I inhaled this book in two days. The book was sweet, the characters were flawed but lovable and the depiction of the world of fandom was endearing and accurate. Our two main characters know each other online but not in real life. Marcus is a famous television star who keeps his online fandom persona a secret and April is a geologist and fangirl of the show Marcus stars in. When they meet, sparks fly.

April is a fat woman who is happy with her body. There is some conflict around this topic, but it’s handled very well. It warmed my heart to read a romance with a main character who looks like me and who is comfortable with herself and who is found attractive by a partner. Books like this are few and far between.

I usually read historical romance, but this contemporary rom-com about an actor Marcus asking out fan April who's secretly his online fan fiction buddy caught my eye. Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt, but they both have personal and family baggage that they have to overcome.

It took me a while to get into this book, as it felt like it's own fan fiction as a novel. There were a lot of clichés, and I didn't really like the "online" inserts between every chapter. In the end, it was entertaining, and I'm left wondering about Alex and Lauren (who are starring in the next book).

had a lot of great elements, and was great to read a book about adult cosplayers. However, this book started with bold ideas that quickly fell into heavy tropes, and it bogged the book down at parts. Yes, the character is "overwight" but instead of bringing in a woman who embraces, it became all she herself could focus on, as though it's impossible to be fat AND happy. Also, this belief that coworkers and employers would fire and/or shun her if they ever knew about her cosplay and fanatic, felt dated.

However, there are many great elements to the book that persevere, like great banter interesting characters, and an overall decent story.

A global hit of a TV show. A Lavina/Aeneas fan-server. An actor who never stops playing a role. A cosplaying, fanfic-writing geologist. A whole lot of smutty and angsty fanfic. And a tweet that went viral...

For the last seven years, Marcus Caster-Rupp has played Aeneas on the hit television show, Gods of the Gates. But now the series is wrapping it's final season and Marcus is at a lost as to what to do next with his career. Mostly, because he's been playing two roles for the last seven years: Aeneas, and Well-Groomed Golden Retriever, dumb but handsome and talented. He feels like he can only be his true self when he's writing fanfiction under the moniker Book!AeneasWouldNever, and talking with his best friend and beta reader, Unapologetic Lavina Stan. Too bad they can never meet. After all, it would end his career if it was found out that he was writing fanfiction--and a whole lot of it being Fix-It Fics...

When Unapologetic Lavina Stan, AKA April Whittier, decides to get brave and post a picture of her cosplay-in-progress, she was not expecting her Tweet to go viral. But it does, for all the wrong reasons. Immediately, April's picture gets cruel, fat-shaming responses, some of which tag the show's star, calling on him to further ridicule April. However, to April's surprise, Marcus not only gets up and arms, slaying the trolls on the internet as easily as he does the enemy on TV, but he does the unthinkable. The thing many a fangirl has dreamed about.

Marcus asks April out on a date.

And she says YES. (And the fangirls rejoiced!)

What should be just a one-time thing that is half-publicity stunt, half-real blind date should stay a one-time thing. That is, until Marcus learns that April is, in fact, Unapologetic Lavina Stan. His beta reader. His best friend.

His One True Love?

"Spoiler Alert" is not only a fantastic romance, it is also a delightful tribute to fandom and all of the good, bad and ugly that comes with it. Adult women in particular play a large role in fandom, and can be overlooked. Or, as April did early on in the book, hesitate to share their fandom interests for professional reasons and social expectations, instead treating fandom as something secret and almost shameful. In this case, it was amazing to see an adult man represented as well, especially in shipping and fanfiction circles. In that matter, it was nice to see the two different writing styles and preferences of April and Marcus and the broad scope of fanfiction. More importantly, that fanfiction comes from people writing what they want to see.

With the romance aspects of this novel, everything felt incredibly real. The awkwardness of getting to know someone, making clumsy mistakes, accidentally hurting or misreading your partner, etc. April and Marcus have the unusual aspect of paparazzi finding them on their dates, but they often treat it as an adventure more than an inconvenience. Seriously, though, it's so cute how much they love each other. Cute, but echoing of a very much IRL relationship.

Now that I've been "spoiled" by "Spoiler Alert", now all I can do now is wait with eager anticipation for the next book, focusing on Marcus' best friend Alex and his "minder", Lauren!

