporary romance that explores so much more. This was my first work by this author and I can’t wait to dig into her other books and series.

Such an amazing book which can perfectly address your geeky cells with cosplay, fan fiction premise, raise awareness about sensitive and crucial issues including fat-shaming, dyslexia, self-respect and acceptance, emotional parental abusing and finally melt your hearts with adorable protagonists and their pant melting, heart warming love story.

I was so sure after reading the blurb and seeing the incredible cover, I would truly love this book. Thankfully i wasn’t wrong this time!

Marcus Caster Rupp is a charming celebrity , a famous TV star stole too many fans’ hearts with his Aeneas character but everybody including his parents think he is just a pretty face: he is not smart, intelligent, he seems like just dim witted good looking guy.

They couldn’t be so wrong. He has a secret fan fiction persona helps him to come clean his frustrations about tv character. And April Whittier also keeps her secret cosplay hobby and her secret fan fiction persona as unapologetic Lavinia Stan, too. When people think Marcus is only a pretty face with no brain, they also see April with judgmental and biased eyes, criticize her with body-shaming and condescending insults.

But both of them are more than the narrow minded people can see. As they start to date, nobody believed they could last. Because a charming, gorgeous tv star cannot like an overweighted, ordinary geek girl. They are not compatible! Right?

Well, as a powerful answer to those vicious, pretentious and ignorant internet trolls: April and Marcus were so sweet together from the beginning. They had amazing chemistry. Their witty banters made me smile so many times. I adored them as a couple and the best thing about their relationship, they were so good for each other. They both learn to fight against their insecurities and their self acceptance improved. They encourage each other to be happier and better persons even though they keep their cosplay personas as a secret.

So this is not only a lovely romance story, but also a great, motivational, thought provoking feel-good book encourages us to learn to love our selves and discover our inner powers against the people who try to destroy our insecurities with judgmental opinions.

I enjoyed every second of it and I’m giving bright, full, shiny, self confidant 5 stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers/ Avon for sharing this lovely ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I was incredibly excited to read Spoiler Alert! From the gorgeous cover to the promise of fanfiction, I was hooked. Spoiler Alert was such a great romance, from beginning to end. I really enjoyed the body positivity, dyslexia representation, and the way fanfiction was expertly incorporated. For those who have ever written or read fanfiction, there will be some serious laughs and knowing smiles. If you’re new to the world of fandom, you will quickly be swept up! I liked that while Spoiler Alert draws on a fanfiction trope (celebrity meets fan), the story is unique. There is discussion of fandom life (both online and off), classic tropes, and toxicity in fandoms (in particular fat shaming).

April is a smart and confident character, from her job as a geologist to the intricacies of writing a canon-compliant fic. Marcus is a brilliant actor on many levels and I enjoyed seeing April break through his facade. While Marcus’ show is sadly fictional, you’re absolutely going to wish it was real! Spoiler Alert is filled with delightful moments of hilarity and sweetness. Both characters had high levels of emotional awareness, which is always fantastic to see. Dade demonstrates a deep understanding and knowledge of the world of fandom and fix-it fanfic.

Spoiler Alert made me laugh, smile, and nod with empathy. It was very well-paced and I was sad to reach the last page, but I’m already looking forward to a future book starring Marcus’ best friend. I highly recommend Spoiler Alert if you want a romance that deals with fanfiction, a confident heroine, body positivity, and an adorable couple. Spoiler Alert releases October 6, 2020. In the meantime, you can check out more of Olivia Wade’s work- I know that I will! Thank you to Olivia Dade, Avon, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book too cute!!! I smiled too much! I was too happy while reading!

I requested this ARC on a whim. The cover looked cute and I figured, why not? And I am so glad that I did because this book was all kinds of cute. It was also a very quick and easy read which I completely devoured in one sitting.

My favorite thing about this book is how it is both the epitome of a fluffy romance and yet touches on so many deep and realistic topics. Marcus and April are adorable together and I shipped it from the very first time I even saw the cover. But they are also people dealing with emotional abuse from their respective parents and upbringings. They are both dealing with how the world perceives them due to their physical images.

Everyone (even his parents) thinks Marcus is a dim-witted pretty boy with no emotional or intellectual depth, who has nothing to offer the world other than his looks. Everyone (even her parents) sees April as unattractive due to the fact that she is a plus-sized woman. Everyone is then constantly wondering if Marcus is only pretending to like her since they cannot wrap their minds around the fact that they could end up together.

It was great to see these things discussed between them. It was even better watching the characters develop into people that no only loved each other but also loved themselves and believed in their own self-worth.

I especially liked the way that April was portrayed as a confident woman who didn't much care what the world thought. It wasn't the power of love the suddenly turned her into a strong woman, she was always strong, Marcus just makes her happier.

Overall, I had a great time reading this and I look forward to reading more of the author's books. I smiled so much while reading this book. It was the kind of book that just makes you happy to read, you know? Also, this is getting a sequel starting Marcus' best friend, Alex. I knew from the moment he was introduced in the story that he was getting his own story (titled Slow Burn, coming out June 15th, 2021).

In the end, I totally recommend this for a quick, cute, and generally good read.

First off, I love a good geeky love story. So, I was instantly intrigued by this. This story reminds me of Ashley Polston's YA geek romances, but obviously with adults. We follow two anonymous virtual pen pals that chat through their preferred fanfiction site. Both Marcus and April have descriptive point-of-views. Also, I love to see a body-positive lead in general, and also it brings more diversity to the cosplay community. That's always great to see. Within a few chapters, it's already super cute. It's sort of like the old movie/musical "She Loves Me," where he learns they are fanfic pen pals but keeps her in the dark instead of filling her in. It's fun to read the actual fanfic throughout and their DMs, as a nod to the backstory of the characters and how they met. April is so proud of herself and confident, and I love to see that; even though she's not stick-thin, she still knows her value and deserves the world. Love to see it. It's definitely quite cute for a romance and plenty enjoyable.

I absolutely loved this book. The fat representation Olivia weird writes is so important. She has a special talent for writing multi-layered, flawed characters, and delivers the message time and time again that everyone deserves to be loved.

IN FLOVE with this story! The cover! I'm obsessed with it all!
A-dork-ably sexy, fun, nerdy and heartfelt, Spoiler Alert is the ultimate romance every reader of the genre needs to read.
A mistaken case of identity between a fanfic writer and her celebrity crush who turns out to be her fandom's online best friend. Gasp!

Olivia Dade had all my nerdy cells singing with this one:
the fanfiction, the online community, the online friendship, the online chats, the stans, the cosplay.
All of it brillantly layered with humor and astutely addressing themes such as fat shaming, body image, self-acceptance, dyslexia, representation, social media...

The romance between April and Marcus was #GOALS. Sweet, sexy, nerdy and just enough dirty.
Dade made such a bang up job pairing an unapologetic empowered yet sensistive plus-sized heroine with a male character in touch with his feelings, BOTH not afraid or too stubborn to reassess their actions (hero I conveniently decided was a perfect mix of all the "Chrises". Pine, Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt. Myeah.).

Spoilet Alert was SO FREAKING GOOD and satisfying I couldn't put it down! It was my first book by the author and I want—NEED— more!