The first chapter of this book felt promising and I hovered at about 4 stars through the first few chapters, but it took an immediate, sustained nose dive into a fiery, 1-star crash.
Based on the art of the cover and the synopsis, I was expecting a cute, funny, body-positive romance with winks about fan culture (I, also, have an AO3 account and know what OTP means), and a story with genuine heart. Don't judge a book by its cover, right?
Instead, this was barely concealed modern AU fanfiction of a REAL PERSON! NC-W is so transparently the object of this self-insert fic that it made me cringe--the author even posts about him on Twitter and the parallels between Marcus and NC-W/Jaime are overly obvious. There's nothing wrong with writing fanfiction about a real person (in theory, I suppose), but it needs some transformation to become a novel about fanfiction. Where does the fanfiction end and the story begin? This feels like a book for Braime/NC-W fans, and not a book for "fans"--I was someone who was growing up as the LotR movies were coming out, and I was a hardcore Legolas/Orlando Bloom fan (yes, I had the cardboard cutout, yes I had a Mrs. Bloom tshirt, YES I refreshed the lotr.net homepage until Orlando Bloom said "hello this is Orlando Bloom, welcome to Lord of the Rings dot net") and it didn't resonate with me the way other books about fanfiction/fandoms do.
The characters are essentially the same person--holding onto childhood and adolescent trauma inflicted by their parents, unable to communicate their feelings and needs, parroting self-deprecating Internet politics about saying the right things. Neither of these adults are ready to date. The amount of sobby "betrayal" is juvenile and honestly borderlines on emotional abuse. Pause on some of the scenes with tension (the gym/buffet catastrophe, the birthday lunch with April's parents), and think about how they'd come across if the genders were reversed.
Yes, the emotions and the experiences are real. This had a honest portrayal of what it's like to be fat, in real life, in fandoms. And what I assume is an honest portrayal of having a learning disability in a literature-obsessed family. Those aren't bad things, and definitely have a place in our writings about fandom. But this is just wish-fulfillment, without the self-awareness that could have elevated it to a novel that invokes empathy.

I am genuinely confused by the number of 4/5 star reviews of this book! Guys, it was not good. You can't write real person/self insert/AU fanfiction and call it a novel. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a real person! He doesn't deserve this.

Plus size representation in contemporary romance novels is a good thing, but come on-- there is more emotional depth in Taylor Swift songs. These characters simply had no personality. April was ~fat and liked fanfiction, that is it. She is a nearly 40 year old woman who is ~~~hiding the most important part of herself, which is apparently an obsession with a GoT like show. Marcus, also 40 human years old!!, is the most sensitive of sensitive people hiding dyslexia ?? and the secret shame of being a hot smart person ?? and his family hating him because they know _latin_ and his show is an abomination to the canon. And he writes fanfiction too in his spare time about his own show and about his own coworkers which is deeply damned weird. He uses words like "modern AU" in real life. And speaks and thinks like he was written by a woman who was very into tumblr at one point in her life.

The author sort of _tried_ it with the geologist angle with April but it went entirely no where added absolutely nothing to the plot except the one time at the museum she was talking about rocks and Marcus got horny. Strong Fat Woman in STEM! but there was absolutely no substance to it. Purely for the internet woke points. She could have been anything and it would have produced the exact same results.

Guys, the sex scenes. I _like_ sex scenes in my romance books. I am mad when they fade to black. But holy smokes absolutely no. For someone who has such hang ups about her body, April sure was quick to hop into bed with him-- the 3rd """date"""? with a allegedly super hot celebrity? sure jan.
It might have worked if they had an ounce of chemistry but alas. Instead it was just DEEPLY uncomfortable and entirely not-sexy to read. Like, squirm away and throw your tablet away not-sexy. If anyone in human existence described me as tasting ~earthy~ I would happily murder them and hide their body under the floorboards. And lord, the author described every bit of April as "round". Her round thighs, her round belly and her round heavy breasts. Please s t o p. She has to have more physical qualities besides being round with red hair.

I'm truly not convinced a celebrity would be fired and ostracized from the acting world for writing fanfiction. Mostly because I don't believe a celebrity would be actually write fanfiction about their own show in real life. And his friend announcing to the world he writes pegging fanfiction-- there are no words about how dumb and unlikely that is.

Listen guys, Fangirl was twee sometimes but it had great characters and plot and heart behind it. This did not. This should have stayed on AO3 where it belongs and where no one else would have to read it.
This made me want to throw myself and my tablet into the sea and possibly give up literacy for life.

Positives: the book cover was cute.
Negatives: literally everything else.

Spoiler Alert checks all the boxes! Steamy romance, fat positivity, women in STEM, fan fiction, and a successful leading man with a learning disability. This book is perfect for Game of Thrones enthusiasts and grown-up fans of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.
April and is living every person's dream. A chance to go one a date with the star of both her favorite tv show, and the fan fiction she writes. What seems like a real life fantasy ends up messier then any fic she's ever written.
The most refreshing aspect of this story was how the author described April's body. Olivia Dade didn't play around with fluffy language. April was not "curvy" or "ample"...she was fat! Fat and successful. Fat and beautiful. Fat and deserving of all the love and romance Marcus had to give.

I've had to sit with this one a bit to land on my final thoughts/feelings.

Spoiler Alert is an atypical romance novel whose main characters are plus size (April) and dyslexic (Marcus) who also both write fanfic of their favorite TV show, Gods of the Gates,on which Marcus is the actor that plays the main character, Aeneas, on the show. April is a superfan/cosplayer of Aeneas' love interest, Lavinia.

Are you following me so far?

Let's add another layer of complexity- they each have three identities in this book! They have their online personas as fan-fic writers, character alignment (actor/cosplayer), as well as their real-life identities. Except Marcus also has a personality for the public separate from the private one we get to see while reading.

One day, at the prompting of a Gods of the Gates Twitter request for fans to post their best cosplay outfits of the show's characters, April bravely posts her own photo in her Lavinia cosplay outfit. The Twitter trolls came out... and then Marcus, in a surprise move, compliments April's photo and asks her to dinner.

He takes her out to dinner AND....

...that's about as much as I can tell you without spoiling anything. :)

Overall, I found this novel entertaining and unique. It's not every day that you find a new age romance book that features modern day nerds living with real life issues.

The romance scenes in this are STEAMY AF. Guys, I was reading this in a car trip and was blushing. And you know me, it takes a lot for romance books to make me blush but DANG OLIVIA DADE I SEE YOU!!!!

I finished this book about 2 weeks ago, and if I'm still thinking about it then I know it deserves a solid rating. I would recommend this in a heartbeat if you are looking for a romance book that is different from all the rest.

I loved this! It's such a treat to have a book really get into the reality of fandom and all the nerdy things that people do. I love the concept of making writing fan fic be cool and be sexy and exciting like this book does. It was so good, and I love how the real issue of body shamming comes into play because it shows that people are not their weight and should not be judged for it. They can be cool, sexy, and loved like any one else, pounds be damned.

This was so fun and definitely for fans of "Fan Girl" by Rainbow Rowell. It was the romance I needed with the fan fiction I needed. It was so fun and I can't wait to see people eat this up!

Too much focus on weight and fat shaming. I tried to like this book, but it lost me partway through, so I skipped to the end to see if it got any better. It didn't.

I love Olivia Dade so much (Teach Me is soooo good) and was excited to get this RA. I love how her romances deal with real issues in such a mature way, and her heros are always the best feminists! Crossing my fingers for Alex and Lauren's story next!

I am always a sucker for a story where the world's most beautiful man falls for a girl who wouldn't even get close to that list. Not that April isn't beautiful - but she is curvy and not the woman you would typically see on the arm of a Hollywood movie star. She is a geologist who writes fan fiction about her favorite television and book series. For a long time she has kept her two lives totally separate because she feared the reaction she might get when she showed her true interests more publicly. She also kept her twitter handle a secret from her FanFiction friends because she was afraid they'd be unkind to her about her size. But with a change in her job, she is determined to move forward and be true to herself and stand up for herself.

April posts a picture of herself on Twitter in a CosPlay outfit and immediately gets a lot of negative comments and attention. One person tags the star of the tv show Marcus Caster-Rupp in an attempt to shame April, but Marcus surprises everyone by asking April out to dinner. Marcus is gorgeous and has crafted a persona of being fairly dim and very vain. In reality he is shy, dyslexic, very smart, and a closet fanfic writer who has been corresponding with April for months. No one knows about either of his secrets - although many people have guessed that he isn't quite the village idiot he likes to portray.

Marcus falls quickly and hard for April - but is terrified to share his whole self with her. He, like April, has parents who treated him terribly. He's at first afraid of her sharing his secret identity as a fanfic writer because of his career, but as he comes to know April better - he is terrified of losing her because of the same. '

Throughout the book all of Marcus and April's actions are colored by their past experience. Sometimes for the good - but usually not. The book spends a fair amount of time with them learning to communicate better with each other and working through things in ways that really make sense. I loved that Marcus, despite being a hollywood star, is the opposite of toxic masculinity. I also loved April's quirkiness and confidence.

There are parts of this book that are absolutely hilarious - I think half of my highlights came from true laugh-out-loud moments. Marcus's best friend Alex is just hysterical and I can't wait to read more about him in the next book in the series.

The only thing that kept this from being a four star read for me was knowing the confrontation between April and Marcus was coming and just wanting it to go differently. As much as a liked the book, I did consider putting it down several times because I just cringed at the choice Marcus was making. But overall - the book is a star and a great read.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

April is a geologist by day and a fanfic writer by night-- until she gets a new job where she feels more comfortable sharing her Gods of the Gates stanning. And she makes that entrance with a bang: sharing her Lavinia cosplay on Twitter. But the trolls are fierce, mocking her weight and appearance. But then a knight with a blue verification check saves the day: Marcus Caster-Rupp, male lead of God of the Gates tv adaptation (think Game of Thrones level fame), asks her out. What initially starts as Marcus being nice to a fan quickly turns into a real relationship. And while April quickly digs (ha) beneath Marcus's golden retriever public persona, Marcus doesn't let her see his true-true side: he is her years-long, fanfic-writing, beta-reading, fan community friend Book!AeneasWouldNever. So, while Marcus lets April know he loves her body just the way it is, he doesn't reciprocate all the vulnerability-sharing. Can their relationship survive when the truth comes out?

4.5/5 stars-- I have to knock off 1/2 of a star because there is too much sex. It's fluffy, beautiful, swoony sex, but for this asexual (who loves steamy romance titles), apparently there is such a thing as too much sex in a romance. Now, I understand that Marcus worshipping April's body is important for April's relationship with her weight and her confidence regarding her weight and appearance. And I understand that Marcus's relationship with his body comes from a very different place: he views his body as a tool for his job. As such, I completely understand /why/ there is as much sex in this story as there is. (Plus, the fact that it mirrors AO3 so much adds to the "necessity" for lots of smut-- it adds verisimilitude.) It just... made me uncomfortable sometimes, and I had to put the book away for the day at those moments and pick back up again later.

HOWEVER, the attention to emotions, especially on Marcus's POV, makes this book so delectable. Usually I don't like male protagonists in romances to be /this/ precisely attuned (because it seems inauthentic to most men and their (non-)verbalization proclivities), but I think Marcus's attachment A) to his portrayal of Aeneas for so many years and B) to writing non-smutty fanfic makes his attention to emotions (his own and April's) authentic.

Lastly, I loved this book because of what it does for body positivity, specifically in regards to fatness and appearance. The way April worries, "talks" to herself to hyper herself up or to calm herself down, in how to talk to her well-meaning-but-hurtful mom, etc. is so authentic to what it's like to be a plus-sized woman today. THIS is what real body positivity looks like in a story. Others authors: take note, please!

TL;DR: Read this steamy romance. It's like fanfic: shipping, smut, emotions, and some angst. But like good fanfic, it's got heart and is intelligent. Also: body positivity!

Spoiler Alert is the story of two friends who share a passion for fanfiction. Gods of the Gates is the biggest show on television, based on an incomplete series of beloved books, and April and Marcus both write fics online. Both keep their fanfiction intentionally separate from their real lives, for very different reasons.

April is a scientist finally moving into the public sector, and able to bring her passion for the fantasy world to her personal web presence. Finally, she doesn’t have to worry about trying to get individual jobs and can post her cosplay pictures.

Marcus is an actor- one of the stars of the Gods at the Gates TV show, and sick of seeing the books he loves destroyed by the show creators. His fanfiction helps him soothe his anger at the butchering of his character, and the coming end of the show, which promises outrage from fans. If his fics were to be discovered, his career would be over, and he would be sued to oblivion. Marcus and April read and edit each others’ fics, and have been friends online for years, when twitter brings them together, entirely by accident.

April and Marcus have distinct character voices, and nuanced inner lives. Both of them are real adults in their late thirties, not post-adolescents mired in indecision. April is an amazing, intelligent fat woman who knows that the world will only ever see her as the latter. She knows she is beautiful, and does not apologize for the way she looks. She faces her personal challenges with aplomb, and doesn’t allow people to treat her poorly. Her strength is one of her best qualities, and watching her shine is a delight.

Marcus has found that the best way to be in the public eye is to present himself as an empty-headed jock, a pretty boy who can act but doesn’t have much between his ears. He faces the difficult choice about whether to open up, or keep his real self inside. Marcus has always felt like a disappointment to the people closest to him, and if he wants a chance with April, he has to let go of that fear. Marcus is a hugely likable, fun guy who knows who he is, but isn’t sure if anyone else should be let in on the secret.

April and Marcus have crazy chemistry, this book is sexy, funny, sweet, and incredibly passionate. The secondary characters are just as interesting as April and Marcus, and add hilarity to a book that already has snappy writing and amazing dialogue. April is intensely relatable, with a voice TV fans and book-lovers will both fall for. Gods at the Gates is also a very thinly analog for Game of Thrones, the last season that launches a thousand angry tweets. The criticism of the TV adaptation rings true, and adds a bit of extra humor to this already funny book. This book is an exciting new read, and one hopes it is a sign of even bigger things to come from Olivia Dade.

Spoiler Alert will be published October 6, 2020 by HarperCollins. You can preorder it wherever books are sold.

Do you enjoy fandoms? Have you ever read a fanfic? Do you ever fantasize about the beautiful people of your favorite tv show? Then this one is for you. It is fun, but it also has a lot of heart and both of the main characters have depth. I haven't checked yet, but I do hope there will be another book about Alex as he is a delightful side-character. The structure is interesting, in that there are frequent breaks where the reader can read chat messages or parts of a fanfic or a film script. I thought it was interesting, though perhaps there were a few more than I really needed. Your mileage may vary as to your enjoyment of this type of literary device. I wasn't sure I would like this, but I did and it is much more than "fluff". It also gets into it about crappy families and discusses fatshaming. If you are a little bit nerd, then this is for you.

Olivia knocks yet another Romance out of the park. I adored this book- preordered it for my shelves right after I closed my kindle. The whole entire fanfiction/cosplay/secret online identity is my jam. I read it so fast and then was so sorry that it was over. Five Stars!!

*Thank you to NetGalley for this E-Arc in exchange for an honest review*

Let it be known that I am in a slump so take this with a grain of salt but I couldn't get into it. I loved the concept: which is why I requested it. It's literally a plot out of fanfiction about fanfiction which is right up my alley. A stan get to go on a date with the actor from her OTP meanwhile what she doesn't know is that he's also the guy friend she's been talking to for years on the fandom server. It features plus size representation and I was sold. There was nothing inherently bad about this book. I found some parts slow but otherwise it was interesting, cute, steamy, with a conflict you knew was going to blow up from the start. It wasn't groundbreaking but definitely served as a great contemporary romance read.

This was a cute romance! The premise was unique, and I loved to see a story that focused on an intelligent and unapologetic female character paired with a sensitive and introspective male character. The book is described as a "bawdy" romance, so keep in mind that there are quite a few graphic sex scenes. I saw that there was going to be another book focusing on 2 other characters from this story, and I'm looking forward to it!

"Somehow, she was his crucible, burning away everything but the truth. Forcing him to speak it aloud and purify himself before her."
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is the book all nerds should be interested to read, especially considering it’s like if “You’ve Got Mail” and the “Game of Thrones” fandom got together and metaphorically had a fanfiction-loving baby.

I wanted to like this story. Truly, I did. Spoiler Alert has all the elements of a page-turning read that my nerdy heart yearns for: a curvy girl heroine who has the confidence to look criticism in the face and push boundaries in order to get what she wants, a hero who is going through his own form of personal struggle and metamorphosis, all combined within a world that has a hefty dose of love for fanfiction and fandoms overall. But…the emphasis that April is a gorgeous plus size woman becomes almost fetishized with how often her rolls, curves, stretch marks, large and cumbersome bra, weight and heft are mentioned. It becomes overdone and honestly took me out of the plot, especially when April is constantly juxtaposed with her love interest—the fit and trim—Marcus.

The first half of the book is absolutely adorable. Between chapters are snippets of fanfics, movie scripts, and other little interludes that I think enhance the background development of the characters. Leading up to Marcus and April meeting each other, we learn that they’ve been friends for years on a Fanfiction server for the show (which is based on a book) on which Marcus is the lead actor. I liked that both Marcus and April have issues within their personal lives, and that is with their perception of their true selves not only within themselves but also with their respective parents as well as co-workers. Everything about Spoiler Alert was working for me, until the first intimate scene. After that things fell apart. The second half of Spoiler Alert seemed almost disjointed to the first part. The characters do end up going through their critical self-transformation in order to repair their relationship. However, the fact that fat-shaming was so overly mentioned throughout the plot it honestly felt like I was being beaten over the head with it. I’m a plus-sized nerd myself, and this depiction felt truly forced. If April isn’t defined by her size, then why mention it so often? Fans will get it the first time.

If you feel like perhaps you can get over the constant mention of weight and fat-shaming, and instead look deeper to the story beyond, then Spoiler Alert is a story for you. Olivia Dade, while a new author to me, seems to have made a mark writing about plus-sized women in her books, which I absolutely respect...this one just missed the mark for me.  Spoiler Alert goes live on October 6th.

3.5